Who were the Thermidorians?

The Thermidorians were the conspirators who overthrew Maximilien Robespierre and ended the Reign of Terror, before taking the French Revolution in a more conservative direction. They are named after Thermidor, the month in the French Republican calendar in which they came to power.

What happened in the Thermidorian Reaction?

The Thermidorian Reaction attempted to stabilize France after the Reign of Terror by purging Jacobins from positions of leadership and implementing conservative policies. This led to the brutal suppression of Jacobin ideology, including massacres, as well as a resurgence of free market capitalism and freedom of religion.

What caused the Thermidorian Reaction?

The Thermidorian Reaction was the response by conservative republicans to the excesses of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.

What came after the Thermidorian Reaction?

The Thermidorian Reaction was a 15-month period leading up to the rule of the French Directory, which in turn led to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Thermidorian Reaction Timeline

Definition

The Thermidorian Reaction refers to the period of the French Revolution (1789-1799) between the fall of Maximilien Robespierre on 27-28 July 1794 and the establishment of the French Directory on 2 November 1795. The Thermidorians abandoned radical Jacobin policies in favor of conservative ones, seeking the restoration of a stable constitutional government and economic liberalism.

More about: Thermidorian Reaction

Timeline

28 Jul 1794
Execution of Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon; end to the Terror, beginning of the Thermidorian Reaction.
29 Jul 1794
In Paris, 70 officials of the Paris Commune who had remained loyal to Robespierre are executed.
1 Aug 1794
The Thermidorians repeal the Law of Suspects and the Law of 22 Prairial, removing the justifications of the Reign of Terror.
12 Nov 1794
The Jacobin Club in Paris is attacked by muscadins; in response the National Convention orders it to be permanently closed and outlawed.
16 Dec 1794
Jacobin Jean-Baptiste Carrier is executed after a highly publicized trial.
21 Feb 1795
The Thermidorians reestablish freedom of worship in the French Revolution, officially ending the revolutionary Constitutional Church.
1 Apr 1795
The Insurrection of 12 Germinal, Year III against the Thermidorian regime fails.
10 Apr 1795 - 10 Jul 1795
The First White Terror sees the arrests of 90,000 Jacobins; 2,000 are slaughtered by lynch mobs or in prison massacres.
20 May 1795 - 21 May 1795
The failed Uprising of 1 Prairial sees the last serious attempt by the Jacobins and sans-culottes to regain power in the French Revolution.
2 Nov 1795
The French Directory is inaugurated.