Napolean+III

(in short, important information you need to know for Napoleon III) Sara Yogi
 * Discuss the political and economic policies of Napoleon III*

Louis Napoleon III's reign is known as the Second Napoleonic Empire, given that he was a relative of the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon's rise to power came through his manipulation and his perseverance in gaining the favor of the French people as well as the loyalty of the army and the Catholic Church. Louis Napoleon gained immense popularity when he posed as a savior of universal male suffrage - something the National Assembly has voted against (mainly Conservative-Monarchist). The French people elected Napoleon as their president for ten years, although his reign would last much longer than just ten years.

Napoleon III's government was authoritarian in the sense that he controlled many aspects of the government, including the armed forces, police, and civil service. The Legislative Corps had almost no voice in any of these matters, even though they gave the appearance of a representative government (members elected by universal suffrage). Nevertheless, the first five years of Napoleon III's reign showed an increase in economic and industrial prosperity despite a loss of political freedom. L. Napoleon had new investment banks formed and prompted the construction of railroads, harbors, roads, and canals. He reconstructed Paris to its modern day appearance, hoping to make it easier for troops to pass through the streets more rapidly. Although he limited freedom of speech/assembly, and regularly censored the newspapers, he took a great interest in public opinion leading him to take a more liberal approach in the second half of his reign.

When Napoleon attempted to move towards free trade by lowering tariffs on foreign goods, he gained much opposition from many French manufacturers. The financial crash of 1857, a silkworm blight that eliminated many silkworm (silkworm = silk = money), and the destruction of the vineyards (vineyard = grapes = wine = money) all led to a feeling of resentment towards Napoleon. In order to increase his popularity, Napoleon legalized trade unions and legalized the political process by allowing opposition candidates to campaign. He also accepted a new constitution.

Napoleon III was successful in the Crimean War as he worked with the British to defeat the Russians. He worked with Italy in order to drive the Austrians out of Italy (during Italian unification). Napoleon made peace with Austria without Italy's permission; however, when several northern Italian states agreed to join Piedmont, Napoleon, for agreeing with the annexations, received Nice and Savoy.

Napoleon temporarily received the Rhineland from Otto van Bismarck in exchange for France's neutrality in the Austrian-Prussian War. In the Franco-Prussian War, however, as France and Prussia argued over who should become the next ruler of Spain. Bismarck manipulated the French into going to war with them, which would be the ultimate downfall for Napoleon III. His army was crushed and he himself captured at Sedan. Not only did the Second French Empire collapse, France had to pay an immense sum of money to Bismarck and give up two of their provinces to Germans. Napoleon III. Napoleon's regime ended with the disastrous results of the Franco-Prussian War.

Napoleon III - a success (rebuild Paris, add roads, canals, railways etc.), and a failure (Franco-Prussian War)