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Napoléon III
1808-1873
The first French head of state elected by universal suffrage, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte became president of the Second Republic on December 10, 1848. A nephew of Napoléon I, he soon turned his term into a reign.
His coup d'État on December 2, 1851 paved the way: exactly one year later, he restored the Empire and proclaimed himself Napoléon III, Emperor of the French. His reign saw the transformation of Paris by Haussmann and an unprecedented industrial boom.
The war against Prussia proved fatal for him: captured at Sedan on September 2, 1870, he lost the Empire and went into exile in England, where he died in 1873.
Under the Second Empire, the château de Compiègne, in northern France, became one of the court's favorite residences. Starting in 1856, the emperor and Empress Eugénie hosted the famous Compiègne series there, long autumn stays bringing together about a hundred guests for hunting and other entertainment.
