Napoleon III summary

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> <div class="mt-20"> <div class="mb-20 font-sans-serif font-weight-bold"> Below is the article summary. For the full article, see <a href="/biography/Napoleon-III-emperor-of-France">Napoleon III</a>. </div> <div class="collection-content topic-paragraph"> <article class="content"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="13168" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/69/9869-050-B2D4D3F0/Napoleon-III-detail-portrait-Hippolyte-Flandrin-Versailles.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/403129/13168"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/69/9869-050-B2D4D3F0/Napoleon-III-detail-portrait-Hippolyte-Flandrin-Versailles.jpg?w=740&h=416&c=crop"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/69/9869-050-B2D4D3F0/Napoleon-III-detail-portrait-Hippolyte-Flandrin-Versailles.jpg?w=740&h=416&c=crop" alt="Napoleon III" data-width="1387" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/69/9869-050-B2D4D3F0/Napoleon-III-detail-portrait-Hippolyte-Flandrin-Versailles.jpg" data-href="/media/1/403129/13168">Napoleon III</a><span>Napoleon III, detail of a portrait by Hippolyte Flandrin; in the Versailles Museum.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong>Napoleon III</strong>, or <strong>Louis-Napoléon</strong> orig. <strong>Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte</strong>, (born April 20, 1808, Paris, France—died Jan. 9, 1873, Chislehurst, Kent, Eng.), Emperor of France (1852–70). The nephew of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Napoleon-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Napoleon</a>, he spent his youth in exile in Switzerland and Germany (1815–30). With the death in 1832 of Napoleon’s son, Napoléon-François-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte, duke von Reichstadt, he became the claimant to the French throne. After an abortive coup d’état, he was exiled by King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Louis-Philippe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Louis-Philippe</a> to the U.S. After another attempted coup (1840), he was arrested, tried, and imprisoned. He escaped to England (1846) and returned to Paris (1848), where he was elected to the national assembly. He evoked the legend of Napoleon to win the popular vote as president of the Second Republic. Attempting to expand his power, he staged a coup in 1851 and made himself dictator; in 1852, as Napoleon III, he became emperor of the Second Empire. Seeking to reestablish French power, he led France into the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Crimean-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Crimean War</a> and helped negotiate the treaty at the Congress of Paris (1856). He sided with Sicily against Austria (1859) and was victorious at the Battle of Solferino. He aided Italy in achieving unity and annexed Savoy and Nice (1860). He promoted liberalized policies within France, which enjoyed prosperity during much of his reign. In the 1860s he gradually introduced political liberalization. He expected material rewards from his “Latin empire” after installing Maximilian as emperor of Mexico (1864–67) but was disappointed. He kept France neutral in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but in 1870 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Otto-von-Bismarck" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Otto von Bismarck</a> contrived to involve France in the disastrous <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Franco-German-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Franco-Prussian War</a>. After leading his troops to defeat in the Battle of Sedan (September 1870), Napoleon surrendered and was deposed as emperor.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> </article></div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/emperor-title"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/46/91346-050-6B750522/Statue-Augustus-Roman.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="statue of the Roman emperor Augustus" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/emperor-title" >emperor Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Emperor, title designating the sovereign of an empire, conferred originally on rulers of the ancient Roman Empire and on various later European rulers, though the term is also applied descriptively to some non-European monarchs. In republican Rome (c. 509–27 bce), imperator denoted a victorious</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/president-government-official"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/58/175658-050-1A5FBC16/Charles-de-Gaulle-French-soldier-statesman-President-circa-1958-1969.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="de Gaulle, Charles" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/president-government-official" >president Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">President, in government, the officer in whom the chief executive power of a nation is vested. The president of a republic is the head of state, but the actual power of the president varies from country to country; in the United States, Africa, and Latin America the presidential office is charged</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/army"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/124794-050-6992BFD4/Peoples-Liberation-Army-of-China-Beijing-dress.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="People's Liberation Army of China" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/army" >army Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Army, a large organized armed force trained for war, especially on land. The term may be applied to a large unit organized for independent action, or it may be applied to a nation’s or ruler’s complete military organization for land warfare. Throughout history, the character and organization of</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/Crimean-War"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/55/201055-050-4986C32D/Encampment-photograph-Horse-Artillery-Roger-Fenton-Crimean-1855.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Crimean War" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/Crimean-War" >Crimean War Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Crimean War, (October 1853–February 1856), war fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula between the Russians and the British, French, and Ottoman Turkish, with support from January 1855 by the army of Sardinia-Piedmont. The war arose from the conflict of great powers in the Middle East and was more</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"TopicCollectionPage","templateName":"CONCISE","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":6,"pageId":null,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-collection-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"TopicCollectionPage","pageSubtype":"CONCISE","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Napoleon III summary | Britannica