Page "Napoleon III" Paragraph 10

While in the Ham fortress, his eyesight reportedly became poor.

During his years of imprisonment, he wrote essays and pamphlets that combined his claim to be emperor with progressive, mildly socialist economic proposals, published as L ' extinction du paupérisme, which he came to define as Bonapartism.

In 1844, his uncle Joseph died, making him the heir apparent to the Bonaparte claim.

He finally escaped in May 1846 by exchanging clothes with a mason working at the fortress.

His enemies would later derisively nickname him " Badinguet ", the name of the mason whose identity he assumed.

He eventually made it to Southport, England.

A month later, his father Louis died, making Louis-Napoléon the clear heir to the Bonaparte legacy in France.