Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (, 21 May 1759 – 25 December 1820) was a French

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...

, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. He was particularly known for the ferocity with which he suppressed the Lyon insurrection during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in 1793 and for being minister of police under the

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, the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth co ...

, and the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. In 1815, he served as President of the Executive Commission, which was the provisional government of France installed after the abdication of Napoleon. In English texts, his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.

Youth

Fouché was born in Le Pellerin, a small village near

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. His mother was Marie Françoise Croizet (1720–1793), and his father was Julien Joseph Fouché (1719–1771). He was educated at the college of the Oratorians at Nantes, and showed aptitude for literary and scientific studies. Wanting to become a teacher, he was sent to an institution kept by brethren of the same order in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. There he made rapid progress, and was soon appointed to tutorial duties at the colleges of

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in th ...

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur s ...

, Vendôme, Juilly and

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...

. There he was initiated into Freemasonry at "Sophie Madeleine" lodge in 1788. At Arras he had had some encounters with

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

both before the revolution and in the early days of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

(1789). In October 1790, he was transferred by the Oratorians to their college at Nantes, in an attempt to control his advocacy of revolutionary principles - however, Fouché became even more of a democrat. His talents and

anti-clericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

brought him into favour with the population of Nantes, especially after he became a leading member of the local Jacobin Club. When the college of the Oratorians was dissolved in May 1792, Fouché left the Oratorians, having never taken any major vows.

A revolutionary republican

After the downfall of the monarchy on 10 August 1792 (following the storming of the royal Tuileries Palace), he was elected as deputy for the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of the Loire-Inférieure to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...

, which proclaimed the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 22 September. Fouché's interests brought him into contact with the Marquis de Condorcet and the Girondists, and he became a Girondist himself. However, their lack of support for the trial and execution of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

(December 1792 - 21 January 1793) led him to join the Jacobins, the more decided partisans of revolutionary doctrine. Fouché was strongly in favor of the king's immediate execution, and denounced those who "wavered before the shadow of a king". The crisis that resulted from the declaration of war by the Convention against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

(1 February 1793, ''see

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

''), and a little later against

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, made Fouché famous as one of the Jacobin radicals holding power in Paris. While the armies of the First Coalition threatened the north-east of France, a revolt of the Royalist peasants in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and La Vendée menaced the Convention on the west. That body sent Fouché with a colleague, Villers, as representatives on mission invested with almost dictatorial powers for the crushing of the revolt of "the whites" (the royalist colour). The ruthlessness with which he carried out these duties earned him a reputation, and he soon held the post of commissioner of the republic in the ''département'' of the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Pierre Gaspard Chaumette Pierre Gaspard Anaxagore Chaumette (24 May 1763 – 13 April 1794) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period who served as the president of the Paris Commune and played a leading role in the establishment of the Reign of Terror. H ...

, he helped to initiate the

dechristianization The dechristianization of France during the French Revolution is a conventional description of the results of a number of separate policies conducted by various governments of France between the start of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Co ...

movement in the autumn of 1793. In the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.treasury, and helped establish the

Cult of Reason The Cult of Reason (french: Culte de la Raison) was France's first established state-sponsored atheistic religion, intended as a replacement for Roman Catholicism during the French Revolution. After holding sway for barely a year, in 1794 it ...

. He ordered the words "Death is an eternal sleep" to be inscribed over the gates to cemeteries. He also fought

luxury Luxury may refer to: *Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge put ...

and wealth, wanting to abolish the use of currency. The new cult was inaugurated at Notre Dame de Paris by "The Festival of Reason". It was here that Fouché gave "the most famous example of its echristianizationearly phase". Ironically enough, it was only a year previous that Fouché had been "an advocate of the role of the clergy in education," yet he was now "abandoning the role of religion in society altogether in favour of 'the revolutionary and clearly philosophical spirit' he had first wanted for education." Overall, the dechristianization movement "reflected the wholesale transformation that Jacobin and radical leaders were beginning to see as necessary for the survival of the Republic, and the creation of a republican citizenry." Fouché a Lyon drawn by Raffet 1834

Fouché went on to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

in November with Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois to execute the reprisals of the Convention. Lyon had revolted against the Convention. Lyon, on 23 November, was declared to be in a "state of revolutionary war" by Collot and Fouché. The two men then formed the Temporary Commission for Republican Supervision. He inaugurated his mission with a festival notable for its obscene parody of religious rites. Fouché and Collot then brought in "a contingent of almost two thousand of the Parisian Revolutionary Army" to begin their terrorizing. "On 4 December, 60 men, chained together, were blasted with grapeshot on the plain de Brotteaux outside the city, and 211 more the following day. Grotesquely ineffective, these mitraillades resulted in heaps of mutilated, screaming, half-dead victims, who were finished off with sabres and musket fire by soldiers physically sickened at the task."David Andress, The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), 237. Events like this made Fouché infamous as "The Executioner of Lyons." The Commission was not happy with the methods used for killing the rebels so, soon after, "more normal firing squads supplemented the guillotine." These methods led to the carrying out of "over 1800 executions in the coming months." Fouché, claiming that "Terror, salutary terror, is now the order of the day here... We are causing much impure blood to flow, but it is our duty to do so, it is for humanity's sake," called for the execution of 1,905 citizens. As Napoleon's biographer Alan Schom has written:

Alas, Fouché's enthusiasm had proved a little too effective, for when the blood from the mass executions in the center of Lyons gushed from severed heads and bodies into the streets, drenching the gutters of the Rue Lafont, the vile-smelling red flow nauseated the local residents, who irately complained to Fouché and demanded payment for damages. Fouché, sensitive to their outcry, obliged them by ordering the executions moved out of the city to the Brotteaux field, along the Rhône.

From late 1793 until spring 1794, every day "batch after batch of bankers, scholars, aristocrats, priests, nuns, and wealthy merchants and their wives, mistresses, and children" were taken from the city jails to Brotteaux field, tied to stakes, and dispatched by firing squads or mobs. Outwardly, Fouché's conduct was marked by the utmost savagery, and on his return to Paris early in April 1794, he thus characterised his policy: "The blood of criminals fertilises the soil of liberty and establishes power on sure foundations".

Conflict with Robespierre

Robespierre was appalled by the atrocities Fouché committed while on mission. In addition, early in June 1794, at the time of the " Festival of the Supreme Being", Fouché went so far as to mock the theistic revival. Robespierre exchanged angry communications with him, then tried to expel Fouché from the Jacobin Club on 14 July 1794. Fouché, however, was working with his usual energy and plotted Robespierre's overthrow from behind the scenes while remaining in hiding in Paris. Because Robespierre was losing his influence and because Fouché was under the protection of

Barras Barras may refer to: Places * Barras, Cumbria, England * Barras, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France * Barras, Piauí, Brazil * Duas Barras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Sete Barras, São Paulo, Brazil Other uses * Barras (surname) * Barras (market ...

, Fouché ultimately survived Robespierre's final wave of purges. The remaining ultraleftists (

Collot d'Herbois Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madame Tussaud from the ...

, Billaud-Varenne), and the moderates (

Bourdon de l'Oise Bourdon derives from the French for bumblebee, and may refer to: * Bourdon (bell), the lowest bell in a set * Bourdon (organ pipe), a stopped organ pipe of a construction favored for low pitches * Bourdon (surname) * Drone (music): The lowest co ...

, Fréron) who had won the support of the nonaligned majority of the Convention ( ''Marais''), also opposed Robespierre. Fouché engineered Robespierre's overthrow, culminating in the dramatic Coup of the 9th Thermidor on 28 July 1794. Fouché is reported to have worked furiously on the overthrow:

Rising at early morn he would run round till night calling on deputies of all shades of opinion, saying to each and every one, "You perish tomorrow if he obespierredoes not".

Fouché describes his activities in this way in his memoirs:

Being recalled to Paris, I dared to call upon obespierrefrom the tribune, to make good his accusation. He caused me to be expelled from the Jacobins, of whom he was the high-priest; this was for me equivalent to a decree of proscription. I did not trifle in contending for my head, nor in long and secret deliberations with such of my colleagues as were threatened with my own fate. I merely said to them... 'You are on the list, you are on the list as well as myself; I am certain of it!'

Fouché, as both a ruthless suppressor of Federalist rebellion and one of the key architects of Robespierre's overthrow, embodied the merciless French politics of the republic era.

In Napoleon's service

Knowing the unpopularity of the Directors, Fouché joined Bonaparte and Sieyès, who were plotting the Directory's overthrow. His activity in furthering the 18 Brumaire coup (9–10 November 1799) ensured him the favor of Bonaparte, who kept him in office. In the ensuing

French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

(1799–1804), Fouché efficiently countered the opposition to Bonaparte. He helped increase centralization and efficiency of the police in both Paris and the provinces. Fouché was careful to temper Napoleon's more arbitrary actions, which at times won him the gratitude even of the royalists. While exposing an unrealistic intrigue in which the duchesse de Guiche Ida d'Orsay was the chief agent, Fouché took care that she should escape. Equally skilful was his action in the so-called Aréna-Ceracchi plot (

Conspiration des poignards The (from French, ) or () was an alleged assassination attempt against First Consul of France Napoleon Bonaparte. The members of the plot were not clearly established. Authorities at the time presented it as an assassination attempt on Napol ...

), in which ''

agents provocateur An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, the ...

s'' of the police were believed to have played a sinister part. The chief "conspirators" were easily ensnared and were executed when the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise (December 1800) enabled Bonaparte to act with rigour. This far more serious attempt (in which conspirators exploded a bomb near the

First Consul The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

's carriage with results disastrous to the bystanders) was soon seen by Fouché as the work of Royalists. When Napoleon showed himself eager to blame the still powerful Jacobins, Fouché firmly declared that he would not only assert but would prove that the outrage was the work of Royalists. However, his efforts failed to avert the Bonaparte-led repression of the leading Jacobins. In other matters (especially in that known as the ''Plot of the Placards'' in the spring of 1802), Fouché was thought to have saved the Jacobins from the vengeance of the Consulate, and Bonaparte decided to rid himself of a man who had too much power to be desirable as a subordinate. On the proclamation of Bonaparte as First Consul for life (1 August 1802) Fouché was deprived of his office, a blow softened by the suppression of the ministry of police and by the assignment of most of its duties to an extended Ministry of Justice. Napoleon was, in fact, so intimidated by his minister of police that he did not dismiss the man personally, sending instead a servant with the information that – in addition to getting 35,000 yearly francs income as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and a piece of land worth 30,000 francs a year – he would also receive over a million francs from the reserve funds of the police. After 1802, he went back to

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, attending "Les Citoyens réunis" lodge in Melun. Cambacérès who was Deputy Grand Master of

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbed the ...

, helped him becoming Conservator of the "Grande Loge symbolique Générale" attached to the Supreme Council of France, where he would be in charge of Masonic Justice. There he could find a valuable source of information on Freemasons throughout the empire.Dictionnaire universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie, page 299 (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara, ed. Larousse, 2011) Fouché did become a

and took half of the reserve funds of the police which had accumulated during his tenure of office. He continued, however, to intrigue through his spies, who tended to have more information than that of the new minister of police, and competed successfully for the favor of Napoleon at the time of the Georges Cadoudal-

Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to hi ...

conspiracy (February–March 1804), becoming instrumental in the arrest of the

Duc d'Enghien Duke of Enghien (french: Duc d'Enghien, pronounced with a silent ''i'') was a noble title pertaining to the House of Condé. It was only associated with the town of Enghien for a short time. Dukes of Enghien – first creation (1566–1569) The ...

. Fouché would later say of Enghien's subsequent execution, "It was worse than a crime; it was a mistake" (a remark also frequently attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord). After the proclamation of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

, Fouché again became head of the re-constituted ministry of police (July 1804), and later of Internal Affairs, with activities as important as those carried out under the Consulate. His police agents were omnipresent, and the terror which Napoleon and Fouché inspired partly accounts for the absence of conspiracies after 1804. After the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz ...

(December 1805), Fouché uttered the famous words: "Sire, Austerlitz has shattered the old aristocracy; the Faubourg Saint-Germain no longer conspires". Nevertheless, Napoleon did retain feelings of distrust, or even of fear, towards Fouché, as was proven by his conduct in the early days of 1808. While engaged in the campaign of Spain, the emperor heard rumours that Fouché and

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, once bitter enemies, were having meetings in Paris during which Joachim Murat, King of Naples, had been approached. At once he hurried to Paris, but found nothing to incriminate Fouché. In that year Fouché received the title of Duke of Otranto, which Bonaparte created—under the French name ''Otrante''—a '' duché grand-fief'' (a rare, hereditary, but nominal honor) in the satellite Kingdom of Naples. When, during the absence of Napoleon in the Austrian campaign of 1809, the British Walcheren expedition threatened the safety of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Fouché issued an order to the '' préfet'' of the northern ''départements'' of the Empire for the mobilization of 60,000 National Guards, adding to the order this statement: "Let us prove to Europe that although the genius of Napoleon can throw lustre on France, his presence is not necessary to enable us to repulse the enemy". The emperor's approval of the measure was no less marked than his disapproval of Fouché's words. The next months brought further friction between emperor and minister. The latter, knowing Napoleon's desire for peace at the close of 1809, undertook to make secret overtures to the British cabinet of Spencer Perceval. Napoleon opened negotiations only to find that Fouché had forestalled him. His rage against his minister was extreme, and on 3 June 1810 he dismissed him from his office. However, Napoleon never completely disgraced a man who might again be useful, and Fouché received the governorship of the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

''département''. At the moment of his departure, Fouché took the risk of not surrendering to Napoleon all of certain important documents of his former ministry (falsely declaring that the some had been destroyed); the emperor's anger was renewed, and Fouché, on learning of this after his arrival to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, prepared to sail to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Compelled by the weather and intense sea-sickness to put back into port, he found a mediator in Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of

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, thanks to whom he was allowed to settle in Aix-en-Provence. He eventually returned to his domain of ''Point Carré''. In 1812 he attempted in vain to turn Napoleon from the projected invasion of Russia, and on the return of the emperor in haste from Smarhoń to Paris at the close of that year, the ex-minister of police was suspected of involvement in the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

of Claude François de Malet, which had been unexpectedly successful. Fouché cleared his name and gave the emperor useful advice concerning internal affairs and the diplomatic situation. Nevertheless, the emperor, still distrustful, ordered him to undertake the government of the Illyrian provinces. On the break-up of the Napoleonic system in Germany (October 1813), Fouché was ordered on missions to Rome and thence to Naples, in order to watch the movements of Joachim Murat. Before Fouché arrived in Naples, Murat invaded the Roman territory, whereupon Fouché received orders to return to France. He arrived in Paris on 10 April 1814 at the time when Napoleon was being constrained by his marshals to abdicate. Fouché's conduct in this crisis was characteristic. As senator he advised the Senate to send a deputation to Charles, comte d'Artois, brother of

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

, with a view to a reconciliation between the monarchy and the nation. A little later he addressed to Napoleon, then banished to Elba, a letter begging him in the interests of peace and of France to withdraw to the United States. To the new sovereign Louis XVIII he sent an appeal in favour of liberty, and recommending the adoption of measures which would conciliate all interests. The response was unsatisfactory, and when he found that there were no hopes of advancement, he entered into relations with conspirators who sought the overthrow of the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...

. The Marquis de Lafayette and

Louis Nicolas Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and t ...

were involved in the issue, but their refusal to take the course desired by Fouché and others led to nothing being done.

Hundred Days and Bourbon restoration

Soon Napoleon escaped from Elba and made his way in triumph to Paris. Shortly before his arrival in Paris (19 March 1815), Louis XVIII sent Fouché an offer of the ministry of police, which he declined: "It is too late; the only plan to adopt is to retreat". He then foiled an attempt by Royalists to arrest him, and on the arrival of Napoleon he received for the third time the portfolio of police. That, however, did not prevent him from entering into secret relations with the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, his aim being to prepare for all eventualities. Meanwhile, he used all his powers to induce the emperor to democratize his rule, and he is said to have caused the insertion of the words: "the sovereignty resides in the people—it is the source of power" in the declaration of the '' Conseil d'État''. But the autocratic tendencies of Napoleon could not be overridden, and Fouché, seeing the fall of the emperor to be imminent, took measures to expedite it and secure his own interests. In 1814, Fouché had joined the invading allies and conspired against Napoleon. However, he joined Napoléon again during his return and was police minister during the latter's short-lived reign, the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoratio ...

. After Napoléon's ultimate defeat in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

, Fouché again started plotting against Napoleon and joined the opposition of the parliament. He headed the provisional government and tried to negotiate with the allies. He probably also aimed at establishing a republic with himself as head of state, with the help of some Republican freemasons. These plans were never realised, and the Bourbons regained power in July 1815. And again, Fouché's services were necessary: as Talleyrand, another notorious ''intrigant'', became the prime minister of the Kingdom of France, Fouché was named his minister of police: so he was a minister of King Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI. Ironically, Fouché had voted for the death sentence after the trial of Louis XVI. Thus, he belonged to the '' regicides'', and ultra-royalists both within the cabinet and without could hardly tolerate him as a member of the government. Fouché, once a revolutionary using extreme terror against the Bourbon supporters, now initiated a campaign of White Terror against real and imagined enemies of the Royalist restoration (officially directed against those who had plotted and supported Napoléon's return to power). Even Prime Minister Talleyrand disapproved of such practices, including the execution of Michel Ney and compiling proscription lists of other military men and former republican politicians. Famous, or rather infamous, is the conversation between Fouché and

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Count Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist and politician. He was known as the "Organizer of Victory" in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Education and early ...

, who had been interior minister during the Hundred Days: Carnot: "Where should I go then, traitor?" Fouché: "Go where you want, imbecile!" Fouché was soon relegated to the post of French ambassador in Saxony; Talleyrand himself lost his portfolio soon after, having been Prime Minister from 9 July to 26 September 1815. In 1816, the royalist authorities found Fouché's further services useless, and he was

proscribed Proscription ( la, proscriptio) is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' ('' Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originate ...

. He died in exile in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

in 1820.

Works

Fouché wrote some political pamphlets and

report A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

s, the chief of which are: * ''Réflexions sur le jugement de Louis Capet'' ("Thoughts on the trial of Louis Capet", 1793) * ''Réflexions sur l'éducation publique'' ("Thoughts on public education", 1793) * ''Rapport et projet de loi relatif aux colleges'' ("Report and law project regarding colleges", 1793) * ''Rapport sur la situation de Commune Affranchie Lyons'' ("Report on the situation of the breakaway commune of Lyon", 1794) * ''Lettre aux préfets concernant les prétres, etc.'' ("Letter to the '' préfets'' regarding priests etc.", 1801) *The letters of 1815 noted above, and a ''Lettre au duc de Wellington'' ("Letter to the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

", 1817)

Family

Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, was a son of Julien Joseph Fouché (1719 – 1771) and wife Marie Françoise Croizet (1720 – 1793). By his first marriage to Bonne Jeanne Coiquaud (1 April 1763 – 8 October 1812), he had seven children: * Nièvre Fouché d'Otrante (10 August 1793 – August 1794). * Joseph Liberté Fouché d'Otrante, 2nd Duc d'Otrante (22 July 1796 – 31 December 1862), married to Fortunée Collin de Sussy in 1824; they separated shortly after without issue. * Stillborn child (1798). * Stillborn child (1799). * Armand François Cyriac Fouché d'Otrante, 3rd Duc d'Otrante (25 March 1800 – 26 November 1878). Unmarried and without issue. * Paul Athanase Fouché d'Otrante, 4th Duc d'Otrante (25 June 1801 – 10 February 1886). He later moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, where he married twice and left issue, which remained in Sweden. * Joséphine Ludmille Fouché d'Otrante (29 June 1803 – 30 December 1893), married to Adolphe Comte de La Barthe de Thermes (1789–1869), and had issue (a son, Paul and a daughter, Isabelle). By his second marriage to Ernestine de Castellane-Majastres (5 July 1788 – 4 May 1850), he had no children.

In literature and on screen

*The

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n novelist

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

wrote a biography entitled ''Joseph Fouché''. Zweig takes a psychological approach to understanding the complicated minister of police. Zweig asks himself in the beginning of the book about how Fouché could "survive" in power from the revolution to the monarchy. *Fouché also appears as one of the main characters in ''For the King'', a novel by Catherine Delors (Dutton, 2010), where his role in the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise is discussed. *Fouché was featured as one of the two main (and only) characters in the play by

Jean-Claude Brisville Jean-Claude Brisville (28 May 1922 – 11 August 2014) was a French writer, playwright, novelist and author for children. A screenwriter, in particular for the film '' Beaumarchais, l'insolent'', he obtained the Grand Prix du théâtre of the Ac ...

''Supping with the Devil'' in which he is depicted dining with Talleyrand while deciding how to preserve their respective powers under the coming regime. The drama was hugely successful and turned into a film '' The Supper'' in 1992 directed by Édouard Molinaro, starring

Claude Rich Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955. Personal life He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...

and

Claude Brasseur Claude Brasseur (15 June 1936 – 22 December 2020) was a French actor. Life and career Claude Brasseur was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He was the godson of E ...

. * Joseph Conrad portrayed Fouché briefly in his short story ''The Duel'' (1924), which was filmed in 1977 as '' The Duellists'', written by Gerald Vaughan-Hughes and directed by Ridley Scott. Fouché is portrayed by Albert Finney. *Fouché appears as a recurring character in the Roger Brook series of historical novels by

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series w ...

. *Fouché is referenced on the first page of the novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' by Patrick Süskind as a 'gifted abomination'. *Fouché is an important character in the novel ''The Hastening Wind'' by British novelist

Edward Grierson Edward Grierson (9 March 1914 - 24 May 1975) was a Northumberland barrister and a writer of crime novels. His debut crime novel is the outstanding '' Reputation for a Song'', a classic inverted detective story. Grierson also wrote five novels, si ...

, which concerns the Cadoudal conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon in 1804. *In '' Mountolive'' (1958), the third novel of Lawrence Durrell's '' Alexandria Quartet'', a French diplomat is said to have (ironically) complimented the cruel and venal

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, Memlik Pasha, by telling him that he is "... regarded as the best Minister of Interior in modern history--indeed, since Fouché there has been no-one to equal you." Memlik is so taken with the comparison that he orders a bust of Fouché from France, which then sits in his reception room gathering dust. *In Bernard Cornwell's novel '' Sharpe's Enemy'', Fouché is mentioned as an early mentor of the French spymaster Pierre Ducos, who becomes a bitter enemy of Richard Sharpe in later novels. *Fouché makes an appearance in the Doctor Who novel ''World Game'' by Terrance Dicks. *Fouché appears in the novel ''The Twisted Sword'', by Winston Graham. *The novel ''Captain Cut-Throat'' by John Dickson Carr, set in Napoleonic France in 1805, when the invasion of England was planned, portrays Fouché scheming and counter-scheming various complicated plots. *Fouché is a significant character in ''The Carton Chronicles: The Curious Tale of Flashman's true father'' (2010) by Keith Laidler. *Fouché was portrayed by French actor

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 al ...

in the mini-series ''

''. *Fouché was portrayed by actor Stephen Jenn in the 1987 mini-series '' Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story''. *In the Hollywood historical drama ''

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...

'' (1949), Fouché is played by Arnold Moss. *He is a character in ''Treason's Tide'' by Robert Wilton, set during the summer of 1805. Originally published as ''The Emperor's Gold'' in June 2011, it was re-issued under the new title in February 2013 by Corvus, an imprint of

Atlantic Books Atlantic Books is an independent British publishing house, with its headquarters in Ormond House in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is perhaps best known for publishing Aravind Adiga's debut novel '' The White Tiger'', which rec ...

. *Fouché is portrayed by Morris Perry in the BBC's War and Peace (1972 TV series) episode 11, Men of Destiny. *Fouché is mentioned in '' Diary of a Man in Despair'' by Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen. Reck relates a meeting with Heinrich Himmler in 1934 at which Himmler asks Reck for information. Surprised at Himmler's request, Reck asks Himmler why the Fouché of the Third Reich needed information from him. Reck relates that Himmler clearly had no idea who Fouché was. *'' The 48 Laws of Power'' cites him as an example of following Rule #35: Master The Art Of Timing. * He is a character in The Paris Affair by Teresa Grant

References

External links

* *
Medusa's Head: The Rise and Survival of Joseph Fouché, Inventor of the Modern Police State
a book website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fouche, Joseph 1759 births 1820 deaths People from Loire-Atlantique 1 Thermidorians French interior ministers Deputies to the French National Convention Members of the Sénat conservateur Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France) Représentants en mission Regicides of Louis XVI French diplomats French male essayists French police chiefs French political writers French spies Spies of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Illyrian Provinces People of the Reign of Terror French Freemasons