Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815

by H. Morse Stephens

Results of the Campaigns.

The results of the campaigns of 1799 were decidedly favourable to France. Though Italy was lost, and more than one French army had been defeated, the victories of Masséna and of Brune more than compensated for these disasters. Not only had France not been invaded, but she had been able to retain her position in Switzerland and in Holland, and to hold the whole of the right bank of the Rhine. England, in spite of the Convention of Alkmaar, could point to the victory of the Nile and the capture of the Dutch fleet in the Texel as real successes, and Pitt and Grenville did not despair of ultimate victory. The King of Prussia, who, when the affairs of France seemed to be desperate, had begun to assume an attitude of opposition, and demanded the evacuation of the Prussian provinces on the Rhine, speedily repented of his indiscretion, and made excuses for his behaviour. The Austrian ministers evinced no desire to continue the war; they resented the high-handed conduct of Suvórov, and showed themselves more afraid of their powerful ally, Russia, than of their declared enemy, France. They implored the English government to bring about the withdrawal of the Russian troops, and the Emperor Paul was only too glad to comply. The retreat of the Russians left Italy practically in the hands of Austria. The Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany was restored to his dominions, but the King of Sardinia was not recalled, and Piedmont remained in the occupation of the Austrian troops. Genoa alone was held by a French garrison, which was closely besieged by the Austrians on the land side, and blockaded by the English Mediterranean fleet. It was under the influence of Austria and under the protection of Austrian troops that the Conclave met at Venice in November 1799 to elect a new Pope.

Russia.

The significant feature of the campaigns of 1799 was the intervention of Russia. Mention has been made of the abandonment of the policy of the great Catherine by her successor. This change in the attitude of Russia was due mainly to the influence of England, but partly to the encouragement given by the French Directory to the Poles. The restoration of Poland to its place among the nations had long been a favourite idea among French republicans. Kosciuszko had been enthusiastically welcomed at Paris, and the first of the Polish legions which were to do good service under Napoleon was raised by Dombrowski in 1797. The Emperor Paul had met this attitude by welcoming the pretender Louis XVIII. to Russia, where he lent him the palace of Mittau and gave him a considerable pension. He also took into Russian pay the armed corps of émigrés under the command of the Prince de Condé. But fear of French assistance to Poland would not alone have induced the Emperor Paul to declare war. He was particularly offended by the French occupation of the Ionian Islands and of Malta. By the Treaty of Campo-Formio the Ionian Islands had been ceded to France, and the Russians regarded this cession as an indication that the Directory was going to interfere actively in the affairs of the East. The bad impression created by the occupation of the Ionian Islands had been increased by the conquest of Malta and the expedition to Egypt. Though Russia quite intended to destroy the power of Turkey, she had no idea of allowing any western nation to share the spoils. It was for this reason that the Emperor Paul accepted the title of Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, which the expelled Knights of Malta offered to him, and that he occupied the Ionian Islands with a Russian force in 1798. The foreign policy of the Emperor was so far popular in Russia in that it maintained the sole right of Russia to interfere in the East, but it was unpopular in that it seemed by the despatch of the armies under Suvórov and Korsakov to bolster up the power of Austria. Suvórov and his officers returned to Russia with a feeling of respect for their enemies, but with a feeling of intense disgust at the behaviour of their allies. Suvórov, indeed, went so far as to accuse the Austrians of playing the part of traitors, and the anger of Paul was raised to its height by the capture of Ancona, which was delivered by a secret compact to the Austrian general in spite of the assistance of Russian troops. He was equally angry with England on account of the failure of the expedition to Holland. Every thing at the close of 1799 conduced to make the Emperor Paul seek for a pretext to make peace, if not an actual alliance, with the French Republic.

Campaign in Syria. 1799.

While these important campaigns were being fought out in Europe, Bonaparte had not been idle in the East. The Battle of the Pyramids had made him master of Egypt, and though cut off by the English fleet from communication with France, he remained master of the country. His internal administration made him excessively popular among the Egyptians. He removed the Turks and Mamelukes from office, and called on the Egyptians to govern themselves. But the Turks did not intend to lose Egypt without striking another blow, and a powerful army was sent for its reconquest. Bonaparte determined to meet this army half way, and in February 1799 he advanced into Syria. He speedily reduced Palestine and took Jaffa, and then laid siege to the strong fortress of Acre. Assisted by the English sailors of Sir Sidney Smith, the garrison of Acre made a gallant defence. The Turkish army advancing to its relief was defeated by Bonaparte at Mount Tabor on the 16th of April. In spite of his victory, he had, nevertheless, to abandon the siege of Acre, and on the 20th of May he commenced his retreat to Egypt. He there found the position to be extremely critical. The Mamelukes had reorganised their army and reoccupied Cairo, and a Turkish army had been disembarked by the English fleet at Aboukir. Meanwhile Desaix, whom he had left in command in Egypt, had gone up the Nile for the conquest of the interior. Bonaparte soon re-established his power; he defeated the Mamelukes at Cairo, and drove the Turkish army into the sea. At this juncture he heard the news of the events of the campaigns in Europe, and, what affected him more, of the course of politics at Paris. He determined, therefore, to return to France, and leaving Kléber in command in Egypt, he set sail with a few personal friends. The ship on which he embarked escaped the English cruisers, and he landed at Fréjus on the 9th of October 1799 after a perilous voyage of forty-seven days.

Quarrel between the Councils and the Directory.

The varying issues of the campaigns of 1799 had profoundly affected the situation of the Directors, and the disasters in Italy had turned the hopes both of the army and of the French people towards Bonaparte. At the annual change in the composition of the Directory and the Councils which took place in 1799 a considerable alteration had been made. The new third of the Councils consisted almost entirely of men who, without being either Jacobins or Clichians, longed to see the establishment of a strong government in order to secure peace. The Directory, which had seemed so strong after the revolution of the 18th of Fructidor, had been considerably weakened by the behaviour of the Directors themselves. The election of none but civilians to the highest offices in the State was disliked by the army, and the characters of the Directors themselves had suffered. Reubell was the Director designed by lot to retire in May 1799; he was perhaps the ablest and most experienced of them all, but had been discredited by the bad conduct of his relative, Rapinat, in Switzerland. Sieyès was elected to succeed Reubell. This choice, and the acceptance of Sieyès, testified to a new condition of affairs. The former abbé might have been a Director on at least two former occasions, in 1795 and 1798, and his acceptance at this juncture was very significant. He had failed in his embassy to Berlin to induce the new King of Prussia to become the active ally of France, and had been convinced by his diplomatic experiences that the government of France must become frankly military, since the monarchical powers of Europe would not accept the possibility of a peaceable French Republic. From an internal point of view the acceptance of Sieyès indicated an increase of power for the Legislature, of which he was the idol.

Coup d’état of 30th Prairial (18th June 1799).

The election of Sieyès was followed by a bloodless revolution. He maintained that the failure of the Constitution of the Year III. was due to the usurpation of the functions of the Legislature by the Directory, and, therefore, when the Councils declared Treilhard and Merlin of Douai to have been illegally chosen Directors, and called for the resignation of Revellière-Lépeaux, they found a powerful ally in Sieyès. The attacked Directors yielded without a struggle, and on 30th Prairial, Year VII. (18th June 1799), they were replaced by three personal friends of Sieyès, Gohier, Roger Ducos, and General Moulin. Barras was thus the only member left of the original Directory. The Councils, not satisfied with this victory, began to usurp the executive functions of the Directory, and a general change of ministry took place. The new ministers were Reinhard, Robert Lindet, Cambacérès, Quinette, Bernadotte, replaced on 14th September by Dubois-Crancé, Fouché, and Bourdon de Vatry, who succeeded Talleyrand and his colleagues as Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Finances, Justice, the Interior, War, Police, and the Marine respectively. It is worthy of note that four of the new ministers were formerly leading members of the Convention. But the administration of the Councils was not more effective than that of the Directory, and the news of the disembarkation of Bonaparte at Fréjus was received with a feeling of general satisfaction throughout France.