What is the July Monarchy? Discuss the reasons for the fall of the July Monarchy.
What is the July Monarchy? Discuss the reasons for the fall of the July Monarchy.
The crisis and collapse of July Monarchy.
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July Monarchy:-
King Charles X was dethroned in the July Revolution of 1830 and Louis Philippe of the Orleans dynasty ascended the throne of France. Louis Philippe's reign lasted until the February Revolution of 1948. Louis Philippe ascended the throne of France through the July Revolution. Therefore, his ,reign is called the ''July Monarchy''.
The July Monarchy or Louis Philippe's reign from July 30, 1830 to the next 18 years is very important in the history of France and Europe. During this period, the sovereignty of the people was established, the idea of God-given power of the emperor was proved to be irrational and erroneous, the right to vote was recognized for all citizens over the age of 25, the supremacy of the upper bourgeoisie was established in the legislature and executive departments instead of the nobility and the king - etc.
However, in 1848, the July Monarchy and Louis Philippe fell through the February Revolution.
The various reasons for the fall of the July Monarchy are -
1. Louis Philippe's decline in popularity: -
The July Revolution created strong hopes and aspirations among the French people. But Louis Philippe was extremely indifferent to all those hopes and aspirations of the people. There was no such change in the state and social structure that the revolution had brought about, and the ideological conflict between the various political parties in the parliament slowed down the growth of the state. As a result, the strong popularity that Louis Philippe had achieved during his accession to the throne was lost in just a few years.
2. Isolated foreign policy: -
The reign of the Orleans dynasty depended largely on a strong foreign policy. But Louis Philippe could not adopt such a strong foreign policy. In 1830, Paris was the epicenter of the revolution. As a result of the strong agitation that progressive ideology created throughout Europe - Belgium declared independence, Poland declared rebellion against Russia, and mass movements also started in Germany and Italy. But Louis Philippe's inaction and isolation stopped the dynamics of France.
3. Failure of domestic policy: -
The French people were also disgusted with Louis Philippe's domestic policies. Two ministers - Chateaubriand and Thiers introduced reactionary policies one after the other. As a result of all these repressive policies, intense dissatisfaction was created among the people. But Louis Philippe was completely indifferent to that dissatisfaction of the people. Therefore, like Louis Philippe's foreign policy, his domestic policy was also completely unsuccessful.
4. Establishment of the supremacy of the bourgeoisie: -
With the July Revolution of 1830, the supremacy of the bourgeoisie was established in the legislative and executive branches of France instead of the aristocracy and the king. In other words, throughout the reign of Louis Philippe, all state power was in the hands of the bourgeoisie. This bourgeoisie used state power for their own interests instead of for the progress and welfare of France. The representatives of the bourgeoisie introduced several reactionary policies against the majority of the country's poor farmers, workers and other third estate people. As a result, intense anger was aroused among the common people of the country.
5. Conflicts regarding suffrage: -
Through the July Revolution, the right to vote was recognized for all citizens aged 25 years. But soon the bourgeoisie, who had all the state power, introduced the policy of suffrage based on property for their own interests. As a result, the majority of the people of France were deprived of the right to vote.
6. Ideological conflict between different political parties: -
Although the monarchical rule of the Orleans dynasty began through the July Revolution, there was no specific political party support for Louis Philippe. The ideological conflict between the political party and the monarchy was intense. For example, the supporters of the Bourbon dynasty declared the July Monarchy and Louis Philippe's rise to power as unjust, the Republicans of France thought that Louis Philippe would adopt liberal policies and spread nationalism and democracy, the Bonapartists compared the reign of Louis Philippe to the glorious reign of Napoleon and claimed that Louis Philippe's reign was despicable and weak. Thus, the conflict between political parties made the fall of the July Monarchy inevitable.
7. Opposition of the Socialist Party (Republican):-
The leader of the Socialist Party, Louis Blanc, strongly opposed the monarchy in support of socialist ideals. He criticized Louis Philippe's monarchy as a government formed by the rich, for the rich and run by the rich. He promoted Louis Philippe's government as reactionary and anti-people. Therefore, Louis Blanc called for the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a democratic government.
8. Impact of Industrial Revolution:-
With the spread of the Industrial Revolution, many changes occurred in the political and economic situation of Europe. The capitalists accumulated an unprecedented amount of money. But the working class was exploited and deprived. Their wages were low and the standard of living was very low. In this situation, Louis Blanc and another socialist leader, Saint Simon, organized the workers. They preached that the only way to ensure the rights of the workers was to abolish the monarchy.
9. Failure of economic policy:-
Another important reason for the fall of the July Monarchy was the failure of Louis Philippe's economic policy. In fact, Louis Philippe was completely indifferent to any progressive economic reform. The economic policies that the privileged bourgeoisie introduced were only for their own interests; the common people of France did not benefit from them. Then, between 1840 and 1844, a severe drought occurred throughout Europe. As a result, the prices of daily necessities went beyond the reach of the people. But even in this situation, Louis Philippe did not introduce any progressive economic policy.
10. February Revolution (1848) and the Fall of the July Monarchy:-
Due to the above various circumstances, another revolution in France became inevitable. When the reformists and republicans continued to demand reforms vehemently, the Guizot cabinet refused to do so. The reformists were furious and called for a large rally. The government declared the meeting illegal, but many people joined it. As a result, Louis Philippe, frightened, dismissed the Guizot cabinet. In this situation, when the reformists were demonstrating in front of Guizot's residence, 23 protesters were killed by police fire. This news spread like wildfire in France and people everywhere took up arms and declared rebellion against the monarchy. Helpless Louis Philippe fled to England and took refuge.
Then the socialists and reformists together declared the end of the French monarchy and declared a republic in France on February 26, 1848, led by La Martin. Thus, the fall of the July Monarchy was complete.
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