18 Prairial
An CCXXXIV
18 Fructidor V
On 18 Fructidor Year V of the Republic, the Directory staged a coup against the councils, where royalists held a majority after the democratic elections of spring 1797. Soldiers surrounded the Tuileries, arrested deputies and forced the remaining representatives of the people to grant the government sweeping powers against the opposition. On that day, the Directory became a dictatorship. A new reign of terror began. But the Directors lacked the courage to rebuild the guillotine in the middle of Paris. They replaced public executions with deportations to South America. Many of the deportees did not survive the hardships of the crossing – the rest were carried off by the tropical fevers of Guiana.
1797
- April 1797 · In the elections to the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Ancients, royalist candidates win an unexpectedly large majority. Of the 260 seats to be filled, 182 go to monarchists and only 34 to declared republicans. The political orientation of the remaining 44 deputies is unclear.
- May 20, 1797 · The annual drawing of lots to determine the retiring Director falls on Letourneur. The councils elect the royalist Barthélemy as his successor. In the Directory, however, the three republicans Barras, Reubell and La Révellière-Lépeaux retain the majority.
- June 1797 · Director Barras makes contact with Napoleon Bonaparte. Through the general, he receives information that Pichegru, president of the Council of Five Hundred, has links to royalist circles planning a restoration in France.
- July 1, 1797 · General Lazare Hoche, who is in contact with Director Barras, begins moving troops towards Paris.
- July 14, 1797 · The Directory purges the ministries. Republican ministers remain in office; the others lose their posts and are replaced by men loyal to the Directory. Hoche is briefly appointed to the War Ministry, before Schérer takes over soon afterwards. Hoche’s appointment is a provocation to the royalist-minded councils. On the same day, Napoleon Bonaparte reaffirms his loyalty to the republican government in a proclamation to the army.
- August 24, 1797 · The councils repeal the penal laws against priests from 1792 and 1793.
- September 3, 1797 · The royalist-minded majority in the Council of Five Hundred prepares a blow against the government. The deputy Vaublanc is to accuse the three republican Directors Barras, Reubell and La Révellière-Lépeaux the following day.
- September 4, 1797 · 18 Fructidor. At daybreak, troops under the command of General Augereau occupy the capital. It is announced that anyone calling for the restoration of the monarchy or the Constitution of 1793 will be shot without further procedure. The presiding presidents of both councils are arrested. Soldiers surround the Tuileries. The remaining parliamentarians meet under military pressure.
- September 5, 1797 · On the night of 18 to 19 Fructidor, the decimated and intimidated councils annul the elections in 49 departments. Numerous deputies, journalists and political opponents are arrested or marked for deportation without proper procedure. Among them are Barthélémy and Pichegru. Freedom of the press is suspended for one year. The anticlerical laws of 1792 to 1793 are reintroduced and partly tightened.
- September 6, 1797 · The Directory orders the arrest of the authors and printers of 32 newspapers for a
conspiracy against the internal and external security of the Republic
. - September 8, 1797 · As successor to the arrested Director Barthélémy, the Council of Ancients elects Merlin de Douai.
- September 9, 1797 · François de Neufchâteau takes Carnot’s place in the Directory. The Second Directory now consists exclusively of determined republicans.
Quotes
The 18th of Fructidor will be a celebrated day in the annals of France.
Message from the Directory to the Council of Five Hundred, 18 Fructidor Year V
It is the Terror, but Terror wielded by hypocrites.
Pierre Gaxotte on the policy of the Directory after 18 Fructidor, 1928
Le Moniteur
18 Fructidor V
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