Napoleon III and the French Second Empire Roger Price (novels to read .txt) 📖

first draft.

The manuscript was carefully read and commented upon by: Colin Heywood of

Nottingham University; Olena Heywood of the Open University; Aled Jones, my colleague in the Department of History and Welsh History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; and by Heather Price, whose constructive criticism, as

always, was invaluable. Richard, Siân, Andy, Emily and Hannah provided help –

and happy distractions.

xiii

Chronology

1848

23–24 February Revolution and the establishment of the Second Republic;

introduction of manhood suffrage

23 April

Election of a Constituent Assembly to prepare a new constitu-

tion

4 June

By-election victory by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte

13 June

Debate in the Assembly on whether to admit the Bonapartist

pretender to the throne as a deputy; admitted but resigns

23–26 June

Popular insurrection in Paris crushed

17 September

Louis-Napoléon re-elected

10 December

Election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte as President of the

Republic

1851

2 December

Seizure of power by means of a military coup

21 December

Plebiscite ratifying extension of president’s power

1852

14 January

Promulgation of new constitution

17 February

Press decree

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29 February

Election of Corps législatif

25 March

Decree banning gatherings of more than 20 persons

27 March

End of martial law

21 November

Plebiscite on the re-establishment of the hereditary empire

2 December

Establishment of the Second Empire

1853

23 January

Haussmann appointed Prefect of the Seine

1854

27 March

France and Britain declare war on Russia

1856

16 March

Birth of the Prince-Imperial; remaining political prisoners

amnestied on condition that they accept the regime

30 March

Signature of Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean war

1857

21 June

Election of new Corps législatif

1858

14 January

Attempt to assassinate Napoléon by four Italians led by Orsini

27 February

Promulgation of general security law

14 June

End of state of emergency

1859

3 May

France declares war on Austria

11 June

Law regulating cooperation between state and railway compa-

nies

6 July

Franco-Austrian armistice leading to Treaty of Villa-franca

ends militarily successful campaign in Italy

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1860

11 January

Publication of acrimonious correspondence between Emperor

and Pope

22 January

Signature of Cobden–Chevalier commercial treaty with Brit-

ain

24 March

Treaty transferring sovereignty over Nice and Savoy to France

24 November

Publication of decree on political reform

1861

14 March

Emile Ollivier announces his willingness to rally to a liberal

Empire

15 November The Emperor promises financial reforms

1862

29 March

Franco-Prussian commercial treaty

16 April

Declaration of war on Juarez’s government in Mexico

1863

23 May

Law authorising limited liability companies

31 May

General election

23 June

Designation of Minister of State as official government parlia-

mentary spokesman

1864

11 January Thiers in Corps législatif calls for ‘the four necessary liberties’

25 May

Law establishing the right of workers to strike

1865

1 January

Government forbids the reading of parts of the Papal encyclical

Quanta Cura and accompanying Syllabus of Errors from pul-

pits

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1866

22 January Announcement of decision to withdraw from Mexico

3 July Decisive Prussian victory over Austria at Sadowa

12 December Publication of controversial proposals for army reforms

1867

10–13 January Talks between Napoléon and Ollivier

19 January Publication of plans for further liberal reform

March Presentation of proposed laws on the press and public meet-

ings; promulgated 11 May and 6 June 1868, respectively

1868

March French section of the Workers International prosecuted

31 March Official tolerance of trade unions

May Jules Ferry publishes Les comptes fantastiques d‘Haussmann

1869

3 May General elections begin

8–10 June Serious disorders in Paris

16 June Strike at Ricamarie, troops open fire

6 July 116 deputies support demands for a government responsible

to parliament

12 July Napoléon announces plans for further political reform

13 July Corps législatif prorogued; resignation of Rouher

15 August Unconditional amnesty for political offenders

27 December Napoléon asks Ollivier to form a ministry

1870

2 January Ollivier forms a government

5 January Dismissal of Haussmann

26 February Abandonment of official candidacy

21 March Napoléon proposes to establish a liberal Empire

8 May Plebiscite on proposals for constitutional reform

3 July First news of Hohenzollern candidacy

xviii

19 July

France declares war on Prussia

26 July

Decision to withdraw protective French garrison from Rome;

Italian troops enter the city on 2 September

10 August

Following initial military defeats, Cousin-Montauban (Comte

Palikao) forms a conservative government

1–2 September Defeat at Sedan and surrender of army led by the Emperor and MacMahon

4 September

Crowds enter the Palais Bourbon and republican deputies pro-

claim the Republic

Map France in 1851

Source: France 1848–1851, Open University Press, 1976

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1

Introduction

On 10 December 1848 the nephew of the great Emperor Napoléon was elected

President of the French Republic, gaining a massive majority under the system of universal manhood suffrage introduced following the Revolution of the previous February. The origins of the Second Empire have to be searched for in the ruins of the first. The creation of a dynasty and foundation of a legend were two of the achievements of Napoléon I. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte’s major asset was

undoubtedly his name, associating him with a Napoleonic cult kept alive

throughout the intervening years by an outpouring of almanacs, pamphlets and lithographs promoting a legend of prosperity and glory. It had especial appeal in the countryside in which, it ought to be remembered, over 70 per cent of the population still lived. National pride had been incarnated in the historical memory of Napoléon. The July Monarchy (1830–48) had attempted to benefit by association.

In 1833, the statue of the great Emperor had been replaced on top of the Vendôme column in the centre of Paris. In 1836, the Arc de Triomphe, celebrating the glorious achievements of the imperial armies, had finally been completed. The culminating event was undoubtedly the return, in 1840, of the remains of Napoléon I from Saint Helena to their final resting place in the Invalides. Vast crowds had turned out to watch the procession. Louis-Napoléon made every effort to take advantage of this powerful legend, deliberately conceived by the first Napoléon, diffused by the veterans of the Imperial armies, manufactured by printers,

publishers and the producers of all manner of commemorative objects, and given respectability by the government of Louis-Philippe. At Strasbourg in 1836 and then 1

Boulogne in 1840, Louis-Napoléon had attempted to seize power. He had appeared in uniform, behind a tricolour capped by an imperial eagle and sought to raise the local garrisons. Although pathetic failures in themselves, these adventures had at least helped to establish him in the public mind as the Bonapartist pretender. For much of the population, the Imperial years stood in marked contrast to the

impoverishment and political strife which seemed to have accompanied its

successor regimes. The misery of interminable war during the First Empire

appeared largely to have been