Napoleonic+Wars+-+Coup+d'etat+de+Brumaire

Alex Kraus msjkraus@yahoo.com Nick Vogt newestgodofrock@hotmail.com Matt Lucas 12dlucas@gmail.com

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=Le Coup d'etat de Brumaire=
 * The coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'etat of Napoleon Bonaparte, leading to the overthrow of the French Directory and replacing it with the French Consulate. (Brumaire was the name given to the second month of the French revolutionary calendar; 18 Brumaire was the date that coincided with November 9 on the traditional calendar.)
 * November 9, 1799
 * General Overview: coup d’état that overthrew the system of government under the Directory in France and substituted the Consulate, making way for the despotism of Napolean Bonaparte
 * Reasons for the coup:
 * Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes, a director(and later known as one of the founders of the french revolution) wanted to strengthen the executive power, but knew the council of 500 would not accept it.
 * He decided he would need the support of the army in a coup, and Napoleon agreed to take part.
 * Napoleon's defeats
 * Threat of invasion
 * Internal unrest(most people did not trust the directory)
 * Coup prepared by Abbe Sieyes (aka Emmanual-Joseph Sieyes), trying to establish a republican oriented to the right.
 * Trying to //stop// a return to Jacobinism(Revolutionary Ideals)
 * Napoleon became leader, instead of Sieyes, because Napoleon prepared a coup within a coup to give himself power.
 * Napoleon
 * When he returned as a leader in France, Napoleon began plotting a coup d'etat that would ultimately give power to himself.
 * During the coup, charged with the safety of the two Councils
 * Obstacles to the Coup
 * The French military
 * Jacobins
 * Royalists
 * Council of 500, Council of Ancients.
 * Radical generals
 * Finance
 * 2 million francs
 * Plan
 * Persuade the Directors to resign.
 * Those against the revolt are put on house arrest.
 * Sieyes, Roger Ducos, Barras(3 of the 5)
 * Council of Ancients and Council of Five Hundred to appoint a pliant commission, drawing up a new constitution according to the plotter's specifications.

([]) [] (Herold, Christopher J. //The Age of Napoleon//. New York: American Heritage, 1963. Print.) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82084/Coup-of-18-19-Brumaire
 * Council of Ancients
 * Warned colleagues of a Jacobin conspiracy and persuaded them to remove to the Chateau de Saint Cloud
 * Appoints Napoleon commander of all troop's in Paris.
 * Chateau de Saint Cloud surrounded by 6000 of Napoleon's troops.
 * Council of Five Hundred
 * Napoleon entered the council with a squad of grenadiers as Barras' resignation was being challenged.
 * He met a very hostile reception, but his brother Lucien (President of the Council) was able to slip out and trick the guards into thinking that a group of deputies was assaulting the council, using Napoleon's bloodied face as evidence.
 * Lucien orded the troops to expel the violent deputies (the ones harrassing Napoleon) from the council.
 * Violent deputies are called "assassins."
 * They flee for their lives.
 * Effectively Marks the End of the Directory.
 * The Coup was greeted with almost universal satisfaction in France
 * Although the council probably ran more smoothly than Bonaparte described, people were tired of the upheaval and the constant wars.
 * Conservative Republicans saw him as as the man they needed to establish a firm stable government
 * The Jacobins saw him as someone who would prevent a Royalist revolution.
 * The Royalists (including the exiled Louis XVIII) thought and hoped that he would be the one to ease the way into a restored monarchy.
 * To the conservatives he had finished the Revolution; to the Liberals he had consolidated it.
 * The enemies from the Coalition fell away.
 * Results
 * Executive first council - Napoleon
 * First council - unlimited power
 * Advisory second and third councils
 * Jacobin and Royalists
 * Puts France in a referendum
 * Napoleon wins vote 3,000,000 to 1,000
 * French accepts dictatorial rule
 * Napoleon - enlightened despot
 * ======**Images:**======
 * http://mapage.noos.fr/moulinhg3/revolution.frse/18.Brumaire.JPG
 * http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110901/imagesAll/consul.jpg
 * http://amazingscott.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/napoleon_bonaparte-1.jpg
 * http://amazingscott.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/napoleon_bonaparte-1.jpg