The coup that brought Napoleon to power established which form of government?

• A. A constitutional monarchy
• B. The Consulate
• C. A republic with a president
• D. A dictatorship under Robespierre

Answer: (B)

The key idea is understanding the regime that followed Napoleon’s coup: it created a new constitutional framework called the Consulate, not a monarchy or a typical republic. After the coup of 18 Brumaire, the Directory was overthrown and the Constitution of Year VIII established a three-man executive known as the Consulate, with Napoleon as the dominant First Consul. In theory it looked like a republic with an executive body, but in practice Napoleon centralized power and acted as the real ruler, effectively establishing autocratic rule within a republican veneer. This is why the form is understood as the Consulate. It isn’t a constitutional monarchy—France still had no king and no constitutional limitation that preserved a royal line. It isn’t a republic with a president because the president-like role was eclipsed by Napoleon’s control as First Consul. And it isn’t Robespierre’s dictatorship, since Robespierre’s influence ended years earlier, and this regime reflected a different, Napoleonic consolidation of power.