For the first time in its history, France was declared a Republic in 1792. This declaration of the First French Republic, which accompanied the execution of King Louis XVI, was followed by several wars, coups and revolutions. Napoleon Bonaparte, who was the then a military general of France, had fought several wars for France before he finally executed a coup in 1799 against the existing Republican government, thereby taking control over the state and becoming a dictator. It was one of the significant events in the history of France when Napoleon finally cleared all who opposed him, and the Senate of the First Republic declared him to be the Emperor of France in 1802.

Napoleon was a known for his battlefield skills, and he used them to expand his control over other European states. Apart from Britain, Napoleon could either conquer other territories or was capable of making them French allies. Napoleon could not conquer Britain due to the stronger Royal Navy and Army. In order to reach his aim of controlling Britain, he started putting restrictions on trade relations between Britain and other European countries that were either his allies or directly under his control. Despite these efforts, it is evident Napoleon was unsuccessful in setting up an embargo on trade with Britain. Napoleon was finally defeated miserably in 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig, which, despite being one of the more significant battles in the history of France, was fought on the German land.

After the end of Napoleon’s rule in France, the history of France took a new turn. The earlier Bourbon dynasty came back to power and Louis XVIII, brother of the earlier King Louis who was killed after the declaration of the French Republic, became the Emperor. The Bourbon dynasty was succeeded by the July dynasty until the 1848 Revolution. In the year 1848, the Second French Republic was formed with Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew Charles Louis as the President. In 1852, Charles Louis managed to become the Emperor of France, naming himself as Napoleon III.

During the rule of Napoleon III, there were several industrial developments in France. However, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Napoleon III was defeated and made prisoner of war in Germany. During this period, the Emperor lost his control over his empire and movements began which led to the formation of the Third French Republic.