Joseph Fouché

Joseph Fouché was born at Le Pellerin, near Nantes, on 21 May 1759. Son of a naval captain, he entered the Oratorians and taught in several colleges — Arras, Nîmes, Paris. The Revolution transformed him. He renounced the priesthood in 1792, was elected deputy of the Loire-Inférieure to the Convention. He voted for the king's death in January 1793. Sent on mission to the provinces, he led a radical dechristianisation policy in Lyon and the Nièvre: closing churches, persecuting refractory priests. At Lyon, after the suppression of the federalist revolt, he organised mass shootings — the « mitraillades » — that left hundreds dead. Robespierre denounced him for « moderation » when he tried to curb the Terror. Fouché escaped 9 Thermidor by rallying the conventionnels who overthrew the Incorruptible.

Under the Directory, he became Minister of Police in July 1799. He built a network of agents, informers, letter-openers. Nothing escaped the rue des Saussaies. When Bonaparte prepared 18 Brumaire, Fouché turned a blind eye — or cooperated. In exchange, the First Consul kept him at the Police. Fouché knew everything: royalist plots, salon intrigues, generals' wives' affairs. « Fouché is everywhere », Napoleon would say. His coldness, his lack of scruples, made him a formidable instrument.

Napoleon dismissed him in 1802 — Talleyrand and others found him too powerful. Fouché withdrew, but kept ties with the Police. In 1804, the Duc d'Enghien affair — the prince's execution at Vincennes — relaunched his career. Napoleon needed a minister who would stop at nothing. Fouché became Minister of Police again in July 1804. He created an unprecedented surveillance system: agents in France and conquered countries, letter-opening, shadowing of suspects. He foiled the Cadoudal plot, had Moreau arrested. Duke of Otranto in 1808.

But Fouché also accumulated guarantees for the future. He maintained contacts with the Bourbons in exile, with England. In 1809, during the Austrian campaign, he formed a provisional government without informing the Emperor — an initiative that earned him temporary disgrace. In 1810, Napoleon merged the Police with the Interior Ministry and entrusted both to Savary. Fouché was sidelined. He remained a senator, a duke, wealthy. He waited.

In March 1814, the Coalition entered Paris. Fouché negotiated with Talleyrand, with the Allies. He contributed to Napoleon's deposition and Louis XVIII's return. The king appointed him Minister of Police. The ultra-royalists demanded his head — regicide, terrorist — but Louis XVIII kept him for his know-how. During the Hundred Days, Fouché remained in Paris when Napoleon landed. He courted both camps. When Napoleon regained power, he recalled him as Minister of Police. Fouché served the Emperor while preparing the aftermath: he contacted Wellington, the Bourbons, Metternich.

After Waterloo, Fouché chaired the provisional government. It was he who organised the transition to Louis XVIII, the Second Restoration. « He betrayed everyone, so he can serve everyone », a contemporary would say. Louis XVIII appointed him minister one last time, then exiled him to Saxony to satisfy the ultra-royalists. Fouché died at Trieste on 26 December 1820. His career embodied absolute political survival: from the seminary to the Lyon guillotine, from the Directory to the Empire, from the Empire to the Restoration. No regime truly defeated him — except the last, which drove him out.