Putsch Against Napoleon!


On October 23, 1812, the French general Claude-François de Malet ...



... undertakes a coup against Emperor Napoleon, who at the time is staying with his dying Grande Armée in Russia ...:



Claude-François de Malet was a staunch supporter of the republic and was given leave of absence from military service in 1805 ...:



He was deeply disliked the Empire and its founder Napoleon Bonaparte.

In the French capital he gathered a small group of opposition members with whom he was preparing a coup.

Due to a lack of news of the Corsican's Russian adventure (bad news was suppressed by the authorities!), He spread the unbelievable rumor on October 23 that the emperor had perished in Russia and tried to establish a provisional government with the help of a forged Senate resolution.

In particular, the forged resolution of the Senate revealed the exact knowledge of Malet's public opinion in France:

In this peace with foreign countries, the end of the conflict with Spain and the granting of independence for Italy and Holland were promised.

The resolution also provided for reconciliation with the Pope. The high dignitaries of the Empire were deposed by the Senate resolution.

However, at the same time, in order not to lose the support of the army, the Legion of Honor created by Napoleon was retained.

The proposed occupation of the Provisional Government reflected the different currents of the opposition to Napoleon: General Moreau ...



... should become President, Lazare Carnot Vice-President ...:



Marshal Philippe Augereau (Minister of War) continued to appear on the list of the Provisional Government ...



... and various senators.

Napoleon was either to be deposed and arrested - or even to be killed.

At first things went well!

Both the Police Minister Anne Jean Marie René Savary ...



... as well as the Paris police prefect Étienne-Denis Pasquier ...



... were caught in their sleep and taken to La Force prison.

Then Malet went to Colonel Jean Francois Rabbe...



... the commander of the 1er regiment d'infanterie de la Garde de Paris, who was also convinced by Malet and then blocked all exits from Paris ...:



In the first hours of the coup, Malet and his co-conspirators controlled the entrances to Paris, the police ministry, the police prefecture and the prefecture of the Seine department.

But then the coup failed, like so many other good things on the same day!

While trying to convince the commandant of Paris, General Pierre Augustin Hullin ...



... of Napoleon's death and the establishment of the provisional government, Malet was recognized by an officer of Hullin and was overwhelmed, so that the coup failed around nine o'clock ...:



All of the conspirators were arrested within a few hours.

On October 27, 1812, the three main conspirators Malet, Rateau and Boutreux, the generals Guidal and Lahorie ...



... colonel Soulier and a dozen other officers who had obeyed Malet's orders without review, were indicted before a military commission. Twelve of them were fusilated on October 29, 1812 ...:



Here we have the real reason for Napoleon's frenzied journey home from the Russian theater of war to Paris!



However, the emperor and his gun tensioners then went to great lengths to portray General Malet as a confused individual perpetrator - even if in truth more than 60 people were involved in the attempted coup - and the French had long since fed up with their ruler's eternal wars!

Military coups de main often end this way, with the conspirators over estimating their support among their colleagues. Bonaparte was unpopular in the country as a whole, but had massive support in the Grand Armee, which was the winning hand.
Interesting post Martin. Napoleonic history is utterly fascinating. The present incumbent acts a bit like Napoleon and wants to rule Europe again - some hope

Phil