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Readings in Modern European History, Vol. 2
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Historical SummaryAfter the expiration of three years of the four for which he had been elected president, Louis Napoleon determined to secure a new lease of power by the following revolutionary appeal to the people, calling for the reconstruction of the government and an extension of his term. In this proclamation the legislature, which he had just dissolved, was the object of his attack, and he made political capital by promising to restore universal suffrage which it had seriously restricted.
DUVERGIER (as above, No. 189), LI, 475 sq. World History Frenchmen:
220. Louis Napoleon’s Appeal to the French People (December, 1851)
The present state of things can last no longer. Every day that passes aggravates the danger of the country. The Assembly, which ought to be the firmest support of order, has become the center of plots. The patriotism of three hundred of its members has not been able to arrest its fatal tendencies. Instead of making laws for the general interest, it forges arms for civil war. It attacks the power which I hold directly from the people. It encourages all bad passions. It compromises the repose of France. I have dissolved it; and I make the whole people the judge between it and myself.
The Constitution, as you know, was made with the object of weakening in advance the power which you were about to confide to me. Six millions of votes were a signal protestation against it; and yet I have faithfully respected it. Provocations, calumnies, outrages, have found me unmoved; but now, when the fundamental compact is no longer respected even by those who incessantly invoke it, and since the men who have already overturned two monarchies wish to tie my hands that they may destroy the republic, it is my duty to baffle their perfidious projects, to maintain the republic, and to save the country, by invoking the solemn judgment of the only sovereign whom I recognize in France,—the people.
I make, therefore, a loyal appeal to the entire nation; and I say, if you wish to continue this state of confusion, which degrades us and compromises our future, choose another in my place; for I no longer wish for a power which is impotent for good, which renders me responsible for acts which I cannot prevent, and which chains me to the helm when I see the ship rushing towards the abyss. If, on the contrary, you still have confidence in me, give me the means of accomplishing the great mission which I hold from you.
Louis Napoleon’s propositions for a stable government
This mission consists in closing the era of revolutions, in satisfying the legitimate wants of the people, and in protecting them against subversive passions. It consists, especially, in creating institutions which can survive men, and which will be foundations upon which one can build something durable. Persuaded that the instability of power and the preponderance of a single Assembly are the permanent causes of trouble and of discord, I submit to your suffrages the following fundamental bases of a constitution which the Assemblies will hereafter develop:
1. A responsible chief appointed for ten years.
2. Ministers dependent upon the executive power alone.
3. A council of state, composed of the most distinguished men, drafting the laws, and supporting them in the discussion before the legislative body.
4. A legislative body, to discuss and vote the laws, elected by universal suffrage, not, however, on a general ticket, which violates the principle of popular election.
5. A second assembly, composed of the most distinguished men of the nation; a preponderating power, guardian of the fundamental compact and of the public liberties.
This system, created by the First Consul at the commencement of the century, has already given France repose and prosperity; it will guarantee them still. Such is my profound conviction. If you share it, declare it by your suffrages; if, on the contrary, you prefer a government without power, monarchical or republican, borrowed from I know not what chimerical past or future, reply negatively.
Thus, then, for the first time since 1804, you will vote with a knowledge of the case, knowing well for whom or for what. If I should not obtain the majority of your suffrages, then I shall bring about the meeting of a new assembly, and shall surrender to it the commission I have received from you; but if you believe that the cause of which my name is the symbol—that is, France regenerated by the Revolution of 1789, and organized by the emperor—is still your cause, proclaim it by sanctioning the powers which I ask of you. Then France and Europe will be preserved from anarchy; obstacles will be removed; rivalries will have disappeared; for all will respect in the decision of the people the decree of Providence.
Given at the Palace of the Élysée, the 2d of December, 1851.
LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Contents:
Chicago: Louis Napoleon, "Louis Napoleon’s Appeal to the French People (December, 1851)," Readings in Modern European History, Vol. 2 in Readings in Modern European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources Chosen With the Purpose of Illustrating Some of the Chief Phases of the Development of Europe During the Last Two Hundred Years, ed. James Harvey Robinson (1863-1936) and Charles A. Beard (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1908), 88–90. Original Sources, accessed May 11, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DDPGNMKJ9SURMQP.
MLA: Napoleon, Louis. "Louis Napoleon’s Appeal to the French People (December, 1851)." Readings in Modern European History, Vol. 2, in Readings in Modern European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources Chosen With the Purpose of Illustrating Some of the Chief Phases of the Development of Europe During the Last Two Hundred Years, edited by James Harvey Robinson (1863-1936) and Charles A. Beard, Vol. 2, Boston, Ginn and Company, 1908, pp. 88–90. Original Sources. 11 May. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DDPGNMKJ9SURMQP.
Harvard: Napoleon, L, 'Louis Napoleon’s Appeal to the French People (December, 1851)' in Readings in Modern European History, Vol. 2. cited in 1908, Readings in Modern European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources Chosen With the Purpose of Illustrating Some of the Chief Phases of the Development of Europe During the Last Two Hundred Years, ed. , Ginn and Company, Boston, pp.88–90. Original Sources, retrieved 11 May 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=DDPGNMKJ9SURMQP.
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