The Guizot government .281840.E2.80.931848.29 July Monarchy

council of ministers in palais des tuileries: marshal soult presents louis-philippe draft law on 15 august 1842. guizot stands on left. painting claudius jacquand (1844)

when louis-philippe called power guizot , doctrinaires, representatives of center-right, after center-left thiers, surely imagined temporary, , able call molé. new cabinet formed guizot remain closely knit, , win king s trust, guizot becoming favorite president of council.

on 26 october 1840, guizot arrived paris london. took himself ministry of foreign affairs , let soult assume nominal presidency. satisfied king , royal family, while guizot himself sure of ability manipulate old marshal soult wished. center-left had refused remain in government, guizot s cabinet included conservatives, ranging ministerial center center-right doctrinaires.

the july column erected in honor of 1830 revolution. middle east question settled london straits convention of 1841, permitted first reconciliation between france , britain. in turn increased public favor towards colonization of algeria.

both government , chamber orleanists. divided odilon barrot s dynastic left (gauche dynastique), demanded extension of franchise petty bourgeoisie , had mouthpiece le siècle; center-left, headed adolphe thiers, aimed @ restricting royal prerogatives , influence, , had mouthpiece le constitutionnel; conservatives, headed guizot , count molé, wanted preserve regime , defended ideas in le journal des débats , la presse.

louis philippe in 1842.

guizot refused reforms, rejecting broader franchise. according him, monarchy should favor middle classes , defined land ownership, moral tied money, work , savings. «enrichissez-vous par le travail et par l épargne et ainsi vous serez électeur!» ( rich through work , savings , electors! ) famous statement. guizot helped in aims comfortable rate of economic growth, averaging 3,5% year 1840 1846. transport network enlarged. 1842 law organized national railway network, grew 600 1,850 km, sure sign industrial revolution had reached france.

a threatened system

this period of industrial revolution characterized appearance of new social phenomenon, known pauperism. related industrialization , rural exodus, working poor became increasingly large segment of population. furthermore, former network of workings men s associations of ancien régime had disappeared. workers had 14-hour working day, daily wages of 20 centimes, , no possibility of organizing in trade unions. 250,000 beggars registered, , 3 million citizens registered charity offices. state assistance nonexistent. social law of july monarchy outlaw, in 1841, labor of children under 8 years of age, , night labor of less 13 years. law, however, never implemented.

christians imagined charitable economy , while ideas of socialism, in particular utopian socialism (saint-simon, charles fourier, etc.) continued spread. blanqui theorized socialist coups d état, while socialist , anarchist thinker proudhon theorized mutualism. on other hand, liberals, inspired adam smith, imagined laissez-faire solution , end of tariffs, united kingdom, dominant european power, had started in 1846 repeal of corn laws.

final years (1846–1848)

the 1846 harvest poor, in france elsewhere (especially ireland, galicia , bohemia). rise in price of wheat, dietary staple of common people, provoked food shortage, while purchasing power decreased. resulting fall in domestic consumption led crisis of industrial overproduction. in turn led massive lay-offs, , large withdrawal of savings, leading banking crisis. bankruptcies multiplied, , stock prices on stock exchanges collapsed. government reacted importing russian wheat, created negative balance of trade. program of public works therefore stopped, including attempts improve france s coastal defences.

robert peel s government in britain collapsed in 1846 after disputes on corn laws, bringing liberals government led lord russell , lord palmerston. appointment of lord palmerston regarded threat france. guizot s effort bring rapprochement britain in 1840s virtually undone affair of spanish marriages, broke out year after palmerston attempted wed spanish queen member of house of saxe-coburg , gotha rather member of house of bourbon, guizot , british counterparts had agreed earlier in 1840s.

henceforth, there increase in workers demonstrations, riots in buzançais in 1847. in roubaix, city in industrial north, 60% of workers unemployed. @ same time, regime marred several political scandals (teste–cubières corruption scandal, revealed in may 1847, or charles de choiseul-praslin s suicide after having murdered wife, daughter of horace sébastiani).

since right of association strictly restricted, , public meetings prohibited after 1835, opposition paralyzed. in order sidestep law, political dissidents used civil funerals of comrades occasions of public demonstrations. family celebrations , banquets served pretexts gatherings. @ end of regime, campagne des banquets took place in of big cities of france. louis-philippe firmly reacted threat, , prohibited final banquet, held on 14 january 1848. postponed 22 february, banquet provoke february 1848 revolution.