You're listening to an airwave media podcast.

Welcome to the Age of Napoleon.

Episode 24, to Destiny.

Thanks for joining me.

We left off last time at the end of 1795.

1796 would be the pivotal year of Napoleon's early career, so let's set up the action.

Bonaparte was in Paris and riding high. He'd recently been promoted to General of Division and was

serving as commander of the Army of the Interior, a politically sensitive position which

he'd parlaid into some serious patronage for his friends and family.

Napoleon's actions on 13 Vondemieur had saved the new constitution, and he was not shy about reaping the rewards.

So what was this new government Bonaparte had saved?

It's known to history as the directory. It would rule France for the next four years and would set the stage for the consulate, Bonaparte's first government.

So I think it's worth a look.

With apologies to our overseas listeners, I'll compare and contrast it a bit with the American

government.

And I'm not just being chauvinistic, the US Constitution is one of the few written in

this era that's still in force, albeit with a few modifications along the way.

The foundational document of the directory, the Constitution of Year 3, was ludicrously complicated.

You practically needed a law degree just to figure out how the government functioned.

And this was partially by design.

It was a very elitist authoritarian document.

It wasn't overtly anti-Democratic, but the voice of the people could be

...