Revolution of 1848 in France. History of the French Revolutions. France during the Restoration and the July Monarchy
THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN FRANCE is a bourgeois-democratic revolution that destroyed the bourgeois (so-called July) monarchy (1830-1848) and created the Second Republic (1848-1852). This revolution was engendered both by the intensified contradictions within the French bourgeoisie (between the financial aristocracy, which concentrated monopoly power in its hands, and the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, strengthened as a result of the industrial revolution and sought complicity in state affairs), and by the aggravated class contradictions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, caused by the development of capitalism.
The maturation of the revolutionary situation was accelerated by the disasters caused by crop failures in 1845 and 1846, the economic crisis of 1847, as well as the “crisis of the top”, exacerbated by the “banquet campaign” of the liberal-bourgeois opposition, which demanded electoral reform and the resignation of the government Gizo .
The impetus for the revolutionary explosion was the ban on the next meeting scheduled by the opposition for February 22, 1848. banquet and demonstrations in Paris by supporters of reform. On February 22, the demonstration of students, workers and others was followed by clashes between the demonstrators and the troops. The battalions of the National Guard, called up by the government, consisting mainly of petty and middle bourgeois, evaded the fight against the popular movement and sometimes went over to its side. The belated concession of the king, who resigned Guizot, did not stop the struggle; On the night of February 23, more than 1,500 barricades were built on the streets of Paris, and the battles of the revolutionary vanguard grew into a mass popular uprising, the main driving force of which was the proletariat, and the leaders of the secret republican societies played the main organizing role. On February 24, when the insurgent people, having captured many barracks and government buildings, moved to the royal palace of the Tuileries, Louis Philippe abdicated. On the same day, under pressure from barricade fighters who broke into the Bourbon Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies was sitting, the monarchy was overthrown and the Provisional Government was formed.
In the first, so-called "February period" of the revolution(February 24 - May 4, 1848) a regrouping of class forces took place, preparing the establishment of a bourgeois republic.
The composition of the Provisional Government was a reflection of a compromise between the various classes which, by joint efforts, overthrew the July Monarchy, but whose interests were hostile to each other. It included the leaders of the bourgeois republicans - Lamartine, Cremieux, Garnier-Pages and others, petty-bourgeois democrats - Ledru-Rollin and Flocon and as representatives of the working class Louis Blanc and Albert. The leading role in the government belonged to the bourgeois republicans. Initially, the Provisional Government had to reckon with the demands of the working class, armed in street fighting and proclaiming the slogan of a "democratic and social republic", which expressed the vague socialist aspirations of the proletariat. On February 25, a republic was proclaimed, a decree on the "right to work" was adopted. On February 28, a government labor commission was created (see Luxembourg Commission). On March 2, a decree was issued on the reduction of the working day by 1 hour (from 11 to 10 - in Paris, from 12 to 11 - in the provinces), on March 4 - a decree on the introduction of universal suffrage (for men).
The ideological immaturity of the proletariat, which was under the influence of petty-bourgeois socialism and believed in the possibility of a peaceful social reorganization of society in cooperation with the republican bourgeoisie, paralyzed the revolutionary activity of the workers. This made it easier for the bourgeoisie to prepare the conditions for launching a counteroffensive against the working class. Already on February 25, the government formed armed detachments from the declassed and unemployed sections of the Parisian population, the so-called mobile guard. Created under the banner of the promised "right to work" enterprises for the unemployed, the so-called National Workshops were given a paramilitary character. The bourgeoisie succeeded in finding support among the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie. A significant role in this was played by the introduction by the government on March 16 of an additional tax (taxation of the peasants increased by 45%), which caused the hostile attitude of the peasants towards the Parisian democracy, the republic and the working class. The elections to the Constituent Assembly (April 23-24, 1848) brought defeat to the candidates of the working class, ended in victory for the bourgeois republicans, and a significant number of monarchists and clerics entered the Assembly.
Second period of the revolution(from May 4, 1848 to the end of May 1849) - the establishment of a bourgeois republic. From the first days of the activity of the Constituent Assembly (which opened on May 4, 1848), its face hostile to the working class was revealed. In the new government - the so-called Executive Commission - the socialists were not included. The assembly rejected the proposal to create a ministry of labor. The popular demonstration on May 15, which resulted in an attempt to dissolve the Assembly, failed and ended in the arrest of the revolutionary leaders of the Parisian democracy - Blanca, Barbès and others, and the closure of the revolutionary clubs. With the dissolution of the national workshops (June 22), the bourgeois republicans, instigated by the monarchists, provoked June Uprising 1848(June 23-26) Parisian workers. The defeat of the uprising was accompanied by cruel terror. The suppression of the June uprising cleared the ground for the construction of the edifice of the bourgeois republic, but deprived it of the only solid foundation, which was the strength of the working class. The constitution of the Second Republic, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1848, contained significant concessions to the monarchists and established a strong power of the President of the Republic. In the presidential elections of December 10, 1848, the protege of the monarchist groups of the bourgeoisie won Louis Napoleon Bonaparte(see Napoleon III), supported by the voices of the backward multi-million peasantry, who saw in their nephew Napoleon I"Peasant Emperor"
The transfer of government power into the hands of the monarchists, who at that time managed to unite the rival factions of Legitimists (adherents of the Bourbon dynasty), Orleanists (adherents of the Orleans dynasty), Bonapartists (adherents of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) into a single "party of order", gave rise to a number of sharp conflicts between the Republican majority the Constituent Assembly, on the one hand, and the president and the "party of order" that supported him, on the other. In February 1849, the bourgeois republicans, having lost the support of most of their class, seized by fear of the masses, accepted the demand of the monarchists for the early dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
The elections to the Legislative Assembly on May 13, 1849 brought a complete defeat to the bourgeois republicans, as a result of which they lost their significance as the leading political force in the country. At the same time, the elections revealed the growth of a new revolutionary upsurge among the masses, which brought the petty-bourgeois democracy to the forefront of the struggle against the counter-revolution. Even before the elections, a bloc of petty-bourgeois democrats and socialists had formed. The leadership in this bloc, called the Mountains of 1849, belonged to the petty-bourgeois democrats, who hoped to defeat the reaction by legal means, without resorting to revolutionary action by the masses.
The third and last period of the revolution- the time of existence of the parliamentary bourgeois republic, as a legislative dictatorship of the united monarchists (May 28, 1848 - December 2, 1851). During this period, the counter-revolution represented by the "Party of Order", which made up the majority in the Legislative Assembly (it began to sit on May 28, 1849), cleared the way for the monarchist restoration. The defeat of the petty-bourgeois democracy (the failure of the protest demonstration organized by the deputies of the Mountain on June 13, 1849 against the violation of the constitution - sending French troops to suppress the revolution in Rome) was used by the "party of order" to further eliminate the gains of the initial period of the revolution. The press, clubs, popular meetings, municipalities, public education were placed under the supervision of the police and the clergy. The elimination of the last major democratic achievement of 1848 - universal suffrage (May 31, 1850) - showed that the French bourgeoisie at that time recognized that it was impossible to secure their rule while maintaining the foundations of bourgeois democracy and the republic.
In 1850-1851, a sharp struggle unfolded between rival monarchist factions; the political situation was especially favorable to the Bonapartists, whose protege, Louis Napoleon, as president of the republic, had enormous means of influencing the state apparatus, the army, and the politically backward masses of the population (especially the peasantry). The coup d'état on December 2, 1851, which was accompanied by the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly and the concentration of dictatorial power in the hands of the Bonapartist elite, actually ended the existence of the Second Republic and ended in the restoration of the monarchy in France at the end of 1852 in the form of a military-police Second Empire.
Revolution of 1848 (as opposed to the revolution of 1789-1794) developed in a downward direction. This line reflected the main features of the new alignment of class forces. The main driving force of the revolution was the proletariat, but it had not yet developed a clear class consciousness and there was no revolutionary party capable of uniting it and leading it. Therefore, the hegemony in the revolution belonged to the republican and then to the monarchist strata of the bourgeoisie. The vacillations of the petty bourgeoisie, the strife between the proletariat and the peasantry, made it possible for the republican bourgeoisie to rally all the propertied classes against the proletariat, crush it and establish their dictatorship. The counter-revolutionary policy of the right wing of the bourgeois republicans cleared the path to power for the monarchists, and the internecine struggle of the warring factions of the "party of order" led to the victory of the Bonapartists.
H. E. Zastenker. Moscow.
Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 11. PERGAMUM - RENUVEN. 1968.
Read further:
The main events of the XIX century (chronological table).
France in the 19th century (chronological table).
Marx Karl. 18th Brumaire Louis Bonaparte. - Marx K., Engels F. Op. Ed. 2nd. T. 8;
Sources and literature:
Marx, K., The class struggle in France from 1848 to 1850, K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 7; his, the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, ibid., vol. 8; his own Civil War in France, ibid., vol. 17; Lenin V.I., In memory of Herzen, Poln. coll. soch., 5th ed., vol. 21 (vol. 18); his own, Luiblanovshchina, ibid., vol. 31 (vol. 24); his, From what class source do the Cavaignacs come and "will come"?, ibid., vol. 32 (vol. 25); his, State and Revolution, ibid., vol. 33 (vol. 25); Revolutions of 1848-1849, vol. 1-2, M., 1952 (bibl.); Zastenker H. E., New work of French historians on economic history revolution of 1848, "VI", 1957, No 8; his, Proceedings of the Congress of Historians, dedicated to the centenary of the revolution of 1848, "VI", 1951, No 3; Sobul A., From the history of the Great Bourgeois Revolution of 1789-1794 and the Revolution of 1848 in France, trans. from French, Moscow, 1960; Actes du congrès historique du Centenaire de la Revolution de 1848, P., 1948; Documents diplomatiques du gouvernement provisoire et de la commission du pouvoir exécutif, t. 1-2, P., 1953; Dautry J., 1848 et la seconde République, 2nd ed., P., 1957; Aspects de la crise et de la dépression de l "économie française au milieu du XIX siècle, 1846-1851. Etudes sous la direction de E. Labrousse, P., 1956 (Bibliothèque de la révolution de 1848, t. 19); Etudes d "histoire moderne et contemporaine, t. 2 - Etudes sur la révolution de 1848, 1949; Gossez R., L "organization ouvriere a Paris sous la Seconde République," 1848. Revue des révolutions contemporaines", 1950, t. 42; Associationismes de 1848, P., 1959 (Extrait de "Archives Internationales de Sociologie de la Cooperation", t. 3); Gossez R., Diversité des antagonismes sociaux vers le milieu du XIX siècle, "Revue économique", 1956, No 3; Guillemin H., Le coup du 2 décembre, P., 1951; Dommanget M., Un drame politique en 1848. Blanqui et le document Taschereau, P., 1948.
On the eve of 1848, there was much evidence of an approaching new revolutionary explosion. Of all the factions of the French bourgeoisie, the financial aristocracy proved to be the least capable of governing the country. The inner strength of the democratic alliance between the workers and the petty bourgeoisie immediately made itself felt as soon as the course of events united these classes in a common revolt against the oppression of the financial aristocracy.
On February 22, thousands of Parisians, led by workers and students from the suburbs, took to the squares. Troops and municipal guards got in the way of the demonstrators. The first barricades appeared. The next day, skirmishes and fights continued to grow. The number of barricades constantly increased. This caused confusion in the National Guard battalions. Cries of "Long live the reform!", "Down with Guizot!" intensified.
By the end of 23 February, King Louis Philippe had decided to sacrifice Guizot. Count Molin, a liberal Orléanist, was appointed head of the new government. But the workers, who remembered the lessons of 1830, did not allow themselves to be deceived and continued to fight against the monarchy. "Down with Louis Philippe!" the workers shouted.
On February 23, a tragic event took place in the center of Paris: unarmed demonstrators heading towards the building where Guizot lived were shot. Thousands of Parisians rushed into battle. In one night they built over 1,500 barricades. The uprising against the monarchy took on a truly popular character. Its organizing force was members of the secret republican societies. On the morning of February 24, the struggle resumed with renewed vigor. The people took possession of almost all the mayor's offices of the districts. The soldiers began to fraternize with the population. At noon, they began to storm the royal residence. Louis-Philippe, convinced of the hopelessness of the situation, agreed to abdicate in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris.
Members of the barricades, bursting into the parliament's meeting room, exclaimed: "Long live the republic!" The rebels decided to elect a Provisional Government. In addition, an unauthorized committee of "people's delegates" was formed to constantly monitor the actions of the government. The leading role in the government was retained by the bourgeois-republican ministers. A "government commission for workers" was created, which became the "ministry of good wishes."
Of more real significance were the decrees on the reduction of the working day by 1 hour, on the reduction of the price of bread, on the provision of a million francs left over from the former king to workers' associations, on the return of items pawned by the poor from pawnshops, on the abolition of class restrictions for joining the national guard, on introduction in France of universal suffrage for men over the age of 21.
The historical content of the revolution of 1848 was the political reconstruction of the bourgeois system. However, the positions conquered by the proletariat were extremely fragile. The main source of weakness was the illusions that prevailed among the working masses about the possibility of a peaceful reorganization of society in cooperation with the republican bourgeoisie.
In order to change the correlation of forces and push the proletariat out of the positions it had won, the Provisional Government tried to split its ranks. To this end, it sought to tear away the lumpen-proletarian elements from the working class and oppose it by creating a "mobile national guard".
The "mobile guard" project had two goals. Firstly, this measure helped the rapid creation of an armed force; secondly, the government hoped to use the unemployed working youth against the revolutionary proletariat. The creation of "national workshops" where skilled workers were engaged in planning streets and planting trees was also connected with the calculations for a split in the workers.
The government hoped that the "national workshops" would become its mainstay in the fight against revolutionary sentiments; to this end, they were given a paramilitary structure. One of the few progressive acts of the Provisional Government was its adoption in April 1848 of a law abolishing slavery in the French colonies.
The isolation of the revolutionary proletarian forces contributed to the weakening of the positions of the working class. To a much greater extent, the bourgeoisie succeeded in dividing the working class and the petty bourgeoisie. All this contributed to the weakening of the forces of democracy. In the elections in constituent Assembly held on April 23 and 24, the bourgeois republicans won. The Parisian workers were seized with the determination to defend the gains and demands of the republic. For the first time, the workers of the "national workshops" took an active part in the demonstration on May 15. In May-June 1848, the strike movement continued to intensify. On June 22, workers’ demonstrations and rallies began in the streets of Paris under the slogans: “Down with the Constituent Assembly!”, “Lead or work!”
On the morning of June 23, the construction of barricades began in the eastern regions. On the morning of June 24, the Constituent Assembly transferred full power to General Cavaignac.
The uprising of the workers in Paris in June 1848 was spontaneous. Nevertheless, it flared up with the speed of a forest fire. Total number the rebels reached 40-45 thousand people. The slogans of the rebels were: "Bread or lead!", "Live working, or die fighting!", "Down with the exploitation of man by man!" At the forefront of the rebels were machine builders, railway workers.
The forces of the rebels were not covered by a single leadership, but still attempts were made to establish interaction. The main reason for the fragmentation of the rebel forces was the lack of a unified organization of the proletariat. The leaders of the Parisian proletariat were imprisoned after May 15, their clubs were closed.
On the morning of June 24, the rebels launched a new offensive. But they could not consolidate their success. Lacking leadership and a general plan of struggle, they went on the defensive and handed over the initiative to the enemy. By the evening of June 24, government troops launched a counteroffensive. By June 25 Cavaignac managed to create a huge preponderance of forces.
It is instructive that as early as 1848 the bourgeoisie used against the insurgent workers such a favorite weapon of slanderous propaganda as attributing the rise of the revolutionary movement to the subversive activities of "foreign agents".
On June 26, the workers' uprising was finally crushed. In total, 11 thousand people were killed - the color of the Parisian proletariat.
Second Republic
The suppression of the uprising was a turning point in the traditions of modern French history: for the first time, the decision of the fate of the country passed from revolutionary Paris to a proprietary bourgeois and landlord province. The defeat of the proletariat strengthened the foundations for strengthening reaction. The municipal elections of August 1848 were almost universally won by the monarchists. The new constitution introduced a unicameral parliament - Legislative Assembly elected for 3 years by popular vote.
The main limitations of the president were that he was elected for a four-year term without the right to re-election for the next four years, and did not receive the right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly. Nevertheless, the president's enormous power gave him the opportunity to exert strong pressure on parliament.
In the presidential election of 1848, he received the most votes Louis Napoleon, which attracted the sympathy of most of the big bourgeoisie, which longed for a monarchical firm power. It became the banner of the most diverse forces united against the bourgeois republic. On December 20, 1848, he assumed the office of President of the Republic.
The immediate goal of the monarchists was to achieve the speedy dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and its replacement by a new parliament. The culminating point of the activity of the meeting was the new electoral law adopted on May 31, 1850, which deprived the mass of the working people, who were forced to change their place of residence frequently in search of work, from voting rights. Freedom of assembly was further restricted. In March 1850, the "Fallu Law" was passed, which put public education under the control of the clergy. During 1850-1851, France was finally turned into an authoritarian state.
Growing revolutionary situation in France in 1847–1848 By the middle of the 19th century, in many countries of continental Europe, the industrial revolution was gaining momentum - the transition from manufactory production to machine, factory production. In England it has already ended; in France, the Austrian Empire, the German lands, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the industrial revolution has not yet ended, but has already led to profound changes: capitalism played a leading role in the economies of European countries. The development of capitalism "in breadth" was replaced by the development of capitalism "in depth". The struggle between the young European industrial proletariat and the industrial bourgeoisie came to the fore. The workers embarked on the path of independent struggle against the bourgeoisie. Mass labor movement acquired not only an economic, but also a political character. But it was not yet about the complete replacement of capitalism by another system, capitalism had not yet exhausted its potential, and there were no objective conditions for its liquidation. Capitalist exploitation was often intertwined with feudal remnants, national oppression and the forced assimilation of national minorities, the dominance of reaction and the political lack of rights of the working people placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of a number of European peoples.
Changes in the economy, the unfavorable events of 1846-1847, to a large extent contributed to the emergence and development of the revolutionary situation and accelerated the onset of a number of bourgeois revolutions. The beginning of revolutions, according to Karl Marx, was accelerated by two economic events of world significance in 1845-1847:
1) potato disease and crop failure of cereals and other field crops;
2) the economic crisis that broke out in 1847 in several countries at once, which acquired an international character. (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 7, p. 12).
Thus, by 1847 about A pan-European revolutionary situation has developed. In 1848-1849, almost all of Europe was engulfed in revolutionary fire. Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, and many other European capitals became centers of revolutionary uprisings. Never before has Europe known such a general intensification of the struggle, an unprecedented scale of popular uprisings, a stormy upsurge of national liberation movements. AT different countries In Europe, the intensity of the political struggle was not the same, the alignment of political forces took shape in different ways, and the discontent of the broad masses manifested itself in various forms. Despite the originality, the peculiarities of the growth of the revolutionary struggle and their results, one can definitely say that the revolutionary events in 1848-1849 assumed a pan-European character and scale. The highest point of confrontation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat during the revolutions of 1848. was the June uprising in Paris, according to F. Engels, “the first great battle for domination between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 22, p. 532). In those historical conditions of the middle of the 19th century, the objective prerequisites for the victory of the proletariat had not yet developed; it was still politically immature and could not lead the revolutionary movement of the popular masses in European countries. On the other hand, by this time the European bourgeoisie itself had already lost its revolutionary ardor and energy with which it led the peoples of their countries to storm feudalism in the 17th-18th centuries. The bourgeoisie more and more departed from revolutionary slogans, lost its revolutionary activity. Frightened by the actions of the proletariat, the bourgeoisie saw in him their main opponent, a dangerous and formidable enemy. Becoming counter-revolutionary, the European bourgeoisie was forced more often to make compromises and alliances with reactionary absolutist circles.
The main force in the struggle for democratic rights turned out to be the petty and middle urban bourgeoisie, although they showed inconsistency in their struggle, vacillated, and took a shaky and contradictory position. The position of the peasantry also changed - under the influence of market, capitalist relations, it was increasingly stratified and occupied different political niches. The prosperous elite of the peasantry and its land-poor or completely poor part behaved differently during the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The struggle of the peasantry was also significantly influenced by the factor of the preservation of significant remnants of feudalism.
Finally, a very important circumstance was the emergence of Marxism, which challenged various kinds of utopian and reformist teachings common in the working environment. Under the influence of Marxism, a profound change took place in the consciousness of the European proletariat. It was on the eve of the revolutions of 1848-1849 at the end of January 1848 that the manuscript of the “Manifesto of the Communist Party”, written jointly by K. Marx and F. Engels, was sent to London from Brussels. The publication of the book in February 1848 coincided with the February revolutionary battles in Paris.
The publication of the Manifesto marked the completion of the formation of Marxism as a systemic and integral scientific worldview. The Manifesto combined materialism and dialectics, outlined a new world outlook, created a universal and harmonious, consistent theory of the class struggle, and substantiated the world-historical role of the proletariat in the 19th century. The authors of the Manifesto described the origins and paths of the emergence and development of capitalism, the role of the bourgeoisie at various stages of history, the transformation of the bourgeoisie from a progressive estate into a conservative and reactionary force that became an obstacle to the further progress of society. As a conclusion. Summing up the whole work of the Marxists, there follows a conclusion about the need to overthrow capitalism, to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the interests of the democratic majority of society and relying on this majority. The proletarian revolution led by the workers' party, the vanguard of the proletariat, will lead to the conquest of political power, the expropriation of bourgeois property, and the concentration of the means of production in the hands of the proletarian state. Private-capitalist property will be replaced by public property, in which the productive forces of society will be placed at the service of the whole of society. In the Manifesto, the idea of an alliance between the working class and the working peasantry, of proletarian internationalism, was substantiated. These are the main program points of the Marxist ideology set forth in the Manifesto. V. Lenin highly appreciated the contribution of K. Marx and F. Engels: “This little book is worth whole volumes” (PSS., vol. 2, p. 10).
Thus, a number of factors greatly contributed to the emergence of a revolutionary situation in the countries of Western Europe and hastened the explosion of revolutions. The economic events of 1846-1847 played a decisive role. In 1847, throughout Europe, the harvest was above average. But at this time, a global commercial and industrial crisis broke out. The famous French historian Georges Lefebvre distinguished four crises in the disasters of 1847: food, money, stock and industrial. Georges Lefebvre erroneously considered the last two crises (stock market and industrial) to be the result of the first two (food and money).
In the autumn of 1845, only Normandy and Brittany were affected by potato disease in France, and by the end of the year the disease had penetrated into the southern regions of the country. The disease manifested itself in the rapid drying of the tops, the potatoes became unsuitable for human nutrition and feeding domestic animals. In 1846, the potato disease covered a wide area. One hectoliter of potatoes in Paris cost thirteen to fourteen francs in 1846. The following year, 1847, the potato disease recurred (the most catastrophic potato crop failure was in Lorraine). Following the potato, grain stocks began to decline rapidly. The grain harvest in 1845 was a third less than in 1844. Back in the autumn of 1846, a hectoliter of wheat grain cost twenty-two francs, already at the end of May 1847 the price rose to thirty-eight francs, and in some regions - up to fifty francs per hectolitre. The rainy 1845 and the dry 1846 brought France new hardships: in the autumn of 1845, the disease of the vineyards spread, and, after it, the failure of silk cocoons in the metropolis and colonies, the failure of lentils, beans, peas in 1846.
The commercial and industrial development of France in 1845-1848 had much in common with the economy of England. The differences concerned the fact that the climax of the crisis was passed in England at the end of 1847, and the next year there was an upsurge in the economy. In France in 1847, the crisis and the reduction, the fall in production affected all spinning and weaving branches of production. A crisis in railway construction was brewing: shares were issued for 2,491,000 francs, while the real volume of capital invested in railway construction amounted to 1,232,000 francs. The collapse of speculative railroad construction was inevitable, accelerated by food and money crises. The gold reserves of the French Bank were sharply reduced: they had to pay for bread and food in gold. If in 1845 the gold reserve of the French Bank was 320 (three hundred and twenty) million francs, then by January 1847 it was reduced to 47 (forty-seven) million francs. By the way, more at The Russian autocrat, Emperor Nicholas I, provided assistance to the French Bank (he provided a loan to France for fifty million francs). In the first half of 1847 alone, 635 (six hundred thirty-five) bankruptcies were recorded in the department of the Seine alone. The most numerous bankruptcies among the petty bourgeoisie were in the last quarter of 1847.
In 1847, a financial crisis broke out. The state deficit in 1847 reached 25% (twenty-five percent) of the entire budget, in monetary terms it amounted to 247 (two hundred and forty-seven) million francs. The budget deficit has always enriched the bankers. But in the conditions of the crisis of 1847, the opposite happened: depositors stormed banks and withdrew deposits, closed accounts. The entire tax system was under the threat of numerous bankruptcies, pauperization and mass unemployment. The public debt by the beginning of 1848 had reached 630 (six hundred and thirty) million francs. Government of François Guise about(it replaced the cabinet of Louis Adolphe Thiers and was in power from October 1840 until the beginning of the revolution of 1848) resorted to internal loans: hundred-franc bonds were sold at a price of seventy-five francs. State power was publicly sold to usurers!
The economic crisis affected the entire political life of France; it sharply worsened the position of the petty bourgeoisie. Part of big capital left the foreign market and moved to the domestic market. This intensified competition in the domestic market, which was ruinous for small traders.
During the crisis, the concentration of production in the metallurgical and coal industries increased, and new large associations of entrepreneurs appeared there. One hundred and seventy-five small industrialists in 1847 appealed to the government with complaints about the impudence and claims of local oligarchs. Petty-bourgeois democrats sharply criticized James Rothschild's intention to buy up metallurgical enterprises in the Nord department in order to create a large industrial center there like Creuse. about.
The crisis and crop failures, the potato disease and rising prices sharply worsened the standard of living of the proletarian masses. Even relatively wealthy families, who did not need support, now fell into need. Unemployment, falling wages, epidemic diseases, an increase in mortality, a decline in the birth rate by 75% in 1847 - these are the formal indicators of national disasters. The people responded to them with demonstrations, gatherings, pogroms of speculators' shops, grain warehouses and bakeries. In response, four workers were guillotined. This reprisal only increased the hatred for the July Monarchy. The masons and construction workers of Nantes went on strike for three months (from July to September 1847), military units were brought into the city and arrests were made. Contemporaries saw new features in the strike movement: 1) the sharply expressed initiative of the workers;
2) the active role of "communist associations";
3) the influence of communist propaganda, the main danger to the authorities was seen from the side of communist workers.
On May 12, food riots took place in Lille (Department Nord) with the participation of four hundred workers under the slogan: “Work! Bread!”, “Down with Louis-Philippe of Orleans!”, “Long live the Republic!” Grain barns and bakeries were attacked.
Seriously fell, the international prestige of France was shaken. In 1841, at the London Conference to settle the Turkish-Egyptian conflict, France lost its diplomatic influence in Syria and Egypt, which fell under British rule. In 1844, the scandalous “case of the English agent Pritchard” thundered, which opposed French diplomacy on the island of Tahiti. France not only failed to remove Pritchard from Tahiti, but also had to humiliatingly apologize to him and pay the British agent Pritchard for his anti-French activities in Tahiti the sum of 25 (twenty-five) thousand francs. Having worsened its diplomatic relations with England, Orleanist France drew closer to Austria, where the famous reactionary, Chancellor Clement Metternich, ruled, and Emperor Nicholas I of Tsarist Russia. The cabinet of Francois Guise about tacitly agreed with the liquidation of the last seat of Polish independence - Krakow - and its accession to the Habsburg Empire in 1846. France was defeated in Italy, the rate of the cabinet of François Guise about on the Italian reactionaries turned out to be a bat. An eyewitness to the events, the Russian writer Alexander Herzen expressed the essence of the changes in these words: “France has become a secondary state. The governments stopped being afraid of it, the peoples began to hate it.”
Reactionary politics and the failures of the cabinet of ministers Francois Guise about accelerated the approach of the revolutionary denouement. Few people in France did not criticize the Guise cabinet about: in parliament, in the press, in public and political organizations, in the broad masses and even in the personal correspondence of the princes of the Orleans dynasty, the government was subjected to fierce criticism. The Orléanists wrote indignantly about the servility of France to Austria, that France assumed the role of "a gendarme in Switzerland and a strangler of freedom in Italy." One of the princes (the Prince of Joinville) made it clear: "I'm starting to get very worried lest we be led into a revolution." The “crisis of the upper classes” and the approach of the revolution were also felt by the opposition. Grouping liberal Odilon Barr about(the so-called "dynastic opposition") put forward the slogan: "Reform to avoid revolution." The "dynastic opposition" adhered to the tactics of blocking with the bourgeois republicans on the eve of the revolution.
In 1847, a new political group appeared on the political arena of France - the “political conservatives”, which about to a greater extent spoke of a deep “crisis of the upper classes”. This grouping arose within the government party itself. It was headed by the unprincipled Emile de Girardin. He expressed his credo with the words: "We are in the opposition, but we are not from the opposition." At first, the “progressive conservatives” limited themselves to a program of economic measures (improved credit conditions, tax reform, lowering the price of salt, etc.), but soon their leader, Emile de Girardin, joined the supporters of electoral reform. For years, Girardin had been sold to the Orléanists, and now he took advantage of the public platform to expose government corruption.
Two different groupings of Republicans, both named after their newspapers, Nacional and Reforma, also intensified propaganda activities in 1847-1848. In France, the organization and holding of political banquets - the so-called "banquet campaign" - has again become fashionable. Banquets were a very convenient, closed, narrow in composition, form of political struggle. The first banquet took place on July 9, 1847 in Paris, at the Chateau Rouge. The initiator of this banquet campaign was the leader of the "dynastic opposition" Odilon Barrot. The Republicans representing the Nacional group soon discredited themselves by rejecting the program of socio-economic reforms and confining themselves to "pure politics", moreover, hostile to the entire revolutionary-democratic camp. The workers despised the Nacional as a newspaper of the “gentlemen”, and its leader, Arm a on Marr a one hundred - was called the "republican in yellow gloves."
Petty-bourgeois democrat Alexandre Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e he was at the head of the second republican group "Reform". Influenced by the actions of the working masses Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e n, like other members of the editorial board of the Reform newspaper, put forward a program of social transformation. The political bloc with the workers was one of the main tactical tasks of this republican grouping. November 7, 1847 at a banquet in Lille, in the city garden, in the presence of a thousand one hundred people in response to toasts: “For the workers, for their inalienable rights! For their sacred interests!” Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e He made a speech, the text of which was published not only in the democratic press of France, but also in England, in the Chartist newspaper Polar Star. The words uttered by Alexander Ledr became a kind of slogan Yu-Roll e nom: "The people not only deserve to represent themselves, but they can only be represented by themselves." The crowded banquet in Dijon also showed that the Reform party is gaining political influence in society. In Dijon, led by Alexandre Ledre, gathered Yu-Roll e Mr. and Louis-Blanc, representatives of other cities of France, delegates from Switzerland. The workers arrived at the banquet in Dijon in the amount of four hundred people. At this banquet, Alexandre Ledru-Rollin made a toast: “To the Convention that saved France from the yoke of kings!” Despite the efforts of the “dynastic opposition”, the banquets in favor of electoral reform gradually became more radical.
The banquet campaign contributed to the development of the struggle for electoral reform in various regions of France. But not one of the petty-bourgeois groupings or other opposition forces could and did not dare to raise a revolutionary armed uprising with the aim of forcibly overthrowing the regime of King Louis-Philippe of Orleans. But the revolution began anyway, as F. Engels predicted in 1847: “At the moment when a clash between the people and the government becomes inevitable, the workers will instantly find themselves on the streets and squares, tear up the pavements, block the streets with omnibuses, wagons and carriages, barricade every passageway, every narrow lane will be turned into a fortress and will move, sweeping away all obstacles, from Place de la Bastille to the Tuileries Palace” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 4, p. 364).
February Revolution. On the eve of the revolution, much was said about the impending revolutionary explosion. The financial aristocracy represented by the Second Empire proved to be the least capable of governing the country. Ignoring the opposition, rejecting all proposals for electoral reform, the government of Francois Guise about stubbornly did not want to see the approaching revolution. Guizot showed a rare political short-sightedness, blind stubbornness, the self-confidence of the historian-minister was transferred to his entourage and the close-minded "king-citizen", the power-hungry Louis-Philippe of Orleans. This blind stubbornness was organically characteristic of the “kingdom of the bankers”. The features, the signs of this "kingdom of the bankers" were the domination of the aristocracy, the monopoly privileges of big money capital, the merging of capital with the state apparatus, the predatory exploitation of the state budget, stock market games and speculative transactions around state policy. The top of the bourgeois plutocracy enriched itself around state power, and with the help of this power, it did not put up with the fact that some other layer of the bourgeoisie would join power. If this happened, then the growing commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, which the development of capitalism brought to the fore, would inevitably come to power.
Even more unacceptable for the bourgeois financial plutocracy would be the granting of voting rights to the broad masses of the petty bourgeoisie. In France, the petty bourgeoisie was so crushed by the big capitalists, ruined and robbed by them, that, having received the right to vote, it would immediately join the political struggle against the "financial tycoons" and "money bigwigs". In this forthcoming struggle for a more just reorganization of society, the French petty bourgeoisie would be forced to rely on a temporary alliance with the working class, and together with it, in alliance, overthrow the monarchy and proclaim a republic. The strength of the alliance between the workers and the petty bourgeoisie was of an explosive nature, which immediately manifested itself as soon as the course of events united the working class and the petty bourgeoisie in a general uprising against the oppression and dominance of the financial aristocracy.
Banquet campaign of electoral reformers against the government of François Guise about resumed in January. A new banquet was scheduled for January 19th, but was rescheduled for February 22nd. In addition to the banquet, it was planned to hold a massive street demonstration in defense of freedom of assembly. The authorities categorically banned both the banquet and the demonstration. The liberal opposition got scared again and retreated. Most of all, the liberal opposition was afraid of the revolutionary actions of the masses. Writer Prosp e p Merim e described the fear of the leaders of the opposition in this way: “Its leaders are like horsemen who have dispersed their horses and do not know how to stop them.” On the evening of February 21, opposition deputies and journalists called on the people to submit to the authorities. Most Republicans and Democrats also hesitated to call on the people to fight. On February 19, at a meeting in the editorial office of the Reform newspaper, Alexander Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e n, maintained by Louis Bl a nom, spoke out against the use of a banquet conflict for an organized demonstration of the masses, arguing that the people were not yet ready to fight and did not have weapons. The participants in the meeting were Marc Cossidière, Joseph Louis Lagrange and Eugene Bon - all three were associated with secret societies and spoke in favor of revolutionary action. However, the point of view of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e but won - the Reform party urged Parisians to remain calm and stay at home. The petty-bourgeois socialists Pierre Lehr also warned against participation in the revolutionary struggle. at, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Victus about r Consideran.
Contrary to exhortations and warnings, thousands of Parisians - workers from the suburbs, student youth - singing the Marseillaise, took to the streets and squares of Paris on February 22 early in the morning. The demonstrators carried slogans: “Long live the reform! Down with Guizot!” The troops of the municipal guard attacked the work columns, a rebuff followed. The streets were covered with barricades. Fighting between demonstrators and troops and police continued to escalate the next day. Fighters from secret societies joined the fight, the number of barricades in the suburbs and in the center was constantly increasing. By the evening of February 22, government troops dispersed the demonstrators and took control of the situation. But the next day, the armed struggle in the streets of Paris resumed.
Battalions of the national guard acted against the rebels. The guardsmen were sympathetic to the rebels, did not follow orders, calls were heard among the battalions: “Down with Guise about! Long live electoral reform!” By the end of the day on February 23, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans still decided to sacrifice Prime Minister Francois Guise about. New ministers were appointed - supporters of electoral reform. Count Mathieu Louis Mol was appointed head of the new government e, By conviction, he is a liberal Orléanist. In the circles of the bourgeoisie, this news was greeted with enthusiasm. Liberal opposition figures and officers of the National Guard appealed to the people to stop the struggle.
But the Parisian proletariat, remembering the lessons of the revolution of 1830, this time did not allow itself to be deceived and continued to fight against the monarchy. The revolutionary workers said: “They say e or Guise about- it doesn't matter to us. The people at the barricades hold their weapons in their hands and will not lay them down until Louis Philippe is deposed from his throne. Down with Louis Philippe!”
This slogan found an ever more powerful response, and one push was enough for a popular uprising to be swept away by the rotten regime of Louis Philippe. Soon this push came. On the evening of February 23, in the center of Paris, on the Boulevard des Capucines, a column of unarmed demonstrators was heading towards the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Francois Guise lived about, was shot by guard soldiers. Dozens of Parisians were killed and injured. Upon learning of this bloody atrocity, the working people of the capital immediately rebelled. Thousands of workers, artisans, shopkeepers, students rushed into battle. One and a half thousand barricades were erected in one night. The uprising against the Orleans monarchy took on a truly popular character. The organizing force of the uprising was members of the secret republican societies, workers and small artisans.
On the morning of February 24, the struggle in the streets of Paris resumed with increasing force. Many members of the National Guard joined the uprising. The people took possession of all the mayor's offices of the districts. Soldiers of the regular army began to fraternize with the population. Count Mathieu Louis Maul appointed Prime Minister by the King e refused to hold this post, then the premiership was offered to Louis Adolphe Thiers, and after his refusal, to the leader of the dynastic opposition, Odilon Barrot.
At noon, armed detachments of the insurgent people began an assault on the royal residence - the Tuilre Palace. and. Seeing the hopelessness of his situation, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans agreed to abdicate in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris, and his mother was appointed regent by royal decree until she came of age. Having signed the abdication, Louis-Philippe and his family hastened to leave the capital and fled to England. François Guizot also disappeared there. The Tuileries Palace was captured by the rebellious people, the royal throne was solemnly transferred to Place de la Bastille, where a crowded jubilant crowd burned it at the stake - a symbol of the July Monarchy. The insurgent people fought the last battle of the July Monarchy and its defenders in the Bourbon Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies met. The monarchical majority of this chamber intended to approve the regency of the Duchess of Orléans in order to save the monarchy by a change of faces. The top of the bourgeoisie also continued to defend the monarchy, they were afraid of the very word "republic". The situation reminded them of the onset of the Jacobin dictatorship and the revolutionary terror of 1793-1794. Only a small group of Republican deputies, having persuaded Alphonse Marie de Lamartine to their side, came up with a proposal to create a Provisional Government.
And here, in the Bourbon Palace, where the deputies sat, the issue was decided by the fighters of the barricades, who burst into the parliament's meeting room. “Down with the ward! Out of the shameless merchants! Long live the Republic!” the Parisians exclaimed, brandishing their weapons. Most of the deputies fled, remaining under pressure from the rebels decided to elect the Provisional Government. In complete confusion, the list of members of the government, compiled by the bourgeois republicans of the Nacional party, together with Alphonse Lamartine, received the approval of those present. But after their departure, another list was also drawn up and approved, developed in the editorial office of the Reforma newspaper and announced in the chamber of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e nom.
The main events of the revolution of 1848 - 1849 in France
Introduction
On the eve of the revolution
February period of the revolution
Establishment of a bourgeois republic
June uprising of Parisian workers
Election of Louis Napoleon as President
Climb democratic movement in the spring of 1849 the defeat of the revolution
Conclusion
List of sources and literature
Introduction
The year 1848 was one of the most turbulent in the history of the 19th century. Revolutions and national liberation movements swept almost all the countries of Europe: France, Germany, Austrian Empire, Italian states. Never before has Europe known such an intensification of the struggle, such a scale of popular uprisings and a powerful upsurge of national liberation movements. Although the intensity of the struggle was not the same in different countries, events developed differently, one thing was undoubted: the revolution had acquired a pan-European scale.
By the middle of the XIX century. feudal-absolutist orders still dominated the entire continent, and in some states social oppression was intertwined with national oppression. The beginning of the revolutionary explosion was brought closer by the crop failures of 1845-1847, the “potato disease”, which deprived the poorest sections of the population of the main food product, and the economic crisis that broke out in 1847 in several countries at once. Industrial enterprises, banks, trading offices were closed. A wave of bankruptcies increased unemployment.
The revolution began in February 1848 in France. The events in France became the spark that ignited liberal uprisings in many European states.
In 1848-1849. Revolutionary events took on an unprecedented scale. They merged the struggle of various strata of society against the feudal-absolutist order, for the democratization of the social system, the actions of the workers for the improvement of their material situation and social guarantees, the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples and the powerful unification movement in Germany and Italy.
The French Revolution of 1848 remained in the memory of contemporaries and participants mainly as an unsuccessful attempt to implement political democracy and a social republic. For more than a century, it has been considered by world historiography from the same angle of view. The perception of this revolution by its contemporaries and descendants was influenced by events that took place mainly during 1848. Among them are two turning points: the June uprising of the workers in Paris and the Bonapartist coup d'état. They crossed out the hopes of the revolutionaries for the triumph of the ideals of social justice and democracy.
aimof this work is: to consider the significant events of the revolution of 1848 - 1849. in France.
Tasks:
1) consider the events preceding the revolution of 1848;
) to characterize the February period of the revolution;
) to consider how the establishment of the bourgeois republic proceeded;
) characterize the June uprising;
) show how Louis Napoleon was elected president:
) to characterize the events of 1849.
The beginning of the scientific study of the revolution of 1848 was laid by K. Marx and F. Engels. In addition to the articles in the New Rhine Gazette, two major works Marx, published in the early 50s - "The class struggle in France from 1848 to 1850" and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. In these works, the periodization of the revolution was first given, its character was determined, its course was traced, the role of individual classes and parties in it, the reasons for its defeat and its political lessons were analyzed.
In Soviet historiography, the problems of the revolution of 1848 were fruitfully developed in the works of N. E. Zastenker, A. I. Molok and F. V. Potemkin. Turning to the key moments in the history of the revolution, they subjected to a detailed analysis of the industrial revolution and its socio-economic consequences (F. V. Potemkin), the June uprising of the proletariat (A. I. Molok).
In our work, we used more recent studies, in particular:
general works on world history, the history of Europe and France, as well as the history of the state and law of foreign countries;
the work of A.B. Reznikov devoted to the analysis of the role of the working class in the European revolutions of 1848-1849;
book by A.R. Ioannisyan, dedicated to the revolution of 1848 in France;
a study by R. Farmonov devoted to the development of French social and political thought in the period under consideration;
the work of A. Yu. Smirnov, dedicated to the coup d'etat on December 2, 1851 and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte.
In addition to research, the following sources were used in the work:
texts of revolutionary proclamations;
memoirs of an eyewitness of revolutionary events - the great Russian thinker A. I. Herzen.
revolution france napoleon uprising
1. On the eve of the revolution
Louis Philippe came to power in 1830 during the bourgeois-liberal July Revolution, which overthrew the reactionary Bourbon regime in the person of Charles X. The eighteen years of the reign of Louis Philippe (the so-called July Monarchy) were distinguished by a gradual departure from the ideas of liberalism, increasing scandals and increasing corruption. Ultimately, Louis-Philippe joined the Holy Alliance of the Monarchs of Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia. The aim of this union based on the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was to restore the order in Europe that existed before the French Revolution of 1789. This was expressed, first of all, in the renewed dominance of the nobility and the return of its privileges.
By the mid-1840s, there were signs of social and economic crisis in France. Despite the continued industrial boom, mass bankruptcies became more frequent, the number of laid-off and unemployed people increased, and prices constantly rose. In 1847, the country suffered severe crop failures. The "bourgeois king", the "people's king" Louis-Philippe no longer suited not only the common people (legends about his "simplicity" and populist walks along the Champs Elysees without security with an umbrella under his arm quickly got tired of the common people), but also the bourgeoisie. First of all, she was angered by the introduction of suffrage, in which votes were no longer equal, but were weighted depending on the income of the voter, which in practice reduced the influence of the bourgeoisie on legislation. Louis Philippe patronized only his relatives and friends, mired in financial scams and bribes. All the attention of the government was turned to the monetary aristocracy, to which the king gave clear preference: to senior officials, bankers, large merchants and industrialists, for whom the most favorable conditions were created in politics and business.
There was a widespread belief that the electoral system needed to be changed. In the Chamber of Deputies, there was an increasing demand for the extension of suffrage to all taxpayers, but the king stubbornly rejected any idea of political change. These sentiments were supported by the most influential minister of the last seven years of his reign, Francois Guizot, who became head of the cabinet in 1847. He refused all the demands of the chamber to lower the electoral qualification.
There is nothing surprising that in those years there were absolutely more than ten attempts on the life of the king. They were committed both by members of secret societies and by illiterate loners who had heard enough of the propaganda of the radicals.
In the summer of 1847, the opposition circles of the French bourgeoisie launched a "banquet campaign" in Paris. At banquets, speeches were made that criticized government policies. The initiative for the campaign came from a moderate liberal party, dubbed the "dynastic opposition". This party did not go further than demanding a partial electoral reform, by means of which the bourgeois liberals hoped to strengthen the shaky position of the ruling dynasty. The leader of the party, lawyer Odilon Barrot, put forward a slogan typical of moderate liberals: "Reform to avoid revolution!" However, despite the efforts of the "dynastic opposition", banquets in favor of electoral reform gradually began to take on a more radical character. At a banquet in Dijon, a prominent figure in the left wing of the bourgeois republicans, the lawyer Ledru-Rollin, made a toast: "To the Convention that saved France from the yoke of kings!"
In France, as in most European countries, a revolutionary explosion was brewing.
A revolutionary explosion in France took place at the beginning of 1848. On February 22, another banquet of supporters of parliamentary reform was scheduled in Paris. The authorities banned the banquet. This caused great indignation among the masses. On the morning of February 22, unrest reigned in the streets of Paris. A column of demonstrators moved towards the Bourbon Palace, singing the Marseillaise and shouting: "Long live the Reform!", "Down with Guizot!". Without making their way to the palace building, the demonstrators scattered into the neighboring streets and began to dismantle the pavement, overturn the omnibuses, and erect barricades.
Troops sent by the government dispersed the demonstrators by evening and took control of the situation. But the next morning, the armed struggle in the streets of Paris resumed. Frightened by reports that the uprising was growing and that the National Guard was demanding a change in the head of the ministry, King Louis-Philippe dismissed F. Guizot and appointed new ministers who were considered supporters of the reform.
Contrary to the calculations of the ruling circles, these concessions did not satisfy the popular masses of Paris. Clashes between the rebellious people and the royal troops continued. They especially intensified after the provocative execution of unarmed demonstrators on the evening of February 23. New barricades were erected in the streets. Their total number reached one and a half thousand. That night the uprising took on a more organized character. Members of secret revolutionary societies became the leaders of the insurgent people.
On the morning of February 24, almost all the strategic points of the capital were captured by the rebels. Panic reigned in the palace. On the advice of his close associates, Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris, and fled to England. Guizot also disappeared there.
The abdication of the king did not stop the development of the revolution. Street fighting in Paris continued. The revolutionary detachments took possession of the Tuileries Palace. The royal throne was taken out into the street, installed on the Place de la Bastille and burned at the stake to the jubilant exclamations of a crowd of thousands.
The upper classes of the bourgeoisie continued to defend the monarchy. They were afraid of the very word "republic", which reminded them of the times of the Jacobin dictatorship and the revolutionary terror of 1793-1794. At the meeting of the Chamber of Deputies, the bourgeois liberals tried to secure the preservation of the monarchy. These plans were thwarted by barricade fighters who broke into the meeting room. Armed workers and national guards demanded the proclamation of a republic. The Provisional Government was created.
The Provisional Government included seven bourgeois republicans of the right wing, grouped around the influential opposition newspaper Nacional, two left-wing republicans - Ledru-Rollin and Floccon, as well as two petty-bourgeois socialist publicists Louis Blanc and the worker Albert. The lawyer Dupont (from the department of Eure), a participant in the revolution of 1830, was elected chairman of the Provisional Government. A decrepit and sick old man, he did not enjoy great influence. The actual head of the government was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the famous poet and historian Lamartine, a right-wing bourgeois republican who came to the fore thanks to his oratorical talent and noisy speeches against the July monarchy.
. Establishment of a bourgeois republic
Despite the demands of the people, the government was in no hurry to proclaim a republic. On February 25, a deputation from the workers, headed by an old revolutionary, a prominent scientist (chemist) and doctor Raspail, demanded the immediate proclamation of a republic. Raspail declared that if this demand was not met within two hours, he would return at the head of a demonstration of 200,000. The threat had its effect: even before the expiration of the appointed time, a republic was officially proclaimed.
On the same day, disagreements arose between the bourgeois majority of the Provisional Government and the revolutionary workers of Paris on the question of the color of the national flag. The demonstrators demanded the recognition of the red flag - the banner of revolution and social change. This demand was opposed by bourgeois circles, who saw the tricolor flag as a symbol of the dominance of the bourgeois system. The provisional government decided to keep the tricolor flag, but agreed to attach a red rosette to its staff (later it was removed). The disputes over this question reflected the contradictions between different classes in their understanding of the nature and tasks of the February Revolution.
Almost simultaneously, another conflict arose. The workers' deputation demanded the immediate issuance of a decree on the "right to work." The presence in Paris of a huge mass of unemployed people made this slogan extremely popular among broad sections of the working people. After much objection, the government, at the suggestion of Louis Blanc, adopted a decree stating that it was obliged to "guarantee the existence of the worker by labor" and "provide work for all citizens."
February, in front of the building where the Provisional Government met, a mass demonstration of workers took place with banners on which the demands were embroidered: "Organization of Labor", "Ministry of Labor and Progress", "Destruction of the exploitation of man by man." As a result of lengthy debate, the government decided to create a commission on the labor question, headed by Louis Blanc and Albert. For the meetings of this commission, which included delegates from workers, representatives of entrepreneurs and several prominent economists, the Luxembourg Palace was assigned. But the Luxembourg Commission did not receive any real power and no financial resources. The commission was used by the bourgeoisie in order to instill illusions in the masses and, having lulled their vigilance, to buy time to strengthen their forces.
Louis Blanc urged the workers to wait patiently for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, which supposedly would solve all social problems. At meetings of the commission and outside of it, he propagated his plan for industrial workers' associations, subsidized by the state.
One of the few gains of the February Revolution was the reduction of the working day. In Paris and in the provinces, the length of the working day then exceeded 11-12 hours. A decree issued on March 2, 1848, fixed the working day at 10 o'clock in Paris and 11 o'clock in the provinces. However, many employers did not comply with this decree and either forced workers to work longer hours or closed their enterprises. The decree did not satisfy the workers, who demanded a 9-hour working day.
Another achievement of the revolution was the introduction of universal suffrage (for men over 21). The abolition of the obligatory cash deposit for printing made possible the emergence of a large number democratic newspapers.
The February Revolution secured freedom of assembly and led to the organization of many political clubs, both in Paris and in the provinces. Among the revolutionary clubs of 1848, the "Society for the Rights of Man" enjoyed the greatest influence. Close to this organization was the "Club of the Revolution", its chairman was the prominent revolutionary Armand Barbès. Of the revolutionary proletarian clubs, the "Central Republican Society" stood out in its significance, the founder and chairman of which was Auguste Blanqui. At the beginning of March, this club demanded the abolition of all laws against strikes, the general armament, and the immediate inclusion of all workers and unemployed in the national guard.
A special place among the democratic achievements of the February Revolution was occupied by the decree of the Provisional Government of April 27, 1848, on the abolition of Negro slavery in the French colonies.
The revolutionaries sought a decisive democratization of the social and political system of France. But the Provisional Government opposed this. It retained almost unchanged the police and bureaucracy that existed before the February revolution. In the army, monarchist generals remained in leading positions.
To combat unemployment, which could cause new revolutionary unrest, the Provisional Government organized in early March in Paris, and then in some other cities, public works called "national workshops". By May 15, there were 113 thousand people in them. The workers of the national workshops, among whom there were people of various professions, were employed mainly as diggers, laying roads and canals, planting trees, etc. By creating national workshops, their organizers, the bourgeois republicans of the right wing, hoped in this way to divert the workers from participation in revolutionary struggle.
The financial policy of the Provisional Government was entirely determined by the interests of the big bourgeoisie. It took measures that saved the Bank of France, which found itself in danger of bankruptcy as a result of the crisis: it established a compulsory exchange rate for the bank's tickets and gave the bank state forests as collateral. At the same time, the government placed new financial burdens on the petty bourgeoisie and the peasantry. The issuance of deposits from savings banks was limited. The government retained almost all the previous taxes and, in addition, introduced an additional tax of 45 centimes on each franc of the four direct taxes levied on landowners and tenants.
The plight of the working people strengthened their desire to use the establishment of a republic to fight for the improvement of their working and living conditions. In Paris and other cities there were workers' demonstrations, strikes, attacks on grain merchants' warehouses, usurers' houses, and tax collection offices on foodstuffs imported from the countryside.
The agrarian movement gained wide scope and took various forms. Crowds of peasants beat and drove out the foresters, cut down state forests, forced the large landowners to return the communal lands they had seized, and forced usurers to give promissory notes. Serious opposition to the authorities was caused by the levying of an additional 45 centime land tax. This tax gave rise to great discontent among the peasants.
Elections to the Constituent Assembly were scheduled for April 9. The revolutionary democratic and socialist organizations were in favor of postponing the elections in order to better prepare for them. On the contrary, the right-wing bourgeois republicans opposed the postponement of the Constituent Assembly, reckoning that the sooner the elections were held, the greater their chances of winning.
March, the revolutionary clubs of Paris organized a massive popular demonstration under the slogan of postponing the elections to the Constituent Assembly until May 31. However, the government rejected this demand. The elections took place on 23 April.
The elections brought victory to the bourgeois republicans of the right wing, who received 500 seats out of 880. Orleanist monarchists (supporters of the Orleans dynasty) and Legitimists (supporters of the Bourbons) put together about 300 candidates. An insignificant number of seats, only two, were received by the Bonapartists (supporters of the Bonaparte dynasty). Petty-bourgeois democrats and socialists won 80 seats.
In a number of industrial cities, the elections were accompanied by violent street clashes. They took on a particularly stormy character in Rouen. For two days, April 27 and 28, the insurgent workers fought fierce barricade battles with government troops here.
In such a tense atmosphere, the sessions of the Constituent Assembly opened on May 4. A new period began in the history of the French Revolution of 1848.
The place of the Provisional Government was taken by the Executive Commission. The decisive role in the Executive Commission was played by the right-wing Republicans, closely connected with the big bourgeoisie.
From the very first days of its activity, the Constituent Assembly turned against itself the democratic strata of Paris by rejecting the bill on the creation of the Ministry of Labor and Progress, passing a law restricting the right to petition, and speaking out against the revolutionary clubs.
In order to influence the Constituent Assembly, on May 15, revolutionary clubs organized a mass popular demonstration in Paris. The number of its participants reached almost 150 thousand. The demonstrators entered the Bourbon Palace, where the assembly was meeting. Raspail read out a petition adopted in the clubs demanding armed assistance to the Polish revolutionaries in Posen and decisive action to combat unemployment and poverty in France. Most of the deputies left the hall, which was taken over by the demonstrators. After much debate, one of the leaders of the demonstration declared the Constituent Assembly dissolved. A new government was immediately proclaimed, which included prominent revolutionary figures.
The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was a mistake, premature and unprepared. The broad masses of the people did not support him. Blanqui and Raspail, correctly evaluating the events, even on the eve of the demonstration, warned against actions that would give the authorities a pretext for persecuting the revolutionaries. These fears were soon confirmed: government troops and detachments of the bourgeois national guard dispersed the unarmed demonstrators. Blanqui, Raspail, Barbes, Albert and some other prominent revolutionaries were arrested and imprisoned. The workers of Paris have lost their best leaders.
. June uprising of Parisian workers
After May 15, the offensive of the counter-revolution began to intensify every day. On May 22, the Blanca and Raspail clubs were closed, and on June 7, a harsh law was issued banning street gatherings. Troops were gathering in Paris. The counter-revolutionary press furiously attacked the national workshops, claiming that their existence hindered the revival of "business life" and threatened "order" in the capital.
June, the government issued a decree on the liquidation of national workshops; workers over 25 years old employed in them were sent to earthworks in the provinces, and unmarried workers aged 18 to 25 were subject to enlistment in the army. The workers' protests were rebuffed by the authorities. The provocative policy of the government pushed the workers to revolt. On June 23, the workers of Paris took to the barricades.
The June uprising had a pronounced proletarian character. Red banners fluttered over the barricades with calls: "Bread or lead!", "The right to work!", "Long live the social republic!" In their proclamations, the insurgent workers demanded: to dissolve the Constituent Assembly and bring its members to justice, to arrest the Executive Commission, to withdraw troops from Paris, to give the right to draft a constitution to the people themselves, to preserve the national workshops, to ensure the right to work. “If Paris is put in chains, then all of Europe will be enslaved,” declared one proclamation, emphasizing the international significance of the uprising.
For four days, June 23-26, there were fierce street battles. On one side fought 40-45 thousand workers, on the other - government troops, mobile guards and detachments of the national guard with a total of 250 thousand people. The actions of government forces were led by generals who had previously fought in Algeria. They have now applied their experience in suppressing the liberation movement of the Algerian people in France. At the head of all government forces was placed the Minister of War, General Cavaignac, who received dictatorial powers. The main stronghold of the uprising was the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; the barricades erected in this area reached the fourth floor of the houses and were surrounded by deep ditches. The struggle at the barricades was led for the most part by leaders of the proletarian revolutionary clubs, the communist workers Rakari, Barthélemy, the socialists Pujol, Delacolonge, and others.
The combat operations of the insurgents were based on a plan of offensive operations drawn up by a prominent revolutionary figure, the chairman of the "Action Committee" in the "Society of Human Rights", a former officer Kersozi. A friend of Raspail, who was repeatedly subjected to legal persecution, Kersozy was very popular in the democratic circles of Paris. Taking into account the experience of previous uprisings, Kersozy provided for a concentric attack on the town hall, on the Bourbon and Tuileries palaces in four columns, which were supposed to rely on the working suburbs. However, this plan failed to materialize. The rebels were unable to create a single leading center. Separate detachments were loosely connected with each other.
The June uprising is a bloody tragedy, a vivid description of which was given by its eyewitnesses. A. I. Herzen wrote:
“On the twenty-third, at four o'clock before dinner, I walked along the banks of the Seine ... The shops were locked, the columns of the national guard with ominous faces went in different directions, the sky was covered with clouds; it was raining... Strong lightning flashed from behind a cloud, thunderclaps followed one after another, and in the midst of all this there was a measured, drawn-out sound of the tocsin... with which the deceived proletariat called its brothers to arms... On the other side of the river, everyone barricades were built in alleys and streets. I, as now, see these gloomy faces carrying stones; children, women helped them. On one barricade, apparently finished, a young polytechnic climbed up, hoisted a banner and sang in a low, sadly solemn voice "La Marseillaise"; all the workers sang, and the chorus of this great song resounded from behind the stones of the barricade, captivated the soul... The alarm went on and on...”
The uprising was put down. A brutal terror began. The victors finished off the wounded rebels. The total number of those arrested reached 25 thousand. The most active participants in the uprising were brought to a military court. 3.5 thousand people were exiled without trial to distant colonies. The working-class quarters of Paris, Lyon and other cities were disarmed.
4. Election of Louis - Napoleon as President
The defeat of the June uprising meant the victory of the bourgeois counter-revolution in France. On June 28, Cavaignac was approved as the "head of the executive branch of the French Republic." The dissolution of all national workshops (both in Paris and in the provinces), the closure of revolutionary clubs, the restoration of a monetary guarantee for the organs of the periodical press, the abolition of the decree on the reduction of the working day - these were the counter-revolutionary measures carried out by the Cavaignac government immediately after the defeat of the June uprising.
November was proclaimed a constitution, drafted by the Constituent Assembly. It completely ignored the interests and needs of the working masses and forbade workers from organizing strikes. At the head of the republic, the new constitution put the president, elected by popular vote for four years, and the legislative power was given to the Legislative Assembly, elected for three years. Suffrage did not extend to many groups of workers. The president was granted extremely broad rights: the appointment and removal of all officials and judges, command of the troops, leadership foreign policy. In this way, the bourgeois republicans hoped to create a strong government capable of quickly suppressing the revolutionary movement. But at the same time, giving the president so much power made conflicts between him and the Legislative Assembly inevitable.
December 1848 elections of the President of the Republic were held. Six candidates were nominated. The advanced workers nominated Raspail, who was in prison at the time, as their candidate. The candidate of the petty-bourgeois Republicans was the former Minister of the Interior, Ledru-Rollin. The bourgeois republicans supported the candidacy of the head of government - Cavaignac. But the Bonapartist candidate, Prince Louis Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I, turned out to be elected, having received an overwhelming majority of votes in the elections.
Louis Bonaparte (1808-1873) was a man of mediocre abilities, distinguished by great ambition. He had already twice tried to seize state power in France (in 1836 and 1840), but failed both times. In 1844, while in prison, he wrote the pamphlet "On the Elimination of Poverty", in which he demagogically pretended to be a "friend" of the working people. In fact, he was closely associated with big bankers, who generously paid his supporters and agents.
During the July Monarchy, the Bonapartist clique was a bunch of adventurers and did not enjoy any influence in the country. Now, after the defeat of the June uprising, the situation has changed. Democratic forces were weakened. The Bonapartists led an intensified agitation in favor of Louis Bonaparte, which had a great influence on the peasants, who hoped that he would alleviate their situation, in particular, abolish the hated 45 centime tax. The success of the Bonapartists was also helped by the halo of Napoleon I, the memory of his military victories.
December Louis Bonaparte assumed the presidency and took an oath of allegiance to the republican constitution. The next day, a new government was formed, headed by the monarchist Odilon Barrot. His first step was the expulsion of the Republicans from the state apparatus.
5. The rise of the democratic movement in the spring of 1849. The defeat of the revolution
In the winter of 1848/49, the economic situation of France did not improve: industry and Agriculture were still in crisis. The position of the workers remained difficult.
At the beginning of April 1849, in connection with the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly, the electoral program of the bloc of petty-bourgeois democrats and socialists was published. His supporters considered themselves the successors of the Jacobins, "Mountains" 1793-1794, and called themselves "New Mountain". Their program, which was of a petty-bourgeois nature, put forward a plan for democratic reforms, demanded tax cuts, the emancipation of the oppressed peoples, but bypassed such issues as the length of the working day, the level of wages, freedom of strikes and trade unions.
May 1849 elections to the Legislative Assembly were held. Most of the seats in the Legislative Assembly (about 500) were won by the bloc of monarchist parties of the Orléanists, Legitimists and Bonapartists, which was then called the "party of order". The bourgeois republicans of the right wing ran 70 candidates; bloc of democrats and socialists won 180 seats.
May Legislative Assembly began its work. From the very first days, disagreements on foreign policy issues, closely related to disagreements on issues of domestic policy. In the center stood the so-called Roman question. As early as April 1849, the French government undertook a military expedition to the borders of the newly emerged Roman Republic. The republican left opposed this counter-revolutionary intervention. At a meeting of the Legislative Assembly on June 11, Ledru-Rollin proposed that the president and ministers be brought to justice for gross violation of the constitution, which forbade the use of the armed forces of republican France to suppress the freedom of other peoples. The Legislative Assembly rejected Ledru-Rollin's proposal. Then the petty-bourgeois democrats decided to organize a peaceful demonstration of protest.
The demonstration took place on June 13. A column of several thousand unarmed people moved to the Bourbon Palace, where the Legislative Assembly met. But the troops stopped the procession and dispersed its participants, using weapons. Ledru-Rollin and other leaders of the petty-bourgeois democrats issued a proclamation only at the last moment in which they called the people to arms to defend the constitution. Handfuls of determined people offered armed resistance to the troops, but the leaders of the demonstration fled. By evening the movement was crushed.
The events of June 13, 1849 evoked a response in the provinces as well. In most cases, the matter was limited to demonstrations, which were quickly dispersed by the troops. The events in Lyon took a more serious turn, where on June 15 an uprising of workers and artisans, led by secret societies, broke out. In the working-class suburb of Croix-Rousse, the main center of the Lyon uprising of 1834, the construction of barricades began. Numerous detachments of soldiers, supported by artillery, were moved against the rebels. The battle lasted from 11 o'clock in the morning until 5 o'clock in the evening, the rebels defended every house with a fight. 150 people were killed and wounded, 700 were taken prisoner, about 2 thousand were arrested and put on trial. The miners of Rives-de-Giers moved to the aid of the Lyon workers, but, having learned about the defeat of the uprising, returned back.
On the night of June 15, 700-800 peasants gathered in the vicinity of the city of Montlucon (Department of Allier), armed with guns, pitchforks, spades. Having received the news of the unsuccessful outcome of the demonstration in Paris, the peasants went home.
The victory won in June 1849 by the bourgeois counter-revolution over the democratic forces coincided with the improvement of the economic situation in France, with the weakening of the industrial crisis.
Conclusion
Revolution of 1848 - 1849 in France took place in several stages.
As a result of the February events, a provisional government was created, which included seven right-wing republicans, two left-wing republicans and two socialists. The actual head of this coalition government was a moderate liberal, romantic poet Lamartine - Minister of Foreign Affairs. The republic was recognized by the clergy and the big bourgeoisie. The compromise reached by the latter determined the character of this stage of this bourgeois-democratic revolution.
The provisional government issued a decree on the introduction of universal suffrage, abolished titles of nobility, and issued laws on democratic freedoms. In France, the most liberal political system in Europe was established.
An important achievement of the workers was the adoption of a decree on the reduction of the working day, the creation of hundreds of workers' associations, the opening of national workshops that provided the unemployed with the opportunity to work.
However, these conquests could not be kept. Inherited a huge state debt the provisional government tried to get out of the economic crisis by increasing taxes on peasants and small proprietors. This aroused the hatred of the peasants for revolutionary Paris. The big landowners fueled these sentiments.
The elections to the Constituent Assembly on April 23, 1848 were won by the bourgeois republicans. The new government was less liberal, it no longer needed the support of the socialists. The legislation he adopted provided for tougher measures to combat demonstrations and gatherings. Repressions began against the leaders of the socialist movement, which led to the June uprising, which was brutally suppressed.
The uprising of June 23-26, 1848, forced the bourgeoisie to strive for the establishment of a strong government. Elected in May 1849, the Legislative Assembly adopted a constitution, according to which all power was given to the president of the republic. They were elected in December 1848, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I. This figure suited not only the financial bourgeoisie, but also the peasantry, who believed that the nephew of the great Bonaparte would protect the interests of small landowners.
On December 1851, Louis Napoleon carried out a coup d'état, dissolving the Legislative Assembly and transferring all power to the president (i.e., to himself).
List of sources and literature
Sources
1. Herzen A. I. From the other side / A. I. Herzen. - M.: Direct - Media, 2008 - 242 p.
Kuznetsov. D.V. Reader on the history of modern times in Europe and America. In 2 books. Book 1. Internal political development. Part 2. XIX century / D. V. Kuznetsov. - Blagoveshchensk: Publishing house of BSPU, 2010. - 434 p.
Literature
4. Vologdin A.A. History of the state and law of foreign countries / A. A. Vologdin. - M.: Higher school, 2005. - 575 p.
The World History: In 24 v. T. 16: Europe under the influence of France. - Minsk; M.: Harvest; AST, 2000. - 559 p.
Zastenker N. Revolution of 1848 in France / N. Zastenker. - M .: Uchpedgiz, 1948. - 204 p.
History of Europe: In 8 vols.V.5: From the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. before the First World War. - M.: Nauka, 2000. - 653 p.
History of France: In 3 vols. Volume 2 / Rev. ed. A.Z. Manfred. - M.: Nauka, 1973. -586s.
Ioannisyan A.R. Revolution of 1848 in France and communism / A. R. Ioannisyan. - M.: Nauka, 1989. - 296 p.
Marx K. Class struggle in France from 1848 to 1850 // Marx K., Engels F. Soch. Ed. 2. T. 7. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1955. S. 5-110.
Marx K. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte // Marx K., Engels F Op. Ed. 2. T. 8. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1955. S. 115-217.
Revolutions of 1848-1849 in Europe / ed. F.V. Potemkin and A.I. Milk. T. 1-2. - M.: Nauka, 1952.
13. Reznikov A.B. The working class in the European revolutions of 1848-1849. / A. B. Reznikov // International labor movement. Questions of history and theory. T. 1.- M., 1976. S. 387-487.
Smirnov A.Yu. Coup d'état on December 2, 1851 by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in the context of the political evolution of the Second Republic. - M, 2001.- 275 p.
Farmonov R. The development of French social and political thought during the Second Republic (1848 - 1851). - M., 1992. - 311 p.
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Harvest failures, famine, reduced production and financial crisis dramatically worsened the situation of workers, causing a series of European revolutions.
The first spark flared up in February 1848 in France. Dissatisfaction with the July Monarchy united various sections of the commercial bourgeoisie and workers. The opposition demanded the continuation of liberal reforms. The Moderate Liberal Party and the Republican Party in the House of Deputies demanded an electoral reform in favor of the middle industrial bourgeoisie. The Republicans and their leader, Ledru Rollin, pushed for universal male suffrage and the restoration of the republic.
The intransigence of the government aggravated the situation in Paris. On February 22, 1848, clashes between the people and the troops and police began to take place in the streets, barricades appeared. On February 24, all the important strategic points of the capital were in the hands of the rebels. The king abdicated and fled to England. The July Monarchy was overthrown.
A provisional government was set up, which included seven right-wing republicans, two left-wing republicans, and two socialists. The actual head of this coalition government was a moderate liberal, romantic poet Lamartine - Minister of Foreign Affairs. The republic was recognized by the clergy and the big bourgeoisie. The compromise reached by the latter determined the character of the first stage of this bourgeois-democratic revolution. .
The provisional government issued a decree on the introduction of universal suffrage, abolished titles of nobility, and issued laws on democratic freedoms. In France, the most liberal political system in Europe was established.
An important achievement of the workers was the adoption of a decree on the reduction of the working day, the creation of hundreds of workers' associations, the opening of national workshops that provided the unemployed with the opportunity to work. However, there was still not enough work for all those in need.
The provisional government, which inherited a huge national debt, tried to get out of the economic crisis by increasing taxes on peasants and small proprietors. This aroused the hatred of the peasants for revolutionary Paris. The big landowners fueled these sentiments.
The elections to the Constituent Assembly on April 23, 1848 were won by the bourgeois republicans. The new government was less liberal, it no longer needed the support of the socialists. The legislation he adopted assumed more stringent beliefs in the fight against demonstrations and gatherings. Repressions began against the leaders of the socialist movement.
The reason for the uprising of the workers in Paris was the decree on June 22 on the closure of the national workshops, which the government had no funds to maintain. On June 23, barricades appeared in the city. The uprising also spread to the suburbs. On the morning of June 24, the Constituent Assembly declared Paris in a state of siege and transferred all power to General Cavaignac. The uprising was put down with the help of artillery. By the evening of June 26, Cavaignac could celebrate his victory. Terror began: 11 thousand rebels were thrown into prison, 3.5 thousand were sent to hard labor.
The uprising of June 23-26, 1848, forced the bourgeoisie to strive for the establishment of a strong government. Elected in May 1849, the Legislative Assembly adopted a constitution, according to which all power was given to the president of the republic. They were elected in December 1848, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I. This figure suited not only the financial bourgeoisie, but also the peasantry, who believed that the nephew of the great Bonaparte would protect the interests of small landowners.
On December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon carried out a coup d'état, dissolving the Legislative Assembly and transferring all power to the president (i.e., to himself).
