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"Liberty Leading The People" Eugene Delacroix |
Ironically, the most absolutist monarchy of Europe produced a century of instability and conflict in Paris. Henry IV, who was the first in the line of many Bourbon kings, first established this monarchy. However, it was not until his grandson, Louis XIV, came into power that the monarchy was positioned as an absolute power. The rigid social hierarchy that led to much of the conflict included the three estates of: the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants and working class. All of these occurrences eventually set stage for the chaotic modern era, which was composed of the French Revolution, Napoleon, restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, and the Revolution of 1830. All of these conflicts of the modern era aroused from the loosening of a rigid social hierarchy as a result of much revolt.
Henry IV first established the long line of Bourbon monarchical rule. Henry IV came into power in 1589, when Henry III died. Henry IV placed the house of Bourbon on the throne. His rule was mainly focused on building a solid foundation for the rest of his Bourbon descendants to expand upon. Henry IV's son Louis XIII had two sons, Louis XIV and Philippe. In 1661, Philippe was given Orleans, and from him is descended the house of Orleans. In 1643, Louis XIV became the king of France.
Louis XIV was able to build the strong absolutist monarchy for the rest of his descendants to follow. In the Louis XIV's memoirs he wrote about the importance of having strength and power while ruling a country:
Nothing is so dangerous as weakness, of whatever
kind it be.
To command others, one must raise oneself above them;
and after having heard all sides one must decide on the judgmentone may come
to with an open mind,
always keeping in view to order or do nothing unworthy of oneself,
of the character one bears, or of the greatness of the State.
These ideals that Louis XIV had, led to a very strong governmental power, however, these ideals of absolutism also allowed little to no social mobility, and because of this there was little freedom. The descendants of Louis XIV ruled France (except during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, 1792-1814) until the deposition of Charles X in 1830. In July 1830, t he branch of Bourbon- Orleans brought to the throne Louis-Phillippe. However, with the introduction of the Second Republic in 1848, the Bourbon monarchy in France ended.
Various social, economic, and political conditions led to the French Revolution. Among these conditions was dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, financial problems caused by the costs of wars, and interest in new ideals about government. Legal divisions among social groups that had existed for hundreds of years created much discontent. According to law, French society consisted of three groups called estates. Members of the clergy made up the first estate, nobles made up the second, and the rest of the people composed the third group. The third estate composed of peasants and the working class, composed of merchants, lawyers, and government officials. The new ideas about government challenged France's absolute monarchy. Under this system, the king had almost unlimited authority. The king would govern by divine right (the monarch's rule to rule that was thought to come from God). The financial crisis had developed because the nation had gone deeply into debt to finance fighting in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). "The French government was made bankrupt by the war. Altogether France had spent a billion livres on the conflict, and the interest on the national debt was dragging the treasury down day by day toward insolvency." This problem of bankruptcy eventually led to a climax when the Parliament of Paris insisted that King Louis XVI could borrow more money or raise taxes only by calling a meeting of the Estates-General (the body was comprised of the three estates). Reluctantly, the king called the meeting.
With the meeting of the Estates-General in place, the estates would no allow for the rigid social hierarchy to go unnoticed. The excitement was constantly mounting as the meeting of the Estates-General approached. Pamphlets were pouring from the presses, one of the most famous read:
What is the Third Estate? Everything.
What has it been, till the present, in the political order? Nothing.
What does it ask? To become something.
The Estates-General opened on May 5, 1789, at Versailles. Each of the three estates (clergy, nobility, and the third estate, or commons) presented their particular grievances to the crown. Innumerable criticisms came pouring in from each of the provinces, and it became clear that sweeping political and social reforms, far exceeding the object of its meeting, were expected from the Estates-General. The third estate had wanted the Estates-General to write a constitution. The king and the first two estates refused the demands of the third estate. In June 1789, the representatives of the third estate declared themselves the National Assembly of France. They gathered at a tennis court and refused to disband until they had written a constitution. Louis XVI yielded and legalized the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the masses of France took action and on July 14, 1789, and rushed the Bastille (a fortress and prison in France). Massive peasant uprisings against nobles also broke out in the countryside. A few nobles decided to flee France, while King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette took refuge in Versailles.
With no absolute power in place it was the time for reconstruction. On August 4, 1789, the nobles and clergy in the Assembly relinquished their privileges, abolishing the feudal structure of France in one night. Shortly after, the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The declaration guaranteed the same basic rights to all citizens, including "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." Soon, on October 5, 1789, a Parisian crowd marched to Versailles and brought the king and queen back to the Tuileries palace in Paris. The Assembly then drafted a constitution that created a limited monarchy with a legislature elected by voters with property qualifications. Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon (an orthodox and ambitious, bishop and courtier) predicted the downfall of the absolute monarchy that Louis XIV had established:
Absolute power degrades every subject to the
condition of a slave.
The tyrant is flattered, even to the point of adoration, and everyone trembles
at the glance of his eye;
but at the least breath of revolt this monstrous power perished by its own excess.
It drew no strength from the love of the people.
All that Fénelon had predicted came true, the absolute power of the monarchy put restrictions upon the people of France and these restrictions culminated into the French Revolution.
The French Revolution brought about great changes in the society and government of France. The revolution, which lasted from 1789 until 1799, had far reaching effects on the rest of Europe. The revolution brought France into opposition with much of Europe. The monarchs who ruled the other nations feared the spread of democratic ideals. The revolution left the French people in extreme disagreement about the best form of government for their country. Even thought the democratic ideals that were introduced during the revolution did not make the nation a democracy, the revolution created the long-lasting foundations for a unified state.
With France left in a vulnerable position, it would only be a short amount of time before someone would take advantage. Continuing with his mostly militaristic lifestyle, days after marrying Josephine de Beauharnais in 1796, Napoleon left Paris to take command of a small French army on the Italian-French border equipped with about 38,000 men. Napoleon was able to develop a very successful military strategy that would for the basis of his future campaigns. He would start a battle while holding back as large a reserve as possible. He would then seek the weakest point in the enemy's lines and throw all his strength against that point at the decisive moment. Napoleon used this strategy to invade Egypt, demolish the Austrian and Russian armies in Austerlitz, defeated the Prussian army in Jena and Auerstedt, defeated the Russian armies at Friedland, and defeated the Autrians again at Wagram. In December 2,1804, Napoleon made himself emperor and led his armies as far as Moscow.
In June 1815, Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo. Lieutenant General Antoine-Henri (Baron of Jomini), while discussing the different roles of a general stated, "a general should always be capable of making all the resources of the invaded country contribute to the success of his enterprise." Napoleon was a great general, however, he did just the contrary, he invaded numerous countries but did nothing with the land he had gained to improve upon the empire of France. France had gained nothing from the Napoleonic conquests other than a legend. Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. However, he has also been portrayed as being a power-hungry conqueror. The Napoleonic administration, did however, leave a permanent impact on France. Napoleon helped established a uniform, modern administrative system, abolished feudalism, and fostered education, science, literature, and the arts.
After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Bourbon monarchy was brought back to power, and the time of restoration was to begin. Louis XVI's brother ruled first as Louis XVIII and yet another brother who ruled as Charles X succeeded him in 1820. A significant characteristic of the brothers, particularly Charles X, was the lack of recognition of the consequences of the French Revolution in 1789 that cost Louis XVI his life.
The restored Bourbons were fairly reactionary in their view of French politics and sought to rule, as did Louis XIV. However, France had gone through a revolution, decades of war and while the Bourbons were restored, they ruled as constitutional monarchs. However, they did not realize this change had occurred.
By 1830 social stresses were high. Still with no secure social hierarchy, France was in recession. An invasion of Algeria in May 1830, aimed at distracting the population from domestic problems, was unsuccessful in that task. Charles X sought to regain the upper hand and appointed the Duke of Orleans as lieutenant general of Paris. He also realized his time was up and sought to have his grandson recognized as king when he resigned. This tack was not successful. Charles X was forced to leave France. Meanwhile in Paris the Chamber of Deputies met to reconstitute the government. After much discussion, on August 7 the throne was declared vacant and it was offered to the Duke of Orleans, who was to rule as Louis Philippe.
To just look at 240 years of history of one country makes it difficult to get a sense of the full evolution of a country. However, the change that France went through from 1589-1830 years is very significant. The years from 1589 to 1789 was the pre-modern period in which the absolutist Bourbon Monarchy was in power and the social hierarchy underneath it had no structure. The modern period that would continue after it until 1830 was a result of the loosening rigid social hierarchy. There was much revolting from the three estates that showed the inevitable democratic wants after many years living under an absolute power. Unlike Great Britain and Austria, France resolved most of its conflicts with revolting as supposed to peaceful negotiations. Even though this was a more bloody way to resolve problems, it seemed to work for the structure of France.
Rule, John. Louis XIV: Great Lives Observed . (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1974) pp. 43.
Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. Rousseau and Revolution . (New York: Mahony & Roese, 1967) pp. 872.
Martin, H., sited in Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. Rousseau and Revolution . (New York: Mahony & Roese, 1967) pp. 955.
Fénelon, Télémaque , sited in Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. The Age of Louis XIV . (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963) pp. 84.
Lieutenant General Antoine-Henri, sited in Luvaas, Jay. Napoleon on the Art of War . (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999) pp. 107.
Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. The Age of Louis XIV . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963.
------. Rousseau and Revolution . New York: Mahony & Roese, 1967.
"French Revolution." World Book . Chicago: World Book Inc., 2001.
"House of Bourbon." Encyclopedia Britannica . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2000.
Luvaas, Jay. Napoleon on the Art of War . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
"Napoleon." World Book . Chicago: World Book Inc., 2001.
Rule, John. Louis XIV: Great Lives Observed . New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1974.