OCR Specification focus:
‘The legacy of the French Revolution and Napoleon in 1814; the first and the second restorations; the problems facing Louis XVIII; the Charter’
The Bourbon monarchy’s return in 1814 was shaped by revolutionary legacies, Napoleonic reforms, and political compromise. Louis XVIII faced economic, social, and constitutional challenges.
The Legacy of the French Revolution in 1814
The French Revolution (1789–1799) left deep scars on French society and politics. Its legacy influenced how Louis XVIII attempted to govern after 1814.
Political Legacy
The Revolution had abolished feudalism, undermined aristocratic privileges, and enshrined the principle of equality before the law.
Revolutionary ideas fostered popular sovereignty and constitutionalism, making the return to absolute monarchy impractical.
The Revolution encouraged strong political divisions: republicans, Bonapartists, royalists, and constitutional monarchists all claimed legitimacy.
Popular Sovereignty: The principle that political authority rests with the people rather than being divinely ordained or held solely by a monarch.
Social Legacy
Redistribution of church and émigré lands created new landowning classes resistant to restoration of pre-1789 property rights.
Social mobility increased, undermining traditional aristocratic hierarchy.
A broad commitment to secular education and civil liberties lingered from revolutionary reforms.
Economic Legacy
Fiscal crisis persisted, partly due to decades of war.
The Revolution encouraged a bourgeois economy, with freer trade and reduced guild restrictions.
However, inflation, taxation, and food shortages continued to plague society.
The Napoleonic Legacy
The Napoleonic era (1799–1814) consolidated revolutionary changes while introducing its own reforms.
Administrative and Legal
The Napoleonic Code (1804) standardised laws across France, embedding revolutionary ideals such as legal equality and property rights.
Centralisation through prefects ensured direct state control over local administration.
Military and Nationalism
Napoleon’s conquests spread nationalism and left a tradition of military glory in France.
The prestige of Napoleonic veterans created a potential threat to Bourbon stability.
Concordat and Religion
The Concordat of 1801 re-established relations between Church and state while preserving revolutionary religious reforms.
Catholicism regained prominence, but Gallican liberties and secularisation endured.
The First Restoration (April 1814 – March 1815)
Louis XVIII was restored following Napoleon’s abdication. However, his reign was precarious.
Political Challenges
He faced hostility from ultra-royalists seeking full restoration of absolute monarchy.
Republicans and Bonapartists distrusted Bourbon rule, remembering past repression.
Foreign powers, particularly Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, influenced settlement terms after Napoleon’s defeat.
The Charter of 1814
Louis XVIII issued the Charter of 1814, a constitutional framework balancing old and new France.
First page of the Charter of 1814, issued by Louis XVIII. The document formalised civil rights, a bicameral legislature, and protection of revolutionary property, while reaffirming the monarch’s role. The page shows the formal script and seal typical of Bourbon-era state documents.
It guaranteed civil liberties and equality before the law.
The Chamber of Deputies and Chamber of Peers created a bicameral legislature.
Catholicism was declared the state religion, but religious toleration was maintained.
The Charter protected revolutionary land purchases, avoiding mass property disputes.
Charter of 1814: A constitutional document granted by Louis XVIII, blending monarchical authority with guarantees of rights and legal equality established during the Revolution.
Problems for Louis XVIII
Tension between moderation and reaction alienated both royalists and liberals.
Financial strain from war indemnities and reparations weakened his government.
Discontented soldiers and officials still loyal to Napoleon undermined confidence.
The Hundred Days (March–June 1815)
Napoleon escaped exile on Elba and returned to power, overthrowing Louis XVIII in the episode known as the Hundred Days.
Napoleon rallied support through nationalist and veteran networks.
Louis XVIII fled Paris, highlighting Bourbon vulnerability.
The defeat at Waterloo (1815) ended Napoleon’s rule permanently.
The Second Restoration (July 1815 onwards)
Following Napoleon’s defeat, Louis XVIII returned with foreign backing. His second reign was more unstable.
White Terror
Ultra-royalists led a campaign of revenge, known as the White Terror, targeting Bonapartists and former revolutionaries.
Political executions and purges destabilised society further.
Political Shifts
Ultras dominated the Chamber of Deputies in 1815, pressuring Louis XVIII to adopt reactionary policies.
Royalists sought to restore privileges and strengthen the role of the Church.
Ongoing Issues
France had to pay a large war indemnity and accept Allied occupation until 1818.
Map of Allied occupation zones in France (1815–1818) following Napoleon’s defeat. Colour-coded regions indicate British, Prussian, Russian, Austrian, and other coalition areas of control. Source
Divisions between liberals, royalists, and Bonapartists persisted, ensuring instability.
Economic hardship and resentment of foreign troops deepened unrest.
Importance of the Charter and Restoration Settlements
The Charter attempted to reconcile revolutionary achievements with monarchical traditions, but it remained a contested framework.
Liberals saw it as a step towards constitutional monarchy.
Ultras denounced it as a betrayal of divine right.
Its protections of property and rights prevented large-scale upheaval, yet its compromises created lasting political friction.
The Bourbon monarchy after 1814 was thus caught between revolutionary legacies and monarchical revival, setting the stage for continuing instability in the 1820s.
FAQ
The press, though censored, was a key channel for spreading opposition ideas. Political satire and clandestine pamphlets criticised the monarchy and Guizot’s government.
Newspapers sympathetic to republicanism gave publicity to the banquets campaign and highlighted corruption scandals. This shaped public opinion and helped coordinate discontent across France.
Although excluded from voting rights, women were active in February 1848. They manned barricades, provided food, and joined crowds demanding reform.
In Paris, women’s clubs and petitions pushed for expanded education, work opportunities, and even suffrage. However, the Provisional Government largely ignored these demands, reinforcing the male-centred nature of political reform.
The National Workshops aimed to provide work for the unemployed, but they faced practical issues.
Funding was inadequate, straining state finances.
Jobs offered were often menial or underpaid, fuelling dissatisfaction.
Conservatives saw them as dangerous “socialist experiments.”
By June 1848, opposition to the Workshops led to their closure, sparking the June Days uprising.
News travelled quickly via railways and newspapers, inspiring demonstrations and unrest across France.
In provincial towns, workers and artisans organised local protests, while peasants interpreted the fall of the monarchy as a chance to demand tax relief and fairer land distribution.
The provisional government’s decrees, including universal suffrage, had to be implemented nationally, reinforcing the spread of revolutionary momentum beyond Paris.
The Republic revived revolutionary imagery to unite diverse supporters.
The tricolour flag was reaffirmed as the national standard.
The motto “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” became official.
Trees of liberty were planted in towns as public rituals of loyalty.
These symbols linked the Second Republic to the revolutionary heritage of 1789 and 1830, while signalling a break from the monarchy.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks)
Give one long-term political cause and one short-term political cause of the 1848 Revolution in France.
Mark scheme
Award 1 mark for a correct long-term political cause, such as:
Exclusion of most of the population from the franchise under the July Monarchy
Corruption and clientelism of the regime
Growing republican, socialist, and Bonapartist opposition
Award 1 mark for a correct short-term political cause, such as:
The Banquets campaign in 1847–48
Guizot’s refusal to introduce electoral reform
Cancellation of the Paris banquet in February 1848
Maximum 2 marks.
Question 2 (6 marks)
Explain why economic problems contributed to the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution in France.
Mark scheme
Level 1 (1–2 marks): General or limited statements, e.g. “People were poor” or “There was unemployment.”
Level 2 (3–4 marks): Some explanation with some accuracy, e.g. “The harvest failures of 1846–47 increased food prices and created hardship in the countryside, which led to unrest in cities.”
Level 3 (5–6 marks): Developed explanation showing clear links between different economic issues and revolutionary outbreak, e.g.
Harvest failures of 1846–47 caused soaring food prices, malnutrition, and famine.
Urban unemployment increased as industrial demand fell, creating widespread hardship in Paris.
Artisans were hit by mechanisation and collapsing markets, fuelling support for socialist demands.
The combination of agricultural and industrial crises pushed discontent into open revolt in February 1848.
Maximum 6 marks.
