Bonaparte Saves the Day
In the waning days of the Convention in the fall of 1795, royalist–influenced sections in Paris revolted to prevent a new constitution that protected the position of the radicals. Bonaparte was delegated to put down the uprising of 5 October 1795 (13 Vendémiaire Year IV). Bonaparte’s decisiveness and willingness to fire cannons on the demonstrators—in his words, to "give them a whiff of grapeshot"—both consolidated the government’s control and revealed how much the revolutionary state after Thermidor was dependent on the military.
Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas Barras, <i>Memoirs of Barras: Member of the Directorate</i>, trans. and ed. George Duruy, 4 vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895): 1:299–305, 332.
October 5, 1795
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Brumaire: Bonaparte’s Justification
Having seized power through the coup of 18 Brumaire [9 November 1799], Bonaparte—now First Consul—set out to win public support for yet another new government. His first public pronouncement was the proclamation reprinted below, in which he claims he had acted to defend liberty and the republic against internal enemies. The proclamation, accompanied by similar proclamations from all the new ministers of the government, elaborated Napoleon’s vaguer but more oft–cited statement to his fellow citizens that "reduced to the principles on which it had been started, the French Revolution is over!"
John Hall Stewart, <i>A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution</i> (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 763–65. (Slightly retranslated)
November 10, 1799
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The Council of Five–Hundred Concurs
The Council of Five–Hundred, the lower house of the legislature under the Directory’s constitution, put up only token resistance to the coup of 18 Brumaire [9 November 1799]. By the following day, this body—in principle, made up of the representatives of the French people and the central institution of republican government—had concurred completely in Bonaparte’s revision to the constitution and issued this proclamation, which described the coup to be a victory for "the Republic and liberty" against royalism. Yet again, a regime had come to power claiming to be initiating a "new era" for "the peoples of Europe."
John Hall Stewart, <i>A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution</i> (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 765–67.
November 10, 1799
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Napoleon as an Ambitious Young General in 1796–97
In his memoirs, André François Miot de Melito, a special minister from the French government to Piedmont, tells of his first impressions of the young Napoleon Bonaparte, who was only twenty-seven but already an important general because of his victories in the Italian campaign. Bonaparte held court in Italy like a ruler. According to Miot, Bonaparte had already formed a plan to take absolute power for himself.
James H. Robinson, ed., <i>Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol II, no. 2: The Napoleonic Period</i> (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1902), pp. 1-3.
June 5, 1796
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Napoleon’s Own Account of His Coup d’Etat (10 November 1799)
Napoleon glosses over the conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution of 1795 and the duly elected legislature. This conspiracy was organized in part by his younger brother Lucien. He does, however, admit that some of the deputies opposed his endeavor and tried to arrest him. At this moment, Napoleon portrays himself as a simple “soldier of liberty, a citizen devoted to the Republic.”
John Hall Stewart, ed., A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), pp. 763-765.
November 10, 1799
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Establishing a New Administrative Order (1800–1801)
Naming his brother Lucien to the key post of minister of the interior, Bonaparte quickly moved to establish his political control over the country. He set up “prefects” for every administrative region known as a department; these appointees had final say in such important matters as finances, politics, and the conscription of troops.
Martyn Lyons, <i>Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution</i> (London, Macmillan, 1994), p. 70.
1800
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Making Peace with the Catholic Church, 1801–2
One of Napoleon’s first priorities was to reestablish good relations with the papacy, which had fought the revolutionary church settlement tooth and nail. Napoleon gained everything he desired in the Concordat: he appointed the bishops and archbishops of the French church, and all bishops had to swear an oath of fidelity to the French Republic.
Frank M. Anderson, ed., The Constitutions and Other Illustrative Documents of the History of France, 2nd ed., revised (New York: Russell and Russell, 1908), pp. 296-297.
1801
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Napoleon’s Personal Feelings about Religion
Klemens von Metternich, head of the Austrian government and therefore a sharp critic of Napoleon, reported that Napoleon viewed Catholicism in largely utilitarian, even cynical terms.
Clemens Lothar Wenzel, FŸrst von Metternich-Winneburg, Memoirs of Prince Metternich, 1773-1815, ed. Prince Richard Metternich, tr. Mrs. Alexander Napier, 5 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1880-1882), I: pp. 272-273.
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Religious Conflicts after the Concordat (1803)
Despite the official settlement with the papacy, some priests refused to bury those who had supported the pro–revolutionary wing of the church in the 1790s and others preached royalism from the pulpit. These excerpts come from a report made to the Minister of Police in 1803.
Martyn Lyons, <i>Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution</i> (London, Macmillan, 1994), p. 90.
1803
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Oath as Consul for Life (4 August 1802)
The oath that Bonaparte took on becoming consul for life gives a good idea of the image that he tried to project: protector of the gains of the Revolution and insurer of order. In retrospect, his claims about not wishing to make war ring hollow.
Frank M. Anderson, ed., The Constitutions and Other Illustrative Documents of the History of France, 2nd ed., revised (New York: Russell and Russell, 1908), p. 331.
August 4, 1802
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