Quick Facts
The last monarch of France who transformed Paris, created the Second French Empire, and pursued ambitious foreign policies before his catastrophic defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.
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Life Journey
Born Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte on April 20, 1808, in Paris. His father was Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland and brother of Napoleon I. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Empress Josephine. From birth, he was tied to both the glory and the doom of the Napoleonic dynasty.
After Waterloo and Napoleon I's final defeat, the Bonaparte family was exiled from France. Young Louis-Napoléon would spend his formative years in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, always dreaming of the dynasty's restoration. The exile shaped his character and his burning ambition.
The death of the Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon II), Napoleon I's only legitimate son, dramatically changed Louis-Napoléon's position. He was now the Bonaparte pretender with the strongest claim. The mantle of Napoleonic restoration fell upon his shoulders.
Louis-Napoléon attempted to seize power by winning over the garrison at Strasbourg, hoping to march on Paris as his uncle had returned from Elba. The attempt failed completely, and he was arrested but exiled to America rather than tried, to avoid publicity.
A second coup attempt at Boulogne failed even more disastrously. Louis-Napoléon was captured, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment at the fortress of Ham. For six years he would be a prisoner, but he used the time to write and plan.
After six years of imprisonment, Louis-Napoléon escaped from Ham fortress disguised as a workman named 'Badinguet' (a nickname that would haunt him). He fled to England, where he waited for his opportunity while the July Monarchy weakened.
After the February Revolution of 1848 overthrew Louis-Philippe, Louis-Napoléon returned to France. In December 1848, he was elected President of the Second Republic by an overwhelming majority. The Bonaparte name still held magic for the French people.
On December 2, 1851—the anniversary of Austerlitz—Louis-Napoléon staged a coup d'état, dissolving the National Assembly and arresting opposition leaders. A plebiscite approved his actions by a massive margin. The Republic was dead in all but name.
On December 2, 1852, exactly one year after his coup and 48 years after his uncle's coronation, Louis-Napoléon was proclaimed Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. He skipped 'Napoleon II' to honor his deceased cousin. The Second Empire had begun.
Napoleon III married the Spanish Countess Eugénie de Montijo on January 30, 1853. Though European royalty initially snubbed the match, Eugénie would prove an influential empress. Their son, the Prince Imperial, was born in 1856.
Napoleon III appointed Baron Haussmann as Prefect of the Seine, beginning the massive renovation of Paris. The medieval city was transformed with broad boulevards, parks, sewers, and new buildings. Modern Paris was largely Napoleon III's creation.
France joined Britain in the Crimean War against Russia. The war was popular in France and ended successfully with the Treaty of Paris (1856), which established Napoleon III as a major European statesman. France had returned to the concert of great powers.
Napoleon III allied with Piedmont-Sardinia against Austria, fighting at Magenta and Solferino. Though victorious, the bloody battles and fear of Prussian intervention led him to make a separate peace at Villafranca. Italy would eventually unify, changing Europe's balance.
Napoleon III signed a free trade treaty with Britain, marking France's turn toward economic liberalism. Combined with railroad expansion, banking reforms, and industrial development, France experienced significant economic modernization under the Second Empire.
Napoleon III launched his most disastrous adventure—intervening in Mexico and establishing Maximilian of Austria as Emperor. The scheme was doomed by Mexican resistance, American opposition after the Civil War, and the fundamental impossibility of maintaining a European empire in the Americas.
French troops withdrew from Mexico, and Emperor Maximilian was captured and executed by Mexican republicans on June 19, 1867. The Mexican adventure was a catastrophic humiliation for Napoleon III, weakening his prestige at home and abroad.
On July 19, 1870, France declared war on Prussia over the Hohenzollern candidacy for the Spanish throne. Napoleon III, sick and indecisive, was manipulated by Bismarck's diplomacy. The war would prove catastrophic beyond imagination.
On September 2, 1870, Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussians at Sedan with over 100,000 French troops. It was the most humiliating French defeat since Waterloo. The Empire collapsed immediately; a republic was proclaimed in Paris.
The defeat at Sedan ended the Second Empire. Napoleon III was taken prisoner to Germany, while Paris endured a brutal siege. Empress Eugénie fled to England. After 18 years, Napoleon III's reign ended in disaster, overshadowing his genuine achievements.
Napoleon III died on January 9, 1873, at Chislehurst in Kent, England. He had undergone painful surgeries for kidney stones and never recovered from the humiliation of Sedan. His son, the Prince Imperial, would die fighting for Britain in Zululand in 1879.