HI 172 – Modern France Restoration and Revolution

Napoleon’s Defeat Spring 1814: Napoleon abdicates – Exiled on Elba Restoration: Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) – Fails to buy support of military – Not everyone wanted a return to Old Regime, not even the Allies, who wanted a stable but contained France

100 Days Napoleon returns to southern France from Elba Gathers popular and military support Defeated in Waterloo (Belgium today) by Duke of Wellington, 1815 Napoleon sent to Saint Helena… dies there

Restoration Ultras – arch conservatives Doctrinaires – bridge between above and below Liberals – Wanted model Republicans – Anti-royalists

Some incontrovertible gains of Revolution End of venality of office Written constitutions Some sort of representation Land redistribution – Church land works its way downward in economy – Wealthy buyers of land break up and sell to peasants – Peasants do well

The de facto model? Revolution and various kinds of liberal authoritarianism Rural economic growth Bumpy for manufacturing sector – England’s industrial revolution

Bourbons, Louis XVIII ( ) – Lacked charisma – Careened between political currents Charles X ( ) – Ultra conservative – Sought to revive Old Regime rituals – No tolerance for liberals

1830 Tensions between liberals and conservatives Spring 1830: Liberals reject ultra conservative ministry of Polignac Charles X clamps down – Press restrictions – Election reform Provokes revolution

July Days, les trois glorieuses Radicals join liberals to reject reforms Soldiers sent in to put down barricade- uprisings often sided with rebels Charles X flees to England

July Monarchy duc d’Orléans takes over the throne Tensions now shift – Ultras are sidelined – Struggle between liberals, republicans, and socialists

Algeria To gain popular support, Charles X invades Algiers – beginning of what would be 130 years of colonial rule in Algeria Will return to this in later lecture

François Guizot Historian France’s history: long rise of freedom and middle classes Liberal: – For freedom AND order Economic freedom: enrichissez-vous! Education to discipline masses

Socialism(s) Utopian – Saint-Simon Communitarian Production driven communities, politics should be adapted to it – Producers vote Oppression and war would be counter to productive interests

Socialism(s) Utopian – Charles Fourier Phalansteries – Created communities where individual ‘types’ are combined for maximum (1620 people per community) – High wages, higher for unappealing jobs – Use of desire to generate productivity – Sexual desire, intellectual curiosity… unleashed passions channeled into a harmonious community… » Touch of Rousseau and points to 1968

Louis Blanc 1840: The Organisation of Labour – Worker cooperatives – Expand suffrage

1848 February revolution: 2 nd Republic – Against Guizot’s inflexibility – Bourgeois driven (expand vote) – Radicals support ‘banquets’ Spring – Tensions between all groups – Creation of National Workhouses June Days – Closing of workhouses – Repressive turn

Two paths through 19 th century France For a discussion of Tocqueville and Hugo, you might find this review of Hooper’s Les misérables helpful. people/staff_index/walton/the_missing_half_ of_les_mis.pdf people/staff_index/walton/the_missing_half_ of_les_mis.pdf