The French Directory election of 1797 was held between 21 March and 2 April 1797 to elect a third of the Legislative Body of the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

, that is to say 2/3 of the lower house, the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the e ...

and the upper house, the

Council of Ancients The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders (french: Conseil des Anciens) was the upper house of the French legislature under the Constitution of the Year III, during the period commonly known as the Directory (French: ''Directoire''), from ...

. The 1797 election marks the beginning of the 1/3 vote of its type. An election occurs each year with a third of the deputies up for election.

Context

Following the events of the

Conspiracy of Equals The Conspiracy of the Equals (french: Conjuration des Égaux) of May 1796 was a failed coup d'Etat during the French Revolution. It was led by François-Noël Babeuf, who wanted to overthrow the French Directory, Directory and replace it with an ...

, the

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

and

Montagnards Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to: * Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s) ** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...

lost their majority in the house, due to their support of

François-Noël Babeuf François-Noël Babeuf (; 23 November 1760 – 27 May 1797), also known as Gracchus Babeuf, was a French proto-communist, revolutionary, and journalist of the French Revolutionary period. His newspaper ''Le tribun du peuple'' (''The Tribune of ...

. This led to a massive pro-Royalist push in the country, which increased with the impending end to the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

. Though the Royalists disagreed on who they would want to see as the proper pretender to the throne, they did in-fact agree that legally being elected would be the only means which they would re-establish the monarchy. Then, they would call for the dissolution of the Directory, but see the recreation of the Constitution of 1791 with a new National Assembly. The Royalists were also divided on the future however, with the Absolutists (later known as the Ultra Royalists) preferring a return to the absolute ''

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'' under Louis, Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII) and supported the now two-year old Quiberon Expedition. The 'Constitutionalists' (later known as the Liberals or

Doctrinaires During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848), the Doctrinals (french: doctrinaires) were a group of French royalists who hoped to reconcile the monarchy with the French Revolution and power with liberty. Head ...

) favoured a constitutional monarchy in addition to supporting individual rights and property in addition to freedoms and fair elections. The constitutionalists later began meeting at the 'Clichy Club', hence the new name, in addition to their nickname, the 'Clichyens'.

Results

Following the election, the Royalists gained a supermajority, beyond that which was expected. The Directory now comprised 182 new deputies of pro-constitutional monarchy, 44 ultra-royalists, and 34 republicans. The latter included two new Jacobins,

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...

. In addition to the nearly 200 new seats taken by the Royalists, there were around 100 other royalist deputies already present and more than 130 other deputies likely to accept a constitutional monarchy. Less than six months after the election, fearing a return to the monarchy, the

Coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...

was carried out. The coup removed all those accused of being "pro-Monarchist" or those who had supported those deputies. According to most historians, the coup marked the beginning of the "Second Directory period" which is described as the "Authoritarian Directory".le Bozec, p. 97

Footnotes

References

* * * {{French elections 1797 1797 in France 1797 events of the French Revolution 18th-century elections in France 18th-century elections in Europe French Directory Legislative elections in France