# Constitution of Year III (1795)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1795-constitution-of-year-iii
Location: France
Categories: main-event

A new constitution created a bicameral legislature and five-man Directory. Within the broader French Revolution period, The Revolution dismantled legal privilege and absolute monarchy, declared new rights and created a republic. War, popular mobilization, civil conflict and political terror repeatedly transformed the revolutionary state. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is National Convention (Collective head of the French Republic). Constitution of Year III mattered because it changed the legal or constitutional framework within which French institutions and citizens operated. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
Constitution of Year III mattered because it changed the legal or constitutional framework within which French institutions and citizens operated.

Ruler at the time: [French Directory](https://history-france.com/rulers/french-directory)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Constitution of Year III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Constitution+of+Year+III&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Constitution of Year III](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Constitution+of+Year+III)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)