Apr
16
Trois Glorieuses
April 16, 2012 | | Comments Off on Trois Glorieuses
Original Work by Jeffrey Hoehn
http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/images/content_2/french-revolution_painting.jpg
The Trois Glorieuses, the July Revolution, or the Second French Revolution. It goes by many names. This revolution saw the end of the Bourbon, and the rise of Louis Phillipe.
The reasons for the revolution were twofold. First, the new king, Charles X, was instilled by hereditary right to rule France, and not popular consensus. Some of his opinions such as the death penalty for anyone profaning the Host of the Catholic Church, and indemnities against the revolutionaries for the first French Revolution did not bode well with the peoples of France. Second, the French saw a new French Constitution known as La Charte. Imposed by Louis XVIII before his death, this constitution had liberal and monarchical influences which appeased many citizens, until Charles X started to impose.
The revolution first started with the Chamber of Deputies, part of the parliament, which rejected Charles X’s changes to inheritance laws. This act was seen in a positive light that countered anti-revolutionists. This caused a major popularity boost with the Chamber of Deputies, and Chamber of Peers, meanwhile decreasing significantly for the King. Seeing this drop in popularity, and publicized documents such as newspapers printing these occurrences, the government of Charles X decreed a tightening of censorship. This did not go over well with the Chamber of Deputies who almost violently refused resulting in the government withdrawing this new law. Following this event, a vote of no confidence was passed by Chamber of Deputies. Charles X responded immediately, specifically the next day in fact, resulting in dissolving the parliament and delaying elections. Other events that occurred included dissolving the National Guard of Paris, and the July Ordinances. The July Ordinances included laws such as:
1. No liberty in the Press
2. Conseillers d’Etat
3. Dissolved the new Chamber of Deputies
4. Reduced the number of those in the Chamber of Deputies
5. Summoned new electoral colleges for September of that year
6. Revoked right of amendment for Deputies
7. Excluded commercial bourgeoisie from future elections
Obviously, this did not go over well and catapulted the country into rebellion. Soon, factories shut down and workers were left to fend for themselves. Those who wrote newspapers convened and swore to keep publishing their documents. Even the police came under the cause of the revolution. Patrols were established to guard against citizens illegally acquiring guns, and 21 citizens were killed when they dropped items such as flower pots on the French soldiers. This caused a riot that lasted for several hours. The following morning after the riot, Charles X decreed the Duke of Ragusa to protect vital establishments such as bridges and select buildings. However, too few supplies were available for these troops. Dissent started to fester in the troops, and started to desert.
At a last attempt for a peaceful resolution, a select group of liberals draw up a petition for the king to repeal the July Ordinances which would help stop the rebellion. However, this attempt at convincing the king or his ministers to talk were futile. The government wanted all citizens to lay down arms and return to their homes, a demand impossible to meet. Soon following this, an attack was planned by the revolutionaries to storm key buildings and capture ministers of the king. They were successful in all but hours and soon setup a provisional government. The result was a constitutional government, and Charles X fled. Louis Phillipe replaced him, and the revolution was for all intents and purposes, was over.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Revolution
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