To understand Napoleon III's policies, one must first examine his rise to power. At the time when he appealed so much to the people of France, Napoleon III was known as Louis Napoleon. He had been elected president after the revolution of 1848, and was serving his term of four years a

This is evident during the Italian War of 1859 (21). Napoleon III was very sympathetic to Italy in the country's quest to form it's own, independent nationality, while at the same time hostile to conservative Austria. He wanted to aid in driving the Austrians out of Italy, plus obtain some sort of land compensation in return. France had the upper hand early in the war with the aid of her modernized artillery, and at the chance of the German Confederation intervening Napoleon quickly made peace with the Austrians. The impacts of Napoleon III decision to enter the war were that Italy become much more unified than he had expected, therefore France only received Nice and Savoy in compensation, plus he had reneged on an agreement with the Prime Minister of Piedmont, therefore losing some international confidence. Another important realization is that relations with Britain, which were not all that strong to begin with, were strained. Even after the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty (1860) (22) Britain suspected France of having alterior motives. Britain was right to suspect France, on account of Napoleon stepping up construction of his war ships and expanding his colonial policies. Napoleon III also hoped to develop new ways of commerce by establishing new outlets for European products overseas and intensifying the progress of Christianity and civilization. This new way of commerce led to the higher commercial interests and the creation of more French bases overseas. French influence was expanded to Indochina and West Africa with the establishment of bases on their coasts (23). These motives of expansion would alienate Britain as a natural ally. Napoleon III needed an ally in order to reach his ultimate goals of establishing a European congress that would reorganize the balance of power in Europe (by revising the Treaties of 1815) and confront major European problems before they had a chance to lead to war. This congress would never come to be.

Napoleon III was also interested in the technical projects of stimulating the economy, such as enhancing the public works departments within the country and the rebuilding of Paris as well. His economic mandates made provisions for various public undertakings in towns and cities. He was able to mobilize France's savings to pay for the construction of roads, canals, embankments, the commission on ports, and regenerate and expand the telegraph system which linked Paris with all her departments and surrounding countries. Paris was the city that benefited the most from these community restructuring allocations. Napoleon III spent two and a half billion francs to repair and restructure the countries public works and transform the city of Paris from medieval to modern. Streets were widened to prevent the easy use of barricades during revolts or riots, markets were established, buildings were erected and plazas were all over the town (12). Along with the rebuilding of the city came a rebuilding of it's police force. The police department in Paris was increased three times in size and the detective branch was reconditioned, thereby creating a solid reputation for keeping order and detecting crime. The gangs of thugs that controlled the streets of Paris were gone, replaced by working class and business men (13). The rebuilding of Paris is one of the statutes that Napoleon is most widely known and accredited for and stands as a testament to his commitment to the restructuring of France to bring the country into the modern era. Although the country's capital had been transformed, it had been done at an immense cost, something that would come back to hurt France economically, which would then begin to stir negative public opinion about the emperor.

Napoleon III had grand dreams for the future of France in the economic world, and in the beginning he had extravagant success. One of his major economic policies was the restructuring of banking and other financial institutions, and the creation of new on

Some common words found in the essay are:
Napoleon III, National Assembly, Credit Mobilier, Emperor France, Napoleon III's, Louis Napoleon, Credit Foncier, Britain Scandinavian, Empire Emperor, napoleon iii, Napoleon Napoleon, napoleon iii's, foreign policies, economic policies, monetary union, latin monetary, credit mobilier, foreign policy, coup d'etat, french people, napoleon iii intended, empire napoleon iii, universal male suffrage, latin monetary union, napoleon iii's policies,
Approximate Word count = 3466
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)