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Problems of the July Monarchy
The July Monarchy was like a volcano waiting to erupt. It suppressed the republicans that were waiting for the right moment to reclaim power. In the July Monarchy, there was no representation for the working class and corruption was common, causing economic instability. There was a clash between radicals, liberals, and the king, causing major problems in the monarchy. -
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Significance of the French Revolutions 1848
The French Revolutions during 1848 both failed and succeeded. The revolutions fortified conservatives who were opposed to all revolutions and changes, and became subordinate to the military and the governments during this time period reinforced national unification and a constitutional government with limited representation. The revolutions caused class wars and ultimately fueled Karl Marx's socialist views. Also, new political groups emerged as a result of cultural and political change. -
Provincial Government
The Provincial Government was brought to France by a group of rebpublican leaders that consisted of ten men: seven political republicans and three social. This government decided to write a new constitution for the Second French Republic after the abdication of Louis Phillippe and the failure to bring a new monarch into power. This government established the National Workshops. -
The Clash Between Republicans--Lamartine and Blanc
The Provisional Government consisted of seven political republicans and three social republicans. Both of these groups had many conflicting views--as shown by the two most notables: Lamartine and Louis Blanc. Louis Blanc, a social republican, wanted a Ministry of Progress to set up a chain of social workshops. Lamartine, a political republican, on the other hand, supported an idealistic and moral government. -
National Workshops
The National Workshops were originally established as a concession to the social republicans. However, they soon emerged more clearly as unemployment relief organizations. Although women were not permitted to join the National Workshops, the organizations provided work for men in all trades. As unemployment rose in 1847, so did enrollment in these workshops. -
The Emergence of the Constituent Assembly
On May 4th, the Constituent Assembly met for the first time after being elected in April due to universal male suffrage throughout France. This assembly quickly replaced the Provisional Government with its own temporary executive board. The Constituent Assembly and its executive board were in no way socialist, and had ideas that conflicted with that of the Provisional Government. -
Great Banquet in Paris
The French King, Louis Phillipe was strongly against any change within the country. In response, a group of reformers met at a great banquet in Paris on February 22, 1848. However, the night before the banquet was planned to take place, the king outlawed these types of meetings. Reformers planned to resist authorities and chaos emerged throughout Paris. This is known as the February Revolution, and ultimately led to the abdication of Louis Phillipe. -
Demonstration at the House of Guizot
When King Louis Phillipe opposed any change within France, the working class demonstrated at the House of Guizot on February 24, 1848. The guards around the house were fired upon and responded by killing twenty people. Republicans put these corpses on a cart and paraded them throughout Paris. This ultimately became a part of the February Revolution and led to the abdication of Louis Phillipe. -
Abdication of Louis Philippe
Together, the Great Banquet in Paris and the demonstration at the House of Guizot emerged as the February Revolution. This ultimately caused King Louis Philippe to abdicate his throne on February 24, 1848. After his abdication, Republican leaders set up a provisional government. -
General Cavaignac and the "Bloody June Days"
When the Constituent Assembly aimed to get rid of the National Workshops, the entire labor force resisted. All government power was then turned over to General Cavaignac and the army. The class war that followed is known as the “Bloody June Days.” From June 24-26, 1848, approximately 20,000 members of the National Workshops fought against the military. By the end of the fighting, over ten thousand people had been killed or wounded. -
Results of the Bloody June Days
The Bloody June Days resulted in the death of over 10,000 people and the imprisonment and deportation of 11,000 people. The Bloody June Days sent a widespread panic throughout Europe and showed that a class war had broken out and sent many people into a panic. The Bloody June Days had destroyed the veryground of living. -
Effect on Britain and the Chartists
After the Bloody June Days, Chartists were panicked and had begun to take extremee measures to ensure that the same thing didn't happen to Britain. The Chartists wrote a petition in response to France being declared a republic and sent it to the House of Commons with over two million signatures, but was still rejected. The Chartists claimed that "every proletarian who does not see and feel that he belongs to an enslaved to an enslaved and degraded class is a fool". -
Emergence of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected ruler of France after the failure of the Constituent Assembly. Napoleon recieved a total of 5,400,000 votes in comparison to the other three candidates: Lamartine, Cavaignac, and Ledru-Rollin. Every candidate stood for different extremes except Bonaparte, whose views were unclear. His drastic win over the other candidates led Napoleon to become the next ruler of France. -
Antirepublican French Government
After Louis Napoleon became the president of the second republic of France, the French government became antirepublican. Bonaparte, with the Assembly, combined to get rid of socialism in France, which was now related to republicanism. They took socialists out of government, did not allow public meetings, and monitored the press in hopes of getting rid of republicanism in France. -
Repeal of Universal Suffrage
The president of the Second Republic, Louis Napoleon, and the Constituent Assembly aimed to get rid of socialism. To do this, they ousted socialist deputies, suppressed public meetings, controlled the press, and took away universal male suffrage in 1850. Ultimately, this took away the vote from a third of the electorate, which also happened to be the most socialistic. -
Institution of Universal Suffrage
Louis Napoleon decided to gain support by pleasing the radicals. In 1851, Napoleon restored universal suffrage, which he had previously revoked. This allowed him to gain power because he was now supported by the radicals. A year later, Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of the French.
