The Napoleonic empire

His ambitions grew with his successes to a point were they appeared to be unstoppable. Crowned Emperor in 1804, Napoléon I dreamed of a nation greater than that of Charlemagne's ancient Holy Roman and Germanic Empire. Despite a naval disaster at Trafalgar in 1805, against the English Navy, he had assumed virtual control over Europe by 1809, England excepted. He dissolved the Holy Empire and replaced it with a union of Germanic states, with Prussia as its dominant force, chaired by the Emperor of Austria.

But Napoléon's triumphs and ambition took him too far. In 1812 a disastrous military campaign inside Russia saw the Emperor defeated and retreating. The European armies seized the opportunity to overthrow the oligarchic governments he had installed in lieu of their legitimate ones. By 1814, France was occupied and Napoléon exiled. Having returned from exile, he was decisively defeated in Belgium, at Waterloo, by a coalition of European armies.

The return of the monarchy

The fall of the empire returned the royalists to power under the regime of a constitutional monarchy with Louis XVIII, a liberal, as their King. But the hard faction wanted a return to the years of absolutism and rejoiced when Charles X took power. The old regime, however, was not what the people of France wanted, and a brief revolution in 1830 put an end to his reign. His successor, Louis Philippe, a liberal chosen by the bourgeoisie, managed to govern for almost 20 years until another popular uprising in 1848 put an end to the monarchy.

Once again, a French insurrection would have far reaching ripple effects. In Italy, the province of Lombardy-Venetia revolted against the Austrian Empire of which it was part. In Budapest, Hungarian civil unrest forced the Austrian Emperor to abdicate. In the Union of Germanic states, a short-lived Parliament was convened in Frankfurt. All these brief revolutionary movements ended in repression.

In France, the Second Republic was born, with Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the former emperor, as its elected president. Four years later, he was elected emperor by a national plebiscite and took the name of Napoléon III.

Napoléon III: shaping today's France

During the reign of Napoléon III, France was transformed and given the form and shape that the modern traveler would recognize today. One of his most visible accomplishments was the redesign of Paris, a task he commissioned Baron Haussmann to accomplish. Insalubrious neighborhoods were torn down, underground sewers and water treatment facilities constructed, new avenues opened, bridges built, railroad stations strategically located, Haussmann had a vision of a city awash in natural light: streets were widened, the Champs-Élysées opened, parks protected and enlarged, new buildings graced with balconies. The City of Light, as Paris is often referred to, is undoubtebly Haussmannís creation.

Napoléon III embarked France on the industrial revolution. Tracks were laid for the famous French train system that crisscrosses the nation. Industries were set up and encouraged. The wine industry was organized and wines classified under an appellation system still used today and being emulated by wine producing countries around the world. Arts and culture were not left out. The Paris Opera was built. Prosper Mérimée, a novelist remembered for Carmen, was instructed to set up a Historical Board with the goal of inventorying significant buildings so that they could be protected. Thanks to his efforts, the magnificent Roman aqueduct that spans the Gard river was saved from pilferage and destruction as were countless other monuments.

Alas, the foreign policy of Napoléon III was a disaster. Alternately supporting the Italian unification effort spearheaded by Piedmont, ceding the territories of Lombardy and Venetia, obtained from Austria, yet blocking Garibaldi's marching forces by sending troops and occupying Rome, he intervened militarily in Crimea, along with England, in an effort to reduce the conflict between Russia and a slowly eroding Ottoman empire. In 1870 he abruptly declared war on Prussia. Two months later he was defeated at Sedan and made prisoner. He was immediately deposed by the French Parliament and exiled to England. The Prussian army marched on to Paris and laid siege.

The return of the Republic and the last revolution

Though the capital was protected by fortified walls built with this precise eventuality in mind, Parisians could do little to avoid the incessant artillery bombardments. A cold winter fell over Paris as famine set in. In January 1871 the government of the Third Republic, led by President Thiers, surrendered. In March, the Prussian Army entered the Capital, marched under the Arc de Triomphe and descended the Champs Élysées, leaving three days later.

France had lost the Alsace and Lorraine region, while the King of Prussia, with his crowning as Emperor of Germany, was cementing, finally, the unity of the German nation.

The population of Paris which had withstood so much adversity, could not control the anger it felt towards its own government. Cannons used during the siege to protect the city were seized by insurgents and installed atop the hill of Montmartre. The insurrection installed a replacement government called the "Commune of Paris". The ensuing revolution is thus referred to as the "Commune". Under the watchful eye of the Prussians, the French Army commanded by general Mac-Mahon moved in to quash the rebellion. It took nine bloody days of fierce fighting for the government to regain control of the situation. Even when the insurgents surrendered they were sent to the firing squad. The final toll stood at 17,000 dead, numerous deportations and incarcerations, Paris in ruins and a deep wound in France's nationalist pride.

Moving into the twentieth Century

The Republic was going through its growing pains, but, in the process, it was establishing itself as a form of durable government that would last till today. No longer would a King or Emperor rule France.

The efforts invested in commerce and the industrialization of the country were supported by the governments that followed. The 1889 Universal Exhibition, designed to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Revolution, showcased Franceís achievements in science, architecture, arts and commerce. The Eiffel Tower, erected for a temporary period that has lasted until now, as well as the Grand Palais and Petit Palais are reminders of this period. The steel frame architecture, pioneered under Napoléon III, was at its pinnacle, slowly evolving towards the Art Nouveau style. The impressionist movement emphatically espoused the modern aspirations of the nation. Through their paintings of country scenes, picnics and regattas, one can observe the advance of the railroad trough rural France as well as the relative affluence of a newly formed middle class. For a while, Paris would be the center of the world, drawing artistic and scientific talents from all over a changing Europe.

The assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Sarajevo, in June 1914, the "shot that resounded around the world", led to a declaration of war between the Austrian Empire and Serbia. Russia, allied with the Serbs, entered the war against Austria. To assist the Austro-Hungarian empire, Germany declared war to both Russia and France, since the two were allied. England was drawn into the conflict when the German army marched through the neutral state of Belgium.

In France, it became a drawn-out war of the trenches, mostly in the northern region, with neither army making significant gains despite an astounding cost in human lives. The entry of US forces into the conflict precipitated a military resolution. At the end of the war, in 1918, the toll stood at almost 9 million dead world wide.

A poignant testimony to the sacrifices that France, like other countries, had to make, can be observed on the War Memorials of small French villages. There, the repetitive engraving of the same family names reminds the traveler that entire families were decimated when all the males within the same household were drafted into a conflict that claimed their lives.

Despite the firm resolution never to allow this kind of atrocities to recur, a second world war could not be avoided. Out of the ashes of many European countries in 1945, a new spirit of cooperation and mutual respect arose.

Old enemies became new partners. Fresh expectations overcame enduring resentments. France and other nations were embarking on the resolute journey of a united Europe.