Following the French Revolution, France abandoned the monarchy and entered a republican system. After a period marked by the Reign of Terror, France eventually adopted the Directory regime in 1795, but its overly parliamentary nature hindered the country’s ability to act during the European war. With the assistance of several directors, General of the Republic Napoleon Bonaparte organized a coup d’état that ended the Directory on November 10, 1799 and established the Consulate.
A plebiscite adopted a new constitution, appointing two consuls: Cambacérès and Lebrun, with Napoleon Bonaparte serving as the First Consul. This marked Bonaparte’s rise to power, effectively granting him full authority, with the other consuls serving mostly ceremonial roles. This new authoritarian regime drastically strengthened executive power and significantly reduced legislative power. Napoleon’s coronation as emperor in 1804 marked the end of the Consulate and the First Republic. Thus began the First Empire.
Who Took Power in 1799?
If Napoleon Bonaparte seized power on November 10, 1799, with the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire, he would officially have power only in December, after the adoption of the Constitution of Year VIII, establishing the Consulate. In the meantime, the Provisional Consulate allows Napoleon, who is already the First Consul, as well as Sieyès and Ducos, the second and third consuls, to govern the country. The Constitution was not promulgated until 1800.
The constitutionalist Pierre Claude François Daunou, who had also drafted the Constitution of Year II, established the Consulate. Sieyès and Ducos also participated in drafting its constitution. Sieyès notably advised reducing the legislative power to strengthen the executive power in order to provide France with greater speed of action. Indeed, a civil war between royalists and republicans is tearing apart France, while the main European forces attempt to invade the country. The Directory, slowed down by an overly strong legislative power, was unable to make decisions for the country’s security.
Napoleon’s first act as the First Consul is to reunify the torn country. Indeed, divisions between royalists and republicans mark the First Republic. He appoints consuls Cambacérès, a regicide, and Lebrun, a moderate royalist, to call for unity. This first signal of unification will gain more prominence with certain political and diplomatic decisions. He notably pacifies the west of the country, particularly Normandy and Brittany. By decree, he guillotines the main leaders of the royalist insurgents and suppresses the Chouannerie. He grants freedom of worship to the clergy and amnesty to royalist emigrants. France approaches reunification in just one year.
What Was the Consulate of 1799?
After his coup d’état, Napoleon establishes a provisional consulate, from November 10 to December 13, 1799. The provisional consulate bears a striking resemblance to the definitive consulate, save for the absence of an official constitution until its promulgation in February 1800. Three provisional consuls led this regime: Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, Roger Ducos, and, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Constitution of Year VIII, which establishes the Consulate, grants executive power to three consuls: Bonaparte, Cambacérès, and Lebrun. The First Consul, Bonaparte, alone holds the entirety of the executive power. The other two consuls have very limited powers, serving more to facilitate the country’s reunification than to co-lead it. Napoleon relegates them to a mere advisory role, to which he pays little attention.
Similarly, a special article of the Constitution grants him a ten-year appointment as consul, along with lifetime eligibility for re-election. He can also appoint his heir, who will in turn become the First Consul, creating around him a court of upstarts and opportunists. People refer to Napoleon as the “King without a Crown.”
How Was Legislative Power Reduced?
To limit its legislative power, the Consulate has three assemblies.
- First, the Senate, composed of 80 members appointed for life by Sieyès and Ducos, guarantees the Constitution of Year VIII. Its members are renewed by co-optation. The Senate was deeply conservative in facilitating the Consulate’s constitutional procedures, the majority of which were conservative in nature.
- The second assembly is the Tribunate, composed of 300 members tasked with discussing laws and state projects without any decision-making power but with a simple consultative aim.
- Finally, the Legislative Body, equivalent to the National Assembly, voted on bills without the possibility of discussing or submitting them for amendments.
The First Consul appoints the members of the Council of State, which oversees these three assemblies. This last institution drafts bills to submit to the three assemblies.
How Did Napoleon Transform France with the Consulate?
After managing to reunify it under the banner of the Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte deeply modified France. His visionary conception of managing the country ensures that the vast majority of his reforms, laws, and institutions continue to thrive to this day. He begins by modernising his administration.
- To better manage the departments, he creates prefectures, appointing prefects, often high-ranking officials close to, or even friends of, the First Consul. They manage departmental security and report local information to Paris.
- Napoleon allowed the petite and haute bourgeoisie to rise by creating the baccalaureate diploma, preparatory classes for the grandes écoles (which he disdainfully called “Khâgne and Hypokhâgne” because he found the students’ knees too bent), and higher schools, which would become the breeding ground for high-ranking officials and provincial notables.
- He economically revived the country by exerting more control over the circulation of currency through the creation of the Bank of France in 1800. He created a currency tailored to the country’s economy, the franc germinal, which lasted from 1803 until 1914.
- With the Council of State, he paradoxically grants real importance to the legislative power—although, in practice, this Council of State was aligned with Napoleon.
- Promulgated in 1804, the French Civil Code offers freedom of property, secularism, and personal freedom, reinstating the great principles of the Revolution.
Why Is the Consulate Considered An Authoritarian Regime?
For a variety of reasons, the Consulate is considered an authoritarian regime. Bonaparte believes that national reconciliation can only be achieved through strong and deterrent action, often bypassing the laws and Constitution that he himself drafted. After the failed assassination attempt on him in December 1800 on Rue Saint-Nicaise, Napoleon violently suppressed the Chouans and the Vendéens. This personalization of judicial power, held by a single man, goes against one of the principles of the Enlightenment.
To have the concordat ratified and reconciled with the papacy, he violates the Constitution and, to avoid any opposition, purges the Tribunate and the Legislative Body by compelling the Senate, which is loyal to his cause, to revise the Constitution. He thus manipulates the Legislative Body to completely favor him; the Jacobins and royalists are sidelined. He eventually eliminates opposition and silences dissenting voices.
It was in 1802, with the constitution of the Year X, that Napoleon truly arrogated full powers to himself and became consul for life. The roles of the second and third consuls diminished increasingly, with Cambacérès and Lebrun having no say in the projects submitted by Napoleon. Bonaparte established a republic of notables, elevating loyalists of the First Consul to the highest positions and using them as spokespersons for the regime.
How Does the Consulate End?
The first Constitution of the Consulate, namely the Constitution of the Year VIII, already heralded the beginnings of a new regime. By granting power to Bonaparte for ten years with the possibility of lifelong reelection, this text anticipated the arrival of an authoritarian and then autocratic regime. According to Sieyès’ own confessions, the Constitution was a tool serving as a transition to prepare citizens for an autocratic regime. With all three legislative chambers on his side after purging Liberals, Jacobins, and Royalists, Napoleon had a free hand. He had the Senate vote by senatus-consulte for the consulship for life, with oversight over his heir; this was the Constitution of the year X (1802). From this point on, everything would lean towards an autocratic regime that would serve as a transition to the Empire.
Bonaparte’s popularity, having managed to restore peace and dampen the ambitions of other European powers, was at its peak in public opinion. The people were indeed lacking representation of their leaders and found in Napoleon a personification of power and the nation. Galvanized, Bonaparte gradually reinstated the codes of the Ancien Régime: he took up residence at the Tuileries with his court as early as 1800, restored the chapel, and attended mass every Sunday.
The tribune, Jean-François Curée, a close associate of Napoleon, proposed a motion from the Tribunate that called for the establishment of the Empire. This motion was voted on by plebiscite on the 18th Floréal of the year XII (April 28, 1804). The Consulate for Life ended on May 18, 1804, with the proclamation of the empire. With the approval of Pope Pius VII, Napoleon I was crowned Emperor in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on December 2, 1804.
What Is the Difference Between the Consulate and the Empire?
Despite similarities, differences remain between the Consulate and the Empire. Napoleon I was no longer a mere representative of the people. He was now crowned by Pope Pius VII, which gave him the same legitimacy as the royal dynasties that preceded him and, as such, made him an incarnation of God on earth. A new Constitution, the Constitution of the Year XII, was also ratified. Among other things, it reinstated the Salic law: whereas Bonaparte only had oversight over his heir as consul, succession to the throne now became hereditary. In other words, only his family, linked by sacred blood, could claim the throne. Likewise, Title II of the Constitution, entitled “On Heredity,” only left the reins of power to Napoleon’s descendants.
Although it retained the three legislative chambers (Tribunate, Council of State, and Legislative Body) and the Senate, the Empire also ended legislative and judicial power; absolute power was reinstated in the sole person of Napoleon I. The last somewhat independent institutions came under the Emperor’s control, with close associates of the Napoleonic cause placed at their heads. The tribunes and elected officials had only an advisory role. Above all, the Empire was a conquering regime. Inspired by the Roman Empire, Napoleon saw no future for this empire except by extending it to most of Europe. The Empire was marked by twelve years of continuous war, while the Consulate had managed, even briefly, to establish a moment of peace.
KEY DATES OF THE CONSULATE SIEGE
June 18, 1799 — Coup d’État of 30 Prairial
Sieyès and Barras plot a coup d’État to remove several other directors whom they deem ineffective for the country’s interest. Pressure is exerted on the assembly to elect new directors loyal to Sieyès’s cause.
October 8, 1799 — Bonaparte returns from Egypt
General Bonaparte lands victorious at Fréjus with his army. He hastens his return upon learning of the weakened state of the Directory, believing his time has come.
November 9, 1799 — Coup d’État of 18 Brumaire
This coup d’État ends the Directory regime after several years of inefficiency. General Bonaparte coerces the Council of Elders and the Council of Five Hundred to vote for a new constitution that will establish the Consulate.
December 13, 1799 — Birth of the Consulate
On December 13, 1799, the final text of the new Constitution was promulgated. The Consulate is born: Napoleon is elected First Consul. The executive power is strengthened, while the legislative power is weakened.
January 18, 1800 — Creation of the Bank of France
In his project of centralization, Napoleon Bonaparte created the Bank of France to revive the economy while controlling its circulation. Thirty million francs are invested to launch its activity.
June 14, 1800 — The Battle of Marengo
The peace proposals of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte have been rejected by England and Austria. War is inevitable, and Austria invades northern Italy to attack southern France. Napoleon and his troops miraculously cross the Alps to confront the enemy. The first battle takes place at Montebello and gives victory to France.
The French army disperses unaware that the Austrian troops regroup and advance towards them. On June 14, 1800, the French were surprised by a vastly superior army in numbers and equipment. They are forced to retreat to the village of Marengo in Piedmont. Napoleon calls for Desaix’s reinforcement but doubts he can arrive in time. His troops are on the verge of defeat when Desaix finally arrives. The situation immediately reverses, and France emerges victorious from the battle.
October 1, 1800 — Louisiana becomes French
The Treaty of San Ildefonso, signed between France and Spain, returned Louisiana to the French. However, the territory remains fragmented, being shared between England and Spain.
December 24, 1800 — Failed assassination attempt against Napoleon
An infernal machine explodes during Bonaparte’s passage on Rue Saint-Nicaise in Paris. While the First Consul survives, the attack claims 4 lives and leaves nearly 60 wounded. This act triggers Napoleon’s wrath, leading to the execution of the Jacobins, followed by the Chouans.
1801 — The Paris Stock Exchange is formalized
For years, the Paris Stock Exchange has experienced significant disorder. Closed at the end of the previous century and reopened sometime later, it is definitively formalized, granting the Stockbrokers a monopoly on their activity. The Stock Exchange now counts 71 Brokers, compared to 60 in the past.
February 9, 1801 — Peace of Lunéville
The Peace of Lunéville is signed between France and Austria. Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine are restored to France, and Austria is forced to leave Italy, while France expands its influence there.
July 16, 1801 — Signing of the Concordat
At 2 a.m., Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII signed the Concordat in Paris. The text declares the Catholic religion as the “religion of the vast majority of French citizens” and abolishes the 1795 law separating the Church from the State. In return, the Holy See recognizes the Consulate and accepts that bishops be appointed by the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte. The signing of the Concordat ends 10 years of quarrels between the Vatican and France, ensuring the return of religious peace in the country. The Concordat was promulgated on April 8, 1802, and Pope Pius VII crowned Napoleon emperor in 1804.
August 31, 1801 — End of the Egyptian expedition
This date definitively ends the Egyptian campaign initiated in 1798. France signs an evacuation agreement with the British in Alexandria. This decision will favor the development of Egyptology.
March 25, 1802 — Peace of Amiens
After France’s victory in the War of the Second Coalition, France and Great Britain signed the peace treaty at Amiens. However, war resumed a year later, thus becoming the “Amiens Truce.”
May 19, 1802 — Creation of the Legion of Honor
Bonaparte creates the Legion of Honor Order to reward civil and military actions. The decoration was conceptualized by the painter Jacques-Louis David.
August 2, 1802 — Napoleon becomes consul for life
Napoleon appeals to the people to vote by plebiscite for his appointment for life as consul. He obtains 3,500,000 votes in his favor. With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Year X, the First Consul becomes consul for life.
September 11, 1802 — Annexation of Piedmont by France
Contradicting the rules he had set for himself, Napoleon annexed the wealthy region of Turin to France based on a referendum dating back to 1799. Piedmont is divided into six departments. This annexation outside the natural and historical borders of France infuriates the major European powers and undermines Napoleon’s image as a liberator among the patriots of Piedmont and elsewhere.
February 19, 1803 — Napoleon Bonaparte establishes the Act of Mediation in Switzerland
Through this act, Bonaparte restored the Swiss Confederation, which will then have nineteen cantons. Each of them will enjoy autonomous government, but all will be united within a stronger federal organization, governed by a Federal Diet. This act of mediation was abolished in 1814, after the fall of the Empire.
March 28, 1803 — Creation of the Germinal Franc
With the law of the 7th Germinal of Year XI, Bonaparte created the new 1 franc coin named the Germinal Franc. It is struck at the Bank of France alongside the Napoleon Franc, a 20 franc gold coin. The Germinal Franc remains in circulation until 1914.
April 12, 1803 — Introduction of the worker’s booklet
The law of the 22nd Germinal of Year XI reaffirms the prohibition of workers’ gatherings and thus the illegality of trade unions. It also makes strikes a crime. But above all, it establishes a new, stricter system of control over workers: the worker’s booklet. In this booklet, the start and end dates of each job must be recorded. Among the motivations for this measure are the desire to strengthen the worker’s dependence on his employer and to increase police control.
April 30, 1803 — Bonaparte sells Louisiana
In debt due to the war, Napoleon chose to sell Louisiana to the United States for 80,000 million francs. This allows him to finance his war against England and win the War of the Third Coalition.
November 24, 1803 — Inauguration of the Pont des Arts
France’s first metal bridge is inaugurated in Paris: the Pont des Arts. This pedestrian bridge, designed as a suspension bridge, was built under Bonaparte’s initiative. It owes its name to the Palais des Arts, currently the Louvre Palace, which it connects to the Institut de France. It partially collapsed in 1979 while closed to traffic. As it was replaced starting in 1982, one of its elements was transferred and installed on the quays of Nogent-sur-Marne.
March 21, 1804 — Publication of the Civil Code
The law of the 30th Ventose of Year XII establishes the Civil Code. It is a powerful legal arsenal that incorporates Roman law while bridging with revolutionary law. It proclaims secularism, freedom of property and person, and the end of feudalism.
March 21, 1804 — Assassination of the Duke of Enghien
Fearing a return of royalist insurgency, Napoleon has the royalist émigré, the Duke of Enghien, brought back to France. Napoleon summarily judges him and immediately guillotines him. This act shocks all of Europe’s judicial systems.
May 18, 1804 — Coronation of Napoleon
By senatorial decree, the new Constitution of Year XII appoints Napoleon Bonaparte as emperor. This first step officially, through constitutional means, establishes Napoleon’s new status. He now negotiates religious approval with the pope.
December 2, 1804 — Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French
In the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris, Bonaparte is crowned emperor with the approval of Pope Pius VII. However, the latter is relegated to the role of a mere spectator, as Napoleon has chosen to crown himself. Bonaparte now becomes Napoleon I, and the First Empire is formalized.