66 Structure of the Directory
22.5.6: Structure of the Directory
The Directory, a five-member committee that governed France from November 1795 to November 1799, failed to reform the disastrous economy, relied heavily on army and violence, and represented another turn towards dictatorship during the French Revolution.
Learning Objective
Explain the structure and role of the Directory
Key Points
- The Constitution of 1795 created the Directory with a bicameral legislature consisting of the Council of Five Hundred (lower house) and the Council of Ancients (upper house). Besides functioning as legislative bodies, the Council of Five Hundred proposed the list from which the Council of Ancients chose five directors who jointly held executive power. The new Constitution sought to create a separation of powers, but in reality power was in the hands of the five members of the Directory.
- In October 1795, the elections for the new Councils decreed by the new constitution took place, with the universal male suffrage of 1793 replaced by limited suffrage based on property. 379 members of the National Convention, for the most part moderate republicans, were elected to the new legislature. To assure that the Directory did not abandon the Revolution entirely, the Council required all members of the Directory to be former members of the Convention and regicides, those who had voted for the execution of Louis XVI.
- On October 31, 1795, the members of the Council of Five Hundred submitted a list of candidates to the Council of Ancients, which chose the first Directory. Only one out of the five original members served on the Directory throughout its entire existence.
- State finances were in total disarray. The government could only cover its expenses through the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. The Directory was continually at war with foreign coalitions. The wars exhausted the state budget but if peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside.
- The Directory denounced the arbitrary executions of the Reign of Terror, but it also engaged in large-scale illegal repressions and even massacres of civilians. Although committed to republicanism, it distrusted the existing, albeit limited, democracy. It also increasingly depended on the Army in foreign and domestic affairs, including finance. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity.
- On November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire of the Year VIII), Napoleon Bonaparte staged the Coup of 18 Brumaire which installed the Consulate. This effectively led to Bonaparte’s dictatorship and in 1804 to his proclamation as emperor, which ended the specifically republican phase of the French Revolution.
Key Terms
- The Directory
- A five-member committee that governed France from No