The Consulate

1799 to 1804

Inheriting the power left by the abolished Directory, the Consulate was formed with Napoleon Bonaparte, Abbe Sieyes and Roger Ducos as its consuls.

Within months, both Ducos and Sieyes had retired and two more filled their places.

Bonaparte took on the unofficial mantle of First Consul until a vote in 1802 that elected him Consul for Life.

The official vote was an incredible three million for and eight thousand against.