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The Second Empire (1852 – 1870) was a time of vast accomplishment and sweeping changes. Under Emperor Napoleon III, economic vitality, artistic revolution and urban redesign modernized Paris and thus, France. The French economy was the second largest in the world following Great Britain with tycoons such as banking mogul James de Rothschild symbols of the period. In addition, the real estate speculators, an influential contingency of the Emperor’s supporters, benefited in huge financial windfalls from the Parisian urban renewal. Two of France's largest banks, still in existence today, were founded during that period. The French stock market also expanded. In 1859 France made a secret deal with Italian Prime Minister Cavour to bring about a united Italy. France defeated Austria in 1859 at Solferino, with Piedmont gaining Lombardy (and in return France receiving Savoy and Nice from Piedmont as promised in 1860). In 1870, ill advised by his cabinet and Empress Eugenie, Napoleon began the Franco-Prussian War. This war proved disastrous for France, and helped establish the German Empire, which would replace France as the pre-eminent land power of Europe until World War I. Partial Bibliography of Research for Mademoiselle Victorine Bresler, Fenton—Napoleon III A Life, NY, 1999 Cachin, Francoise—Manet The Influence of the Modern, NY, 1995 Castelot, Andre—The Turbulent City- Paris 1783-1871, NY, 1962 Friedrich, Otto—Olympia:Paris in the Age of Manet, NY,1992 Graham, C.R.—Roses and Thorns of Paris and London, NY, 1897 Grammont de, P.—The French Guedalla, Philip—The Second Empire, NY, 1922 Harrison, C. and Wood, P.—Art in Theory 1815-1900, Oxford, 1988 Herbert, Robert—Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society, Yale University, 1988 Jamison, Kay Redfield—Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, NY, 1993 King, Edward—My Paris, Boston, 1868 Kurtz, Harold—The Empress Eugenie, London, 1964 Miller, Michael—The Bon Marché: Bourgeois Culture and the Department Store, Princeton, 1981 Praz, Mario—An Illustrated History of French Furnishing, NY, 1964 Raymond, Ernest— Paris: City of Enchantment, NY, 1961 Richardson, Joanna—La Vie Parisienne, London, NY 1971 Rougerie, Jacques—Paris Insurgé: la Commune de 1871, Paris, 1995 Seigel, Jerrold—Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life 1830-1930, NY, 1986 Tuckerman, Henry—Papers About Paris, NY, 1867 Zeldin, Theodore—A History of French Passions 1848-1945, Oxford,1993 Zeldin, Theodore—France 1848-1945, 2vols.,Oxford, 1973 and 1974
©2007 Debra Finerman. All Rights Reserved. Website design by Chris Costello
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The mileage
of railways in France increased from 3,000 to 16,000 kilometers.
This allowed mines and factories to stay busy. Steamships
replaced wooden sailing ships. Between 1859 and 1869, a French
company built the Suez Canal.
The French
intervention in Mexico from 1862-1867 planned a sphere of influence
in North America by creating a French-backed
monarchy
in Mexico. The United States
was involved in its own Civil War and unable to prevent this contravention
of the Monroe Doctrine. The monarchy was established under
the Habsburg prince Maximilian,
with the support of Mexican conservatives and French troops. President
Benito
Juarez and his forces fought unsuccessfully against the monarchist/French
forces. When the American Civil War ended, the U.S. government
supported the Mexican
cause. Napoleon withdrew French troops in 1866 leaving Maximilian and
the Mexican monarchists doomed to defeat. Maximilian was captured
by the Juarez forces
and executed on June 19, 1867. 
In the beginning
of the 1860s, France was regarded as the largest military power
in Europe but saw its dominance
eroded by the
Austro-Prussian War in
1866. Napoleon
was unable to bring himself to ally with Austria, despite the obvious
threat that a victorious Prussia would pose to France. |