French Consulate
The Consulate (French: Le Consulat) was the top-level government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term The Consulate also refers to this period of French history.
French Consulate Consulat français | |
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| Executive government of the French First Republic | |
The three consuls, Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles-François Lebrun (left to right) by Auguste Couder | |
| History | |
| Established | 10 November 1799 |
| Disbanded | 18 May 1804 |
| Preceded by | French Directory |
| Succeeded by | First French Empire (with Napoleon Bonaparte as emperor) |
| History of France |
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| Topics |
| Timeline |
| France portal |
During this period, Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul (Premier consul), established himself as the head of a more authoritarian, autocratic, and centralized republican government in France while not declaring himself sole ruler. Due to the long-lasting institutions established during these years, Robert B. Holtman has called the Consulate "one of the most important periods of all French history." By the end of this period, Napoleon had engineered an authoritarian personal rule now viewed as military dictatorship.