Via SHNV
Not to be confused with Napoleon Bonaparte, his uncle, Louis Napoleon or His Imperial Majesty Emperor Napoleon III lived from 1808-1873 and reigned in France from 1848 until 1870. He was married to Eugenie de Montijo, known as Empress Consort Eugenie (1826-1920). Napoleon III reigned in France during a perilous time of intrigue, scheming politics, and shifting alliances, as the forces of unification and centralization stalked most regions of Europe. He was destined to cast a large shadow over events during the American Civil War or War Between the States (WBTS). |
| Emperor Louis Napoleon III |
By 1861, Napoleon III was drawn into a conflict in the New World by the long-standing turmoil in Mexico, which resulted in a default on loan payments that broke the Treaty of Soledad by the liberal Mexican government on debt owed to France, Spain, and England. To redress the situation, in late 1861, France led an expeditionary force into Mexico along with troops from England, Spain, and Austria. Within a short time, however, most of the other European forces went home, and France was left to move alone against the Mexican Army, supported by its sometime President Benito Juarez. The political and social situation in Mexico at the time was fractured, and Juarez represented the most prominent faction within a number of relatively small political groups. The northern states of Mexico, led by Santiago Vidaurri, were independent of the central government and soon allied themselves with the newly formed Confederate States of America (CSA). Meanwhile, various other groups, the Catholic Church, businessmen, and industrialists, mostly opposed Juarez.
N3 was actually a much better leader than he is typically given credit for. He basically put an end to the repeated upheavals of post-Revolutionary France (most particularly the Paris Commune, the first real Communist government) and turned it into an industrial power. Repeatedly won overwhelming majorities in plebiscites on the legitimacy of his government. The war with Prussia was pushed by the French republicans (the liberals of the time) even as they were interfering with any military buildup that might be capable of actually fighting it. Their whole plan was exactly what happened: cause France to lose the war for their political gain.
ReplyDeleteIt's a damned shame.
Good post. Thanks.
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