Transcript Presentation

POLITICAL STRUGGLES
IN FRANCE
September 30, 2014
• Quiz today! Take a few minutes to study!
• After quiz we will begin Chapter 14 section 3-Politics in
France.
Revolt in France
• In 1815 the Congress of Vienna restored the Bourbon
monarchy under Louis XVIII.
• Louis died in 1824
• His brother / successor Charles X wanted to restore
absolute monarchy.
• Got help from the ultraroyalists–nobles favoring a return to the old
order.
Revolt in France
• The king issued the July Ordinances.
• designed to dissolve the assembly, end freedom of the press, and
restrict voting rights
• On July 27, 1830, angry Parisian workers and students
revolted.
Revolt in France
• By July 29, after Les Trois Glorieuses (three glorious
days) Charles X was forced to abdicate the throne.
• Charles X fled to Great Britain.
The “Citizen-King”
• Revolutionary leaders wrote a new constitutional
monarchy that was different than the old aristocracy.
• Louis Philippe, a cousin of Charles, accepted the throne.
• became known as the “Citizen-King.”
The “Citizen-King”
• The working-class demanded political reforms.
• voting rights
• Louis Philippe and Prime Minister François Guizot refused
• Frustrated, the revolutionary leaders called for Guizot’s
resignation.
Revolution of 1848
• February 22, 1848, crowds flooded Paris streets, singing
“The Marseillaise” and protested against Guizot.
• Louis Philippe abdicated and fled to Great Britain.
• The Revo. of 1848 ended w/ rebels declaring France a
republic.
• Austria, Italy, Prussia followed France’s lead.
• More political rights
The Second Empire
• In the spring of 1848, Revolutionary leaders created a
new constitution for the 2nd Republic of France.
• Featured many democratic reforms:
• Legislative branch called the Nat’l Assembly
• election of a president
• extension of voting rights to all adult men
The Rise of Louis-Napoleon
• Dec. 1848, French voters elected Louis-Napoleon
Bonaparte.
• nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte
• He presented himself as a democratic reformer, but
wanted to be emperor.
• Supported:
• Army
• middle class
• peasants
• Catholic Church
The Rise of Louis-Napoleon
• Lou-Nap’s support for the Catholic Church created an
uproar in Paris.
• He used the uproar to his advantage.
• convinced the people that the republic was a failure.
• Lou-Nap took control of the French government
• directed a coup d’état - a quick seizure of power, on Dec. 2, 1851
The Rise of Louis-Napoleon
• Lou-Nap called for a plebiscite – national vote.
• asked the people to give him the power to create a new French
constitution, which they did.
• In a 2nd plebiscite, the people approved the
transformation of the French republic into a hereditary
empire.
The Rise of Louis-Napoleon
• 1852 Lou-Nap became Napoleon III, Emperor of France.
• He restricted the press and limited civil liberties, but his
economic program was successful.
Crimean War
• 1854 Napoleon III led France into the Crimean War,
• France and Great Britain vs Russia
• over interests in the Ottoman Empire
• July 1853, Russia’s Czar Nicholas I seized Ottoman
territory in the Balkans b/c the Ottoman emperor decided
to side w/ France.
Crimean War
• After the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia in
October 1853
• Great Britain
• France
• Sardinia (Tiny Italian kingdom) joined the conflict
• In fall of 1854, French and British armies invaded the
Crimean Peninsula on the north shore of the Black Sea
Crimean War
• Florence Nightingale, a nurse, improved hospital care
and saved many lives.
• The 1856 Treaty of Paris:
• Ended the war
• Forced Russia to return seized Ottoman territory
• Banned warships and forts around the Black Sea
End of the Empire
• Napoleon declared war on the Prussians on July 19,
1870, beginning the Franco-Prussian War.
• The Prussians beat the French in just over 6 weeks.
• Sept. 2, after a decisive victory at Sedan, the Prussians
took Napoleon III prisoner.
End of the Empire
• Sept. 4, news of Napoleons capture reached Paris.
• crowds filled the streets and forced the collapse of the Second
Empire.
• Prussian forces laid siege to Paris for 4 months before a
truce was signed.
Making Peace
• New National Assembly was elected in France
• dominated by royalists
• The Assembly surrendered the provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine
• France paid Prussia 5 billion francs – the equivalent of 1
billion dollars.
Making Peace
• In March the Nat’l Assembly tried to restore order in
France.
• particularly in Paris.
• Parisians staged an uprising in Paris.
• Not happy w/ peace terms
• Gov’t demanded that Parisians pay the rents and debts
that had been suspended during the siege.
• The Assembly stopped paying the Nat’l Guard.
The Commune of Paris
• Paris workers established a Socialist government known
as the Commune of Paris.
• The leaders of the Commune refused to recognize the
Nat’l Assembly
• Leaders wanted to convert France into a decentralized federation
of independent cities
• Civil war broke out - the Nat’l Assembly took the offensive
and regained control over Paris.
The Commune of Paris
• The Commune of Paris promoted:
• End to gov’t support for religion
• New revolutionary calendar
• 10 hr. work day
The Commune of Paris
• May 1871, the Assembly’s military arrested nearly 40,000
people and killed more than 20,000.
• “Bloody Week”
• The rebellion set back the political and social advances
made by workers.
The 3rd Republic
• After the fall of the Commune, the French fought over
what form of gov’t it should take.
• Finally, in 1875 a new constitution made France once
again a republic.
• The 3rd Republic’s constitution provided for a two-house
legislature.
The 3rd Republic
• The two houses elected a president
• served 4 years and had little real power
• A cabinet of ministers was responsible for government
policy
• the post of premier was created to handle all executive
business.
Threats
• The new government was vulnerable to attack.
• Threatened by General Georges Boulanger – popular war
hero.
• 1889 Boulanger’s supporters urged him to overthrow the
Third Republic w/ a coup d’état.
• movement collapsed when he fled the country to avoid arrest for
treason.
Threats
• 2nd threat - the early 1890s centered around the
construction of the Panama Canal.
• The project failed – thousands of French stockholders lost
money.
The Dreyfus Affair
• 1890s – 3rd Republic’s biggest crisis
• 1894 Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer, was convicted
of selling military secrets to the Germans.
• Found Guilty
• Later discovered that the evidence used against Dreyfus
was forged.
The Dreyfus Affair
• In 1899 – new trial was ordered.
• Military court found Dreyfus guilty, again!
• Dreyfus won a presidential pardon
• civilian court later declared him innocent as well.
The Dreyfus Affair
• Socialists and anti-Catholics united to:
• Defend Dreyfus
• Discredit the military
• Royalists, nationalists, and many Catholics joined in
regarding Dreyfus as guilty.
• Anti-Semitic
• Case proved that a Republic gov’t could survive in
France.