Bonapartism By: Claire Blankenship 1 st Hour
Jan 03, 2016
BonapartismBy: Claire Blankenship
1st Hour
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
Called himself Napoleon III Came to power because of the fear of
radicalism in a discredited republic Saw public opinion as an
opportunity Tried to create order in France
Modern Progress
Different than all the other monarchs of Europe
Claimed to have the perfect plan for government
Said that parliamentary bodies accentuated class divisions within a country and didn’t represent the people
Thought forms of government were less important than economic and social realities
Authoritarian Institutions
Council of State- composed of experts who drafted legislation and advised on technical matters
Appointive Senate Legislative Body- elected by universal
male suffrage; government’s officials always won; had no real powers
Pomp and Pageantry
Set up a sumptuous court at the Tuileries
Married Eugénie, a Spanish noblewoman
Baron Haussmann- city planner for Paris
Socialist Emperor
Found support from the former Saint-Simonians› Happy with the Crédit Mobilier- a banking
institution that sold its shares to the public and used those funds to invest in new industrial enterprises
› Also happy with Crédit Foncier- bank that lent funds to landowners for the improvement of agriculture
Expansion
Brought on by the discovery of gold in California and Australia
Railway network expanded Built the Suez Canal Appearance of large corporations
› Stocks and shares became more numerous and diversified
› France became very wealthy
SO
CIA
LISTIC
INIT
IATIV
ES
Wanted to organize workers to develop uncultivated land- never accomplished
Humanitarian relief› Hospitals and asylums
established› Free medicines
distributed Large unions began to
have power again› Allowed to strike
Inte
rnatio
nal Tra
de
Belg
ium
Brita
in
Napoleon III believed in freedom of international trade› Wanted to create a tariff union with Belgium› Would have been very successful› Stopped from private interests in both
countries and opposition in GBR and Germany
Agreed to a free trade treaty with GBR› Overruled opposition in the Legislative Body
for this› Set aside 40 million francs to help with
transition- not all used
The End of the Second Empire Internal problems
› Industrialists weren’t happy with the trade agreement with GBR
› Catholics weren’t happy with his intervention inItaly
External Problems› Crimean War with
Russia› Fought in Italy,
Mexico, and France (against the Prussians)