In France, the coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire (Year VIII, November 9, 1799) by Napoleon Bonaparte marked the end of the Directory and the French Revolution, and the beginning of the Consulate.
Description
The coup was formed in the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, rue Chantereine in Paris, approximately at the location between the current rue de la Victoire and the rue de Châteaudun.
The plan of the coup d'etat provides for the following operations:Bonaparte will have the command in chief of the army for the maintenance of order in Paris and in the assemblies. It is planned to move the assemblies to Saint-Cloud under the pretext of a Jacobin danger. Indeed, since 1789, the assemblies have always been under threat from the Parisian population. By moving the assemblies, we ensure that the Parisian population cannot intervene. Paris is closed and under the control of the police, any entry or exit is prohibited. Most of the events took place on 19 Brumaire Year VIII (November 10, 1799) in Saint-Cloud. The revisionists had considered a collective resignation of the deputies of the Council of Five Hundred but the assemblies are late because this idea is not unanimous; in particular two Jacobins refuse to resign. Bonaparte grew impatient and decided to intervene.
Preparations for the coup by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
Sieyès wishes to overthrow the Constitution of Year III. As this could only be revised after 9 years, he had to imagine a coup d'etat. For this, he uses the complicity of the Council of Elders on the pretext of an uprising threatening the lives of the deputies, and forcing them to move to Saint-Cloud. He also needed military support, which he found with Napoleon Bonaparte, who would command the troops in Paris as well as guard the legislative body. Then, the Directory had to collapse to allow the drafting of a new Constitution. Sieyès, Roger Ducos and Barras resign, and the two other directors, Moulin and Goyer, are placed under surveillance.
Unfolding of the coup
17 brumaire year VIII
On the 17th, at daybreak, the commander of Paris, the regiments of the garrison, the adjutants of the forty-eight sections were invited to go the next day at seven o'clock in the morning in the rue Chantereine located at the current location between rue de Chateaudun and rue de la Victoire, where Napoleon Bonaparte lived. This reunion, awaited since the return of the general-in-chief, inspired no mistrust; at the same time were also summoned all the officers on whom one could count. Each of them, believing like the public that the general was going to leave for the army of Italy, found it quite simple that they had been summoned to give them orders.
18 brumaire year VIII (9 November 1799)
5 a.m.
Notices of a 7 a.m. meeting are sent to the Council of Elders. We neglect to address those who seem unfavorable to the coup.
7 hours
A crowd of officers in full dress crowds in front of Napoleon Bonaparte’s home, rue Chantereine (renamed, in his honour, rue de la Victoire). Napoleon Bonaparte receives them and gives them a very gloomy picture of France that the "pekins", the "avocaillons" have brought to the brink of disaster.
8 hours
Meeting of the Council of Elders at the Tuileries. At the appointed hour all those who had been invited arrived.
An inspector in the room declares that the "anarchists" are ready to overthrow the national representation and that, to thwart their plan, the Councils must be transported out of Paris.
At half-past eight a messenger from the Council of Ancients handed Bonaparte the following decree, which he had read to the Assembly. After this reading, which was followed by the unanimous cry of Long live Bonaparte! long live the Republic ! The general-in-chief harangued the soldiers present.
The decree is voted, the Councils will meet the next day in Saint-Cloud. Napoleon Bonaparte is appointed commander of all troops and the national guard of the 17th military division (Paris and suburbs).
Immediately, the leaders of the forty-eight sections received the order to have the general beaten and to have the decree proclaimed in all the districts of Paris. Meanwhile, Bonaparte rides to the Tuileries, followed by a large procession of generals and soldiers.
9 hours
Admitted with his staff to the Council of Elders, he speaks to them [3]. This speech, at least singular, to say the least, was greeted with much applause, and the new general commander went to review the troops.
By his orders 10,000 men, commanded by General Lannes, occupied the Tuileries; the posts of Luxembourg, the Military School, the Palace of the Five Hundred (Palais Bourbon), the Invalides, were entrusted to the guard of Generals Milhaud, Murat, Marmont, Berruyer.
General Lefebvre retains command of the 17th military division, and Moreau himself accompanies Bonaparte as his aide-de-camp.
At the Luxembourg Palace, directors Louis Gohier and Jean-François Moulin find that they have been abandoned by the other three and "guarded" by General Moreau. These various measures were taken with so much skill and promptness that, by ten o'clock in the morning, the power of the directors had vanished like a shadow.
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Roger Ducos, who had been initiated into the mysteries of the conspiracy, surrendered as simple citizens in the Council of Elders.
Barras, Gohier and Moulins first wanted to make some resistance, they called General Lefebvre to give him orders. The latter answered them, that by virtue of the decree, he knew no other superior than General Bonaparte.
Finally, Bonaparte, surrounded by a crowd of generals and soldiers, indirectly addressing the members of the executive power, apostrophized them in the Council Chamber (of the Elders) with these thundering words
11 o'clock
In the Tuileries Garden, Napoleon Bonaparte, seeing Botot, Paul Barras' secretary, addressed him in a speech that has remained famous:"What have you done with this France that I left you so brilliant? »
Noon
The Council of Elders meets at the Bourbon Palace (current National Assembly). President Lucien Bonaparte reads the transfer decree to Saint-Cloud. The Jacobins protest in vain. At the Luxembourg Palace, Paul Barras signs his resignation. Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Roger Ducos gave theirs.
2 p.m.
Napoleon Bonaparte and his staff had the troops guard the strategic points of Paris and the road to Saint-Cloud. Paris remains calm. Life there goes on as usual.
The director Moulins had proposed to his colleagues to seize Bonaparte and have him shot, but he soon learned that the execution of such a bold blow was no longer in his power; a detachment sent around the Luxembourg caused him to abandon his project. The Directory's own guard put themselves, of their own accord, at the disposal of the hero of Italy and Egypt, and the directors considered themselves fortunate to be allowed to go and end their days in obscurity. and retirement.
10 November 1799 - 19 brumaire year VIII
8 hours
The deputies, often accompanied by their families, reach Saint-Cloud where the animation is great. In the park, bivouac the guard of the Council and ten companies of the 79th demi-brigade. General Jean Mathieu Philibert Sérurier is responsible for the "protection" of the Councils. In the castle, the workers are hurrying to arrange the benches, the stands, the hangings. On the first floor of the right wing of the castle, the Apollo gallery serves as a deliberation room for the Council of Elders. In the absence of other large rooms, the Council of Five Hundred sits in the Orangery, on the ground floor, a building perpendicular to the body of the castle.
9:30 a.m.; Paris
Rue de la Victoire, Napoleon discusses with the officers and important civilians in charge of the operation. Success does not appear certain.
11 a.m.; Paris
Escorted by a detachment of cavalry, Napoleon Bonaparte left for Saint-Cloud.
12:30 p.m.; Saint Cloud
Napoleon Bonaparte and his escort arrive at the Château de Saint-Cloud. They are greeted with various cries:"Vive Bonaparte" or "Vive la Constitution!" (by opponents of the coup).
12:30 p.m., at the Orangery of the château
Lucien Bonaparte, President of the Council of Five Hundred, opens the session. Jacobins take the floor first. They shout:“No dictatorship! Down with the dictators! Long live the Constitution! One of them had it decided that all the deputies must take an oath of "loyalty to the Constitution of Year III".
2 p.m., Apollo Gallery
The session of the Council of Elders begins. Several Jacobin deputies demand an explanation of the "plot" that caused the transfer to Saint-Cloud.
3 p.m., in a chateau lounge
Napoleon Bonaparte and Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès grew impatient. Napoleon is very unhappy to learn that the Five Hundred must take an oath to the Constitution.
3:30 p.m., Apollo Gallery
The Elders learn that three directors have resigned. They ask the Council of Five Hundred to nominate thirty candidates. The sitting is suspended.
Napoleon Bonaparte followed by his aides-de-camp enters the room. He protests against those who call him "new Caesar", "new Cromwell", and say that he "wants to establish a military government". He delivers a vehement harangue
“And the Constitution? said Deputy Linglet, interrupting him.
Napoleon Bonaparte replies that it was raped on 18 Fructidor Year V (September 4, 1797), 22 Floréal Year VI (May 11, 1798), 30 Prairial Year VII (June 18, 1799). Napoleon Bonaparte holds an awkward speech. He protests his devotion to freedom. He is asked to name the conspirators. He responds by saying his confidence in the Council of Elders and his distrust of the Council of Five Hundred. “Where are the men who would like to give us back the Convention, the Revolutionary Committees and the scaffolds. He ends by threatening to call in the soldiers and leaves the gallery.
His speech is very badly perceived by the deputies who accuse him of wanting to establish the dictatorship.
4 p.m., at the Orangerie
After taking an oath to the Constitution, the deputies of the Council of Five Hundred learn of the resignation of director Paul Barras. They discuss how to replace it.
4:30 p.m.
Napoleon Bonaparte enters the Orangerie in the Salle des Cinq-Cents, accompanied by a few grenadiers. As he entered, the Assembly proceeded, in the greatest agitation, to the roll call, that its members swear again to defend the Constitution.
At the sight of Bonaparte and his grenadiers, curses resound from all sides
They shout:“Outlaw! Down with the dictatorship! Long live the Republic and the Constitution of Year III”. A few faint cries of "Vive Bonaparte" are uttered.
Bonaparte believing his life threatened, leaves, led by four grenadiers, without being able to utter a word.
4:35 p.m., small lounge adjoining the Orangerie[edit]
Napoleon Bonaparte enters, finds Sieyes there and says to him:“They want to outlaw me”. Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès replies:"They are the ones who got into it", and he adds that the troops must be made to march.
4:30 p.m., at the Orangerie
Lucien Bonaparte, president of the Council of Five Hundred, tries to defend his brother, but his speech is greeted with boos. Lucien Bonaparte then leaves his seat and gives it to Jean-Pierre Chazal.
In great disorder, some deputies demanded that Napoleon Bonaparte be outlawed, others that his command of the troops be withdrawn from him, others finally that Lucien Bonaparte resume the presidency to put to the vote the "hors la law” (which gives every citizen the right to kill anyone designated by such a vote).
Lucien Bonaparte resumes the presidency but the tumult continues. Lucien Bonaparte closes the session exclaiming:“There is no longer any freedom here. No longer having the means of making myself heard, you will at least see your president, as a sign of public mourning, deposit here the marks of the popular magistracy. ". In the meantime, a picket of grenadiers sent by the generalissimo enters the room and kidnaps him.
5 p.m., the small lounge then the courtyard
Bonaparte, on the false news that he has been outlawed, rushes to the window and shouts "To arms!" Then he goes into the yard where he is joined by his brother, they are riding.
Lucien Bonaparte declares that "The immense majority of the Council is at this moment, under the terror of a few representatives with styluses [...] who have outlawed themselves [...] You will not recognize as legislators France than those who are going to visit me. As for those who remain in the Orangery, may force expel them. These brigands are no longer the representatives of the people; they are the representatives of the dagger. »
Napoleon Bonaparte speaks:“Soldiers, I have led you to victory; can I count on you? Clamors:“Yes, yes! Long live the general! .
It was Lucien Bonaparte who encouraged the troops to bring order to the assemblies. It was on this day that the "myth of the dagger" originated, saying that certain deputies wanted to stab Napoleon Bonaparte to justify an intervention by the army.
5:30 p.m.; The Orangery
After the departure of Lucien Bonaparte, the deputies continued to discuss in the tumult. They hear drum rolls and cries of “Vive Bonaparte”.
Bonaparte only has one more step to take and his plans are accomplished:soldiers, by his orders, invade the hall of the Orangery, with fixed bayonets, and drive out, willingly or by force, all the deputies who come. find there.
General Victor-Emmanuel Leclerc comes forward and says:“Citizen representatives, we can no longer answer for the security of the Council, I invite you to withdraw. »
After a few lines, Joachim Murat exclaims:“Get everyone out! ". Most of the deputies pass through the windows in the park, abandoning their togas.
Images of deputies coming out of the windows and wanting to stab Napoleon are widespread. Bonaparte is in fact the man for the job who turns a parliamentary coup into a military coup.
Measures are taken by the secretary-general of the police Fouché, so that the deputies, while leaving Saint-Cloud, cannot immediately return to Paris, a precaution which was intended to prevent them from reforming their Assembly in this populous city. /P>
6:45 p.m.; Apollo Gallery
Learning of what had just happened at the Orangerie, President Cornudet had the following decree passed:"The Council of Elders, awaiting the retirement of the Council of Five Hundred, decrees the following:four of the members of the Executive Board having given their resignation and the fifth being placed under surveillance, a provisional executive committee will be appointed, composed of three members. »
In addition, the Legislative Body was adjourned to 1 Nivôse Year VIII (December 22, 1799). An intermediate commission taken from the Council of Elders exercises during this time the legislative power.
7 p.m., small lounge
Napoleon Bonaparte and Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès are not satisfied with this decree which considers that the deputies of the Council of Five Hundred have disappeared. They decide to bring together the deputies of this Council who are favorable to them and who can be found.
9 p.m., the Orangery
About fifty deputies of the Council of Five Hundred were able to be assembled. Lucien Bonaparte chairs them.
After this victory, Lucien proposes to the Council of Elders to reorganize a new Council of Five Hundred, eliminating those of its members who stubbornly held for the old constitution.
The proposal is taken into consideration; the majority of the Five Hundred takes place in the Orangery, and the exclusion of sixty-one deputies is decreed.
The two councils abolish the directorial government by common accord; a commission for the revision of the Constitution is formed; an executive consular commission, composed of Sieyès, Roger-Ducos and Bonaparte, inherited the managerial power; the three Consuls take an oath in the two councils to be faithful “to the sovereignty of the people, to the one and indivisible Republic, to freedom, to equality and to the representative system. The nation accepted these promises. The same day, the Five Hundred declared that the generals and soldiers who had driven them out of the Orangery that morning had deserved well for their country.
November 11, 1799 - Brumaire 20, Year VIII
4 hours
The Elders and the Five Hundred present appoint twenty-five members of each commission. The three consuls (Napoleon Bonaparte, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, Roger Ducos) take the oath before them.
Bonaparte declares “Citizens, the Revolution is fixed on the principles which began it, it is finished. »
During the day
First important decision of the First Consul:he appoints Martin Michel Charles Gaudin to the particularly important post of Minister of Finance. This will be one of his closest collaborators, since he will perform these functions throughout the Consulate and throughout the Empire, from November 11, 1799 (20 Brumaire Year VIII) to April 1, 1814, then during the Hundred Days , from March 20 to June 22, 1815.
The Consulate is set up, an authoritarian regime headed by three consuls, of which only the first really holds the power:France begins a new period in its history by preparing to entrust its destiny to an emperor.