1808
Birth, during the night of the 20th to 21st of April, of Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, third son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and Hortense de Beauharnais, 17 rue Cérutti (today Lafitte), Paris.
 
1810
4th of November: The baptism of Louis-Napoleon was celebrated by Cardinal Fesch in the Trinity Chapel of the palace of Fontainebleau.

1814
1st of April: Hortense and her son went to Evreux, to the North-East of Paris, to rejoin the Empress Josephine.

11th of April: A pension of 400 000 francs was granted to Hortense, with the title of Duchess of Saint-Leu.

16th of April: Josephine, Hortense and her sons returned to Malmaison.

4th of April: Napoleon I abdicated at Fontainebleau and was exiled to the island of Elba.

29th of May: The Empress Josephine died at Rueil-Malmaison.

1815
20th of March: Napoleon returned to Paris.

18th of June: Defeat at Waterloo.

22nd of June: Napoleon abdicated for the second time.

29th of June: Napoleon left Rochefort.

15th of July: He surrendered himself to the English.

19th of July: Hortense and her sons left Paris for Geneva, stopping at Aix-les-Bains.

9th of August: Napoleon I boarded the Northumberland for Saint Helena.

16th of October: He arrived at Jamestown, Saint Helena.

Early October: In conformity with a court ruling, Napoleon-Louis (the elder brother of Louis-Napoleon) left for Italy to rejoin their father Louis Bonaparte.

7th of December: Hortense and Louis-Napoleon settled near Lake Constance in Switzerland. They bought Arenenberg on the 11th of January 1817.

1816
12th of January: The French government banished the members of the Bonaparte family from French territory.

6th of May: Hortense and Louis-Napoleon, 8 years old at this time, left for Augsburg in Germany.

Abbot Bertrand became the preceptor of Louis-Napoleon, and remained so until 1819.

1820
Appointment of Louis-Napoleon's new preceptor: Philippe Le Bas, Jacobin and Freemason, who remained in his post until 1827.

1821
April: Louis-Napoleon, 13 years old, entered the gymnasia at Augsburg.

5th of May: Death of the Emperor Napoleon I at Saint Helena.

1823
Louis-Napoleon, 15 years old, rejoined Hortense at Arenenberg, after spending a month with his father Louis and his older brother in Marienbad, Bohemia.

Winter. Sojourn in Rome.

1824
21st of February: Death of Eugene de Beauharnais.

1825
Autumn: Hortense and Louis-Napoleon returned to Italy, where they remained until summer 1826.
 
1827
4th of October: Le Bas resigned.

1829
At 21, Louis-Napoleon was a proven athlete (horse-riding, swimming, gymnastics) and an excellent marksman.

1830
June: Louis-Napoleon entered the military school at Thoune, near Berne in Switzerland, to study gunnery.

September: The law banishing the Bonaparte family from France was abolished.
Louis-Napoleon and Hortense returned to Rome. Louis-Napoleon rejoined his brother Napoleon-Louis and the revolutionary forces in Florence, before joining those in Bologna.

1831
17th of March: Death of Napoleon-Louis at Forli.

21st of March: Hortense rejoined Louis-Napoleon in Pesaro and pleaded with him to leave the continent for England.

23rd of March: Arrival in Paris.

26th of April: Secret interview between Hortense and King Louis-Philippe.

6th of May: Hortense and Louis-Napoleon left Paris.

10th of May: Arrival in England and move to Felton Hotel, prior to settling in George Street.

August: Return to Arenenberg, where Louis-Napoleon was to remain until the autumn of 1836. As from this time, he signed his name Napoleon-Louis.

1832
June: Publication of his first book, Rêveries politiques.

22nd of July: Death of Napoleon II, duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon I and of Marie-Louise (daughter of the emperor of Austria, Francis I).

November 1832 to May 1833: Louis-Napoleon visited his uncle Joseph Bonaparte in London. He visited as much the factories of Birmingham as he did Londonian high society!

1833
May: Return to Arenenberg, following a detour via Belgium.
Publication of his second work Considérations politiques et militaires sur la Suisse.

1834
Louis-Napoleon became an artillery captain of the canton of Berne.
April: He supported (from Geneva) the Lyonese insurrection against Louis-Philippe.
He published a Manuel d'artillerie, used by the Swiss army.

1835
July: Jean Gilbert Victor Fialin, count of Persigny, met the Prince at Arenenberg.

1836
April: Semi-official marriage engagement with his cousin the princess Mathilde, daughter of King Jerome.

August: Louis-Napoleon went to Strasbourg to assess possible support for a march on Paris.

30th of October: Failure of an attempted coup d'état at Strasbourg – the coup lasted barely two hours.

21st of November: After a short stay in prison, Louis-Napoleon embarked on the Andromède, bound for the United States. The princess Mathilde broke with her cousin.

1837
30th of March: Louis-Napoleon disembarked at Norfolk, before settling in New York.

12th of June: He left the United States with all possible haste, aboard the George Washington, in order to be present beside his dying mother.

11th of July: He arrived in London. Waiting in vain for a passport for France, he obtained false papers under the name of Robinson.

31st of July: Embarkation for Rotterdam. In order to avoid crossing French territory, he followed the Rhine to Mannheim and rejoined Arenenberg by road.

4th of August: He arrived in Arenenberg.

5th of October: Death of Hortense in the arms of Louis-Napoleon.

8th of October: Funeral of Hortense at Ermatingen. Louis-Napoleon left Arenenberg and moved into the Gottlieben palace, a few kilometres to the south of Lake Constance.

1838
11th of January: Funeral of Hortense in the church of St-Pierre-St-Paul at Rueil-Malmaison where her remains still lie today.

June: The French government demanded that Switzerland expel Louis-Napoleon.
August: Louis-Napoleon struck back with the pamphlet Relation historique des événements du 30 octobre 1836, published in Paris under the names of Louis and Armand Laity, to defend the attempted coup d'état at Strasbourg.

14th of October: Armed with a British passport under his name, Louis-Napoleon left Arenenberg and Switzerland of his own accord.

End of October: He arrived in London, and moved into n°17 Carlton House Terrace.

1839
He moved to n°1 Carlton Gardens. He supported two political clubs and two French Bonapartist newspapers, Le Commerce and Le Capitole. He visited factories in Lancashire and in the Midlands.

July: He published Idées Napoléoniennes on the working and middle classes.

1840
He published Lettres de Londres.

3rd of March: Arrested at Wimbledon shortly before a duel with Count Leon (illegitimate son of Napoleon I and Eleonore Denuelle de la Plaigne).

29th of June: Death of Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino, at the age of 65.
The French Prime Minister, Adolphe Thiers, persuaded Louis-Philippe to have the remains of Napoleon I brought back to France. The Prince of Joinville, son of Louis-Philippe, was entrusted with this mission and embarked on the Belle Poule.

4th of August: Louis-Napoleon rented the Edinburgh Castle and engaged several men for disembarkation at Boulogne on the 6th of August. The landing was a disaster. Louis-Napoleon and his companions were arrested and imprisoned in the Conciergerie in Paris, pending a trial.

28th of September: The trial began.

6th of October: Louis-Napoleon was condemned to imprisonment for life in the fort at Ham, in the north-east of France near Reims, around 80 kilometres from Paris.

15th of December: The remains of Napoleon were transferred to Les Invalides.

1841
May: Louis-Napoleon published a collection of Fragments historiques 1688-1830.

1842
Louis-Napoleon continued to write in prison, and published Analyse de la question des sucres.

1843
New edition of his Manuel d'artillerie and publication of L'Extinction du paupérisme.

1844
28th of July: Death of Joseph Bonaparte in Florence, aged 76.

1845
Publication of Canal de Nicaragua ou projet de jonction des océans Atlantique et Pacifique au moyen d'un canal.

1846
25th of May: Disguised as a labourer, Louis-Napoleon escaped from the fort at Ham.

27th of May: He arrived in London and moved into the Brunswick Hotel, under the name of Count of Arenenberg.

25th of July: Death of Louis Bonaparte at Livorno at 67. For the Bonapartists, Louis-Napoleon was henceforth the head of the Bonaparte family and pretender to the Imperial throne.

1847
Louis-Napoleon moved to N°3, King Street.

29th of September: The bodies of Louis Bonaparte and of his second son Napoleon-Louis (who died in 1832 at Forli, aged 27) were buried at Saint-Leu, next to Napoleon-Charles (elder brother of Napoleon-Louis and of Louis-Napoleon, who died in childhood, in 1807). Convicted of treason because of his escape, Louis-Napoleon could not be present for the ceremony.

1848
February: Political crisis and street insurrection. Louis-Philippe abdicated on the 24th in favour of his grandson the count of Paris. In vain, as the July Monarchy was overthrown, and the Second Republic proclaimed. A provisional government was set up to organise parliamentary elections for the Constitutive Assembly.

27th of February: The Second Republic was officially proclaimed.

28th of February: Louis-Napoleon arrived in Paris and offered his services to the provisional government. The provisional government refused his offer and asked him to leave France.

23rd-24th of April: Elections to the Constitutive Assembly.

4th-5th of June: By-elections to the Constitutive Assembly. Louis-Napoleon was elected in four départements – Seine, Corsica, Yonne, and Lower-Charente.

13th of June: His election was ratified by the Assembly.

16th of June: Louis-Napoleon resigned his mandate as a member of the Assembly. He retained nonetheless the importance of his popularity, which had allowed him to be elected without canvassing.

17th-18th of September: New legislative by-elections. Louis-Napoleon (who is still in London) was elected in 5 départements- Seine, Corsica, Moselle, Yonne, and Charente-Inférieure.

24th of September: He took his seat for the first time.

11th of October: The law banishing the Bonapartes from French territory was abolished.

26th of October: Louis-Napoleon announced his candidature for the presidential election.

4th of November: The new constitution was adopted.

10th of December: Louis-Napoleon was elected president of the Republic by universal (male) suffrage. The official proclamation took place ten days later.

23rd of December: Louis-Napoleon named his uncle Jerome Bonaparte, youngest brother of Napoleon I, governor of Les Invalides.

1849
29th of January: Louis-Napoleon refused to recognise the new Roman Republic and assured the Pope of his support.

25th of April: A French expeditionary corps moved against the Roman Republic. General Oudinot laid siege to Rome. The city capitulated on the 3rd of July.

13th-14th of May: New legislative elections.

27th of May: Dissolution of the Constitutive Assembly.

28th of May: First session of the Legislative Assembly.

Summer: Louis-Napoleon toured mainland France.

31st of October: Louis-Napoleon obliged Barrot (president of the Council) and his ministers to resign, and proposed a new government, answerable only to the president of the Republic. 

1850
1st of January: Jerome Bonaparte was made a Marshal of France.

15th of March: Adoption of Falloux's law, concerning secular and religious education.

August-September: A new series of journeys across France for Louis-Napoleon.

1851
January: Power struggle between Louis-Napoleon and the Legislative Assembly. The president had some difficulty concerning acceptance of his new government.

3rd of February: The Assembly refused to vote 1.8 million francs for the president of the Republic.

June: New struggle between Louis-Napoleon and the National Assembly over the revision of the constitution and the article forbidding the president to serve a second mandate.

20th of August: Louis-Napoleon gathered his followers at Saint-Cloud, including Morny, Persigny and Rouher, to prepare a coup d'état.

November: Rumours of a coup became widespread amongst the public.

2nd of December: Louis-Napoleon chose the anniversary of the Coronation of Napoleon I in 1804 and of his victory at Austerlitz in 1805 for his coup d'état.

4th-10th of December: Insurrection in Paris, particularly in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Around 400 people were killed, 500 wounded.

31st of December: Massive victory for Louis-Napoleon- Seven million “yes” votes, in answer to the question “The French people wish to maintain the authority of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and delegate to him the powers needed to establish a constitution”.

1852
1st of January: Louis-Napoleon left the Élysée Palace and moved into the Tuileries Palace.

14th of January: The new constitution promulgated. Executive power was confided to the president of the Republic (elected by direct universal male suffrage) for ten years. The president received the power to name and remove the members of his government as he sees fit.

16th of February: The 15th of August, birthday of Napoleon I, was made once more a national holiday.

7th of July: The mayors and vice-mayors of communes of more than 3000 inhabitants henceforth appointed by the president of the Republic.

14th of September to 16th of October: Louis-Napoleon undertook a new tour of the south of France. First assassination attempt against him at Marseille.

9th of October: Speech at Bordeaux during which Louis-Napoleon affirmed L'Empire, c'est la paix (“The Empire is Peace”).

October: Louis-Napoleon met Eugenie, countess of Teba, during a reception at the Tuileries.

7th of November: The Senate proposed the re-establishment of the Empire

Mid-November: Eugenie and her mother were invited to Fontainebleau.

21st-22nd of November: The results of a national plebiscite approved the proposal of the Senate.
Eugenie and her mother were present at a ball organised by the president, at Compiègne.

2nd of December: Louis-Napoleon was proclaimed emperor, with the title of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. The Second Empire had begun.

25th of December: The rules of succession were established, in favour (only) of the descendants of Louis-Napoleon and his uncle Jerome.

30th of December: Decrees reinforcing censorship.

1853
29th of January: Civil marriage of Napoleon III and “Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Guzman y Palafox y Portocarrero”, Countess of Teba, daughter of the last count of Montijo.

30th of January: Religious marriage at Notre Dame.

February-June: Exacerbation of the conflict between the Russian and Ottoman empires.

22nd of June: The Emperor named George-Eugene Haussmann (1809-1891) prefect of the Seine.

5th of July: A terrorist attack against Napoleon III was uncovered and the plotters arrested.

1854
27th of March: France and Britain declare war on Russia. The Crimea was soon to become a slaughterhouse.

24th of July: Law concerning the labourer's passbook.

September: A new plot to assassinate the Emperor defused.

30th of November: Ferdinand de Lesseps received permission from the vice-roy of Egypt to dig (and exploit for 99 years) the Suez Canal.

1855
25th of January: Signature of a treaty of peace with the king of Piedmont-Sardinia.

28th of April: The Italian Pianori attempted to assassinate Napoleon III. Arrested, he was executed on the 14th of May.

1st of May: The Universal Exhibition opened in Paris.

August: State visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

8th of September: Napoleon III escaped another assassination attempt.

1856
1st of February: The tsar of Russia, Alexander II, agreed to sign preliminaries for a peace treaty with the French and the British.

25th of February-8th of April: Congress of Paris.

16th of March: Birth of the Prince Imperial, Napoleon Eugene-Louis Jean Joseph.

14th of June: Baptism of the Prince Imperial.

1857
21st-22nd of June: Legislative elections.

14th of August: The Louvre re-opened after the works organised by Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel.

1858
14th of January: Another assassination attempt against Napoleon III, perpetrated by Felice Orsini and Pierri.

19th of February: Law of general security, which allowed the arrest and expulsion of any person previously convicted for having participated in the unrest of May and June 1848, June 1849, or December 1851, suspected of fomenting new unrest. The adoption of the law was followed by a series of arrests across France. 375 people were deported to Algeria.

13th of March: Execution of Orsini and his accomplices.

20-21 July: Napoleon III met with Camillo Cavour, prime minister of the king of Piedmont-Sardinia, at Plombières. They studied the establishment of an alliance against Austria and the redistribution of some of her territories: Nice and the county of Savoy would thus be handed to France. The Italian states would be united in a Confederation under the authority of the Pope.

1859
28th of January: Signature of the treaty with the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. Nothing was said about the possibility of a Confederation of Italian states or of its organisation.

30th of January: Marriage of prince Napoleon (the cousin of Napoleon III) and princess Clothilde of Savoy, daughter of the king of Piedmont-Sardinia.

February: Publication of a brochure entitled Napoléon III et l'Italie, in which the Emperor presents his project for the reorganisation of Italy.

April: Work began on the Suez Canal.

27th of April: Austria enters Piedmontese territory. Napoleon III decided to intervene, by virtue of the treaty signed on the 28th of January.

3rd of May: Declaration of war against Austria. The Legislative Body followed the Emperor's lead and voted the necessary levies.

10th of May: Napoleon III left to lead his troops in Italy.

20th of May: French victory at Montebello.

4th of June: French victory at Magenta.

8th of June: Occupation of Milan and Lombardy.

24th of June: French victory at Solferino.

11th of July: Preliminaries of peace signed at Villafranca.

10th of November: Treaty of Zurich. Lombardy was united to Piedmont.

1860
1st of January: Swallowing up the surrounding communes, Paris was reorganised in 20 arrondissements.

23rd of January: Free-trade treaty between France and Britain.

24th of March: Treaty of Turin: Savoy and Nice were ceded to France, while Piedmont expanded her territory with Tuscany and the Romagna.

26th of March: Pius IX excommunicated all those who encouraged the movement for Italian unity. The entourage of Napoleon III struck back by publishing a brochure entitled La question romaine.

8th of April: France and Britain declared war on China, after several years of cold warfare and the assassination of numerous missionaries and Europeans.

15th of August-7th of September: Garibaldi marched on Rome, after conquering Sicily and Naples. Piedmont interceded in Umbria.

17th-20th of September: Napoleon III stayed in Algiers.

21st of September: French victory at Palikao against the Chinese cavalry.

13th of October: The city of Peking taken.

18th of October: Sack of the summer Palace of Peking.

24th-25th of October: The treaty of Peking opened Chinese ports to western trade, and authorised the presence of European ambassadors and diplomats.

1861
18th of February: Creation of the kingdom of Italy, under its first king, Victor-Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia.

20th of April: Archaeological excavations began on the site of the siege of Alésia, strongly encouraged by Napoleon III.

31st of October:  Convention between France, Britain and Spain for the recovery of Mexican debts. (The Mexican government having suspended payment.) France sent an expeditionary force to Mexico in January 1862. 1861 was marked by liberal reforms, particularly concerning politics and the organisation of the Press.

1862
22nd of March: Fall of Vinh Long: Cochinchine was entirely occupied by the French. The treaty of Hue was signed on the 5th of June.

9th of April: The Spanish and the British withdrew from the triple alliance against Mexico and left the country.

5th of May: French defeat at Puebla.

23rd of November: Napoleon III pardoned the typographists condemned in September for having organised a strike.

1863
6th of February: Napoleon III wrote Lettre à Pélissier, (governor-general in Algeria), in which he expressed his wish for “perfect” equality between Europeans and Arabs.
March: Reinforcements sent to Mexico.

30th of April: French defeat at Camerone.

15th of May: The first “Salon des refusés” authorised by Napoleon III.

17th of May: French victory at Puebla.

31st of May – 1st of June: Legislative elections. Increase in activity of opponents of the regime.

5th of June: Mexico occupied by French troops.

10th of July: Establishment of arch-duke Maximilian of Habsburg, brother of the emperor of Austria, as emperor of Mexico.

11th of August: Ratification of the French protectorate over Cambodia.

1864
5th of January: Taking of Guadalajara (Mexico).

January-May: War between Denmark and the Austro-Prussian alliance.

25th of May: Law concerning the corporations and authorising the right to strike action.

15th of September: Franco-Italian convention to protect the Papal States.

1865
8th of January: Creation of the French branch of the International Association of Workers (Association Internationale des Travailleurs or AIT), founded the year before in London.

10th of March: Death of the Duke of Morny, half-brother of the Emperor Napoleon III.

22nd of April: Senatus-consultum confirming the property rights of Algerian tribes over their territory.

3rd of May-7th of June: Voyage of Napoleon III in Algeria.

14th of June: The legal value of the cheque was recognised.

4th -12th of October: Meeting between Napoleon III and Bismarck at Biarritz.

December: End of the excavations on the site of Alésia. Publication of the first volume of Napoleon III's Life of Caesar. The second volume was published in 1866.

1866
12th of June: A secret agreement was signed between France and Austria, the latter breaking off with Russia.

June-July: Austro-Prussian War.

18th of August: Creation of the North German Confederation, which was to adopt a federal constitution in July 1867.

August 1866 – August 1867: Economic crisis.

13th of December: The French forces evacuated Rome, in accordance with the convention signed on the 15th of September 1864.

1867
5th of January: Napoleon III and Emille Ollivier met to establish a plan of liberal reforms.

17th of January: Napoleon III presented reforms favourable to individual liberties and “encouraged” his government to resign.

19th of January: The Moniteur published a letter by Napoleon III announcing political reforms, including ministerial responsibility, liberty of the press and freedom of assembly.

14th of March: The Senate obtained the right to a second reading of laws voted by the Legislative Body.

1st of April-November: Third Universal Exhibition in Paris.

10th of April: Free primary education in the communes.

12th of May: The brand new museum of National Antiquities installed in the palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

6th of June: Failure of a Polish refugee (Berezowski) to assassinate the tsar Alexander II during a state visit to Paris.

19th of June: Maximilian executed by the Mexican Republicans.

14th of July: Bismarck named chancellor of the North German Confederation.

24th of July: Authorisation to create anonymous societies, without prior approval by the public authorities.

18th-22nd of August: Napoleon III met Franz-Josef of Austria at Salzburg.

23rd of October: Garibaldi invaded the Papal States.

3rd of November: French troops brought Garibaldi to a halt and entered Rome.

1868
11th of May: Liberalisation of the Press, with the end of censorship and lower tax.

6th of June: Any meeting henceforth legal if declared three days in advance.

2nd of August: Suppression of Article 1781 of the Civil Code, which stipulated that the employer's word carries more weight than that of the employee.

1869
23rd-24th of May and 6th-7th of June: Legislative elections. An increase in the Republican opposition.

15th of August: Celebrations in Ajaccio for the centennial of the birth of Napoleon I, in the presence of the Empress and the Prince Imperial. End of the construction of the Suez Canal, which was inaugurated on the 17th of November by the Empress Eugenie.

8th of September: A senatus-consultum gave a very liberal direction to the regime. The Legislative Body could now elect its president, establish its internal organisation and propose laws. The sessions of the Senate were now public, and the Senate itself had the right to amend texts voted by the Legislative Body. Ministers were permitted to address both chambers, but remained answerable only to the Senate, appointed by the emperor.

1870
January: Nearly 7000 miners went on strike at Creusot, demanding an increase in their pay.

10th of January: Pierre Bonaparte shot the journalist Victor Noir. He was acquitted on the 27th of March.

12th of January: End of official candidates.

20th of April: A new senatus-consultum reinforced that of the 8th of September 1869. The Senate became a legislative chamber to rank alongside, and with the same prerogatives, as the Legislative Body.

8th of May: Plebiscite favourable to Napoleon III and to the liberal flavour that he gave to the regime - 7 359 000 yes, 1 572 000 no, 1 895 000 abstentions.

29th of May: In an emergency, ministers were henceforth authorised to propose laws directly to the Legislative Body, without passing via the Council of State.

26th of June: Regulation of the legal duration of work.

3rd of July: Secretly manipulated by Bismarck, prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen proposed himself as a candidate for the throne of Spain, following the abdication of Isabella II in favour of her own son and in agreement with Napoleon III.

6th of July: Napoleon III demanded that the King of Prussia unequivocally condemn the Hohenzollern candidature.

10th of July: Wilhelm III objected to the French demands, expressed belligerently. Secretly, however, he demanded that Hohenzollern withdraw his candidature.

12th of July: Hohenzollern withdrew his candidature to the throne of Spain.

12th-13th of July: Napoleon III sent a telegram to Wilhelm asking for an assurance that he would never support such a candidature in the future.

13th of July: Wilhelm considered the incident closed, but Bismarck sent a belligerent dispatch to Napoleon III on his own initiative, and had it published in the press.

14th of July: Napoleon III, the government and the Chambers learned of the Ems telegram.

16th of July: The Legislative Body voted the credit for war.

19th of July: Official declaration of war between France and Prussia.

23rd of July: The regency was confided to the Empress Eugenie.

28th of July: Napoleon III took command of the Army of the Rhine at Metz. The force of numbers was unequal, as the French only disposed of 240 000 men, against the Prussians and their German allies with 500 000 men.

4th of August: The Prussians took Wissembourg.

6th of August: The Prussians entered French territory.

7th of August: A state of siege was declared in Paris.

7th-13th of August: Demonstrations against the Empire.

9th of August: Extraordinary session of both chambers. Fall of Emille Ollivier's government. Demonstrations against Napoleon III in Paris.

10th of August: The Empress-regent charged Cousin-Montauban, count of Palikao, with the formation of a new government.

12th of August: New war loan. Marshal Bazaine, appointed generalissimo, was named to lead the Army of the Rhine.

14th-18th of August: The retreat of the Army of the Rhine toward Chalons was stained by defeats at Borny, Rezonville and Gravelotte Saint-Privat.

15th of August: Napoleon III rejoined Mac-Mahon at Chalons.

17th of August: Trochu, military governor of Paris, organised a defence committee.

20th of August: Metz and Bazaine were encircled.

21st of August: Napoleon III and Mac-Mahon attempted to rejoin Bazaine.

31st of August – 2nd of September: Battle of Sedan. Napoleon III capitulated and surrendered himself to the Prussians.

3rd of September: Interview between Napoleon III and Wilhelm III. The Emperor was imprisoned in the fortress of Wilhelmshohe.

4th of September: The Legislative Body voted the deposition of Napoleon III, the proclamation of the Third Republic, and the creation of a provisional government of national defence by Thiers.

7th of September: The Empress Eugenie and the Prince Imperial embarked at Deauville for England. After landing, they settled in Hastings, in Sussex.

19th-20th of September: The Prussians encircled Paris and occupied Versailles.

28th of September: Capitulation of Strasbourg.

27th of October: Bazaine capitulated at Metz.

30th of October: The Empress Eugenie visited Napoleon III at Wilhelmshohe.

17th of December: The Prussians and their allies began to bombard Paris.

1871
5th of January: Paris was bombarded again.

18th of January: The German Empire proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles.

1st of March: The new Assembly voted the deposition of Napoleon III and his dynasty. Ratification of the preliminaries of peace signed on the 26th of February, by which France lost Alsace and Lorraine.

18th of March-29th of May: The Paris Commune.

19th of March: Napoleon III left Wilhelmshohe for England. The next day, he disembarked at Dover, and continued to Camden Place, at Chislehurst in Kent.

27th of March: The imperial couple visited Queen Victoria in Windsor Castle.

23rd of May: Treaty of Frankfurt: France lost Alsace and Lorraine, paid an indemnity of 5 billion francs in gold and had to reduce her army, which was exiled to the south of the Loire river.
 
16th of May: Destruction of the column of the Great Army, Place Vendome.

Autumn: The Empress Eugenie visited Spain.

30th of November: Queen Victoria visited Camden Place.

1872
Summer:  Sojourn in Brighton and Cowes. Napoleon III's health failing.

October: The Prince Imperial entered the royal academy at Woolwich.

15th of December: The emperor consulted Sir William Gull, Sir James Paget and Sir Henry Thompson concerning the symptoms of the stone in his bladder.

1873
2nd of January: Sir Henry Thompson, an eminent specialist (having previously successfully operated on the king of Belgium) performed the first operation (or lithotripsy) to destroy the stone.

6th of January: Second lithotripsy.

9th of January, 10:45: Death of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. His embalmed body was laid in state in the chapel of rest at Camden Place.

15th of January: Funeral ceremony in the little church of Saint Mary, Chislehurst.

1879
1st of June: Death of the Prince Imperial in a skirmish in Zululand, while serving as a lieutenant in the British Army.

1887
The remains of Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial were moved to Farnborough Abbey.

1920
11th of July: Death of the empress Eugenie in Madrid.

Trans. Paul-Napoleon Calland. July 2006