Biography

Mentioned in 18611008CharlesSumner_WHS: "Let me add that Prince Napoleon just before sailing expressed himself most unreservedly against the South. He thought we had erred in not obtaining an influence over the press of Paris & London, which he said might be done."

Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) (April 20, 1808 – January 9, 1873) was the first President of the French Republic and the only emperor of the Second French Empire. He holds the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France. He was the nephew of Napoleon I and a cousin of Napoleon II, whose claim to be emperor was only ever really recognized by Bonapartists. However, when Louis-Napoleon became emperor in 1852, he legitimized his cousin’s reign by taking the designation “III.” After several failed attempts to gain power by extra-constitutional means, it was by winning a landslide electoral victory that Louis-Napoleon became President in 1848. In 1851, frustrated because he could not stand for re-election, he manipulated the system to become Emperor. He then exercised dictatorial powers, while maintaining the fiction of democratic governance. Initially, his regime was authoritarian brooking no criticism or opposition. Later, he was described as a “liberal” and even as a “socialist” because some of his policies showed genuine concern for the public good. On the one hand, he led France into several disastrous foreign engagements especially the Franco-Prussian War. For some, this darkens his reputation. On the other hand, he expanded France’s colonial possessions and, in choosing to fight on the winning side in the Crimean War realigned France’s relationship with Great Britain, which proved vital for the nation’s survival in the twentieth century. On two occasions, this cross-channel alliance helped to save France from annexation by Germany, ensuring that it continues to play a role in world affairs.
 
Napoleon III’s ambivalent relationship with democracy may not have been solely due to his own moral failings. The leaders and the people of Post-revolutionary France lacked a shared vision of how society ought to be governed, and oscillated between republican and monarchist systems. The revolution violently toppled an unjust, totalitarian system in the name of brotherhood, equality and freedom but had no thought through alternative to replace this with. Napoleon III has suffered from comparison with Napoleon I, whose life ended in defeat but who is credited nonetheless with military and administrative genius.