From a military point of view, apart from the intrinsic interest presented by the operations of the armies, the chief importance of the campaign of 1796 in Germany lay in the fact that it occupied a considerable force of Austrian troops, which were thus prevented from being sent as reinforcements to the Austrian army in Italy. From the diplomatic point of view, the campaign had results almost rivalling those achieved by Bonaparte in Italy. The advance of the French threw the states of Southern Germany into the hands of Prussia. They felt a natural sentiment of jealousy at perceiving the states of Northern Germany escaping the horrors of war, owing to the line of demarcation established by the Treaty of Basle. Many of the smaller states, and at least one of the larger states, Saxony, implored the intervention of Prussia. Frederick William II., only too glad to pose as the guardian of the Empire, made use of all his influence to induce the French Directory to consent to the further extension of the line of demarcation. Reubell, the Director who took charge of foreign policy, was possessed by the idea that Prussia and France were natural allies, and induced the Directory to meet the views of Frederick William II.; but in return he demanded that Prussia should enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with the French Republic. The King of Prussia, in his hatred of Jacobin principles, was inclined to reject this proposal, but his ministers, notably Haugwitz and Alvensleben, persuaded him that it was impossible to refuse entirely. A compromise was arranged, and on 5th August 1796 a secret supplement to the Treaty of Basle was signed between France and Prussia. By this secret convention Prussia definitely promised to recognise the limits of the Rhine for the French Republic, and in return France guaranteed that at a general peace not only the King of Prussia should receive compensation for the territories he surrendered, by the cession of some ecclesiastical states, but also that his brother-in-law, the Prince of Orange, should receive a sovereignty in Germany, to make up for the loss of the Stadtholderate in Holland. It proved impossible to extend the line of demarcation to the southern states of Germany as long as the Austrian army of the Archduke Charles remained there. And therefore the petty rulers endeavoured to make peace with France on their own account. The Duke of Würtemburg and the Margrave of Baden both opened negotiations, and since the Elector of Bavaria had fled into Saxony on the advance of Moreau, the Estates of Bavaria signed a treaty of peace with the French general at Pfaffenhofen on the 7th September 1796. But the successes of the Archduke Charles and the retreat of Moreau put an end to these peaceful dispositions. The Elector of Bavaria refused to ratify the treaty his Estates had made; the Duke of Würtemburg dismissed the minister who had conducted his negotiations; and in spite of all the efforts of Prussia, the predominance of Austria continued in Southern Germany.

The successes of Bonaparte in Italy, and the operations of the French armies in Germany which, though they had ended in retreat, had not been discreditable to the generals or soldiers, reacted very favourably upon the position of the Directory. The French, as a nation, have always been dazzled by military glory, and since the armies of the Directory were victorious, they were inclined to look upon the government of the Directory as excellent. But military successes did not merely add to the reputation of the Directors; by means of them their financial difficulties were relieved. The doctrine that invading armies should live upon the resources of the invaded countries was a most convenient one. Not only did the armies in Italy and Germany maintain themselves free of cost to the Directory, but the generals sent large sums of money to Paris. It was therefore unnecessary to impose fresh taxes or issue more paper money. But the relief of financial distress was not the only result of the government of the Directory in 1796; it restored internal peace. Hoche, after his defeat of the émigrés at Quiberon Bay in 1795, devoted himself to the pacification of Brittany and La Vendée. The chief credit due to the Directors is that they gave the young general a free hand. While putting down armed insurrection, and defeating the Vendéan chiefs whenever they appeared, Hoche used the most conciliatory measures towards individuals. His policy, as he himself declared in one of his proclamations, was to make the Republic loved. While punishing brigandage severely, he conveniently forgot all past offences as long as the offenders occupied themselves peacefully; and on the 15th of July 1796 the Directory was able to announce to the Legislature that the whole of France was at peace. In truth, all political disturbances were at an end. The majority of the French people frankly accepted the Republic, and seemed to care very little what was the actual form of the republican government. But though political disturbances were over, the troubled times through which France had passed had left only too much scope for private animosity. In the south armed bands, resembling the Companies of Jehu of 1795, pretended to be acting for the defence of religion, when they were really moved by desire of plunder and booty. In the centre the pretext of religion was not alleged, but armed bands of brigands collected in the forests and the mountains, and, like the banditti in Italy, pillaged travellers on the high roads, and held whole villages to ransom. These evils steadily diminished with the consistent enforcement of the law, but it was some years before France became absolutely safe for travellers. Of less importance were the insurrections fomented by the extreme democratic party. Democracy was discredited by the recollection of the Reign of Terror, and the plot of Babeuf in May, and an attack on the camp at Grenelle in November 1796, were easily suppressed.

By the terms of the Constitution of the Year III. no change in the Directory or the Legislature was to be made until February 1797. By this arrangement a period of consistent government was secured. The Directors, on the whole, acted harmoniously together. The pre-eminence of Reubell and Carnot was generally recognised; Barras occupied himself chiefly with his pleasures; Revellière-Lépeaux was engaged in establishing his new religion of Theo-philanthropy, which made some converts in the towns, but found no followers in the villages; and Letourneur simply acted as Carnot’s lieutenant. In the Legislature the chief leaders, such as Sieyès, Cambacérès, and Boissy-d’Anglas, showed occasionally their jealousy of their former colleagues in the Convention; but, on the whole, they did not try to interfere with their measures. The only heated debates which took place in the Council of Five Hundred were on the nature of the disturbances in the south of France. These were roundly asserted by the opposing parties to be caused by intrigues of priests, or by intrigues of Jacobins. Fréron, who had been sent by the Directory to settle these troubles, was very violently attacked, and with difficulty exculpated himself from the charge of political partisanship. But, on the whole, the debates in both branches of the Legislature were very tame. Nevertheless there appeared, during 1796, the germ of what in 1797 was known as the Clichian party, so called from its meeting at the Club de Clichy. This party was not openly royalist, but the chiefs of the French émigrés, supported by the funds supplied by Wickham, believed they could use it to serve their own purposes, as they had made use of the agitators in the Paris Sections in 1795. In the ministry no changes of great importance were made in 1796; Ramel, the former colleague of Cambon in the Financial Committee of the Convention, replaced Faypoult as Minister of the Finances; and Pétiet, a former commissary-general, was appointed Minister of War in succession to Aubert-Dubayet. Of more importance was the creation of a seventh ministry, of General Police, in January 1796, for it was an evidence of a new spirit, and the first symptom of the elaborate scheme for muzzling public opinion, which was developed to its height by Fouché at a later date. Merlin of Douai left the Ministry of the Interior for three months to organise the new department, and was succeeded in April 1796 by Cochon de Lapparent, a former member of the Convention.

It has been said that the Directors endeavoured in vain to form an offensive and defensive alliance with Prussia. They were more successful with regard to Spain. The power of Godoy, who for the negotiations at Basle had been created Prince of the Peace, rose to its height. General Pérignon, who had been sent as ambassador to Madrid by the Directory, skilfully flattered the vanity of the new prince, and, to the astonishment of all Europe, an offensive and defensive alliance was signed between the French Republic and the ancient Bourbon monarchy of Spain at San Ildefonso, on the 19th of August 1796, by which Spain agreed to declare war against England, and the French promised to assist in the conquest of Portugal, which was to be divided between the two allies. From a military point of view the alliance with Spain did not yield any advantage to France, but from a naval standpoint it proved of incalculable value. The English were obliged to abandon Corsica, their only foothold in the Mediterranean, and to concentrate their fleet at Gibraltar. The Spanish navy, to which much attention had been paid throughout the eighteenth century, had certainly improved, and, united with a few French men-of-war, far outnumbered the English Mediterranean Fleet. This was the year of the great English naval mutiny at the Nore, and the profound discontent which possessed the English sailors was equally perceptible at Gibraltar. But fortunately the English admiral, Sir John Jervis, was a man of singular ability, who understood the English sailor perfectly. He showed no mercy to ringleaders, but maintained discipline, and even made it popular by looking after the men’s food, and appealing to their patriotic feelings. He understood that, on the eve of a battle, the sailors would cease their disaffection. Accordingly he kept at sea for several months after the junction of the French and Spanish fleets, announcing his intention to offer battle; and when discipline was restored he utterly defeated the French and Spaniards off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14th of February 1797. By this victory, in which Nelson greatly distinguished himself, the Spanish fleet was practically destroyed for offensive purposes, and the high hopes that the Directory had built on the naval assistance of Spain were frustrated. England had promptly, as in former days, come to the help of Portugal, and sent an army under the Hon. Sir Charles Stuart to defend the country, and a general, the Prince of Waldeck, to reorganise the Portuguese army.

While the Directory made an alliance with Spain, and hoped to make one with Prussia, its sentiments of hostility towards England remained undiminished. It had been expected in France that the conquest of Holland and the formation of the Batavian Republic, in close alliance with the French Republic, would have struck a more serious blow at the prosperity of England than it had really done. As a matter of fact, the loss of Holland proved but a slight commercial disaster; the commerce of the North of Europe, which passed through English hands, merely moved from Amsterdam to Hamburg, and the English merchants suffered little. From a naval point of view, the French possession of Holland made it necessary for England to set on foot a powerful fleet to watch the Dutch navy in the Texel, while she also had to maintain a fleet blockading the French port of Brest in addition to her Mediterranean fleet. The English government was more profoundly affected by Bonaparte’s victories in Italy than by the loss of Holland. In November 1796 Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to discuss the bases of a peace. He began to negotiate for the restoration of the status quo ante bellum, and demanded the surrender of Belgium to the Emperor. Such terms were ridiculous; the French Directors, even had they wished, would not have dared to withdraw from their policy of making the Rhine the frontier of France. The diplomatic habitudes of Lord Malmesbury were regarded by the Directors as proofs of his double-dealing, and he was abruptly ordered to leave Paris on the 20th December 1796. There was little real expectation of peace on either side. At the very time Lord Malmesbury was in Paris the Directory was preparing a naval expedition in Brest harbour. It was announced that the expedition was intended for the West Indies, and it was placed under the command of Hoche. On the 16th of December it set sail for Bantry Bay, for the Directory had really recurred to the old French idea of attacking England through Ireland. But a terrible storm scattered the French Fleet, and only two or three ships reached Bantry Bay, and they returned to France without effecting a landing.

Though the history of Europe during the year 1796 is chiefly bound up in the policy and military achievements of France, the close of the year witnessed the disappearance of the greatest monarch of Eastern Europe. On the 17th November 1796, Catherine of Russia died. The importance of her reign belongs to the period prior to the French Revolution, and her attitude towards the series of events grouped under that title, was chiefly dictated by the course of events in Poland. She was succeeded on the throne of Russia by her son, the Emperor Paul. The new monarch soon gave evidence of the aberration of intellect which led him into the strange excesses that brought about his assassination. His first step in foreign politics was to decline to assist Austria with his armies, and he even withdrew a Russian fleet which his mother had recently sent to the assistance of England. In conversation he expressed his detestation of the French as Jacobins, but none the less he opened negotiations with the Directory by means of his ambassador at Berlin, Kolichev, who communicated freely with the French ambassador Caillard.

In the commencement of the year 1797 the interest of Europe was concentrated upon Bonaparte and his army. Being master of Italy he now determined to invade the home domains of the House of Austria. He begged the Directory to act with energy in Germany in order to prevent reinforcements being sent against him. The Emperor recalled his brother, the Archduke Charles, from the Rhine, and placed in him command of the Austrian army in the Tyrol. On the 16th of March 1797 Bonaparte forced the passage of Tagliamento. Joubert, who was acting independently in the district of Friuli, made his way by that route into the Tyrol, and joined his general-in-chief at Klagenfurt on the 13th of March. With the combined army Bonaparte pursued the Austrians. He defeated the Archduke Charles at Neumarkt and Unzmarkt, and on 7th April he entered Leoben. The Archduke Charles felt it impossible to oppose the French longer, and on the 17th of April 1797 preliminaries of peace were signed at Leoben.

Simultaneously with Bonaparte’s advance the Armies of the Rhine-and-Moselle under Moreau, and of the Sambre-and-Meuse under Hoche, were set in motion. The latter advanced from Düsseldorf, defeated the Austrians in five engagements, took Wetzlar, and was already marching on Giessen in Hanover when his progress was stopped by the news of the signature of the Preliminaries of Leoben. Moreau, on his side, had not been able to cross the Rhine until 20th April, and had made no further offensive movement, when he was ordered to cease operations.

By the Preliminaries of Leoben the war between France and Austria, which had lasted without intermission for five years, came to a termination. By the Convention signed at that place, Austria agreed that the Rhine should be recognised as the frontier of France, which involved the cession of Belgium. In Italy the Emperor promised to give up the Milanese, and to receive Venice in compensation. These were the territorial bases agreed to, and General Bonaparte was intrusted by the Directory with the task of concluding a definitive peace with Austria. But this Convention only bound Francis II. as head of the House of Hapsburg, not as Emperor. It was therefore agreed that a congress should be held at Rastadt, at which terms of peace should be arranged between the French Republic and the Empire. The Preliminaries of Leoben crowned Bonaparte’s great victories, and the monarchs of Europe quickly recognised that they had no longer to deal with the French Republic, but with the young Corsican general.