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FRANCE.
(La France.)
Constitution and Government.
There existed no settled form of Government in France at the end of 1870, the Imperial constitution of January 14, 1852, decreed 'in virtue of the powers delegated by the French people to Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte by the vote of the 21st and 22nd December, 1851,' and ratified by plebiscites of November 21-22, 1852, and May 8, 1870, having been overthrown by a revolutionary movement in Paris, September 4, 1870, resulting in the instalment of a self-appointed 'Provisional Government of National Defence.'
In the eighty years from 1791 till the end of 1870, there existed the following forms of government in France:—
Monarchy, 1791-92.
Louis XVI.: abdication decreed, August 10, 1792; beheaded, Jan. 21, 1793.
Republic, 1792-99.
Republic proclaimed, September 21, 1792; government of the 'Convention,', 1792-95; government of the 'Directoire,' 1795-99.
Consulate, 1799-1804.
Napoléon Bonaparte: First Consul, 1799-1802; Sole Consul for life, 1802-4.
Empire, 1804-14.
Napoléon I.: crowned Emperor, December 2, 1804; abdicated, April 11, 1814.
Monarchy, 1814-15.
Louis XVIII.: entered France, April, 1814; fled the country, March, 1815.
Empire, 1815.
Napoléon I.: re-entered France, March 1, 1815; abdicated, June 22, 1815.
Monarchy, 1815-30.
Louis XVIII.: re-installed, July, 1815; died, September, 1824.
Charles X.: succeeded, September, 1824; expelled from France, July, 1830.
Limited Monarchy, 1830-48.
Louis Philippe: proclaimed King, August, 1830; expelled, February, 1848.
Republic, 1848-51.
Republic proclaimed, February 24, 1848; Louis Napoléon Bonaparte elected President for four years, by 5,562,834 votes, December 10, 1848; the National Assembly dissolved by a 'coup d'etat,' Dec. 2, 1851; Louis Napoléon Bonaparte elected President for ten years, by 7,439,216 votes, December 21-22, 1851.
Empire, 1852-70.
Napoléon III.; elected hereditary Emperor of the French, by 7,864,189 votes, November 21-22, 1852; taken prisoner at Sedan, September 2, 1870.
