ABSTRACT
Most survey histories of the French Revolution end in 1799; some even end in 1794. Why, then, do we continue the story until 1804 and Bonaparte’s coronation as Emperor of the French? The question can be answered at several levels. For a start, the republic remained in existence until 1804, and not until 1810 were all surviving traces of it removed. After all, it was a style of government that could accommodate hugely divergent interpretations of how power should be held. However, it could not accommodate the hereditary rule of one person. Besides, France’s young republic was evolving in 1799 as we have seen, and it would be arbitrary to curtail its life cycle purely on the grounds another coup happened in Brumaire.
