Louis Napoleon

From Conservapedia

Louis Napoleon (1808-1873), also known as Napoleon III or Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte who also ruled France; President of the French Second Republic 1848-1851 and Emperor Napoleon III of France 1851-1870.

Louis Napoleon or Napoleon III became President of the new Second Republic of France in 1848, after the failed revolutions of 1848. By 1852 he replaced the Republic with the Second Empire of France, and installed himself as its Emperor. He promoted liberalized policies within France, which enjoyed prosperity during much of his reign. He sought to accomplish an industrial modernization of France. Before 1860, Louis Napoleon can be seen as having achieved a deal of success; popular support appeared to be on his side. An important legacy of Louis Napoleon was the rebuilding of Paris. Georges-Eugène Haussmann, his city planner and administrative head of the project, carried out a massive restructuring of the city.

Some of the most visible problems faced by Napoleon were military, as the pursuit of glory led him into difficult situations, especially in his dealings with Bismarck. The contradictions inherent within his disjointed approach to foreign policy meant that while Napoleon achieved a degree of success in Italy and the Crimea in the 1850s, French involvement with Mexico and Prussia after 1860 turned out to be disastrous. Intervention in Mexico, in particular, proved to be misguided, losing Napoleon the support of many nationalists as France suffered a comprehensive and embarrassing defeat. ^[1]

His weakness was mainly in diplomacy and he was fooled by the Prussian Chancellor Bismarck into going to war with Germany over their border in 1870. The Germans quickly captured him and his army at Sedan, and the Parisians soon deposed him. When he was finally released by the Germans he went to England in exile (Chislehurst), where he died a few years later. The military defeat was a big part in his fall but not the only reason for it.

He married the Spanish Eugenia de Montijo, Condesa de Teba.

"The army is the true nobility of our country."