18 Brumaire

18 Brumaire, the coup of 18 Brumaire or sometimes simply Brumaire refers to the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the government of the Directory to replace it by the Consulate. This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18 Brumaire in the year VIII under the French Republican Calendar.

The events of 18 Brumaire in the year VIII

On the morning of 18 Brumaire, members of the Council of Elders sympathetic to the coup warned their colleagues of a Jacobin conspiracy and persuaded them to remove to Saint-Cloud, west of Paris. Bonaparte was charged with the safety of the two Councils. Later that morning Sieyès and Roger Ducos resigned as Directors; Talleyrand persuaded Barras to do the same. (The presence of troops in the garden outside was, no doubt, rather persuasive.)

Related Topics:
Council of Elders - Saint-Cloud - Roger Ducos - Talleyrand - Barras

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The resignation of three Directors was sufficient to destroy the quorum, but the two Jacobin Directors, Gohier and Moulin, refused to resign. Moulin escaped; Gohier was taken prisoner. However, the two Councils were not immediately intimidated and continued to meet.

Related Topics:
Gohier - Moulin

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