Social and Philosophical Ideas of Napoleon III

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the worldview of Louis Bonaparte, his ideas about the political prospects of mankind, which include generalizing judg­ments about the meaning of the French Revolution, about the significance of Napoleonic rule for social life. Of course, for Louis Bonaparte the theoretical works he wrote served as a means of promoting his own political aspirations, a kind of justification for the ambitions that inspired him, but also a certain philosophical support on the life path. Created by him even before coming to power, they may well be coordinated with the subsequent actions of the new­ly president of the republic, and then the emperor. He attached the most world­view importance to the image of Napoleon, which was interpreted as the focus of the leading lines of social development. Progress, justice, the social hierar­chy determined by merit, the confederation of free European states – these are the main features of the near future in his understanding. Like representatives of Saint-Simonianism, Louis Bonaparte called for the care of the poorest, most suffering class. His social project provided for the creation of agricultural colonies on abandoned, uncultivated sites. The liquidation of unemployment, in his opinion, could eliminate extreme poverty from everyday life. But, unlike Saint-Simon, he attached much greater importance to the role of the state and the centralization of power, did not consider Napoleon to be a defender of the obsolete feudal system. The example of Napoleon III shows a special way of mutual influence of philosophy and power: his social concept was formed primarily as a result of a very specific understanding of the decisions of his illustrious predecessor, this concept embodied an explicit desire for the post of head of state, and at the same time it found, albeit incomplete, reflection in politics of the Second Empire.