This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18 Brumaire, Year VIII, under the short-lived French Republican calendar system.

After Habsburg-controlled Austria declared war on France on 12 March 1799,[1] emergency measures were adopted and the pro-war Jacobin faction, the Montagnards, triumphed in the 1799 French legislative election held in April.

With Napoleon and the republic's best army engaged in the French invasion of Egypt and Syria, France suffered a series of reverses on the battlefield in the spring and summer of 1799.

The Coup of 30 Prairial VII (18 June) ousted the Jacobins and left Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, a member of the five-man ruling Directory, the dominant figure in the government.

On the morning of 18 Brumaire, Lucien Bonaparte falsely persuaded the Councils that a Jacobin coup was at hand in Paris, and induced them to depart for the safety of the suburban Château de Saint-Cloud.

[2] The now former Minister of Foreign Affairs Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, a close ally of Napoleon, pressured Director Paul Barras to do the same.

By the following day, the deputies had, for the most part, realised that they were facing an attempted coup rather than being protected from a Jacobin rebellion.

Faced with their refusal to submit, Napoleon stormed into the chambers, escorted by a small force of grenadiers.

At this point, Lucien apparently slipped out of the chamber and told the soldiers guarding the Councils that the majority of the Five Hundred were being terrorised by a group of deputies brandishing daggers.

[6] In a theatrical gesture, Lucien then seized a sword and promised to plunge it through his own brother's heart if he were a traitor.

[4] The Ancients passed a decree that adjourned the Councils for three months, appointed Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos provisional consuls, and named the Corps législatif.

"A shabby compound of brute force and imposture, the 18th Brumaire was nevertheless condoned, nay applauded, by the French nation.

The Sénat conservateur allowed him to rule by decree, so the more independent Conseil d'État and Tribunat were relegated to unimportant roles.