Napoleon III

(1808-1873), of France, was the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland. He was elected President of the French Republic in 1848, and in 1852 established an imperial government. From 1862 to 1867 he attempted to establish Archduke Maximilian on the Mexican throne. The demand of U. S. Secretary of State Seward for the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico in 1866 was conceded by Napoleon. During the Civil War he inclined toward recognition of the independence of the Confederate States, but did not take that step.