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Study Guide
Summary:
Basic Background-
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In
France, the February revolution ended the Orleans Monarchy (1830-1848) and led to the
creation of the French Second Republic. The June days were a bloody but unsuccessful
rebellion by the Paris workers against a conservative turn in the Republic's course. On
December 2, 1848, Louis Napoleon was elected President of the Second Republic, largely
on peasant support. Exactly three years later he suspended the elected assembly,
establishing the Second French Empire, which lasted until 1871.
The February revolution established the principle of the "right to work” (droit au travail),
and its newly-established government created "National Workshops" for the unemployed.
At the same time a sort of industrial parliament was established at the Luxembourg
Palace, under the presidency of Louis Blanc, with the object of preparing a scheme for
the organization of labor. These tensions between liberal Orleanist and Radical
Republicans and Socialists led to the June Days Uprising.
1848 Revolution:
At the close of the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars (1789-1815) the Bourbon
dynasty was restored in France in the person of a brother of the King who had been sent
to the guillotine during the revolution. This restoration King, Louis XVIII, alienated
opinion due to his absolutist tendencies and his 'legitimate' monarchy was usurped in
1830 with a junior, Orleanist, branch of the dynasty being recognized as Kings of the
French rather than as Kings of France. The King installed in 1830, Louis Phillipe, was
himself a son of Phillipe, Duke of Orleans, a Bourbon prince who had offered some
support to the revolution of 1879 and who had become known as Philip Egalite.
On 14th January 1848 the authorities banned a "banquet", one of a series that had
intermittently been held by 'liberal' interests after July 1847 in Paris, and subsequently
widely across France, in protest at such things as limitations on the right of assembly and
the narrow scope of the political franchise, with the result that the it was postponed by its
organizers. Although the banquet, now set for the 22nd February, was cancelled at the last
minute there were some serious disturbances on the Paris streets on the 22nd and on 23rd
February where a number of fatalities and serious injuries ensued. The were instances of
units of the National Guard that had been deployed by the authorities refusing to act to
contain the protest. Faced with such unrest Louis Phillipe dismissed Guizot, his
unpopular Prime Minister on the 23rd and himself, reluctantly, abdicated on the 24th.
The French Chamber of Deputies accepted that the Crown would now pass to a youthful
grandson of Louis Phillipe, the Comte de Paris, with powers of regency being vested in
his mother.
In the wake of these dramatic developments what had effectively become a French
revolution of 1848 continued with the Chamber of Deputies being invaded and replaced
with the establishment of a Provisional Government of a French Republic. This
government was formed in a climate where power needed to be exercised by a central
authority but where there was also a divergence of opinion as to the desirable political
and social outlook of that government. Although Louis Phillippe had abdicated in favor
of his grandson this was disregarded given the popular mood in favor of a republican
form of government. Monarchy was pronounced to be abolished in France "without
possibility of return". Important figures in the Provisional Government administration
included established moderate, liberal, middle-class, "reformers - now become
republicans", such as Lamartine. A campaign sponsored by a newspaper named Réforme
culminated in some more radical persons being accepted into the new government. These
included the prominent French socialist Louis Blanc and a "working man" named Albert
Martin who was popularly known as "Albert" and addressed by this forename all the
while he was involved in the government.
It was accepted that elections based on universal adult (male) suffrage would return
delegates who would more fully decide the future direction of the governance of France.
By this time some twelve thousand muskets formerly held within government arsenals
had fallen into the hands of radicalized protestors. On the 25th February socialists in
Paris secured a decree which proclaimed that the newly formed Provisional Government
would undertake to provide opportunities for paid work for all citizens and would also
recognize workers rights to "combine in order to enjoy the legitimate benefits of their
labor." A system of "National Workshops" was instituted in relation to this guarantee of
"labor to every citizen".
These revolutionary developments were perhaps more Parisian than French, they were
orchestrated by a radical section of the population of Paris but they did not generally
receive the support of the French provinces. The socialistic radicals of Paris urged the
adoption of the red flag of socialism whilst those supportive of constitutional
republicanism preferred to re-adopt the red, white, and blue, "Tricolor" flag that had been
adopted in the early days of the French Revolution of 1789. The stresses incidental to this
divergence of aspiration and outlook between Republicans and Socialists resulted in a
compromise where a red rosette was added to the standard of the Tricolor.
Lamartine, who was something of a poet and orator later self-flatteringly recorded his
own refusal, as a prominent member of the new government whilst faced with a
radicalized crowd outside the City Hall of Paris in the earliest days of the new republic,
to accept the red flag as being a turning point in this debate.
Alphonse de Lamartine held considerable power in the new government and was
appointed Foreign Minister. He shortly thereafter, March 7, 1848, wrote to French
diplomatic representatives abroad instructing them as to the ways in which they were to
present the French Revolutionary developments to foreign governments who might be
somewhat concerned that the France of 1848 might emulate the earlier revolutionary
France, after 1789, in seeking to forcefully export its revolutionary principles abroad
Elections were put in train, on the basis of an Universal Suffrage which recognized some
nine million persons as being competent electors (compared to the 250,000 previously
recognized voters under the previously more restrictive suffrage), towards the forming of
a National Assembly which was to deal with important constitutional issues.
The National Workshops system set out to offer constant work and did this at a relatively
high rate of pay such that it soon attracted the services of all the casual labor of Paris and
also began to draw in a large influx of other casual labor from the provinces. Within two
or three months there were some 66,000 persons on the payroll. The unsettled times
tended to contribute to a fall off in expenditure by the rich, many of whom left Paris for
the countryside. As there proved to be insufficient work provided by the National
Workshops for all the facility was rationed in that those involved reported to the
workplace on two days of the week but were recognized as being entitled to a 'salary of
inactivity' payment of one franc per day for other days. The main initial task tackled
being a public works scheme leveling a small hill - a scenario that did not involve the
receipt of revenues to offset the expense to the public purse. Other tasks included planting
trees, building roads, and building railway stations - the authorities even oversaw the
performance of "the same tasks" over and over to provide sufficient paid occupation.
They did not want to sponsor economic activities that might seem to be in competition
with the interests of existing capitalist enterprise.
Some additional taxes were raised, that mainly impacted upon the rural peasantry, in
efforts to help to meet the expense of the National Workshops.
The National or Constituent Assembly resulting from the processes of election convened
on May 4th 1848. Some 900 deputies had been returned to serve in the National
Assembly. About half were returned as supportive of (Orleanist or Legitimist) monarchy
rather than republicanism, about 350 were returned on a clericalist 'freedom of education'
ticket, there were only a minority, about 100 strong, of variously committed republicans
or socialists. Despite the breadth of the franchise, that had recognized some nine million
persons as being voters, the main voting bloc - the peasantry - proved to be content with
the legacy of the 1789-1815 French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era that had left them
as owners of their small farms with the result that they voted for conservative candidates
that would not threaten the rights of property. In these times of widespread illiteracy the
political opinions of rural voters were often guided by respected local figures such as
parish priests.
It proved to be the case that the political representatives of France as a whole were not
prepared to endorse many of the policies that were preferred by Parisian radicals. The
administration recognized by the assembly did not include an important role for Louis
Blanc. The Assembly declined to send assistance to the Polish reformers who, in their
struggles against Russian Tsarist authority, enjoyed the sympathies of the French radicals.
On May 15th the National or Constituent Assembly was invaded by persons seeking its
overthrow and replacement by an administration headed up by Louis Blanc.
In the event the National Guard acted to prevent the overthrow of the Assembly.
Radicalism had showed a willingness to attempt to turbulently impose its own agendas.
The stage was now set for a continuance of a serious confrontation between French
conservatism and Parisian radicalism.
Terms:
Revolutionary wave- is a series of revolutions occurring in various locations. The concept
is important to Marxists, who see revolutionary waves as evidence that a world revolution
is possible.
The Second French Empire- was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from
1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France. On
December 2, 1851, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been elected President of the
Republic, staged a coup d'état by dissolving the National Assembly without having the
constitutional right to do so. He thus became sole ruler of France, and re-established
universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly. His decisions and the extension
of his mandate for 10 years were popularly endorsed by referendum, as was the re-
establishment of the Empire from December 2, 1852. He thus became "Napoleon III,
Emperor of the French", while the popular referendum became a distinct sign of
bonapartism, which Charles de Gaulle would later use.
The Executive Commission of the French Republic- was a short-lived body and jointly
head of state of France during the Second Republic. All members were equal and served
together as co-heads of state.
Red Scare-denotes two distinct periods of strong anti-communism in the United States.
The First Red Scare, from 1917 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957.
The First Red Scare was about worker (socialist) revolution and political radicalism. The
Second Red Scare was focused on (national and foreign) communists influencing society
and/or infiltrating the federal government.
National Workshops- refer to areas of work provided for the unemployed by the French
Second Republic after the Revolution of 1848. The political crisis which resulted in the
abdication of Louis Philippe was naturally followed in Paris, by an acute industrial crisis
and this following the general agricultural and commercial distress which had prevailed
throughout 1847. It rendered the problem of unemployment in Paris very acute.
Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882)- was a French
politician and historian. A socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of
cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor.
Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883)- was a German philosopher,
political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist, and
revolutionary, whose ideas are credited as the foundation of modern communism. Marx
summarized his approach in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto,
published in 1848: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class
struggles." Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would
inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as
capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace
capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would
emerge after a transitional period called the "dictatorship of the proletariat": a period
sometimes referred to as the "workers state" or "workers' democracy".
The Thermidorian Reaction- was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses
of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to
execute Robespierre, Saint-Just and several other leading members of the Terror. This
ended the most radical phase of the French Revolution.
The July Monarchy- (The Kingdom of the French) was a period of liberal constitutional
monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution (or
Three Glorious Days) of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848. It began with the
overthrow of the conservative government of Charles X and his senior line of the House
of Bourbon. Louis-Philippe, a member of the traditionally more liberal Orleans branch of
the House of Bourbon, proclaimed himself roi des Français ("King of the French") rather
than roi de France ("King of France"), emphasizing the popular origins of his reign. The
new regime's ideal was explicated by Louis-Philippe's famous statement in January 1831:
"We will attempt to remain in a juste milieu (the just middle), in an equal distance from
the excesses of popular power and the abuses of royal power."
Analysis:
Was the 1848 French Revolution a success or a failure to the European population as a
whole?
In France, the revolutions started with a riot by the Parisians, which, after Louis
Philippe’s fleeing to Britain, led to the formation of the second republic. Yet, after the
new government had settled in, the people grew more discontent with their situation.
There was in fact disunity in the second government, as Louis Blanc, obviously known
for his socialist views, was at odds with the rest of the ten man liberal government. The
bloody June Days gave the Parisians a chance to battle the government troops. The result
was a new monarch-to-be, and a move back to where the revolution had started.
Throughout all of this, it is important to note that it was only the Parisians (the first
people to riot) that were active in the revolution. They (the upper middle class men) were
the ones that participated in the government, and that fought to the death in this
revolution. The farmers and peasants, on the other hand, seemed to be too preoccupied
with their agricultural problems (such as the continuing of poor outcomes of the crop
harvests) in the countryside. And while there was disunity among the leaders of the
revolution, the revolutions actually failed because the peasants (which made up a huge
majority of the population-not only in France but the rest of Europe as well) were not
involved, the revolution really did not have the power needed to fight against an army
with the strength of the French one
Historiography:
http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-history/second-republic.htm
http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/frprogov.htm
http://www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/france/second_emp/default.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1848johnson.html
http://books.google.com/books?
id=LnY9qEWLWTkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=french+revolution+1848&source=gbs_
book_similarbooks#v=onepage&q&f=false