On December 2, 1852, 160 years ago, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1808-1873) was proclaimed Emperor of France under the name of Napoleon III. Shortly thereafter, on January 30, 1853, he married the Spanish Eugenia de Montijo (1826-1920), Countess of Teba, who gave him an heir, Eugene Louis (1856-1879). However, the crown prince died young in South Africa, during an ambush by the Zulus, thus ending the Bonaparte dynasty.
The December 10, 1848, after months of political turmoil caused by the February Revolution of 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected President of the French Second Republic with the support of the masses. On December 2, 1851 gave a coup in order to restore universal suffrage, which had been restricted few months earlier. After being ratified by the people through a referendum, removed republican and socialist opposition and established a centralized authoritarian regime and became a hereditary monarchy. The January 14, 1852 promulgated a new constitution that would strengthen the powers of the executive and legislative subordinates.
Although the emperor had won a landslide victory in the plebiscite of May 8, 1870, the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870, had fatal consequences for his country. On September 2 was defeated and taken prisoner at Sedan, was dismissed two days later in Paris and taken captive to Germany. In 1871 he met the Empress in Britain, where he died on January 9, 1873. Napoleon III was the last emperor who reigned in France.