AlthoughThe Empressis primarily defined by the life of Elizabeth (Devrim Lingnau) in the Austrian royal court, the political landscape also remains a crucial subplot in Season 2. Nephew to the famous military leader, Emperor Napoleon III of France (Christophe Favre) serves as the first great rival to Franz Joseph (Philip Froissant) for domination of Europe, having risen to power as an elected populist. From his bond with Maximilian (Johannes Nussbaum) to his support from the Italians, Napoleon represents all that the Austrian monarch hopes to be, yet his fate should serve as a potential warning. Captured following a massive defeat by the Prussians in September 1870,his fall at Sedanforeshadowed the First World War and displayed the danger of underestimating enemies in politics and on the battlefield.
How Did Napoleon III Come to Power?
Throughout history, few years remain as influential as 1848, which saw a wave of revolutionary fervor sweeping across much of Europe. The origins of this chaotic year began in France, where protests over civil rights and food prices led to the abolition of the monarchy for the third time in sixty years. In its place, a new republic was formed and elections were held, but a significant number of Bonaparte supporters remained across the previous three decades. Despite having tried tooverthrow the Bourbonstwice before,Napoleon III was able to rebrand himself as a populist returning glory to Francein the spirit of his uncle, and won the presidency by a landslide that December.
Ever since the exile of Napoleon I and the death of his uncrowned young son,his nephew always had a claim upon the royal throne– if the monarchy were to be reinstated. Once his term in office as president expired, he overthrew his own government, becoming emperor in his own right on the anniversary of his uncle’s coronation. Within a year, the new Napoleon faced his first political crisis withthe outbreak of the Crimean Waragainst Russia. In contrast to the neutrality of Franz Joseph, his victory in that conflict alongside the British ledthe French emperor to be considered a major political power player in Europe.
Napoleon III Serves as the Foil to Franz Joseph in ‘The Empress’
Although they came to power only days apart in 1848,Napoleon III could hardly be any more different than the young Franz Joseph,andThe Empresstakes pains to establish this. When viewers first meet him through the cautious eyes of Maximilian, the French emperor is seen standing atop the palace balcony in an open display of power, a far cry from the lively Austrian court. His model of Paris, whose structurebecame vastly improvedunder his reign, serves as the perfect contrast to Franz, who cannot even secure proper funding for a new national railroad. Finally,Napoleon demolishes the Austrians on the battlefield,forcing Franz Joseph to intervene directly.
Still, Napoleon remains forever defined by the shadow of his uncle,which allows him to bond with Maximilian over their status as outsiders. If real history is any guide, the political consequences of a friendship like thiswill likely have tragic resultsfor the latter in the future. True to life,The Empresscaptures the ambition of the emperor as well as his charismain his diplomatic meetings with Maximilian, but Napoleon III also had a darker side that the series never shows. While far from being an absolute monarch,Napoleon III was known to be an authoritarian strongmanwho did not tolerate challenges to his rule, and it was only in his later years that he was forced to embrace reforms. As the series depicts, he could also prove remarkably confident in his own success, and it would be this arrogance that would come back to haunt him at the end of his reign.
The Real History Behind Netflix’s ‘The Empress’
The lonely Empress: beautiful and doomed.
What Happened to Napoleon III?
The downfall of Napoleon III came with a sense of remarkable speed, one that might be darkly comedic if it had not caused so many deaths. By 1870, the Emperor was not only in failing health, but remained concerned by the rise of Prussia, where the Kaiser had sought to unify the German states into a new and larger empire. When a dynastic crisis in Spainthreatened to elevate a Prussian royalto the throne, France was left weary of encirclement and the public demanded war. Despite his declining health,Napoleon decided to lead his men in person, while leaving Franz Joseph to remain neutral after having already been crushed by the Germans less than five years earlier.
Thanks to advanced weaponry and superior logistics, the German forces underOtto von Bismarck surrounded and captured Napoleon III and his men at Sedan within a month,leaving an outraged Paris to depose their absent emperor almost immediately. Since his goal was to annex the smaller German states, Bismarck spent the next three monthsbesieging Paris through the winteras he unified Prussia with its allies. Helpless even as a political hostage, the emperor could only watch as the Prussians starved and shelled the French into submission until they surrendered. Before the final treaty was signed, a major Communist uprisingdestroyed most of Parisuntil it was suppressed, undoing everything Napoleon had built. As a penalty for the war, France was forced to surrender territory and pay massive large debts to the unified Germany, creating a sense of resentment that would contribute to the nationalism of World War I.Fleeing into exile, Napoleon settled in England and died alone less than two years later, while France would never again have an emperor or monarch.
The Empress
When rebellious Elisabeth falls for Emperor Franz and becomes his unlikely bride, she enters a world of tensions and intrigue at the Viennese court.
The EmpressSeason 2 is available for streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
