Thermidorian Reaction

Thermidorian Reaction. The Thermidorian Reaction was the parliamentary revolt and subsequent period of political reconfiguration in the French First Republic that began with the overthrow of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794). This event abruptly terminated the radical phase of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror, dismantling the revolutionary government and its apparatus of mass repression. The ensuing period saw a concerted backlash against Jacobin political dominance and sans-culottes influence, leading to a conservative shift, economic liberalization, and the establishment of the French Directory.

Background and context

By the summer of 1794, the French Revolution was dominated by the Committee of Public Safety and the policies of the Reign of Terror, which had been intensified during the War of the First Coalition. Key figures like Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and Georges Couthon exercised immense power through institutions like the Revolutionary Tribunal and the network of representatives on mission. However, growing war-weariness, economic distress from the Law of the Maximum, and fears of further purges following the execution of factions like the Hébertists and Indulgents created widespread anxiety within the National Convention. Members of the governing committees, including Joseph Fouché and Paul Barras, along with deputies from the uncommitted center known as The Plain, began to conspire against Robespierre's inner circle, fearing for their own safety.

The Coup of 9 Thermidor

On 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794), during a session of the National Convention, conspirators led by Jean-Lambert Tallien and Joseph Fouché successfully prevented Robespierre from speaking, shouting him down and declaring him an outlaw. The arrest order was extended to his allies, including Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, Georges Couthon, and Augustin Robespierre. Initially imprisoned, the Robespierrists were freed by loyalists from the Paris Commune and the National Guard, leading to a night of confusion. Forces of the Convention, commanded by Paul Barras, rallied troops from the affluent sections of Paris and confronted the insurgents at the Hôtel de Ville. The resistance collapsed, and on 10 Thermidor, Robespierre and 21 of his supporters were guillotined at the Place de la Révolution without trial.

Political and social changes

The immediate aftermath saw a systematic dismantling of the machinery of the Terror. The Law of 22 Prairial was repealed, the powers of the Committee of Public Safety were curtailed, and the Revolutionary Tribunal was purged and its pace slowed dramatically. The National Convention closed the Jacobin Club in Paris and suppressed provincial popular societies, while the Paris Commune was abolished. Economically, the Law of the Maximum was abandoned, leading to rampant inflation and the hardship of the Great Frost of 1794-95, which severely impacted the sans-culottes. This period also saw the White Terror, a wave of violent reprisals against former Jacobins in cities like Lyon and Marseille, often carried out by Muscadins.

Cultural and ideological shift

A pronounced cultural reaction set in against the austere republican virtue enforced during the Terror. There was a public revival of Catholicism in France and a relaxation of the dechristianization of France campaign. The Merveilleuses and Incroyables of Parisian high society flaunted extravagant fashion as a rejection of sans-culotte simplicity. Theatres, such as those on the Boulevard du Temple, flourished with apolitical and sentimental plays, while the press, freed from strict controls, saw a boom in royalist and anti-Jacobin publications. This era also witnessed the rise of influential salons, like that of Madame de Staël, which became centers of liberal opposition.

Legacy and historiography

The Thermidorian Reaction directly paved the way for the establishment of the more conservative French Directory under the Constitution of the Year III. It failed to achieve lasting stability, however, ultimately creating conditions that enabled the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte through the Coup of 18 Brumaire. Historians like François Furet have interpreted Thermidor as the inherent conclusion of the Revolution's radical logic, while Albert Soboul emphasized its character as a bourgeois reaction against popular mobilization. The term "Thermidor" has entered political lexicon internationally, often used to describe a conservative backlash following a period of revolutionary fervor, notably in analyses of the Russian Revolution and other modern upheavals.

Category:French Revolution Category:1794 in France Category:Political history of France Category:Coups d'état