NAPOLEON III (CHARLEs Louis Napo LEON BONAPARTE), emperor of the French: b. Paris, 20 April 1808; d. Chiselhurst, England, 9 Jan. 1873. He was the son of Louis Bona parte (q.v.), king of Holland. He was taken by his mother, Queen Hortense, to Switzerland in 1816, was educated at the gymnasium of Augs burg and the military school at Thum, joined the unsuccessful Italian revolt against papal rule in Roma and by a conspiracy at Strass burg on 30 Oct.Ol 1836, was declared emperor.
He was arrested and sent without trial to the United States, returned to Switzerland in 1837, lived in London in 1838-40, and on 6 Aug. 1840 landed at Boulogne for a fresh attempt against Louis Philippe. This time he was imprisoned in the fortress of Ham, under a life sentence; but he contrived his escape 25 May 1846. Dur ing this time he had leisure for the exercise of his literary abilities, and the result was the works 'Aux manes de 'Frag ments Historiques); 'Analyse de la Reveries a M. de Lamartine); du ; besides contribu tions to the 'Dictionnaire de la and several articles to democratic newspapers. On the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 he hastened from England to Paris, and in a letter to the provisional government declared that he came to serve under the republican flag (28 Feb. 1848). On the day following he issued another letter announcing that as the • govern ment deemed his presence in Paris dangerous he would immediately quit the country. He accordingly returned to London, where he served as a special constable on the occasion of the great Chartist demonstration of April (1848). In the election of September he was put forward by Paris and three other depart ments. He returned to Paris and on 26 Sep tember took his seat.
He at once commenced through his zealous associates his candidature for the Presidency. On the day of the election, 10 December, it was found that out of 7500,000 votes Louis Na poleon had obtained 5,434,226. On the 20th the prince-president, as he was now called, took the oath of allegiance to the republic. For a
time the greatest harmony seemed to be re established; the President selected his ministers from the ranks of the various political parties, and strove to gain a majority in the assembly by the adoption of a strictly conservative policy. On 2 Dec. 1849 was formed a new ministry, the members of which were merely tools of the President. It was evident that a crisis was ap proaching. At last on 2 Dec. 1851 the coup d'ilat came. Paris was overawed by the army; there was needless butchery in the streets; re ports of approval by Paris of this course were sent to the provinces. The empire was re established in Louis Napoleon by a vote of 8,000,000 to 640,000. On 29 Jan. 1853 the new sovereign married Eugenie Marie de Montijo, Countess de Teba. In 1854 Napoleon, in con junction with England, entered the Crimean War in the interest of Turkey against Russia—a war which was carried on by all the parties with great vigor, until a peace was concluded, 30 March 1856, the terms of which were the neutralization of the Black Sea, the abandon ment by Russia of her protectorate of the Danubian principalities and a rearrangement of frontier territory between Russia and Turkey, to the advantage of the latter power. (See CRIMEA, History). About the beginning of the year 1859 it was evident that another European war was imminent. Northern Italy was groaning under the Austrian yoke; Sar dinia demanded a separate government for Lombardy and Venetia, which Austria refused to grant. War was declared between that country and Sardinia about the end of April, and Napoleon took up arms in favor of his Italian ally, Victor Emmanuel. The two allied sovereigns took the field in person. Monte bello, Magenta, Marignano and Solferino were brilliant victories for the Allies. By the terms of the Peace of Villafranca, Austria ceded Lombardy to Italy, and the provinces of Savoy and Nice were given to France.