The course of the revolution in France in 1848. The French Revolution (1848). Jacobin dictatorship, Thermidorian coup and establishment of the Consulate

Revolutions of 1848-1849

European Revolutions of 1848, which were called the "Spring of Nations" and the "Year of Revolutions", began on January 12, 1848 in Sicily and then, largely due to the revolution in France, spread to many European countries.

Although most of the revolutions were quickly suppressed, they seriously affected the history of Europe.

[edit] Unaffected countries

Great Britain, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Russian Empire (including the Kingdom of Poland) and the Ottoman Empire were the only major European states that went through this period without a civil revolution. The Scandinavian countries were only slightly affected by the revolutions in Europe, although a constitution was approved in Denmark on June 5, 1849. There was no formal revolution in the Principality of Serbia, but it actively supported the Serbian revolution in the Habsburg Empire.

AT Russian Empire in 1825 there was an uprising of the Decembrists - a failed attempt at a coup d'état, which began in the morning and was suppressed by night. The relative stability of Russia was due to the inability of the revolutionary groups to communicate with each other. In the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, riots took place in 1830-31, the November Uprising and the Krakow Uprising in 1846. The last uprising took place in 1863-65, the so-called January Uprising, but there were no uprisings in 1848.

While in Ottoman Empire there were no major political upheavals as such, political unrest did take place in some of its vassal states.

In Britain the middle class was appeased by the general enfranchisement of the electoral reform of 1832, followed by the development of the Chartist movement, which petitioned Parliament in 1848.

The repeal of the protectionist agricultural tariffs - the so-called "Corn Laws" - in 1846 somewhat slowed down proletarian activity.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that the population of British Ireland was reduced by a great famine, the Young Ireland party in 1848 attempted to overthrow British rule. Their rebellion, however, was soon put down.

Switzerland also remained calm in 1848, although it had gone through a civil war the year before. The introduction of the Swiss Federal Constitution in 1848 was a mass revolution that laid the foundation for today's Swiss society.

Revolution of 1848 in France(fr. Revolution Francaise de 1848) - the bourgeois-democratic revolution in France, one of the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The tasks of the revolution were the establishment of civil rights and freedoms. On February 24, 1848, it resulted in the abdication of the once liberal King Louis Philippe I and the proclamation of the Second Republic. In the further course of the revolution, after the suppression of the social revolutionary uprising in June 1848, Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was elected president of the new state.

Plan.

Introduction

1. Revolution of 1848 in France.

2. Revolution in Germany.

3. Revolution in the Austrian Empire.

4. Revolution of 1848 in Italy.

Conclusion.

Bibliography.

Introduction

In 1848-1849. new revolutions broke out in a number of countries in Western and Central Europe. They covered France, Germany, the Austrian Empire, the Italian states. Never before has Europe known such an intensification of the struggle, such a scale of popular uprisings and a powerful upsurge of national liberation movements. Although the intensity of the struggle was not the same in different countries, events developed differently, one thing was undoubted: the revolution had acquired a pan-European scale.

To mid-nineteenth in. feudal-absolutist orders still dominated the entire continent, and in some states social oppression was intertwined with national oppression. The beginning of the revolutionary explosion was brought closer by crop failures in 1845-1847, the “potato disease”; depriving the poorest segment of the population of the main food product, and developed in 1847. Immediately in several countries, the economic crisis. Industrial enterprises, banks, trading offices were closed. A wave of bankruptcies increased unemployment.

The revolution began in February 1848 in France, then covered almost all the states of Central Europe. In 1848-1849. Revolutionary events took on an unprecedented scale. They merged the struggle of various sections of society against the feudal-absolutist order, for the democratization of the social system, the actions of the workers, for the improvement of the material situation and social guarantees, the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples and a powerful unification movement in Germany and Italy.

1. Revolution of 1848 in France

By the end of 1847, a revolutionary situation had developed in France. The misfortunes of the working people engendered by capitalist exploitation were even more intensified as a result of the poor harvest of potatoes and grain and the acute economic crisis that broke out in 1847. Unemployment has taken on a massive character. Among the workers, the urban and rural poor, a burning hatred for the July Monarchy boiled up. In many regions of France in 1846-1847. hunger riots broke out. More and more open dissatisfaction with the "kingdom of the bankers" embraced wide circles of the petty and middle bourgeoisie, and even large industrialists and merchants. The legislative session, which opened on December 28, 1847, was held in a stormy atmosphere. The speeches of opposition speakers denounced the government of Guizot in venality, extravagance, betrayal of national interests. But all opposition demands were rejected. The impotence of the liberal opposition was also revealed during the banquet campaign, when the banquet scheduled for February 28 was banned: the liberal opposition, which was most afraid of the masses, refused this banquet. Part of the petty-bourgeois democrats and socialists, not believing in the forces of the revolution, urged "people from the people" to stay at home.

Despite this, on February 22, tens of thousands of residents of Paris took to the streets and squares of the city, which were gathering points for the forbidden banquet. The demonstrators were dominated by workers from the suburbs and students. In many places skirmishes broke out with the police and troops, the first barricades appeared, the number of which grew continuously. The National Guard shied away from fighting the rebels, and in a number of cases the guards went over to their side.

It would be useful to note that the domestic and foreign policy of the July Monarchy in the 30-40s of the XIX century. gradually led to the fact that the most diverse sections of the population turned out to be in opposition to the regime - workers, peasants, part of the intelligentsia, industrial and commercial bourgeoisie. The king was losing authority, and even some of the Ormanists insisted on the need for reforms. The dominance of the financial aristocracy aroused particular indignation in the country. The high property qualification allowed only 1% of the population to take part in the elections. At the same time, the Guizot government rejected all the demands of the industrial bourgeoisie for the expansion of suffrage. “Get rich, gentlemen. And you will become voters,” was the response of the Prime Minister to supporters of lowering property qualifications.

The political crisis that had been growing since the mid-1940s was exacerbated by the economic woes that befell the country. In 1947, a reduction in production began, the country was swept by a wave of bankruptcy. The crisis increased unemployment, food prices rose sharply, which further worsened the situation of the people and exacerbated dissatisfaction with the regime.

The opposition grew noticeably among the bourgeoisie as well. The influence of the Republican Party has grown. Convinced that the government decided not to make concessions, the opposition was forced to turn to the masses for support. In the summer of 1947, a wide campaign of public political banquets began in France, at which, instead of posts, speeches were made criticizing the government and demanding reforms. The banquet speeches of the moderate Republicans, the newspaper politics, and the exposure of the venality of the state apparatus aroused the masses and pushed them to action. The country was on the eve of revolution. On February 23, King Louis Philippe, frightened by the development of events, dismissed the government of Guizot. The news of this was greeted with enthusiasm, and opposition figures were ready to be satisfied with what had been achieved. But in the evening, a column of unarmed demonstrators was fired upon by soldiers guarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rumors of this atrocity quickly spread throughout the city, rousing the entire working population of Paris to their feet. Thousands of workers, artisans, students built almost one and a half thousand barricades overnight, and the next day, February 24, all the strongholds of the city were in the rivers of the rebels.

King Louis-Philip hastened to abdicate in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris, and fled to England. The rebellious people seized the Tuileries Palace, the royal throne - a symbol of the monarchy - was transferred to Place de la Bastille and solemnly burned.

At a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies, the liberals tried to preserve the monarchy, but their plans were thwarted by the people. Crowds of armed rebels burst into the meeting room, demanding the proclamation of a republic. Under their pressure, the deputies were forced to elect a Provisional Government.

The lawyer Dupont de L’er, a participant in the revolutions of the late 18th century in 1830, was elected chairman of the Provisional Government, but in fact it was headed by the moderate liberal Lamartine, who took the post of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government included seven right-wing republicans, two democrats (Ledru - Rolin and Floccon), as well as two socialists - a talented journalist Louis Blanc and a worker - mechanic Alexander Albert.

On February 25, under pressure from the armed people, the Provisional Government proclaimed France a Republic. Titles of nobility were also abolished, decrees were issued on freedom of political assembly and the press, and a decree on the introduction of universal suffrage for men over 21 years of age. But the government did not touch the state coin, which had developed under the July Monarchy. It was limited only to the purge of the state apparatus. At the same time, the most liberal regime in Europe was established in France.

From the very first days of the revolution, along with general democratic slogans, the workers put forward demands for the legislative recognition of the right to work. On February 25, a decree was passed that guaranteed the workers such a right, proclaiming the obligations of the state to provide all citizens with work, and repealed the ban on the formation of workers' associations.

In response to the demand for the organization of the Ministry of Labor and Progress, the Provisional Government created a "Government Commission for the Working People", which was supposed to take measures to improve the situation of the workers. Lun Blanc became its chairman, A.Alber became its deputy. For the work of the commission, they provided premises in the Luxembourg Palace, without endowing it with either real powers or funds. However, on the initiative of the commission, the Provisional Government created offices in Paris that looked for work for the unemployed. The Luxembourg Commission also tried to play the role of an arbitrator in resolving labor disputes between employers and workers.

To combat mass unemployment, the government went to the organization of public works. In Paris, national workshops were created, where bankrupt entrepreneurs, petty employees, craftsmen and workers who lost their earnings entered. Their work consisted of replanting trees on the Parisian boulevards, excavating, paving the streets. They were paid the same - 2 francs a day. But by May 1848, when more than 100,000 people entered the workshops, there was not enough work in the city for everyone, and workers began to take only 2 days a week (for the rest of the days they paid one franc). By creating national workshops, the government hoped to ease tension in the capital and ensure the workers' support for the republican system. For the same purpose, decrees were issued on the reduction of the working day in Paris from 11 to 10 hours (in the provinces from 12 to 11), and the reduction in the price of bread, the return to the poor of inexpensive things from pawnshops, etc.

The mobile guard of the 24th battalion, one thousand people each, recruited from the declassed elements (tramps, beggars, criminals) was to become the backbone of the new government. "Mobils" - were placed in a privileged position. They received relatively high wages and good uniforms.

The maintenance of national workshops, the creation of a mobile guard, and the early payment of interest on government loans complicated the country's financial situation. In an effort to get out of the crisis, the Provisional Government increased direct taxes on owners (including owners and tenants of land) by 45%, which caused strong discontent among the peasants. This tax not only destroyed the hopes of the peasants to improve their situation after the revolution, but also undermined their confidence in the republican system, which was subsequently used by the monarchists.

In this situation, on April 23, 1848, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in the country. Most of the seats in it (500 out of 880) were won by right-wing Republicans. The Constituent Assembly confirmed the inviolability of the republican system in France, but at the same time decisively rejected the proposal to create a Ministry of Labor. Workers' deputies were forbidden to appear in the meeting room, and the law adopted by the new government threatened with imprisonment for organizing armed gatherings on the streets of the city. General Cavaignac, an opponent of democracy, was appointed to the post of Minister of War.

On May 15, a demonstration of 150,000 took place in Paris demanding that the deputies of the Constituent Assembly support the national liberation uprising in Poland. However, government troops dispersed the Parisians. The revolutionary clubs were closed, but the leaders Albert, Raspail, Blanqui were arrested. The Luxembourg Commission was also officially closed. Cavaignac strengthened the Parisian garrison, pulling new troops into the city.

The political situation became more and more tense. The whole course of events led to an inevitable explosion. On June 22, the government issued an order to dissolve the national workshops. Single men aged 18 to 25 who worked in them were invited to join the army, the rest were to be sent to the provinces to work on land in swampy areas with an unhealthy climate. The decree on the dissolution of the workshops caused a spontaneous uprising in the city.

The uprising began on June 23, covering the working-class districts and the suburbs of Paris. It was attended by 40 thousand people. The uprising broke out spontaneously and had no unified leadership. The battles were led by members of revolutionary societies, foremen of national workshops. The next day, the Constituent Assembly, declaring a state of siege in Paris, transferred full power to General Cavaignac. The government had a huge superiority in forces, one hundred and fifty thousand regular troops of the mobile and national guards were pulled against the rebels. Artillery was used to suppress the uprising, destroying entire neighborhoods. The resistance of the workers lasted four days, but by the evening of June 26, the uprising was crushed. Massacres began in the city. Eleven thousand people were shot without trial or investigation. More than four and a half thousand workers for participation in the uprising were exiled to hard labor in overseas colonies. The June uprising of the Parisian workers was a turning point in the revolution of 1848 in France, after which it began to decline sharply.

After the suppression of the uprising, the Constituent Assembly elected General Cavaignac as head of government. The state of siege continued in Paris. Revolutionary clubs were closed. At the request of the entrepreneurs, the Constituent Assembly canceled the decree on the reduction of the working day by one hour, disbanded the national workshops in the province. At the same time, the decree on forty-five centime tax on owners and tenants of land remained in force.

In November 1848, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of the Second Republic. The constitution did not guarantee the right to work promised after the February Revolution, nor did it proclaim basic civil rights and freedoms. After the suppression of the June uprising, the French bourgeoisie needed a strong government capable of resisting the revolutionary movement. To this end, the post of president was introduced, endowed with extremely broad powers. The president was elected for four years and was completely independent of parliament: he himself appointed and removed ministers, senior officials and officers, commanded the armed forces, and directed foreign policy.

Legislative power was vested in the unicameral parliament - the legislative assembly, which was elected for three years and was not subject to early dissolution. By making the president and parliament independent of each other, the constitution gave rise to an inevitable conflict between them, and by endowing the president with strong power, it gave him the opportunity to crack down on parliament.

In December 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I, was elected President of France. In the elections, he won 80% of the vote, enlisting the support of not only the bourgeoisie, who aspired to strong power, but also part of the workers who voted for him so that the candidacy of General Cavaignac would not pass. The peasants (the largest segment of the population) also voted for Bonaparte, who believed that the nephew of Napoleon I would also protect the interests of small landowners. Having become President, Bonaparte tightened the political regime. Republicans were expelled from the state apparatus, and the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly elected in May 1849 were received by the monarchists, united in the party of order. A year later, the Legislative Assembly passed a new electoral law, which established a three-year residency requirement. About three million people were disenfranchised.

In the ruling circles of France, disillusionment with the parliamentary system grew, and the desire for a firm government that would protect the bourgeoisie from new revolutionary upheavals intensified. Having seized the police and the army, on December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte carried out a coup d'état. The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and politicians hostile to the president were arrested. Republican resistance in Paris and other cities was crushed by troops. At the same time, to appease public opinion, the president restored universal suffrage. The coup d'etat allowed Louis Bonaparte to completely seize power in the country. On December 2, 1852, the President proclaimed himself Emperor Napoleon III. 8 million French people voted for the restoration of the empire.

The regime of personal power of the emperor was established in the country. Parliament, consisting of the Legislative Corps, which did not have the right to legislative initiative, and the Senate, appointed by the emperor, did not have real powers. Based on the proposals of the emperor, the laws were developed by the State Council. Sessions of the chambers of parliament were held behind the scenes, reports on them were not published. Ministers were appointed personally by the emperor, and were responsible only to him. The press was under the control of censorship, newspapers were closed for the smallest offense. Republicans were forced to immigrate from France. To protect the interests of large owners, Napoleon III strengthened the bureaucracy, the army, and the police. The influence of the Catholic Church increased.

The Bonapartist regime relied on the big industrial and financial bourgeoisie and enjoyed the support of a significant part of the peasantry. The peculiarity of Bonapartism as a form of government lies in the combination of methods of military and police terror with political maneuvering between different social groups. Relying ideologically on the church, the Bonapartist regime tried to impersonate a nationwide power.

The government encouraged entrepreneurs, and during the years of the Second Empire (1852-1870) an industrial revolution was completed in France. Having come to power, Napoleon III declared that the Second Empire would be a peaceful state, but in fact, throughout the 18 years of his reign, he pursued an aggressive foreign policy. During these years, France participated in Crimean War with Russia, in alliance with the Kingdom of Sardinia - in the war with Russia, waged aggressive colonial wars in Mexico, China, and Vietnam.

Revolution in Germany

The socio-economic and political development of Germany in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century showed that without eliminating the remnants of the country's feudal fragmentation inherited from the Middle Ages, its further progress is impossible.

The liberal bourgeoisie of the German states demanded the convocation of an all-German parliament and the abolition of Junker privileges. The left, radical wing of the opposition called for the elimination of class distinctions, the proclamation of a republic and the improvement of the material situation of the poor.

The strengthening of the opposition of the bourgeoisie and the simultaneous growth of the activity of the working people at the end of the forties testified to the rapid aggravation of the political situation. The news that a republic had been proclaimed in France only hastened the inevitable revolutionary explosion.

In Baden, neighboring France, demonstrations began on February 27. The Petition filed by liberals and democrats to Parliament spoke of freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the introduction of a jury, the creation of a people's militia, and the convening of an all-German national parliament. Duke Leopold was forced to accept most of these demands and introduce liberal ministers into the government. Events in March 1848 also unfolded approximately in the other small states of Western and Southwestern Germany. Everywhere, the frightened monarchs were forced to make concessions and allow opposition figures to power.

Soon, popular unrest swept Prussia as well. On March 3, workers and artisans who took to the streets of Cologne surrounded the town hall and demanded the immediate implementation of democratic reforms. From Cologne, the movement quickly spread east, reaching the Prussian capital by March 7th. From that day on, demonstrations did not stop in the streets and squares of Berlin, which turned from March 13 into bloody clashes between demonstrators and the troops and police.

On March 18, the Prussian King Frederick William IV promised to introduce a constitution, announced the abolition of censorship, and convened a parliament. But clashes between demonstrators and troops continued and on March 18-19 escalated into barricade battles throughout Berlin. The rebels - workers, artisans, students, occupied part of the city, and on March 19 the king was forced to order the withdrawal of troops from the capital.

At the same time, a new government was formed, headed by representatives of the liberal opposition, Kamygauzen and Hanseman. The Berlin burghers created a civil guard and took it upon themselves to maintain order in the city. On May 22 in Berlin, the Constituent Assembly of Prussia was convened, which was supposed to adopt the constitution of the state.

In May 1848, an all-German parliament began its work in Frankfurt-Main, elected on the basis of universal suffrage by the population of all German states. Most its deputies were made up of the liberal bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia. At parliament meetings, a draft unified constitution for all German states was discussed, the question of the future of Germany, the "Great German" (with the participation of Austria) and "Little German" (without Austria) options for unifying the country was discussed.

But the Frankfurt Parliament did not become an all-German central authority. The government he elected had neither the means nor the authority to carry out any policy. Real power remained in the hands of individual German Monarchs, who had no intention of giving up their sovereign rights. Spontaneous and scattered actions could frighten the ruling classes, but not ensure the victory of the revolution. In addition, the threat of the growing labor movement, increasingly inclined the burghers to compromise with the nobility and the monarchy. In Prussia, after suppressing an attempted uprising of the Berlin workers, the king already in June 1848 dismissed the liberal government of Camphausen, and soon the next one, the liberal Hamsemann, also fell. In the fall, the reactionaries were again in power, pushing the king to disperse the Constituent Assembly.

In December 1848, the Assembly was dissolved, and following this, the constitution granted by the king was put into effect. It retained the March promise of freedom, but gave the monarch the right to repeal any law passed by the Landtag (Parliament). In May 1849, a new electoral law was adopted in Prussia, dividing voters into three classes according to the amount of taxes paid. Moreover, each class elected an equal number of electors, who, in turn, elected deputies to the lower house of parliament by open voting. A year later, this law became an integral part of the new constitution, granted by the king, which replaced the constitution of 1848.

Meanwhile, in March 1849, the Frankfurt Parliament adopted the Imperial Constitution. It provided for the establishment of hereditary imperial power in Germany and the creation of a bicameral parliament. A special place in the constitution was occupied by the "Basic Rights of the German People". They established the equality of all before the law, abolished privileges and titles of nobility. At the same time, for the first time in history, the Germans were guaranteed basic civil rights and freedoms - the inviolability of the person and private property, freedom of conscience, the press, speech and assembly. All "relations of serfdom" were also abolished, although the peasants had to redeem land duties.

Thus, the conservatives, with the support of the liberals, managed to consolidate the monarchical principle in the constitution, contrary to the demands of the few democrats who insisted on the creation of a single democratic republic. The Frankfurt parliament, in which the "Little German orientation" won, decided to transfer the imperial crown to the Prussian king. But he resolutely refused to accept it from the hands of the assembly created by the revolution. In turn, the monarchs of the German states declared that they refused to recognize the power of the central bodies created on the basis of the constitution.

Republicans and Democrats made an effort to defend the constitution and put it into practice. In May-June 1849 they raised uprisings in defense of the constitution in Saxony, the Rhineland, Baden and the Palatinate. However, they were all suppressed, and in Baden and the Palatinate, Prussian troops participated in the suppression of the uprisings.

The revolution in Germany was defeated, and did not achieve its main goal - the national unification of the country. Unlike the French Revolution of the late 18th century, it remained unfinished: it did not lead to the elimination of the monarchy and other remnants of the Middle Ages. However, many vestiges of feudalism were destroyed. Prussia and other German states had constitutions that provided the population with basic civil rights and freedoms.

The national unification of Germany did not take place democratically. It was replaced by another path of unification, in which the Prussian monarchy played a leading role.

Conclusion

Thus, summing up the work, we found out that in 1848-1849 the countries of Western and Central Europe were engulfed in revolutions. Europe experienced an aggravated war, popular uprisings, and national liberation movements. In France, Germany, the Austrian Empire and Italy, events developed differently, however, the revolution acquired a pan-European character. Preceded by the revolution in all countries, a difficult economic situation caused by famine, crop failures, unemployment. Revolutionary events united various segments of the population against the feudal-absolutist order.

At the beginning of 1848, Europe entered a turbulent period of revolutions and revolutionary uprisings that engulfed a vast territory from Paris to Budapest, from Berlin to Palermo. Different in their goals and objectives, all these events were characterized by the active participation of the broad masses of the people, who were the main driving force behind these actions and bore the brunt of the struggle.

popular unrest

The pre-revolutionary years were marked by popular unrest in almost all European countries. In France, the year 1847 was marked by numerous actions of the popular masses, which took place almost everywhere, mainly in the form of food unrest: the urban and rural poor attacked grain warehouses and shops of speculators. The strike movement spread widely. The government brutally dealt with the participants in these speeches.

In England, the Chartist movement revived, mass rallies took place. A new petition prepared for submission to Parliament contained a sharp criticism of the existing social order and demanded the granting of national freedom to Ireland.

In Germany, in the early spring of 1847, spontaneous uprisings of the masses took place in a number of cities. Especially serious were the unrest in the capital of Prussia - Berlin. On April 21 and 22, the starving people took to the streets, protesting against the high cost and indifference of the authorities to the needs of the people. Several shops were destroyed, glass was broken in the palace of the heir to the throne.

On the basis of the aggravation of class contradictions, the revolutionary moods of the proletariat rose. At the same time, the opposition of the petty and middle bourgeoisie was growing, and in some countries, for example, in France, also of parts of the big industrial bourgeoisie, dissatisfied with the domination of the financial aristocracy.

Revolution in France

February days in Paris

A revolutionary explosion in France took place at the beginning of 1848. On February 22, another banquet of supporters of parliamentary reform was scheduled in Paris. The authorities banned the banquet. This caused great indignation among the masses. On the morning of February 22, unrest reigned in the streets of Paris. A column of demonstrators, dominated by workers and students, moved to the Bourbon Palace singing the Marseillaise and shouting: "Long live the Reform!", "Down with Guizot!". Without making their way to the palace building, the demonstrators scattered into the neighboring streets and began to dismantle the pavement, overturn the omnibuses, and erect barricades.
Troops sent by the government dispersed the demonstrators by evening and took control of the situation. But the next morning, the armed struggle in the streets of Paris resumed. Frightened by reports that the uprising was growing and that the National Guard was demanding a change in the head of the ministry, King Louis-Philippe dismissed Guizot and appointed new ministers who were considered supporters of the reform.

Contrary to the calculations of the ruling circles, these concessions did not satisfy the popular masses of Paris. Clashes between the rebellious people and the royal troops continued. They especially intensified after the provocative execution of unarmed demonstrators on the evening of February 23. New barricades were erected in the streets. Their total number reached one and a half thousand. That night the uprising took on a more organized character. At the head of the insurgent people were members of secret revolutionary societies, mainly workers and small artisans.

On the morning of February 24, almost all the strategic points of the capital were captured by the rebels. Panic reigned in the palace. On the advice of his close associates, Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris, and fled to England. Guizot also disappeared there.

The abdication of the king did not stop the development of the revolution. Street fighting in Paris continued. The revolutionary detachments took possession of the Tuileries Palace. The royal throne was taken out into the street, installed on the Place de la Bastille and burned at the stake to the jubilant exclamations of a crowd of thousands.

Revolution in Germany

Peasant performances

Almost simultaneously with the revolutionary events in the cities, revolutionary uprisings of the peasants began. They were most widespread in southern and southwestern Germany.

Prussia was also affected by the movement. The peasants, armed with scythes, pitchforks and axes, expelled the foresters and elders, cut down the master's forests, attacked the noble castles, demanded the issuance of feudal documents and immediately burned them at the stake; landowners or their managers were forced to sign obligations waiving all feudal rights. In some places, the peasants burned the landowners' castles and offices. The houses of large moneylenders and speculators were also attacked.

In contrast to France at the end of the 18th century, where the anti-feudal uprisings of the peasantry received support from the revolutionary bourgeoisie, in Germany in 1848 the bourgeoisie sought agreements with the nobility against popular movements. The cowardice and indecisiveness of the German bourgeoisie was partly due to its weakness, but still more due to its connection with the feudal class and its complete dependence on the authorities. On the other hand, the German peasantry of this period was already different from the French peasantry of the late eighteenth century. In the German countryside by the middle of the XIX century. class differentiation had already gone far, a layer of prosperous peasantry emerged, many peasants managed to free themselves from feudal duties even before 1848. To this was added the influence of active counter-revolutionary propaganda, which was carried out among the peasantry by the landowners and people close to them. As a result of all this, the peasant movement in Germany in 1848 did not become as widespread as in France in 1789-1794.

Poles uprising in Poznań

The March Revolution in Prussia served as an impetus for the rise of the national liberation movement in Poznan, a Polish region that was part of the Prussian kingdom. A National Committee was formed in Poznań, in which the big landowners played the leading role. A deputation sent to Berlin put forward demands for the organization of the Polish corps and the appointment of Poles to administrative and other positions in Poznań. The Prussian government agreed to accept these demands. Later, a demand was also put forward for the recognition of the Polish language as the official language in Poznań.

The popular masses of Posen rose up to fight for independence from Prussia. By the beginning of April, the Polish insurgent detachments already numbered 15-20 thousand people. They consisted mainly of peasants, but the commanders were predominantly from the nobility. The general leadership belonged to the prominent Polish revolutionary Mieroslavsky.

Growing revolutionary situation in France in 1847–1848 By the middle of the 19th century, in many countries of continental Europe, the industrial revolution was gaining momentum - the transition from manufactory production to machine, factory production. In England it has already ended; in France, the Austrian Empire, the German lands, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the industrial revolution has not yet ended, but has already led to profound changes: capitalism played a leading role in the economies of European countries. The development of capitalism "in breadth" was replaced by the development of capitalism "in depth". The struggle between the young European industrial proletariat and the industrial bourgeoisie came to the fore. The workers embarked on the path of independent struggle against the bourgeoisie. The mass labor movement acquired not only an economic, but also a political character. But it was not yet about the complete replacement of capitalism by another system, capitalism had not yet exhausted its potential, and there were no objective conditions for its liquidation. Capitalist exploitation was very often intertwined with feudal remnants, national oppression and the forced assimilation of national minorities, the dominance of reaction and the political lack of rights of the working people laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of a number of European peoples.

Changes in the economy, the unfavorable events of 1846-1847, to a large extent contributed to the emergence and development of the revolutionary situation and accelerated the onset of a number of bourgeois revolutions. The beginning of revolutions, according to Karl Marx, was accelerated by two economic events of world significance in 1845-1847:

1) potato disease and crop failure of cereals and other field crops;

2) the economic crisis that broke out in 1847 in several countries at once, which acquired an international character. (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 7, p. 12).

Thus, by 1847 about A pan-European revolutionary situation has developed. In 1848-1849, almost all of Europe was engulfed in revolutionary fire. Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, and many other European capitals became centers of revolutionary uprisings. Never before has Europe known such a general intensification of the struggle, an unprecedented scale of popular uprisings, a stormy upsurge of national liberation movements. AT different countries In Europe, the intensity of the political struggle was not the same, the alignment of political forces took shape in different ways, and the discontent of the broad masses manifested itself in various forms. Despite the originality, the peculiarities of the growth of the revolutionary struggle and their results, one can definitely say that the revolutionary events in 1848-1849 assumed a pan-European character and scale. The highest point of confrontation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat during the revolutions of 1848. was the June uprising in Paris, according to F. Engels, “the first great battle for domination between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 22, p. 532). In those historical conditions of the middle of the 19th century, the objective prerequisites for the victory of the proletariat had not yet developed; it was still politically immature and could not lead the revolutionary movement of the popular masses in European countries. On the other hand, by this time the European bourgeoisie itself had already lost its revolutionary ardor and energy with which it led the peoples of their countries to storm feudalism in the 17th-18th centuries. The bourgeoisie more and more departed from revolutionary slogans, lost its revolutionary activity. Frightened by the actions of the proletariat, the bourgeoisie saw in him their main opponent, a dangerous and formidable enemy. Becoming counter-revolutionary, the European bourgeoisie was forced more often to make compromises and alliances with reactionary absolutist circles.

The main force in the struggle for democratic rights turned out to be the petty and middle urban bourgeoisie, although they showed inconsistency in their struggle, vacillated, and took a shaky and contradictory position. The position of the peasantry also changed - under the influence of market, capitalist relations, it was increasingly stratified and occupied different political niches. The prosperous elite of the peasantry and its land-poor or completely poor part behaved differently during the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The struggle of the peasantry was also significantly influenced by the factor of the preservation of significant remnants of feudalism.

Finally, a very important circumstance was the emergence of Marxism, which challenged various kinds of utopian and reformist teachings common in the working environment. Under the influence of Marxism, a profound change took place in the consciousness of the European proletariat. It was on the eve of the revolutions of 1848-1849 at the end of January 1848 that the manuscript of the “Manifesto of the Communist Party”, written jointly by K. Marx and F. Engels, was sent to London from Brussels. The publication of the book in February 1848 coincided with the February revolutionary battles in Paris.

The publication of the Manifesto marked the completion of the formation of Marxism as a systemic and integral scientific worldview. The Manifesto combined materialism and dialectics, outlined a new world outlook, created a universal and harmonious, consistent theory of the class struggle, and substantiated the world-historical role of the proletariat in the 19th century. The authors of the Manifesto described the origins and paths of the emergence and development of capitalism, the role of the bourgeoisie at various stages of history, the transformation of the bourgeoisie from a progressive estate into a conservative and reactionary force that became an obstacle to the further progress of society. As a conclusion. Summing up the whole work of the Marxists, there follows a conclusion about the need to overthrow capitalism, to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the interests of the democratic majority of society and relying on this majority. The proletarian revolution led by the workers' party, the vanguard of the proletariat, will lead to the conquest of political power, the expropriation of bourgeois property, and the concentration of the means of production in the hands of the proletarian state. Private-capitalist property will be replaced by public property, in which the productive forces of society will be placed at the service of the whole of society. In the Manifesto, the idea of ​​an alliance between the working class and the working peasantry, of proletarian internationalism, was substantiated. These are the main program points of the Marxist ideology set forth in the Manifesto. V. Lenin highly appreciated the contribution of K. Marx and F. Engels: “This little book is worth whole volumes” (PSS., vol. 2, p. 10).

Thus, a number of factors greatly contributed to the emergence of a revolutionary situation in the countries of Western Europe and hastened the explosion of revolutions. The economic events of 1846-1847 played a decisive role. In 1847, throughout Europe, the harvest was above average. But at this time, a global commercial and industrial crisis broke out. The famous French historian Georges Lefebvre distinguished four crises in the disasters of 1847: food, money, stock and industrial. Georges Lefebvre erroneously considered the last two crises (stock market and industrial) to be the result of the first two (food and money).

In the autumn of 1845, only Normandy and Brittany were affected by potato disease in France, and by the end of the year the disease had penetrated into the southern regions of the country. The disease manifested itself in the rapid drying of the tops, the potatoes became unsuitable for human nutrition and feeding domestic animals. In 1846, the potato disease covered a wide area. One hectoliter of potatoes in Paris cost thirteen to fourteen francs in 1846. The following year, 1847, the potato disease recurred (the most catastrophic potato crop failure was in Lorraine). Following the potato, grain stocks began to decline rapidly. The grain harvest in 1845 was a third less than in 1844. Back in the autumn of 1846, a hectoliter of wheat grain cost twenty-two francs, already at the end of May 1847 the price rose to thirty-eight francs, and in some regions - up to fifty francs per hectolitre. The rainy 1845 and the dry 1846 brought France new hardships: in the autumn of 1845, the disease of the vineyards spread, and, after it, the failure of silk cocoons in the metropolis and colonies, the failure of lentils, beans, peas in 1846.

The commercial and industrial development of France in 1845-1848 had much in common with the economy of England. The differences concerned the fact that the climax of the crisis was passed in England at the end of 1847, and the next year there was an upswing in the economy. In France in 1847, the crisis and the reduction, the fall in the volume of production affected all spinning and weaving branches of production. A crisis in railway construction was brewing: shares were issued for 2,491,000 francs, while the real volume of capital invested in railway construction amounted to 1,232,000 francs. The collapse of speculative railroad construction was inevitable, accelerated by food and money crises. The gold reserves of the French Bank were sharply reduced: they had to pay for bread and food in gold. If in 1845 the gold reserve of the French Bank was 320 (three hundred and twenty) million francs, then by January 1847 it was reduced to 47 (forty-seven) million francs. By the way, more at The Russian autocrat, Emperor Nicholas I, provided assistance to the French Bank (he provided a loan to France for fifty million francs). In the first half of 1847 alone, 635 (six hundred thirty-five) bankruptcies were recorded in the department of the Seine alone. The most numerous bankruptcies among the petty bourgeoisie were in the last quarter of 1847.

In 1847, a financial crisis broke out. The state deficit in 1847 reached 25% (twenty-five percent) of the entire budget, in monetary terms it amounted to 247 (two hundred and forty-seven) million francs. The budget deficit has always enriched the bankers. But in the conditions of the crisis of 1847, the opposite happened: depositors stormed banks and withdrew deposits, closed accounts. The entire tax system was under the threat of numerous bankruptcies, pauperization and mass unemployment. The public debt by the beginning of 1848 had reached 630 (six hundred and thirty) million francs. Government of François Guise about(it replaced the cabinet of Louis Adolphe Thiers and was in power from October 1840 until the beginning of the revolution of 1848) resorted to internal loans: hundred-franc bonds were sold at a price of seventy-five francs. State power was publicly sold to usurers!

The economic crisis affected the entire political life of France; it sharply worsened the position of the petty bourgeoisie. Part of big capital left the foreign market and moved to the domestic market. This intensified competition in the domestic market, which was ruinous for small traders.

During the crisis, the concentration of production in the metallurgical and coal industries increased, and new large associations of entrepreneurs appeared there. One hundred and seventy-five small industrialists in 1847 appealed to the government with complaints about the impudence and claims of local oligarchs. Petty-bourgeois democrats sharply criticized James Rothschild's intention to buy up metallurgical enterprises in the Nord department in order to create a large industrial center there like Creuse. about.

The crisis and crop failures, the potato disease and rising prices sharply worsened the standard of living of the proletarian masses. Even relatively wealthy families, who did not need support, now fell into need. Unemployment, falling wages, epidemic diseases, an increase in mortality, a decline in the birth rate by 75% in 1847 - these are the formal indicators of national disasters. The people responded to them with demonstrations, gatherings, pogroms of speculators' shops, grain warehouses and bakeries. In response, four workers were guillotined. This reprisal only increased the hatred for the July Monarchy. The masons and construction workers of Nantes went on strike for three months (from July to September 1847), military units were brought into the city and arrests were made. Contemporaries saw new features in the strike movement: 1) the sharply expressed initiative of the workers;

2) the active role of "communist associations";

3) the influence of communist propaganda, the main danger to the authorities was seen from the side of communist workers.

On May 12, food riots took place in Lille (Department Nord) with the participation of four hundred workers under the slogan: “Work! Bread!”, “Down with Louis-Philippe of Orleans!”, “Long live the Republic!” Grain barns and bakeries were attacked.

Seriously fell, the international prestige of France was shaken. In 1841, at the London Conference to settle the Turkish-Egyptian conflict, France lost its diplomatic influence in Syria and Egypt, which fell under British rule. In 1844, the scandalous “case of the English agent Pritchard” thundered, which opposed French diplomacy on the island of Tahiti. France not only failed to remove Pritchard from Tahiti, but also had to humiliatingly apologize to him and pay the British agent Pritchard for his anti-French activities in Tahiti the sum of 25 (twenty-five) thousand francs. Having worsened its diplomatic relations with England, Orleanist France drew closer to Austria, where the famous reactionary, Chancellor Clement Metternich, ruled, and Emperor Nicholas I of Tsarist Russia. The cabinet of Francois Guise about tacitly agreed with the liquidation of the last seat of Polish independence - Krakow - and its accession to the Habsburg Empire in 1846. France was defeated in Italy, the rate of the cabinet of François Guise about on the Italian reactionaries turned out to be a bat. An eyewitness to the events, the Russian writer Alexander Herzen expressed the essence of the changes in these words: “France has become a secondary state. The governments stopped being afraid of it, the peoples began to hate it.”

Reactionary politics and the failures of the cabinet of ministers Francois Guise about accelerated the approach of the revolutionary denouement. Few people in France did not criticize the Guise cabinet about: in parliament, in the press, in public and political organizations, among the broad masses, and even in the personal correspondence of the princes of the Orleans dynasty, the government was subjected to fierce criticism. The Orléanists wrote indignantly about the servility of France to Austria, that France assumed the role of "a gendarme in Switzerland and a strangler of freedom in Italy." One of the princes (the Prince of Joinville) made it clear: "I'm starting to get very worried lest we be led into a revolution." The “crisis of the upper classes” and the approach of the revolution were also felt by the opposition. Grouping liberal Odilon Barr about(the so-called "dynastic opposition") put forward the slogan: "Reform to avoid revolution." The "dynastic opposition" adhered to the tactics of blocking with the bourgeois republicans on the eve of the revolution.

In 1847, a new political group appeared on the political arena of France - the “political conservatives”, which about to a greater extent spoke of a deep “crisis of the upper classes”. This grouping arose within the government party itself. It was headed by the unprincipled Emile de Girardin. He expressed his credo with the words: "We are in the opposition, but we are not from the opposition." At first, the “progressive conservatives” limited themselves to a program of economic measures (improved credit conditions, tax reform, lowering the price of salt, etc.), but soon their leader, Emile de Girardin, joined the supporters of electoral reform. For years, Girardin had been sold to the Orléanists, and now he took advantage of the public platform to expose government corruption.

Two different groupings of Republicans, both named after their newspapers, Nacional and Reforma, also intensified propaganda activities in 1847-1848. In France, the organization and holding of political banquets - the so-called "banquet campaign" - has again become fashionable. Banquets were a very convenient, closed, narrow in composition, form of political struggle. The first banquet took place on July 9, 1847 in Paris, at the Chateau Rouge. The initiator of this banquet campaign was the leader of the "dynastic opposition" Odilon Barrot. The Republicans representing the Nacional group soon discredited themselves by rejecting the program of socio-economic reforms and confining themselves to "pure politics", moreover, hostile to the entire revolutionary-democratic camp. The workers despised the Nacional as a newspaper of the “gentlemen”, and its leader, Arm a on Marr a one hundred - was called the "republican in yellow gloves."

Petty-bourgeois democrat Alexandre Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e he was at the head of the second republican group "Reform". Influenced by the actions of the working masses Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e n, like other members of the editorial board of the Reform newspaper, put forward a program of social transformation. The political bloc with the workers was one of the main tactical tasks of this republican grouping. November 7, 1847 at a banquet in Lille, in the city garden, in the presence of a thousand one hundred people in response to toasts: “For the workers, for their inalienable rights! For their sacred interests!” Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e He made a speech, the text of which was published not only in the democratic press of France, but also in England, in the Chartist newspaper Polar Star. The words uttered by Alexander Ledr became a kind of slogan Yu-Roll e nom: "The people not only deserve to represent themselves, but they can only be represented by themselves." The crowded banquet in Dijon also showed that the Reform party is gaining political influence in society. In Dijon, led by Alexandre Ledre, gathered Yu-Roll e Mr. and Louis-Blanc, representatives of other cities of France, delegates from Switzerland. The workers arrived at the banquet in Dijon in the amount of four hundred people. At this banquet, Alexandre Ledru-Rollin made a toast: “To the Convention that saved France from the yoke of kings!” Despite the efforts of the “dynastic opposition”, the banquets in favor of electoral reform gradually became more radical.

The banquet campaign contributed to the development of the struggle for electoral reform in various regions of France. But not one of the petty-bourgeois groupings or other opposition forces could, and did not dare, raise a revolutionary armed uprising with the aim of forcibly overthrowing the regime of King Louis-Philippe of Orleans. But the revolution began anyway, as F. Engels predicted in 1847: “At the moment when a clash between the people and the government becomes inevitable, the workers will instantly find themselves on the streets and squares, tear up the pavements, block the streets with omnibuses, wagons and carriages, barricade every passageway, every narrow lane will be turned into a fortress and will move, sweeping away all obstacles, from Place de la Bastille to the Tuileries Palace” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 4, p. 364).

February Revolution. On the eve of the revolution, much was said about the impending revolutionary explosion. The financial aristocracy represented by the Second Empire proved to be the least capable of governing the country. Ignoring the opposition, rejecting all proposals for electoral reform, the government of Francois Guise about stubbornly did not want to see the approaching revolution. Guizot showed a rare political short-sightedness, blind stubbornness, the self-confidence of the historian-minister was transferred to his entourage and the close-minded “king-citizen”, the power-hungry Louis-Philippe of Orleans. This blind stubbornness was organically characteristic of the “kingdom of the bankers”. The features, the signs of this "kingdom of the bankers" were the domination of the aristocracy, the monopoly privileges of big money capital, the merging of capital with the state apparatus, the predatory exploitation of the state budget, stock exchange games and speculative transactions around state policy. The top of the bourgeois plutocracy enriched itself around state power and with the help of this power, it did not put up with the fact that some other stratum of the bourgeoisie would join the power. If this happened, then the growing commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, which the development of capitalism brought to the fore, would inevitably come to power.

Even more unacceptable for the bourgeois financial plutocracy would be the granting of voting rights to the broad masses of the petty bourgeoisie. In France, the petty bourgeoisie was so crushed by the big capitalists, ruined and robbed by them, that, having received the right to vote, it would immediately join the political struggle against the "financial tycoons" and "money bigwigs". In this upcoming struggle for a more just reorganization of society, the French petty bourgeoisie would be forced to rely on a temporary alliance with the working class, and together with it, in alliance, overthrow the monarchy and proclaim a republic. The strength of the alliance between the workers and the petty bourgeoisie was of an explosive nature, which immediately manifested itself as soon as the course of events united the working class and the petty bourgeoisie in a general uprising against the oppression and dominance of the financial aristocracy.

Banquet campaign of electoral reformers against the government of François Guise about resumed in January. A new banquet was scheduled for January 19th, but was rescheduled for February 22nd. In addition to the banquet, it was planned to hold a massive street demonstration in defense of freedom of assembly. The authorities categorically banned both the banquet and the demonstration. The liberal opposition got scared again and retreated. Most of all, the liberal opposition was afraid of the revolutionary actions of the masses. Writer Prosp e p Merim e described the fear of the leaders of the opposition in this way: “Its leaders are like horsemen who have dispersed their horses and do not know how to stop them.” On the evening of February 21, opposition deputies and journalists called on the people to submit to the authorities. Most Republicans and Democrats also hesitated to call on the people to fight. On February 19, at a meeting in the editorial office of the Reform newspaper, Alexander Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e n, maintained by Louis Bl a nom, spoke out against the use of a banquet conflict for an organized demonstration of the masses, arguing that the people were not yet ready to fight and did not have weapons. The participants in the meeting were Marc Cossidière, Joseph Louis Lagrange and Eugene Bon - all three were associated with secret societies and spoke in favor of revolutionary action. However, the point of view of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e but won - the Reform party urged Parisians to remain calm and stay at home. The petty-bourgeois socialists Pierre Lehr also warned against participation in the revolutionary struggle. at, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Victus about r Consideran.

Contrary to exhortations and warnings, thousands of Parisians - workers from the suburbs, student youth - singing the Marseillaise, took to the streets and squares of Paris on February 22 early in the morning. The demonstrators carried slogans: “Long live the reform! Down with Guizot!” The troops of the municipal guard attacked the work columns, a rebuff followed. The streets were covered with barricades. Fighting between demonstrators and troops and police continued to escalate the next day. Fighters from secret societies joined the fight, the number of barricades in the suburbs and in the center was constantly increasing. By the evening of February 22, government troops dispersed the demonstrators and took control of the situation. But the next day, the armed struggle in the streets of Paris resumed.

Battalions of the national guard acted against the rebels. The guardsmen were sympathetic to the rebels, did not follow orders, calls were heard among the battalions: “Down with Guise about! Long live electoral reform!” By the end of the day on February 23, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans still decided to sacrifice Prime Minister Francois Guise about. New ministers were appointed - supporters of electoral reform. Count Mathieu Louis Mol was appointed head of the new government e, By conviction, he is a liberal Orléanist. In the circles of the bourgeoisie, this news was greeted with enthusiasm. Liberal opposition figures and officers of the National Guard appealed to the people to stop the struggle.

But the Parisian proletariat, remembering the lessons of the revolution of 1830, this time did not allow itself to be deceived and continued to fight against the monarchy. The revolutionary workers said: “They say e or Guise about- it doesn't matter to us. The people at the barricades hold their weapons in their hands and will not lay them down until Louis Philippe is deposed from his throne. Down with Louis Philippe!”

This slogan found an ever more powerful response, and one push was enough for a popular uprising to be swept away by the rotten regime of Louis Philippe. Soon this push came. On the evening of February 23, in the center of Paris, on the Boulevard des Capucines, a column of unarmed demonstrators was heading towards the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Francois Guise lived about, was shot by guard soldiers. Dozens of Parisians were killed and injured. Upon learning of this bloody atrocity, the working people of the capital immediately rebelled. Thousands of workers, artisans, shopkeepers, students rushed into battle. One and a half thousand barricades were erected in one night. The uprising against the Orleans monarchy took on a truly popular character. The organizing force of the uprising was members of the secret republican societies, workers and small artisans.

On the morning of February 24, the struggle in the streets of Paris resumed with increasing force. Many members of the National Guard joined the uprising. The people took possession of all the mayor's offices of the districts. Soldiers of the regular army began to fraternize with the population. Count Mathieu Louis Maul appointed Prime Minister by the King e refused to hold this post, then the premiership was offered to Louis Adolphe Thiers, and after his refusal, to the leader of the dynastic opposition, Odilon Barrot.

At noon, armed detachments of the insurgent people began an assault on the royal residence - the Tuilre Palace. and. Seeing the hopelessness of his situation, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans agreed to abdicate in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris, and his mother was appointed regent by royal decree until she came of age. Having signed the abdication, Louis-Philippe and his family hastened to leave the capital and fled to England. François Guizot also disappeared there. The Tuileries Palace was captured by the rebellious people, the royal throne was solemnly transferred to Place de la Bastille, where a crowded jubilant crowd burned it at the stake - a symbol of the July Monarchy. The insurgent people fought the last battle of the July Monarchy and its defenders in the Bourbon Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies met. The monarchical majority of this chamber intended to approve the regency of the Duchess of Orléans in order to save the monarchy by a change of faces. The top of the bourgeoisie also continued to defend the monarchy, they were afraid of the very word "republic". The situation reminded them of the onset of the Jacobin dictatorship and the revolutionary terror of 1793-1794. Only a small group of Republican deputies, having persuaded Alphonse Marie de Lamartine to their side, came up with a proposal to create a Provisional Government.

And here, in the Bourbon Palace, where the deputies sat, the issue was decided by the fighters of the barricades, who burst into the parliament's meeting room. “Down with the ward! Out of the shameless merchants! Long live the Republic!” the Parisians exclaimed, brandishing their weapons. Most of the deputies fled, remaining under pressure from the rebels decided to elect the Provisional Government. In complete confusion, the list of members of the government, compiled by the bourgeois republicans of the Nacional party, together with Alphonse Lamartine, received the approval of those present. But after their departure, another list was also drawn up and approved, developed in the editorial office of the Reforma newspaper and announced in the chamber of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e nom.

62, 63, 64, 65, 66

France during the Restoration and the July Monarchy.

Restoration

Restoration of the Bourbons - the restoration of the power of the monarchs-representatives of the Bourbon dynasty in France for the period from 1814 to 1830, characterized by conflicting orders of the monarchs, an unstable political situation in the country.

The conditions offered to the French under the first Paris Peace Treaty (May 30, 1814) were very generous: France remained within the borders of 1792 and did not have to pay indemnity. Napoleon was exiled to Elba, and Talleyrand, who negotiated with the French side, convinced the allies to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France in the person of the brother of the last king. This middle-aged prince, who was said to have "learned nothing and forgotten nothing," became King Louis XVIII. He proposed to the French people a Constitutional Charter, which was extremely liberal and confirmed all the most important reforms of the era of the revolution.

The problems of restoring peace in Europe turned out to be so complex that representatives of the European states gathered for a congress in Vienna. Differences between the great powers led to the conclusion of separate secret agreements between them and to the threat of war. At this time, Napoleon fled from the island of Elba to southern France, from where he led a triumphal procession to Paris. In the camp of the allies, the differences that surfaced at the Congress of Vienna were instantly forgotten, Louis XVIII fled to Belgium, and Wellington met Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. After the defeat, Napoleon was sentenced to life imprisonment and exiled to St. Helena.

Until the middle of the 19th century. most of the French were busy with personal affairs and made little effort to speak in the political arena. Indeed, during the reign of an anachronistic court, two chambers (deputies and peers) and successive ministers and politicians) in the country did not occur any significant events. At court, there was an ultra-royalist group led by the king's brother Count d "Artois. Louis XVIII did not want to cede power to them, but after his death in 1825 d" Artois ascended the throne under the name of Charles X. The law on the right of the eldest son to inherit property was rejected , but another law passed providing financial compensation to nobles whose lands were confiscated during the revolution. The efforts of financial circles to limit Karl with constitutional measures prompted him to sign decrees that contradicted the constitution - "ordinances" (July 25, 1830). The ordinances provided for the dissolution of the lower house, a two-fold reduction in the number of deputies, the exclusion from the electoral rolls of all owners of commercial and industrial patents and the restriction of the circle of voters only to large landowners (i.e., mainly nobles), the introduction of a system of prior permits for the publication of newspapers and magazines. In response to this coup attempt, the opposition called on the population to resist the government. Demonstrations took place in the streets of Paris, which turned into an uprising. On July 29, 1830, the people took possession of the Tuileries Palace with a fight. Under pressure from the masses, Charles X abdicated and fled to England. The organizers of the conspiracy, including Talleyrand and Adolphe Thiers, created a provisional government that gave the crown to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans.

July Monarchy

The revolution of 1830 led to a change of the king, but by no means of the regime.

The new constitution, adopted on August 14, 1830, retained many of the provisions of the former Charter. The rights of the Chamber of Deputies were slightly expanded, and the number of voters increased (from 100,000 to 240,000) due to some reduction in the property qualification. The privileges of the top of the commercial, industrial and banking bourgeoisie were consolidated, which acquired full power in the country. No wonder Louis Philippe began to be called the "king-bourgeois."

In the 1840s, railroad construction began, accompanied by a speculative investment boom. A crop failure in Europe in 1847 and a shortage of bread in many areas foreshadowed famine, and rising prices led to the massive impoverishment of urban workers. The famine indirectly affected the London foreign exchange market by causing capital outflows from Paris. This predetermined a major financial crisis in France. In this position, the king stubbornly pursued a policy that was in his own interest and dangerous to all other French investors.

The royal minister, François Guizot, controlled all the activities of the government, bribing most of the deputies. In this way, without any apparent violation of constitutional privileges, he could block all legal channels through which the opposition could act. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, aggrieved bankers and entrepreneurs organized protest rallies to intimidate the king into making concessions. However, the king counted on a repetition of the uprising of 1830 and his appeal to the crowd. This time the crowd was less accommodating, and Louis Philippe had to abdicate in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris, and flee to England. The rebels surrounded the Chamber of Deputies and demanded the proclamation of a republic.

February Revolution in France 1848 and the Second Republic.

Revolution of 1848.

The provisional government was under constant threat, and the situation was saved only by the promise of the Minister of Labor to provide employment for many unemployed people and organize the so-called. "national workshops" (by which they understood different types of public works). These workshops formed part of the plan for cooperative socialism outlined in the publications of the journalist Louis Blanc, who had just been appointed Minister of Labour. In the spring of 1848, thousands of unemployed and homeless people arrived in Paris from the provinces to get jobs in workshops. A series of massive street demonstrations convinced the government that if the workshops were not immediately disbanded and the workers dispersed, the situation would finally spiral out of control. The liquidation of national workshops was announced, and the provincials were given the opportunity to return home or join the army. The leaders of the demonstrations, realizing the danger of inevitable reprisals, decided to raise an uprising. Orders to liquidate the workshops were ignored, the workers took up arms and went to the barricades. General Louis Cavaignac withdrew government troops and allowed the rebels to disperse throughout Paris. For four days, from June 23 to June 26, 1848, street fighting did not stop in the city, culminating in the brutal suppression of the uprising.

Second Republic.

In early November, a new constitution for the republic was published. It guaranteed universal suffrage, a single representative assembly, and popular election of the president. The introduction of universal suffrage was an attempt to counter the urban radical minority with a mass of conservative peasant votes. In the election of the President of the Republic (December 10, 1848), Prince Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the late emperor and successor of Bonapartist traditions, unexpectedly outstripped all the main candidates.

Louis Napoleon outmaneuvered the Assembly, gained the confidence of the army, and negotiated financial support with a group of bankers who hoped to keep him under their control. Since the President could not constitutionally remain in office for a second term, and the Legislative Assembly rejected the proposal of Louis Napoleon to revise this provision, he, on the recommendation of his advisers, decided to stage a coup d'état. December 2, 1851 Louis Napoleon and his supporters seized power in the country, suppressed mass unrest and staged a plebiscite to revise the constitution. After receiving a vote of confidence, Louis Napoleon drafted an authoritarian constitution, essentially establishing imperial power. True, the name "Second Empire" appeared only on December 2, 1852, when, following the results of a national plebiscite, the ruler of the country was proclaimed Emperor Napoleon III.

By the middle of the XIX century. capitalist forms of production already played a leading role in the economy, but their further development was restrained in many countries by various feudal barriers, the dominance of large landowners, state fragmentation, and national oppression. Capitalism also gave rise to a new antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the working class. There was a growing crisis in the policy of the ruling circles. In 1848 - 1849. revolutionary events took on a pan-European character. All of Europe was engulfed in revolutionary fire.

The main cause of the revolution in France was the dissatisfaction of the industrial bourgeoisie with the domination of the financial aristocracy. The middle and petty bourgeoisie, which the bankers did not allow to power, sought to establish a republic. The economic crisis of 1847 contributed to a reduction in production, a decrease in wages, and an increase in unemployment, which caused discontent among the lower classes of French society.

On February 24, 1848, an uprising broke out in Paris, during which the monarchy was overthrown and France, under pressure from the people, was declared a republic on February 25. The provisional government, formed from liberals and republicans, abolished titles of nobility, declared freedom of speech, press, assembly, introduced universal suffrage for men over 21 years old. To appease the unemployed, it organized "national workshops" to carry out earthworks, clearing and paving streets, and planting trees. To cover expenses; Associated with the organization of public works, the tax on the peasantry was increased by 45%.

On April 23, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held, in which the moderate Republicans won a landslide victory. Big number deputies belonged to the intelligentsia - lawyers, doctors, journalists. The government that was formed issued a decree on June 22 to dissolve the "national workshops" which had been attacked by bourgeois circles. All single men aged 18 to 25 who worked in the workshops had to join the army, the rest - to go to land work in the provinces. These measures led to an uprising of the workers of Paris. Up to 500 barricades were built, 40-45 thousand workers defended them. The fighting continued from 23 to 26 June. Against the insurgent workers, the government threw an army of 80,000, mobiles, bourgeois detachments of the national guard, a total of 150,000 people. Paris was declared in a state of siege, and all power was transferred to General Cavaignac. Artillery was used to suppress the workers. About 11 thousand rebels were killed or shot on the spot, 25 thousand were arrested, 3.5 thousand were exiled to hard labor.
The uprising of the workers frightened the French bourgeoisie. She launched an offensive against the democratic gains of the revolution, deciding to transfer power to the president, endowed with enormous powers. In December 1848, the nephew of Napoleon I, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was elected president, who was voted by the monarchist-minded bourgeois circles and the peasantry, who naively believed that the nephew of Napoleon I would protect the interests of small landowners. December 2, 1851 Louis Bonaparte carried out a coup d'état, dissolving legislative assembly and proclaiming himself emperor. The monarchy was restored in France. The revolution of 1848 failed because it did not lead to the establishment of a republic.

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Revolution of 1848 in France- bourgeois-democratic revolution in France, one of the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The tasks of the revolution were the establishment of civil rights and freedoms. It resulted on February 24 in the abdication of the once liberal king Louis Philippe I and the proclamation of the Second Republic. In the further course of the revolution, after the suppression of the social revolutionary uprising in June 1848, Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was elected president of the new state.

Pan-European Context of the February Revolution

The events in France became the spark that ignited the liberal uprisings in many states of Europe, especially in the countries of the German Confederation, known as the Revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany. All of them had a pan-European dimension and shared bourgeois-liberal goals. To all these revolutions, including the revolution in France, one can apply the collective name of the Revolution of 1848-1849, without losing sight of the fact that in individual countries these events developed differently and had different consequences.

Prerequisites

Louis-Philippe came to power in the year during the bourgeois-liberal July Revolution, which overthrew the reactionary Bourbon regime in the person of Charles X. The eighteen years of the reign of Louis Philippe (the so-called July Monarchy) were characterized by a gradual departure from the ideas of liberalism, more frequent scandals and increasing corruption. Ultimately, Louis-Philippe joined the Holy Alliance of the Monarchs of Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia. The purpose of this alliance, based on the Congress of Vienna, was to restore the order in Europe that had existed before the French Revolution of 1789. This was expressed primarily in the renewed dominance of the nobility and the return of its privileges.

The beginning of the revolution

The reason for the mass outburst of indignation was given by the authorities themselves. In those years, in France, as in England, there was a movement for electoral reform. In France it is called reformist banquets. In order to propagate reforms, and at the same time get around the strict prohibitions of unions and meetings, first in Paris, and then in large provincial cities, wealthy participants in the reformist movement held public banquets. The worn-out speeches spoke loudly of reform projects and, at times, sharply criticized the government. About 50 such banquets took place from July to February. The irritated head of the Guizot government on February 21, 1848, banned the next banquet scheduled in the capital. At the same time, he warned the organizers in harsh tones that in case of disobedience, he would use force. In response, unrest began in Paris, which by the evening had assumed the scale of a revolution.

Not wanting to tempt fate, Louis Philippe did just that, having previously abdicated in favor of his grandson Henry, Count of Paris before leaving. But this categorically did not suit the rebels. As soon as on February 25 they became aware of the intention of the Chamber of Deputies to proclaim Henry King, a crowd of rebels burst directly into the meeting of the Chamber. At gunpoint, the deputies proclaimed France a republic and formed a new radical bourgeois government.

Shortly after the proclamation of the republic, universal suffrage was introduced for men over the age of 21. At that moment, no country in the world had such a wide right to vote, not even in England, which considered itself the birthplace of democratic freedoms. Another important measure of the new government was the opening of the National Workshops for the unemployed, where they received a small - 2 francs a day - but guaranteed pay. Although workshops have been introduced in only a few major cities, soon more than 100 thousand people worked in them. The main tasks of the revolution were completed. The population received broad political rights and civil liberties, the unemployed were employed in road and earthworks, improved houses and city streets. The radicals used the large concentration of people in the workshops to conduct revolutionary propaganda there.

June Uprising 23-26 June 1848

The maintenance of the National Workshops, which at first cost the government 150 thousand francs a day, required more and more expenses, as the number of people working in them constantly grew. I had to reduce the pay to 1.5 francs a day, and then reduce the number of working days to two per week. For the remaining five days, workshop workers received a franc. But even this was unbearable for the treasury, and the efficiency of the workshops became lower and lower. In the end, on June 21, at the initiative of the government, the Constituent Assembly dissolved the National Workshops. Single men aged 18-25 were invited to join the army, the rest - to go to earthworks in the provinces. However, the unemployed did not want to leave the capital.

On June 23-26, riots broke out in Paris, which developed into an uprising. To suppress it, troops had to be brought into the city, again covered with barricades. They were led by the Minister of War, General Louis-Eugène Cavaignac. Cavaignac tried to calm the rebels, to convince them that the radicals are "our and your enemies." He called: "Come to us as repentant brothers, obedient to the law. The Republic is always ready to embrace you!"

The June uprising had no specific goal, except for the demands to reopen the National Workshops, to release the radicals arrested on May 15, to establish a "democratic and social republic." It was a senseless crowd riot, caused by a number of reasons: the low standard of living of workers, unemployment, the closure of workshops, etc. Most of the members of the future government were in prison, and the armed struggle was led by "foremen" and "delegates" of national workshops, leaders of political clubs , commanders of the National Guard.

Nevertheless, the unrest did not stop, and Cavaignac gave the order to suppress the uprising. During the capture of the working suburbs of Saint-Antoine and La Temple - the strongholds of the rebels - several thousand people died.

Establishment of the Second Republic

As a result of the June explosion, the bourgeois-democratic transformations begun by the provisional government were suspended. The authorities were forced to shut down radical newspapers, clubs and societies. But universal suffrage was preserved, and this made it possible to hold a popular election in December 1848. It was expected that the main struggle will unfold between the candidates big bourgeoisie Cavaignac and the petty bourgeoisie Ledru-Rollin. But unexpectedly, an overwhelming majority of voters voted for Napoleon's nephew, the forty-year-old Prince Louis Bonaparte. He was supported mainly by peasants, workers, urban lower classes and part of the petty bourgeoisie, since they associated the past and future greatness of the country with his name of Napoleon and hoped that the new president would show the same attention to the needs of ordinary Frenchmen as his famous uncle.