It was the attempts of the Directory to deal with this economic crisis that gave Babeuf his real historic importance.
He left South Africa while the economic crisis was still acute and at a time when the voice of the critic was audible everywhere; but, in the words of the colonial secretary (Mr Alfred Lyttelton) he had in the eight eventful years of his administration "laid deep and strong the foundation upon which a united South Africa would arise to become one of the great states of the empire."
He acted ultra vires, but by his act saved Hungary from a severe economic crisis and retained for her the right to benefit by economic partnership with Austria until the expiry of the new treaties in 1917.
The economic crisis of the 14th century has its complement in the legal crisis of the 15th.
They were immediately confronted by an acute economic crisis.