This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations II: The Making of the Modern World.
Emperor though he was, Napoleon III had to keep up the appearance of republican government in France. Officially, he did not rule France alone, but with the Legislative Body, whose members were elected by universal suffrage. Yet, the Legislative Body had no real power. Elections of its members, too, were mostly a sham; those who ran against official government candidates backed by the emperor could be charged with treason, imprisoned or deported, just because they opposed Napoleon’s policies. Even local governments came under the control of Napoleon’s enormous bureaucracy in Paris. The emperor established a network of police to detect and arrest anyone who might be planning “sedition” against the government.
Yet, dictator though he was, Emperor Napoleon III had Liberal goals. He was not a republican, to be sure, but neither was he a divine right monarchist. Napoleon III saw himself as the true representative of the French people—of the French democracy. His role, as he saw it, was to unite all French people and guide them toward justice at home and peace with other nations. A follower of the socialist ideas of Saint-Simon, Napoleon III dreamed of a prosperous, industrialized France, directed by a benevolent emperor and a group of scientific experts. He hoped, as emperor, to bring about a new order in Europe. European states, he dreamed, would become industrialized and be bound together by common treaties and periodic congresses, like the Congress of Vienna.
And, under Napoleon III, France prospered for many years. By the advice of his Saint-Simonian advisors, Napoleon established banks to lend money for mortgages and for funding business enterprises. With more money in their pockets, the French bourgeoisie did not miss their political liberties too much. And Napoleon’s star continued to rise. His marriage in 1853 to the Spanish countess Eugénie de Montijo was blessed with the birth of a son, Eugène Louis Jean Joseph, on March 16, 1856. Napoleon III now had an heir to carry on his line.
Napoleon III was even successful in war—or, successful enough. Disputes between France, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire had induced Tsar Nikolai I to send an army into the Ottoman provinces on the Danube. The sultan responded by declaring war on Russia in October 1853. After Nikolai’s warships destroyed Ottoman ships in the Battle of Sinop on November 30, 1853, France, Great Britain, and Piedmont-Sardinia declared war on Russia.
The Crimean War (so named because it was fought on the peninsula of Crimea) ended in a Russian defeat. On March 30, 1856, Tsar Aleksandr II (who had succeeded his father, Nikolai I, in 1855) signed a peace treaty in Paris with France, Great Britain, Piedmont-Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire. According to the treaty, the European powers agreed not to take any Ottoman lands, while Russia lost the right to send warships onto the Black Sea. Napoleon III had won new glory for France; he had humbled the Russians.
The French emperor’s glory, however, was almost cut short on the evening of January 14, 1858, when an Italian revolutionary named Felice Orsini and his companions threw three bombs at the imperial carriage carrying Napoleon and Empress Eugénie to the opera. Though several died from the blast and over a hundred were wounded, the emperor and empress were unharmed.
Orsini had tried to assassinate Napoleon III because, by keeping French troops in Rome to protect the pope, he was hindering attempts to unify Italy. Now from prison, Orsini wrote Napoleon a letter, asking him to champion the cause of Italian independence. Napoleon had long cherished the idea of an independent Italy, and—what Orsini did not know—it had recently been on the emperor’s mind. Indeed, in the months before Orsini threw his bomb, Napoleon III was seriously making plans to intervene in Italy.
A Dance in Hell
The year 1858 saw the first production in Paris of Jacques Offenbach's operetta, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), a comic parody of the tragic Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. The operetta, thought by some to be a veiled attack on the court of Napoleon III, features the famous music of The Infernal Gallop, which occurs in Act 2. We present a version of the music and dance here.
"Kama ilivyoelezwa katika kitabu cha ""Light to the Nations: The Making of the Modern World.""" Hata kama alikuwa maliki, Napoleon wa Tatu alilazimika kudumisha sura ya serikali ya jamhuri katika Ufaransa. Kwa rasmi, hakuitawala Ufaransa peke yake, bali pamoja na Bunge, ambalo washiriki wake walichaguliwa kwa kura ya wote. Hata hivyo, Baraza la Sheria halikuwa na mamlaka halisi. Uchaguzi wa wanachama wake, pia, ulikuwa wa udanganyifu; wale walioshindana na wagombea rasmi wa serikali walioungwa mkono na maliki wangeweza kushtakiwa kwa uhaini, kufungwa gerezani au kuhamishwa, kwa sababu tu walipinga sera za Napoleon. Hata serikali za mitaa ziliwekwa chini ya udhibiti wa uburudani mkubwa wa Napoleon huko Paris. Maliki alianzisha mtandao wa polisi ili kugundua na kukamata mtu yeyote ambaye angeweza kupanga "uasi" dhidi ya serikali. Hata hivyo, ingawa alikuwa dikteta, Maliki Napoleon wa Tatu alikuwa na miradi ya Kiliberali. Kwa hakika, hakuwa Mrepublikan, lakini pia hakuwa mfuasi wa utawala wa kifalme wa haki ya kimungu. Napoleon wa Tatu alijiona kuwa mwakilishi wa kweli wa watu wa Ufaransa - wa demokrasia ya Ufaransa. Kazi yake, kama alivyouona, ilikuwa kuunganisha watu wote wa Ufaransa na kuwaongoza kuelekea haki nyumbani na amani na mataifa mengine. Akiwa mfuasi wa mawazo ya kisoshalisti ya Saint-Simon, Napoleon wa Tatu alitamani Ufaransa ifanikiwe na kuwa na viwanda, ikiongozwa na maliki mwenye fadhili na kikundi cha wataalamu wa sayansi. Alitumaini, akiwa maliki, kuleta utaratibu mpya katika Ulaya. "Mambo ya Ulaya, kama alivyotarajia, yangekuwa na viwanda na kuunganishwa pamoja kwa mikataba ya kawaida na makusanyiko ya mara kwa mara, kama vile Mkutano wa Vienna.""" Wakati wa utawala wa Napoleon III, Ufaransa ilipata mafanikio makubwa. Kwa ushauri wa washauri wake wa Saint-Simonian, Napoleon alianzisha benki za kukopesha pesa kwa ajili ya mikopo ya nyumba na kwa ajili ya kufadhili biashara. Kwa kuwa walikuwa na pesa nyingi zaidi mfukoni, watu wa tabaka la juu la Ufaransa hawakukosa sana uhuru wao wa kisiasa. Na nyota ya Napoleon iliendelea kupanda. Mwaka 1853 alioa Eugénie de Montijo, ambaye alikuwa mwana wa mfalme wa Hispania, na kuzaliwa kwake kwa jina la Eugène Louis Jean-Joseph. Sasa Napoleon wa Tatu alikuwa na mrithi wa kuendelea na nasaba yake. Napoleon III hata alifanikiwa katika vita - au, alifanikiwa vya kutosha. Vita kati ya Ufaransa, Urusi, na Milki ya Ottoman vilimfanya Tsar Nikolai wa Kwanza atumie jeshi katika majimbo ya Ottoman kwenye Mto Danube. Kwa mujibu wa taarifa ya sultan, alitangaza vita dhidi ya Urusi mnamo Oktoba 1853. Baada ya meli za vita za Nikolai kuharibu meli za Ottoman katika vita vya Sinop mnamo Novemba 30, 1853, Ufaransa, Uingereza, na Piedmont-Sardinia zilitangaza vita dhidi ya Urusi. Vita vya Crimea (vimeitwa hivyo kwa sababu vilipiganwa katika peninsula ya Crimea) vilimalizika kwa kushindwa kwa Urusi. Mnamo Machi 30, 1856, Mfalme Aleksanda wa Pili wa Urusi, ambaye alikuwa amemrithi baba yake Nikolai wa Kwanza, alitia saini mkataba wa amani na Ufaransa, Uingereza, Piedmont-Sardinia, na Milki ya Ottoman. Mkataba huo ulionyesha kwamba Urusi haingekuwa na mamlaka ya kupeleka meli za kivita kwenye Bahari Nyeusi. Napoleon III alikuwa amepata utukufu mpya kwa Ufaransa; alikuwa amewadhalilisha Warusi. Hata hivyo, utukufu wa maliki huyo wa Ufaransa ulipungua sana jioni ya Januari 14, 1858, wakati mwanaharakati wa mapinduzi Mwitaliano aliyeitwa Felice Orsini na wenzake walipotupa mabomu matatu kwenye gari la maliki lililokuwa likipeleka Napoleon na Malkia Eugénie kwenye opera. Ingawa watu kadhaa walikufa kutokana na mlipuko huo na zaidi ya mia moja walijeruhiwa, maliki na malkia hawakuumia. Orsini alikuwa amejaribu kumuua Napoleon III kwa sababu, kwa kuweka majeshi ya Ufaransa huko Roma kumlinda papa, alikuwa akizuia majaribio ya kuunganisha Italia. Sasa akiwa gerezani, Orsini alimwandikia Napoleon barua, akimwomba atete uhuru wa Italia. Napoleon alikuwa amependa sana wazo la Italia kuwa huru, na - jambo ambalo Orsini hakujua - hivi karibuni alikuwa amekuwa akifikiria kuhusu maliki. Katika miezi ya kabla ya Orsini kutupa bomu lake, Napoleon wa Tatu alikuwa akipanga kwa uzito kuingilia Italia. "Mwaka 1858 opera ya Jacques Offenbach ""Orpheus in the Underworld"" ilitolewa kwa mara ya kwanza mjini Paris." "Wakati wa operetta hiyo, watu fulani walidhani kwamba ilikuwa ni shambulio la siri dhidi ya makao ya mfalme Napoleon wa Tatu, lakini muziki maarufu wa opera hiyo, ""The Infernal Gallop,"" unaonekana katika sehemu ya pili." Tunatoa toleo la muziki na dansi hapa.