Histoire de la Révolution française, Tome 09

A political and military survey examines the Directory's situation in the winter of Year V, profiling the five directors and the rivalries that divide them, the mood of public opinion, royalist intrigues, and contested elections. It offers concise character studies contrasting Carnot's systematic firmness, Barras's volatile duplicity, Rewbell's administrative skill, Letourneur's compliant vanity, and Larévellière-Lépaux's honest moderation. Alongside internal politics, the narrative recounts recent French victories in Italy, the capture of key strongholds, and daring Alpine maneuvers that push power toward the Danube and Vienna, linking battlefield success to the regime's domestic authority.