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Birth of Louis Napoleon
The third son of Napoleon Bonaparte I’s brother Louis Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon was born into banishment and spent most of his youth and younger years attempting to get back into France. -
Bonaparte Banishment Abolished
The law banning the Bonapartes from France is abolished, and Louis Napoleon goes to study gunnery and artillery at a military school in Switzerland - knowledge he later uses to become an artillery captain in Berne. -
Louis Napoleon's First Coup d'etat
Determined to reinstitute the Bonaparte dynasty in France, Louis Napoleon attempted a coup d'etat. He arrived in Strasbourg and seized the prefect but a loyalist general escaped and formed a regiment, surrounding Louis Napoleon and his men. They were forced to surrender, but Louis fled to Switzerland and eventually to London and New York. -
Louis Napoleon's Second Coup d'etat
Leaving London, Louis Napoleon assembled another armed band and sailed across the Channel to Boulogne. Embarassingly, the group was stopped by customs agents, the soldiers there would not join his cause, and he was surrounded. Louis Napoleon was trialed and sentenced to life in prison. Louis would spend six years there reading and writing about topics ranging from artillery to the French sugar beet industry before walking out in disguise on May 25, 1846. -
Election of Louis Napoleon
Louis Napoleon was elected by popular vote as a president that worked for the people due to his strong stance, almost ironically, on the universal suffrage for males, as well as benefitting from a recognizable name. -
Louis Napoleon's Final Coup d'etat
Louis Napoleon could not run a second term after the national assembly failed to pass legislature allowing him to legal be granted the next term. Therefore, Louis Napoleon illegally disbanded the assembly utilizing his military ties in a coup, giving him a renewed term. -
Second French Empire Formed
Louis Napoleon makes him the self-proclaimed emperor of France, reigning under the title Emperor Napoleon III. With his new position, Napoleon III establishes economic reforms to bolster France’s economy, as well as undertaking various large scale social projects. -
French and British War on Russia
France and Britain join in a short-lived war against Russia where Crimea took major casualties, only to be ended by a peace treaty a year later. -
Reelection of Napoleon III
After wooing the people of France, and having them vote to allow him to gain access to a ten year term, he again utilized the peoples’ vote in order to secure electoral votes for reelection. -
New French Constitution
Napoleon III continued to liberalized France in the wake of opposition. The new document allowed for a parliamentary government led by a hereditary emporer (his son). A plebiscite was held and the Emporer scored a victory with about 7.3 million people voting in favor of the new document. It seemed as though his opposition was shrinking. -
Finalization of the Restoration of Paris
Since 1853 Napoleon III had comissioned Georges Haussmann to renovate the ailing Paris. Streets were widened (either to promote freedom of movement, discourage revolution, or both), sanitation improved, monuments and landmarks restored (the steeple of the Notre Dame), and plazas and parks were created in the packed town. -
Peace of the Franco-Prussian War
Beginning in 1870, France wished to war with Prussia in order to reassert their dominance and stop the growth of the German states. The French lost a massive battle at Sedan in September 1870, and by January, all seemed lost. Louis Napoleon was captured and was forced to accept Otto von Bismarck's harsh 'peace terms' of an indemnity of 5 billion Francs and the cession of Alsace and some of Lorraine. This would result in vile German-French relations over the next 70 years. -
Death of Napoleon III
After struggling with various health problems such as chronic feet, back, and leg pain, as well as gallstones and the effects of heavy smoking for years, Napoleon III died.
