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Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More
The Rise and Fall of Napoleon III
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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. This episode is sponsored by Quince. For a while I've been telling you about Quince. I have sweaters, T shirts, blankets and towels that I've all gotten from Quince. That's because Quince is at the sweet spot of high quality and low prices. They provide some of the same products that you'll find from other luxury brands for a fraction of the price. Go to their website and they will show you exactly who the brands are and the prices and the savings are astonishing. Everything at Quint's is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middleman. So you're paying for high quality, not brand markup. Upgrade your everyday Download the Quints app for app exclusive offers or go to quints.com daily for free shipping on your order and three 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's quince.com/daily for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com daily. This episode is sponsored by Horizon 3. Big companies will often hire white hat hackers to test their own networks to discover vulnerabilities before a bad Guy does. The Node Zero platform by Horizon 3 is an autonomous AI hacker that attacks your own environment at machine speed, just as a real hacker would. It tests your external cloud, internal and web application attack surfaces in a single test and can be deployed in minutes. Net Zero has completed more than 225,000 production safe tests with zero downtime and is trusted by the NSA, the CISA and Fortune 100 companies. The process is simple hack, fix, verify. Repeat. Node Zero finds the weakness, your team fixes it and you can verify the repair with one click. Knowing exactly how an attacker could come after you replaces guesswork with real peace of mind. Go see exactly what an attacker would find in your environment before they do. Go to Horizon 3 AI everything and request your free node zero demo. Visit Horizon 3 AI everything again. That's Horizon 3 AI everything. No commitment required. Results in hours, not weeks. Napoleon III was born Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris in April of 1808. He was better known as Louis Napoleon his father was Napoleon Bonaparte's younger brother Louis, and his mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Napoleon's wife, George Josephine and her first husband. Josephine 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 Bonaparte. And just in case you're wondering, Napoleon II was Napoleon Bonaparte's only legitimate son, who was technically emperor. For just 22 days after Napoleon abdicated and he died at the age of 21, the marriage between Louis and Hortense was difficult. The couple lived together only briefly and were very unfaithful to each other. Charles Louis was the youngest child of Louis and Hortense, and 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 that he was the son of another man. Genetic testing in the 2000 and tens showed that Napoleon III had different chromosomes from most of the male line of the Bonapartes. Louis Napoleon was technically born into royalty because his uncle made his father the 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 in the French Revolution. Labas 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. And while escaping Napoleon Louis caught measles and died in March of 1831. After the death of his brother, his mother 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. While in Paris, they stayed in a hotel under the name of Hamilton, and 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 that Louis Napoleon could join the French army if he was willing to change 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 that there was still strong Bonapartist loyalty in the army and among the people. But he had to put these hopes aside and they returned to exile in Switzerland. Louis Napoleon was right about the Bonapartist feelings in the city. Bonapartism as an ideology actually began after Napoleon's fall in 1814, but it didn't 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 country. 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. And also Bonapartist sentiment in France also sought the 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 of Napoleon Bonaparte. 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 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 rise of Bonapartists in France, Louis Napoleon started planning a coup against the King of France in 1836. He believed that 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 to the government surrounded Louis Napoleon and his supporters, forcing them to flee back to Switzerland. But even after this failed attempt, Louis Napoleon's popularity in France grew as he kept building his own reputation. This frustrated the French king, who asked Switzerland to hand him over, but they refused because he was a Swiss citizen and also an officer. He tried another coup in 1840, but then he was living in London, but still dreamed of taking power in France. He bought weapons and uniforms, printed proclamations, and gathered a small group of armed men to sail to France. And 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 attempt failed, 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' estinction du pauperisme, was published in 1844. In it, he talked about what he thought caused poverty amongst 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 that he thought would help the working class and improve their living conditions. And 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 the disguise, he just walked out of the prison and took a carriage to the coast and escaped to England once again. 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 very weak provisional government. The situation was chaotic as multiple political factions were all fighting for power. After arriving in Paris, he wrote to the head of the commission, saying that 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 Republic. And this turned out to be a brilliant 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 wasn't 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 multiple 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 and the strategy worked across all economic classes. But most of his support came from the working class, resulting in his election by a wide margin. As president, Louis Napoleon got to work. He used all the powers the constitution gave him to expand his control over the government. And this helped him place his supporters in key positions in both the civil service and the 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 the time, the French constitution only allowed a president to serve one four year term. Louis Napoleon could not get the 3/4 majority needed to change the constitution. 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 and 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 referendum in 1852. The results confirmed his ascension 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 at making France great. He built new railroads, supported industry and agriculture, set up credited institutions and promoted technical projects. He was also very interested in rebuilding Paris as a modern city to help the working 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 small 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. And 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 towards 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 wars had broken out. During this time, he did not send troops to some of his key 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 of 1870, a topic which I covered in a previous episode. The war led to the defeat of France at the Battle of Sedan. Napoleon III was deposed and a new third French 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 a return to France to reclaim the throne. However, nothing ever 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 the executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kieffer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ash. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. 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