The war was from the first doomed to disaster. It might per haps have been averted if France had had any allies. But Austria, a possible ally, could only join France if satisfied as regards Italy; and since Garibaldi had threatened Rome (Mentana, 1867), Napoleon III., yielding to the anger of the Catholics, had again sent troops to Rome. Negotiations had taken place in 1869. The emperor, bound by the Catholics, had refused to withdraw his troops. It was as a distant but inevitable consequence of his agreement of December 1848 with the Catholic party that in 187o the emperor found himself without an ally.
His energy was now completely exhausted. Successive attacks of stone in the bladder had ruined his physique ; while his hesi tation and timidity increased with age. The influence of the empress over him became supreme. On leaving the council in which the war was decided upon the emperor threw himself, weep ing, into the arms of Princess Mathilde. The empress was de lighted at this war, which she thought would secure her son's inheritance.
July 28 father and son set out for the army. They found it in a state of utter disorder, and added to the difficulties by their presence. The emperor was suffering from stone and could hardly sit his horse. After the defeat of Reichs hoffen, when Bazaine was thrown back upon Metz, he wished to retreat upon Paris. But the empress represented to him that if he retreated it would mean a revolution. An advance was de cided upon which ended in Sedan. On Sept. 2 Napoleon III. surrendered with 8o,000 men, and on the 4th of September the Empire fell. He was taken as a prisoner to the castle of Wil helmshohe, near Cassel, where he stayed till the end of the war.
After the intrigues of Bazaine, of Bismarck, and of the empress, the Germans having held negotiations with the Republic, he was de facto deposed. On March 1, the assembly of Bordeaux confirmed this deposition, and declared him "responsible for the ruin, invasion and dismemberment of France." Restored to liberty, he retired with his wife and son to Chisle hurst in England. Unwilling even now to despair of the future, he still sought to rally his friends for a fresh propaganda. He had at his service publicists such as Cassagnac, J. Amigues and Hugelmann. He himself also wrote unsigned pamphlets justifying the campaign of 187o. It may be noted that, true to his ideas, he did not attempt to throw upon others the responsibility which he had always claimed for himself. He dreamed of his son's future. But he no longer occupied himself with any definite plans. He interested himself in pensions for workmen and economical stoves. At the end of 1872 his disease became more acute, and a surgical operation became necessary. He died on Jan. 9, 1873, leaving his son in the charge of the empress and of Rouher. The young prince was educated at Woolwich from 1872 to 1875, and in 1879 took part in the English expedition against the Zulus in South Africa, in which he was killed. By his death vanished all hope of renewing the extraordinary fortune which for twenty years placed the nephew of the great emperor, the Carbonaro and dreamer, at once obstinate and yet hesitating, on the throne of France.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—The Oeuvres of Napoleon III. have been published in four volumes and his Histoire de Jules Cesar in two volumes (1865-69) ; this latter work has been translated into English by T. Wright. See also Ebeling, Napoleon III. and sein Hof (1891-94) ; H. Thirria, Napoleon III. avant l'Empire (1895) ; Sylvain-Blot, Napoleon III. (1899) ; Giraudeau, Napoleon III. intime (1895) ; Sir W. A. Fraser, Napoleon III. (London, 1895) ; A. Forbes, Life of Napoleon III. (1898) ; A. Lebey, Les Trois coups d'etat de Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1906) ; Louis Napoleon Bonaparte et la revolu tion de 1848 (1908) ; and F. A. Simpson, The Rise of Louis Napoleon (1909). General works which may be consulted are Taxile-Delord, Histoire du second Empire (1868-75) ; P. de La Gorce, Histoire du second Empire (1894-1905) ; A. Thomas, Le Second Empire (1907) ; and E. 011ivier, L'Empire liberal (14 vols., 1895-1909) .