The Rise and Fall of the Second Empire, 1852 - 1871 (The Cambridge History of Modern France)

The Second Empire lasted longer than any French regime since 1789, yet most historical accounts of the government of Napoleon III have been overshadowed by the knowledge of its disastrous and tragic end. As Professor Plessis shows in this detailed thermatic study, such an approach ignores the major social, economic, and political developments of a period that witnessed the gradual acceptance of univeral suffrage, the establishment of large-scale industrial capitalism, a massive improvement in communications, and the birth of impressionism in art. The Second Empire lasted longer than any French regime since 1789, yet most historical accounts of the government of Napoleon III have been overshadowed by knowledge of its disastrous and tragic end. As Professor Plessis shows in this detailed thematic study, such an approach ignores the major social, economic and political developments of a period which witnessed the gradual acceptance of universal suffrage, the establishment of large-scale industrial capitalism, a massive improvement in communications and the birth of impressionism in art. The transition of French society from that familiar to Honore de Balzac to that dissected by Emile Zola was nonetheless a fitful process, spasmodic and irregular, and the role of the imperial government in that process of modernization equally uncertain. The paradox, emphasized by Professor Plessis, of a dictatorship that progressively liberalized itself, and was indeed resoundingly endorsed by the electorate only months before its fall, is not the least perplexing phenomenon of an age in which stagnation and innovation were constantly juxtaposed. The Second Empire lasted longer than any French regime since 1789, yet most historical accounts of the government of Napoleon III have been overshadowed by knowledge of its disastrous and tragic end. As Professor Plessis shows in this detailed thematic study, such an approach ignores the major social, economic and political developments of a period which witnessed the gradual acceptance of universal suffrage, the establishment of large-scale industrial capitalism, a massive improvement in communications and the birth of impressionism in art. The modernisation of French society was nonetheless a fitful and irregular process, and the role of the imperial government in that process of modernisation equally uncertain. The paradox of a dictatorship that liberalised itself was not the least perplexing phenomenon of a age in which stagnation and innovation were constantly juxtaposed The preceding volume recounted the final stages of the rapid march that in 1852 led the Prince-President Louis Napoleon to assume the title of Napoleon III: the senatus consultum of 7 November, the overwhelming 'yes' of the French people in the plebiscite of 21 and 22 November and, finally, the issuing, on 2 December, of a decree promulgating the earlier senatus consultum and proclaiming the Empire. Contents Chronology Foreword 1 The regime of Napoleon III 2 The political personnel and political life of the Second Empire 3 Economic progress and change 4 Living standards, life styles and attitudes 5 The good years, 1852-61 6 Decline and fall Notes Bibliography Index of names