Building the New Regime: Founding the Bonapartist State in the Department of the Aube

This article investigates the tactics and strategies developed during the Provisional Consulate to stabilize the new regime in southern Champagne while reporting on the relevant findings of the international colloquium on Brumaire held in Rouen, France. In the department of the Aube, the threat from below helped to push local elites into accepting the Consulate, particularly once it showed its commitment to the preservation of order. The rest of the article investigates the socioprofessional breakdown of officeholders in the Aube and demonstrates the techniques developed by the prefect to win support from the local elite. The success of these methods shifted a department considered on the edge of revolt in 1799 to staunch support of Bonaparte.