The 1830 Revolution Merely Changed Who Was King, Nothing Else Changed in France
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“The 1830 Revolution merely changed who was king, nothing else changed in France”. Discuss.
In early 1830, the King of France was Charles X, a renowned Ultra who was incredibly biased towards his own beliefs. Much of the population of France feared that Charles X was plotting to bring about a counter-revolution, not helped by his introduction of the 4 ordinances, and of course this made them uneasy, as such a revolution could mean that everything achieved in the revolution of 1789 could be undone. Due to their fear, the French in Paris decided to have a revolution to avoid a counter-revolution, and during this, Louis-Philippe, “King of the Barricades” was said to support them, hence giving him his title as the “Liberal King”. Pre-revolution, France was a place where the poor stayed poor, and the rich got richer; where there was no meritocracy; where the working class had no say in how their country was run. But how much of this changed with the July Revolution of 1830?
The most obvious change in france was the King. With the deposition of Charles X came the rise of Louis-Philippe, “Liberal King”, “The Citizen King”, “King of the barricades”. From these titles, one would assume that he was a liberal, close to a saviour of the French, but in reality, he may not have been all that different to Charles X, and very close in belief to Louis XVIII. Despite this, the french had given him their liberal titles, and were determined to believe them, thus meaning that instantly, Louis-Philippe did not carry the taboo of “Champion of the Catholic church” that Charles X did, also meaning that the French were much more likely to warm to Louis-Philippe, who they did not think would betray them, as Charles X may have ended up doing. Another difference that came alongside Louis-Philippes ascension to kingship is a similar change in title; he became King of the French, unlike kings before him, who were kings of France and Navarre. This title again made the population believe that he was for the people, and not just for the progression of France.
Louis-Philippe also appeared to be entirely different in personality to Charles X; his coronation had none of the pomp of previous kings, and indeed, he did not look like a king at all. He walked around France in his National Guard uniform which was odd in two ways; firstly, he walked by himself, often unaccompanied and with an umbrella, the symbol of the bourgeoisie. This made him accessible to the people, and emphasised his label of “The Citizen King”. Also emphasising this was his national guard uniform; surely a king in this uniform is there to protect the people of France. Being in this uniform also made the people more aware of the fact that he did not see himself as a king, ruler or France; he didnt wear the regalia of kings of old, and thus embodied an image of change and revolution in France. The people of France didnt consider how much a 3 day revolution could really change though, despite the change in appearances.
With the new king also came a revised Charter. This charter emphasised Louis-Philippes reputation as a Liberal