728 Ch. 1 8 • The Dominant Powers in the Age of Liberalism

The opening of the Suez Canal, 1869.

metallurgical industry, in particular, underwent unprecedented growth.
But most French industries remained relatively small in scale, producing
luxury goods such as gloves, umbrellas, silk, jewelry, and fine furniture.
France became a major exporter of capital. French investors financed the
construction of Russian, Spanish, and Italian railroads, as well as providing
other timely loans to Portugal, Austria-Hungary, and Mexico. Ferdinand de
Lesseps (1805—1894), an engineer, raised enough money through loans
(half through public subscription) to finance the construction of his brain­
child, the Suez Canal, which opened with suitable fanfare in 1869. Yet the
chief beneficiary of the canal was not France but Britain, the world’s lead­
ing trader, which had by far the most to gain by considerably reducing the
journey to and from India and the rest of Asia (see Chapter 20).
State encouragement of economic development may be most clearly
seen in the French railways. The Bank of France, which had seventy-four
branches by 1870, provided financial aid to the companies that for the most
part completed the main railway lines that helped stimulate the country’s
commercial and manufacturing boom. The state guaranteed investors a
minimum profit. Between 1851 and 1869, the railway network expanded by
five times, reaching almost 10,000 miles of track. French railroads became
one of the largest employers in Europe.

The “Liberal Empire”

In 1859, Napoleon III announced his intention to “crown the [imperial]

edifice with liberty.” He would diffuse opposition by implementing some of

the very reforms his opponents on the left desired. Five republicans had

been elected to the Legislative Corps two years earlier. In 1860, the