Western Civilization II / Unit 8 WC2 0703 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Brumaire 1799: The Consulate, Consul for Life, Emperor 1804
Captions available
The idea
On the eighteenth of Brumaire, November ninth, seventeen ninety-nine, the witness's date, a three-man conspiracy overthrew the Directory and installed the Consulate, consuls after Rome, with Napoleon dominant. Consul for life in eighteen-oh-two, he crowned himself emperor in eighteen-oh-four.
In practice
The witness: a constitution preserving the appearance of a republic.
Where people slip
The first emperor of France, styling himself heir to Caesar and Alexander.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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