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97-803: It is best known as being close to the site of the Battle of Solferino on 24 June 1859, part of the Second Italian War of Independence . The battle ended with Italo-French capture of the Rocca , the fortress then in Austrian hands. The Battle of Solferino and San Martino was the largest battle since Leipzig in 1813, with more than 234,000 soldiers fighting for about 12–14 hours and 29,000 victims (14,000 Austrians-Venetians and 15,000 Franco-Sardinians) and about 10,000 prisoners (8,000 Austrians-Venetians and 2,000 Franco-Sardinians). In terms of death toll, it

194-703: A Second Mexican Empire headed by Emperor Maximilian , brother of Franz Joseph I of Austria , was a complete fiasco. The Mexicans fought back and after defeating the Confederacy the U.S. demanded the French withdraw from Mexico—sending 50,000 veteran combat troops to the border to ram the point home. The French army went home; the puppet emperor did not leave and was executed. From 1861 to 1863 France embarked on colonising experiments in Cochinchina ( southern Vietnam ) and Annam ( central Vietnam ). The conquest

291-443: A cavalry brigade under La Motterouge, Decaen and Gaudin) encountered Hungarian units posted near Ca’Morino (Medole). The Austrian forces were three corps strong (I, V and VII) and positioned on the towns of Solferino, Cavriana and Volta Mantovana. The Austrians were able to hold these positions all day against repeated French attacks. According to Schneid, "Stadion received reinforcements from Clam Gallas' I Korps but Napoleon III fed

388-569: A combined total of 140,000 French and allied Piedmontese troops. After the battle, the Austrian emperor refrained from further direct command of the army. The battle led the Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant to write his book A Memory of Solferino . Although he did not witness the battle (his statement is contained in an "unpublished page" included in the 1939 English edition published by the American Red Cross), he toured

485-547: A continuation of the dynasty. In 1859, Napoleon led France to war with Austria over Italy . France was victorious and gained Savoy and Nice . The commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1860 ratified the free trade policy of Richard Cobden and Michel Chevalier , had brought upon French industry the sudden shock of foreign competition. Thus both Catholics and protectionists discovered that authoritarian rule could be favourable when it served their ambitions or interests, but not when exercised at their expense. France

582-550: A coordinated attack on Guidizzolo." However, the arrival of the Austrian III and XI Korps stopped the French assault, and after two hours, Niel withdrew. Around 4:30 am the advance guard of the 1st Corps (three infantry divisions under Forey , de Ladmirault , and Bazaine , and a cavalry division under Desvaux) came into contact with the Austrian V Corps under Stadion near Castiglione delle Stiviere . Around 5 am 2nd Corps under Mac-Mahon (two infantry divisions and

679-545: A crucial step in the Italian Risorgimento . The war's geopolitical context was the nationalist struggle to unify Italy, which had long been divided among France, Austria, Spain and numerous independent Italian states. The battle took place near the villages of Solferino and San Martino , Italy, south of Lake Garda between Milan and Verona . The confrontation was between the Austrians, on one side, and

776-442: A few kilometres to the east. It is 35 km from Mantua (provincial capital), 40 km from Brescia and 45 km from Verona . It is bordered to the north by Brescia ( Lonato del Garda ), to the east by Cavriana , to the south by Guidizzolo , to the south-west by Medole and to the west by Castiglione delle Stiviere . The origins of the name are to be found in the medieval adjective sulphurinus , which probably refer to

873-422: A fixed battle plan, the fighting which took place was uncoordinated, which is why so many casualties occurred, and it fell into three separate engagements, at Medole (south), Solferino (centre) and San Martino (north). The battle started at Medole around 4 am. Marching towards Guidizzolo, the 4th Corps encountered an Austrian infantry regiment of the Austrian 1st Army. General Niel immediately decided to engage

970-551: A general retreat of both Austrian armies. On the northern side of the battlefield the Sardinians, four divisions strong, encountered the Austrians around 7 am. A long battle erupted over control of Pozzolengo, San Martino and Madonna della Scoperta. The Austrian VIII Corps under Benedek had 39,000 men and 80 guns and was repeatedly attacked by a Sardinian force of 22,000 men with 48 guns. The Austrians were able to ward off three Sardinian attacks, inflicting heavy losses upon

1067-529: A half million in favour and only one and a half million against. However, the vote also signified divisions in France. Those affirming were found mainly in rural areas, while the opposition prevailed in the big towns. The Crimean War ended in 1856, a victory for Napoleon III and a resulting peace that excluded Russia from the Black Sea . His son Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was born the same year, which promised

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1164-581: A new Ministry of the Navy and the Colonies, and appointed an energetic minister, Prosper, Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat , to head it. A key part of the enterprise was the modernisation of the French Navy ; he began the construction of fifteen powerful screw steamers ; and a fleet of steam powered troop transports. The French Navy became the second most powerful in the world, after Britain's. He also created

1261-701: A new force of colonial troops, including elite units of naval infantry, Zouaves , the Chasseurs d'Afrique , and Algerian sharpshooters, and he expanded the Foreign Legion , which had been founded in 1831 and fought well in the Crimea, Italy and Mexico. French overseas territories had tripled in area; in 1870 they covered almost a million square kilometres, and controlled nearly five million inhabitants. While soldiers, administrators, businessmen and missionaries came and left, very few Frenchmen permanently settled in

1358-443: A plebiscite the supreme power, with the title of emperor, upon Napoleon III. The Legislative Body was not allowed to elect its own president or to regulate its own procedure, or to propose a law or an amendment, or to vote on the budget in detail, or to make its deliberations public. Similarly, universal suffrage was supervised and controlled by means of official candidature, by forbidding free speech and action in electoral matters to

1455-538: A suggestive torch-lit procession commemorated on the Saturday evening, from the square of the church of Solferino to Castiglione delle Stiviere. Solferino is twinned with: Battle of Solferino Franco-Sardinian victory The Battle of Solferino (referred to in Italy as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino ) on 24 June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied French army under Napoleon III and

1552-508: A sulfurous stream, with probable reference to the sulfurous emanations of the morainic amphitheatre of Garda. Every year in the village there is the spring festival and the children's market, a market of arts and crafts of daily life with narratives and animation. In addition, in June, there is the now famous Beer Festival, a great attraction for the young public of the provinces of Mantua, Brescia, Verona. Periodically historical reenactments of

1649-437: A thin line of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in length, was able to stop the Austrian assaults on his position by ably warding off attacks and counterattacking at opportune moments. According to Schneid, "By early afternoon, the Austrian attack had failed and Niel pushed beyond Robecco and Casa Nova halfway to Guidizzolo. At 3:00 pm General Renault's division of Canrobert's III Corps arrived at Robecco. Niel, now reinforced, launched

1746-445: Is a circular tower, Tower of San Martino della Battaglia , dominating the area, a memorial to Victor Emmanuel II. It is 70 m high and was built in 1893. In the town there is a museum, with uniforms and weapons of the time, and an ossuary chapel. At Solferino there is also a museum, displaying arms and mementos of the time, and an ossuary, containing the bones of thousands of victims. Nearby Castiglione delle Stiviere , where many of

1843-624: Is a town located at the northern foothills of the Po Valley , in Upper Mantua and on the border with the province of Brescia . The municipal territory, extending for 13.08 km, is part of the Morainic amphitheatre of Lake Garda , located a few kilometres to the north. The altitude at the town hall is 124 m above sea level. Not far away also lies the province of Verona, with the towns of Peschiera del Garda and Valeggio sul Mincio, only

1940-692: Is immortalized as the Hero of Solferino. The Battle of Solferino was depicted also in a 2006 television drama Henry Dunant : Du rouge sur la croix (English title: "Henry Dunant: Red on the Cross"), which tells the story of the signing of the Geneva Conventions and the founding of the Red Cross . Second French Empire The Second French Empire , officially the French Empire ,

2037-815: Is no war, my son will never be emperor." Napoleon III doubled the area of the French overseas Empire; he established French rule in New Caledonia , and Cochinchina , established a protectorate in Cambodia (1863); and colonised parts of Africa. He joined Britain in sending an army to China during the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion (1860), but French ventures failed to establish influence in Japan (1867) and Korea (1866). To carry out his new overseas projects, Napoleon III created

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2134-696: The American Civil War ended in 1865, by the apparent closing of the Roman question by the convention of 15 September , which guaranteed to the Papal States the protection of Italy , and finally by the treaty of 30 October 1864 , which temporarily put an end to the Second Schleswig War . France was primarily a rural society, in which social class depended on family reputation and land ownership. A limited amount of upward mobility

2231-629: The Army of Châlons , which, led by Marshal Patrice de MacMahon and the Emperor, attempted to relieve the Siege of Metz , where the largest French army lay entrapped. The army was repulsed by the Prussians, and retreated to Sedan, where it was surrounded and forced to surrender after the Battle of Sedan . Napoleon himself became a prisoner and Republican forces quickly took control of Paris. France, under

2328-522: The Danubian principalities . To extricate himself from the Polish impasse , the emperor again proposed a congress, with no luck. He was again unsuccessful: Great Britain refused even to admit the principle of a congress, while Austria , Prussia and Russia gave their adhesion only on conditions which rendered it futile, i.e. they reserved the vital questions of Venetia and Poland. The Emperor's support of

2425-688: The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had proved the danger of half-measures. But when a concession, however narrow, had been made to the liberty of one nation, it could hardly be refused to the no less legitimate aspirations of the rest. In 1863, these "new rights" again clamoured loudly for recognition: in Poland , in Schleswig and Holstein , in Italy , now united, with neither frontiers nor capital, and in

2522-628: The Piedmont-Sardinian army under Victor Emmanuel II (together known as the Franco-Sardinian alliance) against the Austrian army under Emperor Franz Joseph I . It was the last major battle in world history where all the armies were under the personal command of their monarchs. Perhaps 300,000 soldiers fought in the important battle, the largest since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. There were about 130,000 Austrian troops and

2619-678: The Republic , staged a coup d'état by dissolving the National Assembly without having the constitutional right to do so. He thus became sole ruler of France, and re-established universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly. His decisions were popularly endorsed by a referendum later that month that attracted 92 percent support. At that same referendum, a new constitution was approved. Formally enacted in January 1852,

2716-776: The Second Mexican Empire and bring it into the French orbit, but this ended in a fiasco. He mishandled the Prussian threat, and by the end of his reign, the French emperor found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming German forces. His rule was ended during the Franco-Prussian War , when he was captured by the Prussian army at Sedan in 1870 and dethroned by French republicans. He died in exile in 1873 in England . On 2 December 1851, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , who had been elected President of

2813-475: The bourgeoisie might spread to the people. Napoleon believed that he would consolidate his menaced power by again turning to the labouring masses, by whom that power had been established. Assured of support, the emperor, through Rouher, a supporter of the absolutist régime , refused all fresh claims on the part of the Liberals. He was aided by international events such as the reopening of cotton supplies when

2910-526: The collectivist theories of Karl Marx and the revolutionary theories of Mikhail Bakunin , as set forth at the congresses of the International . These labour congresses defied official proscriptions, and proclaimed that the social emancipation of the worker was inseparable from his political emancipation. The union between the internationalists and the republican bourgeois became an accomplished fact. The Empire, taken by surprise, sought to curb both

3007-407: The senatus-consulte of 8 September 1869, a parliamentary monarchy was substituted for the Emperor's personal government. On 2 January 1870 Ollivier was placed at the head of the first homogeneous, united and responsible ministry. Although most of the country hailed this reconciliation of liberty and order, the republican party insisted on further reforms and liberties and demanding the overthrow of

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3104-467: The 'grandes écoles.' The elite maintained their position while allowing social ascent through the professions for ambitious sons of wealthy farmers and small-town merchants. The ultramontane party grumbled, while the industries formerly protected were dissatisfied with free trade reform. The working classes had abandoned their political neutrality. Disregarding Pierre-Joseph Proudhon 's impassioned attack on communism , they had gradually been won over by

3201-554: The Battle of Solferino and San Martino are organized. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary, it was held on 28 June 2009. Furthermore, every year on the weekend closest to 24 June, in memory of the battle witnessed by Henry Dunant and which inspired him to create the International Red Cross, there are a series of events organised by the association itself in which members can attend various courses, culminating with

3298-452: The Empire. The killing of the journalist Victor Noir by Pierre Bonaparte , a member of the imperial family, gave the revolutionaries their long desired opportunity (10 January). But the émeute (uprising) ended in a failure. In a concession to democratic currents, the emperor put his policy to a plebiscite on 8 May 1870. The result was a substantial success for Bonaparte, with seven and

3395-459: The French and Piedmontese forces, who opposed their advance. In the morning of 23 June, after the arrival of emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian army changed direction to counterattack along the river Chiese . At the same time, Napoleon III ordered his troops to advance, causing the battle to occur in an unpredicted location. While the Piedmontese fought the Austrian right wing near San Martino,

3492-406: The French battled to the south of them near Solferino against the main Austrian corps. The Austrian forces were personally led by Emperor Franz Joseph, consisting of the 1st Army, containing four corps (II, III, IX and XI) under Franz von Wimpffen , and the 2nd Army, containing four corps (I, V, VII and VIII) under Franz von Schlick . The French army at Solferino, personally led by Napoleon III,

3589-465: The Imperial Guard divisions into the combat and by 2:00 pm the cemetery and town were surrounded. Near 3 pm the French reserves, formed by Canrobert's 3rd Corps and the Imperial Guard under Regnaud , attacked Cavriana, which was defended by the Austrian I Corps under Clam-Gallas , finally occupying it at 6 pm and thereby breaking through the Austrian center. This breakthrough forced

3686-503: The Left that he had lost from the Right. After the return from Italy, the general amnesty of 16 August 1859 had marked the evolution of the absolutist or authoritarian empire towards the liberal, and later parliamentary empire, which was to last for ten years. The idea of Italian unification , which would inevitably end the temporal power of the popes , outraged French Catholics, who had been

3783-491: The Opposition, and by a gerrymandering in such a way as to overwhelm the liberal vote in the mass of the rural population. The press was subjected to a system of cautionnements ("caution money", deposited as a guarantee of good behaviour) and avertissements (requests by the authorities to cease publication of certain articles), under sanction of suspension or suppression. Books were subject to censorship. To counteract

3880-537: The Polish rebels alienated the Russian leadership. The visit of Tsar Alexander II of Russia to Paris ended in near-disaster when he was twice attacked by Polish assassins, but escaped. In Berlin, Otto von Bismarck saw the opportunity to squeeze out the French by forming closer relationships with the Russians. The success of the 1870 plebiscite, which should have consolidated the Empire, determined its downfall. It

3977-542: The Red Cross by writing a book entitled A Memory of Solferino , which he published with his own money in 1862 and thus initiated the process. From 23 to 28 June 2009, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the battle, a series of events gathering thousands of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement volunteers from all around the world took place in Solferino, under the name of Solferino 2009 Celebrations. Solferino

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4074-532: The Roman Catholics, he decided to put an end to the war with the Armistice of Villafranca on 11 July 1859. The Piedmontese won Lombardy but not Venetia . Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour , resigned. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861. This battle would have a long-term effect on the future conduct of military actions. Jean-Henri Dunant , who witnessed the aftermath of the battle in person,

4171-730: The Second Empire strongly favoured Catholicism, the official state religion, it tolerated Protestants and Jews, with no persecutions or pogroms. The state dealt with the small Protestant community of Calvinist and Lutheran churches, whose members included many prominent businessmen who supported the regime. The emperor's Decree Law of 26 March 1852 led to greater government interference in Protestant church affairs, thus reducing self-regulation in favor of Catholic bureaucrats who misunderstood and mistrusted Protestant doctrine. Their administration affected not only church-state relations but also

4268-674: The Senate scheduled a second referendum in November , which passed with 97 percent support. As with the December 1851 referendum, most of the "yes" votes were manufactured out of thin air. The empire was formally re-established on 2 December 1852, and the Prince-President became "Napoléon III, Emperor of the French". The constitution had already concentrated so much power in his hands that the only substantive changes were to replace

4365-746: The United States. Napoleon helped finance the Confederacy but refused to intervene actively until Britain agreed, and London always rejected intervention. The Emperor realised that a war with the US without allies would spell disaster for France. Napoleon dreamed of building a French economic sphere in Latin America, centered on Mexico. He helped to promote rapid economic modernisation, but his army battled diehard insurgents who had American support. By 1863, French military intervention in Mexico to set up

4462-660: The anxiety of those candid friends who were calling attention to the defective budget, the commercial crisis and foreign troubles. Napoleon again disappointed the hopes of Italy, allowed Poland to be crushed , and allowed Prussia to triumph over Denmark regarding the Schleswig-Holstein question . These inconsistencies led opposition leaders to form the Union libérale , a coalition of the Legitimist, Liberal and Republican parties. The Opposition gained forty seats in

4559-489: The attackers; at the end of the day Benedek was ordered to retreat with the rest of the Austrian army, but ignored the order and kept resisting. At 8:00 pm a fourth Sardinian assault finally captured the contested hills, and Benedek withdrew. The main Sardinian contribution in the overall battle consisted in keeping Benedek's corps deeply engaged throughout the day and preventing the sending of two brigades as reinforcement to

4656-522: The better option, and outvoted, he backed down. The immediate issue was a trivial controversy regarding control of the Spanish throne. France was successful in the diplomatic standoff, but Napoleon wanted to humiliate the Prussian king, William I . Bismarck in turn manipulated the situation such that France declared war against Prussia on 15 July 1870 after major protests in France (however, Napoleon

4753-401: The city into a world-class showpiece. The financial soundness for all six companies was solidified by government guarantees. Although France had started late, by 1870 it had an excellent railway system, supported as well by good roads, canals and ports. Napoleon, in order to restore the prestige of the Empire before the newly awakened hostility of public opinion, tried to gain the support from

4850-515: The colonies, except in Algeria . The colonial trade reached 600 million francs, but the profits were overwhelmed by the expenses. However, a major goal was the 'Mission civilisatrice', the mission to spread French culture, language and religion, and this proved successful. The rise of the neighbouring state of Prussia during the 1860s threatened French supremacy in western Europe. Napoleon, growing steadily weaker in body and mind, badly mishandled

4947-509: The elect of the people as the representative of the democracy, ruled supreme. He himself drew power and legitimacy from his role as representative of the great Napoleon I of France , "who had sprung armed from the French Revolution like Minerva from the head of Jove ". The anti-parliamentary French Constitution of 1852 instituted by Napoleon III on 14 January 1852 was largely a repetition of that of 1848 . All executive power

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5044-410: The elections of May–June 1863, and Adolphe Thiers urgently gave voice to the opposition parties' demands for "necessary liberties". It would have been difficult for the emperor to mistake the importance of this manifestation of French opinion, and in view of his international failures, impossible to repress it. The sacrifice of minister Persigny of the interior, who was responsible for the elections,

5141-427: The empire. One innovation was made, namely that the legislative body was elected by universal suffrage but had no right of initiative, all laws being proposed by the executive power . This new political change was rapidly followed by the same consequence as had attended that of Brumaire . On 2 December 1852, France, still under the effect of Napoleon's legacy, and the fear of anarchy, conferred almost unanimously by

5238-415: The enemy and deployed his forces east of Medole. This move prevented the three corps (III, IX and XI) of the Austrian 1st Army from aiding their comrades of the 2nd Army near Solferino, where the main French attacks took place. The French forces were numerically inferior to the Austrians'. The 4th Corps contained three infantry divisions under de Luzy, Vinoy and Failly and a cavalry brigade. Niel, holding

5335-462: The fiasco in Mexico. Napoleon did not know what he wanted or what to do, but the reverse was true for Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck , who planned to create a great new German nation, based on Prussian power, as well as resurgent German nationalism based on the systematic humiliation of France. After seeing the defeat of Austria , the Emperor demanded a conscription law. The parliament disagreed, maintaining that professionals would be always

5432-617: The field following the battle and was greatly moved by what he saw. Horrified by the suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield, Dunant set about a process that led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross . On 22 June, the French (96,000 men) and Piedmontese (37,000 men) allied army advanced from the Chiese to the Mincio . The left wing consisted of four Piedmontese divisions,

5529-404: The first nine days of August, France experienced major losses. The Emperor handed power to the other generals and let them command, then telegrammed his wife, asking if he should return to Paris. His wife refused, and thus he only sent his son home. The French prime minister resigned, being replaced with a more effective military leader, who soldered the disorganised and demoralised French. He forged

5626-411: The force attacked by the French in Solferino. The battle was a particularly gruelling one, lasting over nine hours and resulting in over 2,386 Austrian troops killed with 10,807 wounded and 8,638 missing or captured. The Allied armies also suffered a total of 2,492 killed, 12,512 wounded and 2,922 captured or missing. Reports of wounded and dying soldiers being shot or bayonetted on both sides added to

5723-407: The head of the House of Habsburg, representatives of the Order of St. George and the presidents of the Society of Solferino and San Martino to emphasize the peace of the nations. Wreaths were laid in the cemeteries and the museum was honored. During the event, the battle was re-enacted by hundreds of volunteers. The area contains a number of memorials to the events surrounding the battles. There

5820-430: The height of the Italian question in February 1860, made the most of the freedom of expression enjoyed by the Catholic Church in France. The goal was to mobilise Catholic opinion and encourage the government to support the Pope. A major result of the Catholic ultramontane campaign was to trigger reforms in the cultural sphere, which also granted freedoms to their political enemies the Republicans and freethinkers. Although

5917-437: The horror. In the end, the Austrian forces were forced to yield their positions, and the Allied French-Piedmontese armies won a tactical, but costly, victory. The Austrians retreated to the four fortresses of the Quadrilateral , and the campaign essentially ended. Napoleon III was moved by the losses, as he had argued back in 1852 "the French Empire is peace", and for reasons including the Prussian threat and domestic protests by

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6014-404: The increase of secret police activity and the imperial police lacked the omnipotence seen in later totalitarian states. Napoleon began by removing the gag which was keeping the country in silence. On 24 November 1860, he granted to the Chambers the right to vote an address annually in answer to the speech from the throne, and to the press the right of reporting parliamentary debates. He counted on

6111-598: The internal lives of Protestant communities. Napoleon III manipulated a range of politicised police powers to censor the media and suppress opposition. Legally he had broad powers but in practice he was limited by legal, customary and moral deterrents. By 1851 political police had a centralised administrative hierarchy and were largely immune from public control. The Second Empire continued the system; proposed innovations were stalled by officials. Typically political roles were part of routine administrative duties. Although police forces were indeed strengthened, opponents exaggerated

6208-433: The late 20th century it was re-evaluated as an example of a modernizing regime. Historians have generally given the Second Empire negative evaluations on its foreign policy, and somewhat more positive assessments of domestic policies, especially after Napoleon III liberalised his rule after 1858. He promoted French business and exports. The greatest achievements included a railway network that facilitated commerce and tied

6305-409: The latter concession to hold in check the growing Catholic opposition, which was becoming more and more alarmed by the policy of laissez-faire practiced by the emperor in Italy. The government majority already showed some signs of independence. The right of voting on the budget by sections, granted by the emperor in 1861, was a new weapon given to his adversaries. Everything conspired in their favour:

6402-473: The leadership of Léon Gambetta , declared the establishment of the Third French Republic . Napoleon and Eugénie went into exile in England. Victory produced an onrush of German nationalism that Bismarck immediately seized to unite all of the German states ( except Austria ), thereby creating the German Empire , with the Prussian king as its emperor and Bismarck as chancellor. The new Germany was now continental Europe's dominant military force. Additionally, France

6499-447: The leading supporters of the Empire. A keen Catholic opposition sprang up, voiced in Louis Veuillot 's paper the Univers , and was not silenced even by the Syrian expedition (1860) in favour of the Catholic Maronite side of the Druze–Maronite conflict . Ultramontane Catholicism, longing for close links to the Pope in Rome, played a pivotal role in the democratisation of culture. The pamphlet campaign led by Mgr Gaston de Ségur, at

6596-461: The middle classes and the labourers, goading both into revolutionary actions. There were multiple strikes. The elections of May 1869 , which took place during these disturbances, inflicted upon the Empire a serious moral defeat. In spite of the government's warning against the "red terror", the conciliatory candidate Ollivier was rejected by Paris, while 40 irreconcilables and 116 members of the Third Party were elected. Concessions had to be made, and by

6693-429: The nation together with Paris as its hub. This stimulated economic growth and brought prosperity to most regions of the country. The Second Empire is credited with rebuilding of Paris with broad boulevards , striking public buildings, and elegant residential districts for wealthier Parisians. Internationally, Napoleon III tried to emulate his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte , engaging in numerous imperial ventures around

6790-403: The new and unsuccessful attempt made at Frohsdorf in 1853, by a combination of the legitimists and Orléanists , to re-create a living monarchy out of the ruin of two royal families. The Empress Eugenie created a memorial to the Second Empire in England in the 1880s. Exiled in Farnborough, Hampshire, she turned her house at Farnborough Hill into a Bonapartist shrine, filling the interior with

6887-407: The new document made Louis-Napoléon president for 10 years, with no restrictions on re-election. It concentrated virtually all governing power in his hands. However, Louis-Napoléon was not content with merely being an authoritarian president. Almost as soon as he signed the new document into law, he set about restoring the empire. In response to officially inspired requests for the return of the empire,

6984-417: The opposition of individuals, a surveillance of suspects was instituted. Felice Orsini 's attack on the emperor in 1858, though purely Italian in its motive, served as a pretext for increasing the severity of this régime by the law of general security ( sûreté générale ) which authorised the internment, exile or deportation of any suspect without trial. In the same way public instruction was strictly supervised,

7081-406: The opposition represented by Thiers was rather constitutional than dynastic, there was another and irreconcilable opposition, that of the amnestied or voluntarily exiled republicans, of whom Victor Hugo was the eloquent mouthpiece. Thus those who had formerly constituted the governing classes were again showing signs of their ambition to govern. There appeared to be some risk that this movement among

7178-537: The original intent of his trip and for several days he devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care for the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an overwhelming level of relief assistance by motivating the local villagers to aid without discrimination. Back in his home in Geneva, he set about a process that led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Committee of

7275-407: The people, to function as supreme leader and safeguard the achievements of the revolution. He had so often, while in prison or in exile, chastised previous oligarchical governments for neglecting social questions that it was imperative France now prioritise their solutions. His answer was to organise a system of government based on the principles of the "Napoleonic Idea". This meant that the emperor,

7372-472: The remnants of the imperial collection (returned to her in early 1881) and reconstructing elements of the display at the imperial palaces before 1870. On an adjacent hill she created a spectacular Mausoleum, today St Michael’s Abbey, where the bodies of Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial were interred in 1888. The imperial crypt at Farnborough remains the only official monument to Napoleon III and

7469-527: The right wing consisted of the French III and IV corps, while the center consisted of the I and II corps, with the Imperial Guard held in reserve. On 23 June, Franz Josef moved his 1st Army (57,000 men) and 2nd Army (45,500 men) across the Mincio. Both forces were converging on Medole , Solferino, and San Martino. The Battle of Solferino was a decisive engagement in the Second Italian War of Independence ,

7566-546: The situation, and eventually found himself in a war without allies. Britain was afraid of French militarism and refused to help. Russia was highly annoyed about French interference in supporting Polish rebels in the 1863 uprising . Napoleon had given strong support to Italy , but refused the demand for Rome, and kept French troops in Rome to protect the pope from the new Italian government, thus leading to Italian refusal to help. The United States remained alienated because of

7663-521: The substitution for the ministers without portfolio of a sort of presidency of the council filled by Eugène Rouher , the "Vice-Emperor", and the nomination of Jean Victor Duruy , an anti-clerical, as minister of public instruction, in reply to those attacks of the Church which were to culminate in the Syllabus of 1864, all indicated a distinct rapprochement between the emperor and the Left. But though

7760-433: The teaching of philosophy was suppressed in the lycées , and the disciplinary powers of the administration were increased. For seven years France had no democratic life. The Empire governed by a series of plebiscites. Up to 1857 the Opposition did not exist; from then until 1860 it was reduced to five members: Alfred Darimon, Émile Ollivier , Hénon , Jules Favre , and Ernest Picard . The royalists waited inactive after

7857-408: The villages of Solferino, Cavriana , Guidizzolo and Medole with, respectively, the 1st Corps ( Baraguey d'Hilliers ), 2nd Corps ( Mac-Mahon ), 3rd Corps ( Canrobert ), and 4th Corps ( Niel ). The four Sardinian divisions were to take Pozzolengo . After marching a few kilometers, the allies came into contact with the Austrian troops, who had entrenched themselves in those villages. In the absence of

7954-560: The word "president" with the word "emperor" and to make the post hereditary. The popular referendum became a distinct sign of Bonapartism , which Charles de Gaulle would later use. With almost dictatorial powers, Napoleon III made building a good railway system a high priority. He consolidated three dozen small, incomplete lines into six major companies using Paris as a hub. Paris grew dramatically in terms of population, industry, finance, commercial activity and tourism. Working with Georges-Eugène Haussmann , Napoleon spent lavishly to rebuild

8051-638: The world as well as several wars in Europe . He began his reign with French victories in Crimea and in Italy , gaining Savoy and Nice , and very briefly, Venetia (before in turn ceding to Italy ). Using very harsh methods, he built up the French Empire in North Africa , in East Africa and in French Indochina . Napoleon III also launched an intervention in Mexico seeking to erect

8148-416: The wounded were taken after the battle, is the site of the museum of the International Red Cross, focusing on the events that led to the formation of that organization. Elizabeth Barrett Browning 's poem "The Forced Recruit at Solferino" commemorates this battle ( Last Poems 1862). Joseph Roth 's 1932 novel Radetzky March opens at the Battle of Solferino. There, the father of the novel's Trotta dynasty

8245-482: Was accompanied by his Minister of War, Lieutenant General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora . The Austrian high command was hindered by the rivalry between the Chief of Staff, Heinrich von Heß , and the Emperor's Adjutant General Karl Ludwig von Grünne . According to the allied battle plan formulated on 24 June, the Franco-Sardinian army moved east to deploy along the right river banks of the Mincio . The French were to occupy

8342-434: Was also the grounds on which the international community of States has developed and adopted instruments of International Humanitarian Law, the international law rules relevant in times of armed conflict, in particular the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the 60th anniversary of which will be celebrated this year." In 2019, an important memorial event took place on the former battlefield in the presence of Karl von Habsburg ,

8439-540: Was bloody but successful, and supported by large numbers of French soldiers, missionaries and businessmen, as well as the local Chinese entrepreneurial element. Mixed domestic gains and losses resulted from European policies. The support France gave to the Italian cause had aroused the eager hopes of other nations. The proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861 after the rapid annexation of Central Italy and

8536-605: Was divided in four Corps plus the Imperial Guard. Many of its men and generals were veterans of the French conquest of Algeria and the Crimean War , but its commander-in-chief had very limited military experience of note. The Sardinian army had four divisions on the field. Although all three combatants were commanded by their monarchs, each was seconded by professional soldiers. Marshal Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant served as Chief of Staff to Napoleon III, while Victor Emmanuel

8633-407: Was entrusted to the emperor, who, as head of state, was solely responsible to the people. The people of the Empire, lacking democratic rights, were to rely on the benevolence of the emperor rather than on the benevolence of politicians. He was to nominate the members of the council of state, whose duty it was to prepare the laws, and of the senate, a body permanently established as a constituent part of

8730-404: Was feasible through the steadily improving educational system. Students from all levels of society were granted admission to public secondary schools, opening a ladder to sons of peasants and artisans. However, whether through jealousy of or distrust for the higher classes, few working-class families took advantage of education or wished to see their sons move up and out: very few sought admission to

8827-541: Was forced to give up the two border provinces of Alsace and Lorraine , and its humiliation lasted for generations. The structure of the French government during the Second Empire was little changed from the First . Emperor Napoleon III stressed his own imperial role as the foundation of the government; if government was to guide the people toward domestic justice and external peace, it was his role as emperor, holding his power by universal male suffrage and representing all of

8924-463: Was greater than the Battle of Waterloo . The wounded in the battle were witnessed by the Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant , who had traveled to Italy to meet French emperor Napoleon III with the intention of discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria, at that time occupied by France. Horrified by the suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield, Dunant completely abandoned

9021-488: Was motivated by the horrific suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield to begin a campaign that would eventually result in the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross . The Movement organized the 150th anniversary commemoration of the battle between 23 and 27 June 2009. The Presidency of the European Union adopted a declaration on the occasion stating that "This battle

9118-504: Was officially neutral throughout the American Civil War , 1861–1865 and never recognised the Confederate States of America . The Union warned that recognition would mean war. However, the textile industry needed Southern cotton, and Napoleon had imperial ambitions in Mexico, which could be greatly aided by the Confederacy. At the same time, other French political leaders, such as Foreign Minister Édouard Thouvenel , supported

9215-453: Was reluctant as he had become ill as well as being sceptical of the outcome), thus sparking the Franco-Prussian War . The French empire made the first move, as the Emperor led a charge that crossed the German border. On August 2, the French defeated a Prussian vanguard and occupied the town of Saarbrücken . Two days later, the Prussians launched an offensive that repulsed the French army. After

9312-601: Was the government of France from 2 December 1852 to 4 September 1870 between the Second and the Third French Republics . Ruled by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) , the period was one of significant achievements in infrastructure and economy, while France reasserted itself as the dominant power in Europe . Historians in the 1930s and 1940s disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism , but by

9409-417: Was thought that a diplomatic success would make the country forget liberty in favour of glory. It was in vain that after the parliamentary revolution of 2 January 1870, Comte Daru revived, through Lord Clarendon , Count Beust 's plan of disarmament after the Battle of Königgrätz . He met with a refusal from Prussia and from the imperial entourage. The Empress Eugénie was credited with the remark, "If there

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