The Coup of Prairial
By the start of 1799, with war, conscription and action against refractory priests dividing the nation, confidence in the Directory was bring about the much desired peace and stability was gone. Now Sieyès, who had turned down the chance to be one of the original Directors, replaced Reubell, convinced he could effect change. Once again it became obvious the Directory would rig the elections, but their grip on the councils was waning and on June 6th the Five Hundred summoned the Directory and subjected them to an attack over its poor was record. Sieyès was new and without blame, but the other Directors didn't know how to respond.
The Five Hundred declared a permanent session until the Directory replied; they also declared that one Director, Treilhard, had risen to the post illegally and ousted him. Gohier replaced Treilhard and immediately sided with Sieyès, as Barras, always the opportunist, also did. This was followed by the Coup of Prairial where the Five Hundred, continuing their attack on the Directory, forced the remaining two Directors out. The councils had, for the first time, purged the Directory, not the other way round, pushing three out of their jobs.
The Coup of Brumaire and the End of the Directory
The Coup of Prairial had been masterfully orchestrated by Sieyès, who was now able to dominate the Directory, concentrating power almost wholly in his hands. However he was not satisfied and when a Jacobin resurgence had been put down and confidence in the military once again grew he decided to take advantage and force a change in the government by use of military power. His first choice of general, the tame Jourdan, had recently died. His second, the Director Moreau, wasn't keen. His third, Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived back in Paris on October 16th.
Bonaparte was greeted with crowds celebrating his success: he was their undefeated and triumphant general and he met with Sieyès soon after. Neither liked the other, but they agreed on an alliance to force constitutional change. On November 9th Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother and president of the Five Hundred, managed to have the meeting placed of the councils switched from Paris to the old royal palace at Saint-Cloud, under the pretext of freeing the councils from the – now absent – influence of Parisians. Napoleon was put in charge of the troops.
The next stage occurred when the entire Directory, motivated by Sieyès, resigned, aiming to force the councils to create a provisional government. Things didn’t goquite as planned and the next day, Brumaire 18th, Napoleon’s demand to the council for constitutional change was greeted frostily; there were even calls to outlaw him. At one stage he was scratched, and the wound bled. Lucien announced to the troops outside that a Jacobin had tried to assassinate his brother, and they followed orders to clear the meeting halls of the council. Later that day a quorum was reassembled to vote, and now things did go as planned: the legislature was suspended for six weeks while a committee of deputies revised the constitution. The provisional government was to be three consuls: Ducos, Sieyés and Bonaparte. The era of the Directory was over.
The Consulate
The new constitution was hurriedly written under the eye of Napoleon. Citizens would now vote for a tenth of themselves to form a communal list, which in turn selected a tenth to form a departmental list. A further tenth was then chosen for a national list. From these a new institution, a senate whose powers were not defined, would choose the deputies. The legislature remained bicameral, with a lower hundred member Tribunate which discussed legislation and an upper three hundred member Legislative Body which could only vote. Draft laws now came from the government via a council of state, a throw back to the old monarchical system.
Sieyés had originally wanted a system with two consuls, one for internal and external matters, selected by a lifetime ‘Grand Elector’ with no other powers; he had wanted Bonaparte in this role. However Napoleon disagreed and the constitution reflected his wishes: three consuls, with the first having most authority. He was to be first consul. The constitution was finished on December 15th and voted in late December 1799 to early January 1800. It passed.
Napoleon Bonaparte's Rise to Power and the End of Revolution Bonaparte now turned his attention to the wars, beginning a campaign which ended with the defeat of the alliance ranged against him. The Treaty of Lunéville was signed in France’s favour with Austria while Napoleon began creating satellite kingdoms. Even Britain came to the negotiating table for peace. Bonaparte thus brought the French Revolutionary wars to a close with triumph for France. While this peace was not to last for long, by then the Revolution was over.
Having at first sent out conciliatory signals to royalists he then declared his refusal to invite the king back, purged Jacobins survivors and then began rebuilding the republic. He created a Bank of France to manage state debt and produced a balanced budget in 1802. Law and order were reinforced by the creations of special prefects in each department, the use of the army and special courts which cut into the crime epidemic in France. He also began the creation of a uniform series of laws, the Civil Code which although not finished until 1804 were around in a draft format in 1801. Having finished the wars which had divided so much of France he also ended the schism with the Catholic Church by re-establishing the Church of France and signing a concordat with the Pope.
In 1802 Bonaparte purged – bloodlessly - the Tribunate and other bodies after they and the senate and its president – Sieyès – had begun to criticise him and refuse to pass laws. Public support for him was now overwhelming and with his position secure he made more reforms, including making himself consul for life. Within two years he would crown himself Emperor of France. The Revolution was over and empire would soon begin.
