3. The Advent of Bonaparte.
We have seen that at the end of the Directory the anarchy and
disorganisation were such that every one was desperately calling
for the man of energy capable of re-establishing order. As early
as 1795 a number of deputies had thought for a moment of re-establishing royalty. Louis XVIII., having been tactless
enough to declare that he would restore the
ancien
régime in its entirety, return all property to its
original owners, and punish the men of the Revolution, was
immediately thrown over. The senseless expedition of Quiberon
finally alienated the supporters of the future sovereign. The
royalists gave a proof during the whole of the Revolution of an
incapacity and a narrowness of mind which justified most of the
measures taken against them.
The monarchy being impossible, it was necessary to find a
general. Only one existed whose name carried weight—Bonaparte.
The campaign in Italy had just made him famous. Having crossed
the Alps, he had marched from victory to victory, penetrated to
Milan and Venice, and everywhere obtained important war
contributions. He then made towards Vienna, and was only twenty-
five leagues from its gates when the Emperor of Austria decided
to sue for peace.
But great as was his renown, the young general did not
consider it sufficient. To increase it he persuaded the
Directory that the power of England could be shaken by an
invasion of Egypt, and in May, 1798, he embarked at Toulon.
This need of increasing his prestige arose from a very
sound psychological conception which he clearly expounded at St.
Helena:—
“The most influential and enlightened generals had
long been pressing the general of Italy to take steps to place
himself at the head of the Republic. He refused; he was not yet
strong enough to walk quite alone. He had ideas upon the art of
governing and upon what was necessary to a great nation which
were so different from those of the men of the Revolution and the
assemblies that, not being able to act alone, he feared to
compromise his character. He determined to set out for Egypt,
but resolved to reappear if circumstances should arise to render
his presence useful or necessary.”
Bonaparte did not stay long in Egypt. Recalled by his
friends, he landed at Frejus, and the announcement of his return
provoked universal enthusiasm. There were illuminations
everywhere. France collaborated in advance in the coup
d'État prepared by two Directors and the principal
ministers. The plot was organised in three weeks. Its execution
on the 18th of Brumaire was accomplished with the greatest ease.
All parties experienced the greatest delight at being rid
of the sinister gangs who had so long oppressed and exploited the
country. The French were doubtless about to enter upon a
despotic system of government, but it could not be so intolerable
as that which had been endured for so many years.
The history of the coup d'État of Brumaire
justifies all that we have already said of the impossibility of
forming exact judgments of events which apparently are fully
understood and attested by no matter how many witnesses.
We know what ideas people had thirty years ago concerning
the coup of Brumaire. It was regarded as a crime
committed by the ambition of a man who was supported by his army.
As a matter of fact the army played no part whatever in the
affair. The little body of men who expelled the few recalcitrant
deputies were not soldiers even, but the gendarmes of the
Assembly itself. The true author of the coup
d'État
was the Government itself, with the complicity of all France.
