Napoleon III commissioned a grand reconstruction of Paris carried out by the man he appointed as prefect of the Seine, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, accompanied by an elaborate system of parks and gardens. He launched similar public works projects in all other major cities in France. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and acted to modernise the banking system. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter. He negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organise. The first female students were admitted at the Sorbonne and educational opportunities for women were increased, as was the list of required subjects in public schools.