Although he had not fully honored his commitment, Napoleon III later received Nice and Savoy, and this brought an end to the British alliance that had been a cornerstone of his early diplomacy. Mexican resistance proved stronger than expected; the United States concluded its Civil War and exerted pressure; and Napoleon III withdrew his forces in This fiasco provoked powerful criticism in France, which was intensified by the subsequent execution of Maximilian in Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Emperor had also failed in his attempt to gain compensation for France in the Austro-Prussian War of Growing opposition after encouraged Napoleon III to make concessions to liberalism. In he gave the legislature additional freedom and authority, and in he granted freedom of press and assembly. The elections of , fought with virulence, brought more than 3 million votes for opposition deputies.
After further turbulence following a Bonaparte scandal, the Emperor resorted to plebiscite, and on May 8, , more than 7,, Frenchmen voted to accept all liberal reforms introduced by Napoleon III since In , when the Spanish invited Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen to become their king, French protests induced Prussia's William I to have the candidacy withdrawn. The ambassador to Prussia was then instructed to demand a Prussian promise that no Hohenzollern would ever become king of Spain.
William's refusal to consider this enabled Otto von Bismarck to provoke war by publishing William's dispatch from Ems in slightly altered form, making it appear that insults had been exchanged. France declared war on July 19, , and Napoleon III took command of his troops although he was so ill from bladder stones, which had long troubled him, that he could scarcely ride his horse.
Two days later the Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris. He still hoped to regain the throne for his son, but he died on Jan. His son was killed in South Africa in while serving in the British army. Simpson: The Rise of Louis Napoleon ; new ed. Despite his widespread appeal, the Assembly's opinion would not be swayed, so, on December 2, , Louis-Napoleon seized dictatorial powers, claiming the right to do so as a referendum on his universal popularity.
Louis-Napoleon then dissolved the Assembly and declared a new constitution, which was soon approved by a plebiscite. He held another plebiscite in November and was confirmed as emperor, becoming Napoleon III, and thereby officially ending the Second Republic and ushering in the Second French Empire.
Although one of Napoleon III's points of strategy was to always be ahead of public opinion, and he took great pains to study and influence it by means of propaganda, he also did, in fact, implement plans to appeal to virtually every segment of the populace.
Napoleon III vowed "to take the initiative to do everything useful for the prosperity and the greatness of France," a vague goal to be sure, but he promoted public works, the construction of railroads, and other means of furthering industry and agriculture. He also took a personal interest in the rebuilding of modern Paris and was a ardent supporter of French inventors.
Additionally, he ensured a lower price for bread, promoted the construction of sanitary housing for workers, and established boards of arbitration. As he did on the domestic front, Napoleon III hit the ground running on foreign affairs, and he ended up dabbling in policy that would touch every corner of the globe. His overarching goal was to make France a great power once again by breaking up the European system created by the Congress of Vienna of , which had also humiliated the French a great deal.
Stating that the "successes of armies were only temporary" and that it was, as he had always contended, "public opinion which always gained the final victory," he planned to effect change in the region with "noble ideas," the principle of nationality being of utmost importance. The Crimean War offered Napoleon III a chance to form a long-sought alliance with Great Britain, culminating with a successful effort in stopping Russian expansion toward the Mediterranean. Internally, however, a deterioration in the economy caused unrest among the middle and working classes, who joined the Catholics to become a steadily growing oppositional force.
Napoleon III put forth many concessions freedom of coalition, freedom of assembly, liberalization of the press laws , but they were hampered by too many reservations and came too late, and by the elections, he realized that change in France, at his expense, was inevitable. The war was an unmitigated disaster for France and for Napoleon III personally, and it was instrumental in the creation of the German Empire, which would replace France as the major land power on the European continent until the end of World War I.
He was deposed two days later, and the Third Republic of France was declared. He continued to write, and even thought of returning to France to regain his throne. Less than three years after his release by Germany, Napoleon III underwent an operation to extract bladder stones. The mausoleum designed to house his remains is a curious addition to a village church. But his body was not to remain there long. The Empress had left Camden Place in to live in Farnborough, where she oversaw the building of the Abbey.
She died in Despite his reputation as a dictator and war-maker, Napoleon III is now regarded as having enabled France to modernise itself. The Second French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from to , between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, an era of great industrialization, urbanization including the massive rebuilding of Paris by Baron Haussmann , and economic growth, as well as major disasters in foreign affairs.
The constitution of the Second Republic, ratified in September , was extremely flawed and permitted no effective resolution between the President and the Assembly in case of dispute. Subsequently, he was in constant conflict with the members of the National Assembly. He succeeded in imposing his choices and decisions on the Assembly, which had once again become conservative in the aftermath of the June Days Uprising in Not one to admit defeat, Louis-Napoleon spent the first half of trying to change the constitution through Parliament so he could be re-elected.
Bonaparte traveled through the provinces and organized petitions to rally popular support but in January , the Parliament voted no. Louis-Napoleon believed that he was supported by the people, and he decided to retain power by other means.
Top opposition leaders were arrested and six edicts promulgated to establish the rule of Louis-Napoleon. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until Thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. He launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon, and other French cities. Napoleon III modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system, and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world.
He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made France an agricultural exporter. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize. He was a supporter of popular sovereignty and nationalism.
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