November 9: The coup d'état of 18 Brumaire begins.
French troops loyal to Bonaparte occupy key points in Paris.
Lucien Bonaparte, the president of the Council of Five Hundred, warns the deputies that a "terrorist" plot against the legislature has been discovered, and asks that the meetings of the Councils, scheduled for the next day, be moved for their security to the château of Saint-Cloud, some 10 kilometers west of Paris.
Bonaparte is named Commander-in-chief of the army in Paris.

As agreed in advance, two members of the Directory who are complicit in the coup, Sieyès and Ducos, offer their resignation.
A third, Barras, is talked into resigning by Talleyrand.
The two Jacobin directors, Gohier and Moulin, are arrested by the soldiers of General Moreau and confined at the Luxembourg Palace.
Fouché proposes to arrest the leading Jacobin members of the Council of Five Hundred, but Bonaparte does not feel it is necessary, which proves to be a mistake.
By the end of the day, Paris is entirely under the control of Bonaparte and officers loyal to him.

November 10: As proposed by Bonaparte, the members of the two Councils are transported to the château of Saint-Cloud.
6,000 soldiers have been assembled by Bonaparte there, soldiers who are largely hostile to the Councils because of delays in their pay.

Bonaparte speaks first to the Council of the Ancients, explaining the need for a change in government.
 The upper Council listens in silence and votes without opposition to accept Bonaparte's proposal.
 Bonaparte then addresses the Council of Five Hundred, meeting in the orangerie of the domain of Saint-Cloud.
Here his reception is much different: the Jacobin members protest angrily, insult and shout down Bonaparte, threatening to declare him outside the law, which would have led to his immediate arrest.
 While the Council debated in great confusion inside, Lucien Bonaparte takes Bonaparte outside, and tells the waiting soldiers that the deputies had tried to assassinate Bonaparte.
The soldiers, furious, invade the meeting hall and chase out the deputies at the point of bayonets.
In the absence of the opposition deputies, two parliamentary commissions name Bonaparte, Sieyès and Duclos as the provisional consuls of a new government.

November 11–22: Bonaparte and the two other Provisional Consuls form a new government, Berthier as minister of War, Talleyrand in charge of foreign relations, Fouché as minister of Police, and Cambacérès as minister of Justice.

December 1: Bonaparte rejects a constitution proposed by Sieyès.

December 24: The Councils, now firmly under the control of Bonaparte, adopt the Constitution of the Year VIII.
The new Consulate is formally established, with Bonaparte as First Consul, Cambacérès as Second Consul, and Charles-François Lebrun as Third Consul.
Traditional histories mark this date as the end of the French Revolution .
November 9: The coup d'état of 18 Brumaire begins. French troops loyal to Bonaparte occupy key points in Paris. Lucien Bonaparte, the president of the Council of Five Hundred, warns the deputies that a "terrorist" plot against the legislature has been discovered, and asks that the meetings of the Councils, scheduled for the next day, be moved for their security to the château of Saint-Cloud, some 10 kilometers west of Paris. Bonaparte is named Commander-in-chief of the army in Paris.
As agreed in advance, two members of the Directory who are complicit in the coup, Sieyès and Ducos, offer their resignation. A third, Barras, is talked into resigning by Talleyrand. The two Jacobin directors, Gohier and Moulin, are arrested by the soldiers of General Moreau and confined at the Luxembourg Palace. Fouché proposes to arrest the leading Jacobin members of the Council of Five Hundred, but Bonaparte does not feel it is necessary, which proves to be a mistake. By the end of the day, Paris is entirely under the control of Bonaparte and officers loyal to him.
November 10: As proposed by Bonaparte, the members of the two Councils are transported to the château of Saint-Cloud. 6,000 soldiers have been assembled by Bonaparte there, soldiers who are largely hostile to the Councils because of delays in their pay.
Bonaparte speaks first to the Council of the Ancients, explaining the need for a change in government.  The upper Council listens in silence and votes without opposition to accept Bonaparte's proposal.  Bonaparte then addresses the Council of Five Hundred, meeting in the orangerie of the domain of Saint-Cloud. Here his reception is much different: the Jacobin members protest angrily, insult and shout down Bonaparte, threatening to declare him outside the law, which would have led to his immediate arrest.  While the Council debated in great confusion inside, Lucien Bonaparte takes Bonaparte outside, and tells the waiting soldiers that the deputies had tried to assassinate Bonaparte. The soldiers, furious, invade the meeting hall and chase out the deputies at the point of bayonets. In the absence of the opposition deputies, two parliamentary commissions name Bonaparte, Sieyès and Duclos as the provisional consuls of a new government.
November 11–22: Bonaparte and the two other Provisional Consuls form a new government, Berthier as minister of War, Talleyrand in charge of foreign relations, Fouché as minister of Police, and Cambacérès as minister of Justice.
December 1: Bonaparte rejects a constitution proposed by Sieyès.
December 24: The Councils, now firmly under the control of Bonaparte, adopt the Constitution of the Year VIII. The new Consulate is formally established, with Bonaparte as First Consul, Cambacérès as Second Consul, and Charles-François Lebrun as Third Consul. Traditional histories mark this date as the end of the French Revolution .
Timeline of the French Revolution