Episode 2 of 2
Dissolution of the National Assembly
- When
- 2 December 1851
- Where
- France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte staged a self-coup on 2 December 1851, dissolving the National Assembly to remain in power.
Facing the prospect of leaving office in 1852 due to constitutional term limits, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte executed a coup. He aimed to implement reform programs, including restoring universal male suffrage. The action was driven by the inability to be re-elected under the existing constitution.
Sources
- 1851 French coup d'état Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
- Napoleon III Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-04
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.