The Revolutions of 1848
[Authors: Pat Murray and Daniel Harnett]
[Author: Pat Murray] Throughout Europe, 1848 is
regarded as a year plagued by social unrest triggered political turmoil that
redefined the socio-political relations that had been established by previous
ruling dynasties in several countries. France spearheaded this wave of
revolutions that overcame Europe. In February 1848 misrepresented French citizens
enraged by 18 years of King Louise-Philipe’s July Monarchy (La Monarchie de
Juillet) revolted against the crown. France’s civil society was dissatisfied by
its constitutional monarchy and an elite-run national assembly, which was only representative
of France’s privileged minority. Due to the 1835 Act prohibiting public
assemblies, the French people could not gather in protest, so in turn they
(mostly members of the Parisian middle class) developed a politically oriented,
fund-raising dynamic called the Campagnes des Banquets in mid 1847 to
destabilize Louise-Philipe’s monarchy. These banquets spread to other provinces
and in turn were banned by the monarchy in December 1847. On January 27, 1848
French political thinker and historian Alexis De Tocqueville addressed the
French Chamber of Deputies and predicted the coming revolution in his speech: “I
am told that there is no danger because there are no riots; I am told that,
because there is no visible disorder on the surface of society, there is no
revolution at hand.... This, gentlemen, is my profound conviction: I believe
that we are at this moment sleeping on a volcano. I am profoundly convinced of
it ...”[1] One month after De
Tocqueville’s address, on February 22, 1848, the crowds, enraged by the banning
of the banquets, took to the streets in riot calling for reform and demanding
that the “Bourgeois Monarch” Louis-Philippe and his prime minister Francois
Guizot step down. Louis-Philippe abdicated and Guizot resigned as Prime
Minister on February 24, 1848.
The riots of February 1848 gave
way to the Second Republic, a transient government proclaimed by Alphonse de
Lamartine. In an abrupt effort to satisfy the demands of the outraged and
unemployed citizens, the Second Republic created the National Workshops, a
program that guaranteed employment to French citizens. Yet these national
workshops were not designed properly and required taxes on land to be raised,
which alienated land owners who did not benefit from the workshops and
therefore refused to pay. Funding did not meet the employment demands of the
workshops and the incomes they generated for the workers were barely enough to
survive. On June 23, the government decided to close the workshops. In response
to this, from June 24 to June 26, enraged members of these workshops revolted
once again in what is now known as The June Days (Les Journées de Juin). Approximately 10,000 people were either injured
or killed in this three day period of social unrest between insurgents and
members of the National Guard. As a result of the flawed beginnings of the
Second Republic, a new Constitution was enacted that called for an elected
President of the Republic which would hold office for a four year period. After
the June Days during which the revolution was quelled, France re-established
its government and in December of that year elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as
President of the Republic. Four years later, in 1852, he would establish the
Second French Empire and proclaim himself Emperor for life.
The
year 1848 proved to be a difficult one for the whole of the European continent,
especially for France. The French Revolutions of 1848 were a clear indicator
that change was necessary in a French society troubled by flourishing at the
expense and churning of its citizens in a socio-political machine triggered by
modernization. In a speech to commemorate the 100th anniversary of
the 1848 Revolutions, Lewis Namier concludes “1848 remains a seed-plot
of history. It crystallized ideas and projected the pattern of things to come;
it determined the course of the century which followed.”[2]
Full Text
Scholarly Essay
The Mobile Guard in
the French Revolution of 1848
By Mark Traugott
Theory and Society, Vol. 9 – No. 5
By Mark Traugott
Theory and Society, Vol. 9 – No. 5
Archival
Materials
The Nation Vol. 2 –
No. 35, March 1, 1866
Literature Section, Page 278 (PDF: pp. 247-248)
De Tocqueville as a Legislator
http://books.google.com/books?id=GRMcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA278&lpg=PA278&dq=tocqueville+we+are+sleeping+on+a+volcano&source=bl&ots=nQpb5CaKin&sig=J_O5hDzXsuZonchfaAIP6qg-jq8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dP6VT_brApSI6AGU-qWrDg&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=tocqueville&f=false
Description: This article was published by The Nation, a weekly journal still active today, on March 1, 1866. It talks about Alexis De Tocqueville’s address to the French Chamber of Deputies on January 27, 1848 one month prior to the February revolutions in France. De Tocqueville was a very influential French historian and politician who was extremely concerned with the state of social unrest that inevitably gave way to revolution. It is worthy to mention that this article was published 20 years after the fact because it sheds light on the importance and significance of the events that unfolded in France in 1848 and on one of France’s influential actors of the time.
Literature Section, Page 278 (PDF: pp. 247-248)
De Tocqueville as a Legislator
http://books.google.com/books?id=GRMcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA278&lpg=PA278&dq=tocqueville+we+are+sleeping+on+a+volcano&source=bl&ots=nQpb5CaKin&sig=J_O5hDzXsuZonchfaAIP6qg-jq8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dP6VT_brApSI6AGU-qWrDg&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=tocqueville&f=false
Description: This article was published by The Nation, a weekly journal still active today, on March 1, 1866. It talks about Alexis De Tocqueville’s address to the French Chamber of Deputies on January 27, 1848 one month prior to the February revolutions in France. De Tocqueville was a very influential French historian and politician who was extremely concerned with the state of social unrest that inevitably gave way to revolution. It is worthy to mention that this article was published 20 years after the fact because it sheds light on the importance and significance of the events that unfolded in France in 1848 and on one of France’s influential actors of the time.
Lamartine devant l’Hôtel
de Ville de Paris, le fevrier 25 1848, by Félix Philippoteaux
http://www.parisrevolutionnaire.com/IMG/jpg/Hotel_de_Ville_place_de_l_Lamartine_et_le_drapeau_rouge_40_max.jpg
Description: This image is a painting by Félix Philippoteaux of Alphonse de Lamartine standing at the steps of City Hall in Paris. It is a significant image to consider since it is emblematic of the Second Republic under Lamartine’s direction and how he refused to adopt the “drapeau rouge” or red flag which was symbolic of the socialist revolutionaries. Lamartine instead opted to defend the tricolore drapeau (red, white and blue flag) and keep it as the French symbol of “LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE” (Liberty, equality, fraternity).
http://www.parisrevolutionnaire.com/IMG/jpg/Hotel_de_Ville_place_de_l_Lamartine_et_le_drapeau_rouge_40_max.jpg
Description: This image is a painting by Félix Philippoteaux of Alphonse de Lamartine standing at the steps of City Hall in Paris. It is a significant image to consider since it is emblematic of the Second Republic under Lamartine’s direction and how he refused to adopt the “drapeau rouge” or red flag which was symbolic of the socialist revolutionaries. Lamartine instead opted to defend the tricolore drapeau (red, white and blue flag) and keep it as the French symbol of “LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE” (Liberty, equality, fraternity).
Barricade, Rue
Soufflot, Paris, June 1848, painting, Horace Vernet
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/3/27861.jpg
Description: The events of the June Days in 1848 is immortalized in Horace Vernet’s painting Barricade, Rue Soufflot, Paris. This image depicts the revolutionary members of the National Workshops rebelling against the authorioties. A typical scenario of the June Days involved “insurgents” blocking the streets with barricades to disrupt the roadways and confront the members of the police. It is important to note the Pantheon, the greatest symbol of the Republic, in the background since the insurgents considered the area their stronghold.
French Color Print of
"Republique Francaise. Combat du Peuple Parisien dans las Journees des 22,
23 et 24 Fevrier 1848"
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/IH187781/french-color-print-of-republique-francaise-combat
Description: This print of the February Revolutions of 1848 was the fron cover of the newspaper Republique Francaise. It was like this that news about the abdication of Louis-Philippe, the birth of the Second Republic, and the struggles of the people combating authority were published in the national paper. It is also a depiction of triumph in revolution and the need and urgency for reform in France at the time.
Description: This print of the February Revolutions of 1848 was the fron cover of the newspaper Republique Francaise. It was like this that news about the abdication of Louis-Philippe, the birth of the Second Republic, and the struggles of the people combating authority were published in the national paper. It is also a depiction of triumph in revolution and the need and urgency for reform in France at the time.
Vanished Supremacies:
Essays on European History 1812—1918
Chapter V: The Seed-Plot of History (pp. 21-30)
By Lewis Namier (1963)
http://archive.org/details/vanishedsupremac002641mbp
Description: Chapter Five : The Seed-Plot of history is a facinating account given in 1948 by Lewis Namier on the 100th anniversary of the 1848 revolutinons. Not only is it an analytical recounting of what transpired during that year, it provides a valuable perspective of how significant those events were and how they have influenced the world up to 1948. It is interesting to consider how Namier puts into context the results of the revolutions of 1848 in a time when a World War had been waged in Europe and there was a sense of hope and reform, much like that experienced by the authors of the revolution in 1848.
Chapter V: The Seed-Plot of History (pp. 21-30)
By Lewis Namier (1963)
http://archive.org/details/vanishedsupremac002641mbp
Description: Chapter Five : The Seed-Plot of history is a facinating account given in 1948 by Lewis Namier on the 100th anniversary of the 1848 revolutinons. Not only is it an analytical recounting of what transpired during that year, it provides a valuable perspective of how significant those events were and how they have influenced the world up to 1948. It is interesting to consider how Namier puts into context the results of the revolutions of 1848 in a time when a World War had been waged in Europe and there was a sense of hope and reform, much like that experienced by the authors of the revolution in 1848.
Links for Further Exploration
Recollections:
The French Revolution of 1848 (Social Science Classics Series).
By Alexis De Tocqueville
By Alexis De Tocqueville
1848: A
Turning Point?
Publication Information: Book Title: 1848: A Turning Point?. Contributors: Melvin Kranzberg - editor. Publisher: D. C. Heath. Place of Publication: Boston. Publication Year: 1959. Page Number: v.
By Melvin Kranzberg
Publication Information: Book Title: 1848: A Turning Point?. Contributors: Melvin Kranzberg - editor. Publisher: D. C. Heath. Place of Publication: Boston. Publication Year: 1959. Page Number: v.
By Melvin Kranzberg
The Class Struggles in France (1848-1850)
Publication Information: Book Title: The Class Struggles in France, 1848-1850. Contributors: Karl Marx - author. Publisher: International Publishers. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1964. Page Number: 3.
By Karl Marx
Publication Information: Book Title: The Class Struggles in France, 1848-1850. Contributors: Karl Marx - author. Publisher: International Publishers. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1964. Page Number: 3.
By Karl Marx
The Students of Paris and the Revolution of 1848
Publication Information: Book Title: The Students of Paris and the Revolution of 1848. Contributors: John G. Gallaher - author. Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press. Place of Publication: Carbondale, IL. Publication Year: 1980. Page Number: iii.
By John G. Gallaher
Publication Information: Book Title: The Students of Paris and the Revolution of 1848. Contributors: John G. Gallaher - author. Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press. Place of Publication: Carbondale, IL. Publication Year: 1980. Page Number: iii.
By John G. Gallaher
The French
Revolution of 1848: Its Causes, Actors, Events and Influences (1848).
http://archive.org/details/frenchrevolutio01englgoog
By George G. Foster, Thomas Dunn English
http://archive.org/details/frenchrevolutio01englgoog
By George G. Foster, Thomas Dunn English
Vanished
Supremacies Essays on European History 1812 1918 (1963).
http://archive.org/details/vanishedsupremac002641mbp
Chapter V: The Seed-Plot of History
By Lewis Namier
http://archive.org/details/vanishedsupremac002641mbp
Chapter V: The Seed-Plot of History
By Lewis Namier
1848: The
Revolution of the Intellectuals (Raleigh Lectures on History).
Published March 12th 1992 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1964).
By Lewis Namier
Published March 12th 1992 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1964).
By Lewis Namier
1848: a
European Revolution? International Ideas and National Memories of 1848.
Dr William Fortescue, review of 1848: a European Revolution? International Ideas and National Memories of 1848, (review no. 422)
URL: http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/422
Date accessed: 22 April, 2012
Dr William Fortescue, review of 1848: a European Revolution? International Ideas and National Memories of 1848, (review no. 422)
URL: http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/422
Date accessed: 22 April, 2012
1848: The
Revolutionary Tide in Europe
Publication Information: Book Title: 1848: The Revolutionary Tide in Europe. Contributors: Peter N. Stearns - author. Publisher: W. W. Norton. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1974. Page Number: iii.
Publication Information: Book Title: 1848: The Revolutionary Tide in Europe. Contributors: Peter N. Stearns - author. Publisher: W. W. Norton. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1974. Page Number: iii.
[1]
Alexis de Tocqueville: Speech of January 29, 1848, delivered in the French
Chamber of Deputies.
[2]
Vanished Suypremacies: Essays on European History 1812-1918, Ch. 5: 1848:
Seed-Plot of History.
Lewis Namier (1963)
________________________________________________________________________
Lewis Namier (1963)
________________________________________________________________________
The Revolutions of 1848: The Paris Insurrection
[Author: Daniel Harnett] In the year 1848, a series of revolutions swept
the Earth and reconstructed the globe. These political upheavals occurred
throughout Europe in order to bring about the collapse of traditional
authority. The revolution in France, which began in February of 1848, was the
first of many. It brought about the overthrow of the Orleans monarchy, the end
of King-Louis Philippe’s reign, and the creation of the French Second Republic.
Over 50 countries were affected by the revolutions;
however, these upheavals that spread throughout the continent were independent
of one another. The revolution in France, in particular, was a social upheaval.
“The attendant low wages, unemployment, miserable living conditions, hunger,
disease, ignorance, and crime formed the nucleus of the social question.”
(Fasel 655) The rural and agricultural workers of France were struggling and
the government was not hearing their pleas. The poor members of urban society
were also staging protests in the face of adversity and unemployment, “urban poverty
plagued the ancient regime and appeared as a constant theme in the Great
Revolution.” (Fasel 655) The scare of unemployment rattled the Paris workers,
consequently leading them to gather angrily as a mob in the streets of the city.
As a result, the government of France took a socialist approach in opening the “charity
work houses”, also known as the National Workshops, where workers would be
guaranteed employment.[1] The workshops proved to be
a failure, however, due to the large number of workers that populated the
establishments. This socialist failure, coupled with the economic hardships of
the time, further compounded the tension that existed between those in power
and the working class.[2]
The responsibility of the state to preserve its
citizens from harsh economic conditions was failing; agricultural laborers,
sharecroppers, and peasants of rural towns were being burdened by heavy
taxation.[3] In June of 1848, Parisians demanded aid from
the government and the guarantee of a ten-hour workday within workshops.[4] The Paris Insurrection of
1848 was violent and chaotic as guards shot and killed several protestors.
Louis Napoleon put down the insurrection, and, upon his election, established
the Second French Empire.
Archival
Elements
The first
picture is a depiction of the French Revolution. This hand-colored lithograph
illustrates the violence that occurred during the Revolutions of 1848. Although
an anonymous artist created this work, it was published by N. Currier in New
York during the year of the Paris Insurrection. The picture depicts the
Parisian mob acting out against the authority and their violent attempts at
rebellion. It can be seen in the background that one of the revolutionaries is
holding the nations flag in the air. The mob, therefore, symbolizes the Parisian
worker and common man. The burning carriage possibly symbolizes the collapse of
the Orleans monarchy. Some men have fallen in this picture and some are dead. A
few individuals physically lie underneath the carriage, symbolizing the
significance of the common man in establishing prosperity and luxury for the
monarch. That is to say, the picture not only depicts the turbulent and chaotic
climate of the time period, but also serves as a reminder that Paris’ wealth
was founded on the backs of the poor.
The second
picture, the “Scene in the Throne-Room of the Tuileries,” is another historical
print that succeeds in depicting the violence and the aggression of revolution.
This lithograph, published by N. Currier in 1848, shows the anti-monarchist
nature of the rebellion. The picture depicts the anger felt by the common
Parisian worker during the revolution. Gathered in an angry mob, the
revolutionaries dismantle and destroy an elegant room that represents the
French aristocracy. Their restlessness is characterized through their actions;
as they knock over the ornate and expensive furniture and rip apart the
bourgeois curtains of the monarch, they actively seek change. The scene takes
place within a throne room in order to demonstrate the Parisian worker’s
attempt at occupying the space of authority. Through the destruction of
material items, the artist has captured an anarchistic concept that was
articulated by Proudhon in the 1930s: nobody owns the means of production.
Bibliography
Christofferson,
Thomas R. “The National Workshops of 1848: The View from the Provinces.” French
Historical Studies, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Autumn, 1980) 505-520, Duke University
Press. JSTOR, 20 Apr. 2012 http://jstor.org/stable/286348.
Fasel, George. “The
Wrong Revolution: French Republicanism in 1848,” French Historical Studies,
Vol. 8, No. 4 (Autumn, 1974) 654-677, Duke University Press, JSTOR, 21 Apr.
2012 http://www.jstor.org/stable/285857.
Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions. Hubert Bonin. James Chastain, 1998. 22 Apr. 2012 http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/francemp.htm.
N. Currier. The
French Revolution: Burning the Royal Carriages at the Chateau d'Eu, Feby. 24,
1848. 1848. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Popular Graphic Arts. Web. 21 April
2012.
N. Currier. The French Revolution: Scene in the Throne-Room of the Tuileries, Feby.
24th, 1848. 1848. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Popular Graphic Arts. Web. 21 April 2012
Additional Sites:
[1]
Hubert Bonin. “Employment and the Revolution of 1848 in France.” Encyclopedia
of 1848 Revolutions. Krista Durchik. 1998. James Chastain. 21 Apr. 2012. http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/francemp.htm.
[2]
R. Thomas Christofferson. “The National Workshops of 1848: The View from the
Provinces,” French Historical Studies, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Autumn, 1980) 505-520,
Duke University Press. JSTOR, 20 Apr. 2012 http://jstor.org/stable/286348.
[3]
George Fasel. “The Wrong Revolution: French Republicanism in 1848,” French
Historical Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Autumn, 1974) 654-677, Duke University
Press, JSTOR, 21 Apr. 2012 http://www.jstor.org/stable/285857.
[4]
R. Thomas Christofferson. “The National Workshops of 1848: The View from the
Provinces,” 517.
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