O 18th of Brumaire it was a coup d'état carried out by Napoleon Bonaparte, on the 9th and 10th of November, 1799, in France.
What was the 18 Brumaire coup?
It was a political maneuver to ensure the rise of the Girondins, the French upper bourgeoisie, to power.
It also served to contain the Jacobins, preserve the conquests of the French Revolution and stop the war with countries contrary to revolutionary ideals.
Through the coup, the system called Directory was overthrown and replaced by the Consulate. This fact marked the beginning of the dictatorship of General Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).
The date gets its name because it occurred in the second month of the French Revolutionary Calendar, brumarium, which was dedicated to mist.
Background to the 18 Brumário Coup
With the military conquests obtained by the French, the Army was getting stronger and stronger. Given the disagreements in the Directory between the various political factions, it seemed that the military would be the only ones capable of guaranteeing governability in France.
Likewise, the bourgeois saw their social and economic achievements threatened, as some groups wanted the return of absolutism. Likewise, there was a real danger of France being invaded again by Second Coalition troops (England, Austria, Russian Empire, among others).
All of this makes the French support the 18 Brumaire coup and the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Bonaparte and the Brumaire 18 Coup
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most outstanding military men of the revolutionary era, winning several countries that waged war against France. He was increasingly interested in politics and looked down on Robespierre's epoch of Terror.
In this way, he plans with Abbot Sieyès a coup to preserve the achievements of the French Revolution.
Thus, Napoleon deposed the Directory using a column of grenadiers and implemented the Consulate regime. Under this system, three consuls would share power: Bonaparte, Sieyès and Pierre-Roger Ducos.
new constitution
The trio coordinated the drafting of a new Constitution that established Napoleon as First Consul for a period of ten years.
The Magma Charter still granted him the powers of a dictator, as Bonaparte was responsible for appointing to the main public offices and also for legislating. In this new Constitution, no reference is made to the Declaration of Human and Citizen's Rights.
This document would be in force until 1804 when Napoleon himself creates the Empire and crowns himself sovereign.
Consequences of the 18th of Brumaire
With the Coup of the 18th of Brumaire, Napoleon Bonaparte established a dictatorship in France with the powers concentrated in his person.
For his part, Bonaparte tries to reconcile the various political factions. It restores freedom of worship, amnesty (noble) emigrants who fled during the Revolution, promulgates the Civil Code, creates the Bank of France, etc.
However, it makes the Senate only an advisory body and ends the election of judges as had been determined by the revolutionaries.
The Consulate ended with the creation of the Napoleonic Empire, where a new dynasty, the Bonaparte, came to rule France.
The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, by Karl Marx
The expression "18 Brumário" has become synonymous with a coup d'état within the revolutionary process.
The historian and writer Karl Marx entitled one of his works, "The 18th Brumário de Luís Bonaparte", where he analyzed the political movements that took place in Europe between 1848-1851.
In this book, Marx explained how General Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew, Louis, managed to restore the monarchy, even as President of the Republic, and proclaim himself emperor.
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