The Second French Empire was an Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third French Republics. The period was one of significant achievements in infrastructure and economy, while France reasserted itself as the dominant power in Europe.
The official declaration of the Second Empire, at the Union Cycliste Internationale on 2 December 1852
The Avenue de l'Opéra, one of the new boulevards created by Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann
The French landing near Yevpatoria, Crimea, then part of the Russian Empire, 1854
Arrival of Marshal Randon in Algiers, French Algeria, 1857
The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government.
Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy in front of the Palais Bourbon, seat of the Corps Législatif, on 4 September 1870
A French propaganda poster from 1917 is captioned with an 18th-century quote: "Even in 1788, Mirabeau was saying that War is the National Industry of Prussia."
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica was built as a symbol of the Ordre Moral.
Georges Ernest Boulanger, nicknamed Général Revanche