Protestants and Proselytization During the Second French Empire

Abstract

The Second French Empire has long been regarded by some as a regime which was authoritarian, even a precursor of modern fascism.1 No quarrel exists as to the reality of repression during the first ten years of the regime, but the nature and extent of that tyranny needs further analysis. Howard C. Payne and Theodore Zeldin2 have elucidated that the coercive features of the empire were as much manipulative as they were repressive; and Lynn M. Case and I. Kulstein have illustrated the respect the emperor displayed for the power of public opinion.3 Napoleon III continued the tradition he inherited from his uncle, the attempt to reconcile liberty and order.4 A tradition of human rights and liberties accompanied by a centralized and powerful state had been bequeathed by the Revolution of 1789. Henceforth, opponents of the regime in power (bourgeois or aristocratic) would also become the enemy of the centralized state or etatisme. The consequent desire for more autonomy from the suffocating direction of the Paris government as well as the pressing demands for more economic and social equality resulted not only in the Revolution of 1848 but also in the violence of June Days later that year. The bourgeois were enormously disturbed by the threat of social upheaval and its resultant disorder. They threw their support overwhelmingly