The July Revolution (French: Révolution de Juillet), also known as the French Revolution of 1830, Second French Revolution, or les Trois Glorieuses ("the Three Glorious"), was a second French Revolution after the first of 1789–99.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Why it matteredThis brief but influential uprising replaced the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons with a more liberal constitutional system under King Louis Philippe.
Quick facts
- Date26–29 July 1830
- LocationParis, France
- Also calledTrois Glorieuses, Second French Revolution
- OverthrownKing Charles X
- New rulerLouis Philippe I, King of the French
- TriggerThe July Ordinances of Saint-Cloud
- OutcomeStart of the July Monarchy (1830–1848)
Editor's Take:
The July Revolution was short, sharp and surprisingly decisive. In three days, Parisians ended a dynasty that had tried to undo the French Revolution. But the winners were bankers and liberal politicians, not the workers on the barricades, and the new king's rule only lasted 18 years. Its real legacy was the idea, carried across Europe, that a government which tears up the rules can be removed in a week.
Profile
The July Revolution: Three Glorious Days in Paris
Paris, 26–29 July 1830
After Napoleon's fall, the Bourbon kings returned to France. The second of them, Charles X, wanted to turn the clock back towards the old monarchy, and clashed again and again with the elected Chamber of Deputies.
On 26 July 1830, the government of Prince Jules de Polignac published the July Ordinances. They suspended freedom of the press, dissolved the newly elected Chamber and changed the voting rules to favour the king's supporters.
Journalists, led by Adolphe Thiers of Le National, published a protest. Then Paris rose. Over 27, 28 and 29 July, the "Trois Glorieuses", students, workers and former soldiers built barricades and fought the royal troops street by street. Hundreds were killed.
By 29 July the army had lost control of Paris. Charles X abdicated and left for exile in Britain. On 9 August 1830, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, became "King of the French", beginning the July Monarchy.
Timeline
- 1815Bourbon Restoration: after Waterloo
- 1824Charles X crowned: an ultra-royalist king
- Jul 1830Liberal election victory: the king's ministers defeated
- 26 JulJuly Ordinances: press freedom suspended
- 27–29 JulThree Glorious Days: barricades in Paris
- 2 AugCharles X abdicates: exile in Britain
- 9 AugLouis Philippe crowned: King of the French
- Aug 1830Belgian Revolution: the spark spreads
Did you know?Delacroix's famous painting Liberty Leading the People shows the July Revolution of 1830, not the French Revolution of 1789. Les Misérables is set later still, in the uprising of June 1832.
Why Paris rose
Charles X believed kings ruled by divine right. His government passed a law punishing sacrilege with death and compensated nobles who had lost land in the Revolution.
When voters returned a liberal majority in 1830, the king tried to rule by decree instead. For Parisians, the ordinances were an attack on the constitutional Charter.
The new king
Liberal leaders feared a republic as much as they disliked Charles. The elderly Marquis de Lafayette, hero of 1789, gave his blessing to Louis Philippe, appearing with him on the balcony of the Hôtel de Ville wrapped in a tricolour flag.
Louis Philippe called himself the "citizen king" and restored the tricolour, but his monarchy favoured a narrow class of wealthy voters.
Legacy
The revolution inspired the Belgian Revolution in August 1830 and the November Uprising in Poland. The July Column in the Place de la Bastille honours those who died.
Louis Philippe himself was overthrown in the Revolution of 1848, which led to France's Second Republic.
The 197th anniversary falls on July 26, 2027.
