Napoleon III style
The Napoleon III style was a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which used elements of many different historical styles,and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as iron frameworks and glass skylights. It flourished during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III in France (1852–1871) and had an important influence on architecture and decoration in the rest of Europe and the United States. Major examples of the style include the Opéra Garnier in Paris by Charles Garnier (1862–71), the Bibliothèque nationale de France. and the Church of Saint Augustine (1860–1871). The architectural style was closely connected with Haussmann's renovation of Paris carried out during the Second Empire; the new buildings, such as the opera, were intended as the focal points of the new boulevards.
French Revolution of 1848
The "Thermidorian reaction" and the ascent of Napoleon III to the throne are evidence that the people preferred the safety of an able dictatorship to the uncertainty of revolution. Louis Napoleon portrayed himself as "rising above politics". Each class in France saw Louis Napoleon as a return of the "great days" of Napoleon Bonaparte, but had its own vision of such a return. Karl Marx was referring to this phenomenon when he said "History repeats itself: the first time as a tragedy, the second time as a farce." Thus, the various classes and political groupings had different reasons for supporting Napoleon in the election of December 10, 1848. Napoleon himself encouraged this by "being all things to all people". Legitimists (Bourbons) and Orleans (Citizen King Louis-Philippe) monarchists saw Louis Napoleon as the beginning of a royalist restoration in France. The army believed Napoleon would have a foreign policy of war. (By contrast, the Mobile Guard supported Cavaignac in that election.) The industrial bourgeoisie felt that Napoleon would suppress further revolutionary activity. The petty bourgeoisie saw Napoleon as the rule of the debtor over the creditor, and as their savior against the large finance capitalists. Even some of the proletariat supported Louis Napoleon (over the petty bourgeoisie socialist Alexandre Ledru-Rollin) in order to remove the hated Cavaignac and the bourgeoisie republicanism of the National Assembly which had betrayed the proletarian interests in the recent June Days.