Who is napoleon the third

A republic was quickly proclaimed in Paris, but the war was far from over. As it was clear that Prussia would expect territorial concessions, the provisional government vowed to continue resistance.

The Prussians laid siege to Paris, and new armies mustered by France failed to alter this situation. The French capital began experiencing severe food shortages, to the extent that even the animals in the zoo were eaten.

Shortly afterwards, Paris surrendered. The subsequent peace treaty was harsh. France ceded Alsace and Lorraine to Germany and had to pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs.

German troops were to remain in the country until it was paid off. The structure of the French government during the Second Empire was little changed from the First. If government was to guide the people toward domestic justice and external peace, it was his role as emperor, holding his power by universal male suffrage and representing all of the people, to function as supreme leader and safeguard the achievements of the revolution.

He had so often, while in prison or in exile, chastised previous oligarchical governments for neglecting social questions that it was imperative France now prioritize their solutions. The anti-parliamentary French Constitution of , instituted by Napoleon III on January 14, , was largely a repetition of that of All executive power was entrusted to the emperor who as head of state was solely responsible to the people. The people of the Empire, lacking democratic rights, were to rely on the benevolence of the emperor rather than on the benevolence of politicians.

He was to nominate the members of the council of state, whose duty it was to prepare the laws, and of the senate, a body permanently established as a constituent part of the empire. One innovation was made, namely that the Legislative Body was elected by universal suffrage, but it had no right of initiative as all laws were proposed by the executive power. This new political change was rapidly followed by the same consequence as of Brumaire. The Legislative Body was not allowed to elect its own president, regulate its own procedure, propose a law or an amendment, vote on the budget in detail, or make its deliberations public.

Similarly, universal suffrage was supervised and controlled by means of official candidature by forbidding free speech and action in electoral matters to the Opposition and gerrymandering in such a way as to overwhelm the Liberal vote in the mass of the rural population.

For seven years France had no democratic life. He began his quest in , writing various political and military tracts in an effort to make himself and his ideas known. After a failed coup attempt in , he was exiled again. He served in that position until , when he was made emperor—a position he held until , when the disastrous Franco-Prussian War led to his capture. He was deposed and sent to England, where he died in Louis-Napoleon's parents had been made king and queen of French-controlled Holland by Napoleon I, but after Napoleon I's deposition in , all members of the Bonaparte dynasty were forced into exile.

Louis-Napoleon grew up in Switzerland, living with his mother, who instilled in him a longing for France and an abiding admiration of the genius of Napoleon I. When he was a young man, Louis-Napoleon settled in Italy, where he became interested in history and ideas of national liberty, with thoughts of regaining the Napoleonic Empire beginning to burn in the back of his mind. He and his elder brother, Napoleon Louis, began espousing liberal politics and joined the Carbonari, a revolutionist group fighting papal and Austrian control over Northern Italy.

The brothers fled in March , when troops began cracking down on revolutionary activity. Suffering from measles, Napoleon Louis died in his brother's arms during their escape; Louis-Napoleon was saved from the troops only by his mother's intervention. After the death in of his cousin, the Duke of Reichstadt Napoleon I's only son , Louis-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.

In , he published the first of his own writings on political and military subjects, asserting in his tract "Rveries politiques" that only an emperor could give France the glory and liberty it deserved. The pamphlet was the start of Louis-Napoleon's effort to get his name widely known, spread his ideas and recruit followers. For Louis-Napoleon's effort, he initiated a Bonapartist coup at Strasbourg, calling on the local garrison to help him restore the Napoleonic Empire.

Instead of joining him, the local troops arrested him. King Louis-Philippe exiled Louis-Napoleon to the United States, but he was recalled to Switzerland in early due to his mother's final illness.

Expelled from Switzerland the following year, he settled in England. In his booklet, the Napoleonic ideal was put forth as a "social and industrial one, humanitarian and encouraging trade" that would "reconcile order and freedom, the rights of the people and the principles of authority.

With this in mind, Louis-Napoleon again secretly returned to France in August , sailing with 50 hired soldiers to Boulogne-Sur-Mer, and attempted yet another coup. The town's garrison, yet again, did not join Louis-Napoleon's efforts, and he was arrested.

This time, however, Louis-Napoleon was not exiled, but was brought to trial and sentenced to "permanent confinement in a fortress. He also corresponded with members of the brewing French opposition and published articles in opposition newspapers, writing several more brochures. In May , Louis-Napoleon finally escaped and fled to England, where he waited for another chance to seize power.

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. End of the construction of the Suez Canal, which was inaugurated on the 17th of November by the Empress Eugenie.

The Legislative Body could now elect its president, establish its internal organisation and propose laws. The sessions of the Senate were now public, and the Senate itself had the right to amend texts voted by the Legislative Body.

Ministers were permitted to address both chambers, but remained answerable only to the Senate, appointed by the emperor. He was acquitted on the 27 March. The Senate became a legislative chamber to rank alongside, and with the same prerogatives, as the Legislative Body.

Secretly, however, he demanded that Hohenzollern withdraw his candidature. The force of numbers was unequal, as the French only disposed of men, against the Prussians and their German allies with men. Marshal Bazaine , appointed generalissimo, was named to lead the Army of the Rhine. Napoleon III capitulated and surrendered himself to the Prussians.

The Emperor was imprisoned in the fortress of Wilhelmshohe. After landing, they settled in Hastings, in Sussex. Ratification of the preliminaries of peace signed on the 26th of February, by which France lost Alsace and Lorraine.

His embalmed body was laid in state in the chapel of rest at Camden Place. Go to menu Go to content Go to search. Share it twitter facebook. Summer : Louis-Napoleon toured mainland France. November : Rumours of a coup became widespread amongst the public.

September : A new plot to assassinate the Emperor defused. April : Work began on the Suez Canal. Lombardy was united to Piedmont. June-July : Austro-Prussian War.