The coup of 18 Brumaire year VIII (November 9, 1799) of Bonaparte marks the end of the Directory and the beginning of the Consulate . Napoleon Bonaparte , who became First Consul, holds most of the powers. The conquests of the Revolution were consolidated (abolition of orders, guarantee of national property), and a policy of appeasement was put in place (closing of the list of emigrants, settlement of the conflict with the Church by the Concordat signed in 1801 ). Finally, France has a legal (Civil Code), administrative (prefect) and economic (Banque de France) framework. The Consulate gave way to the first Empire in 1804.
The coup of 18 Brumaire
In 1799, the Directoire regime was at the end of its tether, threatened on its right by the monarchists and on its left by the Jacobins, and could only stay in place by a succession of coup d'etat. Director Sieyès proposes to revise the Constitution of Year III to make it more effective, but a period of nine years is constitutionally provided for between the request for revision and the revision itself. He therefore considered a parliamentary coup.
The plot was carried out through Talleyrand and Roederer, the Commissioner of the Directory to the Seine department, Réal, the Minister of Police, Fouché, and members of the Council of Elders and the Council of Five Hundred. They are called "the Brumairians". Sieyès' plan is to create an executive vacuum, which leads to the fall of the legislature and the creation of a commission to draft a new constitution.
The diagram 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. On 18 Brumaire, the Council of Elders, which determines the place where the Legislative Body sits, votes, under the pretext of Jacobin perils, to transfer the two assemblies to the Château de Saint-Cloud. Indeed, since 1789, the assemblies have always been under threat from the Parisian population; the fact of transferring them makes it possible to ensure that the population cannot intervene.
To make the executive vacant, Sieyès and Ducos submit their resignations.
Most of the events took place the next day, 19 Brumaire in Saint-Cloud. The "Brumairiens" imagine a collective resignation of the five directors but this idea is not unanimous. Losing patience, Bonaparte decides to intervene. He makes an awkward speech before the Council of Five Hundred.
The deputies accused him of wanting to establish a dictatorship and Bonaparte was forced to leave the assembly. But quickly, his brother Lucien, president of the Council of Five Hundred, leaves the room. He addresses the soldiers and denounces an assassination attempt on Bonaparte. By claiming that some deputies want to stab his brother, he justifies an intervention by the army. Images of deputies wanting to stab Bonaparte are widespread.
The intervention of the army saves the conspirators but the coup, initially parliamentary, becomes military and the main beneficiary is Bonaparte. On the evening of the 19th, a few deputies met and filled the void in the executive by forming a provisional triumvirate made up of Bonaparte, Sieyès and Ducos.
Constitution of Year VIII and establishment of the Consulate
The Consulate, resulting from the Coup d'Etat of 18 Brumaire of the year VIII, founded an authoritarian political regime headed by three consuls, of whom only the first, Bonaparte, really held the power. On the surface, this constitution respects revolutionary principles. Universal suffrage is restored and executive power remains collegial. At the head of the executive, there are three consuls appointed for ten years by the Senate, but only the First Consul holds the real power. He initiates laws, appoints ministers and decides on peace or war. The voice of the other two consuls is only advisory.
Legislative power rests with four assemblies. The Councilors of State, numbering forty, prepare bills. These are discussed by the Tribunate*, an assembly of one hundred members. The projects are then presented to the Legislative Body made up of three hundred members who vote for them or reject them. The Senate acts as the guardian of the Constitution.
Bonaparte First Consul:restore peace
From the start, Bonaparte displayed a desire to reconcile the parties, to put an end to the divisions born of the Revolution. On November 24, he signed an armistice with the Chouan chief of Andigné and a very relative calm settled in the West. He invited the clergy to return to France and granted them freedom of worship on December 28, 1799. He abolished the so-called "hostage" law allowing the members of the family of an emigrant to be imprisoned, closed the list of voluntary expatriates then cease the sale of national assets. In 1802, he granted a general amnesty to emigrants. These reconciliation measures pave the way for civil peace.
Abroad, Bonaparte decides to end the war with the European monarchies. His victories at Marengo and Hohenlinden break the second coalition. On February 9, 1801, he signed the Peace of Lunéville with Austria, which lost its rights over northern and central Italy, and in March 1802, peace was signed with England by the Treaty of Amiens.
The Concordat of 1801:a religious framework
Civil peace requires religious peace. Bonaparte will give the Church a new organization, while taking care to negotiate with the new Pope, Pius VIL The main problems are the division of the Church between refractory and constitutional, national property and freedom of worship. On July 14, after tough negotiations, Pius VII recognizes the sale of national property, all the bishops must resign and Catholicism is proclaimed "religion of the majority of French people".
The First Consul appoints the bishops, who must take the oath to him, while the pope gives them canonical investiture. The parish priests are appointed by the bishops with the consent of the government. All receive treatment. By virtue of their appointment by the State, the oath taken and the salary received, clergymen are transformed into civil servants.
By this Concordat, Bonaparte breaks the alliance between the Church and the monarchy thus obliging the Pope to recognize that the Catholic religion is no longer the state religion in France . For his part, Pius VII obtained recognition of his spiritual authority over the Church of France.
Strengthen the authority of the state
In order to restore state finances, Bonaparte undertakes a tax reform. The Consulate inherited four direct taxes from the Directory:a property tax, a personal property tax, a business license and a doors and windows tax. From 1802, the budget was balanced. In 1800, the Banque de France was created. It provides state finances with advances pending the collection of taxes, which strengthens the credit of the state. With the reform of 1803, it obtained the monopoly of issuing banknotes.
The law of February 17, 1800 concerns local administration. The most important point of this law is the creation of prefects in charge of departmental administration. Appointed by the government, they can be revoked at any time. The law retains the departments inherited from the Revolution but redraws the internal divisions. It makes districts into boroughs, the municipality defines and creates the canton.
Justice is becoming more and more authoritarian. Judges are elected by the citizens. In March 1800, a reform means that justice now rests on professional magistrates, in principle irremovable. Only justices of the peace are elected.
The March to The Empire
The Constitution of Year VIII grants power to Bonaparte for 10 years. In 1802, Napoleon put an end to internal and external opposition. As it is endowed with a firm authority, the Senate extends its power in 1802. It initially proposes to increase the consulship to 10 years, then it suggests the consulship for life. Bonaparte consults the people to know if they accept him as Consul for life or not.
The Constitution of Year X changes the composition of the Tribunate by reducing its members from 100 to 50, which reduces the assemblies and increases the power of the Senate on the legislative level. In February 1800, Bonaparte moved to the Tuileries and gradually established a court there. He increasingly reinforces his identification with the kings of the Ancien Régime.
Despite the awakening of republican and royalist opposition, Bonaparte did in fact attract the attachment of the majority of the population. He did not call into question the achievements of the Revolution, he reassured the peasants, the Catholics and the bourgeoisie, reinforced in his concern for public order by the establishment of the Civil Code completed in 1804. Since 1802, he has thrown the foundations of a new elite attached to the regime, trained in high schools, rewarded with the creation of the order of the Legion of Honor.
It was therefore without difficulty that he had the Senate adopt, in May 1804, a new constitution which established the Empire. On November 6, 1804, the French consulted by plebiscite approved by 3,572,319 votes against 2,519 the end of the Consulate and the creation of the Empire.
Bibliography
- Bonaparte's Consulate:The Making of the Contemporary State, by Marc Belissa and Yannick Bosc. The Factory, 2021.
- The Great Consulate 1799 - 1804, by Thierry Lentz. Fayard, 1999.
- The Directory and the Consulate, by Jean Tulard. PUF, 1992.