WEBVTT - Napoleon's Coup Within a Coup 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:05.040 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.360 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.600 It was in spring of eighteen o two that Ludwig 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:20.159 van Beethoven realized he was beginning to go deaf. In 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.520 an effort to pull himself out of a depression, he 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:27.200 left Vienna for a small village five miles to the 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.520 north to spend time in nature and see if he 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.640 could find any musical inspiration. It was on a walk 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.360 through the countryside that a melody popped into his head, 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:43.040 a theme in E flat major. Eventually, over a year, 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:49.640 that theme transformed into a full symphony, Beethoven's third titled 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:55.440 Roika or Heroic. People far more knowledgeable about classical music 0:00:55.520 --> 0:01:00.640 than I am celebrate the symphony as groundbreaking, challenging, and brilliant, 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:05.200 a landmark of Beethoven's career that I've seen described as 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:10.520 the first Romantic symphony, marking the end of the classical period. 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:17.200 But it wasn't originally titled Eroika. It had an earlier name, 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:22.360 which Beethoven wrote himself on the symphony's title page. As 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.839 soon as the work was completed in early eighteen oh four, 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:35.200 Symphonia in Titulata Bonaparte Symphony titled Bonaparte. Though Beethoven was 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:40.160 German living in Austria, there was plenty about Napoleon he 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:45.440 found inspiring. Napoleon was only a year older than Beethoven, 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.200 and they had both come from families outside the nobility, 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:51.960 and they had both risen in the ranks because of 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:56.880 their ability. As a young man, Beethoven was inspired by 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.240 the promise of the French Revolution. He read philosophy and 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:06.880 celebrated the possibility of a truly enlightened state, But like 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:11.280 so many others in Europe, he became disillusioned as he 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.840 watched on and saw the bloody excesses of where the 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:21.520 revolution ended up. To Beethoven, Napoleon was a striking and 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.640 romantic figure who had returned to France from his military 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:30.600 victories abroad and was able to save the revolution from itself. 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.480 From seventeen ninety five on, France was governed by a 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:40.000 system known as the Directory, where there were five directors 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:45.720 and two legislative bodies, but the government was chaotic and inefficient. 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:50.880 With the exception of Napoleon's victories abroad, France had suffered 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:55.320 a string of humiliating defeats, trade routes were cut off, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:59.760 land was sacrificed, and inflation was beginning to escape the 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.480 back of control. In seventeen ninety nine, there was a 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:09.360 coup ostensibly organized by one of the Directors, a man 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:14.480 popularly known as the abbey cs. Cs knew that the 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:20.480 delicate Directory was unstable, threatened by Royalists on the right 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.760 and Jacobean on the left, and a new government would 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.000 need to be established if the promises of the French 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:32.280 Revolution were to be preserved in any form. And what 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:36.000 better man was there to join him in that coup 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:41.600 than the popular hero Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant young general 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.240 who was met in the streets with cheers when he 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:51.600 returned from Egypt. But Napoleon orchestrated something of a coup 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:56.720 within a coup. After manipulating the legislative bodies of the 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:02.120 Directory to leave Paris, Napoleon brought in armed grenadiers to 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.880 ensure that in the new government, where there were supposed 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.360 to be three consuls, he Napoleon, would be the first 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:15.360 and most important consul. It was only called a coup 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:20.200 or coup within a coup in hindsight, At the time, 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:27.160 many including Beethoven, viewed Napoleon as a heroic figure, saving 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:32.600 the French government from itself in order to uphold republican ideologies. 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:38.480 Napoleon as consul was a Romantic figure out of classical antiquity, 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:44.599 like a sage Roman consul of old. But then Beethoven 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:50.000 got some bad news. In December eighteen o four, five 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:54.359 years after Napoleon became first consul and less than a 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:59.159 year after Beethoven named his new symphony after him, Napoleon 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:04.600 declared himsel self emperor. According to the most popular version 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:09.680 of the story, Beethoven became enraged and shouted quote, so 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.919 he is no more than a common mortal. Now he 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.400 too will tread underfoot all the rights of men and 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:21.039 indulge only his ambition. Now he will think himself superior 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:26.240 to all men and become a tyrant. Beethoven scratched over 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:30.680 the word symphony titled Bonaparte with so much force that 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:35.560 his pen ripped through the paper. The symphony was renamed 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:42.279 simply and vaguely heroic Eroika. Napoleon remains one of the 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:47.880 most popular and famous historical figures in European history. Recently, 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.240 he was the center of Ridley Scott's twenty twenty three 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:56.520 film starring Joaquin Phoenix. The French public had a fairly 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.600 negative reaction to the film, which might have had something 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.320 to do with how strange it must be for French 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:09.359 speakers to see Napoleon such an iconic French figure speaking 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:14.800 English with a full American accent. But the French public's 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:20.599 perspective on the real historical Napoleon is a little more complicated. 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.400 Was Napoleon the hero that France needed at the time, 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:30.120 a man who preserved the ideals of the revolution, encoding 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.760 them into the Napoleonic Code and giving the nation the 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:39.000 order it's so desperately needed. Or was Napoleon a military 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:43.760 dictator who dismissed a constitution he swore to uphold when 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:48.400 it suited him in his quest for greater personal power. 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:56.960 I'm Danish Swartz and this is noble blood. In order 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:01.760 to explore Napoleon's modern day reputae, especially the way he's 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.120 understood today in France, I'm thrilled to be talking about 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.640 the Coup of eighteen Brumaire, Napoleon's first major jump to power. 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:14.840 With Pascal Confrovo of the French Embassy in Washington, d C. 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.280 I am so thrilled to be here today talking to 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.680 Pascal Confrovo, who is the press counselor for the French 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.640 Embassy in Washington, d C. To talk about Napoleon with 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.320 me today. Pascal, thank you so much for joining me. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:30.400 Thank you for having me. 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:35.160 Napoleon obviously has such a long and fascinating life. I mean, 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.920 I could do this entire podcast just about episodes from 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.840 his life, but we're going to focus a little bit 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:44.920 on the coup. In English, we would say November ninth, 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.040 but it's called the Coup of eighteen brumaire in French exactly. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:53.760 And thank you for for inviting us. What's what caught 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.120 our eyes and why we were happy to talk with 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:01.400 you that We're always happy when Americans like you and 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.560 your audience are interested in French history and French figures. 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.120 And we see that there is a big curiosity on 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:14.160 Napoleon and more broadly on the French Revolution. Uh and uh. 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.520 And the film of Scott of course, and that is 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:18.120 that very well. 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.280 Yes, I mean, Napoleon is just one of the most 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.960 fascinating figures in history. I thought the movie was fun, 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.440 but obviously they took some historical liberties. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:29.120 Did you see it? 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.240 I saw it. I watched it here of course before 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.240 before talking to you, And yeah, the least I can 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:40.720 say that it created some debate in France and also 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:41.800 I guess in the US. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.439 Yeah, I've heard that French people had had very strong 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:45.280 opinions on it. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:47.920 A lot of persons were saying it it was less 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:52.160 about nepleonself, that about Napleon and Jovishan, that it was 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:57.800 about the love affair, and that made somewhere advising to 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.480 to have a title that would be Nepoleon josephin That 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:02.520 makes a lot of sense. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.160 I also thought it was it's always a fun decision 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.200 on a movie's part to give a character. Obviously they're 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.480 speaking English in the film, but Joaquin Phoenix just speaks 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.360 English with no accent, and I think for some that 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:17.720 was a little disconcerting. 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.920 Yeah, and it's always for a French speaking audience, it's 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.120 always interesting to see Napoleon speaks English. Indeed. 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:29.200 Yeah, well, let's let's fast forward a little bit to 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.920 the coup that initially brought Napoleon to power, obviously before 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.960 he became an emperor. After the French Revolution, Napoleon was 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:44.520 a general and served served the Constitution after the French Revolution, 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:50.200 the Directory and won massive victories over in Egypt and 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.160 returned to Paris a hero. Can you speak a little 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:57.040 bit about what the Directory was like and what France 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.360 was like when Napoleon returned from Egypt. 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.640 Yes, we was tver, and there was also a lot 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.199 of humility. Because I'm not speaking as a historian here, 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:09.600 but more as a civil servants, and so I may 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:14.160 not have all the little details. The date of eighteenth 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:18.240 of Brumeer and nineteenth brumer actually because they could takes 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.720 place on two days, is often taught at the end 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.280 of the revolution in the French history, and Napoleon at 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:31.400 that time was one of the youngest generals ever. He 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.480 was serving the Republic and was serving among them also 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:43.040 a man called Bajas, and he was coming back from Egypt. 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.160 It was the last military operation he did, which was 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.480 an operation less military than also a discovery. He had 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.360 worked with him a lot of scientists going to the pyramids. 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:56.880 He had discovered the Pierre deo Rosette, which was the 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:02.199 one afterwards that allowed everyone to understand what the hieroglyphs 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:03.920 were meaning, and so. 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.600 He published the Rosetta Stone. 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.480 Thank You, and so he was coming with a great aura. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.600 And this see also in the film that he was winning. 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.000 He won some battle against the englishing tool in seventeen 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:23.920 ninety three, which also brought him a lot of a 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.720 lot of fame. And in seventeen ninety eight seventeen ninety nine, 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:32.640 you had a kind of fatigue in in France, a 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.480 fatigue of the worlds, because the revolution were also making 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.800 was also a synonym of wars in France, a fatigue 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.160 for the economy also, and I think he could feel 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.360 that that people were willing to see, as we say, 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:55.320 peace outside and order inside. And that's what he ran 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.560 on in a way in seventeen ninety nine when he 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:00.720 was coming back from Egypt. 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.839 One thing that I think is so interesting is Napoleon. 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.000 You can obviously frame his actions in so many different ways. 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:12.200 One could frame what he did in overthrowing the Republic 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.600 and the government of the Directory as him trying to 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.880 save the revolution. This government was so unpopular, the economic 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:24.000 state in France was unsustainable. You could say that by 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.920 claiming power he was saving the government, saving the revolution, 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.920 or you could present this idea that he was simply 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.400 something of a military dictator. What do you think is 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.679 more of the popular conception of Napoleon in France as 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:41.840 it's sort of taught today. 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.360 See exactly what you say. He was a master of 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.240 communication also in that day, and he was also the 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.640 one who wrote his own story history before the historians 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.280 to them, and so he was very good at managing 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.000 the image he wanted the people to have of him. 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:04.240 And he has the two party you're saying, he's at 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.000 the same time, and the coup is embodying that, and 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.520 the Empire afterwards is embedding that that there are some 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:16.040 lessons taken from the revolutions that will survive, the human rights, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.120 the equality, the end of the privileges Frost the church 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:26.480 had or the nobility had, and so this will survive. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.400 And so he is in that aspect, he is the 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.720 heir of the revolution. He is the one that will 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:36.079 put these results of the revolution in the long term 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.199 French political life. And at the same time, yeah, he 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:43.240 he creates a regime that has nothing to do with 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.000 the republican That was very that at the beginning, the 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:52.560 Consulate has the appearance of republican then, which will in 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:57.760 eighteen oh four become after after publicits will become an empire. 0:13:58.840 --> 0:13:59.560 Absolutely. 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.600 One also interesting thing I feel like as an American, 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.040 I do feel like I have to voice our little 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.600 cameo that unfortunately, part of the problem of the runaway 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:14.040 inflation in France and the challenges that the French Republic 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.920 was facing economically was due to the fact that after 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:21.640 the American Revolution, the American government decided not to repay 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.960 some of the loans the way they were previously contracted, 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.240 because that contract had been with the French king who 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.040 was obviously no longer in charge of the government. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.480 So we had a little cameo there. 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.280 There are debates on that I want indulged in it. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.000 Which is true is that the two revolutions are very linked, 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.560 very much linked, and in spite of our histories earlier 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:48.760 seventeen seventy six, but with many French persons taking also 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:53.560 a part it of course Lafayette or Chambou, but also 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:57.680 the ideas are coming to France as well in seventeen 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:01.640 ninety nine a few years letter is our revolution that 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:07.040 started with many things among them was also public finances. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.080 And so yes, there is definitely a link between the 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.640 two revolutions, and that also while our two countries are 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.640 so close in a way, and say, all just alliars, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.080 but yes, indeed, at that time your first ambassador to 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.280 Paris is better man Franklin, and he makes he makes 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.040 a crowd in Paris. Everyone loves him. He's very good 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.760 public diplomacy at that time. Lafayette is a style in 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.360 the US. I would I could even say that I 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:36.360 think he's even more stylen in the US that he's 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.840 in France. But he's more well known here than than 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:41.240 in France. 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.520 One more I find so fascinating whenever American figures pop 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.400 up in French history. Talleyrand, who obviously is a is 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.600 a massively important figure in French history, a man who 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.840 survived regime change after regime change, who initially you know, 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.320 helped Napoleon and his rise to power. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:00.920 Actoring the Republic. 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.760 Tallyrand actually had to resign as Foreign Minister because he 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:10.120 was one could say, you know, politely requesting or demanding 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.640 a bribe of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.720 three American envoys, and American audiences might know one of 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.080 the envoys happened to be the future massive Supreme Court 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:25.280 Justice John Marshall and I just love realizing that two 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:28.400 totally disparate historical figures that you would learn about in 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.960 two different contexts actually interacted in that way. 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:39.600 Yeah, and they learned lessons from each other. They interacted, Tanya, 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.520 you work quitting Wimmy. It's another so another French figure 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.960 less known than Napoleon, and he plays in a way 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.160 kind of continuity in French diplomacy among different regimes, starting 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.400 from the Republic, so the Consulate of the Empire, and 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.840 then he plays also a role in the restoration of 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:56.240 the King. 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.640 I'm fascinated by Tallyrand. I remember reading that there was 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:04.560 sort of a parody book or pamphlet that came out 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.480 ranking the weather veins of French politics, as in men 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.399 who sort of changed their alliances, and itally Rand was 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:14.120 top of the list. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.639 Yeah. Yeah, And he has also a mixed image, I 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:20.080 guess legacy for that. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.160 I do always respect someone who is able to survive 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.320 in politics the way he did, and he was going 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.280 back to the coup. He was a major figure and 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.320 ally of Napoleon. Just to set the scene, the governmental 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:37.440 system was called the Directory. 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:38.720 There were two. 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.000 Government bodies, the Council of Ancients and the five hundred, 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.280 which was sort of the upper and lower legislative bodies. 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:50.600 Napoleon I think recognized among with other politicians at the 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:55.120 time that this government was not sustainable for the reasons 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.400 we talked about. And Napoleon was such a popular figure 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.159 that if he was sort of the spearhead of the coup, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.639 it would be it would be successful. And so he 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.880 allied with a man known as Abb s S. And again, 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.800 if i'm if, I'm I'm almost humiliated to be attempting 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.520 to do French pronunciation in front of you. But what 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.640 I love is that Napoleon, even as these men were 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:22.480 sort of building a coup around Napoleon's popularity, Napoleon was 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.560 sort of planning a coup within the coup to establish 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.960 himself as the primary power. 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.160 Exactly. And you see that also in the film I'll 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.080 say Ces and the Coup. He needed what we say sword, 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.520 He needed a saber to operate, to operationalize what he 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.320 was thinking. And so Bonaparte said yes, and they on 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:49.240 the eighteenth of Brumeer, everything happened as as planned. Basically, 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:53.239 they were resigning the directors, so the executive branch was 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.280 collectively resigning for the one who were among the coup, 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.680 and for the one who were not aware of the coup. 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:00.960 They were but forced to or under. 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.520 Custody little either bribes or force. 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:12.160 Exactly like pressure, and Napoleon was created. The one who 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.840 was in charge of the army protecting Paris, and the 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.920 council of the five hundreds that you were mentioning earlier 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.359 was sent to Sanclue, which is a city next to 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:25.199 not far from Paris, which was a bit further from 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:29.639 Paris to be more into a neighborhood. So eighteenth of 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.800 Rema works quite well for the plan. It's more nineteenth 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.199 of Remare, which is a bit trickier, but maybe you 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:36.320 want to tell it's now. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.320 Yeah, So step one goes according to plan. They're able 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.840 to pressure this council to sort of get outside the city, 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.320 come to the suburbs as it were. I think probably 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:48.760 for a few reasons, you know, to get away from 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:52.760 the military support that might undermine this coup. And I 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:54.959 believe if I'm correct, they were sort of able to 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.320 convince the council to come out to the suburbs by 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:00.679 saying that there was a jack of in coup that 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:05.240 was happening. Because the Jacobin, the more extremest revolutionary branch, 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.000 had been ousted from government a few months earlier, they 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:13.040 were able to sort of get the legislative body out 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:13.840 to the suburbs. 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.040 And then when the. 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:21.919 Legislative body realized that Napoleon walked into their chambers with 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:26.040 a force of military grenadiers, I think they all sort 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.760 of collectively realized, oh, we weren't brought out here for 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:29.360 our protection. 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:32.840 Something really extreme is happening, and. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.760 They welcome in. Welcome is not a good word, but 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.920 they are very violent, a team of crazy. They expel 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.520 him from the from the from the room. They say 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.760 they treat him, they say that he's a dictator. It 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:50.040 seems that for a moment Bonaparte is is UH losing 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.320 faith in him, in him, in his good star. And 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:58.520 then there's a truck of of of history where actually 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.520 his brother Lucien is a head of the Council of 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:05.080 the five hundred and UH, and he's the one who 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.000 who has this stamina to delay the vote that was 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:14.480 going by the five hundred that was going to outlaw UH, 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:18.720 to outlaw Bonaparte. A bit like the same kind of 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.200 votes that was going that had outlawed Robes a bit 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.680 a few years earlier, and when at that time, when 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:27.840 you were outlawed, it was also meaning a bit death 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:32.399 at the same time. And and he delayed, he delayed 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:36.280 the vote, and uh, and go take the guards the 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:40.280 to to to come back in the in the in 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:45.040 the room and expel. Actually the h a big part 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.160 of the of this, this five hundred. And then they 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:52.280 declare with the one who stay and who are supported, 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.560 They declared the end of the directory, and they give 0:21:55.640 --> 0:22:00.879 the executive power to three consoles. Uh did you crew end? 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:03.840 But apart so the first part of zuku. Yeah. 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.960 And just to interrupt and backtrack a little bit, that 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:10.199 vote when the Council of five hundred were faced with 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:13.399 Napoleon coming in with soldiers and recognized that he was 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:17.119 attempting to overthrow the constitution and they were about to 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.080 declare him an outlaw. I'm so glad you brought up 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:23.360 what happened to Robespiear because I find it so fascinating 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:28.560 the contrast and how the two men responded. Robespear attempted suicide. 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:30.000 I think actually the. 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:34.520 Film depicted this quite accurately. Took a pistol attempted suicide 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:37.760 and failed and just just blew off his jaw, which 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:41.280 was a very grisly scene. But Napoleon, with the aid 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:44.320 of his brother, was able to slip out, avoid the 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:50.080 vote and then actually use the anger of the legislative 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:54.920 body to rally his troops. I think Napoleon's the loyalty 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:58.080 that he inspired in his troops was such a major 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:01.800 drive in his ability to to breach power, because as 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:02.760 he came. 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:06.120 Out slightly worse for wear, literally. 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:10.040 I think the another thing the movie accurately portrayed was 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:13.120 that the council kind of tried to physically attack him, 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:16.160 and he was able to use how sort of bloodied 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:18.919 and ripped up he was, with his brother Lucian pointing 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:20.600 at him and saying, look what they tried to do 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:25.680 to him, rally the troops to come back in within 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:26.760 a show of force. 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:30.040 And Lucien at at that time it's saying that zie 0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:33.320 one who are attacking Buonaparte aren't the real traitors and 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.960 that they are working for England, which is of course 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:39.920 the worst you can say at that time. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:43.240 Oh even imagine, of course, well who else would want 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.080 to betray the military hero Napoleon. 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.879 Exactly, and you see all these scenes in the film. 0:23:50.480 --> 0:23:52.840 One thing that I think is so interesting is obviously 0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:54.919 the idea of the coup was that there would be 0:23:55.119 --> 0:24:01.120 three consoles, as you mentioned, but Napoleon fairly quickly manipulated 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:04.760 the constitution so that he, as first counsel, would have 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:07.080 much more power than the other two. 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:10.120 Exactly. That's what you you call I think the cup 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:14.640 within the cup, right, And yeah, the three conculs are 0:24:14.640 --> 0:24:16.760 not on the same are not at the same level, 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:21.439 and he will very swiftly consolidate his power, his grips 0:24:21.560 --> 0:24:26.960 with the adoption of a new constitution, the consition of 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:31.200 the year eight we are in the revolutionary still calendar 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:36.200 at that time, and which gives him the authority to 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:39.879 have the first draft of the law. And also he 0:24:39.960 --> 0:24:42.800 gives him also the visibility. I think in all this 0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:46.080 there is also a communication part which is always very 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:50.919 important at that time, and he will have the leader 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:54.479 on the image and then the comes very quickly and 0:24:54.520 --> 0:24:59.639 so yes, and are much less well known, and I 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:01.600 think he he differently worked for that. 0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:05.399 Yes, one scene that stuck with me from the movie 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:08.479 that of course was pulled directly from history because there 0:25:08.480 --> 0:25:10.320 are so many scenes where you're like, well, this is 0:25:10.359 --> 0:25:14.879 so cinematic, surely they just invented this. But when Napoleon 0:25:14.920 --> 0:25:17.200 sort of stumbled out of the Council of five hundred, 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:19.600 when they sort of attacked him and Lucian was trying 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:22.960 to rally the troops, Lucian grabbed a sword and said, 0:25:23.400 --> 0:25:27.360 I will kill Napoleon myself if he's a trader, And that, 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:31.439 of course inspired a lot of trust, and that to 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:35.320 me also speaks to I think from the outside. So 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:38.720 please correct me if I'm mistaken about the French perspective, 0:25:39.320 --> 0:25:42.719 But I think Napoleon really was able to repair a 0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:48.120 sense of national pride and nationalism. After the Revolution, France 0:25:48.119 --> 0:25:51.760