Lesson Development
 
1. Rally Robin the causes of the 1830 Revolt
swap partners and share lists
2. Private reading Pages 31-38 in Pilbeam
3. Return to your Study Buddy and add to lists
4. Stand and Share
5. With a new partner create a Diamond 9 diagram using the template below
5. Examine the PPT together and take notes
 
Plenary: Roaming Review
1. What were the terms of the Charte 1815
2. Were the Bourbons doomed to fail from the start? Explain
3. How did the 100days affect the Bourbon Restoration..... Explain in full
4. What were the successes and failures of Louis XVIII?
5. What mistakes did Charles X make?
6. Why was there a revolution in France in 1830?
7. How have historians interpreted the 1830 revolt - which is more convincing and why?
 

How far did Charles X contribute to his own downfall ?
 
" When he ascended the throne Charles must have thought his dynasty's future was secure.
He was well received by the ordinary people in whatever part of France he travelled… the succession had been assured by the … birth of a son to the duchesse de Berry…" (Randell)
 
"Although Charles was a young 67, full of verve and vitality … he was deeply distrusted by a majority of the pays légal, and it was these people whose support really mattered." (Randell)
 
"[ The pays legal ] were prepared to give general support to the monarchy as long as it appeared to be serving their interests, but they could not relied upon to remain silent if they felt that the existing balance of power in the country was likely to be upset. They would rather risk revolution than countenance a return to the royal despotism of the ancien régime and all that accompanied it. " (Randell)
 
" So, when Charles X was crowned with all the pomp and ceremony of the ancien regime…
this was taken widely to mean that a counter-revolution was being planned." (Randell)
 
"Yet it was not a political issue that most seriously undermined Charles X's position. It was the question of religion." (Randell)
 
"Among the bourgeoisie, in particular, there was widespread antipathy towards organized religion, and a determination that the forces of religion should not be allowed to regain the dominant position they had occupied in the ancien régime. It was against this background of strongly held views that Charles X and the Ultras championed the cause of the Catholic Church…Although the vast majority of the rural population had retained its allegiance to Catholicism, in the pays legal there tended to be an identifi­cation of the Church with the aristocrats, the émigrés, and the Ultras. Those who championed the causes of liberty and constitutional government tended to be at best lukewarm supporters of religion and genuinely feared the growing power and influence of the Church. They could see that their views on religion might be used to discriminate against them in appointmentsto important positions." (Randell)
 
"Just as the suspicion aroused by the regime's attitude towards religion had started during the reign of Louis XVIII, so the Bourbons' treatment of the press had created resentment from the outset. The Charter of 1814 had stated that there would be freedom of the press, although there would be laws passed to check the abuse of this freedom. It had been assumed by most of the pays legal that this meant that people would be free to publish what they wanted although they would be liable to legal action after the event if they had printed anything that was contrary to the law. This was not how the Charter was interpreted by either Louis XVIII or Charles X, both of whom made efforts to prevent the publication of anything they regarded as hostile to the regime."
 
"This issue, almost more than any other, highlights the fact that under the restored monarchy political life was limited to the few." (Randell)
 
"When Charles X ascended the throne in 1824 he inherited a situation in which the parliamentary system appeared to be developing well…Yet all was not well. The reaction to the murder of the duc de Berry had produced a polari­zation of political opinion, with the Constitutionalists in the centre virtually disappearing as its members moved either to the left or to the right. With the King so closely identified with the forces of the Right, the Independents and Liberals could see that they stood little chance of influencing policy unless the system could be changed to make ministers responsible to Parliament rather than to the King." (Randell)
 
 
"The King [Charles X], though chivalrous,and not without charm, was a dreamer who still lived in the temper and tradition of the old order. Unintelligent, impracticable and ultra at heart, he allowed himself to be pushed into a situation which was incompatible with the ambitions of the new bourgeoisie and their interpretations of the Charter." (Barlen p 225) 
 

"….Charles called in Polignac to form a new ministry. This was, however, an unfortunate choice as it seemed to indentify the Crown, once and for all, with the Ultra faction. Polignac
was the son of a leading émigré and chose a ministry of unpopular extremists. Moreover, he was erratic, mystical and unrealistic. His policies only hastened the downfall of the monarchy."
(Barlen p227)
 
"On July 25^th ,  determined to maintain the rights of the Crown, Charles agreed to sign the Five Ordinances which suspended press liberty, dissolved the new chamber, restored the Electoral Law of 1817, restricted the electorate to the top 25% of the voters and listed more Ultras to hold high office. His actions were interpreted as an attempt to destroy the Charter."  (Barlen p228)
 
"The revolution took everyone by surprise. The ministry was complacent and the military preparations inadequate." (Barlen p 228)
 
"I would sooner earn my bread than reign like the King of England" (Charles X quoted in Cowie & Wolfson, p65)
 
"The combination of the extremism of the Ultras, the organization and propaganda of the liberals and the political ineptness of the King and his ministers had destroyed the Bourbon monarchy." (Cowie & Wolfson p66)