The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to power as
First Consul
The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In the view of most
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
s, it ended the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and led to the
Coronation of Napoleon
Napoleon was crowned Emperor of the French on Sunday, December 2, 1804 (11 Frimaire, Year XIII according to the French Republican calendar), at Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris. It marked "the instantiation of hemodern empire" and was a "transpa ...
as
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. This bloodless ''
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
'' overthrew the
Directory
Directory may refer to:
* Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files
* Directory (OpenVMS command)
* Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...
, replacing it with the
French Consulate
The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...
. This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18
Brumaire
Brumaire () was the second month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the French word for fog, ''brume'', fog occurring frequently in France at that time of the year.
Brumaire was the second month of the autumn quarter ...
, Year VIII under the short-lived
French Republican calendar system
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...
.
Context
After
Habsburg-controlled Austria declared war on France on 12 March 1799, emergency measures were adopted and the pro-war
Jacobin
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
faction triumphed in the April election. With Napoleon and the republic's best army engaged in the
Egypt and Syria campaign, France suffered a series of reverses on the battlefield in the spring and summer of 1799. The
Coup of 30 Prairial VII
The Coup of 30 Prairial Year VII (''Coup d'État du 30 prairial an VII''), also known as the Revenge of the Councils (''revanche des conseils'') was a bloodless coup in France that occurred on 18 June 1799—30 Prairial Year VII by the French R ...
(18 June) ousted the Jacobins and left
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (3 May 174820 June 1836), usually known as the Abbé Sieyès (), was a French Roman Catholic '' abbé'', clergyman, and political writer who was the chief political theorist of the French Revolution (1789–1799); he also ...
, a member of the five-man ruling Directory, the dominant figure in the government. France's military situation improved following the
Second Battle of Zurich
The Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 September 1799) was a key victory by the Republican French army in Switzerland led by André Masséna over an Austrian and Russian force commanded by Alexander Korsakov near Zürich. It broke the stal ...
, fought on 25–26 September. As the prospect of invasion receded, the Jacobins feared a revival of the pro-peace
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
faction. When Napoleon returned to France on 9 October, both factions hailed him as the country's savior.
Dazzled by Napoleon's campaign in the Middle East, the public received him with an ardor that convinced Sieyès he had found the general indispensable to his planned coup. However, from the moment of his return, Napoleon plotted a coup within the coup, ultimately gaining power for himself rather than Sieyès.
Probably the weightiest possible obstacles to a coup were in the army. Some generals, such as
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...
, honestly believed in republicanism; others, such as
Jean Bernadotte
sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius
, spouse =
, issue = Oscar I of Sweden
, house = Bernadotte
, father = Henri Bernadotte
, mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Pau, ...
, believed themselves capable of governing France. Napoleon worked on the feelings of all, keeping secret his own intentions.
Before the coup, troops were conveniently deployed around
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The plan was, first, to persuade the Directors to resign, then, second, to get the
Council of Ancients
The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders (french: Conseil des Anciens) was the upper house of the French legislature under the Constitution of the Year III, during the period commonly known as the Directory (French: ''Directoire''), from ...
and the
Council of Five Hundred
The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...
(the upper and lower houses of the legislature) to appoint a pliant commission that would draw up a new constitution to the plotters' specifications.
Events of 18 Brumaire, Year VIII
On the morning of 18 Brumaire,
Lucien Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (born Luciano Buonaparte; 21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), was French politician and diplomat of the French Revolution and the Consulate. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1799 to 1800 ...
falsely persuaded the Councils that a Jacobin coup was at hand in Paris, and induced them to depart for the safety of the suburban
Château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. On the site of the former palace is the state-owned Parc de Saint-Cloud.
The château was expand ...
.
[Doyle, p.374.] Napoleon was charged with the safety of the two Councils and given command of all available local troops.
[Doyle, p. 375.]
Later that morning, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and
Roger Ducos
Pierre Roger Ducos (25 July 174716 March 1816), better known as Roger Ducos, was a French political figure during the Revolution and First Empire, a member of the National Convention, and of the Directory.
In the Revolution
Born in Montfort-en- ...
resigned as Directors. The now former 1797–1799 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (, ; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838), 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French clergyman, politician and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he became Agent-General of the ...
, a close ally of Napoleon, pressured Director
Paul Barras
Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras (, 30 June 1755 – 29 January 1829), commonly known as Paul Barras, was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795–1799.
Early ...
to do the same.
The resignation of three of the five Directors on day one of the coup prevented a
quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
and thus practically abolished the five-man Directory, but the two Jacobin Directors,
Louis-Jérôme Gohier
Louis-Jérôme Gohier (27 February 1746 – 29 May 1830) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period.
Louis-Jérôme Gohier was born in Semblançay, in the Indre-et-Loire department of France. The son of a notary, he practiced law i ...
and
Jean-François-Auguste Moulin
Jean-François-Auguste Moulin (; 14 March 1752 – 12 March 1810) was a general of the French Revolution and member of the French Directory. He had a long career as a military officer serving France in the Royal Army of King Louis XVI, the ...
, continued to protest furiously. Both men were arrested on day two by Napoleon's ally General
Jean Victor Marie Moreau
Jean Victor Marie Moreau (, 14 February 1763 – 2 September 1813) was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States.
Biography
Rise to fame
Moreau was born at Morla ...
, and by the following day, they were compelled to give up their resistance.
In contrast to the Directory, the two Councils were not yet intimidated and continued meeting.
Events of 19 Brumaire
By the following day, the deputies had for the most part realized that they were facing an attempted coup rather than being protected from a Jacobin rebellion. Faced with their refusal to submit, Napoleon stormed into the chambers, escorted by a small force of
grenadier
A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...
s. While perhaps unplanned, this proved to be the coup within the coup: from this point, this was a military affair.
Napoleon found the Ancients resistant "despite a massive show of military strength."
[ He was met with heckling as he addressed them with such "home truths" as, "the Republic has no government" and, most likely, "the Revolution is over." One deputy called out, "And the Constitution?" Napoleon replied, referring to earlier parliamentary coups, "The Constitution! You yourselves have destroyed it. You violated it on ]18 Fructidor
The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...
; you violated it on 22 Floreal; you violated it on 30 Prairial. It no longer has the respect of anyone."
Napoleon's reception by the Council of Five Hundred was even more hostile.[ His grenadiers entered just as the legality of Barras's resignation was being challenged by the Jacobins in the chamber. Upon entering, Napoleon was first jostled, then outright assaulted. By some accounts, he came close to fainting. It was not Napoleon himself, but his brother Lucien, president of the council, who called upon the grenadiers to defend their leader. Napoleon escaped, but only through the use of military force.
A motion was raised in the Council of Five Hundred to declare Napoleon an outlaw. At this point, Lucien Bonaparte apparently slipped out of the chamber and told the soldiers guarding the Councils that the majority of the Five Hundred were being terrorized by a group of deputies brandishing daggers. According to Michael Rapport, "He pointed to Napoleon's bloody, pallid face as proof; although at least one account mentions Napoleon scratching his own face in frustration and rage until he drew blood. Then, in a theatrical gesture, Lucien seized a sword and promised to plunge it through his own brother's heart if he were a traitor." Lucien ordered the troops to expel the violent deputies from the chamber.][ Grenadiers under the command of General ]Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
marched into the Orangerie and dispersed the council. This was effectively the end of the Directory.[
The Ancients passed a decree that adjourned the Councils for three months, appointed Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos provisional consuls, and named the ]Corps législatif
The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body.
History
The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a ''corps législatif''. ...
. Some tractable members of the Five Hundred, rounded up afterwards, served to give these measures the confirmation of their House. Thus the Directory and the Councils came to an end.
Aftermath
Completion of the coup
With the Council routed, the plotters convened two commissions, each consisting of twenty-five deputies from the two Councils. The plotters essentially intimidated the commissions into declaring a provisional government, the first form of the consulate with Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos as Consuls. The lack of reaction from the streets proved that the revolution was, indeed, over. "A shabby compound of brute force and imposture, the 18th Brumaire was nevertheless condoned, nay applauded, by the French nation. Weary of revolution, men sought no more than to be wisely and firmly governed." Resistance by Jacobin officeholders in the provinces was quickly crushed. Twenty Jacobin deputies were exiled, and others were arrested. The commissions then drew up the "short and obscure Constitution of the Year VIII
The Constitution of the Year VIII (french: Constitution de l'an VIII or french: Constitution du 22 frimaire an VIII) was a national constitution of France, adopted on 24 December 1799 (during Year VIII of the French Republican calendar), which ...
", the first of the constitutions since the Revolution without a Declaration of Rights.
Bonaparte thus completed his coup within a coup by the adoption of a constitution under which the First Consul, a position he was sure to hold, had greater power than the other two. In particular, he appointed the Senate and the Senate interpreted the constitution. The Sénat conservateur
The (from French language, French: "Conservative Senate") was an advisory body established in France during the French Consulate, Consulate following the French Revolution. It was established in 1799 under the Constitution of the Year VIII f ...
allowed him to rule by decree, so the more independent Conseil d'État and Tribunat
The was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII (the other three were the Council of State, the and the ). It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the . Its first president was the hi ...
were relegated to unimportant roles. It led ultimately to the rise of the First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
.
Reception by Karl Marx
In 1852, Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
wrote ''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon'' (german: italic=yes, Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Napoleon) is an essay written by Karl Marx between December 1851 and March 1852, and originally published in 1852 in ''Die Revolution'', a German mo ...
'' about a much later event, the coup d'état of 1851 against the
Second Republic by Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
, who was Napoleon's nephew. Marx considered Louis Napoleon a trifling politician compared to his world-conquering uncle, as expressed in Marx's oft-quoted opening ''bon mot
Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engl ...
'': "Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
References
Further reading
*
*
* Lefebvre, Georges. ''The French Revolution Volume II: from 1793 to 1799'' (1964) pp 252–56
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Military coups in France
1799 events of the French Revolution
French Republican calendar
1799 in France
Conflicts in 1799
18th-century coups d'état and coup attempts
French Consulate