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The Bourbon Monarchy

Louis XVIII ruled France from 1815-1824 after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. He maintained a moderate rule and did not undo the changes of the French Revolution. He governed through a liberal charter and appointed moderate ministers. His successor, Charles X, took a more reactionary approach from 1824-1830. He refused to rule by charter, pursued pro-Catholic and aristocratic policies, and was ultimately overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830, ending the Bourbon monarchy.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
380 views3 pages

The Bourbon Monarchy

Louis XVIII ruled France from 1815-1824 after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. He maintained a moderate rule and did not undo the changes of the French Revolution. He governed through a liberal charter and appointed moderate ministers. His successor, Charles X, took a more reactionary approach from 1824-1830. He refused to rule by charter, pursued pro-Catholic and aristocratic policies, and was ultimately overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830, ending the Bourbon monarchy.

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Dean Kusena
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HISTORY NOTES

The Restored Bourbons in France

THE BOURBON MONARCHY


Restoration in France: 1815–1830
Louis XVIII

-Louis XVIII did not forget that a revolution had taken place in France. Thus during his reign he
did not rewind the clock back to the pre-1789 period.
-Even on his death bed, he advised his brother Comted‟Artois who was to succeed not to rewind
the clock back to the pre-1789 period.
-Because of his policies Louis XVI was successful in maintaining himself on the French throne.

Charter
-Louis XVIII ruled by the charter that had been suggested by the European statesmen at the
Vienna Settlement.
-It provided for equality before the law, liberty, and land guarantee for the peasants, a franchise,
an assembly and cabinet ministers appointed by the king, appointment by merit and a free press.
-Because of these provisions France had perhaps the most liberal government in Europe with the
exception of England.

Choice of Chief Ministers


-Louis XVIII had a good choice of ministers. In his reign he had two Ministers, Richelieu and
Villele who shared the same aims as him.
-They both aimed at maintaining the liberties guaranteed by the charter.Like their king they both
recognized that a revolution had taken place.

Contained the Forces of Reaction


-Restoration in France meant the return of the émigrés under Comted‟Artois. LouisXVIII came
under pressure from these former émigrés demanding revenge against the revolutionaries and the
Bonapartists.
-They assassinated some Bonapartists like Ney, Carnot, and MarshalBrune. They also demanded
the return of a system of privileges, press censorship and Catholic Church influence in state.
-Louis XVIII realized the dangers of giving into these demands. Most of these demands were
being done in the assembly dominated by the ultra-royalists due to the franchise system.
-Louis XVIII reacted by dissolving the assembly and called for fresh elections in 1816 that
returned a majority in the assembly that favored the king‟s policy.
-Louis XVIII policies enabled France to be re-integrated into the alliance of the great powers at
the congress of the Aix la Chapelle.
-This was after Louis XVIII followed a moderate foreign policy that was acceptable to the great
powers.
-France had paid off the war indemnity and the occupation force of the great powers had to be
withdrawn.
HISTORY NOTES
The Restored Bourbons in France

-Thus the great powers were convinced that a threat of a further French aggression no
longer existed.
Contained the Forces of Change
-The 1819 elections brought moderate liberals and extreme republicans in to the assembly in
large numbers.
-Taking advantage of their greater numbers they demanded extreme measures.
To make their demands more serious they murdered Ducde Beri the son of Comted„Artois.
-Such a move was viewed as an attempt to extinguish the Bourbon line. In order to deal with this
challenge Louis altered the franchise to give the land owners two votes instead of one.
-In this way a majority of the royalists was brought into the assembly.

CHARLESX: 1824–1830
-Charles X succeeded his brother Louis XVIII as the next French King. He was the leader of the
former émigrés formerly called Comted‟Artois.
-On his enthronement he took the title Charles X. As the king Charles X learnt nothing about the
revolution. This was hardly surprising considering the fact that he was an émigrés leader who
had fought against the revolution.
-In any case during the reign of his brother Louis XVIII he became the leader of the Ultra
royalists who among other things demanded revenge, compensation and the restoration of the
system of privileges.
-Furthermore he was among those that organized the assassination of the Bonapartists i e
Marshals Brune and Carnot.
The Reasons for the failure of Restoration under Charles X
1. Refusal to rule through a Charter
-Charles X did not follow the advice of his brother Louis XVIII of not rewinding the clock back
to the pre-1789period.
-He refused to rule by a charter pointing out “I would rather chop wood than rule in the style of
the king of England.”
-In the end Charles X ruled by decree.

2. Reactionary Policies

-Upon his enthronement Charles X adopted a reactionary rule. He started off by compensating
the former émigrés for their losses during the revolution using money raised among the
middleclass.
-He revived the Catholic Church influence in state affairs. Coronation ceremonies were revived
and presided over by the church.
-Monastic orders were reintroduced and the Jesuit society was allowed to return the church was
granted the control of elementary education.
HISTORY NOTES
The Restored Bourbons in France

-The National Guard was disbanded. It had been created during the revolution as a
guarantor of revolutionary gains. It‟s disband by the king was seen by the people as signal that
the days of the revolution were coming to an end.
-Villele, who was the chief Minister resigned because he could not stand the rate at which the
reactionary policies were being implemented by the king.
-Martgnac who succeeded Villele as the Chief Minister was soo dismissed because he was
considered not reactionary enough.
-He appointed a reactionary Minister, Polignac who had the same policies as himself.
-Polignac aimed at creating a powerful aristocracy and then surrounds it with privileges hence
wanted to rewind the clock back to 1789.
-Charles X adopted a rule by decree. The elections of 1829 brought a majority of the liberals into
the assembly.
-Charles X reacted to this by issuing a decree in the form of the Ordinance of St Cloud that set
aside the election results. This was a final straw that spanned the people into action.
-A revolution broke out in July 1830 and removed Charles X from power thereby marking the
end of restoration and the Bourbon Monarchyin France.

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