8: The Ambition of Louis Napoleon
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The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism
The name of Napoleon is a name to conjure with in France. Two
generations after the fall of Napoleon the Great the people of
that country had practically forgotten the misery he had brought
them, and remembered only the glory with which he had crowned the
name of France. When, then, a man who has been designated as
Napoleon the Little offered himself for their suffrages, they
cast their votes almost unanimously in his favor.
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, to give this personage his full
name, was a son of Louis Bonaparte, once king of Holland, and
Hortense de Beauharnais, and had been recognized by Napoleon as,
after his father, the direct successor to the throne. This he
made strenuous efforts to obtain, hoping to dethrone Louis
Philippe and install himself in his place. In 1836, with a few
followers, he made an attempt to capture Strasbourg. His effort
failed and he was arrested and transported to the United States.
In 1839 he published a work entitled "Napoleonic Ideas," which
was an apology for the ambitious acts of the first Napoleon.
The growing unpopularity of Louis Philippe tempted Louis Napoleon
to make a second attempt to invade France. He did it in a rash
way almost certain to end in failure. Followed by about fifty
men, and bringing with him a tame eagle, which was expected to
perch upon his banner as the harbinger of victory, he sailed from
England in August, 1840, and landed at Boulogne. This desperate
and foolish enterprise proved a complete failure. The soldiers
whom the would-be sovereign expected to join his standard
arrested him, and he was tried for treason by the House of Peers.
This time he was not dealt with so leniently as before, but was
sentenced to imprisonment for life and was confined in the Castle
of Ham. From this fortress he escaped in disguise in May, 1846,
and made his way to England.
The revolution of 1848 gave the restless and ambitious claimant a
more promising opportunity. He returned to France, was elected to
the National Assembly, and on the adoption of the republican
constitution offered himself as a candidate for the presidency of
the new republic. And now the magic of the name of Napoleon told.
General Cavaignac, his chief competitor, was supported by the
solid men of the country, who distrusted his opponent; but the
people rose almost solidly in his support, and he was elected
president for four years by 5,562,834 votes, against 1,469,166
for Cavaignac.
The new President of France soon showed his ambition. He became
engaged in a contest with the Assembly and aroused the distrust
of the Republicans by his autocratic remarks. In 1849 he still
further offended the democratic party by sending an army to Rome,
which put an end to the republic in that city. He sought to make
his cabinet officers the pliant instruments of his will, and thus
caused De Tocqueville, the celebrated author, who was minister
for foreign affairs, to resign. "We were not the men to serve him
on those terms," said De Tocqueville, at a later time.
The new-made president was feeling his way to imperial dignity.
He could not forget that his illustrious uncle had made himself
emperor, and his ambition instigated him to the same course. A
violent controversy arose between him and the Assembly, which
body had passed a law restricting universal suffrage, thus
reducing the popular support of the president. In June, 1850, it
increased his salary at his request, but granted the increase
only for one year - an act of distrust which proved a new source
of discord.
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF 1851
Louis Napoleon meanwhile was preparing for a daring act. He
secretly obtained the support of the army leaders and prepared
covertly for the boldest stroke of his life. On the 2d of
December 1851 - the anniversary of the establishment of the first
empire and of the battle of Austerlitz - he got rid of his
opponents by means of the memorable COUP D'ETAT, and seized the
supreme power of the state.
The most influential members of the Assembly had been arrested
during the preceding night, and when the hour for the session of
the House came the men most strongly opposed to the President
were in prison. Most of them were afterwards exiled, some for
life, some for shorter terms. This act of outrage and alleged
violation of plighted faith by their ruler roused the socialists
and republicans to the defense of their threatened liberties,
insurrections broke out in Paris, Lyons, and other towns, street
barricades were built, and severe fighting took place. But
Napoleon had secured the army, and the revolt was suppressed with
blood and slaughter. Baudin, one of the deposed deputies, was
shot on the barricade in the Faubourg St. Antoine, while waving
in his hand the decree of the constitution. He was afterwards
honored as a martyr to the cause of republicanism in France.
Napoleon had previously sought to gain the approval of the people
by liberal and charitable acts, and to win the good will of the
civic authorities by numerous progresses through the interior. He
now stood as a protector and promoter of national prosperity and
the rights of the people, and sought to lay upon the Assembly all
the defects of his administration. By these means, which aided to
awaken the Napoleonic fervor in the state, he was enabled safely
to submit his acts of violence and bloodshed to the approval of
the people. The new constitution offered by the president was put
to vote, and was adopted by the enormous majority of more than
seven million votes. By its terms Louis Napoleon was to be
president of France for ten years, with power equal to that of a
monarch, and the Parliament was to consist of two bodies, a
Senate and a Legislative House, which were given only nominal
power.
FROM PRESIDENT TO EMPEROR
This was as far as Napoleon dared to venture at that time. A year
later, on December 1, 1852, having meanwhile firmly cemented his
position in the state, he passed from president to emperor, again
by a vote of the people, of whom, according to the official
report, 7,824,189 cast their votes in his favor. That this report
told the truth, many denied, but it served the President's
purpose.
Thus ended the second French republic, by an act of usurpation of
the strongest and yet most popular character. The partisans of
the new emperor were rewarded with the chief offices of the
state; the leading republicans languished in prison or in exile
for the crime of doing their duty to their constituents; and
Armand Marrast, the most zealous champion of the republic, died
of a broken heart from the overthrow of all his efforts and
aspirations. The honest soldier and earnest patriot, Cavaignac,
in a few years followed him to the grave. The cause of liberty in
France seemed lost.
The crowning of a new emperor of the Napoleonic family in France
naturally filled Europe with apprehensions. But Napoleon III, as
he styled himself, was an older man than Napoleon I, and
seemingly less likely to be carried away by ambition. His
favorite motto, "The Empire is peace," aided to restore quietude,
and gradually the nations began to trust in his words: "France
wishes for peace; and when France is satisfied the world is
quiet."
Warned by one of the errors of his uncle, he avoided seeking a
wife in the royal families of Europe, but allied himself with a
Spanish lady of noble rank, the young and beautiful Eugenie de
Montijo, dutchess of Teba. At the same time he proclaimed that,
"A sovereign raised to the throne by a new principle should
remain faithful to that principle, and in the face of Europe
frankly accept the position of a parvenu, which is an honorable
title when it is obtained by the public suffrage of a great
people. For seventy years all princes' daughters married to
rulers of France have been unfortunate; only one, Josephine, was
remembered with affection by the French people, and she was not
born of a royal house."
The new emperor continued his efforts as president to win the
approval of the people by public works. He recognized the
necessity of aiding the working classes as far as possible, and
protecting them from poverty and wretchedness. During a dearth in
1853 a "baking fund" was organized in Paris, the city
contributing funds to enable bread to be sold at a low price.
Dams and embankments were built along the rivers to overcome the
effects of floods. New streets were opened, bridges built,
railways constructed, to increase internal traffic. Splendid
buildings were erected for municipal and government purposes.
Paris was given a new aspect by pulling down its narrow lanes,
and building wide streets and magnificent boulevards - the
latter, as was charged, for the purpose of depriving insurrection
of its lurking places. The great exhibition of arts and
industries in London was followed in 1854 by one in France, the
largest and finest seen up to that time. Trade and industry were
fostered by a reduction of tariff charges, joint stock companies
and credit associations were favored, and in many ways Napoleon
III worked wisely and well for the prosperity of France, the
growth of its industries, and the improvement of the condition of
its people.
THE EMPIRE IS PEACE
But the new emperor, while thus actively engaged in labors of
peace means lived up to the spirit of his motto, "The Empire is
peace." An empire founded upon the army needs to give employment
to that army. A monarchy sustained by the votes of a people
athirst for glory needs to do something to appease that thirst. A
throne filled by a Napoleon could not safely ignore the
"Napoleonic Ideas," and the first of these might be stated as
"The Empire is war." And the new emperor was by no means
satisfied to pose simply as the "nephew of his uncle." He
possessed a large share of the Napoleonic ambition, and hoped by
military glory to surround his throne with some of the luster of
that of Napoleon the First.
Whatever his private views, it is certain that France under his
reign became the most aggressive nation of Europe, and the
overweening ambition and self-confidence of the new emperor led
him to the same end as his great uncle, that of disaster and
overthrow. He was evidently bent on playing a leading part in
European politics, showing the world that one worthy to bear the
name of Napoleon was on the throne.
The very beginning of Louis Napoleon's career of ambition, as
president of the French Republic, was signalized by an act of
military force, in sending an army to Rome and putting an end to
the attempted Italian republic. These troops were kept there
until 1866, and the aspirations of the Italian patriots were held
in check until that year. Only when United Italy stood menacingly
at the gates of Rome were these foreign troops withdrawn. They
had retarded, perhaps, for a time the inevitable union of the
Italian states into a single kingdom; they certainly prevented
the establishment of a republic.
In 1854 Napoleon allied himself with the British and the Turks
against Russia, and sent an army to the Crimea, which played an
effective part in the great struggle in that peninsula. The
troops of France had the honor of rendering Sebastopol untenable,
carrying by storm one of its two great fortresses and turning its
guns upon the city.
WAR WITH AUSTRIA
The next act of war-policy by the French emperor was against
Austria. As the career of conquest of Napoleon had begun with an
attack upon the Austrians in Italy, Napoleon III attempted a
similar enterprise, and with equal success. He was said to have
been cautiously preparing for hostilities with Austria, thus to
emulate his great uncle, but lacked a satisfactory excuse for
declaring war. This came in 1858 from an attempt at
assassination. Felice Orsini, a fanatical Italian patriot,
incensed at Napoleon from his failing to come to the aid of
Italy, launched three explosive bombs against his carriage. The
effect was fatal to many of the people in the street, though the
intended victim escaped. Orsini while in prison expressed
patriotic sentiments and a loud-voiced love for his country.
"Remember that the Italians shed their blood for Napoleon the
Great," he wrote to the emperor. "Liberate my country, and the
blessings of twenty-five millions of people will follow you to
posterity."
Louis Napoleon, it was alleged, had once been a member of a
secret political society of Italy; he had taken the oath of
initiation; his failure to come to the aid of that country when
in power constituted him a traitor to his oath and one doomed to
death; the act of Orsini was apparently the work of the society.
That Napoleon was deeply moved by the attempted assassination is
certain, and the result of his combined fear and ambition was
soon to be shown by a movement in favor of Italian independence.
On New Year's Day, 1859, while receiving the diplomatic corps at
the Tuileries, Napoleon addressed the following significant words
to the Austrian ambassador: "I regret that our relations are not
so cordial as I could wish, but I beg you to report to the
Emperor that my personal sentiments towards him remain
unaltered." Such is the masked way in which diplomats announce an
intention of war. The meaning of the threatening words was soon
shown, when victor Emmanuel, shortly afterwards, announced at the
opening of the Chambers in Turin that Sardinia could no longer
remain indifferent to the cry for help which was rising from all
Italy. Ten years had passed since the defeat of the Sardinians by
an Austrian army on the plains of Lombardy, and the end for the
time of their hopes of a free and united Italy. During that time
they had cherished a hope of retribution, and the words of
Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel made it evident to them that an
alliance had been made with France and that the hour of vengeance
was at hand.
Austria was ready for the contest. Her finances, indeed, were in
a serious state, but she had a large army in Lombardy. This was
increased, Lombardy was declared in a state of siege, and every
step was taken to guard against assault from Sardinia. Delay was
disadvantageous to Austria, as it would permit her enemies to
complete their preparations, and on April 23, 1859, an ultimatum
came from Vienna, demanding that Sardinia should put her army on
a peace footing or war would ensue.
THE AUSTRIANS ADVANCE
A refusal came from Turin. Immediately Field-marshal Gyulai
received orders to cross the Ticino. Thus, after ten years of
peace, the beautiful plains of Northern Italy were once more to
endure the ravages of war. This act of Austria was severely
criticized by the neutral Powers, which had been seeking to allay
the trouble. Napoleon took advantage of it, as an aid to his
purposes, and accused Austria of breaking the peace by invading
the territory of his ally, the king of Sardinia.
The real fault committed by Austria, under the circumstances, was
not in precipitating war, which could not well be avoided in the
temper of her antagonists, but in putting, through court favor
and privileges of rank, an incapable leader at the head of the
army. Old Radetzky, the victor in the last war, was dead, but
there were other able leaders who were thrust aside in favor of
the Hungarian noble Franz Gyulai, a man without experience as
commander-in-chief of an army.
By his uncertain and dilatory movements Gyulai gave the
Sardinians time to concentrate an army of 80,000 men around the
fortress of Alessandria, and lost all the advantage of being the
first in the field. In early May the French army reached Italy,
partly by way of the St. Bernard Pass, partly by sea; and
Garibaldi, with his mountaineers, took up a position that would
enable him to attack the right wing of the Austrians.
Later in the month Napoleon himself appeared, his presence and
the name he bore inspiring the soldiers with new valor, while his
first order of the day, in which he recalled the glorious deeds
which their fathers had done on those plains under his great
uncle, roused them to the highest enthusiasm. While assuming the
title of commander-in-chief, he was wise enough to leave the
conduct of the war to his abler subordinates, MacMahon, Niel, and
others.
The Austrian general, having lost the opportunity to attack, was
now put on the defensive, in which his incompetence was equally
manifested. Being quite ignorant of the position of the foe, he
sent Count Stadion, with 12,000 men, on a reconnaissance. An
encounter took place at Montebello on May 20th, in which, after a
sharp engagement, Stadion was forced to retreat. Gyulai directed
his attention to that quarter, leaving Napoleon to march
unmolested from Alessandria to the invasion of Lombardy. Gyulai
then, aroused by the danger of Milan, began his retreat across
the Ticino, which he had so uselessly crossed.
The road to Milan crossed both the Ticino River and the Naviglio
Grande, a broad and deep canal, a few miles east of the river.
Some distance farther on lies the village of Magenta, the seat of
the first great battle of the war. Sixty years before, on those
Lombard plains, Napoleon the Great had first lost, and then, by a
happy chance, won the famous battle of Marengo. The Napoleon now
in command was a very different man from the mighty soldier of
the year 1800, and the French escaped a disastrous rout only
because the Austrians were led by a still worse general. Some one
has said that victory comes to the army that makes the fewest
blunders. Such seems to have been the case in the battle of
Magenta, where military genius was the one thing wanting.
The French pushed on, crossed the river without finding a man to
dispute the passage - other than a much-surprised customs
official - and reached an undefended bridge across the canal. The
high road to Milan seemed deserted by the Austrians. But
Napoleon's troops were drawn out in a preposterous line,
straddling a river and a canal, both difficult to cross, and
without any defensive positions to hold against an attack in
force. He supposed that the Austrians were stretched out in a
similar long line. This was not the case. Gyulai had all the
advantages of position, and might have concentrated his army and
crushed the advanced corps of the French if he had known his
situation and his business. As it was, between ignorance on the
one hand and indecision on the other, the battle was fought with
about equal forces in the field on either side.
The first contest took place at Buffalora, a village on the
canal, where the French encountered the Austrians in force. Here
a bloody struggle went on for hours, ending in the capture of the
place by the Grenadiers of the Guard, who held on to it
afterwards with stubborn courage.
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA
General MacMahon, in command of the advance, had his orders to
march forward, whatever happened, to the church-tower of Magenta,
and, in strict obedience to orders, he pushed on, leaving the
grenadiers to hold their own as best they could at Bufflora, and
heedless of the fact that the reserve troops of the army had not
yet begun to cross the river. It was the 5th of June, and the day
was well advanced when MacMahon came in contact with the
Austrians at Magenta, and the great contest of the day began.
It was a battle in which the commanders on both sides, with the
exception of MacMahon, showed lack of military skill and the
soldiers on both sides the staunchest courage. The Austrians
seemed devoid of plan or system, and their several divisions were
beaten in detail by the French. On the other hand, General Camou,
in command of the second division of MacMahon's corps, acted as
Desaix had done at the battle of Marengo, marched at the sound of
the distant cannon. But, unlike Desaix, he moved so deliberately
that it took him six hours to make less than five miles. He was a
tactician of the old school, imbued with the idea that every
march should be made in perfect order.
At half-past four MacMahon, with his uniform in disorder and
followed by a few officers of his staff, dashed back to hurry up
this deliberate reserve. On the way thither he rode into a body
of Austrian sharpshooters. Fortune favored him. Not dreaming of
the presence of the French general, they saluted him as one of
their own commanders. On his way back he made a second narrow
escape from capture by the Uhlans.
The drums now beat the charge, and a determined attack was made
by the French, the enemy's main column being taken between two
fires. Desperately resisting, it was forced back step by step
upon Magenta. Into the town the columns rolled, and the fight
became fierce around the church. High in the tower of this
edifice stood the Austrian general and his staff, watching the
fortunes of the fray; and from this point he caught sight of the
four regiments of Camou, advancing as regularly as if on parade.
They were not given the chance to fire a shot or receive a
scratch, eager as they were to take part in the fight. At sight
of them the Austrian general ordered a retreat and the battle was
at an end. The French owed their victory largely to General
Mellinet and his Grenadiers of the Guard, who held their own like
bull-dogs at Buffalora while Camou was advancing with the
deliberation of the old military rules.
MacMahon and Mellinet and the French had won the day. Victor
Emmanuel and the Sardinians did not reach the ground until after
the battle was at an end. For his services on that day of glory
for France MacMahon was made Marshal of France and Duke of
Magenta.
POSSESSION OF LOMBARDY
The prize of the victory of Magenta was the possession of
Lombardy. Gyulai, unable to collect his scattered divisions, gave
orders for a general retreat. Milan was evacuated with
precipitate haste, and the garrisons were withdrawn from all the
towns, leaving them to be occupied by the French and Italians. On
the 8th of June Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel rode into Milan side
by side, amid the loud acclamations of the people, who looked
upon this victory as an assurance of Italian freedom and unity.
Meanwhile the Austrians retreated without interruption, not
halting until they arrived at the Mincio, where they were
protected by the famous Quadrilateral, consisting of the four
powerful fortresses or Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Leguano,
the mainstay of the Austrian power in Italy.
The French and Italians slowly pursued the retreating Austrians,
and on the 23d of June bivouacked on both banks of the Chiese
River, about fifteen miles west of the Mincio. The Emperor
Francis Joseph had recalled the incapable Gyulai, and, in hopes
of inspiring his soldiers with new spirit, himself took command.
The two emperors, neither of them soldiers, were thus pitted
against each other, and Francis Joseph, eager to retrieve the
disaster at Magenta, resolved to quit his strong position of
defense in the quadrilateral and assume the offensive.
FRENCH VICTORY AT SOLFERINO
At two o'colck in the morning of the 24th the allied French and
Italian army resumed its march, Napoleon's orders for the day
being based upon the reports of his reconnoitering parties and
spies. These led him to believe that, although a strong
detachment of the enemy might be encountered west of the Mincio,
the main body of the Austrians was awaiting him on the eastern
side of the river. But the French intelligence department was
badly served. The Austrians had stolen a march upon Napoleon.
Undetected by the French scouts, they had recrossed the Mincio,
and by nightfall of the 23rd their leading columns were occupying
the ground on which the French were ordered to bivouac on the
evening of the 24th. The intention of the Austrian emperor, now
commanding his army in person, had been to push forward rapidly
and fall upon the allies before they had completed the passage of
the river Chiese. But this scheme, like that of Napoleon, was
based on defective information. The allies broke up from their
bivouacs many hours before the Austrians expected them to do so,
and when the two armies came in contact early in the morning of
the 24th of June the Austrians were quite as much taken by
surprise as the French.
The Austrian army, superior in numbers to its opponents, was
posted in a half-circle between the Mincio and Chiese, with the
intention of pressing forward from these points upon a center.
But the line was extended too far, and the center was
comparatively weak and without reserves. Napoleon, who that
morning received complete intelligence of the position of the
Austrian army, accordingly directed his chief strength against
the enemy's center, which rested upon a height near the village
of Solferino.
Here, on the 24th of June, after a murderous conflict, in which
the French commanders hurled continually renewed masses against
the decisive position, while on the other side the Austrian
reinforcements failed through lack of unity of plan and decision
of action, the heights were at length won by the French troops in
spite of heroic resistance on the part of the Austrian soldiers;
the Austrian line of battle being cut through, and the army thus
divided into two separate masses. A second attack which Napoleon
promptly directed against Cavriano had a similar result; for the
commands given by the Austrian generals were confused and had no
general and definite aim.
The fate of the battle was already in a great measure decided,
when a tremendous storm broke forth that put an end to the combat
at most points, and gave the Austrians an opportunity to retire
in order. Only Benedek, who had twice beaten back the Sardinians
at various points, continued the struggle for some hours longer.
On the French side Marshal Niel had pre-eminently distinguished
himself by acuteness and bravery. It was a day of bloodshed, on
which two great powers had measured their strength against each
other for twelve hours. The Austrians had to lament the loss of
13,000 dead and wounded, and left 9,000 prisoners in the enemy's
hands; on the side of the French and Sardinians the number of
killed and wounded was even greater, for repeated attacks had
been made upon well-defended heights, but the number of prisoners
was not nearly so great.
TREATY OF PEACE
The victories in Italy filled the French people with the warmest
admiration for their emperor, they thinking, in their enthusiasm,
that a true successor of Napoleon the Great had come to bring
glory to their arms. Italy also was full of enthusiastic hope,
fancying that the freedom and unity of the Italians was at last
assured. Both nations were, therefore, bitterly disappointed in
learning that the war was at an end, and that a hasty peace had
been arranged between the emperors which left the hoped-for work
but half achieved.
Napoleon estimated his position better than his people. Despite
his victories, his situation was one of danger and difficulty.
The army had suffered severely in its brief campaign, and the
Austrians were still in possession of the Quadrilateral, a square
of powerful fortresses which he might seek in vain to reduce. And
a threat of serious trouble had arisen in Germany. The victorious
career of a new Napoleon in Italy was alarming. It was not easy
to forget the past. The German powers, though they had declined
to come to the aid of Austria, were armed and ready, and at any
moment might begin a hostile movement upon the Rhine.
Napoleon, wise enough to secure what he had won, without
hazarding its loss, arranged a meeting with the Austrian emperor,
whom he found quite as ready for peace. The terms of the truce
arranged between them were that Austria should abandon Lombardy
to the line of the Mincio, almost its eastern boundry, and that
Italy should form a confederacy under the presidency of the pope.
In the treaty subsequently made only the first of these
conditions was maintained, Lombardy passing to the king of
Sardinia. Hw received also the small states of Central Italy,
whose tyrants had fled, and ceded to Napoleon, as a reward for
his assistance, the realm of Savoy and the city and territory of
Nice.
INVASION OF MEXICO
Napoleon III had now reached the summit of his career. In
succeeding years the French were to learn that whatever his
ability Napoleon III was not a counterpart of the great Napoleon.
He gradually lost the prestige he had gained at Magenta and
Solferino. His first serious mistake was when he yielded to the
voice of ambition, and, taking advantage of the occupation of the
Americans in their civil war, sent an army to invade Mexico.
The ostensible purpose of this invasion was to collect a debt
which the Mexicans had refused to pay, and Great Britain and
Spain were induced to take part in the expedition. But their
forces were withdrawn when they found that Napoleon had other
purposes in view, and his army was left to fight its battles
alone. After some sanguinary engagements, the Mexican army was
broken into a series of guerilla bands, incapable of facing his
well-drilled troops, and Napoleon proceeded to reorganize Mexico
into an empire, placing the Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the
throne.
All went well while the people of the United States were fighting
for their national union, but when their war was over the
ambitious French emperor was soon taught that he had committed a
serious error. He was given plainly to understand that the French
troops could only be kept in Mexico at the cost of a war with the
United States, and he found it convenient to withdraw them early
in 1867. They had no sooner gone than the Mexicans were in arms
against Maximilian, whose rash acceptance of the advice of the
clerical party and determination to remain quickly led to his
capture and execution as a usurper. Thus ended in utter failure
the most daring effort to ignore the "Monroe Doctrine."
END OF NAPOLEON'S CAREER
The inaction of Napoleon during the wars which Prussia fought
with Denmark and Austria gave further blows to his prestige in
France, and the opposition to his policy of personal government
grew so strong that he felt himself obliged to submit his policy
to a vote of the people. He was sustained by a large majority,
and then loosened somewhat the reins of personal government, in
spite of the fact that the yielding of increased liberty to the
people would diminish his own control. Finally, finding himself
failing in health, confidence and reputation, he yielded to
advisers who convinced him that the only hope for his dynasty lay
in a successful war. As a result he undertook the war of 1870
against Prussia. The story of this war will be given in a
subsequent chapter. All that need be said here is that it proved
the utter incompetence of Napoleon III in military matters, he
being completely deceived in the condition of the French army and
unwarrantably ignorant of that of the Germans. The conditions
were such that victory for France was impossible, France losing
its second empire and Napoleon his throne. He died two years
later, an exile in England, that place of shelter for the royal
refugees of France.
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