Revolution again
Louis-Philippe,
the Roi citoyen, came to power in 1830.
As his reign progressed, Republicans became more and more dissatisfied
with the influence of the Catholic church on government and with the
lack of action on the pressing need for social reform.
Louis-Philippe's monarchy was increasingly detached and stubborn. His ministers gave insouciant support to the chronic and divisive exploitation of peasants, farmers, workers and shopkeepers by the owners of land and money.
In 1845, under pressure from Prussia, France expelled Karl Marx. The British government continued its push for free trade in Europe and elsewhere and Paris and London came into conflict over colonization. In France, free trade was picked up as a potential liberation from the post-feudal straitjacket of French society. A broadening coalition of opposition to Louis-Philippe began to form, with the educated middle classes supporting the proletarian revolt.
Still the French government was intransigent, refusing all thought of reform. The right to vote would remain in the hands of a small minority of male property owners.
In 1845 and 1846, poor harvests and potato blight led to rapid inflation; speculation and profiteering led to famine. Towards the end of 1847, electoral reform began to be seen as a possible concession. Meetings were banned but took place anyway, under the name of banquets, sometimes with more than 1000 guests. (In early 1848 in London, Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto: 'Workers of the world unite!')
Louis-Philippe banned a banquet planned for 22 February 1848 in Paris. It turned into a great procession which lasted all night. Fights broke out in the Place de la Concorde between workers, students and shopkeepers on the one hand and government troops on the other. Barricades were built. In the evening of 23 February, a solitary pistol shot brought a volley of gunfire from the soldiers and many demonstrators fell dead.
Adolphe Thiers took over as first minister and proposed to Louis-Philippe that the government and royal family should decamp to Versailles and besiege Paris. The king – with cries of 'Vive la République!' ringing in his ears from the streets of his capital – chose to abdicate in favour of his grandson and went into exile in England.
Thiers' government appointed the socialist Louis Blanc, as a sop to the people. But that was not enough. The demonstrators demanded that a mechanic called Albert and two other workers should also take part. The people gave the government a deadline - 'three months of misery' – to put the country right.
A commission was set up to investigate the need for a ministry of labour and the possibility of better workers' rights, including a shorter working day. Some legal restrictions on the press were abolished and it was promised that representatives would be elected by universal male suffrage.
Meanwhile, the French foreign minister reassured the Russian chargé d'affaires that the government had 20,000 troops ready to 'quell the fanatics', should the need arise.
