French Consulate

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French Consulate

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The top-level government of the French First Republic, leading to Napoleon's rise.

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Origins & Early Life

The Consulate (French: Consulat) was the top-level government of the French First Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804. During this period, Napoleon Bonaparte, with his appointment as First Consul, established himself as the head of an authoritarian and centralized republican government in France while not yet declaring himself sole ruler. As Napoleon increased his power, he borrowed some of the institutions of the ancien régime in his new form of one-man government, but also made some of his own. Like the old monarchy, he re-introduced plenipotentiaries; over-centralized, and used strictly utilitarian administrative and bureaucratic methods. He constructed or consolidated the funds necessary for national institutions, local governments, universities, a judiciary system, organs of finance, banking, codes, and traditions of conscientious of a well-disciplined labour force.

Career & Major Achievements

However, Napoleon also instituted the Concordat of 1801, drawn up not in the Catholic Church's interest but his own. By giving satisfaction to the religious feeling of the country, it allowed him to put down the constitutional democratic Church, rally round him the support of the peasants, and above all to deprive the royalists of their best weapon. Due to the long-lasting institutions established during these years, the historian Robert B. Holtman has called the consulate "one of the most important periods of all French history." By the end of this period, Napoleon had engineered an authoritarian personal rule now viewed as a military dictatorship. French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, and eventually shattered it in November 1799. Historians sometimes date the start of the political downfall of the Directory to 18 June 1799 (Coup of 30 Prairial VII by the French Republican calendar).

Enduring Legacy & Impact

This was when anti-Jacobin Director Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, after only a month in office, with the help of the Directory's only surviving original member, Paul Barras, also an anti-Jacobin, successfully rid himself of the other three then-sitting directors. The elections held for the two councils in March and April had produced a new "Neo-Jacobin" majority in the two bodies, and being unhappy with the existing five man Directory, by 5 June 1799, these councils had found an irregularity in the election of the Director Jean Baptiste Treilhard, who thus retired in favour of Louis-Jérôme Gohier, a Jacobin more "in tune" with the feelings in the two councils. The next day, 18 June 1799, anti-Jacobins Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai and Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux were also driven to resign, although one long time anti-Jacobin, popularly known for his cunning, survived the day's coup; they were replaced by the Jacobin baron Jean-François-Auguste Moulin and by non-Jacobin, or "weak" Jacobin, Roger Ducos. The three new directors were generally seen by the anti-Jacobin elite of France as non-entities, but that same elite could take some comfort in knowing that the five man Directory was still in anti-Jacobin hands, but with a reduced majority. Additional military disasters, royalist insurrections in the south, Chouan disturbances in a dozen departments of the western part of France (mainly in Brittany, Maine, and eventually Normandy), royalist intrigues, and the end became certain.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1798: 1798 Milestone — French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, and eventually shattered it in November 1799.
2. 1799: 1799 Milestone — The Consulate (French: Consulat) was the top-level government of the French First Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804.
3. 1801: 1801 Milestone — However, Napoleon also instituted the Concordat of 1801, drawn up not in the Catholic Church's interest but his own.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: French Consulate

True or False: “Did the Consulate immediately establish Napoleon as a sole ruler without any transitional period?”

Answer (FALSE ❌): Napoleon initially established himself as the head of an authoritarian and centralized republican government while not yet declaring himself sole ruler.

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