472 Ch. 12 • The French Revolution

The return of high society during the Directory.

hair cut away from the back of their neck, mimicking the final haircut of

those about to be sent to the guillotine.

Under the Directory, the comforts of the wealthy, some of whom had

made their fortunes during the Revolution (by buying Church lands or sup­

plying the military), contrasted sharply with the deprivations of the poor.

The economy lay in shambles. The winter of 1795 was cruelly harsh. The

abolition of the Maximum spelled the end of cheap bread, which rose in

price by thirteen times that spring in Paris. The price of basic commodities

soared. Near Paris, people scrambled to eat the carcasses of dead army

horses, and in mountainous areas people searched for berries and edible

roots while trying to stay warm. Peasants suffered the military requisition of

food supplies.

Instability

The Directory may have ended the Terror, but it brought neither stability

nor peace to France, despite peace agreements concluded with Prussia in

April 1795. Prussia accepted the French annexation of the left bank of the

Rhine River, the Austrian Netherlands, and the Dutch United Provinces

(which became the ‘'Batavian Republic”). In the meantime, French armies

continued to press forward against the Austrian armies in Central Europe

and Italy. Mass desertion and heavy casualties drastically reduced the size