THE DIRECTORY (1795-1799) AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE REPUBLIC INTO A
MILITARY DICTATORSHIP
[Sidenote: Constitution of the Year III, the Constitution of the First
French Republic]
[Sidenote: The Directory]
The constitution of the first French Republic was drawn up by the
National Convention during the last year of its session and after it
had passed under bourgeois influence. This constitution which went into
effect in 1795 and is known, therefore, as the Constitution of the Year
III (of the Republic), intrusted the legislative power to two chambers,
chosen by indirect election,--a lower house of five hundred members, to
propose laws, and a Council of Ancients, of two hundred and fifty
members, to examine and enact the laws. The bourgeois distrust of the
lower classes showed itself again in restricting the electorate to
taxpayers who had lived at least a year in one place. The executive
authority of the republic was vested in a board of five members, styled
Directors, and elected by the legislature, one retiring every year.
Pages:
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093