PARIS IN THE SECOND EMPIRE

The Second Empire in France covers the period from 1852 to 1870, during the reign of Napoleon III. It was a period of momentous events and of changes in the history of France. It was the time of Victor Hugo (who fled the country after Napoleon became emperor and spent the reign in exile), of Émile Zola, and of Karl Marx's sojourn in Paris during which he wrote on social conditions. It also saw the construction of the Suez Canal under the French Ferdinand de Lesseps.

NAPOLEON III (1808 - 1873)
Charles Louis Napoleon was the nephew of the more famous emperor Napoleon I, and he dreamt of coming to power himself. Involved in several unsuccessful coups, he was briefly exiled to America after one and ended in prison after another. He escaped from prison in 1846, was later elected to the National Assembly, and in 1848 was elected president of the short-lived Second French Republic by a 3:1 margin. Now was his chance; he dismissed his cabinet and became essentially a dictator. Then, in 1851, another coup d'etat dissolved the Assembly or lower house, leaving only the upper house or Senate. On January 1, 1852 the Senate made him emperor with sole power. Under the new constitution, the Senate could no longer make any laws, only consult when the emperor asked.

With respect to foreign policy, Napoleon III was a failure. A series of missteps led to France becoming isolated from all of its friends in Europe. He alienated Britain, and his actions facilitated the unification of Germany. It was the time of the Crimean War (1854-6) (when France lost to Russia), and the start of the Franco-Prussian war (1870). Soon after this, he resigned, was imprisoned, and Paris fell. After the war he was released, moved to England, and died there in 1873. His body still lies in Farnsborough, Hampshire with that of his wife Eugénie. However, while his political record left little lasting impression, his great legacy is the city of Paris as we know it today.

PARIS
While he was in prison, the future Napoleon III dreamt of becoming a second Augustus and rebuilding Paris as the Roman emperor had rebuilt Rome.

Paris in 1850
At that time Paris was still essentially a medieval city, the one portrayed in Hugo's Les Miserables and Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. It still had its city walls, built in the twelfth century and, because the government discouraged building outside the walls, the city inside became more and more crowded, the buildings grew taller, and open spaces and gardens were built over. There were few paved streets, and travel in the city was difficult. Above all, Paris smelled. Horse droppings and human sewage were removed in open carts, gutters became sewers and the waste poured into the river which was also the major source of water. Some water came from wells and fountains, but drinking water had to be bought and was delivered in carts. It is no wonder that perfume became a major industry in the city. Disease was endemic, especially tuberculosis, and there were several cholera outbreaks. This was the Paris Napoleon III inherited. The picture to the right shows a typical street.

The center of the city had many tiny shops where the workers such as the grisettes lived and worked. Travel was so difficult that few could conveniently work very far from where they lived. One-fourth of the population lived on the Left Bank, the site of the university, the Latin or student quarter, and the 'Bohemia' of La bohème.

The wealthy, the monde and the demi-monde, lived in the western part of the city, in their own world with large houses and gardens, far different from world of the majority of the population. This was the Paris in which The Swallow and La traviata are set.

Baron Georges Haussmann
Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine, was put in charge of the rebuilding of Paris, and he met almost daily with the emperor. It was a very complex project. There were no accurate maps of the city itself or of the underground systems. Whole neighborhoods had to be torn down, displacing thousands of people, they were compensated but there was no place for them to go, and as old slums were replaced, new ones developed in other parts of the city. However, in the end, Paris was transformed.

The New Paris
The Paris Napoleon III left in 1870 was essentially the Paris of today. Some landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur did not yet exist, but the old walls were gone, replaced by broad avenues. After 600 years, the Louvre and Notre Dame were finally completed. Streets were rebuilt and parks and other open spaces provided. Middle class citizens replaced the manual workers who had been displaced by the reconstruction. There was an efficient sewer system and a dependable water supply. Edward Chadwick, a British public health crusader, said: "It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble. May it be said of you [i.e. Napolean] that you found Paris stinking and left it sweet". Instead of a cramped medieval city, Paris is now famous for its magnificent vistas and elegant buildings. Napoleon III had fulfilled his dream.

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Revised October 2007
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