Napoleon III was a man with a strong sense of ceremony. He even rebuilt institutions from the First French Empire, such as the Senate and the Legislative Corps.
Yet he also wanted to strike out on his own. To strengthen the legitimacy of the Second Empire, he promised to hold universal elections once the rebellion had been put down.
To fill the gaps in the treasury, Napoleon III ordered the confiscation of all the House of Orléans's deposits and property. In Franz's eyes, however, this was merely a little maneuver by Napoleon III to prevent the House of Orléans from rising again.
Napoleon III also restored press censorship, making it even stricter than it had been under the July Monarchy. At last, he had the chance to display his talents.
Vienna.
The Austrian Empire had won a sweeping victory, and Franz had forcibly turned the French Second Republic into the Second French Empire.
This might not have meant much to others, but to monarchies, it was an unprecedented triumph.
He had conquered the Spanish Republic, overthrown the French Second Republic, replaced the King of Spain, and, together with the earlier destruction of the Hungarian Republic and the Republic of Venice, raised Franz's prestige among monarchies to unparalleled heights.
Because of the War of the Sixth Coalition back then, nearly every royal house in Europe had come to feel that Republicans could not be defeated. Thus, they feared the enemy as they would a tiger, and fled at the mere sound of the wind.
But everything the Austrian Empire had done proved that Republicans were not invincible. At this feast of monarchies, the only unhappy man was probably Nicholas I.
Of course, even if France had not become a monarchy, Nicholas I would not have been pleased.
Although the Vienna Conference