Coup of 18 Brumaire

Coup of 18 Brumaire brought General Napoleon Bonaparte to power as the First Consul of France, effectively ending the French Revolution. It happened on November 9, 1799, which was the 18th month of the Mist (Brumaire), Year VIII in the French Republic calendar. The coup resulted in the formation of the First French Empire.

Background Coup of 18 Brumaire

Following Austria's declaration of war on France on March 12, 1799, emergency measures were implemented, and the pro-war Jacobins won the April elections. France suffered heavy battlefield losses in the spring and summer of 1799, with Napoleon and France's greatest army participating in the Egypt and Syria wars. The Jacobin group was deposed in the May 18 Coup. 6, which elevated Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, a member of the Directorate's Council of five members, to the position of the main figure in the administration.

After the Second Battle of Zurich on September 25–26, France's military condition improved. With the threat of invasion avoided the Jacobins worried about a Royalist revival. When Napoleon arrived in France on October 9, both factions welcomed him as the country's savior.

Before the coup, troops could simply be deployed throughout Paris. The idea was to first persuade members of the Board of Governors to quit and then to request that the Senate and the Council of Five Hundred (the upper and lower houses of the legislature, respectively) appoint a committee to draft a constitution in support of the coup.

Events of the 18th of the Mist, Year VIII

On the morning of the 18th of the Fog (18 Brumaire), Lucien Bonaparte persuaded the Council that the Jacobins were plotting a coup in Paris and led them to the "safe place" of Château de Saint-Cloud in the outskirts. Napoleon was granted command of the forces in possession and was responsible for the safety of both Councils.

Following this, Directors Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Roger Ducos resigned. Napoleon's close supporter, former Second Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, put pressure on Paul Barras to quit.

The resignation of three of the five members on the first day of the coup halted the number of delegates and has since resulted in the abolition of the five-man Council of Governors, but two Jacobin members, Louis-Jérôme Gohier and Jean-François-Auguste Moulin, continued to protest passionately. Jean Victor Marie Moreau arrested both of them on the second day and compelled them to abandon their protest the next day.

In contrast to the Council of Directoire, the Senate and House of Representatives were not threatened and continued to meet.

By the next day, most of the delegates realized that they were facing a targeted coup rather than being protected from a Jacobin uprising. Napoleon burst into the rooms with a group of soldiers, throwing small grenades. The Senate was extremely resistant "despite a massive display of military might." He was met with queries when he told them about "home truths" such as "the Republic has no government" and, most likely, "The Revolution is over." One asked: "And the Constitution?" Napoleon replied, referring to previous parliamentary coups, "The Constitution! You yourselves have destroyed it. You violated it on 18 Fructidor; you violated it on 22 Floreal; you violated it on 30 Prairial. It no longer has the respect of anyone."

The Council of Five Hundred was even more hostile. Napoleon's grenade throwers intervened just as the Jacobins were questioning Barras' resignation. Upon entering, Napoleon was first pinched, then attacked. According to other people, he nearly passed out. The president of the council, Napoleon's brother Lucien, ordered the soldiers to throw explosives to support their general. Napoleon was eventually able to escape, but only after resorting to military force.

A proposal was made in the Council of Five Hundred to declare Napoleon an outlaw. At this moment, Lucien Bonaparte exited the room and informed the soldiers guarding the Council that a group of delegates wielding daggers was threatening many of the Council of Five Hundred members. "He pointed to Napoleon's pale, bloody face as evidence," Michael Rapport writes. He then seized a sword and declared that if he were a villain, he would stab his own brother's heart. Lucien directed the troops to clear the room of the violent delegates. General Joachim Murat's grenade throwers entered the Orangerie and dispersed the council.

The Senate enacted a proclamation adjourning the Council for three months and appointing Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos as Corps législatif, or interim Consuls. Several members of the Council of Five Hundred contributed to the council's approval of these initiatives. The councils have subsequently been disbanded.

The End

Following the Councils' defeat, the masterminds formed two committees, each comprised of 25 representatives from the two Councils. The coup d'etats threatened the committees, forcing the proclamation of a provisional government, the first form of dictatorship with Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos as Consuls. "Despite being a heinous combination of force and injustice, the Coup of 18 Brumaire was not condemned but even welcomed." They were tired of the revolution and sought nothing more than leadership steadfast faith." The provinces' Jacobin officials' resistance was quickly crushed. Twenty Jacobin deputies were banished, while others were imprisoned. Subsequent committees produced the "short and obscure Constitution of Year VIII," the first of many without a Declaration of Rights since the Revolution.

Since then, Napoleon Bonaparte completed the coup within a coup by enacting a constitution that gives the First Consul, the position he was certain to occupy, more power than the other two. He appoints the Senate in particular, and the Senate interprets the Constitution. Because the conservative Sénat allowed him to rule by decree, the more independent Conseil d'État and Tribunal were reduced to minor positions. It eventually resulted in the establishment of the First French Empire.