The Directory and the Rise of Napoleon

Near the end of the 18th century, the French government fell under new control. A new government known as “the Directory” came to power in the executive branch. The directory directed a war effort, which brought power to Napoleon Bonaparte, who saw the fall of the French republic. He would eventually become the supreme ruler of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history. Napoleon’s influences lead to a new type of government, The French Consulate, in which Napoleon became the first consul. However, his coming to power was assisted by the Revolution in Colonies, lead by Toussaint L’Ouverture. Napoleon rose to power and initiated the downfall of the French republic and replaced it with The French Consulate, which began Napoleons reign over France. His rise to power began with the Directory.

In the late 18th century, the republic endured in France under a new government known as the Directory. This executive branch kept power only by fending off challenges from the remaining royalists in Paris.[1] This period of regime constituted the second to last stage of the French Revolution. Meanwhile, it directed a war effort that would ultimately bring to power Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most influential figures in European history. Napoleon scored major victories with a modernized French army and drew his tactics from different sources. His campaigns were studied and respected all over the world, and thus was regarded as one of history's great commanders. Napoleon centralized state power more effectively than kings of revolutionaries before him.[2] He also worked hard to establish his reputation as an efficient administrator with broad intellectual interests. Furthermore, Napoleon aimed to modernize French society through science and brute force.[3] This use of aggressiveness is shown with Napoleon’s prominent invasion of Poland and Germany. He not only assumed control of Polish lands, but in assimilating Polish youth and making them unaware of their rich heritage, destroyed Polish nationalism. Thus Napoleon raised “The Polish Question” among the Poles. Apart from this, the French Revolution also impacted Napoleon’s rise to power.
France was a country that depended heavily on the well-being of its colonies. The country’s success was due in part to the amount of slave laborers that worked their fields/.However, the course of the revolution brought about repercussions in France’s Caribbean colonies, which had a direct correlation to France’s economy. Some French citizens attempted to abolish such use of slaves with the organization of a club known as the Friends of Blacks. Unfortunately, the majority of French Revolutionaries did not view the issue as a problem. To their surprise, slaves in St. Dominique led an uprising which caused the Legislative assembly in Paris to resort to unpr
ecedented actions.[4] They granted free people of color civil and political rights. As a result enraged white planters and merchants joined sides with France’s enemy, Great Britain. Additionally, Great Britain’s ally, Spain, offered freedom to a select group of slave rebels. The French commissioner, now in a dire situation, freed all slaves as a means of recruiting more men into the French army. This hasty act caused the overall abolishment of slavery in the French colonies. To France’s advantage one of their ablest black generals, Francois-Dominique Touissant L’Ouverture allied with and changed the sides of his Spanish troops to the French. Touissant was honored and awarded as he was appointed governor of St. Dominique. Touissant was able to remain in charge until, Napoleon’s arrival in 1802. Although, he was arrested and died in prison, Touissant was revered as a hero to abolitionist everywhere.

The Directory regime faced a deeply divided populace at home while continuing to fight abroad. Constant elections meant constant upheaval. It never succeeded in establishing a farm center that could appeal to a majority of voters. All over France, people banded together and petitioned to reopen churches closed during the Terror.[5] Amid increasing political instability, generals in the field became independent, and the troops felt greater loyalty to their units and generals than to the republic. On November 9, 1799, the conspirators within the Directory government persuaded the legislature to move out of Paris to avoid revolt. When Bonaparte demanded changes in the Constitution, he was denied by cries of “Down with the dictator.” The soldiers ejected the deputies, and assembled a legislature voted to abolish the Directory and establish a new three-man executive called the consultate. The deputies picked Bonaparte as one of the three provisional consuls because he was such a famous general. Under the new Constitution of 1799 he was named First Consul, a title revived from ancient Roman republic, with the right to pick the Council of State, which drew up all laws. Bonaparte and his advisers chose the legislature’s members out of a small pool of “notables.”[6] Within a year, Bonaparte had effectively ended the French Revolution and set France on a new course toward a new, independent state.

Napoleon’s rise to power brought many changes to France. A new government was formed, known as the Directory, which controlled the executive branch. This lead to other reforms in the French government, for Napoleon incorporated a new form of power that ended the Republic. Napoleon established French Consulate, in which he became the First Consul. However, he was only able to ascend his power due to multiple revolutions against the previous government. Napoleon created a new French establishment that helped France become one of the most powerful countries in Europe.

Questions...

1. What helped Napoleon come into power?

2. What was the significance of the Polish Question?

3. What factors contributed to the fall of the Republic?

Noah Joachim, Oladeji Odewade, Will Huff

[1] Packet
[2] "Napoleon Bonaparte." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. 09 Feb. 2009 .
[3] Packet
[4] "Napoleon Bonaparte." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. 09 Feb. 2009 .

[5] "Napoleon Bonaparte." NEW ADVENT: Home. 09 Feb. 2009 .
[6] "Napoleon Bonaparte." NEW ADVENT: Home. 09 Feb. 2009 .