Sorry to disagree, but I don't believe that Napoleon himself set out to become Emperor. The "office" was forced upon him, he himself would probably have been quite satisfied to be the power behind the throne.

Nor do I agree that he could grab power because the other candidates had gone to the guillotine. In fact the number of politicians who went to the guillotine during the Revolution was very limited. They were all of them lawyers anyway, so good riddance. In terms of exterminating the political opposition the Directoire was far more murderous than the Terror had ever been.

IMO, the reason why there was no opposition to his coup, had to do with the fact that he and his entourage were seen as a bunch of money grabbing opportunists without any deep ideological convictions and ready to do business and share the loot with anyone. Also that they did not have outstanding accounts to settle in blood. What had made the Directoire so murderous was that all the smaller factions had been trying to exterminate each other from fear of being sent to the bagne themselves. It was fear of the others that made the likes of the club de Clichy accept Buonaparte.

Best regards,

Bruno