[music playing]
NARRATOR: In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte
seized power in France by plotting
a coup within another coup.
And he did it all without shedding a drop of blood.
One year before the coup, France was at war with Great Britain
and Russia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and
some German and Italian states.
But Napoleon was focused on Great Britain
and wanted to cut off the country's
roots to its profitable trading outposts in India.
Even though much of his fleet was captured or destroyed
by the British at the Battle of the Nile,
Napoleon still managed to capture and hold Egypt
to cut off British trade routes and even attack targets
deeper into the Ottoman Empire.
But back home, the French weren't faring as well,
suffering a series of defeats against their European enemies
across the first half of 1799.
The French people became fed up with their current system
of government known as the Directory,
the fourth different system of government
since the beginning of the French Revolution
10 years earlier.
The Directory system included two legislative bodies,
a council of 500, a chamber of elected men that proposed laws,
and the Council of Ancients, 250 elected men over 40
years old that approved laws.
The two bodies also work together
to choose the directors themselves,
five executives of equal power responsible for enforcing laws.
But by 1799, the Directory had brought France into war
and near economic ruin.
The people largely looked to the country's military
for leadership.
This is where Napoleon saw his chance.
When British ships temporarily retreated from France's ports,
Napoleon left Egypt and returned home a hero.
Meanwhile, another prominent Frenchman
had been plotting to seize power from the weakened Directory.
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, better known by his religious title,
the Abb Sieyes, was elected as a director in May of 1799.
He had long been one of the most influential political figures
for his writings that partly inspired the French Revolution.
But Sieyes hated the Directory, finding the executive
too weak to effectively govern.
So soon after Napoleon's return to Paris,
the two men met in secret.
They agreed to a coup that would allow Sieyes to place himself
at the head of a new government formed with the help
of Napoleon and his loyal army.
There were other conspirators, including Minister of Foreign
Affairs Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte,
President of the Council of 500 and Napoleon's younger brother.
On the morning of 18 Brumarie, or November 9,
the plan was set into motion.
Sieyes and Lucien Bonaparte informed
their respective legislative bodies there was a plot
to overthrow the government.
But they lied and said it was being led by the Jacobins,
the party that had carried out France's reign of terror
five years earlier.
The lawmakers were moved for their safety
to a palace in St. Cloud, a suburb of France.
Conveniently, Napoleon himself was placed
in charge of their protection.
Meanwhile, three of the five directors
had resigned in coordination with the coup, Sieyes, his ally
Roger Ducos, and Paul Barras, a former lover
of Napoleon's wife Josephine.
Talleyrand had been given 2 million
francs to bribe Barras to resign,
but he resigned on his own.
So Talleyrand just pocketed the money for himself.
The next day, the Council of Ancients
were receptive to Napoleon's argument
that the government needed to be reorganized.
But the Council of 500 needed more convincing.
So Napoleon marched into their chamber with grenadiers
by his side.
The legislators erupted in anger, some charging
at Napoleon with daggers.
Amidst the chaos, Lucien Bonaparte
used the attacks on his brother as an excuse
to dissolve the Council of 500.
Napoleon's troops dispersed the rest of the council.
The Council of Ancients then dissolved the Constitution,
replacing the Directory with three consuls, Sieyes,
Roger Ducos, and Napoleon.
Sieyes' coup was complete.
But Napoleon was not interested in sharing power.
The new government quickly drew up the Constitution
of the Year VIII, and Napoleon made
sure he was its chief editor.
With the new constitution, Napoleon wrested
control away from Sieyes, using his supreme popularity
to declare himself first consul with Sieyes and Ducos secondary
in power.
Napoleon had succeeded in his coup within a coup,
setting himself up to ultimately become dictator,
and all without a single life lost.