The concept of was proposed several times as an administrative reform during the , notably by the of the of
Brittany, , in his (1775). An equivalent division between
departments and
communes, the district (), had been created in 1789 at the start of the
French Revolution, but abolished in 1795 by the
Directory and replaced with smaller
canton-level municipal governments covering several communes. They were recreated by the Consulate, which was also restoring the position of communes: article 1 of the
Constitution of the Year VIII (1799) provided for the division of the territory in departments and , both quickly organised by the Law of 28 Pluviôse Year VIII (17 February 1800). In certain periods in French history, have used in
legislative elections, especially during the
Third Republic. In 1926, 106 of them were abolished, the Poincaré–Sarraut reform. While it claimed it was to achieve fiscal savings, some political analysts considered the results electoral manipulation. Some of these suppressed arrondissements were restored in 1942.
Defunct local government Until 1940, had a council (), a
deliberative assembly placed alongside the subprefect. Its members () were originally appointed by the central government, then elected from 1833, in the same election as the department’s
general councils (by half every three years at the time). It was originally expected to represent local interests, especially in the distribution of public funds, and to act as a check on the sub-prefect, but remained
consultative and, despite receiving some legal powers in the early years, was never granted
legal personhood, unlike departments and communes; the legal execution of its decision fell on the general councils. This left councils little-known and long criticised as useless, and repeated proposals to abolish them were made over a century. They disappeared in 1940, actually suspended, alongside other councils, by the law of 12 October issued by the
government of Vichy France, but not revived in 1945, leaving them to disappear for good by
desuetude.
Changes The most recent creations and disestablishments of arrondissements are listed in the table below. ==Statistics==