<P> Only to the wage earners did the Maximum seem thoroughly advantageous . It increased wages by one - half in relation to 1790, and commodities by only one - third . But since the Committee did not ensure that it was respected (except for bread), they would have been duped had they not been benefiting from the favorable conditions that a great war always offers the labor force . Still Paris became calmer, because the sans - culottes were gradually finding ways to subsist; the levée en masse and the formation of the revolutionary army were thinning their ranks; many now were working in arms and equipment shops, or in the offices of the committees and ministries, which were expanded enormously . </P> <P> During the summer the requisition of the levy was completed and by July the total strength of the army reached 650,000 . The difficulties were tremendous . The war production just started in September . The army was in the middle of the purge . In the spring of 1794 the amalgamation was undertaken . Two battalions of volunteers joined one battalion of regulars to constitute a demi - brigade, or regiment . At the same time the command was reconstituted . The purge ended with most of the nobles excluded . The new generation reached the highest ranks, and the War College (Ecole de Mars) received six young men from each district to improve the staff . Army commanders were to be appointed by the Convention . </P> <P> What gradually emerged was a military command unequaled in quality: Marceau, Hoche, Kleber, Massena, Jourdan, and a host of others, backed by officers who were sound both in their abilities as soldiers and in their sense of civic responsibility . </P> <P> For the first time since antiquity a truly national army marched to war, and for the first time, too, a nation succeeded in arming and feeding great numbers of soldiers--these are the novel characteristics of the army of the Year II . The technical innovations resulted chiefly from its sheer size as well the strategy that developed from it . The old system of cordons lost its prestige . Moving between the armies of the Coalition, the French could maneuver along interior lines, deploy part of their troops along the frontiers, and take advantage of the inaction of any one of their enemies to beat the others . Acting en masse, and overwhelming the foe by sheer numbers--such were Carnot's principles . They were still untried, and not until Bonaparte appeared did they enjoy any great success . </P>

How did the new french government deal with crisis