French coup of 1851

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Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, French President in 1851

The Coup d'État of 2 December 1851 was staged by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, President of the French Republic, who was successful by this means in dissolving the French 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 and the extension of his mandate for 10 years were popularly endorsed by referendum, as was the re-establishment of the Empire from 2 December 1852. He thus became "Napoléon III, Emperor of the French".

1 Causes
2 Preparations for the Coup
3 The Coup of 2 December 1851
4 Revolt in other places
5 Peace Returns
6 Consequences
7 See also
8 External Links

[edit] Causes

Elected President of France, contesting against Louis Eugene Cavignac, with the support of the Parti de l’Ordre in 1848, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was in constant conflict with the members (deputes) of the Assemblée Nationale.

Contrary to the Party’s expectations that Louis-Napoleon would be easy to manipulate, he proved himself an agile and cunning politician. He succeeded in imposing his choices and decisions on the Assemblée, a body of conservatives in the aftermath of June 1848. He broke away from the control of the Parti de l’Ordre and creates the “Ministère des Commis”, appointing General Hautpoul as its head, in 1849. On 3 January 1850, he dismissed Changarnier, a dissident in the Parti de l’Ordre, thereby provoking an open conflict within the party. He also actively encouraged the creation of numerous anti-parliament newspapers and acquired the support of 150 members of Parliament. He thus formed a party called the Parti de l’Elysée.

The provisions of the constitutions that prohibit an incumbent president from seeking re-election appeared to force the end of Louis-Napoleon in December 1952. Not the one to admit defeat, Louis-Napoleon spent the first half of 1851 trying to force changes to the constitution through Parliament. Two-thirds of the members supported Louis-Napoleon’s cause, but supporters of the Duke of Orleans concluded an alliance with the far left to oppose the possible re-election of Louis-Napoleon as president. In January 1851, the Parliament voted to defy the Ministère des Commis and in July, refused the constitutional reform proposed by Louis-Napoleon. The tiers-etats no longer recognised the presidential authority of Louis-Napoleon.

[edit] Preparations for the Coup

The Coup d’Etat was meticulously planned from 20 August 1851. Preparations and planning for this coup took place at Saint Cloud. Among the conspirators were Persigny, a loyal companion of Louis-Napoleon, the Duke of Morny and General Saint-Arnaud. On 14 October, Louis-Napoleon asked the Parliament to restore universal suffrage but the request was turned down. His request for a reconsideration of the constitutional reform proposal was also turned down on 13 November. Prepared to strike, Louis-Napoleon appointed General Saint-Arnaud as the Minister of War and a circular was issued reminding soldiers of their pledge of “passive obedience”. Followers of the President were appointed to various important positions: General Magnan as the Commander of the Troops of Paris, and Maupas, Prefect of Haut-Garonne as Prefect of Police of Paris. Convinced that the coup was now inevitable, Louis-Napoleon fixed the anniversary of the coronation of Napoleon in 1804, and the victory of Austerlitz in 1805, as the d-day. The operation was christened Rubicon, alluding to Julius Caesar.

[edit] The Coup of 2 December 1851

On the morning of 2 December, troops led by Saint-Arnaud occupied strategic points in Paris, from the Champs-Elysées to the Tuileries. Top opposition leaders were arrested and six edicts promulgated to establish the rule of Louis-Napoleon. The Assemblée Nationale was dissolved, and universal suffrage restored. Louis-Napoleon declared that a new constitution was being framed and said he intended to restore a “system established by the First Consul”.

Reacting to this coup, parliamentarians took refuge in the mayor’s office of the 20th Arrondissement and 220 of them voted to oust Louis-Napoleon from power. Most prominent among these were liberals like Remusat and moderates like Pascal Duprat, who were arrested soon after. A Parisian insurrection led by the likes of Victor Hugo and Victor Schoelcher erupted despite tight control by the Army. The insurgents were soon defeated. On 3 December, parliamentarian Alphonse Baudin was killed and on 4 December, 200 more people fell victim to the revolution. By evening, the revolt of Paris was suppressed and the city returned to normal.

[edit] Revolt in other places

The coup triggered off revolts in other places across France. On 5 December, rebellions were reported in big cities in the South-West of France. The department of Basses-Alpes even declared itself administered by a “Committee of Resistance” but the army, still loyal to the President, succeeded in quelling the rebellion. 32 departments were put under a state of alert from 8 December and the rebellious areas are controlled in a few days. Opponents were arrested and some were forced to flee. Among these, was Victor Hugo, forced to flee to Brussels. By the end of the rebellion, 26,000 people were arrested, 9,530 were sent away to Algeria and 250 to the prison of Cayenne.

[edit] Peace Returns

The “bonapartists” were finally assured of a victory. Vaillant and Harispe became Marechals of France on 11 December. A new constitution was drafted. A referendum was organised to ratify the new order and the Coup was portrayed as a security operation.

On 21 and 22 December, the French vote for the acceptance of the new regime by a overwhelming majority of 7,145,000 to 600,000.

[edit] Consequences

The French Constitution underwent a modification. The new constitution bestowed executive power on a President, elected for a period of 10 years. He was also vested with the power of legislative initiative, thereby reducing the scope of the Parliament. This succeeded in concentrating power in the hands of an authoritarian executive.

In less than a year, the Second Republic transformed into the Second Empire, established by a referendum on 7 November 1852. The President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, elected by the French people, officially became “Napoleon III, Emperor of the French”, from the symbolic and historic date of 2 December 1852.