The
1830 July Revolution was skillfully and successfully manufactured in
Paris from which the Orleans monarchy under Louis Philippe rose to
power. The revolutionaries (especially Lafayette and Tallyrand) planned
to, establish a constitutional monarchy of the British type with Louis
Philippe as a constitutional King.
Louis Philippe
was born in 1773 to Philippe who was a cousin of Louis XVI. He had a
revolutionary background. His father (Philippe Egalite) had voted for
the death of his own cousin Louis XVI in 1793. Philippe was a member of
the Orleans monarchy that supported the French revolution of 1789. He
was also a member of the Jacobins club and had fought in the
revolutionary wars up to 1793.
However, he was
suspected to be a traitor and so he fled from France and visited various
parts of Europe and America including southern Europe, Sicily, the
United States, England and later Switzerland where he worked as a tutor.
After
the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815, Louis Philippe came
back to France. He regained his hereditary estate, stayed in the village
for some time and entered the chamber of peers. Although he was a
noble, Philippe did not identify himself with the Bourbons as he was
opposed to their unrealistic policies. Instead, he associated himself
with the middle class and workers of Paris whom he correctly judged to
be politically very useful. He made them aware of his liberal,
democratic and republican principles.
When the 30th
July 1830 revolution succeeded, there was a political vacuum and
Philippe was the only person seen as capable of handling French affairs
without tampering with the interest of the common man.
He
had declared his support for the new government. He was duly elected by
the chamber of deputies in July 1830 and was declared king of France on
7th August 1830. Louis Philippe was the first elected king
in the history of France with a democratic and high sounding title, King
of the people with the grace of God, which was later supplemented with
the words and by the will of the people, Philippe was to rule as a
constitutional monarch with the help of a parliament. He accepted to
rule as a constitutional King without reservations.
The charter had some loopholes that
partly undermined the powers of the king. It did not give him the powers
to issue special decrees nor dissolve the parliament according to his
will. The chambers of peers and deputies were to be voted for and could
introduce laws and even debate that budget. Another important term of
the charter' was that it gave the Frenchmen freedom of worship that they
had been longing for. The state also took over supervision and control
of education policies from the church. It also abolished press
censorship and other forms of media restrictions. The Franchise was
increased by lowering age qualification from 30 to 25 years. Tax
qualification was reduced from 300 to 200 francs and candidates for the
chamber of deputies were eligible at the age of 30 years other than
40years. However this enfranchised only the middle class than the
majority peasants. Nevertheless, this was an advantage that Philippe
utilized to survive for 18 years in power.
1. Revolutionary Background
Louis
Philippe had a revolutionary background that became a political asset
for his rise to power in 1830. His father had supported the French
revolution of1789 and had even voted for the death of his own cousin,
Louis XVI in 1793. In 1789, Louis Philippe at a tender age of 16 was
already a member of the Jacobin club. He participated in the French
revolution and physically fought in the revolutionary wars up to 1793.
For instance, he fought against Austria and the Royalists at the battle
of Jemappes in 1792. This made him the only hope for the middle class,
peasants and workers whose interest was jeopardized by the restored
Bourbon monarchy hence they voted him to power.
2. Weaknesses of the restored Bourbons
The
Bourbon monarchy had outlived its usefulness as early as 1789. From
1815 when it was restored, it was too unpopular and survived on the
support of external powers. Louis XVIII and Charles X pursued very
unrealistic policies and tried to resurrect the pre -1789
socio-political and economic order that the Frenchmen never wished to
see. The Frenchmen wanted a democratically elected King who would be
answerable to the people, hence the title "King of the French by the
grace of God and the will of the people". This made the restored Bourbon
monarchy very unpopular, triggered the outbreak of the 1830 revolution
and paved way for the rise to power of Louis Philippe.
3. The success of the 1830 revolution in France
The
success of the 1830 revolution in France was a landmark in the rise of
Louis Philippe and Orleans monarchy to power. The 1830 revolutionaries
(Louis Philippe inclusive), staged a massive demonstration that climaxed
in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy. The success of the revolution
created a political vacuum that led to Louis Philippe's rise to power
in 1830. If the revolution had failed, Louis Philippe would either be
imprisoned, executed or exiled having supported the revolution. Thus,
the success of the revolution gave him an open chance to rise to power
in 1830.
4. His personality
Louis Philippe had a unique and humble character that won him the support of the common man.
Philippe
had a simple life style, for example he lived principally on soup,
walked on streets with no bodyguards, carried his own umbrella, went
shopping himself and saved his beards himself. Such personality made him
to be very popular amongst the workers and peasants who were fed up
with the luxurious lifestyles of the previous kings. Consequently, they
overwhelmingly voted him to the chamber of deputies from which he was
finally voted to power.
NB. It was the long period of exile and poverty that taught Philippe to be economical and lead a simple lifestyle.
5. Personal relations with revolutionary leaders
Besides,
Louis Philippe had a strong solidarity with the leaders of the 1830
July revolutions. He had a good personal relationship with Lafayette,
Adolph Thiers, Lamar tine and Tallyrand who were the brains behind the
success of the 1830 revolution. It's on record that Philippe openly
embraced and kissed Lafayette on 3th July 1830 when the
success of the revolution was very clear. This increased his popularity
most especially amongst the republicans under the leadership of
Lafayette. Adolph cheirs, a reputable journalist and politician was a
very serious mobiliser and campaign agent of Louis Philippe. On 30th
July 1830, he flooded Paris with placards of Louis Philippe, which
popularized him and paved way for his rise to power.
6. His Association with the middle class
By
1830, France had the largest middle class in Europe that comprised of
about 29% of the total population. Philippe was not slow at exploiting
this to his advantage. He associated with the middle class, mixed freely
amongst them and identified himself with middle class interests as
early as 1815 (when he returned from exile). This made him to be a
favourite and familiar candidate to the middle class and the peasants
who are always influenced by the middle class. This also explains why he
won the election that brought him to power in the chamber of deputies
because it was dominated by the middle class. Had it not been for the
votes of the middle class who were the majority in the chamber of
deputies, the story of Louis Philippe's rise to power would have been
different.
7. Effects of industrial revolution and support of workers
The
negative effects of industrial revolution gained Louis Philippe the
support of workers. The industrial revolution had by 1830 encroached
into France. It came with socio-economic evils like unemployment,
exploitation of workers by capitalists inform of low payments for long
hours of work, poor sanitation and child labour. The working class in
France was living a very horrible life compared to their colleagues in
Britain where conditions were far better. Louis Philippe promised to
improve their housing and working conditions, which made the workers to
solidly rally behind (support) him, hence his rise to power.
8. Unpopularity of Republicanism
Unpopularity
of Republicanism in France and Europe contributed to the rise of Louis
Philippe to power. After the success of the 1830 revolution, republicans
tried to establish a republican government in France. They set up a
provisional government under the leadership of Lafayette at Hotel de
Ville.
However, republicanism was only popular in
Paris and did not have a nationwide popularity (outside Paris). It faced
opposition from moderate royalists, liberals and monarchical powers
like Russia and Austria. Moderate royalists and liberals argued that,
the establishment of a republic in France would provoke the hostility of
monarchial powers of Europe and gave their support to Louis Philippe as
a constitutional monarch. The fear of great powers' reaction also made
republican leaders like Lafayette and Adolph Thiers to give up and
support Louis Philippe who was presented and accepted as a citizen King.
9. Influence of constitutionalism
By
1830, France was fed up with absolutism (despotism) and had great
admiration for constitutionalism. Charles X had declared the 1814
constitutional charter null and void and ruled autocratically. The
Frenchmen therefore wanted a constitutional monarchy of the British
type.
Fortunately, Louis Philippe's exile in
England had widened his knowledge of constitutional monarchy that the
Frenchmen badly needed. When he promised to rule France as a
constitutional state just like Britain, no one could doubt him on
account of his experience hence paving way for his election as a
constitutional King in France.
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