French Consulate

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Consulate (French: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804.

During this time, Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul (Premier consul), created himself as the head of a more authoritarian, autocratic, and centralized republican government in France while not declaring himself sole ruler.[1]

Napoleon brought authoritarian personal rule which has been viewed as military dictatorship.[2]

References[change | change source]

  1. Robert B. Holtman, The Napoleonic Revolution (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981), 31.
  2. Jones, Colin (1994). The Cambridge Illustrated History of France (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 193–94. ISBN 0-521-43294-4.