1. Compensation scheme
In
1825, Charles X passed a compensation bill by which the émigrés who had
lost their properties during the French revolution and the rule of
Napoleon were to either regain their property or be compensated. He set
aside 1.000 million Francs (£ 40.000.000) for this scheme. Whereas it
was necessary to compensate the émigrés, the way the money was raised
was very unrealistic. This was achieved by lowering the interest rate on
public debts from 5% - 3%, taxing the peasants and die middle class.
The peasants and middle class lost the land that they had acquired
during the revolution which had even been confirmed by the Concordat,
NB.
This aspect of Charles X's policy showed that he intended to revive the
privileges of the aristocrats and the unfair tax system which the
French men had fought and buried in 1789. He thus learnt nothing and
forgot nothing from the French revolution and the ancient regime.
2. His policy towards the Catholic Church
Charles
X restored the privileges of the church in disregard to the civil
constitution of the clergy and the concordat. He passed a law regarding
defiling religious places and things in which death sentence was fixed
for theft in churches and making holy utensils in church unholy. This
law was so extreme and was never given a practical shape due to
intensive opposition against it. Even then, Charles X pursued pro church
policies. For instance, he revived the influence of the church on the
state and education. A clergy was made the minister of education and
Bishops were permitted to appoint ail teachers in primary schools.
This is why Wellington asserts that Charles X established a government by priests, through priests and for priests.
NB.
Charles X's religious inclination was shown right from 1825 in his
coronation ceremony, e.g. His body was pierced seven times with a golden
needle kept right from the 5^ century. This was to make him receive
blessings from the holy oil. He is reported to have moved from place to
place to heal the sick with his holy touch. A Bishop crowned Charles at
the Rheims Cathedral. He led a religious procession in Paris. He was
dressed in violet robes with a burning candlelight in his hand. The
procession moved through the streets of Paris which increased fear in
the people. This was an all out restoration of the pre-1789 church
privileges showing that he was a deaf monarch to the revolutionary
bells.
3. The National Guard
Charles’
unrealistic policies provoked a protest from the National Guard, which
prompted him to disband it in 1827. He was too suspicious of an armed
revolt or coup detat by the Bonapartists, liberals and republicans who
had dominated the National Guard. This was unrealistic considering two
things. First, the National Guard was guaranteed by the 1814 Charter.
Secondly, it had championed the revolutionary cause against various
European coalitions and stood for military glory in the conquest of
Europe up to 1814. It was even the only protector of the freedom of the
Frenchmen. Charles is reported to have said that; Concessions ruined Louis XVI
and so he thought that by destroying the National Guard he was learning
something and forgetting something from the faults of his brother.
However, this boomeranged on him as the National Guard and the regular
troops joined the masses in 1830 revolution that destroyed him and the
Bourbon monarchy.
4. Dismissal of Comte De-Martinac and the appointment of Polignac
Charles
X dismissed his moderate counselor (Reformist minister) Comte De-
Martinac (who had succeeded Villele in 1827) and replaced him with
Prince De- Polignac in 1829. Polignac was a former prisoner of Napoleon
and an ultra of ultras. Like Marie Antoinette, he was very unsympathetic
to the masses, a poor advisor and strongly inclined to aristocratic and
conservative principles. He bluntly stated that his policy was to;
re-organize society, give back the clergy their weight in state affairs, create a powerful aristocracy
and surround it with privileges.
This led to a political consciousness that provoked crisis and confrontation that climaxed into the 1830 revolution.
NB.
This showed that Charles X failed to learn lessons from the pre-1789
events that led to the revolution against his brother Louis XVI i.e. he
failed to learn from the mistakes of Louis XVI of discarding popular
people like Turgot and Necker and using unpopular elements like Marie
Antoinette.
5. Despotism
One
aspect of Charles administration was despotism. He hated and detested
being a constitutional monarch. Asked why he was not adhering to the
1814 Charter, Charles boasted that I would rather chop wood than rule in
the fashion of the king of England. He had nothing in his dictionary to
do with democracy and constitutionalism. This was very unrealistic Mid
showed that he had learnt nothing and forgotten nothing out of the
French revolution considering that despotism had been overwhelmed by the
1789revolutionary forces of equality, liberty and fraternity.
6. Freedom of the press
Press
freedom that was gained out of the 1789 revolution came to a halt when
it was suppressed by Charles X due to its critics against his
unrealistic policies. Liberal journalists were either punished with a
heavy fine or imprisoned for 7 years. Newspapers were to be sanctioned
by the king .In 1827, a law was passed which completely destroyed press
freedom. This amongst others provoked liberal protests that climaxed
into the July 1830 revolution
7. St. Cloude Ordinance 1830
On 25th
July 1830, Charles X issued the St Cloude Ordinance in which he clearly
stated that; ....A government that has not the right to take measures
for the safety of the state cannot exist
Consequently,
he declared a state of emergency, dissolved the newly elected chamber
of deputies, renewed the ban on the press, reduced the life of the
parliament from seven years to five years and ordered for fresh
elections after reducing the number of voters from 100.000 to 25,000
just to cling on power.
The ordinance was a
challenge to the achievements of the French revolution and completely
destroyed the 1814 charter. It provoked people who erected barricades
throughout the streets oi Pans, although the government demolished them.
However, the National Guard and the regular troops joined the masses
who became the masters of Paris on 29th July 1830. Thiers,
Guizot and Tallyrand offered the throne to Louis Philippe, Duke of
Orleans and the offer was accepted by him. Charles X abdicated in favour
of his nine years grandson Henry, Duke of Bordeaux commonly known as
Count of Chambord. However, nobody bothered about him and the throne was
given to Louis Philippe. Charles X and his family left for England and
later Austria where he died in 1836.
Charles appears to have learnt
something from the poor economic policies of his brother Louis XVI. This
made him to embark on socio-economic developments. In his
administration, agriculture, transport and industry progressed; railways
and gas lighting were coordinated throughout Paris and its immediate
towns by 1830.
In his foreign policy, Charles X
pursued an adventurous foreign policy that brought glory to the
Frenchmen. He colonized Algeria in 1830 for France and France became the
first effective colonial power in Africa. Algeria became a potential
area for future exploitation through grains and olives that were shipped
as raw materials for French industries.
In the
Greek war of independence, France under Charles X allied with Britain
and Russia, and assisted the Greeks against the Turks. The French fleet
took part in the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Navarino bay in
1827. Although Charles X later withdrew the French troops from the Greek
struggle, he had co operated with England to reduce Russian imperialism
in the Balkans.
1814-1824: The reign of King Louis XVIII
1816-1817: The white terror
4^ June 1814: King Louis XVIII issued a liberal charter
1821: Lafayette unsuccessfully organized a rebellion against Louis XVIII at Belfort
1822; Appointment of a bishop as the minister of education
1824-1830: The reign of Charles X
1815-1818: 1820-1821, Due de Richelieu as chief minister
May 1816: Peasant revolt at Grenoble, Suppressed with a lot of brutality.
1818-1820: Decazes as chief minister.
1820: The murder of Duke de Berry, Decazes resigned
1821-1827; The ministry of Villeie who became unpopular and resigned
1823: French troops suppressed the revolution in Spain and restored Ferdinand I to his throne.
1825: Coronation of Charles X as King
Compensation scheme to indemnify Émigrés for the loss of their property in
the course of the revolution was initiated.
1827: Charles X disbanded the National Guard
1828-1829; Comte De Martignac as Chief minister, Dismissed in 1829.
1829-1830: Prince De Polignac as Chief Minister
1830: The St Cloude ordinance
July 1830 The outbreak of a revolution that led to the downfall of the restored Bourbon
Monarchy and Mouarchism in France.
1st Aug 1830: Charles X abdicated the throne and fled to England
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