Napoleon III
Napoleon III | |
---|---|
Emperor of the French | |
Reign | 2 December 1852 – 4 September 1870 |
Predecessor | Himself (as President of France) Napoleon II (1815, as Emperor) |
Successor | Adolphe Thiers (as President of France) |
Cabinet Chief | |
President of France | |
In office 20 December 1848 – 2 December 1852 | |
Prime Minister | |
Vice President | Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe |
Preceded by | Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (as Chief of the Executive Power) |
Succeeded by | Himself (as Emperor of the French) |
Head of the House of Bonaparte | |
Tenure 25 July 1846 – 9 January 1873 | |
Preceded by | Louis, Count of Saint-Leu |
Succeeded by | Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial |
Born | Paris, First French Empire | 20 April 1808
Died | 9 January 1873 Chislehurst, Kent, England | (aged 64)
Burial | |
Spouse |
Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces (1848–1870) |
Unit | |
Battles/wars |
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the first president of France from 1848 to 1852, and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 until he was deposed in absentia on 4 September 1870.
Prior to his reign, Napoleon III was known as Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. He was born in Paris as the son of
Napoleon III was a popular monarch who oversaw the modernization of the French economy and filled Paris with new boulevards and parks. He expanded the
Napoleon III commissioned a grand reconstruction of Paris carried out by prefect of the Seine, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and modernized the banking system. Napoleon promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter. He negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike, the right to organize, and the right for women to be admitted to a French university.
In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated
From 1866, Napoleon had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its minister president
Childhood and family
Early life
Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Louis Napoleon and then Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of 19–20 April 1808. His father was
As empress, Joséphine had proposed the marriage of Louis and Hortense as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Joséphine was by then infertile.
Louis Napoleon was baptized at the
All members of the
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Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (1778–1846), the younger brother ofNapoleon Bonaparteand father of Napoleon III
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Hortense de Beauharnais (1783–1837), mother of Napoleon III
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The lakeside house at Arenenberg, Switzerland, where Louis Napoleon spent much of his youth and exile
Romantic revolutionary (1823–1835)
When Louis Napoleon was 15, his mother Hortense moved to Rome, where the Bonapartes had a villa. He passed his time learning Italian, exploring the ancient ruins and learning the arts of seduction and romantic affairs, which he used often in his later life. He became friends with the French Ambassador, François-René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand, the father of romanticism in French literature, with whom he remained in contact for many years. He was reunited with his older brother Napoléon-Louis; together they became involved with the Carbonari, secret revolutionary societies fighting Austria's domination of Northern Italy. In the spring of 1831, when Louis Napoleon was 23, the Austrian and Papal governments launched an offensive against the Carbonari. The two brothers, wanted by the police, were forced to flee. During their flight, Napoléon-Louis contracted measles. He died in his brother's arms on 17 March 1831.[8] Hortense joined Louis Napoleon and together they evaded the police and Austrian army and finally reached the French border.[9]
Hortense and Louis Napoleon traveled incognito to Paris, where the old regime of King
Early adult years
Bonapartist succession and philosophy of Bonapartism
Ever since the fall of Napoleon in 1815, a
In exile with his mother in Switzerland, Louis Napoleon enrolled in the
Failed coup, exile in London (1836–1840)
"I believe", wrote Louis Napoleon, "that from time to time, men are created whom I call volunteers of providence, in whose hands are placed the destiny of their countries. I believe I am one of those men. If I am wrong, I can perish uselessly. If I am right, then providence will put me into a position to fulfill my mission."
He planned for his uprising to begin in Strasbourg. The colonel of a regiment was brought over to the cause. On 29 October 1836, Louis Napoleon arrived in Strasbourg, in the uniform of an artillery officer; he rallied the regiment to his side. The prefecture was seized, and the prefect arrested. Unfortunately for Louis-Napoleon, the general commanding the garrison escaped and called in a loyal regiment, which surrounded the mutineers. The mutineers surrendered and Louis-Napoleon fled back to Switzerland.[15]
Louis Napoleon was widely popular in exile and his popularity in France continuously grew after his failed coup in 1836 as it established him as heir to the Bonaparte legend and increased his publicity.[1]
Travel
King Louis Philippe had demanded that the Swiss government return Louis Napoleon to France, but the Swiss pointed out that he was a Swiss soldier and citizen and refused to hand him over. The King responded by sending an army to the Swiss border. Louis Napoleon thanked his Swiss hosts, and voluntarily left the country. The other mutineers were put on trial in Alsace, and were all acquitted.
Louis Napoleon traveled first to London, then to
Louis Napoleon returned to London for a new period of exile in October 1838. He had inherited a large fortune from his mother and took a house with 17 servants and several of his old friends and fellow conspirators. He was received by London society and met the political and scientific leaders of the day, including
Second coup, prison, escape and exile (1840–1848)
Living in the comfort of London, he had not given up the dream of returning to France to seize power. In the summer of 1840 he bought weapons and uniforms and had proclamations printed, gathered a contingent of about sixty armed men, hired a ship called the Edinburgh-Castle, and on 6 August 1840, sailed across the
Activities
The register of the fortress Ham for 7 October 1840 contained a concise description of the new prisoner: "Age: thirty-two years. Height: one meter sixty-six. Hair and eyebrows: chestnut. Eyes: Gray and small. Nose: large. Mouth: ordinary. Beard: brown. Moustache: blond. Chin: pointed. Face: oval. Complexion: pale. Head: sunken in his shoulders, and large shoulders. Back: bent. Lips: thick."[21] He had a mistress named Éléonore Vergeot, a young woman from the town of Ham, who gave birth to two of his children.[22]
While in prison, Louis Napoleon wrote poems, political essays, and articles on diverse topics. He contributed articles to regional newspapers and magazines in towns all over France, becoming quite well known as a writer. His most famous book was L'extinction du pauperisme (1844), a study of the causes of poverty in the French industrial working class, with proposals to eliminate it. His conclusion: "The working class has nothing, it is necessary to give them ownership. They have no other wealth than their own labor, it is necessary to give them work that will benefit all....they are without organization and without connections, without rights and without a future; it is necessary to give them rights and a future and to raise them in their own eyes by association, education, and discipline." He proposed various practical ideas for creating a banking and savings system that would provide credit to the working class, and to establish agricultural colonies similar to the kibbutzim later founded in Israel.[23] This book was widely reprinted and circulated in France, and played an important part in his future electoral success.
Louis Napoleon was busy in prison, but also unhappy and impatient. He was aware that the popularity of his uncle was steadily increasing in France; Napoleon I was the subject of heroic poems, books and plays. Huge crowds had gathered in Paris on 15 December 1840 when the remains of Napoleon were returned with great ceremony to Paris and handed over to King Louis Philippe, while Louis Napoleon could only read about it in prison. On 25 May 1846, with the assistance of his doctor and other friends on the outside, he disguised himself as a laborer carrying lumber, and walked out of the prison. His enemies later derisively called him "Badinguet", the name of the laborer whose identity he had assumed. A carriage was waiting to take him to the coast and then by boat to England. A month after his escape, his father Louis died, making Charles Napoleon the clear heir to the Bonaparte dynasty.[24]
Return and early affairs
Louis Napoleon quickly resumed his place in British society. He lived on
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Louis Napoleon's 1840 attempt to lead an uprising against Louis Philippe ended in fiasco and ridicule. He was sentenced to prison for life in the fortress of Ham in Northern France.
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The room in the fortress of Ham where Louis Napoleon studied, wrote, and conducted scientific experiments. He later often referred to what he had learned at "the University of Ham".
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After his escape from prison, he had a brief affair withRachel(1823–1858), the most famous French actress of the time, during her London tours.
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Louis Napoleon met the wealthy heiress Harriet Howard in 1846. She became his mistress and helped fund his return to France.
Early political career
1848 Revolution and birth of the Second Republic
In February 1848, Louis Napoleon learned that the French Revolution of 1848 had broken out; Louis Philippe, faced with opposition within his government and army, abdicated. Believing that his time had finally come, he set out for Paris on 27 February, departing England on the same day that Louis-Philippe left France for his own exile in England. When he arrived in Paris, he found that the Second Republic had been declared, led by a Provisional Government headed by a Commission led by Alphonse de Lamartine, and that different factions of republicans, from conservatives to those on the far left, were competing for power. He wrote to Lamartine announcing his arrival, saying that he "was without any other ambition than that of serving my country". Lamartine wrote back politely but firmly, asking Louis-Napoleon to leave Paris "until the city is more calm, and not before the elections for the National Assembly". His close advisors urged him to stay and try to take power, but he wanted to show his prudence and loyalty to the Republic; while his advisors remained in Paris, he returned to London on 2 March 1848 and watched events from there.[26]
Louis Napoleon did not run in the
The Moderate Republican leaders of the provisional government, Lamartine and Cavaignac, considered arresting Louis Napoleon as a dangerous revolutionary, but once again he outmaneuvered them. He wrote to the president of the provisional government: "I believe I should wait to return to the heart of my country, so that my presence in France will not serve as a pretext to the enemies of the Republic."[28]
In June 1848, the
Louis Napoleon's absence from Paris meant that he was not connected either with the uprising, or with the brutal repression that had followed. He was still in London on 17–18 September, when the elections for the National Assembly were held, but he was a candidate in thirteen departments. He was elected in five departments; in Paris, he received 110,000 votes of the 247,000 cast, the highest number of votes of any candidate. He returned to Paris on 24 September, and this time he took his place in the National Assembly. In seven months, he had gone from a political exile in London to a highly visible place in the National Assembly, as the government finished the new constitution and prepared for the first election ever of a president of the French Republic.[30]
Presidential election of 1848
The new constitution of the
Louis Napoleon established his campaign headquarters and residence at the Hôtel du Rhin on Place Vendôme. He was accompanied by his companion, Harriet Howard, who gave him a large loan to help finance his campaign. He rarely went to the sessions of the National Assembly and rarely voted. He was not a gifted orator; he spoke slowly, in a monotone, with a slight German accent from his Swiss education. His opponents sometimes ridiculed him, one comparing him to "a turkey who believes he's an eagle".[33]
Louis Napoleon's campaign appealed to both the left and right. His election manifesto proclaimed his support for "religion, family, property, the eternal basis of all social order". But it also announced his intent "to give work to those unoccupied; to look out for the old age of the workers; to introduce in industrial laws those improvements which do not ruin the rich, but which bring about the well-being of each and the prosperity of all".[34]
Louis Napoleon's campaign agents, many of them veterans from Napoleon Bonaparte's army, raised support for him around the country. Louis Napoleon won the grudging endorsement of the conservative leader Adolphe Thiers, who believed he could be the most easily controlled; Thiers called him "of all the candidates, the least bad".[35] He won the backing of L'Evenement, the newspaper of Victor Hugo, which declared, "We have confidence in him; he carries a great name."[36] His chief opponent, General Cavaignac, expected that Louis Napoleon would come in first, but that he would receive less than fifty percent of the vote, which would mean the election would go to the National Assembly, where Cavaignac was certain to win.
The elections were held on 10–11 December. Results were announced on 20 December. Louis Napoleon was widely expected to win, but the size of his victory surprised almost everyone. He won 5,572,834 votes, or 74.2 percent of votes cast, compared with 1,469,156 for Cavaignac. The socialist Ledru-Rollin received 376,834; the extreme left candidate Raspail 37,106, and the poet Lamartine only 17,000 votes. Louis Napoleon won the support of all segments of the population: the peasants unhappy with rising prices and high taxes; unemployed workers; small businessmen who wanted prosperity and order; and intellectuals such as Victor Hugo. He won the votes of 55.6 percent of all registered voters, and won in all but four of France's departments.[37]
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The 1848 presidential campaign pitted Louis Napoleon against General Cavaignac, the Minister of Defense of the Provisional Government, and the leaders of the socialists.
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Louis Napoleon's essay, "The Extinction of Pauperism", advocating reforms to help the working class, was widely circulated during the 1848 election campaign.
Prince-President (1848–1851)
Louis Napoleon moved his residence to the Élysée Palace at the end of December 1848 and immediately hung a portrait of his mother in the boudoir and a portrait of Napoleon I, in his coronation robes, in the grand salon. Adolphe Thiers recommended that he wear clothing of "democratic simplicity", but following the model of his uncle, he chose instead the uniform of the General-in-Chief of the National Guard, and chose the title of "Prince-President".[38]
Louis Napoleon also made his first venture into foreign policy, in Italy, where as a youth he had joined in the patriotic uprising against the Austrians. The previous government had sent an expeditionary force, which had been tasked and funded by the National Assembly to support the
Elections were held for the National Assembly on 13–14 May 1849, only a few months after Louis Napoleon had become president, and were largely won by a coalition of conservative republicans—which Catholics and monarchists called "The Party of Order"—led by Thiers. The socialists and "red" republicans, led by Ledru-Rollin and Raspail, also did well, winning two hundred seats. The moderate republicans, in the middle, did very badly, taking just 70–80 seats. The Party of Order had a clear majority, enough to block any initiatives of Louis Napoleon.[40]
On 11 June 1849 the socialists and radical republicans made an attempt to seize power. Ledru-Rollin, from his headquarters in the Conservatory of Arts and Professions, declared that Louis Napoleon was no longer President and called for a general uprising. A few barricades appeared in the working-class neighborhoods of Paris. Louis Napoleon acted swiftly, and the uprising was short-lived. Paris was declared in a state of siege, the headquarters of the uprising was surrounded, and the leaders arrested. Ledru-Rollin fled to England, Raspail was arrested and sent to prison, the republican clubs were closed, and their newspapers closed down.
The National Assembly, now without the left republicans and determined to keep them out forever, proposed a new election law that placed restrictions on universal male suffrage, imposing a three-year residency requirement. This new law excluded 3.5 of 9 million French voters, the voters that the leader of the Party of Order, Adolphe Thiers, scornfully called "the vile multitude".[41] This new election law was passed in May 1850 by a majority of 433 to 241, putting the National Assembly on a direct collision course with the Prince-President.[42] Louis Napoleon broke with the Assembly and the conservative ministers opposing his projects in favour of the dispossessed. He secured the support of the army, toured the country making populist speeches that condemned the Assembly, and presented himself as the protector of universal male suffrage. He demanded that the law be changed, but his proposal was defeated in the Assembly by a vote of 355 to 348.[43]
According to the Constitution of 1848, Louis Napoleon had to step down at the end of his term. He sought a constitutional amendment to allow him to succeed himself, arguing that four years were not enough to fully implement his political and economic program. He toured the country and gained support from many of the regional governments and many within the Assembly. The vote in July 1851 was 446 to 278 in favor of changing the law and allowing him to run again, but this was short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.[44]
Coup d'état (December 1851)
Louis Napoleon believed that he was supported by the people, and he decided to retain power by other means. His half-brother
Louis Napoleon followed the self-coup by a period of repression of his opponents, aimed mostly at the red republicans. About 26,000 people were arrested, including 4,000 in Paris alone. The 239 inmates who were judged most severely were sent to the penal colony in Cayenne.[48] 9,530 followers were sent to French Algeria, 1,500 were expelled from France, and another 3,000 were given forced residence away from their homes.[49][page needed] Soon afterwards, a commission of revision freed 3,500 of those sentenced. In 1859, the remaining 1,800 prisoners and exiles were amnestied, with the exception of the republican leader Ledru-Rollin, who was released from prison but required to leave the country.[48]
Strict press censorship was enacted by a decree from 17 February 1852. No newspaper dealing with political or social questions could be published without the permission of the government, fines were increased, and the list of press offenses was expanded. After three warnings, a newspaper or journal could be suspended or even permanently closed.[50]
Louis Napoleon wished to demonstrate that his new government had a broad popular mandate, so on 20–21 December a national plebiscite was held asking if voters agreed to the coup. Mayors in many regions threatened to publish the names of any electors who refused to vote. When asked if they agreed to the coup, 7,439,216 voters said yes, 641,737 voted no, and 1.7 million voters abstained.[51] The fairness and legality of the referendum was immediately questioned by Louis Napoleon's critics,[52] but Louis Napoleon was convinced that he had been given a public mandate to rule.
Following the returns, many challenged the validity of such an implausibly lopsided result.[52] One such critic was Victor Hugo, who had originally supported Louis Napoleon but had been infuriated by the coup d'état, departed for Brussels on 11 December 1851. He became the most bitter critic of Louis Napoleon, rejected the amnesty offered to him, and did not return to France for twenty years.[53]
The Second French Empire
Middle years
The 1851 referendum gave Louis Napoleon a mandate to amend the constitution. Work began on the new document in 1852. It was officially prepared by a committee of eighty experts but was actually drafted by a small group of the Prince-President's inner circle. Under the new constitution, Louis Napoleon was automatically reelected as president. Under Article Two, the president could now serve an unlimited number of 10-year terms. He was given the absolute authority to declare war, sign treaties, form alliances and initiate laws. The Constitution re-established universal male suffrage, and also retained a National Assembly, albeit one with reduced authority.[54]
Louis Napoleon's government imposed new authoritarian measures to control dissent and reduce the power of the opposition. One of his first acts was to settle scores with his old enemy, King Louis Philippe, who had sent him to prison for life and who had died in 1850. A decree on 23 January 1852 forbade the late king's family to own property in France and annulled the inheritance he had given to his children before he became king.
The National Guard, whose members had sometimes joined anti-government demonstrations, was re-organized and largely used only in parades. Government officials were required to wear uniforms at official formal occasions. The Minister of Education was given the power to dismiss professors at the universities and review the content of their courses. Students at the universities were forbidden to wear beards, seen as a symbol of republicanism.[55]
An election was held for a new National Assembly on 29 February 1852, and all the resources of the government were used on behalf of the candidates backing the Prince-President. Of eight million eligible voters, 5,200,000 votes went to the official candidates and 800,000 to opposition candidates. About one third of the eligible voters abstained. The new Assembly included a small number of opponents of Louis Napoleon, including 17 monarchists, 18 conservatives, two liberal democrats, three republicans and 72 independents.[55]
Despite now holding all governing power in the nation, Louis Napoleon was not content with being an authoritarian president. The ink had barely dried on the new and severely authoritarian constitution when he set about making himself emperor. Following the election, the Prince-President went on a triumphal national tour. In Marseille, he laid the cornerstone of a new cathedral, a new stock exchange, and a chamber of commerce. In Bordeaux, on 9 October 1852, he gave his principal speech:
Some people say the Empire is war. I say the Empire is peace. Like the Emperor I have many conquests to make… Like him I wish … to draw into the stream of the great popular river those hostile side-currents which lose themselves without profit to anyone. We have immense unplowed territories to cultivate; roads to open; ports to dig; rivers to be made navigable; canals to finish, a railway network to complete. We have, in front of Marseille, a vast kingdom to assimilate into France. We have all the great ports of the west to connect with the American continent by modern communications, which we still lack. We have ruins to repair, false gods to tear down, truths which we need to make triumph. This is how I see the Empire, if the Empire is re-established. These are the conquests I am considering, and you around me, who, like me, want the good of our country, you are my soldiers.[56]
When Louis Napoleon returned to Paris the city was decorated with large arches, with banners proclaiming, "To Napoleon III, emperor". In response to officially inspired requests for the return of the empire, the Senate scheduled another referendum for 21–22 November 1852 on whether to make Napoleon emperor. After an implausible 97 percent voted in favour (7,824,129 votes for and 253,159 against, with two million abstentions), on 2 December 1852—exactly one year after the coup—the Second Republic was officially ended, replaced by the Second French Empire.[58] Prince-President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. His regnal name treats Napoleon II, who never actually ruled, as a true Emperor (he had been briefly recognized as emperor from 22 June to 7 July 1815). The 1852 constitution was retained; it concentrated so much power in Napoleon's hands that the only substantive change was to replace the word "president" with the word "emperor".
Modernising the infrastructure and the economy (1853–1869)
Early construction
One of the first priorities of Napoleon III was the modernisation of the French economy, which had fallen far behind that of the United Kingdom and some of the German states. Political economics had long been a passion of the Emperor. While in Britain, he had visited factories and railway yards; in prison, he had studied and written about the sugar industry and policies to reduce poverty. He wanted the government to play an active, not a passive, role in the economy. In 1839, he had written: "Government is not a necessary evil, as some people claim; it is instead the benevolent motor for the whole social organism."[59] He did not advocate the government getting directly involved in industry. Instead, the government took a very active role in building the infrastructure for economic growth; stimulating the stock market and investment banks to provide credit; building railways, ports, canals and roads; and providing training and education. He also opened up French markets to foreign goods, such as railway tracks from England, forcing French industry to become more efficient and more competitive.[60]
The period was favorable for industrial expansion. The gold rushes in
Beginning in 1852, Napoleon encouraged the creation of new banks, such as Crédit Mobilier, which sold shares to the public and provided loans to both private industry and to the government. Crédit Lyonnais was founded in 1863 and Société Générale in 1864. These banks provided the funding for Napoleon III's major projects, from railway and canals to the rebuilding of Paris.
In 1851, France had only 3,500 kilometers of railway, compared with 10,000 kilometers in England and 800 kilometers in Belgium, a country one-twentieth the size of France. Within days of the coup d'état of 1851, Napoleon's Minister of Public Works launched a project to build a railway line around Paris, connecting the different independent lines coming into Paris from around the country. The government provided guarantees for loans to build new lines and urged railway companies to consolidate. There were 18 railway companies in 1848 and six at the end of the Empire. By 1870, France had 20,000 kilometers of railway linked to the French ports and to the railway systems of the neighbouring countries that carried over 100 million passengers a year and transported the products of France's new steel mills, mines and factories.[62]
Development of steamships and early reconstruction on Paris
New shipping lines were created, and ports rebuilt in
The rebuilding of central Paris also encouraged commercial expansion and innovation. The first department store,
Napoleon's program also included reclaiming farmland and reforestation. One such project in the Gironde department drained and reforested 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of moorland, creating the Landes forest, the largest maritime pine forest in Europe.
Reconstruction of Paris (1854–1870)
Napoleon III began his regime by launching a series of enormous public works projects in Paris, hiring tens of thousands of workers to improve the sanitation, water supply and traffic circulation of the city. To direct this task, he named a new prefect of the
The population of Paris had doubled since 1815, with neither an increase in its area nor a development of its structure of very narrow medieval streets and alleys.
To accommodate the growing population and those who would be forced from the center by the construction of new boulevards and squares, Napoleon issued a decree in 1860 to annex eleven communes (municipalities) on the outskirts of Paris and increase the number of arrondissements (city boroughs) from twelve to twenty. Paris was thus enlarged to its modern boundaries with the exception of the two major city parks (Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes) that became part of the French capital in 1920.
For the duration of Napoleon III's reign and a decade afterwards, most of Paris was an enormous construction site. His hydraulic chief engineer,
Beginning in 1854, in the center of the city, Haussmann's workers tore down hundreds of old buildings and constructed new avenues to connect the central points of the city. Buildings along these avenues were required to be the same height, constructed in an architecturally similar style, and be faced with cream-coloured stone to create the signature look of Paris boulevards.
The Emperor built two new railway stations: the
Napoleon also wanted to build new parks and gardens for the recreation and relaxation of the Parisians, particularly those in the new neighbourhoods of the expanding city.]
In addition to building the four large parks, Napoleon had the city's older parks, including the Parc Monceau, formerly owned by the Orléans family, and the Jardin du Luxembourg, refurbished and replanted. He also created some twenty small parks and gardens in the neighbourhoods as miniature versions of his large parks. Alphand termed these small parks "green and flowering salons". The intention of Napoleon's plan was to have one park in each of the eighty "quartiers" (neighbourhoods) of Paris, so that no one was more than a ten-minute walk from such a park. The parks were an immediate success with all classes of Parisians.[71]
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Georges-Eugène Haussmann and Napoleon III make official the annexation of eleven communes around Paris to the city. The annexation increased the size of the city from twelve to the present twenty arrondissements.
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The Paris Opera was the centerpiece of Napoleon III's new Paris. The architect, Charles Garnier, described the style simply as "Napoleon the Third".
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The Bois de Boulogne, transformed by Napoleon III between 1852 and 1858, was designed to give a place for relaxation and recreation to all the classes of Paris.
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Photo of the Emperor
Search for a wife
Soon after becoming emperor, Napoleon III began searching for a wife to give him an heir.[
The Emperor fell in love with a 23-year-old Spaniard noblewoman,
With an heir to the throne secured, Napoleon resumed his "petites distractions" with other women.[citation needed] Eugénie faithfully performed the duties of an empress, entertaining guests and accompanying the Emperor to balls, opera, and theatre. She traveled to Egypt to open the Suez Canal and officially represented him whenever he traveled outside France.[citation needed]
Though a fervent Catholic and conservative on many other issues, Eugénie strongly advocated equality for women. She pressured the
Foreign policy (1852–1860)
In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world as a supporter of
Principle of Nationalities
In a speech at Bordeaux shortly after becoming Emperor, Napoleon III proclaimed that "The Empire means peace" ("L'Empire, c'est la paix"), reassuring foreign governments that he would not attack other European powers in order to extend the French Empire. He was, however, determined to follow a strong foreign policy to extend France's influence and warned that he would not stand by and allow another European power to threaten its neighbour.
At the beginning of his reign, he was also an advocate of a new "principle of nationalities" (principe des nationalités) that supported the creation of new states
Alliance with Britain and the Crimean War (1853–1856)
Lord Palmerston as Britain's Foreign Secretary and later Prime Minister had close personal ties with leading French statesmen, notably Napoleon III himself. Palmerston's goal was to arrange peaceful relations with France in order to free Britain's diplomatic hand elsewhere in the world.[78] Napoleon at first had a pro-British foreign policy and was eager not to displease the British government, whose friendship he saw as important to France. After a brief threat of an invasion of Britain in 1851, France and Britain cooperated in the 1850s with an alliance in the Crimean War and a major trade treaty in 1860.[79]
War scares were consistently worked up by the press nonetheless.
From the start of his Empire, Napoleon III sought an alliance with Britain. He had lived there while in exile and saw Britain as a natural partner in the projects he wished to accomplish. An opportunity soon presented itself: In early 1853, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia put pressure on the weak Ottoman government, demanding that they give Russia a protectorate over the Christian peoples of the Balkans as well as control over Constantinople and the Dardanelles. The Ottoman Empire, backed by Britain and France, refused Russia's demands, and a joint British-French fleet was sent to support the Ottoman Empire. When Russia refused to leave the Danubian Principalities it had occupied, Britain and France declared war on 27 March 1854.[82]
It took France and Britain six months to organize a full-scale military expedition to the
The death of Tsar Nicholas I on 2 March 1855 and his replacement by Alexander II changed the political equation. In September, after a massive bombardment, the Anglo-French army of fifty thousand men stormed the Russian positions, and the Russians were forced to evacuate Sevastopol. Alexander II sought a political solution, and negotiations were held in Paris in the new building of the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay, from 25 February to 8 April 1856.[82]
The Crimean War added three new place names to Paris:
The defeat of Russia and the alliance with Britain gave France increased authority and prestige in Europe. This was the first war between European powers since the close of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, marking a breakdown of the alliance system that had maintained peace for nearly half a century. The war also effectively ended the Concert of Europe and the Quadruple Alliance, or "Waterloo Coalition", that the other four powers (Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain) had established. The Paris Peace Conference of 1856 represented a high-water mark for Napoleon's regime in foreign affairs.[85] It encouraged Napoleon III to make an even bolder foreign policy venture in Italy.[86]
Italian Campaign
Early years
On the evening of 14 January 1858, Napoleon and the Empress escaped an assassination attempt unharmed. A group of conspirators threw three bombs at the imperial carriage as it made its way to the opera. Eight members of the escort and bystanders were killed and over one hundred people injured. The culprits were quickly arrested. The leader was an Italian nationalist, Felice Orsini, who was aided by a French surgeon Simon François Bernard. They believed that if Napoleon III were killed, a republican revolt would immediately follow in France and the new republican government would help all Italian states win independence from Austria and achieve national unification. Bernard was in London at the time. Since he was a political exile, the Government of the United Kingdom refused to extradite him, but Orsini was tried, convicted and executed on 13 March 1858. The bombing focused the attention of France and particularly of Napoleon III, on the issue of Italian nationalism.[87]
Part of Italy, particularly the
Count Cavour, the Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, came to Paris with the King and employed an unusual emissary in his efforts to win the support of Napoleon III: his young cousin, Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione (1837–1899). As Cavour had hoped, she caught the Emperor's eye and became his mistress. Between 1855 and 1857, she used the opportunity to pass messages and to plead the Italian cause.[88]
In July 1858, Napoleon arranged a secret visit by Count Cavour. In the Plombières Agreement they agreed to join forces and drive the Austrians from Italy. In exchange, Napoleon III asked for Savoy (the ancestral land of the King of Piedmont-Sardinia) and the then bilingual County of Nice, which had been taken from France after Napoleon's fall in 1815 and returned to Piedmont-Sardinia. Cavour protested that Nice was Italian, but Napoleon responded that "these are secondary questions. There will be time later to discuss them."[89]
Assured of the support of Napoleon III, Count Cavour began to prepare the Royal Sardinian Army for war against Austria. Napoleon III looked for diplomatic support. He approached Lord Derby (the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and his government; Britain was against the war, but agreed to remain neutral. Still facing strong opposition within his own government, Napoleon III offered to negotiate a diplomatic solution with the twenty-eight-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in the spring of 1858. The Austrians demanded the disarmament of Piedmont-Sardinia first and sent thirty thousand soldiers to reinforce their garrisons in Italy. Napoleon III responded on 26 January 1859 by signing a treaty of alliance with Piedmont-Sardinia. Napoleon promised to send two hundred thousand soldiers to help one hundred thousand soldiers from Piedmont-Sardinia to force the Austrians out of Northern Italy; in return, France would receive the County of Nice and Savoy provided that their populations would agree in a referendum.[90]
It was the Emperor Franz Joseph, growing impatient, who finally unleashed the war. On 23 April 1859, he sent an ultimatum to the government of Piedmont-Sardinia demanding that they stop their military preparations and disband their army. On 26 April, Count Cavour rejected the demands, and on 27 April, the Austrian army invaded Piedmont.
War in Italy – Magenta and Solferino (1859)
Napoleon III, though he had very little military experience, decided to lead the French army in Italy himself. Part of the French army crossed over the Alps, while the other part, with the Emperor, landed in Genoa on 18 May 1859. Fortunately for Napoleon and the Piedmontese, the commander of the Austrians, General Ferenc Gyulay, was not very aggressive. His forces greatly outnumbered the Piedmontese army at Turin, but he hesitated, allowing the French and Piedmontese to unite their forces.
Napoleon III wisely left the fighting to his professional generals. The first great battle of the war, on 4 June 1859, was fought at the town of Magenta. It was long and bloody, and the French center was exhausted and nearly broken, but the battle was finally won by a timely attack on the Austrian flank by the soldiers of General Patrice de MacMahon. The Austrians had seven thousand men killed and five thousand captured, while the French forces had four thousand men killed. The battle was largely remembered because, soon after it was fought, patriotic chemists in France gave the name of the battle to their newly discovered bright purple chemical dye; the dye and the colour took the name magenta.[91]
The rest of the Austrian army was able to escape while Napoleon III and King Victor Emmanuel made a triumphal entry on 10 June into the city of Milan, previously ruled by the Austrians. They were greeted by huge, jubilant crowds waving Italian and French flags.
The Austrians had been driven from Lombardy, but the army of General Gyulay remained in the Veneto. His army had been reinforced and numbered 130,000 men, roughly the same as the French and Piedmontese, though the Austrians were superior in artillery. On 24 June, the second and decisive battle was fought at Solferino. This battle was even longer and bloodier than Magenta. In confused and often ill-directed fighting, there were approximately forty thousand casualties, including 11,500 French. Napoleon III was horrified by the thousands of dead and wounded on the battlefield. He proposed an armistice to the Austrians, which was accepted on 8 July. A formal treaty ending the war was signed on 11 July 1859.[92][93]
Count Cavour and the Piedmontese were bitterly disappointed by the abrupt end of the war. Lombardy had been freed, but Venetia (the Venice region) was still controlled by the Austrians, and the Pope was still the ruler of Rome and Central Italy. Cavour angrily resigned his post. Napoleon III returned to Paris on 17 July, and a huge parade and celebration were held on 14 August, in front of the Vendôme column, the symbol of the glory of Napoleon I. Napoleon III celebrated the day by granting a general amnesty to the political prisoners and exiles he had chased from France.[94]
In Italy, even without the French army, the process of Italian unification launched by Cavour and Napoleon III took on a momentum of its own. There were uprisings in central Italy and the Papal States, and Italian patriots, led by Garibaldi, invaded and took over Sicily, which would lead to the collapse of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Napoleon III wrote to the Pope and suggested that he "make the sacrifice of your provinces in revolt and confide them to Victor Emmanuel". The Pope, furious, declared in a public address that Napoleon III was a "liar and a cheat".[95] Rome and the surrounding Latium region remained in Papal hands, and therefore did not immediately become the capital of the newly created Kingdom of Italy, and Venetia was still occupied by the Austrians, but the rest of Italy had come under the rule of Victor Emmanuel.
As Cavour had promised, Savoy and the County of Nice were annexed by France in 1860 after referendums, although it is disputed how fair they were. In Nice, 25,734 voted for union with France, just 260 against, but Italians still called for its return into the 20th century. On 18 February 1861, the first Italian parliament met in Turin, and on 23 March, Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of Italy. Count Cavour died a few weeks later, declaring that "Italy is made."[96]
Napoleon's support for the Italian patriots and his confrontation with Pope Pius IX over who would govern Rome made him unpopular with fervent French Catholics, and even with Empress Eugénie, who was a fervent Catholic. To win over the French Catholics and his wife, he agreed to guarantee that Rome would remain under the Pope and independent from the rest of Italy and agreed to keep French troops there. The capital of Italy became Turin (in 1861) then Florence (in 1865), not Rome. However, in 1862, Garibaldi gathered an army to march on Rome, under the slogan, "Rome or death".[97] To avoid a confrontation between Garibaldi and the French soldiers, the Italian government sent its own soldiers to face them, arrested Garibaldi and put him in prison. Napoleon III sought a diplomatic solution that would allow him to withdraw French troops from Rome while guaranteeing that the city would remain under Papal control. In the 1864 September Convention the Italian government guaranteed the independence of the rump Papal States and the French garrison in Rome was withdrawn.
However, Garibaldi made another attempt to capture Rome in November 1867, but was defeated by a hastily dispatched French force and Papal troops at the Battle of Mentana on 3 November 1867.
The garrison of eight thousand French troops remained in Rome until August 1870, when they were recalled at the start of the Franco-Prussian War. In September 1870, the Royal Italian Army finally captured Rome and made it the capital of Italy.[98]
After the successful conclusion of the Italian campaign and the annexation of Savoy and Nice to the territory of France, the Continental foreign policy of Napoleon III entered a calmer period. Expeditions to distant corners of the world and the expansion of the Empire replaced major changes in the map of Europe. The Emperor's health declined; he gained weight, he began to dye his hair to cover the gray, he walked slowly because of
Overseas empire
In 1862, Napoleon III
In
According to information given to
Life at the court of Napoleon III
Following the model of the Kings of France and of his uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III moved his official residence to the Tuileries Palace, where he had a suite of rooms on the ground floor of the south wing between the Seine and the Pavillon de l'Horloge (Clock pavilion), facing the garden.
Napoleon III's bedroom was decorated with a talisman from
The court moved with the Emperor and Empress from palace to palace each year following a regular calendar. At the beginning of May, the Emperor and court moved to the
At the end of the year the Emperor and Court returned to the Tuileries Palace and gave a series of formal receptions and three or four grand balls with six hundred guests early in the new year. Visiting dignitaries and monarchs were frequently invited. During Carnival, there was a series of very elaborate costume balls on the themes of different countries and different historical periods, for which guests sometimes spent small fortunes on their costumes.
Visual arts
Napoleon III had conservative and traditional taste in art: his favourite painters were
Following Napoleon's decree, an exhibit of the rejected paintings, called the Salon des Refusés, was held in another part of the Palace of Industry, where the Salon took place. More than a thousand visitors a day came to see now-famous paintings such as Édouard Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and James McNeill Whistler's Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl. '[109][page needed] The journalist Émile Zola reported that visitors pushed to get into the crowded galleries where the refused paintings were hung, and the rooms were full of the laughter and mocking comments of many of the spectators. While the paintings were ridiculed by many critics and visitors, the work of the avant-garde became known for the first time to the French public, and it took its place alongside the more traditional style of painting.[110]
Napoleon III also began or completed the restoration of several important historic landmarks, carried out for him by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. He restored the flèche, or spire, of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which had been partially destroyed and desecrated during the French Revolution. In 1855, he completed the restoration, begun in 1845, of the stained-glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle, and in 1862, he declared it a national historical monument. In 1853, he approved and provided funding for Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of the medieval town of Carcassonne. He also sponsored Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of the Château de Vincennes and the Château de Pierrefonds. In 1862, he closed the prison which had occupied the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel since the French Revolution, where many important political prisoners had been held, so it could be restored and opened to the public.
Social and economic policies
Social policy and reforms
From the beginning of his reign, Napoleon III launched a series of social reforms aimed at improving the life of the working class. He began with small projects, such as opening up two clinics in Paris for sick and injured workers, a programme of legal assistance to those unable to afford it, as well as subsidies to companies that built low-cost housing for their workers. He outlawed the practice of employers taking possession of or making comments in the work document that every employee was required to carry; negative comments meant that workers were unable to get other jobs. In 1866, he encouraged the creation of a state insurance fund to help workers or peasants who became disabled and help their widows and families.[111]
To help the working class, Napoleon III offered a prize to anyone who could develop an inexpensive substitute for butter; the prize was won by the French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès, who in 1869 patented a product he named oleomargarine, later shortened simply to margarine.[112]
Rights to strike and organise (1864–1866)
His most important social reform was the 1864 law that gave French workers the right to strike, which had been forbidden since 1810. In 1866, he added to this an "Edict of Tolerance" which gave factory workers the right to organise. He issued a decree regulating the treatment of apprentices and limited working hours on Sundays and holidays. He removed from the Napoleonic Code the infamous article 1781, which said that the declaration of the employer, even without proof, would be given more weight by the court than the word of the employee.[113]
Education for girls and women, school reform (1861–1869)
Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie worked to give girls and women greater access to public education. In 1861, through the direct intervention of the Emperor and the Empress, Julie-Victoire Daubié became the first woman in France to receive the baccalauréat diploma.[114] In 1862, the first professional school for young women was opened, and Madeleine Brès became the first woman to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris.
In 1863, he made Victor Duruy, the son of a factory worker and a respected historian, his new Minister of Public Education. Duruy accelerated the pace of the reforms, often coming into conflict with the Catholic Church, which wanted to keep control over education. Despite the opposition of the Church, Duruy opened schools for girls in each commune with more than five hundred residents, a total of eight hundred new schools.[115]
Between 1863 and 1869, Duruy created scholastic libraries for fifteen thousand schools and required that primary schools offer courses in history and geography. Secondary schools began to teach philosophy, which had been banned by the previous regime at the request of the Catholic Church. For the first time, public schools in France began to teach contemporary history, modern languages, art, gymnastics and music. The results of the school reforms were dramatic: in 1852, over 40 percent of army conscripts in France were unable to read or write, yet by 1869, the number had dropped to 25 percent. The rate of illiteracy among both girls and boys dropped to 32 percent.[115]
At the university level, Napoleon III founded new faculties in Marseille, Douai, Nancy, Clermont-Ferrand and Poitiers and founded a network of research institutes of higher studies in the sciences, history, and economics. These also were criticized by Catholic ecclesiastics. The Cardinal-Archbishop of Rouen, Monseigneur Bonnechose, wrote, "True science is religious, while false science, on the other hand, is vain and prideful; being unable to explain God, it rebels against him."[116]
Economic policy
Lower tariffs and the re-opening of French markets (1860)
One of the centerpieces of the economic policy of Napoleon III was the lowering of tariffs and the opening of French markets to imported goods. He had been in Britain in 1846 when Prime Minister Robert Peel had lowered tariffs on imported grains, and he had seen the benefits to British consumers and the British economy. However, he faced bitter opposition from many French industrialists and farmers, who feared British competition. Convinced he was right, he sent his chief economic advisor, Michel Chevalier, to London to begin discussions, and secretly negotiated a new commercial agreement with Britain, calling for the gradual lowering of tariffs in both countries. He signed the treaty, without consulting with the Assembly, on 23 January 1860. Four hundred of the top industrialists in France came to Paris to protest, but he refused to yield. Industrial tariffs on such products as steel rails for railways were lowered first; tariffs on grains were not lowered until June 1861. Similar agreements were negotiated with the Netherlands, Italy, and France's other neighbors. France's industries were forced to modernize and become more efficient to compete with the British, as Napoleon III had intended. Commerce between the countries surged.[117]
Economic expansion and social change
By the 1860s, the huge state investment in railways, infrastructure and fiscal policies of Napoleon III had brought dramatic changes to the French economy and French society. French people travelled in greater numbers, more often and farther than they had ever travelled before. The opening of the first public school libraries by Napoleon III and the opening by
During the Empire, industrial production increased by 73 percent, growing twice as rapidly as that of the United Kingdom, though its total output remained lower. From 1850 to 1857, the French economy grew at a pace of five percent a year and exports grew by sixty percent between 1855 and 1869.[119]
French agricultural production increased by sixty percent, spurred by new farming techniques taught at the agricultural schools started in each Department by Napoleon III, and new markets opened by the railways. The threat of famine, which for centuries had haunted the French countryside, receded. The last recorded famine in France was in 1855.[119]
During the Empire, the migration of the rural population to the cities increased. The portion of the population active in agriculture dropped from 61 percent in 1851 to 54 percent in 1870.[120]
The average salary of French workers grew by 45 percent during the Second Empire, but only kept up with price inflation. On the other hand, more French people than ever were able to save money; the number of bank accounts grew from 742,889 in 1852 to 2,079,141 in 1870.[120]
Growing opposition and liberal concessions (1860–1870)
Despite the economic progress the country had made, domestic opposition to Napoleon III was slowly growing, particularly in the Corps législatif (Parliament). The liberal republicans on the left had always opposed him, believing he had usurped power and suppressed the Republic. The conservative Catholics were increasingly unhappy, because he had abandoned the Pope in his struggle to retain political control of the Papal States and had built up a public education system that was a rival to the Catholic system. Many businessmen, particularly in the metallurgical and textile industries, were unhappy, because he had reduced the tariffs on British products, putting the British products in direct competition with their own. The members of Parliament were particularly unhappy with him for dealing with them only when he needed money. When he had liberalized trade with England, he had not even consulted them.[121]
Napoleon's large-scale program of public works, and his expensive foreign policy, had created rapidly mounting government debts; the annual deficit was about 100 million gold-francs, and the cumulative debt had reached nearly 1,000 million gold-francs (1 billion in US readings). The Emperor needed to restore the confidence of the business world and to involve the legislature and have them share responsibility.
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Dates of 1861 reforms are either in the wrong order or incorrect. Unclear sourcing. (November 2021) |
On 24 December 1861, Napoleon III, against the opposition of his own ministers, issued a decree announcing that the legislature would have greater powers. The Senate and the Assembly could, for the first time, give a response to the Emperor's program, ministers were obliged to defend their programs before the Assembly, and the right of Deputies to amend the programs was enlarged. On 1 February 1861, further reforms were announced: Deputies could speak from the tribune, not just from their seats, and a stenographic record would be made and published of each session. Another even more important reform was announced on 31 December 1861: the budget of each ministry would be voted section by section, not in a block, and the government could no longer spend money by special decree when the legislature was not in session. He did retain the right to change the budget estimates section by section.
The Deputies quickly took advantage of their new rights; the Emperor's Italian policy was bitterly condemned in Parliament, and anti-government amendments by the pro-Catholic deputies were defeated by votes of 158 to 91 in the Corps législatif and 79 to 61 in the Senate.[122]
In the legislative elections of 31 May 1863, the pro-government candidates received 5,308,000 votes, while the opposition received 1,954,000 votes, three times more than in the previous elections. The rural departments still voted for Napoleon III's candidates, but in Paris, 63 percent of the votes went to anti-government republican candidates, with similar numbers in all the large cities. The new Assembly contained a large opposition block ranging from Catholics outraged by the Papal policies to Legitimists, Orléanists, protectionists and republicans, armed with new powers given to them by the Emperor himself.[123][page needed][124]
Despite the opposition in the legislature, Napoleon III's reforms remained popular in the rest of the country. A new plebiscite was held in 1870, on this text: "The people approve the liberal reforms added to the Constitution since 1860 by the Emperor, with the agreement of the legislative bodies and ratified by the Senate on April 20, 1870." Napoleon III saw this as a referendum on his rule as Emperor: "By voting yes," he wrote, "you will chase away the threat of revolution; you will place the nation on a solid base of order and liberty, and you will make it easier to pass on the Crown to my son." When the votes were counted, Napoleon III had lost Paris and the other big cities but decisively won the rest of the country. The final vote was 7,336,434 votes yes, 1,560,709 votes no, and 1,900,000 abstentions. Léon Gambetta, the leader of the republican opposition, wrote in despair, "We were crushed. The Emperor is more popular than ever."[125]
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Napoleon III with his son and heir, the Prince Imperial, c. 1860
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Napoleon III with his family, c. 1860s
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Napoleon III in normal attire, c. 1868
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Napoleon III with Empress Eugénie, c. 1865
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Napoleon III, by Gustave Le Gray, c. 1857
Later years
Declining health and rise of Prussia
Through the 1860s, the health of the Emperor steadily worsened. It had been damaged by his six years in prison at Ham; he had chronic pains in his legs and feet, particularly when it was cold, and as a result, he always lived and worked in overheated rooms and offices. He smoked heavily, distrusted doctors and their advice and attributed any problems simply to "rheumatism", for which he regularly visited the hot springs at Vichy and other spas.[126] It became difficult for him to ride a horse, and he was obliged to walk slowly, often with a cane. From 1869 onwards, the crises of his urinary tract were treated with opium, which made him seem lethargic and apathetic. His writing became hard to read and his voice weak. In the spring of 1870, he was visited by an old friend from England, Lord Malmesbury. Malmesbury found him to be "terribly changed and very ill".[127]
The health problems of the Emperor were kept secret by the government, which feared that, if his condition became public, the opposition would demand his abdication. One newspaper, the Courrier de la Vienne, was warned by the censors to stop publishing articles which had "a clear and malicious intent to spread, contrary to the truth, alarms about the health of the Emperor".[128]
At the end of June 1870, a specialist in the problems of urinary tracts, Germain Sée, was finally summoned to examine him. Sée reported that the Emperor was suffering from a gallstone. On 2 July, four eminent French doctors, Auguste Nélaton, Philippe Ricord, Fauvel and Corvisart, examined him and confirmed the diagnosis. They were reluctant to operate, however, because of the high risk (gallstone operations did not become relatively safe until the 1880s)[129] and because of the Emperor's weakness. Before anything further could be done, however, France was in the middle of a diplomatic crisis.[130]
In the 1860s,
Search for allies, and war between Austria and Prussia
In the winter and spring of 1864, when the German Confederation invaded and occupied the German-speaking duchies ruled by Denmark (Schleswig and Holstein), Napoleon III recognized the threat that a unified Germany would pose to France, and he looked for allies to challenge Germany, without success.
The British government was suspicious that Napoleon wanted to take over Belgium and Luxembourg, felt secure with its powerful navy, and did not want any military engagements on the European continent at the side of the French.[131]
The Russian government was also suspicious of Napoleon, who it believed had encouraged Polish nationalists to rebel against Russian rule in 1863. Bismarck and Prussia, on the other hand, had offered assistance to Russia to help crush the Polish patriots.[132]
In October 1865, Napoleon had a cordial meeting with Bismarck at Biarritz. They discussed Venetia, Austria's remaining province in Italy. Bismarck told Napoleon that Prussia had no secret arrangement to give Venetia to Italy, and Napoleon assured him in turn that France had no secret understanding with Austria. Bismarck hinted vaguely that, in the event of a war between Austria and Prussia, French neutrality would be rewarded with some sort of territory as a compensation. Napoleon III had Luxembourg in mind.[133]
In 1866, relations between Austria and Prussia worsened and Bismarck demanded the expulsion of Austria from the
On 15 June, the Prussian Army invaded Saxony, an ally of Austria. On 2 July, Austria asked Napoleon to arrange an armistice between Italy, which had allied itself with Prussia, and Austria, in exchange for which France would receive Venetia. But on 3 July, the Prussian army crushed the Austrian army at the Battle of Königgrätz in Bohemia. The way to Vienna was open for the Prussians, and Austria asked for an armistice. The armistice was signed on 22 July; Prussia annexed the Kingdom of Hanover, the Electorate of Hesse, the Duchy of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt, with a combined population of four million people.[134]
The Austrian defeat was followed by a new crisis in the health of Napoleon III.
Luxembourg Crisis
Napoleon III still hoped to receive some compensation from Prussia for French neutrality during the war. His foreign minister, Drouyn, asked Bismarck for the Palatinate region on the Rhine, which belonged to Bavaria, and for the demilitarization of Luxembourg, which was the site of a formidable fortress staffed by a strong Prussian garrison in accordance with international treaties. Napoleon's senior advisor Eugène Rouher increased the demands, asking that Prussia accept the annexation by France of Belgium and of Luxembourg, sparking the Luxembourg Crisis.
Luxembourg had regained its de jure independence in 1839 as a grand duchy. However, it was in personal union with the Netherlands. King William III of the Netherlands, who was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg, desperately needed money and was prepared to sell the Grand Duchy to France. Bismarck swiftly intervened and showed the British ambassador a copy of Napoleon's demands; as a result, he put pressure on William III to refuse to sell Luxembourg to France. France was forced to renounce any claim to Luxembourg in the Treaty of London (1867). Napoleon III gained nothing for his efforts but the demilitarization of the Luxembourg fortress.[135]
Failure to increase the size of the French Army
Despite his failing health, Napoleon III could see that the Prussian Army, combined with the armies of Bavaria and the other German states, would be a formidable enemy. In 1866, Prussia, with a population of 22 million, had been able to mobilize an army of 700,000 men, while France, with a population of 38 million, had an army of only 385,000 men, of whom 140,000 were in Algeria, Mexico, and Rome.
A last search for allies
Napoleon III was overconfident in his military strength and went into war even after he failed to find any allies who would support a war to stop German unification.[140]
Following the defeat of Austria, Napoleon resumed his search for allies against Prussia. In April 1867, he proposed an alliance, defensive and offensive, with Austria. If Austria joined France in a victorious war against Prussia, Napoleon promised that Austria could form a new confederation with the southern states of Germany and could annex
Napoleon's attempt to install the Archduke Maximilian, the brother of the Austrian Emperor, in Mexico was just coming to its disastrous conclusion; the French troops had just been withdrawn from Mexico in February 1867, and the unfortunate Maximilian would be captured, judged and shot by a firing squad on 19 June. Napoleon III made these offers again in August 1867, on a visit to offer condolences for the death of Maximilian, but the proposal was not received with enthusiasm.[141]
Napoleon III also made one last attempt to persuade Italy to be his ally against Prussia. Italian King Victor Emmanuel was personally favorable to a better relationship with France, remembering the role that Napoleon III had played in achieving Italian unification, but Italian public opinion was largely hostile to France; on 3 November 1867, French and Papal soldiers had fired upon the Italian patriots of Garibaldi, when he tried to capture Rome. Napoleon presented a proposed treaty of alliance on 4 June 1869, the anniversary of the joint French-Italian victory at Magenta. The Italians responded by demanding that France withdraw its troops who were protecting the Pope in Rome. Given the opinion of fervent French Catholics, this was a condition Napoleon III could not accept.[142]
While Napoleon III was having no success finding allies, Bismarck signed secret military treaties with the southern German states, who promised to provide troops in the event of a war between Prussia and France. In 1868, Bismarck signed an accord with Russia that gave Russia liberty of action in the Balkans in exchange for neutrality in the event of a war between France and Prussia. This treaty put additional pressure on Austria-Hungary, which also had interests in the Balkans, not to ally itself with France.
But most importantly, Prussia promised to support Russia in lifting the restrictions of the Congress of Paris. "Bismarck had bought Tsar Alexander II's complicity by promising to help restore his naval access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean (cut off by the treaties ending the Crimean War), other powers were less biddable".[143] Bismarck also reached out to the liberal government of William Gladstone in London, offering to protect the neutrality of Belgium against a French threat. The British Foreign Office under Lord Clarendon mobilized the British fleet, to dissuade France against any aggressive moves against Belgium. In any war between France and Prussia, France would be entirely alone.[144]
In 1867, French politician
Hohenzollern candidacy and the Ems telegram
In his memoirs, written long after the war, Bismarck wrote, "I always considered that a war with France would naturally follow a war against Austria... I was convinced that the gulf which was created over time between the north and the south of Germany could not be better overcome than by a national war against the neighbouring people who were aggressive against us. I did not doubt that it was necessary to make a French-German war before the general reorganization of Germany could be realized."[147] As the summer of 1870 approached, pressure mounted on Bismarck to have a war with France as quickly as possible. In Bavaria, the largest of the southern German states, unification with (mostly Protestant) Prussia was being opposed by the Patriotic Party, which favoured a confederacy of (Catholic) Bavaria with (Catholic) Austria. German Protestant public opinion was on the side of unification with Prussia.
In France, patriotic sentiment was also growing. On 8 May 1870, French voters had overwhelmingly supported Napoleon III's program in a
The news of
The French Ambassador to Prussia, Count
The
Defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
When France entered the war, there were patriotic demonstrations in the streets of Paris, with crowds singing La Marseillaise and chanting "To Berlin! To Berlin!" But Napoleon was melancholic. He told General Lepic that he expected the war to be "long and difficult", and wondered, "Who knows if we'll come back?" He told Marshal Randon that he felt too old for a military campaign.[152] Despite his declining health, Napoleon decided to go with the army to the front as commander in chief, as he had done during the successful Italian campaign. On 28 July, he departed Saint-Cloud by train for the front. He was accompanied by the 14-year-old Prince Imperial in the uniform of the army, by his military staff, and by a large contingent of chefs and servants in livery. He was pale and visibly in pain. The Empress remained in Paris as the Regent, as she had done on other occasions when the Emperor was out of the country.
The mobilization of the French army was chaotic. Two hundred thousand soldiers converged on the German frontier, along a front of 250 kilometers, choking all the roads and railways for miles. Officers and their respective units were unable to find one another. General Moltke and the Prussian Army, having gained experience mobilizing in the war against Austria, were able to efficiently move three armies of 518,000 men to a more concentrated front of just 120 kilometers. In addition, the German soldiers were backed by a substantial reserve of the Landwehr (Territorial defence), with 340,000 men, and an additional reserve of 400,000 territorial guards. The French army arrived at the frontier equipped with maps of Germany, but without maps of France—where the actual fighting took place—and without a specific plan of what it was going to do.[153]
On 2 August, Napoleon and the Prince Imperial accompanied the army as it made a tentative crossing of the German border toward the city of Saarbrücken. The French won a minor skirmish and advanced no further. Napoleon III, very ill, was unable to ride his horse and had to support himself by leaning against a tree. In the meantime, the Prussians had assembled a much larger army opposite Alsace and Lorraine than the French had expected or were aware of. On 4 August 1870, the Prussians attacked with overwhelming force against a French division in Alsace at the Battle of Wissembourg (German: Weissenburg), forcing it to retreat. On 5 August, the Germans defeated another French army at the Battle of Spicheren in Lorraine.
On 6 August, 140,000 Germans attacked 35,000 French soldiers at the Battle of Wörth; the French lost 19,200 soldiers killed, wounded and captured, and were forced to retreat. The French soldiers fought bravely, and French cavalry and infantry attacked the German lines repeatedly, but the Germans had superior logistics, communications, and leadership. The decisive weapon was the new German Krupp six pound field gun, which was breech-loading, had a steel barrel, longer range, a higher rate of fire, and was more accurate than the bronze muzzle-loading French cannons. The Krupp guns caused terrible casualties in the French ranks.[154]
When news of the French defeats reached Paris on 7 August, it was greeted with disbelief and dismay. Prime Minister Ollivier and the army chief of staff, Marshal
On 18 August 1870, the Battle of Gravelotte, the biggest battle of the war, took place in Lorraine between the Germans and the army of Marshal Bazaine. The Germans suffered 20,000 casualties and the French 12,000, but the Germans emerged as the victors, as Marshal Bazaine's army, with 175,000 soldiers, six divisions of cavalry and five hundred cannons, was besieged inside the fortifications of Metz, unable to move.[157]
Napoleon was at
The direction of movement of MacMahon's army was supposed to be secret, but it was published in the French press and thus was quickly known to the German General Staff. Moltke, the German commander, ordered two Prussian armies marching toward Paris to turn towards MacMahon's army. On 30 August, one corps of MacMahon's army was attacked by the Germans at Beaumont, losing five hundred men and forty cannons. MacMahon, believing he was ahead of the Germans, decided to stop and reorganize his forces at the fortified city of Sedan, in the Ardennes close to the Belgian border.[159]
Battle of Sedan and capitulation
The Battle of Sedan was a total disaster for the French—the army surrendered to the Prussians and Napoleon himself was made a prisoner of war.[160] MacMahon arrived at Sedan with one hundred thousand soldiers, not knowing that two German armies were closing in on the city (one from the west and one from the east), blocking any escape. The Germans arrived on 31 August, and by 1 September, occupied the heights around Sedan where they placed artillery batteries, and began shelling the French positions below. At five o'clock in the morning on 1 September, a German shell seriously wounded MacMahon in the hip. Sedan quickly came under bombardment from seven hundred German guns.[161] MacMahon's replacement, General Wimpffen, launched a series of cavalry attacks to try to break the German encirclement, with no success. During the battle and bombardment, the French lost seventeen thousand killed or wounded and twenty-one thousand captured.
As the German shells rained down on the French positions, Napoleon III wandered aimlessly in the open around the French positions. One officer of his military escort was killed and two more received wounds. A doctor accompanying him wrote in his notebook, "If this man has not come here to kill himself, I don't know what he has come to do. I have not seen him give an order all morning."[161]
Finally, at one o'clock in the afternoon, Napoleon emerged from his reverie and ordered a white flag hoisted above the citadel. He then had a message sent to the Prussian king, who was at Sedan with his army: "Monsieur my brother, not being able to die at the head of my troops, nothing remains for me but to place my sword in the hands of Your Majesty."[162]
After the war, when accused of having made a "shameful surrender" at Sedan, he wrote:
Some people believe that, by burying ourselves under the ruins of Sedan, we would have better served my name and my dynasty. It's possible. Nay, to hold in my hand the lives of thousands of men and not to make a sign to save them was something that was beyond my capacity....my heart refused these sinister grandeurs.[163]
At six o'clock in the morning on 2 September, in the uniform of a general and accompanied by four generals from his staff, Napoleon was taken to the German headquarters at Donchery. He expected to see King William, but instead he was met by Bismarck and the German commander, General von Moltke. They dictated the terms of the surrender to Napoleon. Napoleon asked that his army be disarmed and allowed to pass into Belgium, but Bismarck refused. They also asked Napoleon to sign the preliminary documents of a peace treaty, but Napoleon refused, telling them that the French government headed by the Regent, Empress Eugénie, would need to negotiate any peace agreement. The Emperor was then taken to the Château at Bellevue near Frénois (Ardennes) , where the Prussian king visited him. Napoleon told the king that he had not wanted the war, but that public opinion had forced him into it. That evening, from the Château, Napoleon wrote to the Empress Eugénie:
It is impossible for me to say what I have suffered and what I am suffering now...I would have preferred death to a capitulation so disastrous, and yet, under the present circumstances, it was the only way to avoid the butchering of sixty thousand people. If only all my torments were concentrated here! I think of you, our son, and our unhappy country.[164]
Aftermath
The news of the capitulation reached Paris on 3 September, confirming the rumors that were already circulating in the city. When the Empress heard the news that the Emperor and the army had been taken prisoner, she reacted by shouting at the Emperor's personal aide, "No! An Emperor does not capitulate! He is dead!...They are trying to hide it from me. Why didn't he kill himself! Doesn't he know he has dishonored himself?!"[165] Later, when hostile crowds formed near the palace and the staff began to flee, the Empress slipped out with one of her entourage and sought sanctuary with her American dentist, who took her to Deauville. From there, on 7 September, she took the yacht of a British official to England.
On 4 September, a group of republican deputies, led by
Captivity, exile and death
From 5 September 1870 until 19 March 1871, Napoleon III and his entourage of thirteen aides were held in comfortable captivity at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe near Kassel, Germany. Eugénie traveled there incognito to visit Napoleon.[167]
General Bazaine, besieged with a large part of the remaining French Army in the fortification of Metz, had secret talks with Bismarck's envoys on 23 September. The idea was for Bazaine to establish a conservative regime in France, for himself or for Napoleon's son.[168] Bazaine's envoy, who spoke to Bismarck at Versailles on 14 October, declared that the army in Metz was still loyal to Napoleon. Bazaine was willing to take over power in France after the Germans had defeated the republic in Paris. Because of the weakening of the French position overall, Bismarck lost interest in this option.[169]
On 27 November, Napoleon composed a memorandum to Bismarck that raised the possibility that the Prussian king might urge the French people to recall him as Emperor after a peace treaty was signed and Paris surrendered. But by this time, Metz had already fallen, leaving Napoleon without a power base. Bismarck did not see much chance for a restored empire, as the French people would consider Napoleon a mere marionette of the enemy.[170] One last initiative from Eugénie failed in January, because of the late arrival of her envoy from London. Bismarck refused to acknowledge the former empress, as this had caused irritations with Britain and Russia. Shortly afterwards, the Germans signed a truce with the Government of France.[171]
Napoleon continued to write political tracts and letters and dreamed of a return to power. Bonapartist candidates participated in the first elections for the National Assembly on 8 February but won only five seats. On 1 March, the newly elected assembly officially declared the removal of the emperor from power and placed all the blame for the French defeat squarely on him.[167] When peace was arranged between France and Germany, Bismarck released Napoleon; the emperor decided to go into exile in England. Having limited funds, Napoleon sold properties and jewels and arrived in England on 20 March 1871.
Napoleon, Eugénie, their son and their entourage, including the American Colonel Zebulon Howell Benton, settled at
Louis-Napoleon had a longtime connection with Chislehurst and Camden Place: years earlier, while exiled in England, he had often visited Emily Rowles, whose father had owned Camden Place in the 1830s. She had assisted his escape from French prison in 1846.
He had also paid attention to another English girl, Elizabeth Howard, who later gave birth to a son, whose father (not Louis-Napoleon) settled property on her to support the son, via a trust whose trustee was Nathaniel Strode. Strode bought Camden Place in 1860 and spent large sums of money transforming it into a French château. Strode had also received money from the Emperor, possibly to buy Camden Place and maintain it as a bolt hole.[speculation?]
Napoleon passed his time writing and designing a stove which would be more energy efficient. In the summer of 1872, his health began to worsen. Doctors recommended surgery to remove his gallstones. After two operations, he became very seriously ill. His final defeat in the war would haunt the dying former emperor throughout his last days. His last words were "Isn't it true that we weren't cowards at Sedan?”, directed at Henri Conneau, his attendant who fought in the battle alongside him. He was given last rites and died on 9 January 1873.[174]
Napoleon was originally buried at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Chislehurst. However, after his son, an officer in the British Army, died in 1879 fighting against the Zulus in South Africa, Eugénie decided to build a monastery and a chapel for the remains of Napoleon III and their son. In 1888, the bodies were moved to the Imperial Crypt at St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire, England.[175]
Personal life
Louis Napoleon has a historical reputation as a womanizer, yet he said: "It is usually the man who attacks. As for me, I defend myself, and I often capitulate."[176][page needed] He had many mistresses. During his reign, it was the task of Count Felix Bacciochi, his social secretary, to arrange for trysts and to procure women for the Emperor's favours. His affairs were not trivial sideshows: they distracted him from governing, affected his relationship with the empress, and diminished him in the views of the other European courts.[177][page needed]
Among his numerous lovers and mistresses were:[178][page needed]
- Maria Anna Schiess (1812–1880), of Allensbach (Lake Constance, Germany), mother of his son Bonaventur Karrer (1839–1921).[179]
- Mary Louisa Edwards (1814–1894), his mistress in London from 1839 to 1840. Louis Napoleon styled her "Comtesse d'Espel" and set her up at Brasted Place, Kent. She played a role in the organization of his failed coup attempt in Boulogne, in August 1840. She visited him in prison at Ham, in 1840 and 1841.[180]
- Alexandrine Éléonore Vergeot, laundress in the prison at Ham, and mother of his sons Eugène Bure (1843–1910) and Alexandre Bure (1845–1882).[181]
- Elisa-Rachel Felix(1821–1858), the "most famous actress in Europe."
- Harriet Howard (1823–1865), a wealthy actress and major financial backer.
- Camillo Cavourto influence the Emperor's politics.
- Marie-Anne Walewska (1823–1912), a possible mistress, who was the wife of Count Alexandre Colonna-Walewski, his relative and foreign minister.
- Justine Marie Le Boeuf, also known as Marguerite Bellanger (1838–1886), an actress and acrobatic dancer. Bellanger was falsely rumoured to be the illegitimate daughter of a hangman, and she was the most universally loathed of the mistresses, although perhaps his favourite.[182]
- Countess Louise de Mercy-Argenteau (1837–1890), likely a platonicrelationship, author of The Last Love of an Emperor, her reminiscences of her association with the emperor.
His wife, Eugénie, resisted his advances prior to marriage. She was coached by her mother and her friend, Prosper Mérimée. "What is the road to your heart?" Napoleon demanded to know. "Through the chapel, Sire," she answered.[176] Yet, after marriage, it took not long for him to stray as Eugénie found sex with him "disgusting".[176] It is doubtful that she allowed further approaches by her husband once she had given him an heir.[who?][177][page needed]
By his late forties, Napoleon started to suffer from numerous medical ailments, including kidney disease, bladder stones, chronic bladder and prostate infections, arthritis, gout, obesity, and the chronic effects of smoking. In 1856, Dr. Robert Ferguson, a consultant called from London, diagnosed a "nervous exhaustion" that had a "debilitating impact upon sexual ... performance"[178][page needed] which he also reported to the British government.[177][page needed]
Legacy
Construction
With
castle.Napoleon III also directed the building of the French railway network, which contributed to the development of the coal mining and steel industry in France. This advance radically changed the nature of the French economy, which entered the modern age of large-scale capitalism.
Napoleon's military pressure and Russian mistakes, culminating in the Crimean War, dealt a blow to the Concert of Europe, since it precipitated a war that disrupted the post-Napoleonic peace, although the ultimately diplomatic solution to the war demonstrated the continued vitality of the system. The concert was based on stability and balance of powers, whereas Napoleon attempted to rearrange the world map to France's advantage.
A 12-pound cannon designed by France is commonly referred to as a "Napoleon cannon" or "12-pounder Napoleon" in his honor.
Assessment and reputation
The historical reputation of Napoleon III is far below that of his uncle and had been heavily tarnished by the empire's military failures in Mexico and against Prussia.
Historians by the 1930s saw the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism, but by the 1950s were celebrating it as leading example of a modernizing regime.[187][75] However, historians have generally given Napoleon negative evaluations on his foreign policy, and somewhat more positive evaluations of his domestic policies, especially after he liberalized his rule after 1858. His greatest achievements came in material improvements, in the form of a grand railway network that facilitated commerce and tied the nation together and centered it on Paris. He is given high credits for the rebuilding of Paris with broad boulevards, striking public buildings, very attractive residential districts for upscale Parisians, and great public parks, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, used by all classes of Parisians.[188] He promoted French business and exports. In international policy, he tried to emulate his uncle, with numerous imperial ventures around the world, as well as wars in Europe. He badly mishandled the threat from Prussia and found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming force.[189]
In films
Napoleon has been portrayed by:
- Walter Kingsford in
- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
- A Dispatch from Reuter's(1940)
- Frank Vosper in Spy of Napoleon (1936)
- Guy Bates Post in
- Maytime (1937)
- The Mad Empress (1939)
- Leon Ames in Suez(1938)
- Juarez(1939)
- Walter Franck in Bismarck (1940)
- Jerome Cowan in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
- David Bond in The Sword of Monte Cristo (1951)
- Siegfried Wischnewski in Maximilian von Mexiko (1970).[190]
- Robert Dumont in Those Years (Spanish: Aquellos años, 1973).[191]
- Julian Sherrier in Edward the Seventh (1975)
- Nick Jameson in The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (1998)
- Erwin Steinhauer in Sisi (2009).[192]
Napoleon III also plays a small but crucial role in April and the Extraordinary World (2015).
In fiction
Napoleon III is a principal character (with Horatio Hornblower) in C. S. Forester's final story The Last Encounter.[193]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
His full title as emperor was: "Napoleon the Third, by the Grace of God and the will of the Nation, Emperor of the French".[194]
Honours
National[195]
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, (1848; in diamonds 1870,)
- Médaille militaire, (1852; in diamonds 1870,)
- Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign, (in diamonds 1870,)
Foreign[195]
- Sardinia:
- Knight of the Order of the Annunciation, 13 July 1849
- Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy, 28 September 1855
- Gold Medal of Military Valor, 1859
- Holy See: Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX, 1849
- Tuscany: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Joseph, 1850
- Spain: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 17 September 1850
- Grand Duchy of Hesse: Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 18 July 1852
- Portugal:
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword, 3 August 1852
- Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders, 7 October 1854
- Grand Cross of the Order of St. James of the Sword, 3 April 1865
- Grand Cross of the
- Saxony: Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, 29 December 1852
- Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross, 23 March 1853
- Order of St. Hubert, 22 September 1853
- Mexico:
- Order of Guadalupe, 12 January 1854
- Mexican Empire: Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle, with Collar, 1 January 1865
-
- Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 15 February 1854
- Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1 March 1854
- Order of St. Stephen, 1854
- Two Sicilies: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit, 1854
- United Kingdom: Knight of the Order of the Garter, 18 April 1855
- Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant, 2 August 1855
- Military William Order, 13 September 1855
- Sweden-Norway:
- Knight of the Order of the Seraphim, 10 October 1855
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword, 1st Class, 26 August 1861
- Ottoman Empire:
- Order of the Medjidie, 1st Class, 1855
- Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class, in Diamonds, 1862
- Baden:
- Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 17 April 1856
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, 17 April 1856
- Prussia:
- Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 8 June 1856
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle, 8 June 1856
- Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, 1856
- Russia:
- Knight of the Order of St. Andrew, 11 June 1856
- Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, 11 June 1856
- Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, 11 June 1856
- Knight of the Order of St. Anna, 1st Class, 11 June 1856
- Persia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion and the Sun, 1856
- Order of the Golden Lion, 10 January 1858
- Order of the Golden Lion of Nassau, 2 May 1858
- Hanover:
- Knight of the Order of St. George, 1860
- Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order[196]
- Tunisia: Husainid Family Order, 17 September 1860
- Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon, 14 November 1860
- Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer, 1863
- Honduras: Grand Cross of the Order of Santa Rosa and of Civilization, 1869
- Order of St. Charles, 16 November 1869[197]
Writings by Napoleon III
- Des Idées Napoleoniennes – an outline of Napoleon III's opinion of the optimal course for France, written before he became Emperor.
- History of Julius Caesar – a historical work he wrote during his reign. He drew an analogy between the politics of Julius Caesar and his own, as well as those of his uncle.
- Napoleon III wrote a number of articles on military matters (artillery), scientific issues (JSTOR 60201169) helped his political advancement.
See also
References
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- ^ Roger Price, "Napoleon III and the French Second Empire: A Reassessment of a Controversial Period in French History." Historian ( 1996) #52 : 4–10.
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- ^ Staat Hannover (1865). Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865. Berenberg. p. 73.
- ^ Sovereign Ordonnance of 16 November 1869
Works cited
- Baguley, David (2000). Napoleon III and His Regime: An Extravaganza. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-2624-0.
- Bresler, Fenton (1999). Napoleon III: a life. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-0025-5787-0.
- ISBN 978-0-5827-7260-1.
- Case, Lynn M. (1954). French Opinion on War and Diplomacy during the Second Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. S2CID 160451220.
- Cobban, Alfred (1965). A History of Modern France. Vol. 2: 1799–1871. London: Penguin.
- Cunningham, Michele (2001). Mexico and the Foreign Policy of Napoleon III. Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-3337-9302-2.
- De Moncan, Patrice (2009). Les jardins du Baron Haussmann. Mecene. ISBN 978-2-9079-7091-4.
- Girard, Louis (1986). Napoléon III. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-0127-9098-8.
- Jarrassé, Dominique (2007). Grammaire des jardins parisiens. Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-8409-6476-6.
- Maneglier, Hervé (1990). Paris Impérial – La vie quotidienne sous le Second Empire. Armand Colin. ISBN 978-2-2003-7226-2.
- Markham, Felix (1975). The Bonapartes. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-2977-6928-6.
- Milza, Pierre (2006). Napoléon III. Paris: Tempus. ISBN 978-2-2620-2607-3.
- Plessis, Alain (1988). The Rise and Fall of the Second Empire 1852–1871. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-5213-5856-9.
- Price, Roger (2001). The French Second Empire: An Anatomy of Political Power. Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 978-1-1394-3097-5.
- Séguin, Philippe (1990). Louis Napoléon Le Grand. Paris: Bernard Grasset. ISBN 978-2-2464-2951-7.
- Spitzer, Alan B. (1962). "The Good Napoleon III". French Historical Studies. 2 (3): 308–329. JSTOR 285884.
- ISBN 978-1-4668-6168-8.
- Wawro, Geoffrey (2005). The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-5215-8436-4.
- Wetzel, David (2012). A Duel of Nations: Germany, France, and the Diplomacy of the War of 1870–1871. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-2992-9134-1.
- Wolf, John B. (1963) [1940]. France: 1815 to the Present. Prentice–Hall.
Further reading
- Anceau, Eric (2008), Napoléon III, un Saint-Simon à cheval (in French), Paris, Tallandier.
- Bury, J. P. T. (1964). Napoleon III and the Second Empire. Perennial Library. ASIN B0032OSXA0.
- Campbell, Stuart L. The Second Empire Revisited: A Study in French Historiography (1978)
- Carroll, Christina. "Defining 'Empire' under Napoleon III: Lucien-Anatole Prévost-Paradol and Paul Leroy-Beaulieu." Proceedings of the Western Society for French History Vol. 41 2013. online
- Choisel, Francis (2015), La Deuxième République et le Second Empire au jour le jour (in French), chronologie érudite détaillée, Paris, CNRS Editions.
- Revolutionary Spring: Fighting for a New World 1848–1849. Penguin Random House.
- Corley, T. A. B. (1961). Democratic Despot: A Life of Napoleon III. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-8371-7587-4.
- De la Rosa, Miquel. French Liberalism and Imperialism in the Age of Napoleon III: Empire at Home, Colonies Abroad (Springer Nature, 2022).
- de Riquet, Marie-Clotilde-Elisabeth Louise, The Last Love of an Emperor: reminiscences of the Comtesse Louise de Mercy-Argenteau, née Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, describing her association with the Emperor Napoleon III and the social and political part she played at the close of the Second Empire(Doubleday, Page & Co., 1926).
- Duff, David (1978). Eugénie and Napoleon III. Collins. ISBN 978-0-6880-3338-5.
- Echard, William E., ed. Historical Dictionary of the French Second Empire, 1852-1870 (Greenwood, 1985).
- Echard, William E. Napoleon III and the Concert of Europe (1983) online
- Evans, T. W., Memoirs of the Second French Empire, (New York, 1905)
- Golicz, Roman. “Napoleon III, Lord Palmerston and the Entente Cordiale.” History Today 50#12 (December 2000): 10–17, online.
- Gooch, Brison D., ed. (1966). Napoleon III – Man of Destiny: Enlightened Statesman or Proto-Fascist?. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 978-0-2320-7011-8.
- Gooch, Brison D. The reign of Napoleon III (1969). online
- ASIN B00085CK6Y.
- Guenot, Emmanuelle. "Napoleon III and France's colonial expansion: National grandeur, territorial conquests and colonial embellishment, 1852–70." in Crowns and colonies (Manchester University Press, 2016) pp. 211-226.
- Guerard, Albert (1947). Napoleon III A Great Life In Brief. Carroll & Graf Pub. ISBN 978-0-7867-0660-0.
- McAuliffe, Mary. Paris, City of Dreams: Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Creation of Paris (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
- McMillan, James F. (1991). Napoleon III. Profiles In Power. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-5824-9483-1.
- Newman, E.L. Historical Dictionary of France from the 1815 Restoration to the Second Empire (2 vol 1987).
- Osgood, Samuel M., ed. Napoleon III--buffoon, Modern Dictator, Or Sphinx? (Heath, 1963), excerpts from historians and from secondary sources.
- Pinkney, David H. (1955). "Napoleon III's Transformation of Paris: The Origins and Development of the Idea". Journal of Modern History. 27 (2): 125–134. S2CID 144533244.
- Pinkney, David H. (1958). Napoleon III and the Rebuilding of Paris. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6910-0768-3.
- Price, Roger (1997). Napoleon III and the Second Empire. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4151-5433-8.; brief scholarly biography.
- Price, Roger (20 November 2002). "Napoleon III: 'hero' or 'grotesque mediocrity'?". In Cowling, Mark; Martin, James (eds.). Marx's 'Eighteenth Brumaire': (Post)Modern Interpretations. Pluto Press. pp. 145–162. ISBN 978-0-7453-1830-1.
- ISBN 978-0-6705-0428-2.
- Sainlaude, Stève. France and the American Civil War: A Diplomatic History (2018)
- Thompson, J. M. (1955). Louis Napoleon and the Second Empire. The Noonday Press.
- Tulard, Jean (dir.), (1995), Dictionnaire du Second Empire (in French), Paris, Fayard, 1348 p.[ISBN missing]
- Wetzel, David (2001). A Duel of Giants: Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Origins of the Franco-Prussian War. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-2991-7494-1.
- Williams, Roger Lawrence (1957). Gaslight and shadow: The World of Napoleon III 1851-1870. New York: Macmillan & Co Ltd. ASIN B001NHPZ72.
- Williams, Roger Lawrence. The Mortal Napoleon III (Princeton University Press, 2015.), medical emphasis online
- Zeldin, Theodore (1958a). The Political System of Napoleon III. New York: Macmillan.
- Zeldin, Theodore (1958b). "The Myth of Napoleon III". History Today. 8 (2): 103–109.
External links
- Works by Napoleon III at Project Gutenberg
- Napoleonic ideas. Des idées napoléniennes (1859) at the Internet Archive
- History of Julius Caesar vol. 1 at MOA
- History of Julius Caesar vol. 2 at MOA
- Histoire de Jules César (Volume 1) (in French) at the Internet Archive
- Editorial cartoons of the Second Empire
- Place de la Revolution, Béziers & Napoleon 111
- Maps of Europe covering the reign of Napoleon III (omniatlas)