Dr fouche

Joseph Fouché: Biography

Joseph Fouché was a French political and state figure, known for his role as Minister of Police during the Republic, Napoleon, and the Bourbon regimes, as well as for creating the system of political intelligence. He received a spiritual education and studied in Paris at the Oratorians Congregation. After completing his studies, he became a professor of mathematics and philosophy at various educational institutions within the same congregation. Despite his affiliation with the religious order, he frequently mocked religion and openly declared his atheism, especially during the revolution.

During the revolution, Fouché was the headmaster of a college in Nantes. He left his position and became a lawyer in the same city, actively participating in radical clubs. In 1792, he was elected to the National Convention and joined the Montagnard party. Among other things, he voted for the execution of Louis XVI and against appeals to the people and delays. In March 1793, Fouché was sent by the Convention to the Lower Loire department with the task of organizing a local militia. He was later sent to the western and central departments to encourage citizens to arm themselves against the Vendeans. During this assignment, he actively promoted revolutionary ideas.

In Nantes, Fouché prohibited all religious manifestations outside of churches, including funerals, giving them a purely secular character. He removed crosses from cemeteries and replaced them with a statue of sleep, labeled "Death is eternal sleep." In October 1793, he was sent to Lyon with Collot d'Herbois to restore order after a royalist uprising, which they achieved through a massacre. Fouché returned to Paris shortly before the execution of Danton and was elected president of the Jacobin Club. However, he unexpectedly began to criticize the extremes of the Reign of Terror and became an opponent of Robespierre. He was expelled from the Jacobin Club and faced the prospect of harsh measures against him, but the fall and execution of Robespierre, which Fouché actively participated in, completely changed the dynamics within the party.

Although Fouché aligned himself with the moderates after Thermidor, he was arrested in August 1795 as a terrorist. However, a general amnesty in 1796 secured his release. In 1798, he received the recommendation of Barras and was appointed as an envoy to the Cisalpine Republic. However, he was soon recalled due to an attempted coup he made with General Brune to celebrate extreme democracy. He was then appointed as an envoy to Holland. In August 1799, he became Minister of Police. In this position, Fouché excelled as he was deeply involved in the intrigues of various parties and individuals. He had a keen understanding of their relationships and internal dynamics and skillfully used this knowledge. He organized a highly effective intelligence and provocateur system, enabling him to control and manipulate many individuals.

During this time, Napoleon's star was rising, and Fouché decided to align himself with him and vigorously support his coup on the 18th of Brumaire. Fouché's radicalism diminished, and he took strict measures against the Jacobins in the early days following the coup. He closed their club even before the 18th of Brumaire, banned 11 journals, and more. However, he failed to prevent the plot against Napoleon's life using an infernal machine in 1800, which caused Napoleon to become displeased with him. Nevertheless, Fouché remained in his position until September 1802. Napoleon rewarded him with a monetary gift of 2,400,000 francs and the position of senator. Fouché's deputies' inability to monitor the actions and intentions of parties and individuals hostile to Napoleon, despite their discovery of the Cadoudal and Pichegru conspiracy, as well as Fouché's services as a senator during the establishment of the Empire, prompted Napoleon to reappoint him as Minister of Police in July 1804.

According to some reports, Fouché was against the execution of the Duke of Enghien in March 1804, and he is even credited with the statement: "This is worse than a crime; it is a political error." However, this is doubtful, as Fouché would unlikely have received a ministerial position in such a case. In 1809, Fouché was granted the title of Duke of Otranto and a significant estate. From 1809 onwards, anticipating Napoleon's downfall, Fouché entered into secret negotiations with the Legitimists, Republicans, and the British government. Napoleon soon became aware of this and dismissed Fouché from his position in 1810. Fearing prosecution, Fouché burned or hid a considerable number of important documents from his ministry, intending to either implicate his deputy, Savary, or potentially use the materials against Napoleon in the future. He went into hiding and fled abroad.

In 1811, Fouché was allowed to return to Paris and soon obtained the position of envoy to Naples in 1813. When Louis XVIII returned to Paris, Fouché was among his enthusiastic supporters. However, when Napoleon left the island of Elba and landed in France, Fouché welcomed him as the savior of the country. For his own safety, Napoleon had no choice but to appoint Fouché as Minister of Police for the third time. Fouché continued his secret negotiations with Louis XVIII and Metternich. After Waterloo, he insisted on Napoleon's abdication and became a member of the provisional government set up by the chambers. In this role, he contributed to the second restoration. As a reward, Louis XVIII appointed him as Minister of Police for the fourth time. However, attacks from the Ultra-Royalists, who did not forgive him for his revolutionary past, forced Louis XVIII to transfer him to the position of French envoy in Dresden in September 1815.

On January 6, 1816, Fouché received a decree of banishment from France for his involvement in regicide. He lost his position and went into exile in Austria, where he obtained citizenship and spent the rest of his life. He bequeathed 14 million francs to his sons. The published four-volume memoirs, "Mémoires de Joseph F., duc d'Otrante," in Paris from 1828 to 1829, are not authentic. Fouché did write memoirs, but they remain unpublished and their fate is unknown. In his final years, he wrote several political pamphlets as a form of self-justification, but they contain factual inaccuracies and are of little interest. Much of the literature dedicated to Fouché during his lifetime and in the years following his death consists of hostile pamphlets that often contain exaggerations and distortions of reality. More comprehensive biographies have been written by C-te de Martel ("Etude sur F.") and L. Madelin ("Fouché. 1759-1820").