Louis Philippe ruled France from 1830 to 1848 and became one of the country's most controversial leaders. Historians refer to his reign as the July Monarchy. The king of France was nicknamed the Citizen King and the Pear King.

Childhood and youth

Louis Philippe d'Orléans was born in 1773 in Paris. He was the firstborn of Duke Louis-Philippe-Joseph, who is usually called Philippe Egalite in the books. The boy's mother, Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon, was the Duchess of Orleans. She was also called Mademoiselle de Penthièvre.

The boy's parents were in a confrontation with representatives of the Bourbon family. His father was excommunicated from the court, so the duke's heirs were not included in high society. Louis Philippe learned a lot from his father. The liberal outlook turned out to be inherent in both members of the family. Louis-Philippe-Joseph supported the revolutionaries, did not consider that the title made him special, and raised his children quite democratically. The eldest son, Louis-Philippe, was born on the family estate, brought up in simplicity and away from the palace.

The children were educated by a governess, a well-known writer who was in awe of healthy eating and a proper lifestyle. Thanks to a mentor, Louis-Philippe easily managed without frills and received an excellent education. The boy studied 6 languages, loved the natural sciences, and at the same time was engaged in dancing and was fond of music. Education helped shape the character of the young man and affected the subsequent reign in the status of king.

The youth of Louis-Philippe of Orleans fell on the time of the French Revolution, like a parent, he became a Jacobin. Service in the army showed his courage and courage. Louis Philippe visited several battlefields. He participated in the Battle of Valmy in 1792. In 1793, his father was executed for treason, and his son was forced to flee.

As a result of the revolutionary actions, the young man decided to change his surname to Egalita. This helped to avoid the persecution that the Bourbon family was subjected to. The future king had to leave the country because suspicions fell on him as a participant in a conspiracy planned by General Charles Dumouriez. For 20 years, Louis-Philippe lived away from his homeland.

The young man traveled around European countries without remaining incognito. People recognized him. Despite the title, he kept himself simple and democratic, not demanding signs of attention to his person. The bourgeois loved an intelligent acquaintance, and the Bourbon relatives kept in touch with him, although they were cautious, mindful of political preferences.

Reign and overthrow

The biography of the future king developed in an amazing way. Having escaped from France, he settled in Switzerland and took up teaching. Then he traveled to the Scandinavian countries and even visited the USA. The kings who opposed the republican system in France willingly gave shelter to those whom their homeland recognized as traitors. Therefore, having settled in Great Britain in 1800, Louis-Philippe even received support from the state.

The restoration of the Bourbon name happened after the fall. Louis Philippe returned to court thanks to a relative and King Louis XVIII. The liberal inclinations of a family member were repeatedly recalled, but all the property confiscated during the revolution was returned.

During the sudden return of Napoleon, the Bourbons were somewhat confused. Louis Philippe was appointed commander of the Northern Army, but he did not appreciate this decision. The duke handed over the post to Edouard Motier and went to Great Britain. After 100 days, he returned to Paris and in the Chamber of Peers announced his position, which contradicted the reactionary views of the current ruler. Louis Philippe was expelled from France, but he soon returned home. His financial condition increased and his authority increased. The opposition viewed the duke as a contender for the throne.

His supporters urged to support the duke in the struggle for power. He reappeared in Paris, and the then ruling monarch, Charles X, offered his own abdication in exchange for the subsequent granting of the throne to his son.

Having resorted to the support of General Gilbert Lafayette, a potential president of the republic, Louis-Philippe expressed a desire to rule, taking into account the needs of the people. Lafayette was appointed commander of the National Guard. August 9, 1830 Louis Philippe I took the title of king. His opponents vehemently criticized this. Honoré Daumier painted satirical caricatures of the monarch.

However, the decision was made. The era of the reign of a representative of the Bourbon family began, distinguished by the leadership of the bourgeoisie. Natives of this class received unlimited rights and opportunities. The slogan "Get rich!" became symbolic for the reign of Louis-Philippe of Orleans. The capitals of the bourgeois grew, and this suited the king, who also loved money. In France, a market economy reigned, reminiscent of the American course. The state did not interfere in what was happening, and this was encouraged by the monarch.

The popularity of the ruler was rapidly declining due to the presence of a large number of opponents of his strategy. Louis Philippe limited the rights and freedoms of citizens, neglecting liberal traditions. Corruption flourished in the country. Louis Philippe was unable to keep his own government from stealing, despite the fact that he himself was an honest and not greedy person. The ministers, on the other hand, managed to limit the right to elect the people and irritated the common people with a constant increase in income.

During this period, France became a member of the Holy Alliance, assembled with the aim of restoring the order of the pre-revolutionary order in Europe. In an effort to unite the states of Europe, Louis Philippe encouraged dynastic marriages and was persistent in establishing ties. His policy allowed him to innovate in science and make technical advances.

Industry developed, the king allowed the construction of railways and was engaged in reforms in the field of education. Most of the French were able to start schooling, although this was not enough to brighten up the abyss that separated the poor from the rich. The discontent of the people increased, and the king began to be publicly ridiculed.

In 1848 barricades appeared in Paris. In winter, another revolution took place, the result of which was the overthrow of the monarch. Minister Guizot, whose reforms were not to the liking of the French, resigned. Louis Philippe, unable to meet the needs of the people, renounced the throne.

Public renunciation of the throne did not reduce the degree of discontent. Someone from the royal guard shot into the crowd without orders and provoked a conflict that marked the beginning of the revolution. The period of the Second Republic began. The former monarch immigrated to Britain to avoid civil war. In England, King Leopold I provided Claremont Castle for a distant relative to live in. Here the former monarch spent the rest of his days with his family.

Personal life

In 1809, the wedding of Louis Philippe and Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples, King of the Two Sicilies, took place. The celebration took place in Sicily. Louis Philippe planned to get the Spanish crown, but this did not happen, but the personal life of the king of France was successful.

His wife bore him 10 children. Daughter Francesca died at 2 years old, and son Charles - at 8 years old. Daughter Louise Maria married King Leopold I of Belgium, son Francois was married to Princess of Brazil, daughter of Emperor Pedro I. Daughter Clementine became the mother of King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.

Death

The former King of France died on August 26, 1850. Louis Philippe was 76 years old. Death came from natural causes.

Researchers claim that his death did not cause a stir. In 1876, the remains of the ruler and his wife were reburied in the Saint-Louis Dre chapel in Or-et-Loire, where the graves of other representatives of a noble family are also located.

Biography
Early life, French Revolution and emigration

Born in Paris. He was the eldest son of Duke Louis-Philippe-Joseph of Orleans, known as Philippe Egalite; He first bore the title of Duke of Valois, then Duke of Chartres. From 1800 until accession to the throne, he bore the title of Duke of Orleans.

Under the guidance of Madame Genlis, Louis-Philippe acquired a rather serious and varied knowledge, a liberal way of thinking, a love of travel, a habit of simplicity and endurance. Following his father, he declared himself a supporter of the revolution, entered the National Guard and the Jacobin Club. With the rank of lieutenant general, he took part in the battles of Valmy, at Jemappe (1792) and at Neerwinden, where he showed great military ability and courage. In 1792, Louis-Philippe renounced his title and, following the example of his father, took the name of citizen Egalite. When the Convention issued a law for the expulsion of the Bourbons, an exception was made for both Egalites. When General Dumouriez, under whom Louis-Philippe served, betrayed the Republic, Louis-Philippe, although not taking part in the conspiracy, had to leave France.

He settled in Switzerland with his sister Adelaide and Madame Genlis; here he lived with lessons in geography and mathematics. After traveling through Scandinavia and spending several years in America, he moved in 1800 to England (in the village of Twickenham near London), where he lived on a pension of 60,000 francs paid by the British government. By protesting against the execution of the Duke of Enghien, Louis-Philippe thereby paved the way for reconciliation with the Bourbons, which took place after he signed a declaration of obedience to his rightful sovereign. From that time on, he was treated like a prince, although they treated him with distrust, especially since he did not take any part in the royalist intrigues against the French government, despite all the insistence of the Ghent court.

In 1809, Louis Philippe moved to Sicily, where he married Maria Amalia, daughter of Ferdinand of Naples. Then he went to Spain, where he wanted to take part in the fight against Napoleon, dreaming of getting the Spanish crown; this dream did not come true, as did the idea of ​​the crown of the Ionian Islands.

Life under the Restoration

After the Restoration, Louis XVIII appointed Louis-Philippe commander of the hussars and returned to him all the vast estates of his father, confiscated during the revolution. His position at the court of Louis XVIII was, however, very difficult; he was not forgiven for his father's role during the revolution, nor for his own liberal convictions, which he never completely repudiated. The king himself did not trust him; when Napoleon returned from Elba, Louis-Philippe, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, was forced to transfer command to Marshal Mortier; he went to Great Britain, after the second fall of Napoleon he returned to Paris and took a seat in the House of Peers. Here he resolutely spoke out against the reactionary measures of the new government, for which he was ordered to go abroad; after spending a couple of years in Twickenham, it was only in 1817 that he received final permission to return to France. After Louis XVIII restored the military rank of Louis Philippe and returned to him the landed estates that belonged to the house of Orleans, the duke quickly became rich; in the 1820s, his fortune was approximately 8,000,000 francs. He sent his children to study at Henry IV College, which added to his popularity among the bourgeoisie, whose children got the opportunity to study with the princes of the blood. The leaders of the opposition soon began to turn their eyes to him, especially since even earlier he was often spoken of as a possible king. His palace, the Palais Royal, was a constant gathering point for prominent figures in literature, science and politics; his salon bore a moderately oppositional imprint, here Louis-Philippe received prominent figures of the liberal party, including the banker Jacques Laffite, the satirist Pierre-Jean de Béranger, and General Foix, a veteran of the Napoleonic wars. But Louis Philippe himself kept himself strictly correct in relation to the reigning house and stood aloof from all conspiracies in his favor. Unlike Louis XVIII, his successor, Charles X, did not seek to distance himself from the former "citizen of Egalite" and, after accession to the throne, awarded the Duke of Orleans the title of royal highness.

Revolution of 1830

In 1830, shortly before the Revolution, he left Paris for Neuilly; in the most troubled days he could not even be found there, because under the pretense of hunting he hid in the vicinity. His friends, headed by the banker Laffite, Thiers and others, did their job, however, without needing his encouragement. On the morning of July 30, a proclamation appeared on the streets of Paris pointing to the Duke of Orleans as the future king: “He is devoted to the cause of the revolution, never fought against France, always supported the tricolor banner; he will receive a crown from the French people and accept a charter such as France desires. On the same day, the Chamber of Deputies proclaimed him vicegerent (lieutenant-général) of the kingdom. After some hesitation, Louis-Philippe accepted the title offered to him and dictated a proclamation to the Parisian population, in which he explained his determination by the desire to prevent internecine war and anarchy. Then he went to the city hall: he had to ride through the streets, on which the people were not yet calmed down and from which the barricades had not yet been removed - but Louis-Philippe, not showing the slightest excitement, made his way on horseback through the crowd of people, shaking hands right and left . In the town hall he was met by Lafayette at the head of the provisional government. After short negotiations, Lafayette, reassured by the phrase "Louis Philippe is the best of the republics," went out with him, holding a tricolor banner, to the balcony of the town hall. The crowd enthusiastically greeted Louis-Philippe, who immediately confirmed in ministerial posts all the commissioners appointed by the provisional government: he left Lafayette in charge of the national guard. Charles X, having learned about the events in Paris, sent a letter to Louis Philippe, in which he abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Duke of Bordeaux, and until the latter came of age appointed Louis Philippe regent. Louis Philippe immediately informed the chambers of the abdication of Charles X, but withheld information about its conditions. On August 7, the chamber offered the crown to Louis Philippe, which he accepted on August 9.

Reign

From this time begins the reign of the "king-citizen" and at the same time the domination of the bourgeoisie; power passed into her hands, and she used it extremely short-sightedly (the right to vote even after the revision of the charter belonged to less than half a million citizens). The government tried to fill the chamber with its creatures; places in the civil service were given out biasedly, displacements for political convictions were commonplace. The motto of the reign was the famous words: "enrichissez-vous" (enrich yourself!).

Louis Philippe himself fully corresponded to the ideal of the king of the bourgeoisie: he was an excellent family man, exemplary in managing his personal and especially property affairs; in war he was distinguished by his courage, but he did not like war. He was reproached for stinginess, although he lived widely. He significantly increased the huge inheritance that he received from his father. Assuming the throne, he did not attach his estates to state property, as the Bourbon kings did, but secured most of it with deeds of deed to his children. He did not refuse to accept the dubious inheritance that passed to one of his sons, the Duke of Omalsky, from the last Prince of Condé, who soon after the July Revolution committed suicide or, perhaps, was killed by his own mistress, Baroness Fescher, thanks to whose deal with Louis Philippe and his wife and this will was made. The king himself was distinguished by unconditional personal honesty, but corruption reigned in his government, as evidenced by a long series of scandalous trials. Many attempts were made on the life of the king, of which Fieschi's infernal machine in 1835 aroused particular horror throughout Europe and a reaction in France, expressed, among other things, in the new law on the press and in the reform of the jury (for example, on June 26, 1836, Alibo shot at the king and the bullet flew just a few centimeters from his head). In foreign policy, Louis-Philippe found the same character traits as in his family life: to strengthen the influence of France abroad, he created projects for marriage alliances between members of his family and foreign princes and princesses. Compliant towards the powerful powers of Europe, he persistently pursued his demands when he dealt with weaker states (Switzerland, Mexico). He was especially damaged in public opinion by the so-called Spanish marriages, because of which his friendly relations with England were upset.

At the same time, the reign of Louis Philippe was marked by scientific, technological and social progress; an industrial revolution took place in France, manual labor was gradually replaced by technical labor, four large railway lines were built, the construction of the Rhone-Rhine navigable canal, which united the north and south of France, was completed, corporal punishment in educational institutions was abolished, the reform of the penitentiary system began, and the foundations of public education were laid ( each community provided a building for a school and a salary for a teacher), the production of rubber, coal, sheet iron, cast iron accelerated, the amount of agricultural products increased, and the use of steam engines began. In 1847, the entire industrial output of France was estimated at 4 billion francs.
Overthrow

The Guizot Ministry was an era of stagnation that prepared the way for the February Revolution. On February 24, 1848, Louis-Philippe, after prolonged hesitation, signed the abdication in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris, but too late: a republic was proclaimed. Louis Philippe fled again to Britain, where he died. He left a large family, for which see the Orleans dynasty.

In 1809, Louis-Philippe married Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily, daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. Children:

Ferdinand Philippe (1810-1842), Duke of Orléans, married to Helena of Mecklenburg-Schwerin;

Louise Marie (1812-1850), married to King Leopold I of Belgium;

Maria (1813-1839), married Alexander, Duke of Württemberg;

Louis Charles Philippe (1814-1896), duc de Nemours, married to Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary;

Francesca (1816-1818);

Clementine (1817-1907), married to August of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary, mother of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria;

François (1818-1900), Prince de Joinville, married Francesca, Princess of Brazil, daughter of Emperor Pedro II;

Charles (1820-1828);

Heinrich (1822-1897), Duke of Omalsky, married to Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Sicily;

Antoine (1824-1890), duc de Montpensier, married to Louise Fernanda of Spain.

30th King of France
Louis XIII the Just (fr. Louis XIII le Juste; September 27, 1601, Fontainebleau - May 14, 1643, Saint-Germain-en-Laye) - King of France from May 14, 1610. From the Bourbon dynasty.

Reign of Marie de Medici
He ascended the throne at the age of 8 after the assassination of his father, Henry IV. During Louis' infancy, his mother Marie de' Medici, as regent, retreated from the policy of Henry IV, entering into an alliance with Spain and betrothing the king to Infanta Anna of Austria, daughter of Philip III. This aroused the fears of the Huguenots. Many nobles left the court and began to prepare for war, but the court on May 5, 1614 made peace with them at Sainte-Menehould. Marriage with Anna took place only in 1619, but Louis's relationship with his wife did not work out and he preferred to spend time in the company of his minions Luyne and Saint-Mar, in whom rumors saw the king's lovers. Only at the end of the 1630s did relations between Louis and Anna improve, and in 1638 and 1640 their two sons were born, the future Louis XIV and Philip I of Orleans.

Richelieu's reign
A new era began, after Louis' long hesitation, only in 1624, when Cardinal Richelieu became minister and soon took control of affairs and unlimited power over the king into his own hands. The Huguenots were pacified and lost La Rochelle. In Italy, the French House of Nevers was granted the succession to the throne in Mantua, after the War of the Mantua Succession (1628-1631). Later, France was very successful against Austria and Spain.

Internal opposition was becoming increasingly irrelevant. Louis destroyed the plans directed against Richelieu by the princes (including his brother, Gaston of Orleans), nobles and the queen mother, and constantly supported his minister, who acted for the benefit of the king and France. Thus, he gave complete freedom to Richelieu against his brother, Duke Gaston of Orleans, during the conspiracy of 1631 and the rebellion of 1632. In practice, this support of Richelieu limited the personal participation of the king in the affairs of government.

After the death of Richelieu (1642), his place was taken by his student, Cardinal Mazarin. However, the king outlived his minister by only a year. Louis died a few days before the victory at Rocroix.

In 1829, in Paris, on the Place des Vosges, a monument (equestrian statue) was erected to Louis XIII. It was erected on the site of a monument erected by Richelieu in 1639, but destroyed in 1792 during the revolution.

Louis XIII - artist
Louis was a passionate lover of music. He played the harpsichord, masterfully owned a hunting horn, sang the first bass part in the ensemble, performing polyphonic courtly songs (airs de cour) and psalms.

He began to learn dancing from childhood and in 1610 made his official debut in the Dauphine Court Ballet. Louis performed noble and grotesque roles in court ballets, and in 1615 in the Ballet Madame he performed the role of the Sun.

Louis XIII - the author of courtly songs and polyphonic psalms; his music also sounded in the famous Merleson ballet (1635), for which he composed dances (Simphonies), invented costumes, and in which he himself performed several roles.

31st King of France
Louis XIV de Bourbon, who at birth received the name Louis-Dieudonné ("given by God", French Louis-Dieudonné), also known as the "Sun King" (Fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis XIV the Great, (5 September 1638), Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, 1715, Versailles) - King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643. He reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European monarch in history. Louis, who survived the wars of the Fronde in his youth, became a staunch supporter of the principle of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is often credited with the expression “The State is me”), he combined the strengthening of his power with the successful selection of statesmen for key political posts.

Marriage of Louis XIV, Duke of Burgundy

Portrait of Louis XIV with his family

Louis XIV and Maria Teresa in Arras 1667 during the War of Devolution
Louis XIV and Maria Theresa at Arras 1667 during the war

32nd King of France
Louis XV fr. Louis XV, official nickname Beloved (fr. Le Bien Aimé) (February 15, 1710, Versailles - May 10, 1774, Versailles) - King of France since September 1, 1715 from the Bourbon dynasty.
Miraculously surviving heir.
The great-grandson of Louis XIV, the future king (who bore the title of Duke of Anjou from birth) was at first only fourth in line to the throne. However, in 1711, the boy's grandfather, the only legitimate son of Louis XIV Grand Dauphin, died; at the beginning of 1712, Louis' parents, the Duchess (February 12) and the Duke (February 18) of Burgundy, and then (March 8) and his older 4-year-old brother, the Duke of Brittany, died one after another from chickenpox. The two-year-old Louis himself survived only thanks to the perseverance of his tutor, the Duchess de Vantadour, who did not allow the doctors to apply strong bloodletting to him, which killed his older brother. The death of his father and brother made the two-year-old Duke of Anjou the direct heir of his great-grandfather, he received the title of Dauphin of Vienne.

Louis XV during classes in the presence of Cardinal Fleury (c) Anonyme

On September 4, 1725, 15-year-old Louis married 22-year-old Maria Leszczynska (1703-1768), daughter of Stanisław, the former King of Poland. They had 10 children (plus one stillborn), of whom 1 son and 6 daughters survived to adulthood. Only one, the eldest, of the daughters married. The younger unmarried daughters of the king took care of their orphaned nephews, the children of the dauphin, and after the accession of the eldest of them, Louis XVI, to the throne, they were known as "Lady Aunts" (fr. Mesdames les Tantes).

Marie-Louise O "Murphy (1737-1818), mistress of Louis XV

Cardinal Fleury died at the beginning of the war, and the king, reiterating his intention to govern the state himself, appointed no one as first minister. In view of the inability of Louis to deal with affairs, this led to complete anarchy: each of the ministers managed his ministry independently of his comrades and inspired the sovereign with the most contradictory decisions. The king himself led the life of an Asian despot, at first obeying either one or the other of his mistresses, and from 1745 falling completely under the influence of the Marquise de Pompadour, who skillfully pandered to the base instincts of the king and ruined the country with her extravagance.

Mignonne et Sylvie, chiens de Louis XV (c) Oudry Jean Baptiste (1686-1755)

33rd King of France
Louis XVI (August 23, 1754 - January 21, 1793) - the king of France from the Bourbon dynasty, the son of the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand, succeeded his grandfather Louis XV in 1774. Under him, after the convocation of the States General in 1789, the Great French Revolution began. Louis first accepted the constitution of 1791, renounced absolutism and became a constitutional monarch, but soon he began to hesitantly oppose the radical measures of the revolutionaries and even tried to flee the country. On September 21, 1792, he was deposed, tried by the Convention, and executed on the guillotine.

He was a man of good heart, but of an insignificant mind and indecisive character. Louis XV did not like him for his negative attitude towards the court lifestyle and contempt for Dubarry and kept him away from public affairs. The upbringing given to Louis by the Duke of Voguyon gave him little practical and theoretical knowledge. He showed the greatest inclination towards physical pursuits, especially locksmithing and hunting. Despite the debauchery of the court around him, he retained the purity of morals, was distinguished by great honesty, ease of handling and hatred of luxury. With the kindest feelings, he ascended the throne with a desire to work for the benefit of the people and to destroy the existing abuses, but he did not know how to boldly move forward towards a consciously intended goal. He obeyed the influence of those around him, either aunts, or brothers, or ministers, or the queen (Marie Antoinette), canceled decisions made, and did not complete the reforms that had begun.

Escape attempt. constitutional monarch
On the night of June 21, 1791, Louis and his entire family secretly left in a carriage towards the eastern border. It is worth noting that the escape was prepared and carried out by the Swedish nobleman Hans Axel von Fersen, who was madly in love with the king's wife Marie Antoinette. In Varennes, Drouet, the son of the caretaker of one of the postal stations, saw in the carriage window the profile of the king, whose image was minted on coins and was well known to everyone, and raised the alarm. The king and queen were arrested and returned to Paris under escort. They were greeted with the deathly silence of the people crowding in the streets. On September 14, 1791, Louis took the oath of a new constitution, but continued to negotiate with the emigrants and foreign powers, even when he officially threatened them through his Girondin ministry, and on April 22, 1792, with tears in his eyes, declared war on Austria. Louis's refusal to sanction the decree of the assembly against the emigrants and rebellious priests and the removal of the patriotic ministry imposed on him caused a movement on June 20, 1792, and his proven relations with foreign states and emigrants led to an uprising on August 10 and the overthrow of the monarchy (September 21).

Louis was imprisoned with his family in the Temple and accused of plotting against the freedom of the nation and of a number of attempts against the security of the state. On January 11, 1793, the trial of the king in the Convention began. Louis behaved with great dignity and, not content with the speeches of his chosen defenders, defended himself against the accusations brought against him, referring to the rights given to him by the constitution. On January 20, he was sentenced to death by a majority of 383 votes to 310. Louis listened to the sentence with great calmness and on January 21 ascended the scaffold. His last words on the scaffold were: “I die innocent, I am innocent of the crimes of which I am accused. I tell you this from the scaffold, preparing to stand before God. And I forgive everyone who is responsible for my death."

Interesting Facts
When the future King of France, Louis XVI, was still a child, his personal astrologer warned him that the 21st of every month was his unlucky day. The king was so shocked by this prediction that he never planned anything important for the 21st. However, not everything depended on the king. On June 21, 1791, the king and queen were arrested while trying to leave revolutionary France. That same year, on September 21, France declared itself a republic. And in 1793, on January 21, King Louis XVI was beheaded.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's tomb in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris

Napoleon I
Napoleon I Bonaparte (Italian Napoleone Buonaparte, French Napoléon Bonaparte, August 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica - May 5, 1821, Longwood, Saint Helena) - Emperor of France in 1804-1815, French commander and statesman who laid foundations of the modern French state.

Napoleone Buonaparte (as his name was pronounced until about 1800) began his professional military service in 1785 with the rank of second lieutenant of artillery; advanced during the French Revolution, reaching the rank of brigade under the Directory (after the capture of Toulon on December 17, 1793, the appointment took place on January 14, 1794), and then the divisional general and the post of commander of the rear military forces (after the defeat of the rebellion of 13 Vendemière 1795 ), and then the commander of the army.

In November 1799, he carried out a coup d'état (18 Brumaire), as a result of which he became the first consul, thereby effectively concentrating all power in his hands. May 18, 1804 proclaimed himself emperor. Established a dictatorial regime. He carried out a number of reforms (the adoption of a civil code (1804), the foundation of the French Bank (1800), etc.).

The victorious Napoleonic wars, especially the 2nd Austrian campaign of 1805, the Prussian campaign of 1806, and the Polish campaign of 1807 contributed to the transformation of France into the main power on the continent. However, Napoleon's unsuccessful rivalry with the "mistress of the seas" Great Britain did not allow this status to be fully consolidated. The defeat of the Grand Army in the war of 1812 against Russia and in the "Battle of the Nations" near Leipzig marked the beginning of the collapse of the empire of Napoleon I. The entry of troops of the anti-French coalition into Paris in 1814 forced Napoleon I to abdicate. He was exiled to Fr. Elbe. Re-occupied the French throne in March 1815 (One Hundred Days). After the defeat at Waterloo, he abdicated a second time (June 22, 1815). He spent the last years of his life on about. St. Helena a prisoner of the British. His body has been in the Les Invalides in Paris since 1840.

dreamvision

dreamvision

Surrealism

Coronation of Napoleon, 1805-1808 (c) Jacques Louis David

Josephine kneeling before Napoleon during her coronation at Notre Dame (c) Jacques-Louis David

Premiere distribution des décorations de la Légion d "honneur dans l" église des Invalides, le 14 juillet 1804.
Tableau de Jean-Baptiste Debret, 1812. Musée national du château de Versailles.

Battle of Austerlitz, 1810 (c) François Pascal Simon Gérard (1770–1837)

Napoleon's tomb in Les Invalides. The material for the manufacture of the monument erected here, carved from a rare Ural stone, was kindly donated to the French government by Emperor Alexander III.

34th King of France (not crowned)
Louis XVIII, fr. Louis XVIII (Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, fr. Louis Stanislas Xavier) (November 17, 1755, Versailles - September 16, 1824, Paris) - King of France (1814-1824, with a break in 1815), brother of Louis XVI, who wore during his reign, the title of Count of Provence (fr. comte de Provence) and the honorary title of Monsieur (fr. Monsieur), and then, during emigration, he took the title of comte de Lille. He took the throne as a result of the Bourbon Restoration, which followed the overthrow of Napoleon I.

35th King of France
Charles X (fr. Charles X; October 9, 1757, Versailles - November 6, 1836, Görtz, Austria, now Gorizia in Italy), King of France from 1824 to 1830, the last representative of the senior Bourbon line on the French throne.

Louis Philippe I - 36th King of France
Louis-Philippe I (fr. Louis-Philippe Ier, October 6, 1773, Paris - August 26, 1850, Clermont, Surrey, near Windsor). Lieutenant General of the Kingdom from July 31 to August 9, 1830, King of France from August 9, 1830 to February 24, 1848 (according to the constitution he was titled "King of the French", roi des Français), received the nickname "King Citizen" ("le Roi-Citoyen") , a representative of the Orleans branch of the Bourbon dynasty. The last French monarch to hold the title of king.

Louis-Philippe d'Orleans, leaving the Palais-Royal, goes to the city hall, July 31, 1830,
two days after the July Revolution. 1832

Louis Philippe d'Orléans, appointed lieutenant general, arrives at the Hôtel de Ville

Napoleon III Bonaparte
Napoleon III Bonaparte (fr. Napoléon III Bonaparte, full name Charles Louis Napoleon (fr. Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte); April 20, 1808 - January 9, 1873) - President of the French Republic from December 20, 1848 to December 1, 1852, Emperor of the French from 1 December 1852 to September 4, 1870 (from September 2, 1870 was in captivity). The nephew of Napoleon I, after a series of conspiracies to seize power, came to her peacefully as President of the Republic (1848). Having made the coup of 1851 and eliminated the legislature, he established an authoritarian police regime by means of "direct democracy" (plebiscite), and a year later proclaimed himself emperor of the Second Empire.

After ten years of rather tight control, the Second Empire, which became the embodiment of the ideology of Bonapartism, moved to some democratization (1860s), which was accompanied by the development of the French economy and industry. A few months after the adoption of the liberal constitution of 1870, which returned the rights to parliament, the Franco-Prussian war put an end to Napoleon's rule, during which the emperor was captured by the Germans and never returned to France. Napoleon III was the last monarch of France.

Napoleon Eugene
Napoleon Eugene (Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte, fr. Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph, Prince Impérial; March 16, 1856 - June 1, 1879) - Prince of the Empire and the son of France, was the only child of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie Montijo. The last heir to the French throne, who never became emperor.

Heir
Before his birth, the heir to the Second Empire was the uncle of Napoleon III, the younger brother of Napoleon I, Jerome Bonaparte, whose relationship with the children of the emperor was strained. Starting a family was a political task for Napoleon III from the moment the empire was proclaimed on December 2, 1852; being single at the time of the seizure of power, the newly-made emperor was looking for a bride from the reigning house, but was forced to be content already in 1853 with marriage to the Spanish noblewoman Eugenia Montijo. The birth of a son to the Bonaparte couple, after three years of marriage, was widely celebrated in the state; 101 shots were fired from the cannons in Les Invalides. Pope Pius IX became the prince's godfather in absentia. From the moment of birth (childbirth, according to the French royal tradition, took place in the presence of the highest dignitaries of the state, including the children of Jerome Bonaparte), the prince of the empire was considered the successor of his father; he was the last French heir to the throne and the last bearer of the title "son of France". He was known as Louis or, diminutively, Prince Lulu.

The heir was brought up in the Tuileries Palace along with his maternal cousins, the Princesses of Alba. Since childhood, he had a good command of English and Latin, and also received a good mathematical education.

At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, the 14-year-old prince accompanied his father to the front and near Saarbrücken, on August 2, 1870, he bravely accepted a baptism of fire; the spectacle of the war, however, caused him a psychological crisis. After his father was captured on September 2, and the empire was declared overthrown in the rear, the prince was forced to leave Chalons for Belgium, and from there to Great Britain. He settled with his mother at the Camden House estate in Chislehurst, Kent (now within the boundaries of London), where Napoleon III, who was released from German captivity, then arrived.

Head of the dynasty
After the death of the ex-emperor in January 1873 and the 18th birthday of the prince, who turned in March 1874, the Bonapartist party proclaimed "Prince Lulu" the pretender to the imperial throne and the head of the dynasty as Napoleon IV (fr. Napoléon IV). His opponents in the struggle for influence on the French monarchists were the Legitimist party, led by the Count of Chambord, grandson of Charles X, and the Orleanist party, led by the Count of Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe I (the latter also lived in Great Britain).

The prince had a reputation as a charming and talented young man, his personal life was impeccable. His chances of regaining power in France during the unstable existence of the Third Republic in the 1870s were quoted quite high (especially since the Count of Chambord card was actually won back after his refusal of the tricolor banner in 1873). Napoleon IV was considered an enviable groom; in her diary, half-jokingly, the possibility of marriage with him is mentioned by Maria Bashkirtseva. At one time a marriage proposal was discussed between him and Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice.

The prince entered the British Military College at Woolwich, graduated from it in 1878 as the 17th in graduation and began service in the artillery (like his great great-uncle). He became friends with representatives of the Swedish royal family (King Oscar II of Sweden was a descendant of the Napoleonic Marshal Jean Bernadotte (Charles XIV Johan) and the great-grandson of Josephine Beauharnais).

Doom
After the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, the prince of the empire, with the rank of lieutenant, voluntarily went to this war. The reason for this fatal act, many biographers consider the dependence on the mother that burdened the young Napoleon.

After arriving in South Africa (Natal), he almost did not participate in skirmishes with the Zulus, since the commander-in-chief, Lord Chelmsford, fearing political consequences, ordered to follow him and prevent his participation in the conflict. However, on June 1, Napoleon and Lieutenant Carey, with a small detachment, went to one kraal for reconnaissance (reconnaissance). Not noticing anything suspicious, the group settled down on a halt near the Itiotoshi River. There they were attacked by a group of 40 Zulus and put to flight: two Britons were killed, and then the prince, who defended himself fiercely. 31 wounds from the Zulu assegai were found on his body; a blow to the eye was certainly fatal. In British society, the question was discussed whether Lieutenant Carey had fled the battlefield, leaving the prince to his fate. The prince died just a month before the British captured the Zulu royal kraal near Ulundi in July 1879 and ended the war.

The death of Napoleon Eugene led to the loss of practically all the hopes of the Bonapartists for the restoration of their home in France; supremacy in the family passed to the inactive and unpopular descendants of Jerome Bonaparte (however, before the fateful departure to Africa, the prince appointed as his successor not the eldest in the family of his cousin uncle, "Prince Napoleon", known as "Plon-Plon", because of his bad reputation , and the son of the latter, Prince Victor, aka Napoleon V). On the other hand, just in the year of the death of the prince (1879), the monarchist Marshal McMahon was replaced in the Elysee Palace by the staunch Republican President Jules Grevy, under whom the monarchist conspiracies (see Boulanger) were defeated and the state system of the Third Republic was strengthened.

Memory
The prince's body was brought by ship to England and buried at Chisleheart, and subsequently, along with his father's ashes, was transferred to a special mausoleum erected for her husband and son by Eugenie in the imperial crypt of St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire. Eugenia, according to British law, was supposed to identify her son's body, but it was so mutilated that only a postoperative scar on her thigh helped her. The funeral was attended by Victoria, Edward the Prince of Wales, all the Bonapartes and several thousand Bonapartists. Eugenia herself, who outlived her relatives by almost half a century, was buried there in 1920.

Many famous European artists painted the prince as a child, including the portrait painter of monarchs Franz Xavier Winterhalter. The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has a marble statue by Jean-Baptiste Carpeau, which is part of the museum's exposition, depicting a 10-year-old prince with Nero the dog. The sculpture gained great fame and became the subject of numerous replicas (after the fall of the empire, the Sevres manufactory produced replica figurines already under the name “Child with a dog”).

In 1998, the asteroid-moon "Little Prince" discovered by French-Canadian astronomers, a satellite of the asteroid Eugene named after his mother, was named after the prince. The name refers, in addition to Napoleon IV, to the famous story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, where the Little Prince lives on his own small planet. The official explanation for the choice of the name of the planet emphasizes the parallels between the two princes - Napoleon and the hero Exupery (both princes were young, brave and short, left their comfortable world, their journey tragically ended in Africa). Perhaps this coincidence is not accidental, and Prince Lulu really served as the prototype of Exupery's hero (there are indications of this in the English and Polish Wikipedias).

Louis Philippe, who succeeded Charles X in the summer of 1830, was in many ways the opposite of his predecessor. Louis Philippe's father supported the Revolution but was executed during the reign of terror. Louis Philippe went into exile and returned 21 years later. The new monarch was distinguished by liberal views and was popular among the general population. The coronation ceremony took place on August 9th. By assuming the title of King of the French, approved by Louis XVI in the constitution of 1791, he emphasized the bond between the monarchy and the French people. By choosing this title instead of the title of King of France and Navarre, Louis-Philippe demonstrated that he ascended the throne by popular will, and not by the right of God's anointed one. The white flag, which became the state symbol during the Restoration era, was again replaced by the tricolor. Louis Philippe was nicknamed Citizen-King.

The first task of the new government was to restore law and order in the state. It took three months to complete this task. After the suppression of civil unrest, the formation of republican clubs and secret societies began, whose members demanded political and social reforms, as well as the execution of Charles X's ministers. A series of mass protests took place in the country. In the autumn of 1830, in order to revive the economy and establish public order, the legislature, at the insistence of the government, passed a decree on a loan of 5 million francs, intended to finance projects of public importance, primarily the construction of roads. As part of the fight against unemployment and bankruptcy protection, the government provided financial assistance to large employers, the total amount of which amounted to 60 million francs. These funds went mainly to the accounts of large entrepreneurs who supported the new regime. The trial of the ministers who were part of the government of Charles X took place in December 1830. The ministers were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Citizen-King soon faced many difficulties in running a state where the number of political opposition grew with each change of regime. The ultra-left politicians, followers of the Jacobins, enjoyed growing support among the population of large cities, which was facilitated by the process of industrialization that had begun. The more moderate Republicans were attracted to a government structure reminiscent of the Directory. The legacy of the imperial era was a faction of Bonapartists who pinned their hopes for the creation of a new empire with representatives of the Bonaparte dynasty.

Even the royalists, who had long ago achieved their main goal - the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty - split into two irreconcilable camps. Henri, Duke of Bordeaux, in whose favor Charles X abdicated, received the title of Comte de Chambord and became a pretender to the French crown, enlisting the support of the Legitimists. As supporters of the traditional rules of succession to the throne provided for by the Salli law, the Legitimists argued that a representative of the older branch of the Bourbon dynasty should inherit the crown and refused to recognize the constitutionality of the July Monarchy.

All high-ranking legitimists who refused to swear allegiance to the new government soon lost their posts. As a result, officials of the Napoleonic Empire, dismissed during the second restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, returned to public service. Mayors of cities, diplomats, military leaders and ministers have changed. As a result of the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the Legitimists suffered a crushing defeat. Another wing of the royalists was formed by the Orléanists, who supported Louis Philippe. The Orléanists were in power throughout the period of the July Monarchy.

The new monarch could not rely on a broad electoral base (only about 200 thousand of the wealthiest citizens had the right to vote during the reign of Louis Philippe) and did not demonstrate outstanding personal qualities. In this respect, the only exception was his habit of strolling through the streets of the city without a magnificent escort. Other European monarchs began to follow his example only at the end of the 20th century. At first admiring the unusual habit of their king, the Parisians soon lost interest in this spectacle. Unlike his predecessors, Louis-Philippe was not a fan of pomposity and chic. The ministers of his cabinet were not called Monseigneur and Excellence. Taking the parade of the Paris National Guard, Louis Philippe exclaimed: "This means more to me than the coronation in Reims!". But despite the external unpretentiousness and lack of pretentiousness, he sought the support of his power, first of all, among the richest and most influential representatives of the French bourgeoisie, whose sympathies elevated him to the throne and for a long time remained the key to the inviolability of his power.

During the first few years of his reign, the government of Louis Philippe implemented a set of reforms. In its work, it relied on the reformist Charter of 1830, based on the principles of religious equality, the limitation of royal power, the reform of the suffrage, the abolition of censorship, and so on. A number of unpopular laws passed during the reign of Charles X were repealed, including the law against blasphemy and theft of church property (Loi sur le sacrilège), which provided for cruel punishments. Nevertheless, many of the steps taken by the new authorities were, in fact, veiled attempts to consolidate the privileges of the bourgeoisie and the government. For this reason, reform activity was largely illusory.

Soon the policy of the authorities began to acquire a clearly reactionary character. Among the subsequent actions, carried out at the initiative of the monarch or with his sanction, were the mass dispersal of the secret republican societies created in the early years of the reign of Louis Philippe, the division of the newly formed National Guard, which sympathized with the republicans. With the advent of Francois Guizot to the post of General Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, the republican clubs were dissolved, and the republican publications were closed. Distrustful of the National Guard, Louis-Philippe increased the size of the armed forces and introduced reforms designed to ensure their loyalty to the regime. Despite the fact that two factions were constantly represented in the government, the liberal reformers were not able to seriously oppose the conservatives led by Guizot. The Guizot cabinet openly stood up for the interests of big business, establishing a protectionist tariff system aimed at enriching the big bourgeoisie. In addition, the government of Guizot gave contracts for the construction of mines and railways to its own supporters from among industrialists and merchants, and sometimes took part in financing the initial stages of these projects. Workers continued to be denied the legal right to assemble, form unions, or formally petition the government for higher wages and shorter working hours.

The era of the reign of Louis Philippe was characterized by social instability and numerous outbreaks of violence. Several attempts were made on his life. The most famous of these attempts is associated with the name of the Corsican Giuseppe Fieschi. After serving under the command of Murat and spending ten years behind bars, Fieschi wandered, then got a job in Paris. Soon he lost his job and began preparations for an assassination attempt on the king. Together with two accomplices, he created a "hellish machine" (machine infernale), consisting of twenty (according to other sources, twenty-five) trunks, which, according to the creators, were supposed to fire simultaneously. On the 28th July 1835, as the royal procession passed down the Boulevard du Temple, the device was activated. As a result, 18 people died. The king and his sons, who were part of the procession, were not injured. "Infernal Machine" Fieschi did not spare its own creator. The attacker was seriously wounded and was captured. Fieschi and his accomplices were soon executed, but in the same year the police uncovered at least seven conspiracies, the participants of which planned the assassination of the monarch, and many publications appeared in the radical press, to one degree or another justifying Fieschi's actions.

Among other things, the weakening of the power of Louis Philippe was facilitated by the death of his eldest son and heir to the throne, Ferdinand Philippe of Orleans. Ferdinand-Philippe d'Orleans, who was very popular among representatives of various classes, died in an accident at the age of 32. Political opponents of Louis-Philippe were not content with the tactics of underground struggle and in a number of cases switched to open large-scale protests against the regime.

Republican uprisings engulfed Paris and Lyon in 1831, 1832 and 1834. The reason for the uprising that took place in the French capital in February 1831 was a memorial service for the ultra-royalist Duke of Berry, who was killed in 1820, organized by the Legitimists in one of the Parisian churches. The memorial service grew into a demonstration in support of the Comte de Chambord. The Republicans, seeing an unacceptable provocation in the actions of the Legitimists, destroyed the church where the memorial service was held, then plundered other churches. Soon riots spread to other cities. The government decided not to take drastic measures. The command of the National Guard did not give orders to suppress the unrest. Several clergy were arrested on charges of organizing a provocation.

The predictable reaction of the authorities to the protest actions was the restriction of political freedoms. Louis Philippe's domestic policy became increasingly conservative. To raise the rapidly declining popularity of the regime, it was decided to transfer the ashes of Napoleon to France. However, this step was not fully thought out and did not bring the desired result. In general, the rule of the Orleanists was characterized, on the one hand, by distrust of the ultra-royalists, and on the other hand, by a cautious attitude towards democratic institutions.

Once again, the parliamentary monarchy of Great Britain with the representation of the middle classes in the legislative assembly was adopted as a model for the system of government. The 200,000 wealthy citizens of France were considered spokesmen for the will of the rest of the people (although the number of voters, compared with the reign of Charles X, more than doubled as a result of the reduction in the poll tax, it was only about 1% of the population). The adherent of this doctrine was François Guizot, who actually headed the government of Louis Philippe. Guizot advised dissatisfied citizens who were not included in the voter lists because of the high electoral tax to enrich themselves (enrichissez-vous). Despite the growing unpopularity of Guizot, Louis-Philippe was in no hurry to remove the powers of prime minister from him.

In elections, wealthy citizens naturally preferred representatives of their own estates, and the representation of the upper strata of the bourgeoisie in the legislative assembly increased, which allowed the king to fight his political opponents from among the aristocrats, relying on their support. On the other hand, such an electoral system was a reliable means of limiting the representation of the left in the Chamber of Deputies. During this period, the Legitimists did not take an active part in the political life of the country, and the main political struggle was between the Orléanists and the Republicans.

In March 1831, at the initiative of a patriotic society founded by the mayor of Metz, Jean-Baptiste Bouchotte, the opposition press began a campaign to raise funds for the creation of a national association to oppose the restoration of the Bourbons and the threat of invasion. All the leading figures of the left wing of the Republicans came out in support of this campaign. Local committees were founded throughout France. The reaction of the authorities was a circular forbidding civil servants to join the new association.

In April 1831, the government took several unpopular measures, among which was a ban on meetings. Soon, the authorities used fire hoses for the first time to disperse mass processions. The procession, which began on the Rue Saint-Denis on June 14, 1831, escalated into a violent clash between protesters and the National Guard, who were assisted by dragoons and infantry. The riots continued for two more days.

The largest clashes between the authorities and the opposition took place in Lyon, went down in history as the uprising of the canute weavers and became one of the first armed uprisings of workers in the era of the industrial revolution. Among the reasons for the uprising was the economic recession, which led to a reduction in demand for textile products, falling incomes and wages. Textile workers asked the prefect of the Rhone department to help them fix prices for their products in order to stop prices from plummeting. However, the manufacturers refused to fix prices, regarded the actions of the prefect as an attempt by the state to intervene in the work of the free market, and declared that such activity was contrary to the principles of the Revolution. Arguing that the establishment of fixed prices is an encroachment on the freedom of enterprise, they refused to satisfy the demands put forward by the canutes.

The uprising began on November 21, 1831, when several hundred weavers from the commune of Croix-Rousse erected barricades and marched into Lyon under a black flag. Having captured the police barracks, the rebels took possession of the arsenal and entered into battle with the infantry units of government troops. This time, the National Guard took the side of the rebels. About six hundred people were killed in the ensuing violent clash. The weavers have taken over the town hall. Despite the efforts of the Republicans, the rebels limited themselves to economic demands (mainly the demand for the establishment of fixed prices). On November 25, the government announced its decision to send twenty thousand troops under the command of Marshal Soult to Lyon to quell the unrest. The army entered Lyon on the 3rd December and restored order, while avoiding a second mass bloodshed. The city units of the National Guard were disbanded, a large garrison was located in Lyon, 90 workers were arrested.

However, protests were held in a number of other cities. In March 1832, Grenoble was included in their number. Seeing the caricature of Louis Philippe, put on public display during the carnival, the prefect decided to stop the procession. This move sparked massive protests, which the prefect attempted to quell with the National Guard. However, the National Guard refused to disperse the demonstrations, and the city authorities decided to resort to the help of the regular army. The 35th Infantry Regiment carried out the order. In response, the townspeople turned to the authorities with a demand to expel him from the city. This requirement was fulfilled, the 35th regiment left Grenoble, its place was taken by the 6th regiment, which arrived from Lyon. Upon learning of these events, Prime Minister Casimir Perier ordered the disbandment of the National Guard of Grenoble and the return of the 35th regiment. Protests were held in Picardy, Alsace, Carcassonne.

The stability of the state was also threatened by numerous republican conspiracies. Appearing at the trials as defendants, the Republicans did not miss the opportunity to publicly criticize the regime. At the trial of members of the Blanquist Society of the Friends of the People in 1832, François Vincent Raspail criticized the monarchist regime, and Auguste Blanqui took up the popularization of socialist principles. All the defendants condemned tyranny, the exorbitant costs of maintaining the royal family, and police brutality.

The second uprising of the Lyon canute weavers took place in April 1834 and this time was associated with the prosperity of the textile industry. Fulfilling numerous orders from the states of North America, the weavers were able to significantly increase their earnings, and the management of the enterprises soon decided to reduce wages. The reaction of the workers was strikes, the organizers of which were arrested and sent to trial. Soon the confrontation turned into a series of armed clashes. The workers again managed to take possession of the arsenal and briefly capture Lyon. Approximately 10,000 workers were captured during the suppression of the uprising and were soon brought to trial in the capital and sentenced to deportation or long prison terms.

Over the next decade, the position of the working class did not change markedly. The results of the crisis, which replaced the economic recovery of the early 1840s, were the growth of unemployment and the impoverishment of highly skilled workers. One of the few steps taken by the authorities to address social problems was a law prohibiting child labor. It prohibited the employment of children under the age of eight and prevented children under the age of 13 from working the night shift. However, this law was not universally observed.

The beginning of a new round of tension between the authorities and the poorest sections of the population was laid in 1846, when the financial crisis and crop failure plunged the economy into depression. The underdeveloped rail system proved unsuitable for effective assistance to the crisis-stricken regions. The government directed its efforts to suppress peasant unrest. The crisis has not bypassed large cities. About a third of the able-bodied population of the capital were unemployed. Having lowered the property qualification set for voters to 100 francs, the cabinet of François Guizot soon set out to strengthen authoritarian power. Under these conditions, oppositional sentiments embraced ever wider sections of the metropolitan public. In order to circumvent the government-imposed ban on public rallies and marches, activists, mostly from the middle class, organized so-called banquets in July 1847, which were in fact meetings of the opposition and made it possible to legally criticize the existing regime in public. Starting in Paris, the practice of holding such banquets quickly spread to the provinces. In total, from July 1847 to February 1848, 70 banquets were held in the country, in which approximately 17 thousand people took part.

Sensing a new threat, the Guizot government banned the organization of banquets shortly before the start of the parliamentary session of 1847-1848. This ban caused dissatisfaction among the Parisians. On February 22, 1848, the streets of the capital filled with crowds of protesters who chanted "Down with Guizot!" and "Long live reform!" The townspeople went to the Guizot residence. Barricades were erected on the streets of Paris. The next day, François Guizot stepped down as prime minister. Upon learning of his resignation, many citizens gathered at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Soon it became difficult for the guards, who were entrusted with the protection of the ministry, to hold back the onslaught of the crowd. The head of the guard gave the order to fasten the bayonets, apparently trying to avoid shooting, but one of his subordinates fired into the crowd, and the rest took this shot as an order to start firing. 52 people died under fire from the guards.

This episode caused even greater indignation of the Parisians. New barricades appeared on the streets, over which red flags were raised, and protesters began to gather at the royal palace. On February 24, Louis Philippe abdicated and fled to England. According to the plan of Louis Philippe, his grandson was to become the successor, but the liberal oppositionists who came to power announced a return to a republican form of government, marking the beginning of the Second Republic.

History of France in three volumes. T. 2 Skazkin Sergey Danilovich

Louis Philippe - King of the stockbrokers

The July Revolution of 1830 secured the victory of the bourgeoisie over the nobility. But it was not the entire bourgeoisie that dominated from 1830 to 1848, but only its richest part - the so-called financial aristocracy, which included bankers, large stock exchange dealers, in the 40s years- also "railroad kings", owners of coal mines, mines, forests, large landowners. The financial aristocracy "dictated laws in the chambers, it handed out state profitable places, starting with ministerial posts and ending with state-owned tobacco shops." Workers, peasants, all small industrialists and merchants were completely excluded from participation in political power.

Objectively, the main task of the capitalist development of France in those days was the completion of the industrial revolution. But under the dominance of the financial aristocracy, the political influence of the industrialists was almost steadily declining. In the early years of the July Monarchy, the number of representatives of industrialists in the Chamber of Deputies was close to half of its composition, and in the middle of 1847 it was reduced to one third.

In the autumn of 1846, Engels clearly pointed out this most important contradiction in the political life of bourgeois society itself in France: the legislative power in the last days of the July Monarchy was more than in previous years the embodiment of the words of the financier Laffitte, spoken the day after the July revolution: “From now on, rule We, the bankers, will be France." Having quoted the same words of Laffite, Marx then revealed the root cause of the growing dominance of the financiers: from the very beginning, financial need made the monarchy of Louis Philippe dependent on the top of the bourgeoisie, and in the following years this dependence itself became a source of even more acute financial need.

State debt was, Marx explained, of direct interest to the financial aristocracy, who speculated on government deficits and repeated government loans. By means of loans, the financiers robbed the state and plundered the savings of those citizens who, acquiring interest-bearing government papers, irretrievably lost part of their money, if they were not accidentally privy to the secrets of the Paris exchange.

The exchange was formally defined as "an association of all persons interested in the sale and purchase of securities." But the role and importance of the exchange were not the same at different times. 11 years after the July Revolution, a commercial and industrial newspaper characterized the French stock exchange as follows: impunity presents a spectacle of such acts, to say about which: "feats of convicts" - would mean to express it too weakly.

These angry words are true, but they require explanation. After all, even Napoleon Bonaparte, talking with Count Mollien, an outstanding expert in financial affairs, said indignantly that for Paris stockbrokers there is nothing sacred and that the means of enriching them are lies and forgery. According to Napoleon, there was no such immorality on the Amsterdam and London stock exchanges. Mollien replied that the situation in Holland and England precluded any possibility of comparison with France in everything that concerns the stock exchange. In Holland and England there are completely different conditions for the purchase and sale of government securities; their reduction in a day by only half a percent or even less would be tantamount to "a whole revolution." And in France, the rate of government securities falls during the day to two or three percent, and this is a common occurrence. The "venerable merchants" in London and Amsterdam go to the stock exchanges themselves. The Paris Bourse is usually not visited by big merchants; it is filled with agents of stock exchange aces and, most of all, adventurers who, not knowing the complex stock exchange business, are truly gambling and most often lose, go bankrupt.

The variability of the fate of the Napoleonic wars and the political upheavals of the early 19th century. greatly contributed to the growth of large stock exchange speculation. And it was on the London, more “moral” stock exchange that immediately after the Battle of Waterloo a grandiose speculation took place, enriching the English stockbroker Nathan Rothschild by more than 1 million pounds. Art. in just one day. Of course, in this case, too, deceit was a means of enrichment: a cleverly spread false rumor about the defeat of the British at Waterloo created a catastrophic fall in government securities on the stock exchange, in the sale of which, as all the exchange people saw, Nathan Rothschild himself participated. But at a time when all the known agents of Rothschild were selling the rapidly falling state papers, others, secretly, were buying them up: that day in all of London, only Nathan, who had been at Waterloo and instantly returned to England, knew that the French had been defeated, and not the English.

The growth of stock market speculation is a significant fact in the history of those turbulent times; but this fact does not yet explain the peculiarities of stock exchange life in France during the period of the July Monarchy. When one of the Rothschilds was asked how to achieve success on the stock exchange, he replied that one must be able to foresee the unforeseen. During the years of the July Monarchy, French financiers had a particularly wide opportunity to "foresee" and at the same time artificially create the unforeseen. The French scion of a banking dynasty, Baron James Rothschild, had free access to King Louis Philippe; he learned the secrets of the foreign and domestic policy of France, as well as the diplomatic secrets of other states. And the total capital of the Rothschild brothers, who lived in different European countries, was more than 2 billion francs.

At the end of the 40s, only four French banking houses had 2.5 billion francs, that is, only 1 billion less than in the entire treasury of France. “What kind of freedom of transactions can exist in these conditions?”

"France given over to the crows." J. Granville, E. Fauré

King Louis-Philippe, the largest forest owner and financier in France, was personally interested in strengthening the dominance of the financial aristocracy. A descendant of the ancient family of the Dukes of Orleans, Louis-Philippe was the leader of that "joint-stock company" that plundered France. By 1841, he personally (not counting the wealth belonging to family members) had about 800 million francs.

From the pages of satirical publications for a long time did not leave the caricature image of Louis-Philippe - a fat bourgeois; and when deliberately repeated words about a fat, fat, and stupid carnival bull appeared in the humorous leaflets, it was clear to everyone that it was about King Louis Philippe. But he wasn't stupid! Stendhal, not without reason, called him the most cunning of all kings. Easily appearing on the streets in civilian clothes, shaking hands with shopkeepers and pretending that he had really come to terms with the constitutional limitation of his power, the "bourgeois king", as Heinrich Heine subtly noted, hid in his bourgeois rain umbrella "the most absolute scepter" . Heine's wit is undeniable, but his political predictions were not always accurate. Superbly portraying Casimir Perrier, one of the first ministers of the July Monarchy, a very powerful man, although he possessed that good-natured “banker-likeness”, seeing which, as Heine wrote, one constantly wants to ask about the wholesale prices of coffee, the great German poet in vain presented Casimir Perrier with “Atlas ", holding "both the stock exchange, and the House of Orleans, and the entire state building." Cholera took the Atlanta to its grave in 1832, but the stock exchange and Orleans House survived. Much stronger than Perrier were the unofficial ministers, the bankers Rothschild and Fuld.

The stockists then enjoyed an enormous influence on the press, which had never happened before. The period of the July Monarchy is characterized by an unprecedented growth of periodicals - more than 700 titles of newspapers and magazines were published. But the big bourgeois press was largely bribed. Trade in magazine conscience was so common in Paris that it was not considered a shame and a crime. This was expensive for the government of the financial aristocracy, for stockbrokers. The gullible Frenchman, deceived many times, almost ruined, again clutched at every new newspaper, again believed the news, invented only "to excite horror on the stock exchange."

The Orléanist press, such as the Journal de Deba and La Presse, was constantly subsidized by the government from undercover funds. The founder and editor of La Presse, Emile de Girardin, was an unscrupulous adventurer, organizer of exaggerated joint-stock companies.

Among the periodicals that still retained some independence was the newspaper Siekl, the organ of the so-called dynastic opposition, headed by Odilon Barro. Also independent, but more leftist was the "French Courier", which criticized the government of Louis-Philippe. The major legitimist newspapers La Cotidienne and Gazette de France also opposed the Orleans.

Along with the stockbrokers, the support of the Orleanist monarchy was the populous and motley stratum of rentiers, that is, people who lived on income from their capitals. There were especially many rentiers in Paris. As Balzac wrote, then Paris would lose its characteristic features if the rentier were removed from it. There were many varieties of rentier; Balzac ranked among them military and civilian people who permanently lived in Paris and residents of the capital's environs. Among these human-like creatures, with dull eyes, “like a fish that no longer swims, but lies among parsley,” the most disgusting variety was the usurer, who with impunity charged debtors - even with short-term loans - 50%. These bastards would wear the striped shirt of a convict! But, according to Balzac, the usurers joined the Freemasons and asked the artists to depict them in "the costume of the dignitarius of the Grand Orient lodge." It is clear that the rentiers loved the king, the supreme usurer, and brought down all their hatred on the republicans.

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