How did Napoleon come to power?

Part 1

Today I will be discussing the circumstances of Napoleon’s ascension to power

But first, I want to give you some background¹

Prior to the Napoleon’s rise, France had been ruled by the oligarchy of survivors

That means, survivors of the Jacobin terror

In 1793-1794, Maximilian Robespierre, the leader of Jacobin regime, was throwing one purge after another, decimating the French political class. Bloody purges targeted everyone, including the Jacobins themselves

When a certain group of Jacobin politicians suspected their boss is preparing one more purge (they were almost certainly right), they got scared for their lives, and made a preemptive strike

On 27 July, 1794 Robespierre got denounced in the National Convention, arrested and executed the next day

I want to specifically stress that the fall of Robespierre, and thus of Jacobin dictatorship was not caused by any external threat. To the contrary, collapse of the Jacobin regime was purely internal. It is Robespierre’s own pawns and henchmen who turned against him, purely because they were afraid for their own lives².

As a result, they seized power without even very much intending to

***

Having assumed power, the oligarchy of survivors faced major internal threats

It faced a threat from the right, from the royalists and from the royalist insurgencies

It faced a threat from the left, from the radical Republicans, including the file and rank of the Jacobin movement

It faced a threat from the regional rebellions, it faced a threat from the mutinies in Paris. It faced a threat from the illicit political activities, it faced a threat from the electoral competitors who challenged it legally.

So many threats from within and from outside.

What is worse, they could not simply resign from power, for pretty much the same reasons as Robespierre would not have been able to, even if he wanted. And the reason is: they had every reason to believe they would be targeted, persecuted, and disposed of, if they did. They had assumed power in the pursuit of self-preservation, and this very self-preservation would have been compromised, should they lose it for whatever reason.

Resigning from power, losing the power was not an option.

More importantly - in the context of the today’s discussion:

Losing elections was not an option

Which, in the long run, doomed any prospect of a legitimate constitutional regime in France and pre-determined its transition to the dictatorship of one man