What were the aims of Napoleon III's foreign policy?

Answer 1

Prince-President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, later the Emperor Napoleon III, had a clearly enunciated foreign policy, which he stated in the slogan, "The Empire Means Peace." In 1848 the old King Louis-Philippe abdicated, and France was on the verge of the most violent civil insurrections in a half-century. Louis-Napoleon won the Presidential election against some very able and popular rivals, because he seemed to guarantee a stable government, one that investors, working people, the military, intellectuals, and even the old aristocracy could all trust and support.

The keystone to the new President's philosophy was a solid alliance and friendship with Great Britain. He did not make any major diplomatic moves without consultation with Britain. This policy immensely flattered the old rival across the Channel; Victoria and Albert and their ministers readily reciprocated, doing all they could to ensure the success of the new French regime. Together, Britain and France built the Suez Canal, pursued the very successful Crimean War, and supported each other's colonial ventures around the world.

France had unprecedented prosperity and stability for the next twenty years. The GDP doubled, as did manufacturing capability and extent of railway lines. France was able to guide the creation of the new Italian Republic--a personal project of the Bonaparte family going back to the 1790s--and pursue some less successful foreign projects. (Best remembered of these is the Mexican adventure. Ironically, this was conceived as a way of compensating Kaiser Franz-Josef's younger brother Maximilian for having to give up his dukedom to the new Italy!)

The sudden collapse of the regime in 1870 happened not because of Napoleon III's foreign policy, but in spite of it. He had been encouraged to lift the last remaining restrictions on politics and the press. He had always considered the French political world to be flighty and irresponsible, so maintained a mild authoritarianism till the late 1860s. And events proved him right. In the new Liberal Empire, journalists and politicians immediately went wild, looking for new controversies and wars to stir up. Before he knew it, Napoleon III found himself at war with Bismarck's Prussia, a country he had assisted and nurtured in good relations for many years.

And so ended the delightful success of the Second Empire. Let this be a lesson to you.