In 1799, after the French Revolution had quieted into the Thermidorean Reaction, general Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory

As First Consul, Napoleon moved rapidly to institute order in France. He put down rebellions in the French provinces. He centralized the government of the various French departments under a system of prefects. To reduce the number of potential revolutionaries floating around Europe, he issued a general amnesty, allowing various exiles, from aristocrats to Jacobins, to return home. Napoleon ended the exclusion of the nobility from power that had been the trademark of earlier post- revolution regimes. Moreover, Bonaparte won favor with the Catholics who felt persecuted by the de-Christianization that occurred during the revolution.  Though unreligious, in 1801, Napoleon signed a Concordat with the Catholic pope. This agreement also smoothed over the rift between France and Rome that the Revolution had caused, in which the French state assumed control over appointment of bishops and confiscated church lands. With the Church officially at odds with France, the clergy (influential with the masses) would become a source of resistance to his government (as could be seen in the revolt in the Vendee during the Terror of the French Revolution). By gaining recognition from the Pope, who was bound to comply since Napoleon's armies threatened the Papal States, Napoleon ended this potential source of conflict Napoleon did not give the property back, but he did make Catholicism the official religion of France, admitting that the majority of France was Catholic. In exchange, the Vatican recognized the Consulate. However, this relatively peaceful period was short lived. Under Napoleon’s command, the French army was in continuous battle and continuously victorious against several European powers including Austria, Prussia and Russia. Additionally in 1808, Napoleon was successful in invading Spain and driving out British forces whose intent was to invade France. As a result Spain became a satellite kingdom of France and added to the extensive empire Napoleon was building the nation, or more likely himself.

Napoleon also set about improving and modernizing French government. He wanted government power to apply to everyone equally, legal class differences and hereditary government offices to be abolished, and salaries to be given to his bureaucrats, who were to be selected based on talent, not birth. Napoleon stabilized French currency by creating the Bank of France, and he simplified the tangle of French law by producing the Napoleonic Code. Though essentially a dictator at this point, Napoleon's reforms represented a victory for the goals of the bourgeoisie in the revolution: legal equality reigned; government posts went to the "men of talent"; education increasingly determined people's social status; tax-exemptions based on noble birth ceased to exist, providing more funds for the government, which then engaged in bigger and more ambitious projects. The Napoleonic Code was one of Napoleon's most important creations. The Napoleonic Code created a single, streamlined system of law, which enshrined the basic tenants of the Revolution, not the least of which was the legal equality of all citizens. In 1802, having brought prestige, power, and a sense of patriotism to France, Napoleon was elected "Consul for Life". Monarchy was returning to France. In 1804, Napoleon did away with niceties and proclaimed himself what he had already been in reality for some time: the French Emperor.

Napoleon’s reign, though in essence a dictatorship, was the fusion of a familiar political structure and old forms with that of new ideology and reform. Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and he was able to consolidate his rule through war and by normalizing relations with the Catholic Church. Yet at the same time he kept the tenets of the French Revolution alive and recognized religious toleration through reform and the establishment of the Napoleonic Code. Initially, Napoleon’s time in power was wise as he avoided the pitfalls committed by the old monarchy and revolutionary politicians before him; the result was an excellent start to a reign which would ultimately end in failure.