#1.
Describe Louis Napoleon’s social, economic, and political policies. Louis Napoleon was the chief of the state. He controlled the army, navy, police, and civil service. He was the only one able to bring in legislature or declare war. His ministers did not have shared responsibility and were liable only to Louis. The Legislative Corps looked like it was a representative government because its members had been elected by universal male suffrage. But, they couldn’t introduce legislation or affect the budget. Only candidates were allowed to freely campaign. Louis’s first five years of reign were truly a success because he received the benefits of worldwide economic prosperity as well as some of his own. He believed in using the government’s resources to stimulate the economy and he took many steps to urge industrial growth. He promoted credit expansion by backing the formation of new investment banks. Subsidies were used to care for the rapid construction of railroads. He also provided hospitals and free medicine for the workers and supported better housing for the working class.
How did he change Paris and why? Napoleon reconstructed Paris immensely. The medieval Paris of small streets and walls was destroyed. It was replaced by more wider streets and there were also public squares. There was also an underground sewer system and gaslights. The new city had both a military and an aesthetic purpose. Wider streets made it harder for insurrectionists to throw up barricades and it would be easier for troops to move faster through the city, if there were revolts in the city.
#2. Identify and tell the significance of each for the history of the Third Republic.
Paris Commune and National Assembly The French rejected the republicans and favored the monarchists, who won 400 out of the 630 seats in the National Assembly. In response to this, extreme republicans formed an independent government known as the Commune. But, the Assembly refused to give up its power and decided to crush the Commune. Many men and women worked to defend the Commune. Women ended up expanding their activities to taking care of weapons and working as scouts.
