Through
the
1850s,
Napoléon
III
ran
an
authoritarian
regime
whose
most
notable
achievement
was
a
rapid
growth
in
industrial
and
economic
power.
Foreign
trade
trebled,
the
rail
system
grew
enormously,
and
the
first
investment
banks
were
established.
In
1858,
in
the
aftermath
of
an
attempt
on
his
life
by
an
Italian
patriot,
the
emperor
suddenly
embarked
on
a
policy
of
liberalization
,
initially
of
the
economy,
which
alienated
much
of
the
business
class.
Reforms
included
the
right
to
form
trade
unions
and
to
strike,
an
extension
of
public
education,
lifting
of
censorship
and
the
granting
of
ministerial
"responsibility"
under
a
government
headed
by
the
liberal
opposition.
Disaster,
however,
was
approaching
in
the
shape
of
the
Franco-Prussian
war.
Involved
in
a
conflict
with
Bismarck
and
the
rising
power
of
Germany,
Napoléon
III
declared
war.
The
French
army
was
quickly
defeated
and
the
emperor
himself
taken
prisoner
in
1870.
The
result
at
home
was
a
universal
demand
for
the
proclamation
of
a
third
republic
.
The
German
armistice
agreement
insisted
on
the
election
of
a
national
assembly
to
negotiate
a
proper
peace
treaty.
France
lost
Alsace
and
Lorraine
and
was
obliged
to
pay
hefty
war
reparations.
Outraged
by
the
monarchist
majority
re-elected
to
the
new
Assembly
and
by
the
attempt
of
its
chief
minister,
Thiers,
to
disarm
the
National
Guard,
the
people
of
Paris
created
their
own
municipal
government
known
as
the
Commune.
