1795 French Directory election

The French elections of 1795 were held from 12 October to 4 November 1795 (20 Vendémiaire to 13 Brumaire Year IV) Constitution of the Year III. The elections elected the fifth member of the French Directory, the new collective government of France, and renewed 150 deputies (one-third) of the French Council of Five Hundred. The rest of the Corps législatif ("Legislative Body") remained unelected, as expressed by the Constitution. There was a census suffrage, so only 30,000 citizens voted.[1]

The Council of Five Hundred in Saint-Cloud, near Paris

The election was narrowly won by the Thermidorians, a faction which managed to win both the directorial and parliamentary majority. The election served as an alarm signal for the Republican political forces, as the monarchists, in a landslide, obtained 87 out of 161 elected seats inside the Legislative Body, as well a sympathizer Director: General Lazare Carnot, formerly a Jacobin and revolutionary chief. The threat of a return to monarchy, and possibly to the Ancien Régime, finally led to the republican Coup of 18 Fructidor in 1797, which expelled the monarchist opposition from the Legislative Body and banned the royalist circles.

Directory election
Name Tasks Party
Jean-François Rewbell Secretary (Foreign & Financial Affairs)   Thermidorian
Paul Barras Internal Affairs   Thermidorian
Lazare Carnot War Affairs   None (Conservative)
Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux Culture and Religion Affairs   Thermidorian
Étienne-François Letourneur Junior Affairs   Maraisard

Legislative election
1795 French legislative election
12 and 21 October 1795
Turnout30,000 (0.5%)[2]
Party Leader % Seats ±
Thermidorian Paul Barras 42% 63
Clichy Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas 36% 54
Ultras Jean-Louis Gibert des Molières 22% 33
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
 Summary of the 12 and 21 October 1795 election results
Party Votes % Renewed seats Prior seats Tot. Seats
  Thermidorians 12,600 42% 63 179 242
  Moderate royalists 10,800 36% 54 19 73
  Ultra-royalists 6,600 22% 33 55 88
  Maraisards 389 200
  Montagnards 200 64
  Unknowns 83 83
Total 30,000[3] 100% 150 600 750
  • note: The diagram only shows the results of the renewed seats

References
  1. Georges Lefebvre (1984). La France sous le Directoire : 1795-1799. Messidor/Éditions sociales. p. 965.
  2. Godechot, Jacques (1977). Hachette (ed.). La vie quotidienne en France sous le Directoire. pp. 190–191.
  3. Denis Woronoff (1972). La République bourgeoise de Thermidor à Brumaire, 1794-1799. Seuil. p. 246.

Sources
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