Napoleon III Bonaparte (Third) - biography. Biography of Napoleon III (Napoleon III) Reign of Napoleon 3 in France

Napoleon III's father is Louis Bonaparte, younger brother of Napoleon I, King of Holland.

Mother of Napoleon III - Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon I, daughter of Empress Josephine from her first marriage.

1815 - the troops of the anti-French coalition removed the young emperor Napoleon II from power. The Bonaparte family is expelled from France. Charles Louis lives with his mother in several European cities - Geneva, Aix, Augsburg. Receives a home education corresponding to his origin under the guidance of the best teachers in Switzerland, Italy, Germany.

1824 - Hortense and her son settle in the castle of Arenenberg (Switzerland).

The matured Louis Napoleon is traditionally trained in military affairs. His military training takes place in the Swiss army, where the future emperor manages to make a career and rise to the rank of artillery captain.

February - March 1831 - in Romagna (Italy) a rebellion against papal authority was organized. Louis Napoleon takes an active part in the riots. The rebellion ends in nothing.

Summer 1832 - Joseph Francois Charles Bonaparte (aka the deposed Emperor Napoleon II) dies. Now Charles Louis Napoleon is the head of the Bonaparte family. Supporters of his famous uncle-grandfather see him as the future ruler of France and do not hide their hopes. A staunch Bonapartist, under the influence of his entourage, Louis Napoleon decides to devote himself to conquering the French throne.

1830s - Charles Louis Napoleon's first treatise "Political Dreams" is published, which outlines his project for a democratic empire.

Best of the day

October 30, 1836 - the ambitious heir organizes an uprising of artillery regiments against the regime of King Louis Philippe I in Strasbourg. The putsch fails. Louis Napoleon is arrested and expelled from the country after a trial.

1838 - Louis Napoleon publishes his second treatise Napoleonic Ideas in London. In it, the author presents his vision of optimal power: a combination of socialism and liberalism against the backdrop of universal economic prosperity. Particular emphasis in the work was placed on the fact that the Bonapartes do not seek tyranny and conquest.

August 6, 1840 - the second attempt by Charles Louis Napoleon to overthrow the monarchy. This time, the organizer of the rebellion was sentenced to life imprisonment.

1840 - 1846 - Bonaparte is serving his sentence in the Gam fortress. The conditions of his detention were not too strict. In prison, he writes his third work, Overcoming Pauperism.

May 1846 - Louis Napoleon escapes prison disguised as a bricklayer. After escaping, he takes refuge in England.

1848 Revolution in France. The July Monarchy is overthrown. Louis Napoleon returns home.

September of the same year - Bonaparte was elected to the Constituent Assembly. It was not easy to get a seat in the assembly, and he had to participate in the elections twice, since after the first victory his election was cashed out1.

December 10 of the same year - Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte becomes President of the French Republic.

As president, Louis Napoleon directs all his efforts to create a strong Bonapartist party, called the "December 10 Society". Bonaparte strives to rule independently, reshuffles the government, even tries to influence Pope Pius IX and demands that he carry out liberal reforms in the Papal State ... As a result, by the end of 1849, a circle of “his” people is formed around the president. But there is still the ruling "party of order" and the Legislative Assembly, which are dissatisfied with Bonaparte and reject many of his initiatives.

December 2, 1851 - Charles Louis Napoleon launches a coup d'état. He is supported by the army, with its help the opposition is severely suppressed. In the same month, Bonaparte adopts a new constitution.

November 1852 - at the initiative of the President, a referendum was organized in France; as a result, the imperial form of government was restored.

December 2, 1852 - Bonaparte proclaims himself Emperor of the Second Empire Napoleon III. He is supported by the majority of the country's population - from the peasantry and the army to representatives of the Catholic Church.

1852 - early 1860s - the heyday of the Second Empire. France, under the rule of Napoleon III, pursues an active foreign policy: the island of New Caledonia is captured, colonies are founded, a concession for the construction of the Suez Canal is obtained, the Russian Empire is defeated in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the war won with Austria (1859) brings Savoy and Nice to France, and successful military campaigns in the East. Industry is actively developing inside the country, railways are being built. Paris is being reconstructed, and the imperial court is regaining its former splendor. France is gaining prestige in the international community.

1853 - Napoleon III marries Spaniard Maria Eugenia Augustine Ignacia de Montijo, Countess of Tobsk and the most beautiful woman in the world. She was 18 years younger than Bonaparte. There is a romantic legend about the acquaintance of the emperor with his future wife. Allegedly many years ago, Josephine Beauharnais mysteriously lost her ring. Louis Napoleon saw the family jewel on the finger of a young Spanish woman he did not know and immediately made her his chosen one... A more pragmatic story of the marriage of the French emperor to the daughter of a Spanish count looks like this: it was high time for forty-five-year-old Louis Napoleon to acquire heirs, but the royal families of Europe refused to marry their daughters to him. I had to marry a beautiful Spanish woman, still known as a girl for her love affairs and intrigues. But perhaps the family legend about the missing ring was not so ridiculous - it is known that Napoleon III loved Eugenia Montijo throughout his life.

March 16, 1856 - the son of Napoleon III, Prince Eugene Louis Jean Joseph (known as Napoleon IV) is born.

Winter 1858 - Napoleon III is assassinated in Paris. Dozens of people died from the explosion on the theater square. The imperial couple, heading to the opera, was practically not injured. When the perpetrator of the assassination (an Italian by nationality) was executed, Empress Eugenia Montijo sent all her son's toys to his children.

1862 - 1867 - Napoleon III organizes a military campaign in Mexico. The goals of this project were truly Napoleonic - to organize the Mexican Empire, headed by the Austrian Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg.

The unsuccessful Mexican expedition not only brought huge losses to the state treasury, but also significantly undermined the authority of the existing government. The external and internal transformations carried out create a budget deficit, the country accumulates debts. Against this background, the opposition is growing stronger. The prestige of the Second Empire and its leader is steadily declining.

The second half of the 1860s - Napoleon III was forced to make concessions to the opposition and return the Legislative Assembly (which previously had virtually no voting rights) the right to initiate legislation.

May 1870 - A constitutional monarchy is established in France.

Summer 1870 - France goes to war with Prussia. Despite the weakness (due to kidney disease, he could hardly stay in the saddle), the emperor personally leads the troops. On September 1, the army, in which the headquarters of Napoleon III is located, is surrounded and capitulates the next day. Charles Louis is captured and imprisoned in Wilhelmshehe Castle.

September 4, 1870 - in Paris, the opposition raises an uprising, as a result of which the Second Empire ceases to exist. Napoleon III deposed by the National Assembly

March 1, 1871 - the Franco-Prussian peace treaty (Frankfurt Peace) is concluded. Former emperor released. He decides to leave with his wife and son for England. Charles Louis Napoleon spends the rest of his life at the Camden House estate in Chislehurst (a town near London).

January 9, 1873 - Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte dies at Chislehurst. Initially, he was buried there, but a few years later, Eugenia Montijo erected a mausoleum in the imperial crypt of St. Michael's Abbey in Hampshire, where her husband's ashes were transferred.

He was a passionate man, but full of self-control. He professed "Napoleonic" ideas, from his youth he strove for the cherished goal - to become an emperor and was not shy in choosing means, clearing the way to it. She was considered the daughter of Prosper Merimee in Parisian society, she was educated in an elite Parisian boarding school and bore the title of 16th Countess of Teba. But even the ambitious attitude towards life of both did not prevent their strong union.

1. Napoleon III

The era of the Second Empire in France is an ambiguous period in history. According to the definition of official historical science, this is the period of the Bonapartist dictatorship - a reactionary regime based on the big bourgeoisie, which came to power by overthrowing the Second Republic and destroying democratic institutions. However, behind this dry definition stands 22 years of the reign of Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, known as Napoleon III - an extraordinary personality, like the era of his reign.

Charles Louis Napoleon was born in 1808 from the marriage of Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, King of Holland, with the daughter of Empress Josephine, Hortense de Beauharnais. After the overthrow of his uncle in 1814, he wandered around Europe with his mother and brother for a long time until they settled in Switzerland. From early childhood he was brought up in worship of Napoleon I. He began his career as an artilleryman in the Swiss army and rose to the rank of captain.

Faith in his great destiny and the spirit of adventurous romanticism led to participation in the uprising against papal authority in Italy in 1830. In 1832, after the death of the son of Napoleon I, Duke of Reistadt, he became the heir to the Bonaparte dynasty. In 1836, he makes a reckless attempt to seize power in Strasbourg, but was arrested and exiled to America. In 1837 he returned to Europe. In 1840, he landed in Boulogne, where, with the support of several officers, he tried to attract troops to his side, but was again arrested.

After the trial, he is imprisoned in the Gam fortress, where he spends 6 years. In 1846, with the help of his supporters, he manages to escape from prison. After the overthrow of the July Monarchy in 1848 and the establishment of the Second Republic, he returned to France, where he put forward his candidacy for the presidency of the republic. To everyone's surprise, he wins the election. As president, he pursues a policy of centralizing power and reducing the role of the Constituent Assembly.

With the support of the conservative majority, he assists the Vatican in suppressing the revolution in Italy, on whose side he fought in his youth, which leads to a number of assassination attempts by the Italian resistance. Later, with the help of a monarchist majority in parliament, he paved the way for a coup d'état and in 1852 declared himself Emperor of France. Goal achieved!

2. Countess Teba

To secure his position on the throne, he tries to intermarry with the monarchical houses of Europe, but to no avail. Everywhere he receives, veiled by plausible pretexts, refusals. At one of the receptions at the Elysee Palace, he meets with Eugenia de Montijo, Countess of Teba. Eugenia was born into a family of noble Spanish nobles. Her family adhered to Bonapartist views and was well known among the Parisian bohemia.

Her mother, Maria Manuela Kirkpatrick, is a Spanish aristocrat with English roots, her father, Cipriano Palafox, Grandee of Spain, Count of Montijo, fought under the banner of Napoleon during the Franco-Spanish War. She was educated in a Catholic boarding house and was interested in history and politics. Evgenia was a universally recognized beauty - tall, black-haired with blue eyes, admirable for her grace and dignity.

3. The last imperial couple of France

Eugenia quickly won the heart of Napoleon III and in 1853 they were married in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. She won the love and respect of the Parisians by refusing the wedding gift, donating the intended money to charity. The beginning of the reign of Napoleon III was brilliant. With the help of a series of reforms, he, by reducing customs duties, managed to increase trade, which served as an impetus for economic growth.

Railways are being built, industry is being developed and modernized, through the introduction of steam engines, and agriculture is being reformed. The capital was reconstructed - modern Paris with boulevards, avenues, squares, squares and parks - the merit of Napoleon III and the architect Georges Haussmann. An active colonial policy is being pursued in Asia and Africa.

A successful military campaign against Russia in the Crimean War increased the prestige of France in the international arena. At first, Eugenia plays the role of an obedient wife, supporting the splendor of the magnificent imperial court. Gradually, her influence increases - she attends cabinet meetings, tries to delve into foreign policy, tries to make independent decisions with the tacit approval of the emperor, who, due to kidney disease, is increasingly moving away from business.

Her success in diplomacy strengthens Evgenia's self-confidence and she acts more and more decisively. In governing the state, it is guided more by principles and intuition than by political expediency.

Thanks to her intervention, a hasty peace with Austria is concluded, after the successful actions of the army in Northern Italy, France gets involved in an unsuccessful Mexican campaign in order to secure the throne of the Austrian Archduke Maximilian - the French corps was hastily evacuated, and the newly-made emperor of Mexico was shot.

4. End of reign

A number of diplomatic mistakes were made. Inconsistent foreign policy and internal problems led to an economic crisis and revolutionary ferment. It was decided to compensate for the failures with a victory over Prussia, which led to disaster. In 1870, the French army was surrounded near Sedan and capitulated. Napoleon III was captured, deposed by the revolution and emigrated to England with his family.

Napoleon died in 1873, Eugenia outlived her husband much, living to a ripe old age. She died in 1920 at the age of 95, having buried her son, the last pretender of the Bonaparte dynasty, who died in South Africa fighting in the ranks of the British army. The last joy in the life of Eugenia was the defeat of Germany in the First World War. She was buried in the crypt of the English Abbey at Farnborough with her family.

BONUS

And one more story worthy of a novel - the story of the illicit love of the most desired empress.

Charles Louis Bonaparte. Emperor of France from the Bonaparte family. who ruled in

1852--1870 Son of King Louis of Holland and Hortense Beauharnais. Zh.: from 1853

Eugenia Maria Montier de Guzman, Countess of Theba (b. 1826. Died 1920)

Louis Napoleon, the future emperor of the French, the first years of his life

spent in Holland, where his father Louis Napoleon ruled. In 1810, parents

parted, and little Napoleon has since been under exclusive

the influence of his mother. She was a kind, intelligent, passionate and

energetic. In 1814, Hortense had to share the sad fate of all

Bonapartes, but thanks to the intercession of Talleyr, King Louis XVIII

assigned her four hundred thousand francs of annual allowance and allowed

stay in France. Hortense took advantage of this and lived all the time in

Paris. Unfortunately, during the "Hundred Days" she played too conspicuous and

brilliant role at the court of the emperor, and therefore, when the troops of the allies in

entered Paris for the second time, had to flee the country and settled in

Constance. Here she lived very secluded, occupied exclusively

raising her son, and she herself taught him drawing and dancing. From 1821 during

For three years, Napoleon attended the gymnasium in Augsburg, where he received thorough

knowledge of ancient languages. Then he studied at the military school in the city of Tuna.

Despite the modest position, belonging to the Bonaparte family and

close relationship with the great emperor made Louis Napoleon a prominent figure.

Different parties sought to win over the former prince to their side.

Louis Napoleon did not immediately find his way into politics. In (830 he entered into

secret society of the Carbonari and vowed to give all his strength in the fight for

unity and liberation of Italy. In 1831 he took part in the movement

Italian youth against Pope Gregory XVI. After suppression of speech

he had to hide. The Austrians were chasing after him, and only

thanks to the resourcefulness of Queen Hortense, Louis Napoleon escaped arrest then.

In 1832, mother and son arrived in France and were favorably received here.

King Louis Philippe. In July, after the death of the son of Napoleon I (known as

named after Napoleon II), Louis-Napoleon became the main heir

dynastic traditions of the Bonapartes. During this time he released his first

essays on general policy and Swiss

government institutions. Thanks to one of them, he earned a Swiss

citizenship and for some time served as a captain in the Bern regiment.

Soon, Louis Napoleon managed to establish acquaintances with several

officers of the 4th Artillery Regiment stationed in Strasbourg. WITH

with the help of 15 like-minded people, he decided to rebel the soldiers of the Strasbourg

garrison and with their help seize the throne. It seemed to the conspirators that barely

Napoleon will appear before the soldiers, they will warmly support him. At first it

gathered his regiment in the courtyard of the barracks and presented Napoleon to the soldiers, dressed in

the uniform of the times of the empire and decorated with the famous orders of his uncle.

The soldiers greeted him with enthusiastic shouts, but the other regiments refused.

support the rebels. Napoleon was soon arrested and under escort

sent to Paris. Even then, he could pay with his head for his adventure.

However, there was so much naivete and frivolity in his act that Louis Philippe

treated him very kindly. The king gave Napoleon 15,000 francs and

sent it eight days later to New York. He, however, spent in America not

more than a year, soon returned to Switzerland, and then moved to London. IN

In England, Napoleon led the life of a gentleman: he was fond of horses, horse racing,

became a good hunter. His name was known in secular circles. Many

wanted to be introduced to him, but on closer acquaintance they were often

disappointed, since Louis Napoleon had a rather ordinary appearance and

languid features.

His speech did not reveal a great mind in him, and political pamphlets -

originality. Unusual in this young man was only a firm belief in

his destiny and the fact that sooner or later he will become emperor

In 1840, at the request of Louis Philippe, the ashes of Napoleon I were solemnly

buried in Paris, in Les Invalides All France gave to the deceased

honor the emperor as a national hero. Louis Napoleon decided

take advantage of this event and again made an attempt to seize power. 6

August he, together with sixteen companions, landed in Boulogne and

tried to raise an uprising in the 42nd Infantry Regiment. He acted exactly like this

the same as four years ago in Strasbourg. Officers involved in the conspiracy

led their soldiers to the parade ground, and then suddenly presented Napoleon to them in

uniform of the hero of Austerlitz Some of the soldiers greeted him loudly. Other

turned out to be more prudent and tried to arrest the conspirators. In that

critical moment Louis-Napoleon accidentally fired his pistol, but missed

at his opponents, but at one of the soldiers who stood by his side.

A tragicomic misfortune put an end to the whole adventure - the soldiers ousted

conspirators outside the gates of the barracks. Soon they were all arrested. This time

King Louis Philippe was much less merciful towards his opponent:

Fortress Gam.

The future emperor spent six years in prison. During this time he not only

wrote several essays on social and political topics, but also managed to

become the father of two children. Meanwhile, like-minded people did not forget about their leader

and prepared for his escape. In May 1846, repairs began in the fortress. workers

freely entered and exited it. Napoleon spent several days studying habits

workers and their gait. Then, having shaved off his mustache and beard, he changed into a working

blouse and without any difficulty left the fortress. A few hours later he

was in Belgium, and then took refuge in England.

After the February Revolution of 1848, Napoleon arrived in Paris, was through

exiled for several days by the Provisional Government and finally returned

only in September, after the bloody July events, with absolutely

another state of mind: the workers by this time had lost faith in

Republican politicians, while the bourgeoisie loudly demanded order and "strong

government." Thus, everything contributed to the success of the Bonapartists.

Louis Napoleon won his first victory during the by-elections to the National

departments of the provinces and in Paris, and in the capital with an advantage of more

larger game. Under the constitution of 1848, all legislative power was

concentrated in the National Assembly, and the executive was given into the hands of

a president elected by direct popular vote for a term of four years. To him

an army was subordinated in which he could appoint all the generals, and

government, where he was free to change ministers. In October, Napoleon announced

about his intention to take part in the presidential elections. the most serious

his opponent was General Cavaignac, but his reputation was tarnished

terrible atrocities during the June fighting in Paris. Election 10

December Louis-Napoleon won a triumphant victory: with the participation of about three

Upon the entry of Louis Napoleon into office, it was discovered that between

there is no agreement between him and the National Assembly. Particularly acute contradictions

appeared in the summer of 1849, when, contrary to the will of the deputies, the president sent

French troops to Rome to help the pope and to fight the revolution. Leader

Republican Ledru-Rollen demanded a trial of the president. Radicals

tried to bring people to the streets of the capital. Louis Napoleon replied with an introduction

state of siege in the capital and the closure of republican newspapers. In the next

For years, relations between the two branches of government remained tense. In July

1851 National Assembly rejects Louis-Napoleon's proposed amendment

to the constitution, allowing him in 1852 to re-nominate his candidacy for

presidential elections (according to the constitution of 1848, the same person could not

to be elected president several times in a row. In both these and other cases

public opinion was on the side of the president because the administration

The National Assembly did not bring the French anything but new hardships and

disappointments. In view of this, Napoleon, not without reason, expected that

the majority of the nation will greet the dissolution of the National Assembly with indifference, others

will directly support him, and the Republicans will remain in the minority. In the winter of 1851

supporters of the president began to prepare a coup d'état.

state printing house. By morning, many proclamations had been printed with

notice that the National Assembly, this nest of conspiracies, is being announced

dissolved president, that the right to vote is restored without any

qualification and proposed a new constitution. Soon everyone was arrested.

Military detachments were stationed in the main points of the city. General impression of

without any difficulty dispersed the rebels, and much wasted

and innocent blood. In the provinces, Napoleon also found many opponents. IN

27 departments troops had to pacify the indignation. in 32 departments

a state of siege was introduced. A total of 30,000 were arrested

people, of whom about 3,000 were thrown into prison and about 10,000 were deported

from France (including 250 to Guiana). But mostly French

By order of Louis Napoleon, a plebiscite was held: 7 million French voted

"for" the president and only 700 thousand were "against".

Napoleon had many new exclusive rights: he appointed ministers and

state advisers, was the supreme commander in chief and could himself

announce his successor. His term of office was extended to 10 years. By

In fact, he turned into a real dictator. Place of the National

Assembly was occupied by the Legislative Corps, which was, in fact, deprived of all

rights: the deputies did not have legislative initiative and had very

limited impact on budgeting. Legislative Assembly is not

it might even have been an open platform, since the debates were not published in the press.

The Senate took a much greater part in the government of the country, but its members

directly or indirectly appointed by the president. On one of his first

meetings, the senators appointed the head of state an annual allowance of 12 million

francs, - news, very comforting for his many creditors.

path to monarchy. Throughout 1852 there was intensified agitation for

abstained.

dignity, and the former president took the name of Napoleon III. New yard, fast

recreated on the model of the First Empire, housed in the Tuileries. Were

restored strict court etiquette, slightly forgotten in the reign

"Citizen King" Louis Philippe, numerous court positions and

imperial guard. The emperor himself did not like pomp, and his private life

was distinguished by its simplicity, but he looked at court luxury as a means

his power. Empress Eugenia gave even greater splendor to his court.

(nee Countess Montijo), whom he married in 1853. However, even

after that, Napoleon did not change his bachelor habits until the very

death had many love interests on the side.

In the early years of the empire, political life in France seemed to freeze.

Chambers were powerless. There was no formal censorship, but the publication of newspapers and

magazines proved to be extremely difficult. But wide

economic opportunities. Removing restrictions on activities

share capital, the establishment in 1852 of banks, the conclusion of an agreement on

free trade with England, the reconstruction of Paris, the construction of the Suez

canal, holding world exhibitions, mass construction of railways

All this and much more contributed to the strengthening of business activity and

accelerating industrialization.

Napoleon achieved brilliant successes in the field of foreign policy. All

his reign was accompanied by a series of large and small wars. Close

alliance with England, the emperor assumed the role of protector of Turkey against Russia,

which led in 1855 to the beginning of the difficult Crimean War. Although the victory in it

cost France huge sacrifices and did not bring any gains, she

gave new brilliance and grandeur to the emperor himself. Congress of Paris 1856,

which was attended by representatives of leading European countries, showed

that France had again become the first great power on the Continent. in Vienna and

in Berlin began to listen carefully to every word from Paris.

Russian influence in Central and South-Eastern Europe weakened. Even more

important consequences for France and all of Europe had Napoleon's intervention in

Italian affairs. At the beginning of 1858, a group of Italian patriots under

the leadership of Felichi Orsini made an attempt on the emperor when he

went to the Opera with his family. Before his execution, Orsini wrote to Napoleon,

that he decided on this act in order to draw the attention of France to

liberation war in Italy. The emperor was deeply shocked by what had happened and

really helped in the unification of Italy. In July 1858 he

met at a resort in the Vosges with the Prime Minister of Sardinia, Count Cavour

and made an alliance with him against Austria. For her help, France had to

get Savoy and Nice. In February, when Emperor Franz Joseph began against

Sardinian war, French troops entered Northern Italy. In June the Austrians

were defeated at Magenta and Solferino, and already in July, Napoleon concluded with

vanquished truce. In November, peace was signed in Zurich. By its terms

Lombardy joined the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Nice and Savoy withdrew

to France.

The last years of Napoleon's reign passed under the sign of reforms, which

he had to decide in view of the rise of the liberal movement. In 1867 there was

freedom of the press and assembly restored. In 1869, the emperor introduced to the Senate

a draft of a new constitution that would significantly expand the rights of representative

bodies: the Legislative body received the right of legislative initiative,

discussing and voting bills and the budget. Ministries were

subject to the control of the chambers. In May 1870, a popular vote by a majority

gradually transformed into a constitutional monarchy of the classical type.

In essence, Napoleon succeeded in what Charles X and

Louis Philippe - reforming the regime in accordance with the spirit of the times and

the demands of the liberal opposition. But the fate of his reign nonetheless

turned out to be just as bad. To a certain extent, the collapse of the Second Empire was

caused by the serious illness of the emperor. In the second half of the 60s. him

developed kidney stone disease, causing him great suffering.

Meanwhile, just at that time he was to take weighted and

thoughtful decisions in connection with foreign policy complications.

In July 1870, the Spanish Cortes offered the crown to the Crown Prince

Hohenzollern-Sigma-Ringen. Napoleon announced his strong protest against

this occasion. Relations with Prussia were already aggravated after her victory over

Austria in 1866. Give Spain under the power of the Prussian dynasty

the emperor could not. King Wilhelm I, however, had no

desire to start a war with France because of Spanish affairs and forbade the prince

accept the offer of the Cortes. Compliance of the old king confused

Napoleon, he could not resist the temptation to "squeeze" Prussia and thereby

demonstrate to the whole of Europe and its own people its power.

The French ambassador came to William in Ems and handed him a sharp new note. On

this time the emperor demanded a promise from the Prussian king that the Hohenzollerns

and in the future will never claim the Spanish throne. William

offended by this note, and Bismarck answered Napoleon with a caustic refusal. Due to

As a result, the conflict, already essentially exhausted, escalated again. Taking in front of everything

light squabbling tone, Napoleon could not now retreat without losing face and

From the very beginning, the war started badly. The Prussians quickly crossed

border and advanced deep into French territory. In late August

council, the French command recognized that further resistance

useless, and decided to surrender Sedan to the enemy. Then Napoleon sent his

adjutant to King William. "Because I failed to die in the midst of my

troops,” he wrote, “then it remains for me only to hand over my sword to your

Majesty." Wilhelm accepted the capitulation of the emperor with a chivalrous

generosity. Having expressed his sympathy to Napoleon at a personal meeting, he

offered him to live in the castle of Wilhelmsgee, near Kassel. Barely to Paris

news of the Sedan catastrophe came, a revolution began here. Second

The empire was overthrown and a republic proclaimed in its place. In March

1871 the deposed emperor was allowed to leave for England. Together with

Empress and young prince, he settled in Cadman House near

London. Since he had almost no fortune abroad, family life was

very modest. At the end of 1872, kidney disease resumed. At the beginning of January

1873 Napoleon had an operation. Doctors tried to crush the stone in

bladder, but the decay of the kidneys has gone so far that the patient began

Napoleon III(Napoleon III), Louis Bonaparte, full name Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808, Paris - January 9, 1873, Chislehurst Castle, near London), French Emperor (1852-1870).

Nephew of Napoleon. He was the third son in the family of a younger brother Napoleon I Louis Bonaparte and stepdaughter of Napoleon I Hortense, daughter of Josephine Beauharnais from her first marriage to General A. Beauharnais. After the death of his father in 1846, he headed the House of Bonaparte.

The first years of Louis Napoleon's life were spent in Holland, of which his father was king in 1806-1810. He spent his youth in Switzerland (Arenenberg Castle), where he lived with his mother after the collapse of the empire of Napoleon I. He received mainly home education. His mentor was Philippe Leba, the son of one of his associates Maximilian Robespierre. He also studied at the military school in Tuna (Switzerland).

Revolutionary Prince. In 1830-1831, Louis Napoleon took part in the revolutionary movement in Italy against Austrian rule. As a result of repression, he was forced to flee to France, where in 1832 he was received by King Louis Philippe I. In 1836, he tried to raise an armed rebellion in Strasbourg, but was arrested and deported to the United States. In 1840 he secretly returned to France and tried to rebel the garrison of the city of Boulogne, but was arrested and sentenced by the chamber of peers to life imprisonment. Louis Napoleon was serving his sentence in the fortress of Am, from where he escaped in 1846. During his imprisonment, he wrote several essays on social and political topics, in which he argued that France needed a regime that combined the best qualities of a monarchy and a republic - order and freedom.

Path to power. From 1846, Louis Napoleon lived in England. The revolution of 1848 allowed him to return to his homeland. He was elected first as a deputy of the Constituent Assembly (September 1848), and then as President of the Republic (December 1848).

On December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon carried out a coup d'état, which led to the establishment of a Bonapartist dictatorship. A year later, the hereditary power of the emperor was restored in France, confirmed by a plebiscite on December 10, 1852 (Second Empire). Louis Napoleon Bonaparte adopted the name of Napoleon III, considering the never-reigning Napoleon II (son of Napoleon I) as his predecessor.

Emperor of the French. With the establishment of the Second Empire, the institutions of parliamentary democracy (legislative chambers, elections of deputies, the political press, etc.) turned into a screen for the unlimited power of Napoleon III. The core of the state was the apparatus of executive power subordinated to the emperor, starting with the cabinet of ministers and ending with the prefects of departments and mayors of cities and communes. Legislative chambers were powerless, police arbitrariness reigned.

The main support of the Bonapartist dictatorship was the top of the French army. In 1854, Napoleon intervened in the conflict between Turkey and Russia - in alliance with Great Britain, France participated in Crimean War 1853-1856 on the side of Turkey; in 1859, in alliance with Piedmont, he waged war with Austria; sent an expeditionary force to Mexico in 1863; in 1867 he sent troops to Italy against the detachments of Garibaldi.

Napoleon III contributed to economic progress. The removal of restrictions on the activity of share capital, the conclusion of a free trade agreement with Great Britain (1860), the reconstruction of Paris, the construction of the Suez Canal (1859-1869), the holding of world exhibitions in the French capital (1855, 1867) led to an increase in business activity and the acceleration of industrialization.

On January 29, 1853, Napoleon III married the daughter of the noble Spanish aristocrat Count de Montijo - Eugenia, Countess Teba. In 1856, an heir was born to the imperial couple - Prince Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph.

liberal empire. In the early 1860s, the growth of the budget deficit forced the emperor to enter into a dialogue with the liberal opposition and implement political reforms: to restore freedom of the press and assembly, to introduce control of the chambers over the activities of ministers. In 1869, the chambers acquired all the rights of the legislature - the right to initiate legislation, discuss and vote bills and the state budget. For the first time, the principle of government responsibility to the chambers was proclaimed. The plebiscite on May 8, 1870 showed that the majority of voters supported the government's policies. Nevertheless, a part of society, represented by the left-liberal opposition, still condemned the empire as an illegal regime and demanded a return to republican rule.

Fall of the Second Empire. The collapse of the Second Empire hastened the defeat in Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871. On July 28, 1870, Napoleon III left for the active army, entrusting the regency to Empress Eugenie. Together with a group of troops under the command of Marshal P. McMahon, he was surrounded in the city of Sedan and on September 2 surrendered to the mercy of the winner. Following this, an uprising broke out in Paris, and on September 4, France was proclaimed a republic (Third Republic 1870-1940). Napoleon III was interned at the castle of Wilhelmshehe near Kassel. Empress Eugenie and her son fled to Great Britain.

Napoleon III spent the last years of his life with his family at Chislehurst Castle near London, where he died as a result of an unsuccessful surgical operation. Empress Eugenia outlived her husband by almost half a century and died in 1920. Their only son, Prince Napoleon Eugene Louis, served as an officer in the British colonial troops and died in 1879 in the war with the Zulus in Africa.

A. V. Revyakin

Biography
Born Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte on April 20, 1808 in Paris. His father Louis Bonaparte is the king of Holland, the younger brother of Napoleon I. His mother is Hortense Beauharnais, daughter from the first marriage of Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon I.
After the expulsion of the Bonapartes from France in 1815, Louis Napoleon - as he was commonly known until 1852 - studied mainly with private tutors in Italy, Switzerland and Germany, and received military training in the Swiss army. In 1831 he took part in the defeated revolution in the Papal States. In 1832, after the death of the Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon I, he became the main contender for the throne of France through the Bonapartes and devoted himself to conquering the throne.

October 31, 1836 in Strasbourg, he attempted a military rebellion against King Louis Philippe, but was arrested and expelled from France. He continued to conduct propaganda from London, where he published the book Napoleonic Ideas (Ides napoloniennes, 1840), in which he argued that the Bonapartes had no desire for conquest and tyranny. "The Napoleonic idea," he wrote, "is not a military idea, but a social, industrial, commercial and humanitarian one," aimed at supporting the material well-being of the population. On August 6, 1840, Louis Napoleon landed in Boulogne, repeating his attempt to seize power, but the troops he counted on refused to support him. He was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gam fortress. Here Napoleon III continued to write, promoting his policies. Of particular fame was his book Overcoming pauperism (Extinction du pauprisme, 1844), which increased the number of his supporters among the people, who were increasingly imbued with the Napoleonic legend. In 1846, with the help of a brilliant disguise, Louis Napoleon escaped from prison and returned to England.

The February Revolution of 1848 in France finally gave him the long-awaited chance. In June 1848, four departments elected him to the Legislative Assembly, and in December, by a majority of votes, he was elected President of the Republic for a term of 4 years. He received 5,434,236 votes, and his rival - 1,498,107. Having played on the growing disillusionment in the parliamentary government and on the growing fear of a "red" uprising, on December 2, 1851, he carried out a coup d'état, arrested about 20,000 of his opponents, dissolved the Legislative Assembly and appealed to the people with a request to grant him virtually dictatorial powers. A plebiscite on December 20, 1851 approved him as president for a term of 10 years. A year later, a new plebiscite proclaimed him Napoleon III, Emperor of France. (A son of Napoleon I who never reigned was considered Napoleon II.)

The marriage in 1853 of the new emperor to Eugenia Montijo, a beautiful Spaniard, revived the glory of the French court - wasteful and outwardly extravagant. Napoleon had an only son, Prince Louis-Napoleon, who was born in 1856 and died in 1879 without heirs.

Napoleon III introduced an authoritarian regime, seized all key positions of power, introduced censorship, turned the Legislative Assembly into a registering authority that did not have the right to propose or repeal laws, and unleashed the persecution of the opposition. For a while, this regime held firm enough. The peasants, who provided Napoleon with an overwhelming majority of votes, cared little about Parisian politicians, they were much more concerned about their own material interests. They were said to wear their hearts on the left and their pockets on the right. Napoleon provided them with subsidies and benefits, and they paid him loyalty.

The emperor established banks, supported the development of agriculture, creating model farms and carrying out land reclamation, stimulated the construction of railways and communications, encouraged the construction of the Suez Canal, introduced a free trade system for the development and modernization of industry, launched large-scale public works - primarily the restructuring of Paris under the leadership of Baron Georges Haussmann.

However, dissatisfaction with his despotism grew among the middle bourgeoisie and the working class. Napoleon could not fail to see this and, in order to prevent events, made concessions by issuing decrees on November 24, 1860 and January 19, 1867. On January 2, 1870, Napoleon III transferred most of his powers to the ministry under the leadership of the liberal leader Emile Olivier. In the plebiscite of May 8, 1870, this liberal regime received the support of 7,300,000 votes, only 1,500,000 voted against.

In foreign policy, Napoleon III suffered constant defeats. He promised peace after he came to power, but soon became involved in the Crimean War with Russia (1854-1856). The victory in this war raised the prestige of the country. In 1859, in alliance with the kingdom of Sardinia, Napoleon declared war on Austria in order to liberate Italy. In exchange for the support of Sardinia, France received Nice and Savoy. But the unexpected peace with Austria angered the Italians, the annexations displeased the British, and the capture by the Italians of all papal possessions (except Rome) set the Catholics in France against him.

In 1861-1866, Napoleon sent troops to Mexico and placed the Austrian Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg on the throne. This costly adventure turned into a complete failure, and the captured Maximilian was executed by the Mexicans in 1867. Napoleon's sluggish protest against the suppression of the uprising in Poland (1863-1864) turned both Russians and Poles against him. By the end of Napoleon's reign, France had no reliable allies left.

When French public opinion was worried about the conquests of Prussia and the growth of its power, Napoleon demanded territorial compensation on the borders of the Rhine (1867-1868), then succumbed to the intrigues of Prussia in Spain, and finally played into the hands of Bismarck, declaring war on Prussia on July 19, 1870. Napoleon finally undermined his reputation by personally leading the army, although his illness did not allow him even to sit in the saddle. On September 2, 1870, he surrendered at Sedan, and two days later was overthrown during the revolution in Paris.

After the conclusion of peace in 1871, Napoleon was released from captivity and left for England with his son and wife. Napoleon died at Chislehurst on January 9, 1873.