Failure of the July Monarchy and the 1848 Revolution
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The year 1848 for all of Europe was a tumultuous one, with revolutions breaking out in almost every country. Through a chain of accidental circumstances, reform was being brought to the current governments because of three major reasons- the spread of nationalist programs, the emergence of liberal political activity, and economic crisis. One of the first countries in which revolutionary fighting broke out was France. This essay will use the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, a powerful political thinker, to discuss the failures of the July Monarchy, the circumstances which allowed the February Revolutions to take place and the legacy which these events left.
The July Monarchy (1830- 1848) was a time period marked by a moderately liberal state which was controlled mainly by the educated elite which greatly disenfranchised the middle and working classes. France was emerging from a period known as the Restoration where Ultaroyalist Charles X had been passed the title of king. His term was characterized by economic crisis, political duality and harsh ordinances that attempted to reconstruct a society of aristocratic privilege (Neurberger, Joan 28). Charles realized that he was wrong to attempt such policies, and abducted himself in 1830 after attempts of overthrow. After this, there was much debate on the kind of government that should be implemented; a democratic republic was being called for by a minority which hoped to establish universal suffrage and the liberal bourgeoisie called for a constitutional monarchy which would restrict the right to vote to the wealthy. The Chamber of Deputies nominated Louis Philippe to become the “King of the French”, a title that he accepted which marked the beginning of the July Monarchy. Tocqueville says, “In 1830 the triumph of the middle class had been definite and so thorough that all political power, every franchise, every prerogative, and the whole government was confined and, as it were, heaped up within the narrow limits of this one class, to the statutory exclusion of all beneath them and the actual exclusion of all above”. Louis Philippe was a man of the middle class in a sense, acting much like a well-to-do businessman (Neurberger, Joan 31) who made promises of the democratic ideals; liberty, equality and fraternity. Far from reaching these ideals, Philippes run as king was not dissimilar of Charles X, the ruler the middle and working classes had fought to remove. These classes wanted universal suffrage so to gain control over the economic situation which they were suffering at the hand of. Tocquevilles critique of the ruling body was that, “all business was discussed among the members of one class, in the interest and in the spirit of that class, where there was no battlefield for contending parties to meet upon”, which he believed would bring about a struggle between, “those who have, and those who have not”. The denial of rights to property, social inequality, and the unjust distribution of goods lead Tocqueville to believe that the middle and working classes would not only upset the law, ministry, and government, but society itself. In an address to the Chamber of Deputies on January 27th, 1848, he announced his belief that “ÐWe at this moment are sleeping on a volcano”, accusing the governing class of becoming indifferent and selfish and stating that revolution was in the air. He pled with the men for electoral and parliamentary reform but stated he knew that “changing laws could not change the destinies of nations”. It was clear that by this time Tocqueville believed revolution imminent whether it was due to Philippes poor government, social inequities among the classes, or whether the right pieces had just fallen into place at the right time. None the less, the discontented classes rose up against Louis Philippe calling for his abduction and the disbandment of the July Monarchy. In one of Philippes last decrees as King, he forbade political opposition to meet at a banquet in Paris scheduled for February 22nd which impassioned those men to arms. On the 23rd of February, government officials accidentally fired into a crowed of demonstrators which set the revolution in motion. King Louis Philippe failed to correct the wrongs of powers past left France short of realizing their democratic dreams which in turn lead to the overthrow of the July Monarchy and his own exile to England.
As Tocqueville says in his Recollections, “Ð…Many important historical facts can only be explained by accidental circumstances, and many others remain totally inexplicable”. The explanation for the Revolution of February can be seen as many insignificant acts when examined alone, but the economic, political and social events of this time create a formula for revolution. The 1830s brought an economic period of extensive growth to all European countries with the Industrial Revolution in full swing. With the establishment of factories in the cities, traditional artisan crafts were dying, and urbanization was occurring with the working class hoping to find a better life. With this growth of the cities came large scale degradation and pollution because the infrastructure could not contain the masses of people migrating in. Not only were the living conditions poor for the workers, but wages were falling throughout this time period. Exploitation of the worker was widespread because the businessmen were concerned only with increasing profit. The popular theory