Napoléon III
Emperor of the French · 1852-1870 · born on 20 April 1808, died on 9 January 1873
Nephew of Napoleon I, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, elected president of the Republic in 1848, overthrew the Second Republic through the coup of 2 December 1851 and restored the Empire in 1852 under the name Napoleon III.
The Second Empire was a period of prosperity: industrialization, great works (railways, ports) and above all the transformation of Paris by Haussmann. Foreign policy was ambitious, with a mixed record: successes in the Crimea and Italy, but failure in Mexico.
After a liberal opening of the Empire (1860-1870), the war against Prussia turned into disaster: defeated at Sedan on 2 September 1870, the emperor was captured, and the Empire collapsed. He died in exile in England in 1873, leaving a partly modernized France.
Key dates
- 1853: Start of Haussmann’s works in Paris
- 1870: Defeat of Sedan
In the tree of power
- Era: Second Empire
- Predecessor: Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1848-1852)
- Successor: Adolphe Thiers (1871-1873)
- Queen: Eugénie de Montijo (1853-1870)