On December 9, 1851, the Legislative Corps and the Senate of the Third French Republic officially renamed it the French Empire. The tricolor flag that symbolized the Third French Republic was taken down by the loyal palace guards from the rooftops of the Tuileries Palace and Elysee Palace, and replaced with a tricolor flag bearing the emblem of the Bonaparte Clan.
The change in the national flag and name indicated that the Republic, which lasted more than three years, had become history as of December 9, and France had once again returned to the embrace of a monarchy.
Although this empire, established by a national referendum, was an anomaly in the eyes of a true monarchy, it represented the greatest common denominator that the entire French populace could tolerate.
Compared to a traditional despotic empire, the revolutionary French Empire implemented policies through referendums with a certain degree of democracy.
