Eugénie de Montijo: The Spanish Empress Who Built Modern Paris and is Blamed For Imperial France’s Downfall

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

Thirty-three years after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Empire, his nephew (known as Napoleon III) became the first president of France before becoming emperor himself. Although he was a capable ruler and reformer, Napoleon III’s failed military campaigns, especially France’s loss to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, led to his defeat, capture, and the fall of the Second French Empire and permanent eclipse of Germany in military power.

Many historians have blamed Napoleon III’s wife for his failings. Eugénie de Montijo was a Spanish noblewoman who became the last French empress. She was a cultural tastemaker and activist for feminist equality, but many blame her blunders when she held power as regent for France’s worst failures and reckless rush into a ruinous war with Germany. But the story of her life has rarely been told in full. It was a career filled with glamour, achievement, and tragedy, as well as contributions that transformed the nation she ruled unlike any other royal noblewoman in Europe.

She spearheaded movements in health and education to help transform France into a modern country. She pushed Parisian architecture toward steel and glass construction of buildings as well as for inclusion of green spaces throughout the city, many of which exist today. Most of all, she crafted much of the idea of what it means to be French in the modern era.

Today’s guests are Petie Kladstrup and Evelyne Resnick, authors of “The Last Empress of France: The Rebellious Life of Eugénie de Montijo.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm going to hear with another episode of The History and Plug podcast.
0:07.7	If you had to guess who the most powerful woman was in the 19th century,
0:11.6	and by talking soft power like an author, but hard political power,
0:15.2	a reasonable guess is Queen Victoria,
0:17.3	real decades had an entire era named after her at the height of British imperial power.
0:22.0	But because her role was reduced by Britain's constitutional monarchy, she was much more of a figurehead.
0:27.4	And her influence in British affairs is marginal if you compare her to a much more powerful female ruler.
0:33.0	And that was Eugenie de Montiho.
0:34.9	She was the wife of Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte,
0:38.7	who ruled the Second French Empire from 1852 to 1870. Eugenie served as regent of France three times
0:44.8	during Napoleon III's rule in 1859, 1865, and 1870 when she governed in her husband's absence.
0:50.9	She managed state affairs during the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, and continually served as an advisor to Napoleon III, making the two of them a continental
0:59.1	power company. Her story isn't very well known, but her effects on France are far-reaching.
1:03.7	She won for the first time the right for French women to be educated, and women in France
1:07.3	couldn't vote until the 1940s. she influenced the architectural style of Paris,
1:11.6	particularly the inclusion of green spaces throughout the city, and did much to make France
1:15.1	the center of the global cultural universe in the 19th century. Today's episode, we're joined by
1:19.9	Evelyn Reznik, Petty Kladstrip, authors of the book The Last Empress of France,
1:23.7	The Rebellious Life of Eugenie de Monti-Holte-Hope. Hope we enjoyed this discussion.
1:30.3	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors.
1:39.0	It's interesting that for a ruler that many people, at least many people in the United States,
1:43.6	have never heard of,
	...

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