Following the removal of Napoleon Bonaparte from the Throne of France, it was agreed at the Congress of Vienna that the Bourbon Kings should be reinstated. Louis XVIII(1814-1824), brother to the unfortunate Louis XVI and uncle to the boy-king Louis XVII, had been in exile ever since the French Revolution.
Louis XVIII Returns to France
The people of France, divided by years of civil and foreign wars, were ready for a stable government. Louis XVIII returned from in 1814, on the heels of Napoleons surrender following the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Louis, fat, old, crippled with gout, lacked all the charm, appeal and Romantic heroism of Napoleon. Still, he was wise enough to recognize that he could not take France backward in time. The days of royal absolutism and the powerful Estates General, were over. Louis XVIII knew the only way to unite a straggling French people were to compromise on class privileges.
France During Restoration Period
Following the restoration of the Bourbon kings, the Aristocrats regained some of it previous position and privilege. Most of the aristocrats were smart enough to go along with the king, relinquishing their political superiority for the good of France. However, there was a small, but ardent group of nobility that wanted to go back to the good old days, before 1789 and the Revolution. The aristocrats conveniently forgot that their attitudes were what drove France to revolution in the first place. The Bourgeoisie clung to the republican ideals, which had given them so much power and freedom than ever before. The lower middle class did not cleave to the new government either, since they were denied the right to vote under the new Bourbon government. The peasants, largely illiterate, did not voice much opinion farther than their fields, village or local church, though they were none to happy about conscription in 1818.
A New Constitutional Charter
When he regained the French Throne, Louis XVIII, he issued a new Constitutional Charter to govern France. In it, the Rights of Man were preserved, as well as many of the revolutionary ideals, including civil liberties. The charter established a constitutional monarchy, similar to the one established in 1791 (just before the Louis XVI was sent to the Guillotine). While the king had full executive power, there were two governing bodies to help pass laws. The upper body was nominated by the king, while the chamber of deputies was made up of men with high property qualifications. The Constitutional Charter left intact the land settlements of the French Revolution, the Concordat of 1801, the Napoleonic Codes and the power of local governments.
Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo
In 1815, Napoleon escaped from his jailers in Elba, a small island in the Mediterranean where he had been exiled. He marched on Paris with a small band of supporters, and for 100 days regained power. Louis XVIII fled Paris until the Allies, already sick of Napoleon and his antics took care of the situation. Following Napoleons disastrous defeat at Waterloo, he was imprisoned on the rocky island of Saint Helena, along the western coast of Africa. He would not escape again.
Louis XVIII Keeps His Promises
After Waterloo, Louis returned to France. He wisely refused to bow to the demands of the die-hard aristocrats who wanted a return to royal absolutism. Instead he appointed moderate royalists as his ministers. He chose men who would be able to gain and keep the support of the lower chamber of deputies. The lower chamber was supposed to be a representation of the rest of the population. In reality, only 100,000 of the wealthiest men out of a population of 30 million could actually vote for the lower chamber. Despite this, the lower chamber was made up of a wide selection of background, including businesses men, war profiteers, landowners, professionals and former revolutionaries.
During his ten year reign, Louis XVIII helped balance the old and new ideals of France. While he may not have been as dashing as Napoleon Bonaparte, he recognized the changes in France that had taken place during the Revolution and was willing to compromise his own royal authority with that of the French people. All his hard work would quickly unravel upon the accession of his younger brother, Charles X, who tried in vain to set the clock back to before 1789.
Sources:
Lang, Sean. European History For Dummies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, LTD. 2006.
May, Arthur J. A History of Civilization: Second Edition. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1964.
Mckay, Hill, Buckler. A History of World Societies: Volume II Since 1500. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1992.
