Napoleon III’s coup

In 1848, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon 1st) was elected President of the French Republic. He is the very first President of France!

It should be mentioned that the opposite political party had a majority of seats at the National Assembly. He experienced first hand the difficulty of getting anything done...

It should also be mentioned the constitution of that time did not allow him to run for a second term... So on 2nd December 1851, the very first President of France dissolved the Assembly, submitted a new constitution to the French people by which he restored the Empire. He became Napoleon III.

The date of 2nd December had not been chosen by accident: on that day in 1804, his uncle Napoleon I was crowned Emperor of France at Notre-Dame...