Welcome to AS Level History: France 1815–1870
Welcome to your study notes for Unit AS 2: Historical Conflict and Change (France 1815–1870)! In this unit, we explore how France swung between monarchy, republic, and empire over 55 turbulent years. Don't worry if this seems like a lot of regime changes to memorize at first—we will break down every ruler, revolution, and turning point step by step.
The Big Picture: Four Regimes in 55 Years
1. The Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830): Restored royal family tries to balance old traditions with new constitutional limits.
2. The July Monarchy (1830–1848): A constitutional "Citizen King" backed by wealthy elites.
3. The Second Republic (1848–1852): An experiment in democracy that opens the door to an elected strongman.
4. The Second Empire (1852–1870): Napoleon III's transition from authoritarian rule to a liberal empire, ending in wartime defeat.
Theme 1: The Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830)
1. Louis XVIII (1815–1824) and the Balancing Act
After the final defeat of Napoleon I in 1815, the allied powers restored the Bourbon monarchy under Louis XVIII. Louis knew that attempting to turn the clock back completely to pre-1789 absolutism would trigger another uprising. He introduced the Charter of 1814, establishing a constitutional monarchy with an elected assembly (the Chamber of Deputies) and guaranteed basic legal rights.
Key Political Divisions:
• The Ultras (Ultra-royalists): Extreme right-wing royalists led by the King's brother (the Count of Artois). They wanted absolute power returned to the crown and land restored to the nobility.
• The Moderates / Liberals: Supported constitutional government and wanted to protect the gains of the French Revolution.
• Politique de bascule ("Seesaw Policy"): Louis XVIII’s moderate strategy of balancing between the Ultras and Liberals to maintain political stability without leaning too far to either side.
2. Charles X (1824–1830) and the Drift to Absolutism
When Louis XVIII died, his younger brother took the throne as Charles X. Charles was the leader of the Ultras and firmly believed in divine-right monarchy. His hardline policies quickly alienated the French public:
• Law of Sacrilege (1825): Imposed severe penalties (including death) for desecrating church property, aligning the state heavily with the Catholic Church.
• Law of Indemnity: Provided financial compensation to the émigrés (nobles who fled France during the 1789 Revolution) for their lost estates, funded through government bonds.
• Appointment of Polignac (1829): In 1829, Charles appointed the Ultra hardliner Polignac as his chief minister, directly provoking the liberal-dominated Chamber of Deputies.
3. The July Revolution (1830)
In July 1830, facing parliamentary opposition, Charles X issued the Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud. These ordinances dissolved the newly elected Chamber, suspended the freedom of the press, restricted voting rights to a tiny fraction of the wealthiest landowners, and called for new elections. In response, workers, students, and liberals took to the barricades in Paris during "Three Glorious Days" of street fighting. Charles X abdicated and fled into exile, bringing an end to the Bourbon Restoration.
Theme 1 Quick Review: Louis XVIII used the politique de bascule to balance the Charter of 1814 and the Ultras. Charles X pushed extreme Ultra policies (Law of Sacrilege, Law of Indemnity, Polignac) and provoked his own downfall via the Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud in 1830.
Theme 2: The July Monarchy (1830–1848)
1. Louis Philippe I: The "Citizen King"
Following the 1830 Revolution, the moderate liberal leadership offered the crown to Louis Philippe I (the Duke of Orléans). He styled himself as the "Citizen King" (King of the French, rather than King of France) and accepted a revised version of the 1814 Charter.
Political Factions in the Chamber:
• Party of Movement (Mouvement): Favoured progressive political reform, an extension of the franchise (voting rights), and active foreign support for foreign revolutions.
• Party of Resistance (Résistance): Opposed further political change, believing the 1830 settlement was final and stability was the primary goal.
2. Guizot’s Ministry and Growing Unrest
By the 1840s, the Party of Resistance gained complete control under Chief Minister François Guizot. Guizot firmly blocked any expansion of the voting franchise. When critics demanded lower property qualifications so more people could vote, Guizot famously replied: "Enrich yourselves" (Enrichissez-vous)—arguing that if people wanted the vote, they should work hard and become rich enough to qualify.
3. The 1848 Revolution
Opposition to the regime boiled over due to a combination of long-term and short-term factors:
• Economic Depression (1846–1847): Poor harvests and industrial distress led to rising food prices, business failures, and mass unemployment among urban workers.
• "Thirst for Reform": Widespread popular frustration with Guizot’s corrupt electoral management and refusal to broaden the franchise.
• The Reform Banquets: Because political meetings were outlawed, opposition groups held large public dinners ("banquets") to discuss electoral reform. The government's decision to ban a major scheduled banquet in February 1848 sparked mass riots in Paris. Louis Philippe abdicated on 24 February 1848.
Theme 2 Quick Review: Louis Philippe ruled as the "Citizen King," but his regime came to rely strictly on the Résistance party. Guizot’s refusal to reform the franchise, combined with the 1846–47 economic crisis and the banned Reform Banquet in February 1848, brought down the monarchy.
Theme 3: The Second Republic and the Rise of Louis Napoleon (1848–1852)
1. The Second Republic and the "June Days"
A Provisional Government took power in February 1848, uniting moderate republicans, radical republicans, and socialists. To address mass unemployment, the government established National Workshops, providing state-funded public works jobs to over 100,000 workers in Paris.
However, the newly elected conservative National Assembly viewed the workshops as expensive hotbeds of socialist agitation and ordered them closed in June 1848. The workers revolted in the June Days (1848)—four days of bloody street fighting that were brutally crushed by government troops under General Cavaignac. This bloodshed created a deep, permanent divide between working-class socialists and the propertied middle classes.
2. The Rise of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
In December 1848, the Second Republic held its first direct presidential election based on universal male suffrage. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte won a landslide victory. His success was driven by:
• The Napoleonic Legend: Popular nostalgia for the military glory, law, and order associated with his uncle, Napoleon I.
• The "Party of Order": Middle-class property owners, Catholics, and peasants rallied behind Louis Napoleon as a strong leader who could protect them from socialist revolution.
• Broad Appeal: He presented himself as a unifying figure above party politics.
3. The Coup d'État of December 1851 and the Return of Empire
The Republican Constitution limited the President to a single four-year term. When the National Assembly refused to amend the constitution to allow him to stand again, Louis Napoleon staged a Coup d'état on 2 December 1851, seizing power, dissolving the assembly, and arresting opposition leaders.
He legitimized his actions through two national votes: the Plebiscite of 1851 (which approved a new authoritarian constitution) and the Plebiscite of 1852 (which officially restored the imperial title, making him Emperor Napoleon III).
Theme 3 Quick Review: The Second Republic began with progressive ideals like the National Workshops, but the bloody June Days split society. Louis Napoleon rode the "Napoleonic Legend" and the support of the "Party of Order" to the presidency in December 1848, culminating in his Coup of December 1851 and the restoration of the Empire.
Theme 4: The Second Empire (1852–1870)
1. Domestic Policy: Two Distinct Phases
Napoleon III's domestic rule is divided into two distinct chronological phases:
Phase 1: The Authoritarian Empire (1852–1860)
• Absolute political control: strict press censorship, the banning of political opposition, and tightly managed elections with official candidates.
• Economic modernization: expansion of the railway network and state backing for financial institutions like the Crédit Mobilier to stimulate industrial investment.
• Haussmann’s Renovation of Paris: Baron Haussmann redesigned the capital with wide boulevards, improved sanitation, and modern parks. This modernized Paris, improved traffic, and made building revolutionary barricades much more difficult.
Phase 2: The Liberal Empire (1860–1870)
• Recognizing growing opposition, Napoleon III voluntarily relaxed state controls.
• He granted greater powers of debate and scrutiny to the Legislative Body, legalized trade unions and the right to strike (1864), and loosened press censorship.
2. Foreign Policy
Napoleon III declared that "The Empire means peace," but pursued an active foreign policy to enhance French prestige and overturn the 1815 Vienna settlements:
• Crimean War (1853–1856): France allied with Britain against Russia, restoring France’s status as a leading European power.
• Intervention in Italy (1859): Napoleon intervened alongside Piedmont-Sardinia against the Austrian Empire to assist Italian unification, winning Nice and Savoy for France.
• The Mexican Adventure (1861–1867): A disastrous attempt to establish a French-backed Catholic empire in Mexico under Archduke Maximilian. It drained French resources and ended in total failure when French troops were forced to withdraw.
3. The Collapse of the Empire (1870)
Growing diplomatic tensions with Prussia under Otto von Bismarck led to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. The French army suffered devastating defeats. On 2 September 1870, Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan. Two days later, on 4 September 1870, the Empire collapsed and the Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris.
Theme 4 Quick Review: Napoleon III governed first through the Authoritarian Empire (1852–60) featuring Haussmann's works and the Crédit Mobilier, then adapted into the Liberal Empire (1860–70). Foreign successes in Crimea and Italy were undermined by Mexico, and the regime ultimately collapsed after the Battle of Sedan in 1870.
Essential Exam Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Confusing Napoleon I and Napoleon III:
• Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte) ruled 1799–1815.
• Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon) ruled as President from 1848 to 1852, and as Emperor from 1852 to 1870.
Exam Tip: Always specify "Napoleon III" or "Louis Napoleon" to show precise historical knowledge!
2. Over-focusing on 1789:
Your AS 2 unit covers 1815 to 1870. Do not spend time narrating the French Revolution of 1789, the Storming of the Bastille, or Robespierre. Keep your answers anchored firmly between the 1815 restoration and the 1870 defeat at Sedan.
3. Neglecting the "Liberal Empire":
Never treat the Second Empire as a constant, unchanging dictatorship. Examiners look for students who can contrast the strict control of the Authoritarian Empire (1852–60) with the constitutional concessions of the Liberal Empire (1860–70).
4. Generalizing the 1848 Revolutionaries:
Remember that the revolutionaries of 1848 were not a single unified group. Moderate liberals, working-class socialists, and the conservative "Party of Order" had very different goals, which directly caused the clash during the June Days.
Master Timeline: France 1815–1870
• 1814: Louis XVIII grants the Charter of 1814.
• 1815: Bourbon Restoration established after Napoleon I's defeat.
• 1824: Death of Louis XVIII; succession of Charles X.
• 1825: Charles X passes the Law of Sacrilege and Law of Indemnity.
• 1829: Appointment of Ultra-royalist Polignac.
• 1830: Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud trigger the July Revolution; Louis Philippe becomes "Citizen King".
• 1840s: François Guizot leads the Résistance government; tells critics to "Enrichissez-vous".
• 1846–1847: Severe economic depression in France.
• Feb 1848: Banning of the Reform Banquet sparks the 1848 Revolution; Second Republic proclaimed.
• June 1848: June Days uprising crushed following the closure of the National Workshops.
• Dec 1848: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte elected President.
• Dec 1851: Louis Napoleon stages a Coup d'état, confirmed by plebiscite.
• 1852: Plebiscite confirms the Second Empire; Louis Napoleon crowned Napoleon III.
• 1852–1860: The Authoritarian Empire; modernization via Crédit Mobilier and Haussmann's renovation of Paris.
• 1853–1856: French involvement in the Crimean War.
• 1859: French military intervention in Italy.
• 1860–1870: The Liberal Empire; political and social concessions introduced.
• 1861–1867: The failed Mexican Adventure.
• Sept 1870: French defeat at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War; collapse of the Second Empire and proclamation of the Third Republic.