Directory (France)

Directory (France) (French Directoire), executive branch of the Republican government of France, established in 1795 in accordance with the constitution promulgated by the National Convention. The Directory, consisting of five members elected by both houses of the legislature, was in power from October 1795 to November 1799. In rotation, each of the directors held the presidency for a 3-month interval, and one director was replaced each year. Among those who served on the Directory were Vicomte de Barras, Lazare Carnot, Joseph Fouché, and Comte Emmanuel Sieyès. As a result of incompetence and corruption within the Directory, the finances of the government became so strained that early in 1796 a proclamation of bankruptcy was issued. The Directory thereupon sought to restore financial security by means of military conquest abroad, and appointed Napoleon Bonaparte, who earlier had facilitated the Directory's installation, to command the French armies in Italy. Napoleon subsequently won a series of victories that augmented his own power and prestige, while the Directory itself was waning in influence at home. In 1799 a combination of military reverses abroad and the increasing number of counterrevolutionary uprisings at home weakened the authority of the Directory so greatly that, on November 9, Napoleon was able to seize power with little opposition. This action, which brought the Directory to an end, is known as the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire, the date according to the Republican calendar proclaimed in 1792.