# First Cabinet of Napoleon I

The First Cabinet of Napoleon I was appointed by the Emperor Napoleon I upon the establishment of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804, replacing the Cabinet of the Consulate. It was succeeded by the French Provisional Government of 1814 following the downfall of Napoleon and the abolition of the Empire.

## Formation

At the session of the Tribunat on 3 Floréal year XII (23 April 1804) Jean-François Curée proposed that Napoleon, then First Consul, be declared hereditary Emperor of France. The motion was supported by several members of the Tribunat, with only Lazare Carnot speaking against it. At a session of the Senate on 28 Floréal year XII (18 May 1804) attended by Consul Charles-François Lebrun and all the ministers a motion was adopted in which Napoleon was declared hereditary Emperor of the French. The formal coronation ceremony was delayed until 11 Frimaire year XIII (2 December 1804), when Pope Pius VII attended and Napoleon crowned himself in the Notre Dame de Paris.

## Ministers

Napoleon retained the ministers from the Consulate, but made various changes during his reign. He did not appoint a prime minister, but headed the government himself. The ministers were:
| Ministry | From | To | Minister |
| Secretary of State | 18 May 1804 | 17 April 1811 | Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano |
| Secretary of State | 17 April 1811 | 20 November 1813 | Pierre Daru |
| Secretary of State | 20 November 1813 | 1 April 1814 | Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano |
| Foreign Affairs | 18 May 1804 | 9 August 1807 | Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord |
| Foreign Affairs | 9 August 1807 | 17 April 1811 | Jean-Baptiste de Nompère de Champagny |
| Foreign Affairs | 17 April 1811 | 20 November 1813 | Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano |
| Foreign Affairs | 20 November 1813 | 1 April 1814 | Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt |
| Interior | 18 May 1804 | 8 August 1804 | Jean-Antoine Chaptal |
| Interior | 8 August 1804 | 9 August 1807 | Jean-Baptiste de Nompère de Champagny |
| Interior | 9 August 1807 | 29 June 1809 | Emmanuel Crétet |
| Interior | 29 June 1809 | 1 October 1809 | Joseph Fouché (?) |
| Interior | 1 October 1809 | 1 April 1814 | Jean-Pierre de Montalivet |
| Justice | 18 May 1804 | 13 June 1813 | Claude Ambroise Régnier |
| Justice | 20 November 1813 | 1 April 1814 | Mathieu Molé |
| War | 18 May 1804 | 9 August 1807 | Louis-Alexandre Berthier |
| War | 9 August 1807 | 20 November 1813 | Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke |
| War | 20 November 1813 | 1 April 1814 | Pierre Daru |
| War Administration | 18 May 1804 | 3 January 1810 | Jean François Aimé Dejean |
| War Administration | 3 January 1810 | 20 November 1813 | Jean-Girard Lacuée |
| War Administration | 20 November 1813 | 1 April 1814 | Pierre Daru |
| Finance | 18 May 1804 | 1 April 1814 | Martin Michel Charles Gaudin |
| Treasury | 18 May 1804 | 27 January 1806 | François Barbé-Marbois |
| Treasury | 27 January 1806 | 1 April 1814 | Nicolas François, Count Mollien |
| Navy and Colonies | 18 May 1804 | 1 April 1814 | Denis Decrès |
| Police | 10 July 1804 | 3 June 1810 | Joseph Fouché |
| Police | 3 June 1810 | 1 April 1814 | Anne Jean Marie René Savary |
| Religious Affairs | 10 July 1804 | 4 January 1808 | Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis |
| Religious Affairs | 4 January 1808 | 1 April 1814 | Félix-Julien-Jean Bigot de Préameneu |
| Manufacturing and Commerce | 16 January 1812 | 1 April 1814 | Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy |

## Replacement

In March 1814 the allied armies invaded France, and arrived at the walls of Paris on 29 March 1814. After a short struggle on 30 March 1814 against overwhelmingly superior forces, on 31 March 1814 Marshal Auguste de Marmont signed the capitulation of Paris. A provisional government was formed on 1 April 1814 under the presidency of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord.