Second empire on the road to disaster

14
The revolutionary movement in France in the period 1850-1860-s

After the coup of 1851, in the early years of the coming to power of Louis Bonaparte, the French revolutionary and labor movement was in a state of decay. First, the revolutionary asset was either physically destroyed or sent to prison and exile. France established a military regime that controlled society through bureaucracy, the police, and the church. The free press was stifled, the right of assemblies and unions was liquidated, political, professional and cooperative organizations were crushed. The only legal organizations of workers at that time were mutual aid societies, which limited their activities to the distribution of benefits to sick and needy members, who were under the “tutelage” of local authorities and the church. The peasant uprisings and riots, which covered a large part of the country, mainly the southern and central regions, were reprimanded by the authorities with raids, mass arrests and references.

Secondly, the defeat of the 1848 revolution caused a completely understandable decline in revolutionary activity. Many intellectuals and the working class were disappointed in political activities. Thirdly, the December 2 coup d'état of 1851, which led to the liquidation of the Second Republic and the establishment of the Second Empire, coincided with the beginning of an industrial boom in France, which replaced the economic crisis and the depression of previous years. There was a temporary improvement in the economic situation of the workers, which ensured the passivity of the workers.

At this time, the theory of Proudhon, that it was necessary not to destroy capitalism, but to “clean” it, became widespread. The teachings of Proudhon preached anarchism and class collaboration. Proudhon even expressed the opinion that Napoleon III would open the era of social transformations and carry out a social revolution in France that would change the whole of Europe and the world.

However, not everything went smoothly in 50-s. Reports from prosecutors general reported on strikes in Lyon, as well as in Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Amiens, Dijon, Colmar, Toulon, Nancy, Nimes, Nantes, Rennes, at Anzenne’s mines and in other minor industrial centers. Hunger riots were noted in the reports, for example, in Bourges and in Poitiers. The difficult living conditions of workers and artisans were complicated by the crop failures of the early years of the empire. Crop failures 1853, 1854, 1855 caused a strong rise in price of bread. The price of a hectoliter of wheat from 12 francs rose in 1855 to 30 francs and above. Strikes were mostly economic in nature. Responsibility for the harsh conditions of their existence, the workers in this period, in most cases, assigned to entrepreneurs, without extending it to the regime of Napoleon III.

The regime of Napoleon III, in order to divert society from internal problems, went to the Crimean adventure - to get involved in a war with Russia. France and Russia had no fundamental contradictions and common borders, but Paris went to an alliance with England and started a war with the Russian Empire. France gained no benefit from this war, only lost thousands of the best soldiers and spent the resources necessary for the development of the country. Therefore, Louis Napoleon himself activated the political process in order to end the war with Russia, refusing further pressure on Petersburg, as England and Austria wanted.

Economic crisis 1857 — 1858 opened a new stage in the development of the internal political life of France. The crisis has had a devastating effect on French industry, agriculture, trade, finance. He showed the weakness of the economy of the Second Empire and displeased the Bonapartist regime among almost all segments of the French population, including the bourgeoisie. Entrepreneurs began to "optimize" their costs, which was reflected in the reduction of workers' wages. This led to a series of strikes in various branches of industry in Paris and in the provinces. Deep discontent was growing among the peasantry. It manifested itself in numerous arsons of landlords' estates.

Significant strata of the bourgeoisie began to penetrate opposition sentiments due to reduced profits in various industries, depreciation of securities, shares of the “Movable Credit”, French Bank, railway and other companies, rents, etc. , as well as numerous small rentiers who suffered from constant fluctuations on the stock exchange. The authorities responded with numerous arrests.

During the election campaign of 1857, the French bourgeoisie, with the support of the workers, led five right-wing or so-called "moderate" Republicans to the Legislative Corps. They constituted the left faction of the Legislative Corps. They were loyal to the regime of Napoleon III, but the fact that the republican opposition appeared in the Bonapartist chamber was a serious step, which showed that the government no longer enjoys the full support of the well-off part of society. The bourgeoisie began to lose faith in the ability of Napoleon III to ensure its material interests. Republican candidates were also supported in the provinces: in Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Avignon, Montpellier, and in many other cities in various departments.

This made a strong impression on the government. The emperor began to think about a new war to divert public opinion and internal reform in order to expand the rights of the Legislative Corps. So was born the idea of ​​the Italian war. 1858 began the year with the assassination attempt on Napoleon III, perpetrated on January 14 in Paris by the Italian Orsini. Orsini and his comrades threw three bombs at the imperial carriage, in which the French emperor and his wife drove up to the theater gates on Peletie street. The first bomb exploded among the cab drivers. The second one tore the horses apart and broke the glass of the carriage, the third one fell under the carriage. As a result, the assassination killed eight people, injured dozens of people. Oddly enough, the imperial couple remained completely unharmed. Later it turned out that the Italian terrorist was associated with the British, and the bombs were made in England. This dramatically worsened and so bad relations with England. French newspapers raised a terrible hype about this. Palmerston resigned.

In France itself, the government responded by issuing public safety laws against so-called “suspicious persons”. 27 February 1858 These laws were approved by the Legislative Corps. Arrests and exiles attacked activists of the labor movement, “suspicious” artisans, peasants, representatives of the intelligentsia, representatives of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie who supported the idea of ​​the republic. Including those who, after December 1851, moved away from active political life. In February, 1858 was appointed General Espinas, one of the active participants in the Bonapartist coup d'état, as Minister of the Interior and Public Security. The country was divided into five military governorships. Authorities picked up old lists of people who, after the unrest of 1848 and 1851, were deemed dangerous. Mass arrests began both in Paris and in the departments.

However, at the end of the 50s in France, there was still no mass revolutionary movement, the opposition was still in its infancy. Only in the first and especially in the second half of 60, as a result of the further crisis of capitalism and the mistakes of the government’s domestic and foreign policy, did the real revolutionary situation arise when both the bourgeoisie and the working class came out for the revival of the republic.

Second empire on the road to disaster

Napoleon III

Not brought success Italian campaign. The French emperor Napoleon III planned to expand his influence in Italy, ousting the Austrians from there. Austria at this time kept Lombardy and the Venetian region and, like France, sought to prevent the unification of Italy. France and Austria fought for supremacy over Italy. At the same time, the French government wanted to divert public attention from internal problems, having achieved decisive success in foreign policy. Sardinia entered into an alliance with France. Prussia fought with Austria for leadership in Germany, Russia was hostile to Austria after the Crimean War, and England was distracted by the insurrection of the coastal forces in India. France got free hand. The war began in the spring of 1859 and the Austrians suffered a complete defeat from the combined forces of France and the Sardinian kingdom. However, the victory over Austria led to the fact that increased Sardinia, which was on the path of unification of Italy. Tuscany, Parma and Modena were about to unite in one state with Sardinia. Napoleon, of course, did not want this. Napoleon III did not want to strengthen Sardinia, and especially education near France in a new, large, independent state. He needed a "pocket" and politically fragmented Italy, within the sphere of influence of the Second Empire.

After the victory at Solferino, where 24 was on June 1859, where the Austrians, led by their emperor Franz Joseph, suffered a crushing defeat and fled from Lombardy, Napoleon III realized that he was making a mistake. Sardinia is very strong. Napoleon offered the world to Franz Joseph. Franz Joseph gladly accepted the offer. Europe did not have time to come to its senses, as 11 July, peace was signed between France and Austria. Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel, like all of Italy, fell into great despondency. One on one with Austria, Sardinia could not fight. The Italian press called Napoleon III a traitor. Austria ceded Lombardy along the Po and Mincio rivers to France, and then Napoleon III handed it over to the King, Sardinian Victor Emmanuel, in exchange for Nice and Savoy, who had departed to France. Venice remained under Austria.

However, the unification of Italy could no longer be stopped. In 1859-1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi overthrew the rulers of Tuscany, Parma, Modena from the thrones. These Italian states soon merged with Sardinia. Then Sardinia made an anti-Austrian alliance with Prussia. In 1866, Austria was again crushed and left Italy. Thus, soon France received a new large independent state at its side. The Italian adventure of Napoleon III left France sideways. Small territorial acquisitions were not worth the fact that relations with the Italians and Austrians were spoiled. The policy of the Bonapartist government led to the international isolation of France, which ultimately led to the 1870-1871 catastrophe. In addition, the Italian policy of Napoleon III caused the strongest annoyance of the pope and clerics.

The Mexican adventure has failed. In 1861, France embarked on a Mexican adventure. In Mexico, after the civil war, the liberals won. The conservatives were looking for external forces to begin the struggle for power again and put forward plans for the restoration of the monarchy. In addition, Mexico refused to pay the bills, which angered England. The British wanted to restore and strengthen their economic positions in the region, as well as isolate the northern states. Napoleon III intended to create a vassal state and strengthen his shaken authority within France with the help of an easy victorious war. Spain wanted to establish its protectorate over Mexico. The first to land in Mexico were Spanish troops, then Anglo-French forces landed.

However, due to the yellow fever epidemic, due to the lack of ammunition and lack of transport, as well as problems with the food supply, the interventionist troops were not able to take a hike inland. As a result, first England, France and Spain went to a truce, and then London and Madrid withdrew their troops from Mexico. By this time, England no longer needed joint action against Mexico and abandoned its plans to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States. And Spain was convinced that it was impossible to establish a protectorate in the country because of the strong resistance of the Mexicans and the intentions of France.

France was left alone, but Paris continued to persist. Started a bitter struggle. The French have greatly increased their land and naval forces in the region. The French created the Second Mexican Empire, led by Maximilian I. However, the collapse of French intervention soon became apparent. France could not single-handedly wage such a war, which placed a great burden on the country. Expedition costs exceeded 300 million francs. The French army lost a quarter of its composition. Most losses were from disease. Defeat has become widespread. In France itself, the French public opinion and the opposition of Napoleon III opposed the war. The United States, which initially did not dare to strongly oppose intervention in Mexico, in December 1865, they demanded the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico. The embargo was lifted from the sale weapons and recruiting volunteers to fight the interventionists and troops of the Second Mexican Empire was allowed. The United States issued a loan to the government of Juarez. There was a threat of war between France and the USA. In addition, the situation in Europe deteriorated sharply, with the threat of war with Prussia. In 1866, the withdrawal of French troops from the country was announced. In 1867, all forces were withdrawn. The Second Mexican Empire was defeated, Maximilian I was shot. Thus, the military adventure of the regime of Napoleon III in Mexico suffered a complete collapse.


Second empire

Strengthening the opposition

At the beginning of 1860, the government of Napoleon III set itself up against a large part of the big bourgeoisie, which was previously one of the most powerful pillars of the regime. An Anglo-French trade agreement was concluded, which lowered the protective duties on a number of British goods and placed many owners of textile enterprises, steel mills, and coal mines before the fact of English competition in the domestic market. To counter this competition, French entrepreneurs were forced to upgrade their fixed capital and retool their enterprises in accordance with the latest technology requirements. This required large investments. In addition, the industrial stagnation of the beginning of the 60-ies, complicated by the events of the American Civil War (the French economy had strong ties with the American), further aggravated the opposition sentiments of the big bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie was also dissatisfied with the government’s attempts to flirt with the workers. According to the big bourgeoisie, such a policy only intensified the revolutionary ferment in society.

As a result, the imperial government took the path of liberal transformations in order to restore its position among wealthy citizens. The decrees of 24 in November 1860, the Legislative Corps and the Senate were given the right to discuss government policy, in response to the emperor's annual speech to the opening of the session of the Legislative Corps, and taking the address with its assessment. Bonapartist chambers also received the right to publish official records of their meetings.

The bourgeoisie, however, did not satisfy these formal and minor concessions. It demanded more radical political reforms and “necessary freedoms”, freedom of speech, the press, the empowerment of municipalities, etc. During the election campaign of 1863 — 1864. an opposition political bloc was formed under the name of a “liberal union”, which formed the core of the future “third party”. It consisted mainly of right-wing bourgeois Republicans and Orleanists. At 1865, at a congress in Nancy, participants in this movement adopted a program that outlined the requirements for decentralizing the state apparatus of the empire.

To be continued ...
Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

14 comments
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +3
    23 March 2016 06: 58
    This is exactly the case when it is not a person who "paints" a place, but a "place painted" a person.
  2. +2
    23 March 2016 07: 34
    the defeat of the revolution of 1848 caused a completely understandable decline in revolutionary activity. Many representatives of the intelligentsia and the working class were disappointed in political activity.

    From the article "THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE QUESTION OF THE MIDDLE LAYERS": "... The revolution of 1848 in France was defeated, among other things, because it did not find a sympathetic response in the French peasantry. The Paris Commune fell because, among other things, it stumbled upon opposition from the middle strata, and above all the peasantry ... "
    “Truth” No. 253,
    November 7 1923 city
    Signature: I. Stalin
  3. +5
    23 March 2016 07: 38
    Napoleon III is an ardent adventurer and his policy is the same ..
    1. +11
      23 March 2016 09: 18
      The last emperor of France. About how he went to this title: Prince Charles Louis Napolen was born in 1808 in the family of the brother of the famous Napoleon No. 1 - Louis Bonaparte. After the overthrow of his uncle, he was forced to emigrate with his family to Switzerland, where in 1825 he attended a course in artillery and engineering (the first imitation of uncle). Then began the career of an adventurer: in 1830, Prince Charles took part in the uprising against the secular authority of the pope in Rome. Twice (in 1836 in Strasbourg and in 1840 in Boulogne) he tried to raise the mutiny and seize power in France, both times unsuccessfully (a successful rebellion is called differently). After the last coup, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in the fortress of Gam, whence, under very strange circumstances, he fled to ... England. He returned to his homeland in 1848 after the revolution that overthrew the Bourbon dynasty and was then elected president of the republic. Repeating the path of his uncle, who also began as consul, Charles Louis, with the support of the army, made a coup and became a dictator in 1851, a year later he was proclaimed emperor of France under the name Napoleon III. All his life he was impressed by the image and accomplishments of his great uncle and for some reason believed that he was able to repeat, or even surpass the career of the latter. This largely explains the adventurism in the foreign policy of Napoleon III, who, imagining himself and his army invincible, climbed into all possible adventures. Ultimately, this led to the defeat at Metz and Sedan, to the capture of Napoleon No. 3 himself and the liquidation of the empire.
      A thoughtless and adventurous career and its sad result - captivity in Sedan: "... Meanwhile, a hunched figure separated from a handful of Frenchmen and slowly, leaning on a cane, approached the Prussians. This was the Emperor of France, who had noticeably lost his famous all over Europe and chic: the soiled greatcoat sat on him baggy, and the famous goatee and the mustache hung sadly. Stopping in front of William (the elderly Prussian king), who was proudly sitting in the saddle, Napoleon said wearily: "I entrust myself into the hands of Your Majesty ..." Bonaparte was sent to Germany, where he was interned until the end of the war in the Wilhelmshohe castle near Kassel.He never returned to his beloved France.
      I have the honor.
      1. +3
        23 March 2016 12: 07
        Quote: Alexander72
        leaning on a cane, which lost its European-style fatigue and chic: a soiled overcoat sat baggy on it, and the famous goatee and mustache hung dejectedly.


        Even before that, he was no longer awake. By this time (to the war) he was a deeply ill person — terrible rheumatism and a bunch of other diseases ...
      2. The comment was deleted.
      3. +2
        23 March 2016 16: 25
        Well, he repeated the fate of his uncle, lost his empire, lost the war, was captured and died in a foreign land. He wanted to be like an uncle, he succeeded)
  4. +1
    23 March 2016 07: 50
    Oh youth France's history in three volumes of 1970
  5. +5
    23 March 2016 09: 00
    In addition to Russia and Mexico, he fought with Japan, with China, all over the world. His policy contributed to the formation of Italy and Germany, the strongest rivals and opponents of France, weakening the natural ally against the growing Prussia-Russia. As a result, it led to the defeat of France, its own captivity and revolution.
    Following the negative consequences of the reign, Napoleon III surpassed Napoleon I.
  6. +1
    23 March 2016 14: 27
    And where in France they exiled?
    1. +3
      23 March 2016 16: 22
      In French Guiana, it was called Dry Gelotin. 3 percent of political exiles survived due to the hot marshy climate and the spread of various fevers. When gold was found in Guiana, out of thousands of miners rushing there, a very small percentage also survived. Even now, this is one of the most deserted territories in the world
    2. +1
      23 March 2016 16: 23
      Guiana - dry guillotine
  7. +2
    23 March 2016 20: 53
    The main denouncer of the empire of Napoleon III was, perhaps, Victor Hugo, who emigrated to about. Jersey, and when the emperor invited him to return said: "I will return to France when freedom returns there." On this subject he wrote "Napoleon the Small" and "The History of a Crime". At the same time, E. Zola wrote his novels, in which he also described the internal crisis of the empire. The best research work belongs to Marx - "18 Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte". Brilliant work, a model for analyzing events for many journalists.
  8. 0
    23 March 2016 21: 16
    that’s what it means to give all the fullness of power to one person ... and even to such worthless one ..
  9. 0
    24 March 2016 19: 08
    After the coup d'etat of 1851, in the first years of Louis Bonaparte's rise to power, the French revolutionary and labor movement was in extreme decline.


    Just like in the world now ...

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"