The
French coup d'état of 5 December 1851 was a
self-coup staged by Prince
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (at the time President of the
French Second Republic). It ended in the successful dissolution of the
French National Assembly and the subsequent re-establishment of the
French Empire the next year. When he faced the prospect of having to leave office in 1852, Louis-Napoléon (nephew of
Napoléon Bonaparte) staged the coup in order to stay in office and implement his reform programs; these included the restoration of
universal suffrage (previously abolished by the legislature). His political measures, and the extension of his mandate for 10 years, were popularly endorsed by
constitutional referendum. A mere year later, the Prince-President reclaimed his uncle's throne as Emperor of the French under the
regnal name Napoleon III.