Context
The reasons for General Bonaparte's coup may have lain more in his defeats than by his victories. In November 1799, France was suffering the effects of military reverses brought on by Bonaparte's adventurism in the Middle East. The looming threat of opportunistic invasion by the Second Coalition had provoked internal unrest, with Bonaparte stuck in Egypt.
The coup was first prepared not by Napoleon but by the Abbé Sieyès, then one of the five Directors, attempting to head off a return to Jacobinism. Dazzled by Napoleon's victories in the East, the public ignored the impending calamitous ending of the Egyptian expedition. They received Napoleon with an ardor which convinced Sieyès he had found the general indispensable to his coup. However, from the moment of his return in September 1799, Napoleon plotted a coup within the coup, ultimately gaining power for himself rather than Sieyès.
Perhaps the gravest potential obstacles to a coup were in the army. Some generals, such as Jourdan, honestly believed in republicanism; others, such as Bernadotte, believed themselves capable of governing France. With perfect subtlety, Napoleon worked on the feelings of all, keeping secret his own intentions.
An army contractor named Collot advanced two million francs to finance the coup. There were troops conveniently deployed around Paris. The plan was, first, to persuade the Directors to resign, then, second, to get the Council of Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred (the upper and lower houses of the legislature) to appoint a pliant commission that would draw up a new constitution to the plotters' specifications.
Read more about this topic: 18 Brumaire
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