The July Revolution of 1830 in France
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Causes and historical background of the July Revolution of 1830
3. The revolt
4. Consequences of the July Revolution
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
Itroduction
France was one of the first European countries where bourgeois revolution has
brought great changes in social, economic and political life of the country.
Moreover, unlike other states, France after the revolution produced a profound
impact on the further development of European continent and the entire world.
Nonetheless, even after the restoration of the monarchy in this country, France
still remained a turbulent and unstable state. As a result, revolts and coup
d’etats became a norm of the further development of France. In this respect,
it is worthy to note that the July Revolution of 1830 was one of the most prominent
and significant events in the historical development of France in the 19th century
that to a significant extent defined the political and social life of the country.
At the same time, the July Revolution of 1830 was not an accidental revolt but,
on the contrary, this event was motivated and had its profound causes. Despite
the fact that the revolt was characterized by serious contradictions within
the camp of revolutionaries it was successful and resulted in the victory of
one of the party leading the revolution. On the other hand, it is quite difficult
to define the real effect of the Revolution until its causes and development
are not analyzed. This is why it is necessary to carefully discuss them in order
to properly evaluate the results and role of the July Revolution of 1830 in
France.
Causes and historical background of the July Revolution of 1830
Speaking about the July Revolution of 1830, it is necessary to point out that
basically it was the revolt against the rule of Charles X Bourbon whose actions
were totally rejected by French society and leading political powers of France
of that epoch . At the same time, it should be said that Charles X only stimulated
the growth of people’s and middle class opposition to the royal power
and that was probably the biggest mistake he had made during his rule. In fact,
this revolution was a natural reaction of French people and what is more important
of the middle class which grew in power as the major economic and political
layer of French society that was actually a bourgeois society, and this was
policy absolutely different from that of his predecessor Louis XVIII . The latter
practically did not interfere in the existing socio-economic and political order
which was formed in the result of the French Revolution and following years
under Napoleon, and after the Emperor rule. In general his rule may be characterized
as peaceful and had the support of the vast majority of French population .
In such a way, Louis XVIII provided France with stability essential for its
normal development and recovery from the Napoleonic wars and the period of revolution.
In fact, the king based many of his decisions on popular opinion that was very
important for the country which had started democratic changes and where the
middle class grew in power . It should be pointed out that he was particularly
responsive to the wishes of the Parisian elite and this fact is very important
because the capital was probably the most important strategic place from the
revolutionary perspective since it is in Paris where revolution actually started.
At the same time, despite the fact that Louis XVIII attempted to provide French
people with far more freedom than his royal ancestors, the existing regime was
quite autocratic. Nonetheless, his ruling may be characterized by serious democratic
achievements such as an elected assembly, the Chamber of Deputies which coexisted
with the appointed Chamber of Peers. However, the Chamber of Deputies had little
of power that was a significant drawback . Moreover, Louis XVIII even agreed
to the Constitution which, by the way, provided the possibilities for legislators
to assist in governing the country .
In such a way, French people from the lower to upper classes was relatively
satisfied with the regime established by Louis XVIII which provided an essential
transitional period from post-revolutionary democratization to total restoration
of the monarchy in the country. In this respect, Charles X that inherited the
throne from Louis XVIII was absolutely different from his predecessor. To put
it more precisely he did not reconciled with those who insisted on the development
of the constitutional monarchy in France and further democratization of the
country. In stark contrast he stood on the ground that France had to restore
the absolute monarchy but apparently, historically France was not ready for
such a dramatic step back in its development. In fact, it was obvious that French
society could not return to the ‘Ancien Regime’ that existed before
the French Revolution and its principles .
Naturally, such a contradiction between the king which possessed great power
in the state on the one hand, and the growing middle class, political and economic
elite, and people, on the other hand, could not fail to result in the revolt.
Obviously, it is not only the absolutist ambitions that provoked such a resistance
of French society to the king Charles X but the actions he undertook to achieve
his basic goal and his policy. For instance, unlike Louis XVIII, Charles X paid
little attention to the public opinion, opposed to democracy and he strongly
believed that he could erase most traces of the democratic government limiting
legislative power of the elected assembly .
At the same time, his actions produced not only political effect such as the
reducing power of legislators but they also produced a profound economic effect.
For instance, he made a very controversial decision concerning all of the nobles
that left the country after the French Revolution of 1789 would be compensated
for their lost property. As a result, there was not only a conflict of political
interests but also of economic interests between the monarch and the middle
class and current economic and political elite of the country.
In fact it is quite natural that the situation was getting to deteriorate dramatically
when Charles X openly supported nobility and, since the settlements in France
were quite moderate and not fully recovered after the Revolution and Napoleonic
wars, such a policy of the king arose great controversy among the middle class
and French people at large because the compensation to the nobles meant higher
taxes of the rest of the French population for the benefits of nobles .
Naturally, such a policy which affected civil rights and freedom of French people,
their economic interests could not fail to provoke the revolt that occurred
in 1830.
The revolt
Obviously, the policy of Charles X affected interests of different groups and
large number of people but what is more important this policy led to the unification
of the opposition. As a result, the united opposition of monarchist liberals
and imperialist republicans initially started the legal resistance to the changes
initiated by the monarch and eventually headed the popular coup d’etat,
to the July Ordinances of the July 1830, which dissolved the intractable Chamber,
eliminated licensed dealers from the electoral list, and muzzled the press .
Actually, the fighting had lasted for three days which later called ‘Three
Glorious Days’ led to the victory of the rebelled French people. However,
on defeating the monarch the revolutionaries revealed profound controversies
that existed within their camp. On the one hand there was the republican party
which actually led the revolution and insisted on the reestablishment of the
Republic of 1793 , but this party had little forces and little political power
and constituted mainly of students and workmen and could not shape the public
opinion in Paris. On the other hand, there was the Orleanist party consisting
basically of liberal bourgeoisie and the middle class supported the new king
Louis-Philippe and insisted on the change of the monarch and constitutional
restriction of his power along with the enlargement of the power of legislators
.
In such a way, profound contradictions on the future development of France progressed
and the situation grew dangerous and threatened to result in the military conflict
since there were two different political powers which pretended to play the
role of the government. Nonetheless, such a controversy could not last for a
long time and the supporters of the constitutional monarchy eventually won when
La Fayette switched his support to Louis Philippe that decided matters in the
favor of the new king of France .
Naturally, the revolutionaries could not remain the legislation of the country
unchanged and the most important thing they had to do was to limit the power
of the king in ordered to prevent any further attempts to usurp the absolute
power by the monarch. As a result the following preliminary conditions were
imposed upon the king: the recognition of the supremacy of the people, the responsibility
of ministers, the supremacy of hereditary succession to the Chamber of Peers,
now reduced to the rank of a council of officials, the suppression of the article
14 of the Charter that had enabled Charles X to supersede the laws by means
of the ordinances, and the liberty of the press.
Thus, the July Revolution, being initiated as the revolution against the growing
power of the unpopular monarch, was characterized by significant contradictions
among revolutionaries and had serious consequences for the future development
of France.
Consequences of the July Revolution
Speaking about the consequences of the July Revolution of 1830 in France, it
is possible to distinguish short-term and long-term consequences. Basically,
the direct result of the July Revolution was the establishment of the constitutional
monarchy in which the power of the king was dramatically limited and there remained
no possibilities to return to the absolute monarchy. On the other hand, this
revolution revealed the inability of French people to reestablish the Republic
or, to put it more precisely, this revolution perfectly demonstrated that in
that period of time the real power in the country belonged to the liberal bourgeoisie
which started to form the middle class as the most powerful stratum of French
society. Finally, the sustaining of the monarchy in France prevented the country
from the new war with other European countries which were monarchies as well.
Otherwise, France would face the threat of new wars it stumbled through after
the Revolution of 1789 .
As for the long-term consequences of the July Revolution of 1830, it should
be said that the establishment of the constitutional monarchy created essential
conditions for the further democratization of the country. In this respect,
it is worthy to note that the constitutional monarchy prevented the country
from external aggression and provided the possibilities for evolutionary development
of democracy in France on the basis of stable economic development of the country
.
At the same time, the growing role of the middle class became obvious and it
was a historical stage when the bourgeoisie started to play the defining role
in the future of the country. In fact, it was the first stage of the development
of the middle class as the future basis of a democratic society that currently
exists in France.
Finally, it should be said that the July Revolution stimulated the development
of revolutionary movements in neighboring states, including Netherlands but
in long-terms it served as an example of democratic changes which were essential
for French people and what is more important this revolution emphasized the
irreversible nature of democratic changes in the country which became the leader
of civil rights and democratic movement.
Conclusion
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that
the July Revolution of 1830 in France, produced a very important impact on the
further development of France and other countries of the world. Nonetheless,
it should be said that this revolution symbolized the end of the epoch of absolutism
and unlimited power of the king and revealed the fact that bourgeoisie could
not be ignored and its socio-economic and political interests did not correspond
to the interests of the absolute monarch. This is why the development of the
July Revolution indicated at the natural impossibility of the restoration of
the absolute monarchy. On the other hand, the reestablishment of the Republic
also turned to be impossible and again bourgeoisie played a defining role in
this respect since its economic interests rejected the possibility of the war
with neighboring European states which was inevitable in the case of the creation
of the new French Republic. In such a way the July Revolution revealed the trend
to the evolutionary democratization of France, dominance of the moderate ideology
and the end of truly revolutionary epoch.
Bibliography:
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Basil Blackwell, 1995.
2. Carlyle, Thomas. The French Revolution: A History, New York: The Modern Library,
2002.
3. McKay, Hill, Buckler, A History of Western Society, 8th Ed. New York: Routledge,
2001.
4. Perry, Marvin, Joseph Penden, and Theodore Von Laue. Sources of the Western
Tradition, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
5. Spitzer, Alan. The French Generation of 1820, Princeton, NJ: Princeton
