The proscriptions and anarchy by which the Revolution was accompanied continued till Napoleon attained to the supreme direction of affairs. The talents of this extraordinary man were surpass ed only by his ambition, which, by over stepping all bounds, precipitated him in to enterprises that ultimately led to his overthrow. In 1814 the Bourbons were re placed on the throne; but in 1830 they were re-expelled from the kingdom. The crown was then offered, under condi tions, to Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, by whom it was accepted. He has the merit of having contributed, under very difficult circumstances, to the mainte nance, for a lengthened period, of the peace of France and Europe. Under his reign the Revolution of Feb. 24, 1848, broke out, and resulted in the establish ment of the republic, with a provisional government.
A new constitution having been voted by a "Constituent Assembly" of 900 members. Prince Louis Napoleon was elected head of the republic, for four years, by 5,562,843 votes, on Dec. 10, 1848. The prince President dissolved the National Assembly by a coup d'etat, Dec. 2, 1851, and having remodeled the constitution, appealed to universal suf frage, which declared him president for 10 years, by 7,439,216 votes, on Dec. 21, 1851. By a third vote, Louis Napoleon was chosen Emperor of France, by 7, 864,216 against 31,145 votes, on Nov. 22, 1852, and assumed the title of Napo leon III., Emperor of the French, on Dec. 1, 1852. For the history of France since 1852, see NAPOLEON.
The government of Napoleon III. was in all essentials an absolute monarchy. The legislative powers and the suffrage were entirely within his control. In order to quiet the dissatisfaction of the people, Napoleon entered upon an ag gressive foreign policy. He made an al liance with England and France against Russia in 1854, and the successful out come of the Crimean War was a per sonal triumph for him. Paris became the diplomatic capital of Europe, following the Congress of Paris in 1856. Napoleon, in 1859, in the role of the champion of the oppressed nationalities, aided Italy against Austria and obtained as a reward possession of Savoy and Nice. His attempts at intervention in Poland in 1863 and in Schleswig-Holstein in the following year, were, however, un successful. Far more disastrous, how ever, was his invasion of Mexico and the establishment there of an empire under Maximilian of Austria. The fail ure of this empire and the execution of Maximilian were fatal blows at Napo leon's prestige. This was followed by the defeat of Austria in 1866 and the rise of Prussia, which threatened to deprive France of the leading position in Euro pean politics. While there was economic prosperity in France and great indus trial development, there were many signs of dissatisfaction. Opposition to the
Empire continued to grow until in 1869 Napoleon was obliged to grant a respon sible ministry. It soon appeared, how ever, that this was in reality without power and that the personal govern ment of the Emperor continued. An ap peal to the people failed and the neces sity of regaining his influence led Napo leon to enter once more upon an aggres sive course of action in foreign affairs. This issue of the succession to the va cant Spanish throne precipitated the crisis between France and Prussia, whose foreign policy was now conducted by the genius of Bismarck. Napoleon, deceived by the false reports of his min isters in relation to the efficiency of the French army, permitted himself to be carried into the war with Prussia, which had been silently preparing for many years for such a conflict. The Franco Prussian War was of short duration. The succession of defeats for the French ended on Sept. 2, 1870, in the sur render of Sedan. On Sept. 4, the Emperor and his descendants were de clared forever excluded from the throne and France was proclaimed a republic. Following a period of disorder the first National Assembly met in February, 1871, at Bordeaux, and the Third Repub lic was formed. A treaty of peace was signed with Germany at Versailles on Feb. 26 and was quickly ratified by the French Government. France was obliged to cede Alsace and parts of Lor raine to Prussia, and pay an indemnity of 5,000,000,000 francs. Not until this indemnity was paid, in September, 1873, were the Prussian troops withdrawn from French territory. There were vio lent outbreaks of the commune in 1871, but these were suppressed. On Aug. 31 of that year, Thiers received from the National Assembly the title of President of the Republic. He resigned in 1873 and Marshal MacMahon was elected for a period of seven years. The National Assembly in 1873 adopted laws provid ing for the constitution of the National Legislature. MacMahon resigned in 1879 and was succeeded by Jules Grevy. In spite of attempts at the revival of the monarchy, republican sentiment con tinued to grow. The constitution was revised in 1884. France, in 1881, entered upon a foreign colonial policy by estab lishing a protectorate over Tunis. This was followed in 1883 by the enforcement of a claim of certain rights over Mada gascar, which in 1896 became a French possession. In 1884 the war with China resulted in the establishment of a French protectorate over Annam and Tonking. M. Grevy was re-elected in 1885, but resigned in 1887. He was suc ceeded by Sadi Carnot, in whose admin istration occurred the Panama Canal scandal.