Napoleon, on his return, found the govern ment in great embarrassment. Its credit was wholly gone. It was obliged to fund the in terest of its debts or pay it in worthless paper money. It was ill-obeyed by its generals. A revolution had taken place in the government (18 June), but the new directors were as in competent as the old. In these circumstances was accomplished the revolution of the 18th and 19th Brumaire (9-10 Nov. 1799) by which the directory was abolished. The councils be ing alarmed by rumors of a Jacobin plot, the Ancients gave orders that both bodies of the legislature should be transferred to Saint Cloud under the conduct of Bonaparte, who was entrusted with the command of the troops. Bonaparte had already secured the co-operation of Moreau and the other generals present in Paris. On the 10th Napoleon entered the Council of the Ancients assembled at Saint Cloud, and insisted on the necessity of a new constitution. On proceeding to the Council of the Five Hundred he was received with cries of a bas le dictateur. General Leclerc, by his orders, entered and dispersed the assembly. The members of the two councils who were favorable to Bonaparte then appointed a pro visional government of three consuls — Bona parte, Sieyes and Roger Ducos, and a com mittee consisting of 25 members of each coun cil to draw up a new constitution. This was proclaimed on 15 December, and called the Constitution of the Year III A The three con suls were appointed for 10 years, and re-eligible. The first had all the executive powers, the others only a consultative voice. This consti tution was submitted to the approbation of the people, and accepted by 3,011,107 suffrages against 1,567. The departments were put under prefects directly responsible to the Minister of the Interior. The prefects, subprefects and maires of communes had their councils, which were merely the whole executive power being in the hands of the officer respon sible to government.
Bonaparte chose Cambaceres and Lebrun as second and third consuls. He then under took the task of reforming civil affairs. He recruited the national treasury, repealed many of the more violent laws that had been promul gated during the Revolution, and reopened the churches. He wrote letters to the king of Eng land and the emperor urging, in theatrical terms, the restoration of peace, but these overtures were refused, and his next business was to pre pare for war. He gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and determined him self to proceed to Italy. Massena with the remains of the French army was shut up in Genoa. On 13 May 1800 he began his memor able march across the Alps and on 2 June to the surprise and consternation of the allies entered Milan. After several unimportant skirmishes he attacked and decisively defeated the Austrians at Marengo on 14 June 1800. He thus for a second time secured to the French possession of all the Piedmontese fortresses. By the Con vention of Alessandria, signed on the 16th, Melas abandoned all Piedmont and Lombardy to the Oglio. Napoleon then committed the command to Massina and returned to Paris. Meanwhile Moreau defeated the Austrians in several engagements during May, and forced them to take refuge in Ulm. For a while
Napoleon's time was divided between campaign ing and negotiating. The English, however, finally persuaded the Austrians to continue the struggle and late in the year hostilities once more began in the valley of the upper Danube. Moreau again defeated the Austrians under the Archduke John on 3 December in the import ant battle of Hohenlinden*; and after a series of brilliant combats drove the Austrians back till Vienna was in terror. Brune, who suc ceeded Massena, extended the Italian conquests in Tuscany and Venetia. Negotiations were then entered on by Austria, and the Peace of Luneville concluded 9 Feb. 1801. The Rhine was recognized as the boundary between France and Germany. The Adige was to be the botind ary of Austria and Italy. The independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Cisalpine and Ligurian republics was guaranteed. A treaty was also concluded with Spain at Madrid on 21 March; and by the Treaty of Florence 28 March, Naples agreed to renounce the coalition, and re ceived French garrisons. Treaties were also signed with the Pope, Bavaria, Portugal, Russia and Turkey. Russia, Prussia, Denmark and Sweden then formed an armed neutrality in opposition to the naval privileges claimed by England, which now maintained the war single handed. This led to a brief war between Eng land and the northern powers except Prussia, which was terminated by the death of Paul I, and the battle of Copenhagen.
During all this time, the French army in Egypt, thought greatly weakened, was unsub dued. On 8 March 1801 an English fleet under Abercrombie debarked 18,000 troops at Abukir, on 13 March this force attacked and defeated the French. On the 17th Sir Sydney Smith re duced the forts at Abukir; and on the 20th 15,000 English again attacked 9,000 French and forced them back to Alexandria and Cairo. General Kleber had been assassinated and on 30 August General Menou, by a capitulation with the English, agreed to evacuate Egypt. Both England and France were now anxious for peace. Preliminaries were signed on 1 October and the Peace of Amiens was concluded 27 March 1802. France retained her continental conquests. Ceylon was ceded to England by Holland, and Trindad by Spain. All the other conquests of Great Britain were restored. Malta, which had been taken by the English, was to be restored to the Knights of Saint John. This lull in active warfare allowed Napoleon time to crush an insurrection of the blacks in Santo Domingo.
Napoleon exhibited his wonted vigor in home administration.. By means of the Senate he silenced the opposition of the tribunate and the corps legislatif. • He assembled the most noted lawyers in France under the presidency of Cambaceres to draw up a new code of civil laws now known as the Napoleon." (See Cone). He entered into a concordat with Car dinal Consalvi for the re-establishment of the Catholic religion. He undertook public works, constructed roads and bridges, encouraged industry and commerce. On 2 Aug. 1802, Napoleon and his colleagues were made con suls for life.