During the Second French Empire, the reign of Emperor Napoleon III, Paris was the largest city in continental Europe and a leading center of finance, commerce, fashion, and the arts. The population of
Music in the Tuileries Gardens by Édouard Manet (1862)
Napoleon III by Alexandre Cabanel (about 1865)
The new boulevards and parks built by Haussmann during the Second Empire
An editorial cartoon of 1858 illustrates the opposition of many residents of the Paris suburbs to Napoleon III's plan to make them part of the city.
Napoleon III
Videos
Napoleon III was the first President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first elected president, second emperor, and the last
Paris during the Second Empire
…During the Second French Empire, the reign of Emperor Napoleon III (1852–1870), Paris was the largest city in continental Europe and a leading center of finance, commerce, fashion, and the arts. The population of the…
The lakeside house at Arenenberg, Switzerland, where Louis Napoleon spent much of his youth and exile
Etching portrait of Louis Napoleon at the time of his failed coup in 1836
Louis Napoleon launching his failed coup in Strasbourg in 1836