Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras

Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras (June 30, 1755 - 1829) was a French revolutionary and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795 - 1799. June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... Events January 25 - Moscow University established. ... Events January 8 - Hanging of body-selling murderer William Burke - his associate William Hare, who testified against him, is released January 19 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Faust premieres March 4 - Andrew Jackson succeeds John Quincy Adams as the President of the United States of America. ... The Directory (in French Directoire) held executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799 - from the end of the Convention to the beginning of the Consulate. ... Events January 16 - French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Descended from a noble family of Provence, he was born at Fox-Amphoux, in today's Var département. At the age of sixteen he entered the regiment of Languedoc as "gentleman cadet", but embarked for India in 1776. After an adventurous voyage he reached Pondicherry and shared in the defence of that city, which ended in its capitulation to the British on 18 October 1778. On the release of the garrison, Barras returned to France. After taking part in a second expedition to the East Indies in 1782 - 1783, he left the army and occupied the following years with the frivolities congenial to his class and to his nature. Provence is a former province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Frances border with Italy. ... Var is a département of southern France. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... Coat of arms of the province of Languedoc, now being used as an official flag by the Midi-Pyrénees region as well as by the city of Toulouse Languedoc (Lengadòc in Occitan) is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc... The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish hombre gentil, and the Italian gentil huomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English-Latin... This article refers to the general definition of cadet. ... The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. ... This article is about the year 1776. ... Pondicherry (पॉंडिचेरी in Hindi), currently undergoing a name change to Puduchery, is the name of a union territory and its capital in the south of India. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... Events The term Thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick . ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The Indies, on the display globe of the Field Museum, Chicago The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term used to describe lands of South and South-East Asia, occupying all of the former British India, the present Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and... Events January 7 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America). ... Events February 3 - Spain recognizes United States independence. ...

At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, he espoused the democratic cause, and became one of the administrators of the département of the Var. In June 1792 he took his seat in the high national court at Orléans; and later in that year, on the outbreak of war with the kingdom of Sardinia, he became commissioner to the French army of Italy, and entered the National Convention (the third of the national assemblies of France) as a deputy for the département of the Var. In January 1793 he voted with the majority for the death of Louis XVI. Much of his time, however, was spent in missions to the districts of the south-east of France; and in this way he made the acquaintance of Bonaparte at the siege of Toulon. As an example of the incorrectness of the Barras Memoirs we may note that the writer assigned 30,000 men to the royalist defending force, whereas it had fewer than 12,000; he also sought to minimize the share taken by Bonaparte in the capture of that city. The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... Var is a département of southern France. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about Orléans, France; for other meanings see Orleans (disambiguation). ... Sardinia (Sardigna, Sardinna or Sardinnia in the Sardinian language, Sardegna in Italian, Sardenya in Catalan), is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy, France and Tunisia, south of Corsica. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... This article is about a legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Louis XVI Louis XVI (August 23, 1754 - January 21, 1793), was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French in 1791-1792. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français...

In 1794 Barras sided with the men who sought to overthrow the Robespierre faction, and their success in the coup d'état of Thermidor (27 July 1794) brought him almost to the front rank. In the next year, when the Convention felt threatened by the malcontent National Guards of Paris, it appointed Barras to command the troops engaged in its defence. His nomination of Bonaparte led to the adoption of vigorous measures, which ensured the dispersion of the royalists and malcontents in the streets near the Tuileries, 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795). Thereupon Barras became one of the five Directors who controlled the executive of the French republic. Events February 11 - 1st session of the United States Senate is open to the public. ... Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre, (May 6, 1758–July 28, 1794), known also to his contemporaries as the Incorruptible, is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... Thermidor was the eleventh month in the French Revolutionary Calendar, which was used only in France and only for thirteen years. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... Events February 11 - 1st session of the United States Senate is open to the public. ... The noun or adjective, Royalist, can have several shades of meaning. ... Up to 1871 the Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... Events January 16 - French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands. ... The Directory (in French Directoire) held executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799 - from the end of the Convention to the beginning of the Consulate. ...

James Gillray's caricature of 1805. Barras being entertained by the naked dancing of two wives of prominent men, Tallien and Bonaparte

Owing to his intimate relations with Josephine de Beauharnais, Barras helped to facilitate a marriage between her and Bonaparte; and many have averred, though on defective evidence, that Barras procured the appointment of Bonaparte to the command of the army of Italy early in the year 1796. The achievements of Bonaparte gave to the Directory a stability which it would not otherwise have enjoyed; and when in the summer of 1797 the royalist and constitutional opposition again gathered strength, Bonaparte sent General Augereau, a headstrong Jacobin, forcibly to repress that movement by what was known as the coup d'état of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797). Among the men of the Revolution few did more than Barras to degrade that movement. His immorality in both public and private life was notorious and contributed in no small degree to the downfall of the Directory, and with it of the first French Republic. Bonaparte had no difficulty in overthrowing it by the coup d'état of 18 - 19 Brumaire (9 - 10 November 1799). Download high resolution version (969x663, 75 KB) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (969x663, 75 KB) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Thérésa Tallien (1773 - 1835) was a figure of the French Revolution. ... Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress Joséphine Joséphine de Beauharnais (June 23, 1763 - May 29, 1814) was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and became Empress of France. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... In the context of the French Revolution, a Jacobin originally meant a member of the Jacobin Club (1789-1794). ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Barras saw the need of a change and was to some extent (how far will perhaps never be known) an accomplice in Bonaparte's designs, though he did not suspect the power and ambition of their contriver. He was left on one side by the three Consuls who took the place of the five Directors and found his political career at an end. He had amassed a large fortune and spent his later years in voluptuous ease. The Consulate marks a period of French constitutional history between 1799 and 1804 - from the fall of the Directory to the start of the Napoleonic Empire. ...

Despite his profession of royalism in and after 1815, he remained more-or-less suspect to the Bourbons. On his death it was with some difficulty that the notes for his memoirs were saved from seizure. The noun or adjective, Royalist, can have several shades of meaning. ... 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section should include material from France: Wars of Religion _ Bourbon Dynasty The House of Bourbon dates from at least the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord, vassal of France. ...

Paul Barras died on January 29, 1829 and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France. January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 8 - Hanging of body-selling murderer William Burke - his associate William Hare, who testified against him, is released January 19 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Faust premieres March 4 - Andrew Jackson succeeds John Quincy Adams as the President of the United States of America. ... The Cimetière du Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris, and one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...