Napoleon seizes power in the Coup of 18 Brumaire
A general topples the Directory and becomes First Consul
Quick facts
- Location
- Saint-Cloud, near Paris
- Key people
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Outcome
- Napoleon becomes First Consul; Emperor from 1804
What happened
Napoleon Bonaparte, already a celebrated general from his campaigns in Italy and Egypt, joined a conspiracy of political leaders dissatisfied with the corrupt and unstable Directory government that had ruled France since 1795. On 18-19 Brumaire, Year VIII of the revolutionary calendar (9-10 November 1799), the conspirators moved the legislative councils to Saint-Cloud on the pretext of protecting them from a supposed plot, then had Napoleon's soldiers intimidate the deputies into voting to dissolve the Directory. Napoleon emerged from the coup as First Consul, holding executive power under a new constitution, at the age of thirty. He was crowned Emperor of the French five years later in 1804.
Why it matters
The coup ended a decade of revolutionary republican government and began Napoleon's rise to Emperor, launching the Napoleonic Wars that would reshape the map of Europe. Napoleon's full career and its wars are covered on their own dedicated timeline.
How we know
Multiple participants in the coup, including Napoleon's fellow consul Sieyes and various deputies present at Saint-Cloud, left accounts of the day's chaotic events, letting historians reconstruct the coup's mechanics from more than one perspective.
Sources
- Fondation Napoleon. 18 Brumaire: the context and course of a coup d'Etat · Unclassified sourcenapoleon.org · Cited as a "website" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Napoleon Bonaparte · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The Napoleonic Wars → · Follow Napoleon's empire and wars across Europe on their own timeline