What was the significance of the Thermidorian Reaction for revolutionary institutions?

• A. It dismantled many terror institutions (Revolutionary Tribunal, CPS's power) and moved France toward a more conservative rule under the Directory.
• B. It expanded Terror and strengthened CPS.
• C. It led to immediate universal suffrage.
• D. It re-established the monarchy.

Answer: (A)

The Thermidorian Reaction tests how a radical phase can be rolled back and replaced with a more stable, constitutional order. When Robespierre falls, the justification for the Terror—the centralized, emergency power used to pursue revolutionary goals—loses its legitimacy, and the institutions that sustained it begin to fray. The Revolutionary Tribunal loses influence and is gradually sidelined, and the power of the Committee of Public Safety is curbed. In short, the coercive machinery of the Terror is dismantled, and revolutionary institutions are pulled back from extreme measures toward moderation.

This upheaval clears the path for the Directory, established under the Constitution of Year III, which creates a five-person executive and a more conservative political framework. The government shifts away from the aggressive, radical action of the previous years and toward a bourgeois, property-protective order. The radical clubs and committees lose prominence, marking a turn away from universal revolutionary change and toward a slower, more controlled form of governance.