France Under the Directory

In a reaction against bloodshed and dictatorship, the National Convention wrote a new constitution, under which executive power would be held by a group of five known as the Directory. When the constitution went into effect in September, 1795, an uprising broke out in Paris. It was put down by troops under Napoleon Bonaparte, and elections were held.

In the continuing war with Austria and the Italian states, French armies won many victories. Napoleon conquered northern Italy. Austria and Sardinia signed peace treaties. A series of republics under French domination were created around France's borders. Napoleon occupied Egypt, but the French fleet was destroyed by the British at the Battle of the Nile (1798). Austria, Russia, Turkey, Naples, and Portugal then joined Great Britain in a coalition (the Second Coalition) against France.