20f or napoleon iii biography

Less than three years after his release by Germany, Napoleon III underwent an operation to extract bladder stones. He died shortly thereafter, on January 9,in Chislehurst, London, England. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Mark Antony. Julius Caesar. Napoleon Bonaparte. Queen Elizabeth II.

Marcus Aurelius. Pontius Pilate. Maria Theresa. Alexander the Great. Menelik II. Nicholas II. Kaiser Wilhelm. The Failed Coups After the death in of his cousin, the Duke of Reichstadt Napoleon I's only sonLouis-Napoleon considered himself, following the law of succession established by Napoleon I when he was emperor, next in line for the French throne, and he completed his military training and studied economic and social issues in preparation.

The Revolution of Louis-Napoleon lived in the United Kingdom until the Revolution began, in Februaryand a new republic was established. The Presidency According to the new constitution ofLouis-Napoleon's term would end in May Napoleon III: Domestic Policies 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.

Louis-Napoleon was told that he could join the French Army if he would simply change his name, something he indignantly refused to do. Hortense and Louis Napoleon remained in Paris until 5 May, the tenth anniversary of the death of Napoleon. The same day, Hortense and Louis Napoleon were ordered to leave Paris. During their brief stay in Paris Louis Napoleon had become convinced that Bonapartist sentiment was still strong among the French people and the army.

Ever since the fall of Napoleon ina Bonapartist 20f or napoleon iii biography had existed in France, hoping to return a Bonaparte to the throne. According to the law of succession established by Napoleon I, the claim passed first to his own son, declared "King of Rome" at birth by his father. This heir, known by Bonapartists as Napoleon IIwas living in virtual imprisonment at the court of Vienna under the title Duke of Reichstadt.

Next in line was Louis Napoleon's eldest uncle, Joseph Bonapartefollowed by Louis Bonaparte, but neither Joseph nor Louis had any interest in re-entering public life. When the Duke of Reichstadt died inLouis Napoleon became the de facto heir of the dynasty and the leader of the Bonapartist cause. In exile with his mother in Switzerland, Louis Napoleon enrolled in the Swiss Armytrained to become an officer, and wrote a manual of artillery his uncle Napoleon had become famous as an artillery officer.

Louis Napoleon also began writing about his political philosophy—for as the early twentieth century English historian H. Fisher suggested, "the programme of the Empire was not the improvisation of a vulgar adventurer" but the result of deep reflection on the Napoleonic political philosophy and on how to adjust it to the changed domestic and international scenes.

He believed a strong emperor existed to execute the will of the people. He based his doctrine upon two ideas: universal suffrage and the primacy of the national interest. He called for a "monarchy which procures the advantages of the Republic without the inconveniences", a regime "strong without despotism, free without anarchy, independent without conquest".

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 began to plan a coup against King Louis-Philippe. He planned for his uprising to begin in Strasbourg. The colonel of a regiment was brought over to the cause. On 29 OctoberLouis 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. Louis Napoleon was widely popular in exile and his popularity in France continuously grew after his failed coup in as it established him as heir to the Bonaparte legend and increased his publicity.

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 Alsaceand were all acquitted.

He met the elite of New York society and the writer Washington Irving. While he was traveling to see more of the United States, he received word that his mother was very ill. He hurried as quickly as he could back to Switzerland. He reached Arenenberg in time to be with his mother on 5 Augustwhen she died. She was finally buried in Rueilin France, next to her mother, on 11 Januarybut Louis Napoleon could not attend, because he was not allowed into France.

Louis Napoleon returned to London for a new period of exile in October 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 Benjamin Disraeli and Michael Faraday.

He also did considerable research into the economy of Britain. He strolled in Hyde Parkwhich he later used as a model when he created the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Living in the comfort of London, he had not given up the dream of returning to France to seize 20f or napoleon iii biography. In the summer of he bought weapons and uniforms and had proclamations printed, gathered a contingent of about sixty armed men, hired a ship called the Edinburgh-Castleand on 6 Augustsailed across the Channel to the port of Boulogne.

The attempted coup turned into an even greater fiasco than the Strasbourg mutiny. The mutineers were stopped by the customs agents, the soldiers of the garrison refused to join, the mutineers were surrounded on the beach, one was killed and the others arrested. Both the British and French press heaped ridicule on Louis-Napoleon and his plot.

One doesn't kill crazy people, one just locks them up. The register of the fortress Ham for 7 October contained a concise description of the new prisoner: "Age: thirty-two years. Height: one meter sixty-six. Hair and eyebrows: chestnut.

20f or napoleon iii biography

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. 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 pauperismea 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 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 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 Maywith 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.

Louis Napoleon quickly resumed his place in British society. He went back to his studies at the British Museum. He had an affair with the actress Rachelthe most famous French actress of the period, during her tours to Britain. More important for his future career, he had an affair with the wealthy heiress Harriet Howard — They met insoon after his return to Britain.

They began to live together, she took in his two illegitimate children and raised them with her own son, and she provided financing for his political plans so that, when the moment came, he could return to France. In FebruaryLouis Napoleon learned that the French Revolution of had broken out; as Louis Philippe Ifaced 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 Lamartineand 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 and watched events from there.

In the next elections, on 4 June, where candidates could run in multiple departments, he was elected in four different departments; in Paris, he was among the top five candidates, just after the conservative leader Adolphe Thiers and Victor Hugo. His followers were mostly on the left, from the peasantry and working class. The Moderate Republican 20f ors napoleon iii biography of the provisional government, Lamartine and Cavaignacconsidered 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. In Junethe June Days Uprising broke out in Paris, led by the far left, against the conservative majority in the National Assembly.

Hundreds of barricades appeared in the working-class neighborhoods. An estimated five thousand insurgents were killed at the barricades, fifteen thousand were arrested, and four thousand deported. 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 receivedvotes of thecast, 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.

The new constitution of the Second Republicdrafted by a commission including Alexis de Tocquevillecalled for a strong executive and a president elected by popular vote through universal male suffrage, rather than chosen by the National Assembly. Louis Napoleon promptly announced his candidacy. There were four other candidates for the post: General Cavaignac, who had led the suppression of the June uprisings in Paris; Lamartine, the poet-philosopher and leader of the provisional government; Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollinthe leader of the socialists; and Raspailthe leader of the far left wing of the socialists.

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".

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".

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 Thierswho believed he could be the most easily controlled; Thiers called him "of all the candidates, the least bad". 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, votes, or The socialist Ledru-Rollin received ,; the extreme left candidate Raspail 37, and the poet Lamartine only 17, 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 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 Guardand chose the title of "Prince-President". 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 republican forces in Italy against the Austrians and against the Pope. Instead the force was secretly ordered to do the opposite, namely to enter Rome to help restore the temporal authority of Pope Pius IXwho had been overthrown by Italian republicans including Mazzini and Garibaldi.

The French troops came under fire from Garibaldi's soldiers. The Prince-President, without consulting his ministers, ordered his soldiers to fight if needed in support of the Pope. This was very popular with French Catholics, but infuriated the republicans, who supported the Roman Republic. To gain support from the Catholics, he approved the Loi Falloux inwhich restored a greater role for the Catholic Church in the French educational system.

Elections were held for the National Assembly on 13—14 Mayonly a few 20f ors napoleon iii biography 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. On 11 Junethe socialists and radical republicans made an attempt to seize power. Ledru-Rollinfrom his headquarters in the Conservatory of Arts and Professionsdeclared 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. 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 to According to the Constitution ofLouis 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 was to 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. Louis Napoleon believed that he was supported by the people and he chose to retain power by other means.

They included minister of war Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud and officers from the French Army in North Africa to provide military backing for the coup. On the night of 1—2 December, Saint Arnaud's soldiers quietly occupied the national printing office, the Palais Bourbonnewspaper offices, and the strategic points in the city. In the morning, Parisians found posters around the city announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly, the restoration of universal suffrage, new elections, and a state of siege in Paris and the surrounding departments.

Sixteen members of the National Assembly were arrested in their homes. When about deputies of the moderate right gathered at the city hall of the 10th arrondissementthey were also arrested. A few barricades appeared, and about 1, insurgents came out in the streets, but the army moved in force with 30, troops and the uprisings were swiftly crushed, with the killing of an estimated to opponents of the coup.

Louis Napoleon followed the self-coup by a period of repression of his opponents, aimed mostly at the red republicans. About 26, people were arrested, including 4, in Paris alone. The inmates who were judged most severely were sent to the penal colony in Cayenne. Inthe remaining 1, 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.

Strict press censorship was enacted by a decree from 17 February 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.

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, voters said yes,voted no, and 1.

Following the returns, many challenged the validity of such an implausibly lopsided result. He became the most bitter critic of Louis Napoleon, rejected the amnesty offered to him, and did not return to France for twenty years. The referendum gave Louis Napoleon a mandate to amend the constitution. Work began on the new 20f or napoleon iii biography in 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 year terms. He was given the absolute authority to declare war, sign treaties, form alliances and initiate laws. The Constitution re-established universal male suffrageand also retained a National Assembly, albeit one with reduced authority.

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 A decree on 23 January 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. An election was held for a new National Assembly on 29 Februaryand all the resources of the government were used on behalf of the candidates backing the Prince-President. Of eight million eligible voters, 5, votes went to the official candidates andto 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. 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 Marseillehe laid the cornerstone of a new cathedrala new stock exchange, and a chamber of commerce. In Bordeauxon 9 Octoberhe 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. Drouyn de Lhuystwice foreign minister, later commented that, "the Emperor has immense desires and limited abilities. He wants to do extraordinary things but is only capable of extravagances. In response to officially inspired requests for the return of the empire, the Senate scheduled another referendum for 21—22 November on whether to make Napoleon emperor.

After an implausible 97 percent voted in favour 7, votes for andagainst, with two million abstentionson 2 December —exactly one year 20f or napoleon iii biography the coup—the Second Republic was officially ended, replaced by the Second French Empire. His regnal name treats Napoleon IIwho never actually ruled, as a true Emperor he had been briefly recognized as emperor from 22 June to 7 July The 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".

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. Inhe had written: "Government is not a necessary evil, as some people claim; it is instead the benevolent motor for the whole social organism. 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. The period was favorable for industrial expansion. The gold rushes in California and Australia increased the European money supply. In the early years of the Empire, the economy also benefited from the coming of age of those born during the baby boom of the Restoration period.

These banks provided the funding for Napoleon III's major projects, from railway and canals to the rebuilding of Paris. InFrance had only 3, kilometers of railway, compared with 10, kilometers in England and kilometers in Belgiuma country one-twentieth the size of France. The government provided guarantees for loans to build new lines and urged railway companies to consolidate.

There were 18 railway companies in and six at the end of the Empire. ByFrance had 20, kilometers of railway linked to the French ports and to the railway systems of the neighbouring countries that carried over million passengers a year and transported the products of France's new steel mills, mines and factories. During the Empire, the number of steamships tripled, and byFrance possessed the second-largest maritime fleet in the world after England.

The canal project was funded by shares on the Paris stock market and led by a former French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lesseps. The rebuilding of central Paris also encouraged commercial expansion and innovation. Its founder, Aristide Boucicautcommissioned a new glass and iron building designed by Louis-Charles Boileau and Gustave Eiffel that opened in and became the model for the modern department store.

Other department stores quickly appeared: Au Printemps in and La Samaritaine in They were soon imitated around the world. Napoleon's program also included reclaiming farmland and reforestation. One such project in the Gironde department drained and reforested 10, square kilometers 3, square miles of moorland, creating the Landes forestthe largest maritime pine forest in Europe.

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. He installed a large map of Paris in a central position in his office, and he and Haussmann planned the new Paris. The population of Paris had doubled sincewith 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 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 For the duration of Napoleon III's reign and a decade afterwards, most of Paris was an enormous construction site.

These two works increased the water supply of Paris from 87, tocubic meters of water a day. He completely rebuilt the Paris sewers and installed miles of pipes to distribute gas for thousands of new streetlights along the Paris streets. Beginning inin 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.

The president received the power to name and remove the members of his government as he sees fit. First assassination attempt against him at Marseille. The Second Empire had begun. February-June : Exacerbation of the conflict between the Russian and Ottoman empires. The Crimea was soon to become a slaughterhouse. Arrested, he was executed on the 14 May.

The adoption of the law was followed by a series of arrests across France. They studied the establishment of an alliance against Austria and the redistribution of some of her territories: Nice and the county of Savoy would thus be handed to France. The Italian states would be united in a Confederation under the authority of the Pope.

Nothing was said about the possibility of a Confederation of Italian states or of its organisation. Napoleon III decided to intervene, by virtue of the treaty signed on the 28 January. Piedmont interceded in Umbria. The Mexican government having suspended payment. France sent an expeditionary force to Mexico in January The treaty of Hue was signed on the 5th of June.

March: Reinforcements sent to Mexico. Increase in activity of opponents of the regime. The second volume was published in An increase in the Republican opposition. Browse Biographies. Quiz Are you a biography master? A Elizabeth Olsen. B Gwyneth Paltrow. C Cate Blanchett. D Scarlett Johansson.