A+Democratic+Republic+in+France

The french revolution: Take 3... Revolution of 1848 "Vivre la France" media type="file" key="French National Anthem - La Marseillaise.mp3" width="96" height="40" align="center"

Background
  With the final exile of Napoleon, the Bourbon dynasty was restored to the monarchy with King Louis XVIII. Unfortunately, as an old, ugly man, Louis XVIII was not very popular and not as charismatic as the once great Emperor Napoleon. Louis XVIII had no heirs, so upon his death in 1824, his younger brother, Charles X, ascended the throne. Charles X wished to return to the pre-Revolution period in France. He began by limiting voting rights to only males with property and paying certain amount of tax. Naturally, the French public become upset and attempted to overthrow Charles X. Within three days in a revolution known as the Three Glorious Days (or the July Revolution or the French Revolution of 1830), Charles X’s government went done and Charles X had to flee. Louis Philippe succeeded Charles X and declared himself the King of the French People (distinctly different from the King of France).

Major Players
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TEXT Louis Philippe Louis Philippe ascended the throne after Charles X. Louis Philippe was careful to appeal to the general public, proclaiming himself the King of the French People, rather than the King of France; thus, he was known as the "bourgeoisie king." He adopted the tri-color French flag and extended voting rights, yet he still represented the ideals and interests of the upper-middle class. His administration was dominated by corruption and selfish special interests and despite the extended voting rights, many felt excluded, particularly in economic endeavors. In Feb. 24 1848, Louis Phillipe abdicated in favor of his grandson and fled to England.

Louis Blanc Louis Blanc represented republic socialists in the provisional government. He believed in the establishment of government sponsored workshops. His ideas had a great effect on the socialism in France. He proposed that everyone had the right to work. He believed that all the evils effecting society are due to competition and demanded the equalization of wages because the merging of personal interests in the common good.

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis de Tocqueville wrote “Democracy in America." He was a moderate republican and was able to predict the over throw of Louis Philippe government before it occurred. He believed that “private property had become with all those who owned it a sort of bond fraternity”

François Arago François Arago was an astronomer, who also served as a minister of war and navy. He championed all male suffrage and wanted to abolish slavery. He supported the development of railways and the telegraph and gained financial support for the Academy of Sciences. Blanc refused to swear allegiance to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.

Louis Cavaignac Louis Cavaignac was a general who lead the republic army. Within his political career, he was Appointed governor-general of Algeria, elected to the Constituent Assembly, appointed minister of war, and appointed dictator with unlimited power. He eventually became a candidate for presidency of the republic but lost to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte

Louis Napoleon Louis Napoleon was a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was victorious in December 1848 election, after which he assumed absolute power and dissolved National assembly.

REVOLUTION[[image:france1848.jpg width="188" height="146" align="right"]]
 In the late 1840s, the French people were frustrated with their current government. After bad harvests that caused massive unemployment and dramatic increase in price of food, the monarch of Louis Philippe did little to alleviate suffering. Furthermore, the government refused to consider electoral reforma nd only allowed the rich to vote for deputies, which heightened a sense of class injustice. Ultimately, the working middle class united to revolt against Louis-Philippe. On February 24th, 1848, barricades went up and Louis Philippe was forced to flee. The public clearly did not favor a monarchy thus led to the formation of a provisional republic, the Second Republic of France, that was headed by a ten-man executive committee. While much of the public approved the prosvisional government, the provisional republic was disorganized and would eventually cause problems.

PERSPECTIVE - A SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
The republic had many general goals: they wanted a truly popular and democratic republic to benefit the public and the common people could reform society with wise legislation, they wanted to give the right to every adult male, free the slaves, and abolish the death penalty. However, groups within France had different opinions.

The moderate, liberal republicans, which was mostly comprised of the middle class, wanted universal male suffrage and opposed any radical social measures. They were willing to provide only temporary relief by setting up national workshops and establishing a special commission under Blanc to "study the question." On the end of the spectrum, radical republicans wanted the country to convert to socialism. Louis Blanc represented the republic socialists in the provisional government and pressed for recognition of a socialist right to work. He also proposed to create permanent government sponsored workshops to replace capitalist employment and free-market economy. Neither of these opinions satisfied the public;however, the national workshops were better than nothing. As a result, an army of desperate poor French people signed up for the national workshops. As the economic crisis worsened, more people signed up to the point where people were being rejected..

A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES
 A moderate republic, Alexis de Tocqueville, determined that socialism was the most characteristic aspect of the Revolution in Paris. The socialist revolution was evoking a violent reaction among most of the population, including the peasants. This clash of ideologies between liberal capitalism and socialism became a clash of classes and arms after the elections. A new government forwent a representative of the Parisian working class. In response, the unskilled workers invaded the Constituent Assembly on May 15 and tried to proclaim a new revolutionary state. Unfortunately for them, the National Guard was prepared to squelch the uprising. On June 22, the government dissolved the national workshops in Paris, in giving the workers the choice of joining the army or going to workshops elsewhere. This also resulted with a violent reaction--masses of desperate people barricaded streets of Paris and began a class war. General Louis Cavaignac was able to quell the revolt.

RETURN OF A TITAN (...of a Titan name at least...)
The Revolution of 1848 in France was an utter failure. The French Revolution of 1848 marked the last major upheaval in the revolutionary era of France rather than a new beginning. The middle and working class fought for four months meanwhile the Constituent Assembly completed a consitution featuring a strong executive. General Cavaignac ran against Louis Napoleon Bonaparte for the presidency; however, because of Louis Napoleon great name and genealogy as well as the desire of the propertied classes for order at any cost allowed him to win a landslide victory and produce a semi-authoritarian regime.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
France during the 19th century

[|History of France]