The Effectiveness of Napoleon III's Foreign Policy In general terms, Napoleon's foreign policy was much less successful than his domestic policy. Overall, the goals of his foreign policy were to present France as a champion of oppressed peoples throughout Europe, create new countries that would be grateful to France, maintain good relations with Great Britain, and maintain a balance of power between Austria and Prussia. the policy proved effective in the Crimean War of 1854-56. His goals were to increase French prestige, isolate Austria, decrease Russian influence, and maintain good relations with Great Britain. In the Crimean War, France managed to achieve these goals. According to Norman Rich, "France was the state that seemed to have benefited most from the war." This quote shows us that his foreign policy was able to achieve its goals. The French armies had achieved the most impressive victories in the final attacks on Sevastopol, and France had supplanted Russia as the dominant power in Europe, which helped France increase its prestige. He also managed to isolate Austria during the war. Austria was interested in war but was reluctant to risk opposing Russia unless it received military guarantees from France and Britain. Thus Austria became neutral and opposed all belligerents, with the result that until 1879 Austria remained friendless among the great powers. However, France lost Austria's friendship by isolating it. Furthermore, he succeeded in decreasing Russian influence in the Near East, Turkey and Europe. However, at the same time, he lost the friendship of... middle of paper... politics led to the founding of the Liberal Empire. Many problems have been created due to the government's isolation from the country and its weakness. There was growing criticism of the Second Empire, such as conflicts between a policy of supporting the liberal cause abroad and dictatorship at home, failures of foreign policies, and free trade with Britain. Thus an opposition was created. To minimize opposition and gain the support of the Liberals, a compromise was reached. In January 1870 the Liberal Empire was founded. From the above we can see that Napoleon III's foreign policy was quite effective in the period of the Crimean War. However, his foreign policy became a failure after 1860. It not only influenced the political development of France until 1871, but also influenced future development..