Conversation so far:
What was the Consulate of France?
The Consulate was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directoryon 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804.
Why did Francois Rene de Chateaubriand return to France?
François-René de Chateaubriand took advantage of the amnesty issued to émigrés to return to France in May 1800 (under the French Consulate); Chateaubriand edited the Mercure de France.

Question: What happened to the empire?
Self-contained rewrite: What happened to the French Empire?