Constitution of the Year VIII

Constitution of the Year VIII

(1799) French constitution established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire during the French Revolution. Drafted by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, it disguised the true character of the military dictatorship created by Napoleon, reassuring the partisans of the Revolution by proclaiming the irrevocability of the sale of national property and by upholding the legislation against the émigré nobility. It created the regime known as the Consulate, which concentrated all real power in the hands of Napoleon. Submitted to a plebiscite, it won overwhelmingly in 1800.