Editing Napoleon III (section)

====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}}