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| 1853 |
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| Hardship hit much of France. A silkworm disease reduced the value of the silk crop substantially. Poor harvests led to severe food shortages. A cholera epidemic hit Paris (Nov. 1853–Dec. 1854). The Parisian authorities established home health care for the poor, but Paris remained plagued by population growth and inadequate water supplies and sanitary services. The problems helped encourage a concerted effort at urban renewal, land reclamation, and economic modernization. | 1 |
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| Jan. 30 |
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| Louis-Napoleon married Eugénie de Montijo, countess of Téba, daughter of a Spanish grandee. Her rigorous religious training made her an enemy of liberalism and a leader of the Clerical Party in the palace. Napoleon continued a policy favoring the church, begun with the Falloux Law. Government grants helped fund churches and religious bodies. | 2 |
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| 1854 |
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| Haussman, prefect of Paris, began plans to rebuild Paris. He was charged with preparing plans for the Paris sewage system, and Belgrand was to begin plans for a Parisian water supply. The two reported to the Paris council (April). Numerous boulevards, roads, and buildings were completed or renovated. Rebuilding Paris destroyed traditional meeting places and communities for the working classes and the poor within the city. | 3 |
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| June 22 |
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| A law required that workers retain their livrets (worker's passbooks) rather than surrender them to their employers. Other legislation attempted to eliminate some of the worst abuses of the system of livrets. Employers were also prohibited from making any notation in the livrets and had to register arrivals and departures of their workers. The law expanded livret obligations to include women as well as men, to aid policing of workers. | 4 |
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