Dumb Democracy

General Bonaparte surrounded by members of the Council of Five Hundred during the 18 Brumaire coup d'état. (Public domain, via Wikipedia.)

“In October 1799 Napoleon's brother Lucien Bonaparte was appointed President of the Council of Five Hundred. Soon afterwards, in the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon led a group of grenadiers who drove the council from its chambers and installed him as leader of France as its First Consul. This ended the Council of Five Hundred, the Council of Ancients and the Directory.” Thus ended the French Revolution, with Napoleon’s appointment as First Consul of the First French Republic and soon his coronation as Emperor.