In July 1830, an uprising occurred in Franceas a result of which the last representative of the senior line of the Bourbon dynasty, King Charles X, was overthrown and his relative Duke of Orleans Louis Philippe was enthroned. As a result, the restoration of the power of the Bourbons established in 1814, who tried to restore the order in the country before the revolution of 1789 with all its might, was done away with. The period that followed in France’s history went down in history as the July monarchy.
The period of the July monarchy is characterized by the fact that inAs a result of the uprising, called the Second French Revolution, a new Constitution was adopted (the renewed Charter), to a greater extent ensured the observance of civil rights and expanded the powers of parliament.
The dominant class is still leftthe big bourgeoisie, moreover, if earlier it was subjected to pressure from the feudal nobility, now the danger for it came from below - from the petty bourgeoisie and the working class formed by that time. Since ordinary citizens of the country had practically no opportunity to assert their rights through parliament, they still represented a potential danger to the order established in the country.
Однако это не говорит об однородности состава Parliament and its inaction. The specific features of the July monarchy consist precisely in the utmost exacerbation of the internal parliamentary struggle, caused by contradictions between representatives of various parties.
The opposition, for example, was not satisfiedthe adoption of the old Constitution in an updated form and demanded its complete revision. Their main goal was to establish universal suffrage in the country and further expand civil liberties.
In this environment of acute political struggleThe July monarchy became fertile ground for the spread of various forms of socialist doctrine. In the 1930s, it gained many supporters thanks to the active work of the founder of the school of utopian socialism, Count Saint-Simon. He and his followers, called sensimonists, appealed to the people of France immediately after the victory of the Second Revolution and in the following years gained considerable political weight.
In addition, the dissemination of ideas of the universalequality and socialization of the means of production contributed to the popularity of the works of Proudhon and L. Blanc. As a result, the July monarchy in France was often shaken by large popular unrest, which had a pronounced socialist character.
Their aggravation was sharply marked in November of the same1830, when the newly appointed head of government, Jacques Lafite, was to organize a trial over the ministers of the former cabinet, formed during the reign of the overthrown king Charles X.
Folk crowds spontaneously gathered in those days onthe streets of Paris, demanded the death penalty for them, and the verdict of life imprisonment seemed to them too lenient sentence. The socialists attempted to take advantage of the unrest in connection with this, their goal being to lead the country to a new revolution.
They added fuel to the fire and supporters of restorationthe former regime and enthronement of the minor Henry V, in whose favor the recently deposed monarch abdicated. In February 1831, they organized a demonstration, giving it the appearance of a dirge for the other heir to the throne, the duke of Berry, who passed away a year before. However, this action did not come in time, and outraged crowds of people crushed not only the church where it was held, but also the house of the archbishop.
Throughout the 30s, the July monarchyloosened by a number of popular uprisings. The largest of them was organized in June 1832 in Paris by members of the secret society of "human rights", supported by numerous foreign immigrants. The rioters built barricades and even proclaimed a republic in the country, but after short fights were dispersed by government forces.
Another major performance of this period.happened two years later in Leon. He was provoked by tough police measures against political organizations. For five days, gendarmerie troops attempted to storm the barricades erected by the workers, and when they succeeded, they staged unprecedented bloodshed on the streets of the city.
In 1839, the next popular unrest sweptParis. Their initiator was a secret political organization, hiding under the faceless name "Society of the Seasons." This manifestation of general hatred for the government was also suppressed, and its instigators were brought to justice.
In addition to mass protests aimed atthe overthrow of the regime of King Louis-Philippe, in the same years, individuals attempted seven attempts on his life. The most famous of them was organized by the Corsican Joseph Fieschi. To kill the monarch, he designed, built and secretly installed on the way of his pursuit a kind of unique design, consisting of 24-loaded rifle barrels.
When the king caught up with her, the conspiratormade a powerful salvo, as a result of which Louis-Philippe was not injured, but 12 people from the suite surrounding him were killed and many were injured. The conspirator himself was immediately seized and soon guillotined.
However, the main danger for the king came fromthe press, which the July monarchy provided much more freedom than the Bourbon regime that preceded it. Many periodicals did not hesitate to openly criticize both Louis Philippe himself and the government he created. They did not cease their actions even despite the systematic trials organized against them.
The crisis of the July monarchy was clearly marked by frequentchange of cabinet members, which began in 1836. The head of government, Francois Guizot, and Louis-Philippe himself tried in this way to streamline the work of the highest authority, and at the same time reassure both the parliamentary opposition and the masses.
By the way, there are many examples in world historyhow weak and incompetent rulers tried to delay the collapse of the regime they had created through frequent personnel changes. Suffice it to recall the “ministerial leapfrog” that preceded the fall of the House of Romanov.
Prime Minister for quite a whileskillfully tacking between the parties that put forward the most varied demands. For example, the dynastic opposition wanted a parliamentary reform that would give deputies the right to hold various posts in state institutions. They insisted on expanding the electorate with the introduction of new categories of people.
Despite the fact that the causes of the July monarchyconsisted in dissatisfaction of the bourgeoisie with the reactionary tendencies of the former government, they themselves were not able to put forward any radical demands.
Хуже обстояло дело с представителями крайне left wing. They insisted on the introduction of universal suffrage in the country and the establishment of a number of civil liberties, which had been heard enough from the socialists.
With a majority vote in parliamentobedient to him deputies, Guizot easily coped with the recalcitrant, but against the external opposition, expressed in the constantly growing popular discontent, he was powerless. Not only republican, but also socialist sentiments in the country intensified every year, and there was nothing to oppose to them.
If the causes of the crisis of the July monarchyconsist mainly in mass discontent with the lack of radical changes expected after the overthrow of Charles X, then the fall of his successor, King Louis-Philippe, largely led to the resurgent popularity of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Propaganda ideas return to the statethe government that preceded the restoration of the monarchy (1814) largely contributed to the government itself. By his decision, the ashes of the great Corsican were transported to Paris, and the statue was installed on the top of the Vendome column, towering in the center of the French capital and supposedly cast from Russian captured guns.
Посмертному возвеличиванию имени Наполеона prominent public figures of that era also contributed, such as the famous historian Louis Adolf Thiers and the writers Pierre-Jean de Beranger and George Sand. At the same time, on the political horizon, the figure of the late emperor Charles Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the late emperor, became more distinct
Being a descendant of the universal idol, he himself twiceattempted to come to power through poorly organized and ineptly carried out attempts at a coup d'etat, to which Louis-Philippe did not attach the slightest importance or even arrest their instigator. He was simply not taken seriously.
Однако положение в корне изменилось после того, there was a large and very representative party around Louis Napoleon. One of its leaders was a prominent political figure of that era, Odilon Barro. With his light hand, the opposition movement has taken the form of the so-called banquet campaign.
Заключалась она в том, что вначале в Париже, а then in other cities of France, in order not to violate the law on rallies, which required its organizers to obtain permission from local authorities, most genuine public banquets were held, which were attended by several thousand people.
Arranged tables with wine and snack thatit gave the assembly a look, albeit a large banquet, not prohibited by law. Visitors to the heated wine guests were speakers, who then took places at the common tables. Understanding all the true motivation of the events held, the authorities, nevertheless, could not find fault with anything, and the agitation was in full swing.
Such mass feasts organizedrich politicians led, eventually, to the next French revolution as a result of which on February 24, 1848, King Louis-Philippe abdicated the throne.
The results of the July monarchy were reduced to the fact thatFrance was established a republic, which was headed by its first president - Louis Adolphe Napoleon. Fate was pleased that after two unsuccessful attempts at a coup, he finally came to power in a legal way, and went down in history under the name of Napoleon III.
