Listen and Subscribe
Podcast Transcript
For most of history, the name Napoleon has been associated with conquest, ambition, and empire.
But decades after the first emperor’s fall, his nephew of the same name rose to power and attempted to reshape France and the world.
His reign was marked by grand projects, dramatic victories, and a catastrophic downfall that brought an empire to an end.
Learn more about the Rise and Fall of Napoleon III on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Napoleon III was born Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris in April 1808. He was better known as Louis Napoleon. His father was Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger brother, Louis. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Napoleon’s wife Joséphine and her first husband.
Joséphine suggested that her daughter marry Louis Bonaparte to produce an heir for the French Empire because she was infertile. That made Napoleon III both the nephew and step-grandson of Napoleon Bonepart.
Just in case you are wondering, Napoleon II was Napoleon Bonaparte’s only legitimate son who was technically Emperor for 22 days after Napoleon abdicated, and who died at the age of 21.
The marriage between Louis and Hortense was difficult. The couple lived together only briefly and were unfaithful. Charles Louis was the youngest child of Louis and Hortense. He had two older brothers. One died young, and the other was named Napoleon Louis.
Some people have speculated that Louis Napoleon was not legitimate. His mother had many affairs, and many of his family’s rivals claimed he was the son of another man. Genetic testing in the 2010s showed that Napoleon III had a different chromosome from most of the male line of the Bonapartes.
Louis Napoleon was born into royalty because his uncle made his father King of Holland from 1806 to 1810.
His reign ended after Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and the Bourbon dynasty returned to power. Because of his family ties to the former Emperor, Louis Napoleon and his family were exiled and moved to Switzerland.
For his education, Louis Napoleon was taught by Philippe Le Bas, who was a close friend of Maximilien Robespierre, a leader of the French Revolution. Le Bas taught him about radical politics and French history.
When he was 15, Louis Napoleon and his mother moved to Rome. In Italy, he explored ancient ruins, learned to speak Italian, and had several affairs. He also reunited with his older brother, Napoleon Louis. Together, they joined a secret revolutionary group called the Carbonari, which aimed to challenge Austria’s control over northern Italy.
Their involvement with the Carbonari got them in trouble with the police, so they had to flee. While escaping, Napoleon Louis caught measles and died in March 1831.
After the death of his brother, Hortense joined her youngest son, and together they escaped the Austrian army and police by secretly traveling to Paris. Louis Napoleon and his mother arrived in Paris during a time of political unrest. The king, Charles V, had been overthrown in the Second French Revolution and replaced by a liberal government led by Louis Philippe I, known as the “Citizen King.”
They stayed in a hotel under the name “Hamilton.” While there, Hortense wrote to the king of France to ask if they could remain in the country. As part of their request, Louis Napoleon offered to enlist in the French army as an ordinary soldier.
The king allowed them to stay in Paris for a short time and said Louis Napoleon could join the French army if he changed his name; however, he refused.
Hortense and Louis Napoleon stayed in Paris until May 5, 1831, which was the 10th anniversary of Emperor Napoleon’s death. They mourned outside their hotel as a tribute, which led to their expulsion.
Even though they had to leave Paris, Louis Napoleon believed there was still strong Bonapartist loyalty in the army and among the people, but he had to put these hopes aside as they returned to exile in Switzerland.
Louis Napoleon was right about the Bonapartist feeling in the city. Bonapartism as an ideology began after Napoleon’s fall in 1814, but it did not become an organized movement until the 1840s.
Bonapartism, as an idea, focused on a strong, central leader. Both Napoleon I and Napoleon III claimed to represent the whole nation. They tried to balance social classes while maintaining absolute power approved by popular vote.
Unlike traditional monarchs, they used public referendums to secure what appeared to be democratic approval for their rule. Bonapartist sentiment in France also sought to return of an actual Bonaparte to the French throne.
When the first Napoleon was emperor, he established a line of succession. The claim first went to his son, who was essentially imprisoned at the court in Vienna. Next were Louis Napoleon’s uncle, Joseph Bonaparte, and then his father. Neither his father nor his uncle wanted to be involved in politics, leaving Louis Napoleon as essentially the de facto heir.
While in Switzerland, Louis Napoleon joined the Swiss army and became an officer. He even wrote an artillery manual, following in his uncle’s footsteps as an artilleryman.
He also wrote about his political ideas. In one paper, he talked about combining Republicanism and Bonapartism through popular sovereignty. He believed a good emperor should carry out the people’s will, so universal suffrage was important, and leaders should put the nation first.
Feeling confident with the rising support of Bonapartists, Louis Napoleon started planning a coup against the King of France in 1836.
He believed people were still enthusiastic about his uncle, so he thought that if he marched to Paris as his uncle did during the Hundred Days, the French people would support him.
He planned to start the rebellion in Strasbourg. He arrived in his Swiss army uniform and tried to rally people to his side. However, some loyalists surrounded Louis Napoleon and his supporters, forcing him to flee back to Switzerland.
Even after this failed attempt, Louis Napoleon’s popularity in France grew as he built his own reputation. This frustrated the king, who asked Switzerland to hand him over, but they refused because he was a Swiss citizen and officer.
He tried another coup in 1840. By then, he was living in London but still dreamed of taking power in France. He bought weapons and uniforms, printed proclamations, and gathered a group of armed men to sail to France.
This attempt also failed.
Customs agents stopped the group, and the soldiers at the garrison where they landed refused to join them. They were surrounded and arrested.
After this failed attempt, Louis Napoleon was put on trial and sentenced to life in prison in northern France.
While in prison, Louis Napoleon kept writing. He wrote articles for local newspapers and political essays. His most famous book, L’extinction du pauperisme, was published in 1844.
In it he talked about what he thought caused poverty among the French working class and how he would solve it. He believed the working class needed ownership, because without it, they could not look ahead or improve their lives.
He described different policies he thought would help the working class and improve their living conditions. The book became popular in France and played a big role in his later political success.
Even though he was able to publish his writings, Louis Napoleon was impatient and unhappy in prison. He knew his uncle’s legend was growing in France and wanted to be involved.
In 1846, he convinced his doctor and friend to help him disguise himself as a laborer. With this disguise, he walked out of the building, took a carriage to the coast, and escaped to England.
Louis Napoleon spent his years in England planning his return. In 1848, another French revolution happened, and Louis Philippe had to give up his throne. Louis Napoleon saw an opportunity and set sail for Paris.
When Louis Napoleon arrived in Paris, he found that the Second French Republic had been declared and was being led by a weak provisional government. The situation was chaotic, as multiple political factions were fighting for power.
After arriving in Paris, he wrote to the head of the commission, saying he wanted to serve his country. He was advised to leave the city until things calmed down. Although his advisors told him to stay, he chose to follow the new government’s advice and left, wanting to show his loyalty to the new republic.
This turned out to be the right decision, because an uprising broke out in Paris in 1848. There were street battles, and thousands of people were killed, arrested, or deported. Since Louis Napoleon was not in the city, he was not linked to the uprising or the crackdown that followed.
That same month, he ran for the national assembly and was elected in several regions. This allowed him to return to Paris and take his place, putting him in a great position to become the first president of the French Republic.
In the 1848 elections, he appealed to all political factions, using his family name. This strategy worked across classes, but most of his support came from the working class, resulting in his election by a wide margin.
As president, Louis Napoleon quickly got to work. He used all the powers the constitution gave him to expand his control over the government. This helped him place his supporters in key positions in the civil service and army.
He wanted to stay popular with the lower class, so he traveled around France and spoke about their concerns. However, his hold on power was not fully secure.
At that time, the French constitution only allowed a president to serve one four-year term. Louis Napoleon could not get the three-quarters majority needed to change this, so he planned a coup.
On December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon carried out his coup with little resistance. Only the Republican faction tried to resist, but they were quickly defeated in two days.
After taking control, he dissolved the legislative assembly, created a new constitution, and passed new laws. One of these was universal suffrage. The people then voted to approve the new constitution.
Feeling confident, Louis Napoleon held a refferendum in 1852. The results confirmed his accession to the throne of France and restored the French Empire. It was then he took the imperial name Napoleon III.
Many of his policies aimed to make France greater. He built new railroads, supported industry and agriculture, set up credit institutions, and promoted technical projects. He was also very interested in rebuilding Paris as a modern city.
To help the lower class, he lowered food prices and built cleaner housing for workers. He wanted employers and employees to work together and have a more balanced relationship.
At home, Napoleon III felt France had been humiliated after his uncle’s fall. He wanted to restore France’s reputation and increase its standing in Europe.
He got involved in several wars to improve the public’s perception of the French army. He also allied with Britain, although both countries were still suspicious of each other. He also entered into a free-trade agreement with Great Britain.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The economy worsened, which frustrated both the working and middle classes. Some Catholics were also upset with his policies toward Italy.
As his support at home weakened, he faced more problems in foreign affairs. Napoleon III suggested holding a conference to reorganize Europe after several conflicts had broken out.
During this time, he did not send troops to help some of his allies, especially Prussia, and instead acted as a mediator. Napoleon III got deeply involved in Prussian politics behind the scenes. However, his interference backfired, leading to the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, a topic which I covered in a previous episode.
This war led to the defeat of France at the Battle of Sedan. Napoleon III was deposed, and a new Third Republic was proclaimed on September 4, 1870.
After being removed from office, Napoleon III went to live in England. While there, he defended his politics in various publications and considered returning to France to reclaim the throne. However, nothing came of it, as he died during an operation to remove bladder stones in 1873 at the age of 64.
Napoleon III remains one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in French history. He spent his life trying to restore the glory of his famous uncle while creating an empire suited for a new industrial age. His reign transformed France through modernization, economic growth, and the rebuilding of Paris, while also expanding French influence around the world.
Yet his ambitions ultimately led him into a disastrous war with Prussia that ended his empire and his own rule.