Second French Empire

The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed himself Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. The period was one of significant achievements in infrastructure and economy, while France reasserted itself as a dominant power in Europe.

Historians in the 1930s and 1940s disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism, but by the late 20th century some re-evaluated it as an example of a modernizing regime. Historians have widely judged the Second Empire's foreign policy as a failure. However, assessments of its domestic legacy are more positive, especially from 1858 as Napoleon III liberalised his rule. Particular achievements included the development of a national railway network, which facilitated commerce and helped to develop a common national identity, and the extensive renovation of Paris to its modern form, with broad boulevards, striking public buildings, and a comprehensive, centrally-planned layout.

Internationally, Napoleon III tried to emulate his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte, engaging in numerous imperial ventures around the world as well as several wars in Europe. He began his reign with French victories in Crimea and in Italy, gaining Savoy and Nice, and very briefly, Venetia (before in turn ceding to Italy). Using very harsh methods, he built up the French Empire in North Africa, in East Africa and in French Indochina. Napoleon III also launched an intervention in Mexico seeking to erect the Second Mexican Empire and bring it into the French orbit, but this ended in a fiasco. He mishandled the Prussian threat, and by the end of his reign, the French emperor found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming German forces. The Second Empire came to an end during the Franco-Prussian War, following Napoleon III's capture at the Battle of Sedan and the proclamation of the Third French Republic on 4 September 1870.