Editing French Consulate (section)

==The new government== <!-- This section is linked from [[First French Empire]] -->
Initially, the 18 Brumaire coup seemed to be a victory for Sieyès, rather than for Bonaparte. Sieyès was a proponent of a new system of government for the Republic, and the coup initially seemed certain to bring his system into force. Bonaparte's cleverness lay in counterpoising [[Pierre Claude François Daunou]]'s plan to that of Sieyès, and in retaining only those portions of each which could serve his ambition.<ref>Antoine-Claire Thibaudeau, "Creation of the Consular Government," ''Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents'', ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 54–56.</ref>{{sfn|Wiriath|1911|p=860}}

[[File:Constitution an VIII et le Empire Francais.png|thumb|Constitution of the year VIII and later the French Empire]]

The new government was composed of three parliamentary assemblies: the [[Conseil d'État|Council of State]] which drafted bills, the [[Tribunat]]e which could not vote on the bills but instead debated them, and the ''[[Corps législatif]]'', whose members could not discuss the bills but voted on them after reviewing the Tribunate's debate record. The ''[[Sénat conservateur]]'' was a governmental body equal to the three aforementioned legislative assemblies and verified the draft bills and directly advised the First Consul on the implications of such bills. Ultimate executive authority was vested in three consuls, who were elected for ten years. Popular suffrage was retained, though mutilated by the lists of notables (on which the members of the Assemblies were to be chosen by the Senate). The four aforementioned governmental organs were retained under the [[Constitution of the Year XII]], which recognised Bonaparte as the French sovereign, but their respective powers were greatly diminished.

Bonaparte vetoed Sieyès's original idea of having a single ''Grand Elector'' as supreme executive and [[head of state]]. Sieyès had intended to reserve this important position for himself, and by denying him the job Bonaparte helped reinforce the authority of the consuls, an office which he would assume. Nor was Bonaparte content simply to be part of an equal [[triumvirate]]. As the years progressed he would move to consolidate his own power as First Consul, and leave the two other consuls, [[Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès]] and [[Charles-François Lebrun]], as well as the Assemblies, weak and subservient. By consolidating power, Bonaparte was able to transform the aristocratic constitution of Sieyès into an unavowed dictatorship.{{sfn|Wiriath|1911|p=860}}

On 7 February 1800, a [[1800 French constitutional referendum|public referendum]] confirmed the new constitution. It vested all of the real power in the hands of the First Consul, leaving only a nominal role for the other two consuls. A full 99.9% of voters approved the motion, according to the released results.

While this near-unanimity is certainly open to question, Bonaparte was genuinely popular among many voters, and after a period of strife, many in France were reassured by his dazzling but unsuccessful offers of peace to the victorious Second Coalition, his rapid disarmament of the {{lang|fr|[[Vendée]]}}, and his talk of stability of government, order, justice, and moderation. He gave everyone a feeling that France was governed once more by a real statesman, and that a competent government was finally in charge.{{sfn|Wiriath|1911|p=860}}