Fall of The Directory Government
French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, and eventually shattered it. The start of the political downfall of the Directory is usually dated from 18 June 1799, (30 Prairial Year VII by the French Republican calendar) when Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès with the help of Paul Barras successfully rid himself of the other then-sitting directors. An irregularity emerged in the election of Jean Baptiste Treilhard, who retired in favor of Gohier. Within days, Philippe-Antoine Merlin (Merlin de Douai) and Louis-Marie de La Revellière (La Révellière-Lépeaux) were driven to resign; Baron Jean-François-Auguste Moulin and Ducos replaced them. The three new directors were generally seen as non-entities.
A few more 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, Orléanist intrigues, and the end was certain. In order to soothe the populace and protect the frontier, more than the French Revolution's usual terrorist measures (such as forced taxation or the law of hostages) was necessary. The new Directory government, led by Sieyès, decided that the necessary revision of the constitution would require "a head" (his own) and "a sword" (a general to back him). Jean Victor Moreau being unattainable as his sword, Sieyès favoured Barthélemy Catherine Joubert; but, when Joubert was killed at the Battle of Novi (15 August 1799), he turned to General Napoleon Bonaparte.
Although Guillaume Marie Anne Brune and André Masséna won the Battle of Bergen and of Zürich, and although the Allies of the Second Coalition lingered on the frontier as they had done after the Battle of Valmy, still the fortunes of the Directory were not restored. Success was reserved for Bonaparte, suddenly landing at Fréjus with the prestige of his victories in the East, and now, after Hoche's death, appearing as sole master of the armies.
In the coup of 18 Brumaire Year VIII (9 November 1799) France and the army fell together at Napoleon's feet. By a twofold coup d'état, parliamentary and military power went into the hands of a single man. There was little resistance to this move; after years of turmoil and revolution, France was tired and appeared to accept the sacrifice of the liberty and democracy that she had known for so short a time in return for simple stability and a strong hand at the reins of government.
On the night of the 19 Brumaire (10 November 1799) a remnant of the Council of Ancients abolished the Constitution of the Year III, ordained the Consulate, and legalised the coup d'état in favour of Bonaparte with the Constitution of the Year VIII. For the next fifteen years, the history of France and a great part of Europe was to be summed up in the person of a single man.
Read more about this topic: French Consulate
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