Napoleon III
Emperor of France 1852-1870
Summary
He was the nephew of Napoleon I, and was born in 1808 and grew up in exile. Napoleon I’s reign ended in 1815, but Napoleon III was determined to regain the French throne. He began his quest in 1832 by writing various political and military tracts to get himself, as well as his ideas, known. After a failed coup attempt in 1836, he was exiled again. In 1850 he was elected president of the Second Republic, after the revolution in 1848. He served that position until 1852, when he was made the emperor. Napoleon III was emperor until 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War led to his capture, and was deposed and sent to England where he died in 1873.