Challenges to Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire PDF

Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire Theme 2 – France and the US – Politics and society Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Emp...

Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire Theme 2 – France and the US – Politics and society Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire Why was the institution of universal male suffrage in 1848 not sufficient to guarantee the nature of the political regime, which had been open since 1789? Introduction In February 1848 a popular revolution in Paris established the Second Republic; four months later the new government used force to crush working-class opposition to it in Paris, killing around 2,500 people in doing so. By contrast, in 1875 a series of undramatic constitutional laws were passed that became the basis for the Third Republic. The period between these two dates was as turbulent in France as the better-remembered era of the French Revolution and Napoleon. During the 27 years between 1848 and 1875 France experienced three systems of government. This was not unusual, as the French Revolution of 1789 had brought an instability to French government that lasted until the 1870s; Between 1789 and 1848, France was a monarchy (three times), an empire (once). The midnineteenth century marked the final stage in the resolution of the political consequences of the French Revolution. Its ideas were used to justify taking power; the slogan ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity’ inspired many people to challenge the government. The revolutionary practices of the early 1790s, as exemplified by the use of the guillotine, frightened almost as many people, however. And many wanted the authorities to pull down the barricades and deal with those behind them. The 1848-75 period can be seen as the end of the revolutionary era that began in 1789. The period started with the overthrow of the Orléanist monarch, Louis-Philippe, who had himself come to power as a consequence of the revolution against the Bourbon monarch, Charles X, in 1830. I) The legacy of 1789 in the democratic ideals that allowed for the assertion of fundamental rights in 1848 “Why did the Second Republic replace the July Monarchy?” Or “Why did the July Monarchy collapse?” And “why was a republic established in its place?” The period started with the overthrow of the Orléanist monarch, Louis-Philippe, who had himself come to power as a consequence of the revolution against the Bourbon monarch, Charles X, in 1830. Why, after proclaiming himself king of the French, did Louis-Philippe, who had fought on the side of revolution, suffer the same fate as Charles X? Why did the July Monarchy collapse? The July Monarchy was the label given to the Orléanist monarchy that was estalished in 1830. Louis- Philippe’s acceptance of the crown in 1830 after Charles’s abdication in July 1830 caused a rift with the Bourbon branch of the French royal family. The Bourbons had been restored to power by the great powers of Europe between 1814 and 1815 and had been overthrown by the people of Paris in 1830. To the supporters of the Bourbons Louis-Philippe was an illegitimate ruler. He was certainly an unusual ruler, in that he was a monarch who had come to power as the result of a popular revolution and who had accepted the flag of the revolution, the tricolor, instead of that of his royal family. He was seen by many people as a suitable compromise between what was seen at the time as two extremes: a republic and an absolute monarchy. In 1848, Louis-Philippe followed his Bourbon predecessor into exile. How far was he to blame for his own inglorious departure to England, and how far was he the victim of circonstances? 1 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire Here are the immediate events of the February Revolution of 1848 that led to the end of the July Monarchy: 21 February: a ban on a political banquet planned for 22 February in Paris was published by the authorities. 22 February: Students and workers hold demonstrations, shouting the slogan “Long live reform, down with Guizot!” 23 February: Barricades were erected in many parts of Paris; Guizot fell; most members of the National Guard supported the protesters; troops were called in and clashed with the demonstrators, killing about 40 people. 24 February: The town hall and royal palce in Paris were occupied by demonstrators; the army withdrew; Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his young grandson; the Second Republic was proclaimed. These immediate events suggest that short-term political events explain why revolutions occur; people demonstrate, they clash with the police, people are killed, the protests grow, the government abdicates, and a revolutionary government is established. However, most accounts of revolutions usually include longer-term factors, especially economic ones. In the case of the February Revolution there are two. Firstly, there was an economic depression between 1846 and 1847 which was caused by food shortages and a financial crisis and led to working-class unemployment and middle-class bankruptcies. The government was blamed for doing nothing about the first and for causing the second and demonstrations began to be held across the country. Secondly, two scandals involving former government ministers and a peer symbolized for many the corruption at the heart of government. The government showed little concern about either crisis because the 1846 elections had given it a majority in the assembly for the first time. As a result, dissatisfaction with the government began to grow. In order to escape the government’s ban on political meetings, in 1847 some middle-class reformers hit on the idea of holding a political banquet. This could be described as a private, not a political, meeting. It was a great success, and so more were held in late 1847. The government’s attempt to deal with the problem of the political banquets was the direct cause of the events of February 1848. Plus, Louis-Philippe was already an old monarch (he was born in 1773!), his eldest son, the very popular Duke of Chartres was already dead, killed in 1842 (when the horses of his open carriage ran out of control, he lost his balance and fractured his skull) and his heir was his young grandson (only 10 years old in 1848). Why was a republic established in its place? Explaining why the July Monarchy collapsed does not explain why it was replaced with a republic. There were alternatives; indeed, several gained considerable support before 1875. The Bourbons were close to being restored during the 1870s, so why was this not the case in 1848? An empire was reintroduced in 1852, so why had this not happened fours years earlier? Why did the new government have to be a republic? The short answer is because the people of Paris wanted a republic. They had also wanted a republic in July 1830, but had been outwitted by middle-class politicians into agreeing a compromise with Louis-Philippe, the so-called “citizen king”. In 1848, however, the politicians had to accept a republic that they hoped would avoid the excesses of 1793 and 1794. In 1848, as in 1830, 1789 and 1792, the people of Paris decided on the government of France, confidently proclaiming in February a new government. Primary source #1– The proclamation of the Republic, February 24, 1848 In the name of the French people: A reactionary and oligarchical government has just been overthrown by the heroism of the people of Paris. The government has fled, leaving behind a trail of blood that forbids it ever to retrace its steps. The blood of the people has flowed, as in July; but this time the people will not be deceived. It has won a national and popular government in accord with the rights, the progress and the will of this great and generous nation. 2 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire A provisional government is for the moment invested with the task of assuring and organizing the national victory. With the capital of France on fire, the justification for the present provisional government must be sought in the public safety. All France will understand this and will lend it the support of its patriotism. The provisional government wishes to establish a republic – subject, however, to ratification by the eople, who shall be immediately consulted. The unity of the nation (formed henceforth of all the classes of citizens); the government of the nation by itself; liberty, equality and fraternity as fundamental principles and ‘the people’ as our watchword: these constitute the democratic government which France owes to itself and which our efforts shall secure for it. Exercise 1 – Philippoteaux painting – Lamartine in front of the Town Hall of Paris rejects the red flag on February 25, 1848 A) The institution of universal male suffrage On February 26, 1848, the liberal opposition came together to organize a provisional government. The poet Alphonse de Lamartine was appointed president. Lamartine served as a head of France for the next three months. Elections for a Constituent Assembly were scheduled for April 23, 1848. The Constituent Assembly was to establish a new republican government for France. In preparation for these elections, two major goals of the provisional government were universal suffrage and unemployment relief. Universal male suffrage was enacted on March 2, 1848, giving France nine million new voters (with the influence of Alphonse de Lamartine and Alexandre Ledru-Rollin). Abolition as well of press, theater and art censorship and crime of opinion. An important symbol was the planting of Liberty trees to celebrate the revolution. Primary source #2: The first male universal suffrage, April 23, 1848, in Tocqueville. We were all to go and vote together at the borough of Saint-Pierre, about one league away from our village. On the morning of the election, all the voters (that is to say, all the male population above the age of twenty) collected together in front of the church. All these men formed themselves in a double column, in alphabetical order. I took up my place in the situation denoted by my name, for I knew that in democratic times and countries one must be nominated to the head of the people, and not place one’s self there. At the end of the long procession, in carts or on pack-horses, came the sick or infirm who wished to follow us; we left none behind save the women and children. We were one hundred and sixty-six all told. At the top of the hill which commands Tocqueville there came a halt; they wished me to speak. I climbed to the other side of a ditch; a circle was formed round me, and I spoke a few words such as the circumstances inspired. I reminded these worthy people of the gravity and importance of what they were about to do; I recommended them not to allow themselves to be accosted or turned aside by those who, on our arrival at the borough, might seek to deceive them, but to march on solidly and stay together, each in his place, until they had voted. “Let no one,” I said, “go into a house to seek food or shelter [it was raining] before he has done his duty.” They cried that they would do as I wished, and they did. All the votes were given at the same time, and I have reason to believe that they were almost all given to the same candidate. […] After voting myself, I took my leave of them, and set out to return to Paris. It was only when I reached Paris that I learnt that I had received 110,704 votes out of a possible 120,000. The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville, Chapter IV, 1893. As in all other European nations, women did not have the right to vote. However, during this time a proliferation of political clubs emerged, including women’s organizations and newspapers such as La Voix des Femmes, founded by Eugénie Niboyet. They asked for political rights but the Civl (Napoleon) Code continued to see them as perpetual minors. In July 1848, women were banned from access to political clubs and public meetings. 3 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire B) The abolition of slavery In February, 1794, in the midst of the slave uprising in Saint-Domingue, the French National Convention decreed the abolition of slavery throughout the French colonial empire—the first empire in the Atlantic World to do so. For the next eight years, revolutionary France operated under a system of official racial equality. In May 1802 (or the month of Floréal in the year 10, by the revolutionary calendar) the first Napoleon, then First Consul of the French Republic, revoked the decree of 1794 and re-imposed slavery throughout the French colonies in the West Indies. It was this action by the First Consul that pushed Saint-Domingue towards independence in 1804. In France’s other colonies, those individuals who had been emancipated in 1794 would be returned to bondage. While emancipation had not been enacted in all of France’s colonies, its abrogation nevertheless represented a tangible reversal of the revolutionary promises of the Republic. Slavery would persist in France’s colonies for another forty-six years. The Provisional Government that ruled France from February to May 1848, was thoroughly republican in its credentials, but also acutely abolitionist in its sentiments. Several prominent members of the Societé française pour l’abolition de l’esclavage took up positions as ministers of foreign affairs, the interior, and justice. Nevertheless, the newly elevated Minister for the Navy and the Colonies, François Arago, informed the colonial governors that, while liberty was inevitable, a final decision would only be made following the election of a National Assembly. Enter Victor Schoelcher. Primary source #3: Decree of the abolition of the slavery of April 27, 1848 Author: Victor Schoelcher (22 July 1804 – 25 December 1893) was a French abolitionist writer in the 19th century and the main spokesman for a group from Paris who worked for the abolition of slavery, and formed an abolition society in 1834. He worked especially hard for the abolition of slavery on the Caribbean islands, notably the French West Indies. DECREE OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVERY OF APRIL 27, 1848 FRENCH REPUBLIC Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood In the name of the French People The provisional Government, Considering that slavery is an attempt against the human dignity; That by destroying the free will of the man, it abolishes the natural principle of the right and the duty; That it is a blatant violation of the republican dogma: Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood. Considering that if actual measures did not follow of very near the proclamation already made by the principle of the abolition, it could result in colonies the most pitiful disorders, The decree: Art. 1. Slavery will be completely abolished in all the colonies and the French possessions, two months after the promulgation of the present decree in each of them. From the promulgation of the present decree in colonies, any corporal punishment, any sale of not free persons, will be absolutely forbidden. Art. 2. The system of commitment in time established in Senegal is abolished. Art. 3. The governors or the general police superintendents of the Republic are charged to apply the set of measures appropriate to assure freedom in Martinique, in Guadeloupe and dependences, in Isle of Reunion, in Guyana, in Senegal and the other French establishments of the Occidental coast of Africa, in Isle Mayotte and dependences and in Algeria. Art. 4. Are pardoned the ancient slaves condemned to afflictive or penal punishments for facts which, imputed to free people, would not have entailed this punishment. The individuals deported by administrative measure are called back. Art. 5. The National Assembly will settle the quota of the reparation that should be granted to the colonists. 4 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire Art. 6. Colonies cleansed of the servitude and possessions of India will be represented to the National Assembly. Art. 7. The principle that the ground of France frees the slave, who gets it, is applied to colonies and possessions of the Republic. Art. 8. In future, even in foreign country, it is forbidden every Frenchman to possess, to buy or to sell slaves, and to participate, either directly, or indirectly, in any traffic or exploitation of this kind. Any malpractice against these capacities will entail the loss of the quality of French citizen. Nevertheless the Frenchmen who will be reached by these prohibitions, at the time of the promulgation of the present decree, will have a delay of three years to conform to it. Those that will become owners of slaves in foreign countries, by inheritance, donation or marriage, should have to, under the same punishment, free them or alienate them for the same delay, from the day when their ownership will have begun. Art. 9. The Minister controlling the navy and the colonies, and the Minister of war are charged, each one in his line of duty of the execution of the present decree. Made in Paris, in council of the Government, on April 27, 1848 Source: Decree of the abolition of the slavery of April 27, 1848 After returning from Senegal in early March of 1848, the prominent abolitionist persuaded Arago to place him in charge of a commission to end slavery. On April 27, the commission drafted a decree of general and unconditional emancipation in the colonies. Schoelcher’s sense of history made him afraid that delaying the question of emancipation would lead to a rebellion amongst the slaves. During the 1830s and 40s, Schoelcher had authored several volumes on the history of France’s colonies, and on Haiti. In his account of the outbreak of the slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue, in Colonies étrangères et Haïti, Schoelcher wrote: The slaves, despite the profound degradation into which they had been plunged, could not long remain strangers to the movements that were happening above their heads. The colonists spoke of independence, the petits blancs of equality, the mulattos of political rights, the negroes in their turn talked of liberty. Schoelcher knew that any disruption of the colonial political order would destabilize the institution of slavery, and a delay in addressing it would lead to violence. As president of a commission, Schœlcher prepared and wrote the decree of 27 April 1848 in which the French government announced that slavery was abolished in all of its colonies. The former slaves became citizens and were given a name. II- The failure of the Republican project due to tensions between conservatives and republicans, urban and rural France, and between the Bourgeoisie and the working class Why did the Second Empire replace the Second Republic? A) June 1848: The disappointed hopes of the working class As in the case with most revolutions, the initial response of the majority of the people to the overthrow of the old order was one of excitement and enthusiasm: they felt united, liberated and optimistic. The republicans were represented by the socialist Louis Blanc and Albert Martin, “Albert the worker” which contributed to the creation of the National Workshops, in order to give work to the 184,000 unemployed Parisians. 5 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire But these feelings would not last long. By the end of June 1848, the revolutionaries were deeply divided. The French Second Republic was the Republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the 1851 coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte that initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. The Second Republic witnessed the tension between the “Social and Democratic Republic” and a liberal form of Republic, which exploded during the June Days Uprising of 1848. Naturally, the provisional government was disorganized as it attempted to deal with France’s economic problems. The conservative elements of French society were wasting no time in organizing against the provisional government. After roughly a month, conservatives began to openly oppose the new government, using the rallying cry “order,” which the new republic lacked. Frustration among the laboring classes arose when the Constituent Assembly did not address the concerns of the workers. Strikes and worker demonstrations became more common as the workers gave vent to these frustrations. In June 21, 1848, a new decree of the Executive commission prepared for the dissolution of the National Workshops. In reaction to that, Parisians set up 400 barricades in June 23. These demonstrations reached a climax when on May 15, 1848, workers broke out in armed. Fearful of a total breakdown of law and order, the Provisional Government invited General Louis Eugene Cavaignac back from Algeria in June 1848 to put down the worker’s armed revolt. From June 1848 until December 1848 General Cavaignac became head of the executive of the Provisional Government. The links were now broken between the Republic and the Labor movement. Additionally, there was a major split between the citizens of Paris and citizens of the more rural areas of France. The provisional government set out to establish deeper government control of the economy and guarantee a more equal distribution of resources. To deal with the unemployment problem, the provisional government established National Workshops. The unemployed were given jobs building roads and planting trees without regard for the demand for these tasks. The population of Paris ballooned as job seekers from all over France came to Paris to work in the newly formed National Workshops. To pay for these and other social programs, the provisional government placed new taxes on land. These taxes alienated the “landed classes”—especially the small farmers and the peasantry of the rural areas of France—from the provisional government. Hardworking rural farmers were resistant to paying for the unemployed city people and their new “Right to Work” National Workshops. The taxes were widely disobeyed in the rural areas and the government remained strapped for cash. Popular uncertainty about the liberal foundations of the provisional government became apparent in the April 23, 1848 elections. Despite agitation from the left, voters elected a constituent assembly which was primarily moderate and conservative. B) The election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte The deputies adopted a democratic constitution based on separation of powers. The National assembly and the president of the Republic were to be elected by direct universal male suffrage. But no political rights were given to women. 6 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire The Presidential election. The French presidential election of 1848 was the first ever held. It elected the first and only president of the Second Republic. The election was held on December 10, 1848 and led to the surprise victory of Louis- Napoléon Bonaparte with 74% of the vote. The presidency was defined by the terms of the constitution. Rather than the model of the executive committee given by the First Republic, the constitutional committee preferred to entrust executive power in a single individual. The office was given extensive powers to propose legislation, appoint ministers and high-ranking officials, engage in diplomacy, and command the military, though all decisions were subject to approval by the ministers. The constitution only included provision for one round, and in the absence of a majority for any candidate, the National Assembly would have decided the victor. Louis-Eugène Cavaignac seemed certain to win, and the Assembly would have most certainly elected him in the absence of an absolute majority. The election was keenly contested; the democratic republicans adopted as their candidate Ledru-Rollin, the “pure republicans” Cavaignac, and the recently reorganized Imperialist party Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Bonaparte had no long political career behind him and was able to depict himself as "all things to some men". The Monarchist right (supporters of either the Legitimist or Orleanist royal households) and much of the upper class supported him as the "least worst" candidate, as a man who would restore order, end the instability in France which had continued since the overthrow of the monarchy during the February Revolution earlier that year, and prevent a proto-communist revolution (in the vein of Friedrich Engels). A good proportion of the industrial working class, on the other hand, were won over by Louis- Napoleon's vague indications of progressive economic views. His overwhelming victory was above all due to the support of the non-politicized rural masses, to whom the name of Bonaparte meant something, as opposed to the other, little-known contenders. Presidential Election of December, 10 1848 Candidate Party Votes % Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte Bonapartist 5,434,226 74.3% Louis-Eugène Cavaignac "Blue" Republican 1,448,107 19.8% Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin "Red" Republican 370,119 5.1% François-Vincent Raspail Socialist 36,920 0.5% Alphonse de Lamartine Liberal 17,210 0.2% Nicolas Changarnier Royalist 4,790 0.1% Total 7,497,000 100% Unknown in 1835 and forgotten or despised since 1840, Louis Napoleon had in the last eight years advanced sufficiently in the public estimation to be elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1848 by five departments. He owed this rapid increase of popularity partly to blunders of the government of July, which had unwisely aroused the memory of the country with recollections of the Empire, and partly to Louis-Napoléon’s campaign carried on from his prison at Ham by means of pamphlets of socialistic tendencies. Moreover, the monarchists, led by Thiers and the committee of the Rue de Poitiers, were no longer content even with the “safe dictatorship” of the upright Cavaignac, and joined forces with the Bonapartists. On December 10 the peasants gave over 5 million votes to Napoléon, who stood for order at all costs, against 1.4 million for Cavaignac. 7 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire So why was he elected? Louis Napoleon’s support came from a wide section of the French public. Various classes of French society voted for him for very different and often contradictory reasons; he encouraged this contradiction by “being all things to all people.” One of his major promises to the peasantry and other groups was that there would be no new taxes. C) A short-lived 2nd Republic The new National Constituent Assembly was heavily composed of royalist sympathizers of both the Legitimist (Bourbon) wing and the Orleanist (Citizen King Louis Philippe) wing. Because of the ambiguity surrounding Louis Napoleon’s political positions (He decided to be called “the Prince-President”), his agenda as president was very much in doubt. For prime minister, he selected Odilon Barrot, an unobjectionable middle-road parliamentarian, who had led the “loyal opposition” under Louis-Philippe. Other appointees represented various royalist factions. He went on to rid himself of the Party of Order and destroy the Second Republic with the support of a handful of Bonapartists in the National Assembly. Steering his own men into key positions in the army and the administration, he presented himself as the strong man who would save France from socialism and collapse. In June 1849, demonstrations against the government broke out and were suppressed. On 11 June 1849 the socialists and radical republicans made an attempt to seize power. Ledru-Rollin, from his headquarters in the Conservatory of Arts and Professions, declared that Louis-Napoleon was no longer President and called for a general uprising. A few barricades appeared in the working-class neighborhoods of Paris. Louis-Napoleon acted swiftly, and the uprising was short-lived. Paris was declared in a state of siege, the headquarters of the uprising was surrounded, and the leaders arrested. Ledru-Rollin fled to England, Raspail was arrested and sent to prison, the republican clubs were closed, and their newspapers closed down. Leaders were arrested, including prominent politicians. The government banned several democratic and socialist newspapers in France; the editors were arrested. Karl Marx, who was living in Paris at the time, was at risk so he moved to London in August. The government sought ways to balance its budget and reduce its debts. Toward this end, Hippolyte Passy was appointed Finance Minister. When the Legislative Assembly met at the beginning of October 1849, Passy proposed an income tax to help balance the finances of France. The bourgeoisie, who would pay most of the tax, protested. The furor over the income tax caused the resignation of Barrot as prime minister, but a new wine tax also caused protests. The National Assembly, now without the left republicans and determined to keep them out forever, proposed a new election law that placed restrictions on universal male suffrage, imposing a three-year residency requirement (+to pay taxes and never been sentenced by justice). This new law excluded 3.5 of 9 million French voters, the voters that the leader of the Party of Order, Adolphe Thiers scornfully called "the vile multitude." This new election law was passed in May 1850 by a majority of 433 to 241, putting the National Assembly on a direct collision course with the Prince-President. Louis-Napoleon broke with the Assembly and the conservative ministers opposing his projects in favour of the dispossessed. He secured the support of the army, toured the country making populist speeches that condemned the assembly, and presented himself as the protector of universal male suffrage. He demanded that the law be changed, but his proposal was defeated in the Assembly by a vote of 355 to 348. The 1850 elections resulted in a conservative body. According to the Constitution of 1848, he had to step down at the end of his term, so Louis-Napoleon sought a constitutional amendment to allow him to succeed himself, arguing that four years were not enough to fully implement his political and economic program. He toured the country and gained support from many of the regional governments, and the support of many within the Assembly. 8 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire The vote in July 1851 was 446 to 278 in favor of changing the law and allowing him to run again, but this was just short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution. D) The Coup d’Etat of December 2nd, 1851 As 1851 opened, Louis-Napoleon was not allowed by the Constitution of 1848 to seek re-election as President of France. Instead he proclaimed himself President for Life following a coup in December that was confirmed and accepted in a dubious referendum. Louis-Napoleon believed that he was supported by the people, and he decided to retain power by other means. His half-brother Morny and a few close advisors began to quietly organize a coup d'Etat. The date set for the coup was 2 December, the anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz, and the anniversary of the coronation of Louis-Napoleon's uncle Napoleon I. On the night of December 1-2, Saint Arnaud's soldiers quietly occupied the national printing office, the Palais Bourbon, newspaper offices, and the strategic points in the city. In the morning, Parisians found posters around the city announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly, the restoration of universal suffrage, new elections, and a state of siege in Paris and the surrounding departments. Sixteen members of the National Assembly were arrested in their homes. When about 220 deputies of the moderate right gathered at the city hall of the 10th arrondissement, they were also arrested. On December 3, writer Victor Hugo and a few other republicans tried to organize an opposition to the coup. A few barricades appeared, and about 1,000 insurgents came out in the streets, but the army moved in force with 30,000 troops and the uprisings were swiftly crushed, with the killing of an estimated 300 to 400 opponents of the coup. There were also small uprisings in the more militant red republican towns in the south and center of France, but these were all put down by December 10. Key points The 1848 Revolution in France ended the Orléans monarchy (1830–48) and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. Following the overthrow of King Louis Philippe in February, a provisional government (Constituent Assembly) was created, which was disorganized as it attempted to deal with France’s economic problems created by the political upheaval. Frustration among the laboring classes arose when the Constituent Assembly did not address the concerns of the workers, leading to strikes and worker demonstrations. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected president on December 10, 1848, by a landslide; his support came from a wide section of the French public. Because of the ambiguity surrounding Louis Napoleon’s political positions, his agenda as president was very much in doubt. The 1850 elections resulted in a conservative body, which renewed the power of the Church, especially in education. As 1851 opened, Louis-Napoleon was not allowed by the Constitution of 1848 to seek re- election as President of France; instead he proclaimed himself President for Life following a coup in December that was confirmed and accepted in a dubious referendum. 9 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire II) The characteristics of the Second Empire, which was authoritarian, yet permitted universal male suffrage, reinforced the authority of the state and attempted to conduct a policy of grandeur A- An authoritarian regime; A “democratic Caesar”? Louis-Napoleon followed the self-coup by a period of repression of his opponents, aimed mostly at the red republicans. About 26,000 people were arrested, including 4,000 in Paris alone. The 239 inmates who were judged most severely were sent to the penal colony in Cayenne. 9,530 followers were sent to French Algeria, 1,500 were expelled from France, and another 3,000 were given forced residence away from their homes. Soon afterwards, a commission of revision freed 3,500 of those sentenced. In 1859, the remaining 1800 prisoners and exiles were amnestied, with the exception of the republican leader Ledru-Rollin, who was released from prison but required to leave the country. Strict press censorship was enacted by a decree from February 17 1852. No newspaper dealing with political or social questions could be published without the permission of the government, fines were increased, and the list of press offenses was greatly expanded. After three warnings, a newspaper or journal could be suspended or even permanently closed. Louis-Napoleon wished to demonstrate that his new government had a broad popular mandate, so on December 20-21 a national plebiscite was held asking if voters agreed to the coup. Mayors in many regions threatened to publish the names of any electors who refused to vote. When asked if they agreed to the coup, 7,439,216 voters said yes, 641,737 voted no and 1.7 million voters abstained. The fairness and legality of the referendum was immediately questioned by Louis-Napoleon's critics, but Louis-Napoleon was convinced that he had been given a public mandate to rule. Victor Hugo, who had originally supported Louis-Napoleon but had been infuriated by the coup d'Etat, departed Paris for Brussels by train on December 11, 1851. He became the most bitter critic of Louis- Napoleon, rejected the amnesty offered to him, and did not return to France for twenty years. In response to officially inspired requests for the return of the empire, the Senate scheduled another referendum for November 21-22, 1852 on whether to make Napoleon emperor. After an implausible 97 percent voted in favour (7,824,129 votes for and 253,159 against, with two million abstentions), on December 2, 1852—exactly one year after the coup—the Second Republic was officially ended, replaced by the Second French Empire. Prince-President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte became Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. His regnal name treats Napoleon II, who never actually ruled, as a true Emperor (he had been briefly recognized as emperor from 22 June to 7 July 1815). The 1852 constitution was retained; it concentrated so much power in Napoleon's hands that the only substantive change was to replace the word "president" with the word "emperor." B- A policy of national grandeur? “Some people say the Empire is war. I say the Empire is peace. Like the Emperor I have many conquests to make… Like him I wish … to draw into the stream of the great popular river those hostile side-currents which lose themselves without profit to anyone. We have immense unplowed territories to cultivate; roads to open; ports to dig; rivers to be made navigable; canals to finish, a railway network to complete. We have, in front of Marseille, a vast kingdom to assimilate into France. We have all the great ports of the west to connect with the American continent by modern communications, which we still lack. We have ruins to repair, false gods to tear down, truths which we need to make triumph. This is how I see the Empire, if the Empire is re-established. These 10 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire are the conquests I am considering, and you around me, who, like me, want the good of our country, you are my soldiers." Speech of October 9, 1852 in Bordeaux, published in Le Moniteur. a) A modern country One of the first priorities of Napoleon III was the modernization of the French economy, which had fallen far behind that of the United Kingdom and some of the German states. Political economics had long been a passion of the Emperor: While in Britain he had visited factories and railway yards, and in prison, he had studied and written about the sugar industry and policies to reduce poverty. He wanted the government to play an active, not a passive, role in the economy. In 1839, he had written: "Government is not a necessary evil, as some people claim; it is instead the benevolent motor for the whole social organism." He did not advocate the government getting directly involved in industry. Instead, the government took a very active role in building the infrastructure for economic growth; stimulating the stock market and investment banks to provide credit; building railways, ports, canals and roads; and providing training and education. He also opened up French markets to foreign goods, such as railway tracks from England, forcing French industry to become more efficient and more competitive. The period was favorable for industrial expansion. The gold rushes in California and Australia increased the European money supply. In the early years of the Empire, the economy also benefited from the coming of age of those born during the baby boom of the Restoration period. The steady rise of prices caused by the increase of the money supply encouraged company promotion and investment of capital. Beginning in 1852, Napoleon III encouraged the creation of new banks, such as Crédit Mobilier, which sold shares to the public and provided loans to both private industry and to the government. Crédit Lyonnais was founded in 1863, and Société Générale in 1864. These banks provided the funding for Napoleon III's major projects, from railway and canals to the rebuilding of Paris. New shipping lines were created and ports rebuilt in Marseille and Le Havre, which connected France by sea to the USA, Latin America, North Africa and the Far East. During the Empire, the number of steamships tripled, and by 1870 France possessed, after England, the second-largest maritime fleet in the world. Napoleon III backed the greatest maritime project of the age, the construction of the Suez Canal between 1859 and 1869. The canal was funded by shares on the Paris stock market, and led by a former French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lesseps. It was opened by the Empress Eugénie, with a performance of Verdi's opera Aida. The rebuilding of central Paris also encouraged commercial expansion and innovation. The first department store, Bon Marché, opened in Paris in 1852 in a modest building, and expanded rapidly, its income going from 450,000 francs a year to 20 million. Its founder, Aristide Boucicaut, commissioned a new glass and iron building, designed by Louis-Charles Boileau and Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1869, which became the model for the modern department store. Other department stores quickly appeared: Au Printemps in 1865 and La Samaritaine in 1870. They were soon imitated around the world. Napoleon III's program also included reclaiming farmland and reforestation. One such project in the Gironde department drained and reforested 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of moorland, creating the Landes forest, the largest maritime pine forest in Europe. b) “The Empire is peace” In foreign policy, in a speech at Bordeaux shortly after becoming Emperor, Napoleon III proclaimed that "The Empire means peace" ("L'Empire, c'est la paix"), reassuring foreign governments that he would not attack other European powers in order to extend the French Empire. He was, however, determined to follow a strong foreign policy to extend France's influence, and warned that he would not stand by and allow another European power to threaten its neighbour. 11 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire From the start of his Empire, Napoleon III sought an alliance with Britain. He had lived there while in exile and saw Britain as a natural partner in the projects he wished to accomplish. The Crimean War helped to that and added three new place names to Paris: Alma, named for the first French victory on the river of that name; Sevastopol; and Malakoff, named for a tower in the center of the Russian line captured by the French. The war had two important diplomatic consequences: Alexander II became an ally of France, and Britain and France were reconciled. In April 1855, Napoleon III and Eugénie went to England and were received by the Queen; in turn, Victoria and Prince Albert visited Paris, the first British monarch to do so in centuries. The defeat of Russia and the alliance with Britain gave France increased authority and prestige in Europe. He was also, at the beginning of his reign, an advocate of a new "principle of nationalities" (principe des nationalités), supporting the creation of new states based on nationality, such as Italy, in place of the old multinational empires, such as the Habsburg Monarchy (Empire of Austria; since 1867 Austria-Hungary). In this he was influenced by his uncle's policy, as described in the Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène. In all of his foreign policy ventures, he put the interests of France first. These new states, Napoleon III felt, would become natural allies and partners of France. In foreign policy, his regime assisted Italian unification by defeating the Austrian Empire in the Franco- Austrian War, and as its deferred reward later annexed Savoy and the County of Nice. At the same time, because of the importance of Roman Catholicism in France, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. Napoleon III doubled the area of the French overseas empire in Asia, the Pacific and Africa, however his army's intervention in Mexico, which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure. c) Life at the court of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie Following the model of the Kings of France and of his uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III moved his official residence to the Tuileries Palace, in Paris. The court moved with the Emperor and Empress from palace to palace each year following a regular calendar. At the beginning of May, the Emperor and court moved to the Château de Saint-Cloud, for outdoor activities in the park. In June and July, they moved with selected guests to the Palace of Fontainebleau, for walks in the forest, and boating on the lake. In July, the court moved to a thermal bath for a health cure; first to Plombières, then to Vichy, then, after 1856, to the military camp and residence he had built at Châlons-sur-Marne (nowadays: Châlons-en-Champagne) where he could take the waters and review military parades and exercises. Beginning in 1856, the Emperor and Empress spent each September in Biarritz in the Villa Eugenie, a large villa overlooking the sea. In November the court moved to the Château de Compiègne, for forest excursions, dancing and more games. Famous scientists and artists, such as Louis Pasteur, Gustave Flaubert, Eugène Delacroix and Giuseppe Verdi, were invited to participate in the festivities at Compiègne. At the end of the year the Emperor and Court returned to the Tuileries Palace, and gave a series of formal receptions, and three or four grand balls. Napoleon III protected the arts even if he had conservative and traditional taste in art. He also began or completed the restoration of several important historic landmarks, carried out for him by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, the City of Carcassonne, the châteaux of Vincennes and of Pierrefonds, the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel). 12 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire d) The opposition movements encountered by the Second Empire, as well as its repressive force (bans on Victor Hugo and Edgar Quinet) Opposition movements Despite the economic progress the country had made, domestic opposition to Napoleon III was slowly growing, particularly in the Corps législatif (Parliament). The republicans on the left had always opposed him, believing he had usurped power and suppressed the Republic. The conservative Catholics were increasingly unhappy, because he had taken away most of the Papal States from the Pope, and because he had built up the public education system, which was a rival to the Catholic system. Many businessmen, particularly in the metallurgical and textile industries, were unhappy, because he had reduced the tariffs on British products, putting the British products in direct competition with their own. The members of Parliament were particularly unhappy with him for dealing with them only when he needed money. When he had liberalized trade with England, he had not even consulted them. Several opponents to the new regime decided to leave the country. Among them, Edgar Quinet (February 17, 1803 – March 27, 1875) was a French historian and intellectual. He was as well a pronounced republican from the first and an uncompromising opponent of Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Quinet fled Louis Napoléon's 1851 coup d'Etat to Brussels until 1858 and then fled to Switzerland, until 1870. He wrote many books in exile and refused to return to France to join the liberal opposition against Napoleon III, but returned immediately after the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. Another major opponent was Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885), a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers. Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism. In 1848, Hugo was elected to the National Assembly of the Second Republic as a conservative. In 1849, he broke with the conservatives when he gave a noted speech calling for the end of misery and poverty. Other speeches called for universal suffrage and free education for all children. Hugo's advocacy to abolish the death penalty was renowned internationally. When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized complete power in 1851, establishing an anti- parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor to France. He relocated to Brussels, then Jersey, from which he was expelled for supporting a Jersey newspaper that had criticised Queen Victoria and finally settled with his family at Hauteville House in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, where he would live in exile from October 1855 until 1870. While in exile, Hugo published his famous political pamphlets against Napoleon III, Napoléon le Petit and Histoire d'un crime. The pamphlets were banned in France but nonetheless had a strong impact there. He also composed or published some of his best work during his period in Guernsey, including Les Misérables. Although Napoleon III granted an amnesty to all political exiles in 1859, Hugo declined, as it meant he would have to curtail his criticisms of the government. It was only after Napoleon III fell from power and the Third Republic was proclaimed that Hugo finally returned to his homeland in 1870, where he was promptly elected to the National Assembly and the Senate. 13 Theme 2 – Chapter 1. Challenges to instituting Democracy: The Second Republic and the Second Empire C- From repression to a more liberal form of regime? On November 24, 1860, Napoleon III granted to the Chambers the right to vote an address annually in answer to the speech from the throne, and to the press the right of reporting parliamentary debates. On 24 December 1861, Napoleon III, against the opposition of his own ministers, issued a decree announcing that the legislature would have greater powers. The ministers were obliged to defend their programs before the assembly, and the right of Deputies to amend the programs was enlarged. Despite the opposition in the legislature, Napoleon III's reforms remained popular in the rest of the country. A new plebiscite was held in 1870, on the text: "The people approve the liberal reforms added to the Constitution since 1860 by the Emperor, with the agreement of the legislative bodies and ratified by the Senate on April 20, 1870." Napoleon III saw this as a referendum on his rule as Emperor: "By voting yes," he wrote, "you will chase away the threat of revolution; you will place the nation on a solid base of order and liberty, and you will make it easier to pass on the Crown to my son." When the votes were counted, Napoleon III had lost Paris and the other big cities but decisively won the rest of the country. The final vote was 7,336,434 votes yes, 1,560,709 votes no, and 1,900,000 abstentions. Léon Gambetta, the leader of the republican opposition, wrote in despair, "We were crushed. The Emperor is more popular than ever." CONCLUSION: France and the construction of new states through war and diplomacy; examining Italian and German national unification with specific attention to French contributions In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world and he was a supporter of popular sovereignty and of nationalism. French troops assisted Italian unification by fighting on the side of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In return, in 1860 France received Savoy and the county of Nice. Later, however, to appease fervent French Catholics, he sent soldiers to defend the residual Papal States against annexation by Italy. 14