The July Monarchy

Liberty Leading the People

The July Revolution

The events of 1848 were only the culmination of a period of political unrest in France since the end of the Napoleonic period. When Napoleon fell from power the monarcy was restored, with Charles X as new King. France under Charles X was conservative, but still a free country; allowing opposition to grow in the newspapers and the Chamber of Deputies. When the King dissolved the Chamber in March 1830 and issued four ordinances, restricting the freedom of the press and limiting the number of voters, in July; revolution broke out. Even though it had been the bourgeoise who had been the target of the King’s ordinances, it was the republicans - revolutionary students, workers and the intelligentsia of Paris - that manned the barricades that were erected in late July. The revolutionaries desired a democratic republic, but political liberals, supported by the rising bourgeoise, wanted a reformed constitutional monarchy. The liberals were victorious, and after a brief period of confusion Louis Philippe was placed on the throne of the reformed monarchy.

The Nature of the Regime

The new regime brought very few important changes to the French political scene. It is true that some aristocrats withdrew from politics entirely, but the July Monarchy was still a government of the elite. The major portion of the middle class was effectively excluded from political life for two reasons:

Landed property was still the most important factor in the system of voting qualifications.
New middle-class elements could not afford the kind of education that would qualify them for them for the bureaucracy.11

As a result of this, most wealthy urban residents were not able to vote. The final result of this was that the old aristocracy was simply replaced by the small upper middle class, the grande bourgeoise, as the new governing class of the country.12

*Louis Philippe*

Once established, the new regime turned rapidly conservative. It refused any concessions to middle-class demands for parliamentary reform and with the Press Law of 1835 the republican opposition was forced to cease its activities. With the opposition out of the way, the conservative nature of Orleanism had been established. The stability of the regime was maintained by corruption within the bureaucracy and by granting favours to important businessmen. This exclusion of everyone but the extremely affluent from political life is probably why the regime found no defenders when revolution broke out in 1848.

Political opposition

Ironically, the group that gained political participation in July 1830 was the part of the middle class that was least interested in politics - the wealthy businessmen and manufacturers. They devoted their time and energy to their own business interests and did not involve themselves in politics unless political decisions went in the way of their own interests. The economic crisis of 1845 - 1847 undoubtedly weakened their devotion to the regime, but not even at this point did they they show any major political interest.

The most highly politicized segment of the middle class were the professional people,13 like lawyers, doctors, teachers and journalists. This group had not gained anything politically in 1830 and increasing unemployment among professional people during the 1830s and 1840s made them turn against the state. Their extensive education made them open to new political ideas, and since repression in France was not as strict as other places in Europe the circulation of such ideas made the professionals the most important opposition group to the existing regime.