This article is about the specific polity Second French Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Napoleon III, a nephew of Napeloen, abolished the Republic in 1852 and created the Second French Empire. Unlike his uncle, he focused on a series of relatively small wars to increase the French territory. With the Franco-Prussian War the Empire was defeated and France occupied by Germany. After the defeat, Napoloen III was overthrown and the Republic re-established in 1870.
Summary
The Second French Empire was the imperial regime of Napoleon III in France from 1852 to 1870. It followed the French Second Republic and preceded the French Third Republic.
After the 1848 revolution, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I, was elected president of the Second Republic. He subsequently staged a coup d'état in 1851 and proclaimed himself Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. His regime was a constitutional monarchy, with a relatively modern structure of government, but with the emperor as the dominant figure.
Napoleon III oversaw the rebuilding and modernization of Paris, with wide boulevards and parks designed by Baron Haussmann. He also presided over a period of economic growth and relative prosperity in France. However, his foreign policy was more controversial - he supported Italy's unification, intervened in Mexico to install Archduke Maximilian as emperor, and ultimately led France into the Franco-Prussian War.
The Second Empire ended in 1870 after the disastrous Franco-Prussian War. Napoleon III was captured by the Prussians at the Battle of Sedan, and the empire collapsed. This paved the way for the establishment of the French Third Republic.
Establishment
December 1852: The Second Empire is the constitutional and political system established in France on December 2, 1852 when Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, President of the French Republic, became the sovereign Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, one year to the day after his coup d'etat in December 2, 1851.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a series of conflicts that led to the unification of the Italian Peninsula into the Kingdom of Italy. It includes the three wars considered the three independency wars of Italy, in addition to a series of military operations like the Expedition of the Thousand and the Sardinian military campaign in Central Italy.
1.1.Second Italian War of Independence
Was the second of the three traditional Italian Wars of Independence. It was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of France against the Austrian Empire. It resulted in the Sardinian annexion of Austrian ruled Lombardy, as well as the annexion of several Italian polities in Central Italy.
March 1860: On March 24, 1860, the Treaty of Turin was signed by which the Kingdom of Sardinia, recognizing the provisions of the alliance treaty to France, ceding the region of Savoy and the city of Nice.
Were a series of wars that resulted in the creation of the German Empire under Prussian leadership in 1871.
2.1.Franco-Prussian War
Was a war that saw the Second French Empire fight against an alliance of German states led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The war was caused by the struggle over dominance in continental Europe between Prussia and France. The German states were victorious and in 1871 merged to form the German Empire. France was occupied and forced to cede Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.
2.1.1.German Invasion (Franco-Prussian War)
Was the invasion of the Second French Empire by an alliance of German states during the Franco-Prussian War. The French defeat at Sédan (1870) caused the fall of the French Empire.
August 1870: Battle of Wissembourg.
August 1870: Battle of Wörth.
August 1870: Battle of Spicheren.
August 1870: Siege of Bitche (1870-1871).
August 1870: Siege of Phalsbourg (1870).
August 1870: Siege of Strasbourg.
August 1870: On the late afternoon of 14 August the leading Prussian VII Corps of First Army attacked the French forces still east of the Moselle in the battle of Borny (also known as Borny-Colombey or Colombey-Nouilly from the chain of villages to the east of Metz).
August 1870: Battle of Mars-la-Tour.
August 1870: Siege of Toul.
August 1870: Battle of Gravelotte.
August 1870: Siege of Metz.
August 1870: Battle of Beaumont.
September 1870: The Battle of Sedan in northeastern France during September 1-2, 1870, was the most important engagement of the Franco-Prussian War). The battle brought the French Empire to an end and decided the outcome of the war.
September 1870: Battle of Noisseville.
September 1870: When the news of the surrender at Sedan of Napoleon III and 80,000 men arrived, the Second Empire was overthrown by a popular uprising in Paris, which forced the proclamation of a Provisional Government and a Third Republic by general Trochu, Favre and Gambetta on 4 September. The new government called itself the Government of National Defence.
February 1861: The two cities of Mentone and Roccabruna, after a plebiscite piloted by the Piedmontese government and by France, passed to the latter on February 2, 1861.
Disestablishment
August 1870: Battle of Wissembourg.
August 1870: Battle of Wörth.
August 1870: Battle of Spicheren.
August 1870: Siege of Bitche (1870-1871).
August 1870: Siege of Phalsbourg (1870).
August 1870: On the late afternoon of 14 August the leading Prussian VII Corps of First Army attacked the French forces still east of the Moselle in the battle of Borny (also known as Borny-Colombey or Colombey-Nouilly from the chain of villages to the east of Metz).
August 1870: Siege of Strasbourg.
August 1870: Battle of Mars-la-Tour.
August 1870: Siege of Toul.
August 1870: Battle of Gravelotte.
August 1870: Siege of Metz.
August 1870: Battle of Beaumont.
September 1870: The Battle of Sedan in northeastern France during September 1-2, 1870, was the most important engagement of the Franco-Prussian War). The battle brought the French Empire to an end and decided the outcome of the war.
September 1870: Battle of Noisseville.
September 1870: When the news of the surrender at Sedan of Napoleon III and 80,000 men arrived, the Second Empire was overthrown by a popular uprising in Paris, which forced the proclamation of a Provisional Government and a Third Republic by general Trochu, Favre and Gambetta on 4 September. The new government called itself the Government of National Defence.
Selected Sources
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, p.37
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, p.43
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, p.54
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, pp.36,37
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, pp.38,40
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, pp.43-46
B. Stephen (2003): The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Osprey Publishing, pp.61-65
Graf von Moltke, H. (2022): The Franco-German War of 1870-71, Good Press, p.82
Graf von Moltke, H. (2022): The Franco-German War of 1870-71, Good Press, pp.2, 4
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.359
Von Tiedemann, B. (1877): The siege operations in the campaign against France, 1870-71, London : Her majesty's stationery office, p. 110
Von Tiedemann, B. (1877): The siege operations in the campaign against France, 1870-71, London : Her majesty's stationery office, p. 21
Von Tiedemann, B. (1877): The siege operations in the campaign against France, 1870-71, London : Her majesty's stationery office, p. 96
Von Tiedemann, B. (1877): The siege operations in the campaign against France, 1870-71, London : Her majesty's stationery office, pp. 67-68, 84-85
Second French Empire
