Chapter III: From the Fall of Robespierre to the Empire of Napoleon

(1794-1804).

FALL OF ROBESPIERRE (9TH THERMIDOR).--A reaction set in against the cruelties of Jacobinism. Men--even the judges of the murderous tribunal--grew weary of bloodshed. The authority of _Robespierre_ began to wane, even with his colleagues. The assembly at length turned against him. On July 27 (the _9th Thermidor_, according to the new calendar) he was arrested. He was released, but was again seized, and, with _St. Just, Couthon_, and most of the leaders of the commune, was guillotined.

Bare statistics, accompanied by no thrilling descriptions, convey a strong impression of the atrocities of the Reign of Terror. According to _M. Taine_, "there were guillotined at _Paris_, between April 16, 1793, and the 9th Thermidor, 2,625 persons. The same process went forward all over France. In Arras, 299 men and 93 women; in Orange, 331 persons; in Nantes, 1,971; in Lyons, 1,684 (avowedly, but a correspondent of Robespierre estimates the total at 6,000); in the _fusillades_ (deaths by shooting) of _Toulon_, more than 1,000; in the _noyades_ (drownings) of Nantes, nearly 5,000 perished. In the eight departments of the West, it is reckoned that nearly half a million perished." The deaths from want, under the Jacobin government, _M. Taine_ thinks, much exceeded a million. "France was on the brink of a great famine on the Asiatic scale."

REACTION: CONTROL OF THE MODERATES.--The Reign of Terror was brought to an end. The moderates controlled the Convention. The prison doors were opened, and the multitude of suspects were set free. The revolutionary tribunal was broken down. The commune of Paris was so shaped as to strip it of its most dangerous powers. The Jacobin and other incendiary clubs were suppressed. Religion was declared to be free, and the churches were opened to their congregations. The Girondist deputies who survived were invited back to their seats in the Convention. The National Guards were filled up from the middle class,--the _bourgeoisie_. Little mercy was shown to the Jacobins anywhere. The reaction was seen in the altered character of society and of manners. Those who had acquired wealth in the late time by the changes of property came to the front. The old fondness for dress and gayety reappeared. Paris was again alive with balls and other festive entertainments. The salons were crowded with elegant youth of the higher class (the _jeunesse dorée_). The party of Terror were cowed; but in consequence of the rise in the cost of provisions, and of the distress caused by it, and by the sudden abrogation of tyrannical laws settling the price of food and wages, there were two fierce outbreakings of the mob of Paris (April 1, May 20, 1795). These were quelled, and the power of the Jacobins was finally crushed. The moderates had now to guard against the increasing strength and rising hopes of the royalists.

CONQUEST OF HOLLAND: PRUSSIA.--The armies of France were everywhere successful. Through the victories of _Jourdan_ and _Pichegru_, Holland was conquered, and converted into the _Batavian Republic_, and Dutch Flanders surrendered to France. The Low Countries were now a dependency of the French Republic (1794-1795). _Hoche_, an excellent general, partly by conciliation, reduced the West--the theater of the La Vendée revolt--to submission. The English and emigrants landed in _Quiberon_, on the coast of Brittany, but were defeated. The coalition was broken up, first by the withdrawal of Prussia, which ceded (April 5, 1795), and, in a secret article, ceded permanently, its territories on the left bank of the Rhine to the French, for a compensation to be obtained from secularized German states,--that is, states in which the old ecclesiastical rule should be abolished. A few months later (July, 1795), Spain concluded peace, ceding _St. Domingo_ to the Republic. The soldiers of France were fast becoming trained, and their confidence rose with their increasing success. This success was due largely to the weak generalship of the allies. The French were commonly hard masters in the conquered places. On the other hand, however, they effected a welcome abolition of old feudal inequalities and abuses.

CONSTITUTION OF 1995.--Meanwhile, there was disaffection, especially in the cities, with the rule by the Convention. In the cities there was distress, except in the moneyed class. There was a yearning for a strong and stable government. The Convention framed and submitted to the nation a new constitution, the _third_ in the order of political fabrics of this sort. There were to be seven hundred and fifty legislators, divided into two bodies,--the Council of Elders, or the _Ancients_, of two hundred and fifty, and the _Council of Five Hundred_. The executive power was given to a _Directory_ of five persons. Two-thirds of the councils for the first term were to be taken from the Convention. The constitution, thus conservative and anti-Jacobin in its character, was well received. But there was dissatisfaction in the reactionary parties; and a great insurrection of the royalist middle class in Paris (Oct. 5, 1795, the _13th Vendémaire_) was promptly put down by the resolute action of _Bonaparte_, to whom had been given the command of the troops of the city. It was the royalist and the anti-republican parties which now threatened the government. But a new authority, the will of the _army_, was beginning plainly to disclose itself. The dread of Jacobinism still existed. What the people more and more craved was internal tranquillity and order.

BONAPARTE IN ITALY: TO THE PEACE OF CAMPO FORMIO.--The assignats became worthless. This bankruptcy had one benefit: it relieved the state of its debt, and brought coin into circulation. A triple attack was planned by _Carnot_ against Austria. In Germany, _Jourdan_ and _Moreau_ were driven back by the Archduke _Charles_ of Austria. But a splendid success attended the arms of _Bonaparte_ in the attack on the Austrian power in Italy. He had been lately married to _Josephine Beauharnais_, the widow of a French general guillotined in 1794, the only woman to whom he appears ever to have been warmly attached. There were two children by her former marriage,--_Eugène_ (1781-1824), and _Hortense_ (1783-1837) who married _Louis Bonaparte_. Starting from Nice, and following the coast, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians and Piedmontese separately, and forced the latter to conclude a distinct peace, which ceded _Savoy_ and _Nice_ to France. He exemplified in this campaign the characteristics which in after-years contributed essentially to his success as a general. He struck the enemy before they could combine their forces. He did not, after the old method, wait to capture all the fortresses in his path, but by swift marches made his attacks at unexpected places and times. He defeated the Austrians after a brief struggle at the bridge of _Lodi_ on the Adda, captured _Milan_, overran Lombardy as far as Mantua, and forced the Pope, and Parma, Modena, and Naples, to purchase peace by giving up their treasures of art. Thus began the custom of despoiling conquered capitals, and other subjugated cities, of works of art, which went to adorn and enrich Paris,--a new custom among civilized Christian nations. _Wurmser_, the veteran Austrian general, was defeated in a series of engagements; and, after him, another great Austrian army, under _Alvinzi_, was vanquished at _Arcola_ (Nov. 14-17, 1796) and at _Rivoli_ (Jan. 14, 1797). _Bonaparte_ now crossed the Alps to meet the Archduke _Charles_, who had cleared Germany of its invaders. The French general, although his own situation was not free from peril, was able to dictate the terms of peace. In the treaty of _Campo Formio_ (Oct. 17, 1797), Austria ceded the Belgian provinces to France, recognized the _Cisalpine Republic_ to be established by _Bonaparte_ in North Italy, and secretly consented to the cession of the German provinces on the left bank of the Rhine. In return, he gave _Venice_ to Austria, in disregard of the principles of international law, and perfidiously as regards that republic, which had made its peace with him, and become a democracy dependent on France. In this treaty with Austria, there was another secret stipulation that Prussia should not be indemnified in Germany for her losses on the west of the Rhine. Thus _Napoleon_ used the selfishness of the allies to divide them from one another. At _Tolentino_ in February the Pope had ceded for the _Cispadane Republic_ the _Romagna_, _Bologna_, and _Ferrara_. A young man of twenty-seven, Bonaparte had given proof of his astonishing military genius by a series of victories over large armies and experienced generals; and he had evinced equally his skill, as well as his lack of principle, in the field of diplomacy. He had won admiration from his enemies by his evident freedom from the revolutionary fanaticism, and his contempt for declamation about "the rights of man." Returning to _Paris_, he was received with acclamation, but thought it politic to avoid publicity, and to live quietly in his modest dwelling.

COUP D'ÉTAT: 18 FRUCTIDOR (Sept. 4, 1797).--During _Bonaparte's_ absence, the royalist and reactionary faction had gained ground in the governing bodies. _Pichegru_ was plotting on that side. These schemes had been baffled with the timely assistance of a detachment of troops sent to _Paris_ by Bonaparte under _Augereau_. On Sept. 4 (the 18th Fructidor), the palace of the Tuileries, where the councils met, was surrounded. The reactionary deputies were arrested; _Pichegru_ and his fellow-conspirators were banished. This _coup d'état_ sealed the triumph of the republicans, but it was effected through the army.

THE EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION.--The Directory were conscious of weakness, and looked with alarm and distrust on the young general, who was fast becoming the idol of the people, as well as of the army. They wished him to attempt a descent on England. He preferred, in the room of this impracticable venture, to conduct an expedition to _Egypt_, with the design of getting control, if possible, of the Eastern Mediterranean, and of striking at the possessions of Great Britain in _India_. To this scheme the Directory, quite willing to have him at a distance, readily consented. Hiding his plans until all was ready, he sailed from _Toulon_ (May 19, 1798) with a strong fleet and army; on his way captured _Malta_ through treachery of the knights, and landed safely in Egypt. With him were some of the best of the French generals, and a large company of scientific men. He defeated the _Mamelukes_ in a great battle fought within sight of the _Pyramids_. But at _Aboukir_, in the _Battle of the Nile_, the French fleet was destroyed by the English naval force under _Nelson_. The French army was thus cut off from the means of return. Bonaparte invaded _Syria_, but was prevented by the English fleet from getting a foothold on the coast. He had to raise the siege of _Acre_, and returned to Egypt, where he vanquished the Turks at _Aboukir_.

REVERSES OF FRANCE IN ITALY.--Here _Bonaparte_ received information which determined him to leave the army under the command of _Kléber_, and himself to return to France. The European powers had once more taken up arms. Among the causes of the renewal of the war were the formation by the French of the _Roman Republic_ out of the dominion of the Pope, the establishment of the _Helvetian Republic_ in Switzerland, and the change of _Genoa_ by its own act into the _Ligurian Republic_. Prussia, since 1795, from selfish motives had cooperated with France, and stood aloof from the new--the _second_--coalition. _Paul I_., emperor of Russia, was active against the French Republic, and _Pitt_ was its indefatigable enemy. The Czar had been made Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, and made much of this empty dignity. The victory of _Nelson_ at _Aboukir_ cemented the union of the hostile powers, with whom the Sultan was now joined. The management of the French armies by the government at _Paris_ was unskillful. _Naples_, to be sure, was overcome, and transformed into the _Parthenopæan Republic_. The king of _Sardinia_ was driven out of Piedmont. But _Jourdan_ was defeated by the Archduke _Charles_, and retreated across the Rhine. The Austrians and the Russian army under _Suvoroff_, a veteran officer, were victorious south of the Alps (June, 1799); _Moreau_ and _Macdonald_ were defeated at _Trebbia_. The French were defeated again at _Novi_ (Aug. 15), and lost almost all Italy. The king of Naples came back, and thousands of republicans there were cruelly put to death,--a proscription in which _Nelson_ had a part. It was the victory of _Masséna_, over the Russians at _Zurich_, that saved France itself from invasion.

OVERTHROW OF THE DIRECTORY: 18TH BRUMAIRE.--These reverses added to the unpopularity of the Directory. The discontent of the Jacobins with their government had given rise to strong measures of repression. On the other hand, the wealthy class were disgusted at the renewal of the war. A rising was threatened in _La Vendee_. The feeling was widely diffused, that there was need of a strong man at the helm to save the ship of state from another terrible shipwreck. At this juncture _Napoleon_ appeared in _Paris_, and was greeted with enthusiasm. _Sieyès_ and one other director, with a majority of the _Ancients_, agreed to another _coup d'état_ which should make Bonaparte the first magistrate. The garrison of Paris was ready to lend its aid. The resistance of the _Council of five Hundred_ at _St. Cloud_ was baffled by _Lucien Bonaparte_, Napoleon's brother, their president, and by the use of military force. Thus there was accomplished the revolution of the _18th Brumaire_ (Nov. 9, 1799).

THE CONSULATE.--In the provisional government set up by the remnant of the council, _Napoleon_ only gradually assumed the chief rôle. He was later enabled to take and to hold supreme power, because of the mutual fear of royalists and republicans, their common dread of Jacobinism, and a prevailing conviction that safety must be sought in the sway of an individual, representing neither extreme, and strong enough to hold all in check. Yet the event evinced the supremacy now gained by the military power. _Napoleon_ immediately made excellent financial reforms, and repealed or softened the laws against the "emigrants" and the priests. By such mild and conservative measures, the prosperity of France began to be renewed. The constitution of the year VIII., as planned by _Sieyès_ and modified by _Bonaparte_, kept up the semblance, without much of the reality, of democracy. The checks on the power of the First Consul were more nominal than real. The mass of the people had power only to vote for lists of citizens, out of whom all the higher officers were to be selected by successive steps. All legislation was initiated by the _Council of State_; the _Tribunate_ of a hundred members could discuss proposals made thus, but could not act; the _Legislative Chamber_ of three hundred could vote, but not discuss; and the _Senate_ of eighty was chosen for life, with little to do. This constitution of 1799, in opposition to the communal system of 1789 and 1791, established a _centralized_ administration which destroyed local liberty and self-government. France no longer represented in other countries the cause of liberty. In this character its armies had been hailed in Italy, where a yearning for national unity was awakened. Equality, not liberty, was all that the cause of France now represented.

Napoleon could not have expected that his overtures of peace would be accepted by Austria. The rough, impolitic response made by England, helped him by rousing resentment in France.

MARENGO: PEACE OF LUNGVILLE.--If _Sieyès_ and others expected that _Napoleon_ would merely direct military operations from _Paris_, they were soon undeceived. _Masséna_ was at the head of the army in Italy, and found it most difficult to hold _Genoa_ against the Austrians. _Moreau_ was at the head of the army in Germany. Apart from other reasons for taking the field in person, it would not have been safe for the new ruler of France to allow himself to be eclipsed in military fame by _Moreau_. _Napoleon_, as usual veiling his purpose, gradually collected a large army, and between May 16 and 19, 1800, led his troops, and dragged his cannon, over the _Great St. Bernard Pass_ into Italy, threw himself in the rear of _Melas_, the Austrian general, and entered Milan. He appears, however, to have used less than his usual caution, probably from fear that _Melas_ might escape; so that he was attacked at _Marengo_ (June 14), by that general, at a moment when the French forces were not sufficiently concentrated. What threatened to be a disastrous defeat for the French, however, was turned into a signal victory by the timely arrival of _Desaix_; and the name of _Marengo_ rang through Europe. In December, _Moreau_ won the great victory of _Hohenlinden_ over the Archduke _John_. In February, 1801, the peace of _Lunéville_ was concluded. France kept its "natural boundaries," Belgium and the west of the Rhine. The _Italian republics_, except Rome and Naples, were restored. _Tuscany_ was to be given to a prince of Spain, a country now dependent on France. The German princes who lost territory were to be indemnified by "secularizing" German ecclesiastical states, and vied with one another in imploring favors of the conqueror.

THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE: THE PEACE OF AMIENS.--England now stood alone against France. Her navies were supreme, and had captured most of the _Dutch_ as well as _French colonies_. The French army in _Egypt_ had been driven to capitulate on the condition that it should be transported in English vessels to France. Russia, Sweden, and Denmark made (1800) a defensive alliance of armed neutrality on the sea, to maintain the right of neutrals to trade with belligerents, and the doctrine that the neutral ship protects its freight (not being munitions of war) against seizure. England succeeded in ruining this alliance. _Pitt_ now retired from office. He had accomplished the legislative union of England and Ireland, by which the separate Irish Parliament had ceased to exist (1800). But he had encouraged the Irish Catholics to expect that they would be delivered from the restrictions which excluded them from the House of Commons and from many other offices. When the king refused to consent to the fulfillment of these expectations, _Pitt_ resigned (1801). _Addington_ became prime minister. England was tired of the war. Peace was concluded at _Amiens_ (March, 1802). France was to retain all her conquests on the Continent. England surrendered to France and her allies all conquests except Trinidad and Ceylon. _Malta_ was to be given back by England to the Knights of Malta. A third great civil triumph of Napoleon, added to _Luneville_ and _Amiens_, was the _Concordat_ with the Pope.

REFORMS OF NAPOLEON.--Napoleon now was free to give his attention to internal reforms in France. He called into his counsels the ablest men in all departments of knowledge. In the reconstruction of political and social order, his own clear perceptions and energy were everywhere seen. He brought back from the old institutions whatever was good and valuable which the tempest of revolution had swept away. He reformed the judicial system. He caused to be framed the famous _Code_ which bears his name, and which still forms the basis of law in several European countries. He reduced the power of the communes, and centralized the administration of government by the system of prefects and sub-prefects. Through the _Concordat_, he renewed the connection of the Catholic Church of France with Rome, reserving, however, to the executive the nomination of archbishops and bishops, whom the government was to support, and guarding, in the spirit of the Gallican theory, the supremacy of the civil authority. Full toleration was secured for non-Catholics. _Napoleon_ personally participated in the religious ceremonies which attended the formal restoration of the old system of worship where "the Goddess of Reason" had been enthroned during the Terror. The ultimate effect of the _Concordat_ was to build up the ultramontane, or papal, theory and sway within the church of France. Education was organized by the establishment of the university, the comprehensive name for the entire educational system of the country. All branches of technical instruction were carefully fostered. The devotees of science were encouraged with an enlightened sympathy and liberal aid. A better organization and discipline were brought into the army.

CHARACTER OF THE CHANGES.--The changes made by _Napoleon_, while they secured the _equality_ of all Frenchmen before the law, did nothing to rescue civil _liberty_, such as the republicans had aimed to secure. They were all in the direction of monarchy. Distinctions, like the Legion of Honor, were invented; titles were instituted; a new aristocracy, made up of relics of the old _noblesse_ and of fresh recruits, was created; _Napoleon_ was declared to be consul for life, and the mechanism of the government was converted into a practical dictatorship. Unsparing in his treatment of Jacobins, he aimed still to moderate the passions of party. His activity was seen in an excellent system of public works, such as canals and noble highways, in new towns, and in magnificent buildings which he erected in Paris. At the same time, he went as far as it was safe to go in bringing in monarchical manners and luxuries. He himself adopted a regal way of living. He had no faith in democracy, and spoke with unaffected scorn of "ideology," or the theoretical statesmanship which based itself on ideas of "human rights" in the matter of exercising government. The press was placed under stringent police regulation. _Napoleon's_ family began to contend, with "Corsican shamelessness," for high honors. A feud soon came to exist between them and the _Beauharnais_,--the family of _Josephine_. Was the principle of heredity to come back?

RENEWED WAR WITH ENGLAND.--In 1803 the war was renewed with England. That _Napoleon_ was resolved to dictate in European affairs, as he was practical dictator in the French Republic, was plain. He controlled the republics dependent on France. He annexed _Piedmont_. He made the _Spanish Bourbons_ do his bidding. He intervened in _Germany_; among other things, offending Austria by enlarging the bounds of Prussia. He exercised over the minor German states the influence of which Austria had been robbed. He complained of the strictures of the English press, and of the asylum granted in England to conspirators against his rule. He was angry that _Malta_ was not given up, which England refused to do on account of an aggrandizement of France not consistent with the Peace of Amiens. There were provocations on both sides, and war was inevitable.

PLAN OF INVADING ENGLAND.--Napoleon seized _Hanover_. He talked of making a descent on England. He gathered a vast army near _Boulogne_, and constructed an immense flotilla for the transportation of it across the Channel. His design was to decoy away the British fleet, and then to concentrate enough ships of his own in the Channel to protect the passage of his forces.