was napoleon iii a good leaderwas napoleon iii a good leader

The Emperor's health declined; he gained weight, he began to dye his hair to cover the gray, he walked slowly because of gout, and in 1864, at the military camp of Chlons-en-Champagne, he suffered the first medical crisis from his gallstones, the ailment that killed him nine years later. Napoleon III transformed the Bois de Boulogne into a park (185258) to the west of Paris. His campaign agents, many of them veterans from Napoleon Bonaparte's army, raised support for him around the country. [81], From the start of his Empire, Napoleon III sought an alliance with Britain. He had been in Britain in 1846 when Prime Minister Robert Peel had lowered tariffs on imported grains, and he had seen the benefits to British consumers and the British economy. A nephew of Napoleon I and cousin of the disputed Napoleon II, he was the first person elected to the presidency of the Second Republic in 1848, and he seized power by force in 1851 when he could not constitutionally be reelected. Sixteen members of the National Assembly were arrested in their homes. His half-brother Morny and a few close advisors quietly began to organise a coup d'tat. He restored the flche, or spire, of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which had been partially destroyed and desecrated during the French Revolution. [74] In Europe, he allied himself with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War (18541856). It was replaced in January 1868 by a much more modest project to create a garde mobile, or reserve force, to support the army. She was finally buried in Rueil, in France, next to her mother, on 11 January 1838, but Louis Napoleon could not attend, because he was not allowed into France. The Party of Order had a clear majority, enough to block any initiatives of Louis Napoleon.[40]. In exchange, in the event of an Austrian victory, Austria would give Venetia to France and would also create a new independent German state on the Rhine, which would become an ally of France. Count Cavour died a few weeks later, declaring that "Italy is made."[96]. [19][20], The register of the fortress Ham for 7 October 1840 contained a concise description of the new prisoner: "Age: thirty-two years. Louis Napoleon's government imposed new authoritarian measures to control dissent and reduce the power of the opposition. As he was instructed by Gramont, Benedetti asked for another meeting with the King to repeat the request, but the King politely, yet firmly, refused. Having limited funds, Napoleon sold properties and jewels and arrived in England on 20 March 1871. The new King agreed to meet secretly with Hortense; Louis Napoleon had a fever and did not join them. 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 assured the Emperor that the French army could have four hundred thousand men on the Rhine in less than fifteen days.[146]. His forces greatly outnumbered the Piedmontese army at Turin, but he hesitated, allowing the French and Piedmontese to unite their forces. During the Empire, the number of steamships tripled, and by 1870, France possessed the second-largest maritime fleet in the world after England. He told General Lepic that he expected the war to be "long and difficult", and wondered, "Who knows if we'll come back?" One officer of his military escort was killed and two more received wounds. He also did considerable research into the economy of Britain. In February 1848, Louis Napoleon learned that the French Revolution of 1848 had broken out; Louis Philippe, faced with opposition within his government and army, abdicated. He badly mishandled the threat from Prussia and found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming force.[186]. The canal project was funded by shares on the Paris stock market and led by a former French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lesseps. The perception of Napoleon is a controversial topic among historians. [180] The French economy, the second largest in the world at the time (behind the British economy), experienced a very strong growth during the reign of Napoleon III. He then had a message sent to the Prussian King, who was at Sedan with his army: "Monsieur my brother, not being able to die at the head of my troops, nothing remains for me but to place my sword in the hands of Your Majesty."[159]. On 28 July, he departed Saint-Cloud by train for the front. [111], To help the working class, Napoleon III offered a prize to anyone who could develop an inexpensive substitute for butter; the prize was won by the French chemist Hippolyte Mge-Mouris, who in 1869 patented a product he named oleomargarine, later shortened simply to margarine. The architect, Charles Garnier, described the style simply as "Napoleon the Third". This was the first war between European powers since the close of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, marking a breakdown of the alliance system that had maintained peace for nearly half a century. I say the Empire is peace. He was accompanied by the 14-year-old Prince Imperial in the uniform of the army, by his military staff, and by a large contingent of chefs and servants in livery. [15], Louis Napoleon was widely popular in exile and his popularity in France continuously grew after his failed coup in 1836 as it established him as heir to the Bonaparte legend and increased his publicity.[1]. The Image most people associate with a "competent" leader is being excellent in the Military, which is why Napoleon I is widely regarded as a competent leader, but to be a nation leader you need to do a lot mo. They discussed Venetia, Austria's remaining province in Italy. Maria Anna Schiess (18121880), of Allensbach (Lake Constance, Germany), mother of his son Bonaventur Karrer (18391921). German Protestant public opinion was on the side of unification with Prussia. His downfall came during the Franco-Prussian War, when his. In June and July, they moved with selected guests to the Palace of Fontainebleau for walks in the forest and boating on the lake. The liberal republicans on the left had always opposed him, believing he had usurped power and suppressed the Republic. The Parc Montsouris (186578) was created to the south. "[173][pageneeded] He had many mistresses. Leopold resisted the idea, but finally agreed on the 11th, and the withdrawal of the candidacy was announced on the 12th, a diplomatic victory for Napoleon. Le Bas taught him French history and radical politics. [46] There were also small uprisings in the more militant red republican towns in the south and center of France, but these were all put down by 10 December. He toured the country and gained support from many of the regional governments and many within the Assembly. [6], All members of the Bonaparte dynasty were forced into exile after the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and the Bourbon Restoration of monarchy in France. His tutor at home was Philippe Le Bas, an ardent republican and the son of a revolutionary and close friend of Robespierre. Napoleon: Directed by Ridley Scott. Visiting dignitaries and monarchs were frequently invited. [70][pageneeded], Napoleon III's new parks were inspired by his memories of the parks in London, especially Hyde Park, where he had strolled and promenaded in a carriage while in exile; but he wanted to build on a much larger scale. Following the returns, many challenged the validity of such an implausibly lopsided result. The attempted coup turned into an even greater fiasco than the Strasbourg mutiny. The Cardinal-Archbishop of Rouen, Monseigneur Bonnechose, wrote, "True science is religious, while false science, on the other hand, is vain and prideful; being unable to explain God, it rebels against him. The Emperor needed to restore the confidence of the business world and to involve the legislature and have them share responsibility. [119], During the Empire, the migration of the rural population to the cities increased. That's a good question. [173] It is doubtful that she allowed further approaches by her husband once she had given him an heir.[who? [133] In the autumn of 1867, Napoleon III proposed a form of universal military service similar to the Prussian system to increase the size of the French Army, if needed, to 1million. He was also favourable towards the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities, which resulted in the establishment of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. On 2 August, Napoleon and the Prince Imperial accompanied the army as it made a tentative crossing of the German border toward the city of Saarbrcken. INTRODUCTION TO THE LEADER I. He negotiated the 1860 CobdenChevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. [95] Rome and the surrounding Latium region remained in Papal hands, and therefore did not immediately become the capital of the newly created Kingdom of Italy, and Venetia was still occupied by the Austrians, but the rest of Italy had come under the rule of Victor Emmanuel. [32], Louis Napoleon established his campaign headquarters and residence at the Htel du Rhin on Place Vendme. Death. Napoleon III sought, but was unable to find, a diplomatic solution that would allow him to withdraw French troops from Rome while guaranteeing that the city would remain under Papal control. But Napoleon was melancholic. [1] They went to Britain briefly, and then back into exile in Switzerland. He was the first Bonaparte prince born after the proclamation of the empire. Three to four hundred people were killed in street fighting after the coup d'tat. Another even more important reform was announced on 31 December 1861: the budget of each ministry would be voted section by section, not in a block, and the government could no longer spend money by special decree when the legislature was not in session. A few barricades appeared, and about 1,000 insurgents came out in the streets, but the army moved in force with 30,000 troops and the uprisings were swiftly crushed, with the killing of an estimated 300 to 400 opponents of the coup. In a speech at Bordeaux shortly after becoming Emperor, Napoleon III proclaimed that "The Empire means peace" ("L'Empire, c'est la paix"), reassuring foreign governments that he would not attack other European powers in order to extend the French Empire. ][174][pageneeded], By his late forties, Napoleon started to suffer from numerous medical ailments, including kidney disease, bladder stones, chronic bladder and prostate infections, arthritis, gout, obesity, and the chronic effects of smoking. It was long and bloody, and the French center was exhausted and nearly broken, but the battle was finally won by a timely attack on the Austrian flank by the soldiers of General MacMahon. Malmesbury found him to be "terribly changed and very ill". They will say you quit the army to flee the danger." The Empress, in charge of the government, responded by telegraph, "Don't think of coming back, unless you want to unleash a terrible revolution. Napoleon III had Luxembourg in mind.[130]. [126], The health problems of the Emperor were kept secret by the government, which feared that, if his condition became public, the opposition would demand his abdication. After Pepin's death. Prime Minister Ollivier and the army chief of staff, Marshal Edmond Le Boeuf, both resigned. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War (18531856). His enemies later derisively called him "Badinguet", the name of the laborer whose identity he had assumed. He was busy in prison, but also unhappy and impatient. Napoleon Bonaparte "was one of the greatest military commanders in history" (see http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html). On 6 July, Napoleon III held a meeting of his ministers at the chteau of Saint-Cloud and told them that Prussia must withdraw the Hohenzollern candidacy or there would be a war. He was still in London on 1718 September, when the elections for the National Assembly were held, but he was a candidate in thirteen departments. The King told him courteously that he agreed fully with the withdrawal of the Hohenzollern candidacy, but that he could not make promises on behalf of the government for the future. 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. Maintaining leadership for 22 years, he was the longest-reigning leader of France since the fall of the Ancien Rgime, although his reign would ultimately end on the battlefield. He asked Marshal Leboeuf, the chief of staff of the French army, if the army was prepared for a war against Prussia. At the same time, Napoleon proposed a secret treaty with Bismarck, promising that France would remain neutral in a war between Austria and Prussia. At the beginning of May, the Emperor and court moved to the Chteau de Saint-Cloud for outdoor activities in the park. Height: one meter sixty-six. Napoleon continued to write political tracts and letters and dreamed of a return to power. His foreign minister, Drouyn, asked Bismarck for the Palatinate region on the Rhine, which belonged to Bavaria, and for the demilitarization of Luxembourg, which was the site of a formidable fortress staffed by a strong Prussian garrison in accordance with international treaties. [114] In 1862, the first professional school for young women was opened, and Madeleine Brs became the first woman to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris. The Paris Opera was the centerpiece of Napoleon III's new Paris. At the end of 1869, Napoleon III had let it be known to the Prussian king and his Chancellor Bismarck that a Hohenzollern prince on the throne of Spain would not be acceptable to France. I have not seen him give an order all morning. The Germans suffered 20,000 casualties and the French 12,000, but the Germans emerged as the victors, as Marshal Bazaine's army, with 175,000 soldiers, six divisions of cavalry and five hundred cannons, was trapped inside the fortifications of Metz, unable to move. [82], The Crimean War added three new place names to Paris: Alma, named for the first French victory on the river of that name; Sevastopol; and Malakoff, named for a tower in the center of the Russian line captured by the French. The first department store, Bon March, opened in Paris in 1852 in a modest building and expanded rapidly, its income increasing from 450,000 francs a year to 20million. At the front, the Emperor told Marshal Leboeuf, "we've both been dismissed. 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. Cavour protested that Nice was Italian, but Napoleon responded that "these are secondary questions. [8] Hortense joined her son and together they evaded the police and Austrian army and finally reached the French border. Napoleon III's bedroom was decorated with a talisman from Charlemagne (a symbol of good luck for the Bonaparte family), while his office featured a portrait of Julius Caesar by Ingres and a large map of Paris that he used to show his ideas for the reconstruction of Paris to his prefect of the Seine department, Baron Georges-Eugne Haussmann. [39], Elections were held for the National Assembly on 1314 May 1849, only a few months after Louis Napoleon had become president, and were largely won by a coalition of conservative republicanswhich Catholics and monarchists called "The Party of Order"led by Adolphe Thiers. On 6 August, 140,000 Germans attacked 35,000 French soldiers at the Battle of Wrth; the French lost 19,200 soldiers killed, wounded and captured, and were forced to retreat. [75][76][pageneeded]. King Wilhelm I did not want to be seen as the instigator of the war; he had received messages urging restraint from Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Queen Victoria, and the King of the Belgians. "[135] Facing almost certain defeat in the parliament, Napoleon III withdrew the proposal. "[14] He had seen the popular enthusiasm for Napoleon Bonaparte when he was in Paris, and he was convinced that, if he marched to Paris, as Napoleon Bonaparte had done in 1815 during the Hundred Days, France would rise up and join him. They agreed to join forces and drive the Austrians from Italy. [120], The average salary of French workers grew by 45 percent during the Second Empire, but only kept up with price inflation. Louis Napoleon's essay, "The Extinction of Pauperism", advocating reforms to help the working class, was widely circulated during the 1848 election campaign. 1. A case in point is Napoleon III. "Defining 'Empire' under Napoleon III: Lucien-Anatole Prvost-Paradol and Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. The vote in July 1851 was 446 to 278 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. In military affairs, legal issues, economics, politics, technology, culture, and society in general, his . In Bordeaux, on 9 October 1852, he gave his principal speech: Some people say the Empire is war. The British government was suspicious that Napoleon wanted to take over Belgium and Luxembourg[citation needed], felt secure with its powerful navy, and did not want any military engagements on the European continent at the side of the French. Hair and eyebrows: chestnut. The Empress occupied a suite of rooms just above his, highly decorated in the style of Louis XVI with a pink salon, a green salon and a blue salon. In any war between France and Prussia, France would be entirely alone.[141]. In 1866, Prussia, with a population of 22million, had been able to mobilize an army of 700,000 men, while France, with a population of 26million, had an army of only 385,000 men, of whom 140,000 were in Algeria, Mexico, and Rome. The first time (in Strasbourg 30 October 1836) he failed and was taken prisoner. [115], At the university level, Napoleon III founded new faculties in Marseille, Douai, Nancy, Clermont-Ferrand and Poitiers and founded a network of research institutes of higher studies in the sciences, history, and economics. The other mutineers were put on trial in Alsace, and were all acquitted. In 1866, he added to this an "Edict of Tolerance" which gave factory workers the right to organise. Bismarck swiftly intervened and showed the British ambassador a copy of Napoleon's demands; as a result, he put pressure on William III to refuse to sell Luxembourg to France. [85] It encouraged Napoleon III to make an even bolder foreign policy venture in Italy. There will be time later to discuss them. Napoleon III's program also included reclaiming farmland and reforestation. 185 Copy quote. The moderate republicans, in the middle, did very badly, taking just 7080 seats. 1330 Words6 Pages. Louis Napoleon styled her "Comtesse d'Espel" and set her up at Brasted Place, Kent. His opponents sometimes ridiculed him, one comparing him to "a turkey who believes he's an eagle". Napoleon III returned to Paris on 17 July, and a huge parade and celebration were held on 14 August, in front of the Vendme column, the symbol of the glory of Napoleon I. Napoleon III celebrated the day by granting a general amnesty to the political prisoners and exiles he had chased from France.[94]. Louis Napoleon moved his residence to the lyse Palace at the end of December 1848 and immediately hung a portrait of his mother in the boudoir and a portrait of Napolon Bonaparte, in his coronation robes, in the grand salon. [140] Chin: pointed. The Empress shares my opinion." 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 1848 and watched events from there. [63] Napoleon III backed the greatest maritime project of the age, the construction of the Suez Canal between 1859 and 1869. 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. How did Napoleon III die? Two of France's largest banks, Socit Gnrale and Crdit Lyonnais, still in existence today, were founded during that period. On 12 June 1866, France signed a secret treaty with Austria, guaranteeing French neutrality in a Prussian-Austrian war. [16], Louis Napoleon returned to London for a new period of exile in October 1838. On the other hand, the intervention in Mexico, which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure. Napoleon III also directed the building of the French railway network, which contributed to the development of the coal mining and steel industry in France. In the spring of 1870, he was visited by an old friend from England, Lord Malmesbury. While he was traveling to see more of the United States, he received word that his mother was very ill. Hugo supported Louis Napoleon in the election for president, but after the coup d'tat went into exile and became his most relentless and eloquent enemy. Volume 5. [84], The defeat of Russia and the alliance with Britain gave France increased authority and prestige in Europe. For the duration of Napoleon III's reign and a decade afterwards, most of Paris was an enormous construction site. I believe I am one of those men. During their brief stay in Paris Louis Napoleon had become convinced that Bonapartist sentiment was still strong among the French people and the army. In the event of a Prussian victory, France would recognize Prussia's annexation of smaller German states, and France, in exchange, would receive a portion of German territory, the Palatinate region north of Alsace. At the age of seven, Louis Napoleon visited his uncle at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Doctors recommended surgery to remove his gallstones. In April 1855, Napoleon III and Eugnie went to England and were received by the Queen; in turn, Victoria and Prince Albert visited Paris. Napoleon III wrote back, "I yield to your opinion. As the siege dragged on, the French and British armies were reinforced and troops from the Kingdom of Sardinia joined them, reaching a total of 140,000 soldiers, but they suffered terribly from epidemics of typhus, dysentery, and cholera. Alexander II sought a political solution, and negotiations were held in Paris in the new building of the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay, from 25 February to 8 April 1856. ], Napoleon passed his time writing and designing a stove which would be more energy efficient. In 1855, he completed the restoration, begun in 1845, of the stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle, and in 1862, he declared it a national historical monument. In 1866, relations between Austria and Prussia worsened and Bismarck demanded the expulsion of Austria from the German Confederation. The Empress remained in Paris as the Regent, as she had done on other occasions when the Emperor was out of the country. The armistice was signed on 22 July; Prussia annexed the Kingdom of Hanover, the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, the Duchy of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt, with a combined population of four million people. They resumed their marriage for a brief time in Toulouse starting from the 12 August 1807 and Louis was born prematurely, (at least) three weeks short of nine months. Napoleon's support for the Italian patriots and his confrontation with Pope Pius IX over who would govern Rome made him unpopular with fervent French Catholics, and even with Empress Eugnie, who was a fervent Catholic. In Bavaria, the largest of the southern German states, unification with (mostly Protestant) Prussia was being opposed by the Patriotic Party, which favoured a confederacy of (Catholic) Bavaria with (Catholic) Austria. 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. The Germans arrived on 31 August, and by 1 September, occupied the heights around Sedan where they placed artillery batteries, and began shelling the French positions below. [10], Ever since the fall of Napoleon in 1815, a Bonapartist movement had existed in France, hoping to return a Bonaparte to the throne. For the first time, public schools in France began to teach contemporary history, modern languages, art, gymnastics and music. [97] To avoid a confrontation between Garibaldi and the French soldiers, the Italian government sent its own soldiers to face them, arrested Garibaldi and put him in prison. The ink had barely dried on the new and severely authoritarian constitution when he set about making himself emperor. [88], In July 1858, Napoleon arranged a secret visit by Count Cavour. [1], As empress, Josphine proposed the marriage as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Josphine was by then infertile. General Cavaignac, the leader of the army, first withdrew his soldiers from Paris to allow the insurgents to deploy their barricades, and then returned with overwhelming force to crush the uprising; from 24 to 26 June, there were battles in the streets of the working class districts of Paris. As Cavour had promised, Savoy and the county of Nice were annexed by France in 1860 after referendums, although it is disputed how fair they were. The Minister of Education was given the power to dismiss professors at the universities and review the content of their courses. The presence of Hortense and Louis Napoleon in the hotel had become known, and a public demonstration of mourning for the Emperor took place on Place Vendme in front of their hotel. In 1862, he closed the prison which had occupied the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel since the French Revolution, where many important political prisoners had been held, so it could be restored and opened to the public. In 1863, he made Victor Duruy, the son of a factory worker and a respected historian, his new Minister of Public Education. She visited him in prison at Ham, in 1840 and 1841. The members of Parliament were particularly unhappy with him for dealing with them only when he needed money. While in prison, he wrote poems, political essays, and articles on diverse topics. The suffering of the army in the Crimea was carefully concealed from the French public by press censorship. Marx was of course ultra-critical, but that is in part because Louis Napoleon's coup seemed to disprove the Marxist theory of history. These also were criticized by Catholic ecclesiastics. The Second Mexican Empire faced resistance from the republican government of President Benito Jurez, however. 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. Face: oval. Some view him as a great military leader who brought France to power in Europe. This advance radically changed the nature of the French economy, which entered the modern age of large-scale capitalism. From 1866, Napoleon III had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its Chancellor Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership. He approached Lord Derby (the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and his government; Britain was against the war, but agreed to remain neutral. Mouth: ordinary. [27], The Moderate Republican leaders of the provisional government, Lamartine and Cavaignac, considered arresting him as a dangerous revolutionary, but once again he outmaneuvered them. Franco-German War, also called Franco-Prussian War, (July 19, 1870-May 10, 1871), war in which a coalition of German states led by Prussia defeated France. It became difficult for him to ride a horse, and he was obliged to walk slowly, often with a cane. The historical reputation of Napoleon III is far below that of his uncle, and had been heavily tarnished by the empire's military failures in Mexico and against Prussia. Origins of the war Napoleon asked that his army be disarmed and allowed to pass into Belgium, but Bismarck refused. Buildings along these avenues were required to be the same height, constructed in an architecturally similar style, and be faced with cream-coloured stone to create the signature look of Paris boulevards. Toggle The Second French Empire subsection, Toggle Foreign policy (18521860) subsection, Toggle Life at the court of Napoleon III subsection, Toggle Social and economic policies subsection, Toggle Titles, styles, honours and arms subsection, Bonapartist succession and philosophy of Bonapartism, Second coup, prison, escape and exile (18401848), 1848 Revolution and birth of the Second Republic, Modernising the infrastructure and the economy (18531869), Development of steamships and early reconstruction on Paris, Alliance with Britain and the Crimean War (18531856), War in Italy Magenta and Solferino (1859), Rights to strike and organise (18641866), Education for girls and women, school reform (18611869), Lower tariffs and the re-opening of French markets (1860), Growing opposition and liberal concessions (18601870), Search for allies, and war between Austria and Prussia, Failure to increase the size of the French Army, Hohenzollern candidacy and the Ems telegram, Speech of 9 October in Bordeaux, published in, David Brown, "Palmerston and AngloFrench Relations, 18461865,", Ren Viviani, Henri Robert and Albert Meurg, History of the XIX century (18481871). He was an excellent administrator, diplomat and domestic ruler, his only flaw was at war. When the votes were counted, Napoleon III had lost Paris and the other big cities but decisively won the rest of the country. The prefecture was seized, and the prefect arrested. [48], Strict press censorship was enacted by a decree from 17 February 1852. The Italians responded by demanding that France withdraw its troops who were protecting the Pope in Rome. [42] Louis Napoleon broke with the Assembly and the conservative ministers opposing his projects in favour of the dispossessed.