Political Struggles in France

Mr. McLaughlin

Congress of Vienna

• Places Louis XVIII on the throne

• Ultra royalist- conservatives aristocrats who wanted the establish the old order

• ABSOLUTE RULE

Revolt in France

• Charles X becomes King after Louis XVIII

• He tries to pass an act to repay Aristocrats for lands lost in the French Revolution

• This is an unpopular act

The legislative assembly becomes more liberal due to elections

The July Ordinances

• Charles issues in response to the legislative assembly

• The ordinances abolish freedom of the press

• Restricts voting rights

The Papers call for a Rebellion

• July 27th, 1830—Angry Parisians storm the streets

• By July 29th—”3 Glorious Days”

• Revolutionaries force Charles X to give up his rights as monarch and abdicate the throne

• He flees to Great Britain

Louis Philippe

• Cousin of Charles accepts the throne

• Becomes known as the Citizen-King

• He dressed and acted like a middle-class person

• He supported the wealthy

• People began to demand political reforms – Especially in voting rights

Citizen-King

• Louis Philippe refused

• People appealed to the Prime Minister Francois Guizot (Gee-Zoh)

Revolt of 1848

• In 1848 a political banquet was held

• Guizot tries to cancel it—too late

• Louis Philippe calls in the troops

• The troops sympathized w/the rebels and join them

• Louis Philippe fearing—abdicates and flees to Great Britain

The Second Empire

• France is now claiming to be a Republic

• Now want a President

• Extend Voting Rights to all males

• Only briefly do the French enjoy the freedoms of the 1848 Revolt

The Rise of Louis Napoleon

Presidential Elections of 1848

• Louis Napoleon is the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte

• Won overwhelmingly

• Presented himself as a reformer but really wants to establish himself as Emperor

• Gained the confidence of the Army, Church, middle class and peasants

• Support of Catholics created an uproar in Paris

• Louis Napoleon uses this to show that the Republic doesn’t work

• National Assembly restricted people due to the violence in Paris

• Louis Napoleon uses this to his advantage

• Revoked voting Rts. Of 1/3rd of the people

Coup d’etat

• Dec. 2, 1851 Louis Napoleon quickly seizes power

• He dissolves the National Assembly

• Arrest 70 of his opponents

• He reestablishes voting Rts. For all French men (This makes him popular)

• He calls for a plebiscite (National Vote)

• This gives him the right to create a new Constitution

• 2nd Plebiscite vote on the constitution

• 95% in favor of the new constitution that turns France from a Republic to a Heritary Empire

• 1852-----Louis Napoleon becomes Napoleon III of France

Results

• He does have successful economic programs

• Built new railroads and roads

• Restricted press and civil liberties

The Crimean War

France and Britainvs

Russia

• Fighting over the Ottoman Empire• Over who would protect Christians

visiting the Holy sites in the Ottoman Empire

• Ottoman’s pick the French• Czar Nicholas I upset—tries to

extend Russian territories by expanding on the Ottoman’s land in the Balkans

The Balkans

• France/G. Britain want to protect their trading resources in the Ottoman Empire—Middle East

• Ottoman’s declare war on Russia in 1854

• France, G.B. and Sardinia (small Italian kingdom)

• Most fighting takes place on the Crimean Peninsula (just into the Black Sea from the Southern Ukraine)

• 1854-1855 Winter Hits

• Armies battled: cold, violent storms, cholera, frostbite and other diseases

• Diseases caused more deaths than actual fighting

• 1855 British troops capture Sebastopol (port town)

• Russia is forced to make peace

• 1856 Crimean War Ends

Crimean Peninsula

End of an Empire

• Napoleon III declares war on Prussia (July 19, 1870)

• He fears their growing power

• Known as the Franco-Prussian War

• French defeated in just over 6 weeks

• Prussia wins at Sedan and take Napoleon III as a prisoner (Sept. 2)

• The Empire collapses (Why?)• Prussia occupies France for 4

months before a truce is signed.

Peace with Prussia

• French elected a new National Assembly

• Surrendered the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine

• Pay 5 billion francs (1billion U.S. dollars)

• Prussia staged a victory march through Paris---humiliating to the French

The New National Assembly

• Reinstated the rents of Parisian (suspended due to Prussian occupation)

• Stop paying the National Guard—Many Parisians are in

• This leads to Civil Unrest

The Commune of Paris

• During the revolt the workers established a Socialist Government known as The Commune of Paris

• Refuse to recognize the National Assembly• Called for France to become a decentralized

federation of independent cities• Declared war on propertied owning class

and church

• Introduced a new 10 hour workday

• National Assembly fought back with the army—in Paris

• The commune burned public buildings

Bloody Week

• May 1871

• During the week, the military arrested over 40,000 people

• More than 20,000 killed

• The Commune falls

The Third Republic

• 1875—New Constitution makes France a Republic again

• Provides for a 2 house legislature• The 2 houses elect a president• Every official act needed the support of

both houses• Cabinet of Ministers were responsible for

gov’t policy

• A new post is made

• Premier

• He was to handle all the executive business

Threats to the Republic

• General Georges Boulanger (Boo-lahn-ZHAY)

• Hero-wanted France to seek revenge against Prussia

• Elections held in 1888 – prevailing attitude: Royalist support him and oppose the Republic

• He is urged (1889) to overthrow the Republic—Coup de’tat

• Gov’t tries to arrest him for treason

• He flees to Belgium

• The movement collapses w/o its leader

Panama Canal

• 1890’s France is trying to build the canal

• The project fails—thousands of French stockholders lost money

• Scandals of dishonesty and poor management practices

• Gov’t officials are implicated---bribes are given

Results of the failure of the Canal

• Elections of 1893

• Nearly 50 socialists won seats in the national convention

• Socialism is growing in France

The Dreyfus Affair

• Alfred Dreyfus—Jewish military officer was arrested and charged with selling military secrets to the Germans

• Convicted and sentenced to life on Devil’s Island• Prison colony off the coast of South America• Many supporters and family maintained his

innocence

• 1897– evidence pointed to the fact that the evidence was forged

• Supporters demanded a retrial

• Gov’t refused

• This Affair becomes a national issue and divided France

• Socialist on Dreyfus side

• 1906—Civil Court pardoned Dreyfus

• Reinstated him to the French army

• THE REPUBLIC SURVIVES THESE 3 THREATS

• 1905-France separates Church and State