Republic of Notables: the Constitution of the Year 8

Abstract

All French revolutionary régimes had begun by overhauling the electoral system and remodelling their institutional structure. In 1799, accordingly, the first task of Bonaparte and the brumairiens was to give France a new Constitution. This necessary political ritual had several precedents. The French Revolution had generated three different constitutions: the 1791 Constitution, defining the constitutional monarchy based on limited suffrage; the Jacobin Constitution of 1793, never put into effect; and then the ill-fated Thermidorean Constitution of the Year 3. On each occasion, the purpose had been similar. Each Constitution had first formulated a new statement of universal rights and general principles, dealing with the duties of citizenship, the sanctity of property and inviolable freedoms. At the same time, the Constitution created a political framework which was designed to empower the new régime’s bases of support and to exclude its enemies. Every Constitution, therefore, aspired to be definitive, but in spite of its long-term ambitions it also served more immediate needs. Political debts had to be paid, rivals outflanked and critics placated. The Constitution of the Year 8 was no exception.