Editing French First Republic (section)

==Directory (1795–1799)==
{{main|French Directory}}
After the arrest and execution of [[Robespierre]] on 28 July 1794, the [[Jacobin club]] was closed, and the surviving [[Girondins]] were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the [[Constitution of the Year III]]. They reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body.

On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established. Under this system, France was led by a bicameral Parliament, consisting of an upper chamber called the [[Council of Ancients|Council of Elders]] (with 250 members) and a lower chamber called the [[Council of Five Hundred]] (with, accordingly, 500 members), and a collective Executive of five members called the Directory (from which the historical period gets its name). Due to internal instability, caused by [[Hyperinflation#France|hyperinflation]] of the paper monies ("[[Assignats]]"),<ref>{{Cite web |title=J.E. Sandrock: "Bank notes of the French Revolution" and First Republic |url=http://www.thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/BankNotesoftheFrenchRevolutionPartII.pdf |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-date=8 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208193306/http://thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/BankNotesoftheFrenchRevolutionPartII.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and French military disasters in 1798 and 1799, the Directory lasted only four years, until overthrown in 1799.{{Citation needed|date = September 2015}}