Legislative elections were held in France between 9 and 16 April 1799 to elect one-third of the members of the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred () was the lower house of the legislature of the French First Republic under the Constitution of the Year III. It operated from 31 October 1795 to 9 November 1799 during the French Directory, Directory () period of t ...

and the Council of Ancients, the lower and upper houses of the legislature.

Background

Following the Coup of 11 May 1798 (22 Floréal year VI in the Republican calendar), the small

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

minority led by Generals Jean-Antoine Marbot and Jean-Baptiste Jourdan harassed the Directory, with the occasional support of directorial deputies exasperated by the encroachments of the executive. The opposition to the Jacobins continued to grow with the deteriorating situation of the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

. In Messidor, they managed to form a small coalition government, forming a majority in the Council of the Five Hundred to refuse to allow the Directory to complete the court of cessation, even if the Council of Elders voted in their prerogative. After the loss of Italy, the

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer, was accused of what would be considered

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

today and was brought before a commission of inquiry. It was on this occasion that Lucien Bonaparte asserted himself in the political scene as a leader of the opponents of the left, though not a devoted Jacobin. In this context, the Director did not dare to organize an election under the same pressure it had felt in the 1798 election. If the council was seen as promoting the election of candidates of the government, the policy of appeasement and peace could continue.

Results

During the electoral processes, 27 departments experienced splits from the 25 in the 1798 election, and the assemblies were less troubled than the last election. Participation in the election however, fell to just 11.5% of the national vote, against 20% of the vote in 1798. In

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

for instance, the vote fell from 30% to just 15%. Of the 79 members supported by the government, 43 are beaten. This also the case for the 39 of the 64 new official candidates for government. In addition, out of 44 candidates recommended by one or other directors, only 6 were elected. Unlike the 1798 elections, the Council validates majority assemblies in the departments which have experienced a split, except in Deux-Nèthes, where the elections are cancelled because the required turnout was not met. This "non-election" also occurs in

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

, where many irregularities were noted by the local assemblies. The 1799 elections ended with a massive victory for the left-wing republican Montagnards. However, the Royalist parties, the Clichy Club (moderate constitutionalists) and Ultra-Royalists (absolute monarchists) won almost half of the seats within the council. The Extreme Left Group (''Groupe de Extrême-Gauche'') also won their first group of seats in the election. The 1799 elections were the last parliamentary elections in France until May 1815.

References

{{French elections 1799 events of the French Revolution 18th-century elections in France French Directory Legislative elections in France