Editing Napoleon III (section)

===Economic policy===

====Lower tariffs and the re-opening of French markets (1860)====
One of the centerpieces of the economic policy of Napoleon III was the lowering of tariffs and the opening of French markets to imported goods. He had been in Britain in 1846 when Prime Minister [[Robert Peel]] had lowered tariffs on imported grains, and he had seen the benefits to British consumers and the British economy. However, he faced bitter opposition from many French industrialists and farmers, who feared British competition. Convinced he was right, he sent his chief economic advisor, [[Michel Chevalier]], to London to begin discussions, and secretly negotiated a [[Cobden–Chevalier Treaty|new commercial agreement]] with Britain, calling for the gradual lowering of tariffs in both countries. He signed the treaty, without consulting with the Assembly, on 23 January 1860. Four hundred of the top industrialists in France came to Paris to protest, but he refused to yield. Industrial tariffs on such products as steel rails for railways were lowered first; tariffs on grains were not lowered until June 1861. Similar agreements were negotiated with the [[Netherlands]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], and France's other neighbors. France's industries were forced to modernize and become more efficient to compete with the British, as Napoleon III had intended. Commerce between the countries surged.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=241–243}}

====Economic expansion and social change====
By the 1860s, the huge state investment in railways, infrastructure and fiscal policies of Napoleon III had brought dramatic changes to the French economy and French society. French people travelled in greater numbers, more often and farther than they had ever travelled before. The opening of the first public school libraries by Napoleon III and the opening by [[Louis Hachette]] of the first bookstores in Napoleon's new train stations led to the wider circulation of books around France.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=304}}

During the Empire, industrial production increased by 73 percent, growing twice as rapidly as that of the United Kingdom, though its total output remained lower. From 1850 to 1857, the French economy grew at a pace of five percent a year and exports grew by sixty percent between 1855 and 1869.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=306–307}}

French agricultural production increased by sixty percent, spurred by new farming techniques taught at the agricultural schools started in each [[Departments of France|Department]] by Napoleon III, and new markets opened by the railways. The threat of famine, which for centuries had haunted the French countryside, receded. The last recorded famine in France was in 1855.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=306–307}}

During the Empire, the migration of the rural population to the cities increased. The portion of the population active in agriculture dropped from 61 percent in 1851 to 54 percent in 1870.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=309}}

The average salary of French workers grew by 45 percent during the Second Empire, but only kept up with price inflation. On the other hand, more French people than ever were able to save money; the number of bank accounts grew from 742,889 in 1852 to 2,079,141 in 1870.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=309}}

====Growing opposition and liberal concessions (1860–1870)====
Despite the economic progress the country had made, domestic opposition to Napoleon III was slowly growing, particularly in the ''[[Corps législatif]]'' (Parliament). The liberal republicans on the left had always opposed him, believing he had usurped power and suppressed the Republic. The conservative Catholics were increasingly unhappy, because he had abandoned the Pope in his struggle to retain political control of the Papal States and had built up a public education system that was a rival to the Catholic system. Many businessmen, particularly in the metallurgical and textile industries, were unhappy, because he had reduced the tariffs on British products, putting the British products in direct competition with their own. The members of Parliament were particularly unhappy with him for dealing with them only when he needed money. When he had liberalized trade with England, he had not even consulted them.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=345–346}}

Napoleon's large-scale program of public works, and his expensive foreign policy, had created rapidly mounting government debts; the annual deficit was about 100&nbsp;million gold-francs, and the cumulative debt had reached nearly 1,000&nbsp;million gold-francs (1&nbsp;billion in US readings). The Emperor needed to restore the confidence of the business world and to involve the legislature and have them share responsibility.

{{Cleanup section|reason=Dates of 1861 reforms are either in the wrong order or incorrect. Unclear sourcing.|date=November 2021}}
On 24 December 1860, Napoleon III, against the opposition of his own ministers, issued a decree announcing that the legislature would have greater powers. The Senate and the Assembly could, for the first time, give a response to the Emperor's program, ministers were obliged to defend their programs before the Assembly, and the right of [[Deputy (France)|Deputies]] to amend the programs was enlarged. On 1 February 1861, further reforms were announced: Deputies could speak from the tribune, not just from their seats, and a stenographic record would be made and published of each session. Another even more important reform was announced on 31 December 1861: the budget of each ministry would be voted section by section, not in a block, and the government could no longer spend money by special decree when the legislature was not in session. He did retain the right to change the budget estimates section by section.

The Deputies quickly took advantage of their new rights; the Emperor's Italian policy was bitterly condemned in Parliament, and anti-government amendments by the pro-Catholic deputies were defeated by votes of 158 to 91 in the ''Corps législatif'' and 79 to 61 in the Senate.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=346–347}}

In the [[1863 French legislative election|legislative elections of 1863]], pro-government candidates received 5,308,000 votes, while the opposition received 1,954,000 votes, three times more than in the previous elections. The rural departments still voted for Napoleon III's candidates, but in Paris, 63 percent of the votes went to anti-government republican candidates, with similar numbers in all the large cities. The new Assembly contained a large opposition block ranging from Catholics outraged by the Papal policies to [[Legitimists]], [[Orléanist]]s, [[protectionism|protectionists]] and republicans, armed with new powers given to them by the Emperor himself.{{Sfn|Plessis|1988}}{{Page needed|date=March 2021}}{{Sfn|Milza|2006|pp=568–569}}

Despite the opposition in the legislature, Napoleon III's reforms remained popular in the rest of the country. A new [[1870 French constitutional referendum|plebiscite was held in 1870]], on this text: "The people approve the liberal reforms added to the Constitution since 1860 by the Emperor, with the agreement of the legislative bodies and ratified by the Senate on April 20, 1870." Napoleon III saw this as a referendum on his rule as Emperor: "By voting yes," he wrote, "you will chase away the threat of revolution; you will place the nation on a solid base of order and liberty, and you will make it easier to pass on the Crown to my son." When the votes were counted, Napoleon III had lost Paris and the other big cities but decisively won the rest of the country. The final vote was 7,336,434 votes yes, 1,560,709 votes no, and 1,900,000 abstentions. [[Léon Gambetta]], the leader of the republican opposition, wrote in despair, "We were crushed. The Emperor is more popular than ever."{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=370}}