The New Student's Reference Work/Napoleon III

Napoleon III, or Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the second French emperor, was born at Paris on April 20, 1808. His father was king of Holland and brother of the first emperor, and his mother was the step-daughter of Napoleon I. He was educated by his mother in exile in Switzerland and at the gymnasium at Augsburg, but until 1836, during his life in Switzerland, he essentially was a student and writer. Nevertheless, the prestige of the institutions of Napoleon I cast some reflected light on Charles Louis, who looked with longing eyes toward the throne of France, then occupied by Louis Philippe. Indeed, he went so far in 1836 as to appear among the military at Strassburg and endeavor to win them, but he failed, and was taken and brought to the United States without trial. He, however, again returned to Switzerland, of which government France demanded his expulsion, but it was refused. To avert trouble he went to England, and in 1840 made his second attempt to gain the throne by landing at Boulogne, but was this time taken prisoner and sentenced to imprisonment for life at the fortress of Ham. Here he remained, writing many books and editing the French Dictionaire de la Conversation, until he made his escape to Belgium, May 25, 1846. Immediately upon the success of the workingmen in the Revolution of 1848 he returned to France and was elected to the constituent assembly from Paris and three other districts, but resigned his seat two days after taking it and left France. In September, 1848, he was recalled by his election from five districts and immediately began the canvass for the election to the presidency, which he received by an overwhelming vote. For a while he lived up to his oath of allegiance to the republic, but only as a cloak to place the military under control of his friends and lay plans for the revival of the empire. On Dec. 2, 1851, by force of arms he routed the national assembly and in that month was re-elected for ten years, only to assume the imperial title within a year. The empire being now established, he broke up the political parties, courted the clergy, and adopted a showy foreign policy. This led to the Crimean War and the difficulty with Austria in Lombardy. Though in these operations he enjoyed the support of Great Britain, his relations to Prussia were affected by jealousies which finally led to the Franco-Prussian War, which proved the end of Napoleon's power. He surrendered in September, 1870, and was held a prisoner until the declaration of peace, after which he joined the empress at Chiselhurst, near London, where he died on Jan. 9, 1873. In 1865 he had published a History of Julius Cæsar, which was never finished. See Blanchard Jerrold's Life of Napoleon III and Napoleon the Little by Hugo.