Often considered the precursor of modern coups, the Coup of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power in Revolutionary France. In a mere few years, the young general went on to amass absolute power that not even the Bourbons had. Yet why was his coup successful in the first place?

In this article I try to answer this question by looking at:

• the reason why the previous government, the Directory was so unpopular

• who were the men who lent their support to Napoleon

• the coup itself, showing that far from smooth sailing, it was quite a near run thing