27 Germinal
An CCXXXIV
Consulate
After the fall the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte had a new constitution drafted. It granted him, as the first of three consuls, extensive powers. The Senate could object to laws in exceptional cases, but it was politically too weak to set limits on Napoleon. A disguised dictatorship within a republic that existed in name only. Despite this democratic setback, important reforms were enacted during the Consulate, the effects of which are still felt today—among them the Code Civil and a modern education system. At the same time, Napoleon increasingly concentrated power in his own hands. In 1804, he crowned himself emperor. The Empire began.
1799 - 1804
- November 9, 1799 · Coup of 18 Brumaire. Overthrow of the Directory. Napoleon receives command of the Paris troops. The Council of Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred are summoned to meet the next day at Saint-Cloud.
- November 10, 1799 · Meeting at Saint-Cloud, the Councils entrust a provisional Consulate led by Napoleon with drafting a new constitution.
- December 15, 1799 · Promulgation of the Constitution of the Consulate (Constitution of the Year VIII). Official end of the Revolution, though France formally remains a republic.
- January 1, 1800 · Official inauguration of the Consulate. First Consul: Bonaparte; Second Consul: Cambacérès; Third Consul: Lebrun.
- August 4, 1802 · Napoleon becomes First Consul for life.
- May 18, 1804 · Promulgation of the Constitution of the Year XII. Napoleon becomes Emperor. End of the Republic.
Quotes
Citizens, the Revolution is fixed on the principles with which it began. It is finished.
Declaration of the Provisional Consulate (Napoleon, Roger Ducos, Sieyès), 15 December 1799
A constitution must be short and obscure.
Napoleon, 1800
The Senate shall convey to the First Consul the expression of the confidence, love, and admiration of the French people.
Senatus-consult of 14 Thermidor Year X (2 August 1802)
Le Moniteur
Quintidi, 25 frimaire an 8 de la république française, une et indivisible
(December 16, 1799)
The three consuls: Cambacérès, Bonaparte, Lebrun
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