Napoleon's Road to Crowning Himself Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte first took political power in France through a coup against the old government, but he had not instigated it: that had principally been the plotting of Sieyes. What Napoleon did was to capitalize on the situation in order to dominate the new ruling Consulate and gain control of France by creating a constitution which bound his interests to many of the most powerful people in France: the landowners. He was then able to use this to leverage his support into being declared Emperor. The passage of a leading general through the end of a revolutionary series of governments and into an emperor was not clear and could have failed, but Napoleon showed as much skill in this area of politics as he did on the battlefield.