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Provisional government of 1848 in France. French Revolution (1848)

Growing revolutionary situation in France in 1847–1848 By the middle of the 19th century, in many countries of continental Europe, the industrial revolution was gaining momentum - the transition from manufactory production to machine, factory production. In England it has already ended; in France, the Austrian Empire, the German lands, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the industrial revolution has not yet ended, but has already led to profound changes: capitalism played a leading role in the economies of European countries. The development of capitalism "in breadth" was replaced by the development of capitalism "in depth". The struggle between the young European industrial proletariat and the industrial bourgeoisie came to the fore. The workers embarked on the path of independent struggle against the bourgeoisie. The mass labor movement acquired not only an economic, but also a political character. But it was not yet about the complete replacement of capitalism by another system, capitalism had not yet exhausted its potential, and there were no objective conditions for its liquidation. Capitalist exploitation was often intertwined with feudal remnants, national oppression and the forced assimilation of national minorities, the dominance of reaction and the political lack of rights of the working people placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of a number of European peoples.

Changes in the economy, the unfavorable events of 1846-1847, to a large extent contributed to the emergence and development of the revolutionary situation and accelerated the onset of a number of bourgeois revolutions. The beginning of revolutions, according to Karl Marx, was accelerated by two economic events of world significance in 1845-1847:

1) potato disease and crop failure of cereals and other field crops;

2) the economic crisis that broke out in 1847 in several countries at once, which acquired an international character. (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 7, p. 12).

Thus, by 1847 O A pan-European revolutionary situation has developed. In 1848-1849, almost all of Europe was engulfed in revolutionary fire. Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, and many other European capitals became centers of revolutionary uprisings. Never before has Europe known such a general intensification of the struggle, an unprecedented scale of popular uprisings, a stormy upsurge of national liberation movements. IN different countries In Europe, the intensity of the political struggle was not the same, the alignment of political forces developed in different ways, and dissatisfaction of the broad populace. Despite the originality, the peculiarities of the growth of the revolutionary struggle and their results, one can definitely say that the revolutionary events in 1848-1849 assumed a pan-European character and scale. The highest point of confrontation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat during the revolutions of 1848. was the June uprising in Paris, according to F. Engels, “the first great battle for domination between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 22, p. 532). In those historical conditions of the middle of the 19th century, the objective prerequisites for the victory of the proletariat had not yet developed; it was still politically immature and could not lead the revolutionary movement of the masses in European countries. On the other hand, by this time the European bourgeoisie itself had already lost its revolutionary ardor and energy with which it led the peoples of their countries to storm feudalism in the 17th-18th centuries. The bourgeoisie more and more departed from revolutionary slogans, lost its revolutionary activity. Frightened by the actions of the proletariat, the bourgeoisie saw in him their main opponent, a dangerous and formidable enemy. Becoming counter-revolutionary, the European bourgeoisie was forced more often to make compromises and alliances with reactionary absolutist circles.

The main force in the struggle for democratic rights turned out to be the petty and middle urban bourgeoisie, although they showed inconsistency in their struggle, vacillated, and took a shaky and contradictory position. The position of the peasantry also changed - under the influence of market, capitalist relations, it was increasingly stratified and occupied different political niches. The prosperous elite of the peasantry and its land-poor or completely poor part behaved differently during the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The struggle of the peasantry was also significantly influenced by the factor of the preservation of significant remnants of feudalism.

Finally, a very important circumstance was the emergence of Marxism, which challenged various kinds of utopian and reformist teachings common in the working environment. Under the influence of Marxism, a profound change took place in the consciousness of the European proletariat. It was on the eve of the revolutions of 1848-1849 at the end of January 1848 that the manuscript of the “Manifesto of the Communist Party”, written jointly by K. Marx and F. Engels, was sent to London from Brussels. The publication of the book in February 1848 coincided with the February revolutionary battles in Paris.

The publication of the Manifesto marked the completion of the formation of Marxism as a systemic and integral scientific worldview. The Manifesto combined materialism and dialectics, outlined a new world outlook, created a universal and harmonious, consistent theory of the class struggle, and substantiated the world-historical role of the proletariat in the 19th century. The authors of the Manifesto described the origins and paths of the emergence and development of capitalism, the role of the bourgeoisie at various stages of history, the transformation of the bourgeoisie from a progressive estate into a conservative and reactionary force that became an obstacle to the further progress of society. As a conclusion. Summing up the whole work of the Marxists, there follows a conclusion about the need to overthrow capitalism, to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the interests of the democratic majority of society and relying on this majority. The proletarian revolution led by the workers' party, the vanguard of the proletariat, will lead to the conquest of political power, the expropriation of bourgeois property, and the concentration of the means of production in the hands of the proletarian state. Private-capitalist property will be replaced by public property, in which the productive forces of society will be placed at the service of the whole of society. In the Manifesto, the idea of ​​an alliance between the working class and the working peasantry, of proletarian internationalism, was substantiated. These are the main program points of the Marxist ideology set forth in the Manifesto. V. Lenin highly appreciated the contribution of K. Marx and F. Engels: “This little book is worth whole volumes” (PSS., vol. 2, p. 10).

Thus, a number of factors greatly contributed to the emergence of a revolutionary situation in the countries Western Europe and hastened the explosion of revolutions. The economic events of 1846-1847 played a decisive role. In 1847, throughout Europe, the harvest was above average. But at this time, a global commercial and industrial crisis broke out. The famous French historian Georges Lefebvre distinguished four crises in the disasters of 1847: food, money, stock and industrial. Georges Lefebvre erroneously considered the last two crises (stock market and industrial) to be the result of the first two (food and money).

In the autumn of 1845, only Normandy and Brittany were affected by potato disease in France, and by the end of the year the disease had penetrated into the southern regions of the country. The disease manifested itself in the rapid drying of the tops, the potatoes became unsuitable for human nutrition and feeding domestic animals. In 1846, the potato disease covered a wide area. One hectoliter of potatoes in Paris cost thirteen to fourteen francs in 1846. The following year, 1847, the potato disease recurred (the most catastrophic potato crop failure was in Lorraine). Following the potato, grain stocks began to decline rapidly. The grain harvest in 1845 was a third less than in 1844. Back in the autumn of 1846, a hectoliter of wheat grain cost twenty-two francs, already at the end of May 1847 the price rose to thirty-eight francs, and in some regions - up to fifty francs per hectolitre. The rainy 1845 and the dry 1846 brought France new hardships: in the autumn of 1845, the disease of the vineyards spread, and, after it, the failure of silk cocoons in the metropolis and colonies, the failure of lentils, beans, peas in 1846.

The commercial and industrial development of France in 1845-1848 had much in common with the economy of England. The differences concerned the fact that the climax of the crisis was passed in England at the end of 1847, and the next year there was an upsurge in the economy. In France in 1847, the crisis and the reduction, the fall in production affected all spinning and weaving branches of production. A crisis in railway construction was brewing: shares were issued for 2,491,000 francs, while the real volume of capital invested in railway construction amounted to 1,232,000 francs. The collapse of speculative railroad construction was inevitable, accelerated by food and money crises. The gold reserves of the French Bank were sharply reduced: they had to pay for bread and food in gold. If in 1845 the gold reserve of the French Bank was 320 (three hundred and twenty) million francs, then by January 1847 it was reduced to 47 (forty-seven) million francs. By the way, more at The Russian autocrat, Emperor Nicholas I, provided assistance to the French Bank (he provided a loan to France for fifty million francs). In the first half of 1847 alone, 635 (six hundred thirty-five) bankruptcies were recorded in the department of the Seine alone. The most numerous bankruptcies among the petty bourgeoisie were in the last quarter of 1847.

In 1847, a financial crisis broke out. The state deficit in 1847 reached 25% (twenty-five percent) of the entire budget, in monetary terms it amounted to 247 (two hundred and forty-seven) million francs. The budget deficit has always enriched the bankers. But in the conditions of the crisis of 1847, the opposite happened: depositors stormed banks and withdrew deposits, closed accounts. The entire tax system was under the threat of numerous bankruptcies, pauperization and mass unemployment. The public debt by the beginning of 1848 had reached 630 (six hundred and thirty) million francs. Government of François Guise O(it replaced the cabinet of Louis Adolphe Thiers and was in power from October 1840 until the beginning of the revolution of 1848) resorted to internal loans: hundred-franc bonds were sold at a price of seventy-five francs. State power was publicly sold to usurers!

The economic crisis affected the entire political life of France; it sharply worsened the position of the petty bourgeoisie. Part of big capital left the foreign market and moved to the domestic market. This intensified competition in the domestic market, which was ruinous for small traders.

During the crisis, the concentration of production in the metallurgical and coal industries increased, and new large associations of entrepreneurs appeared there. One hundred and seventy-five small industrialists in 1847 appealed to the government with complaints about the impudence and claims of local oligarchs. Petty-bourgeois democrats sharply criticized James Rothschild's intention to buy up metallurgical enterprises in the Nord department in order to create a large industrial center there like Creuse. O.

The crisis and crop failures, the potato disease and rising prices sharply worsened the standard of living of the proletarian masses. Even relatively wealthy families, who did not need support, now fell into need. Unemployment, falling wages, epidemic diseases, an increase in mortality, a decline in the birth rate by 75% in 1847 - these are the formal indicators of national disasters. The people responded to them with demonstrations, gatherings, pogroms of speculators' shops, grain warehouses and bakeries. In response, four workers were guillotined. This reprisal only increased the hatred for the July Monarchy. The masons and construction workers of Nantes went on strike for three months (from July to September 1847), military units were brought into the city and arrests were made. Contemporaries saw new features in the strike movement: 1) the sharply expressed initiative of the workers;

2) the active role of "communist associations";

3) the influence of communist propaganda, the main danger to the authorities was seen from the side of communist workers.

On May 12, food riots took place in Lille (Department Nord) with the participation of four hundred workers under the slogan: “Work! Bread!”, “Down with Louis-Philippe of Orleans!”, “Long live the Republic!” Grain barns and bakeries were attacked.

Seriously fell, the international prestige of France was shaken. In 1841, at the London Conference to settle the Turkish-Egyptian conflict, France lost its diplomatic influence in Syria and Egypt, which fell under British rule. In 1844, the scandalous “case of the English agent Pritchard” thundered, which opposed French diplomacy on the island of Tahiti. France not only failed to remove Pritchard from Tahiti, but also had to humiliatingly apologize to him and pay the British agent Pritchard for his anti-French activities in Tahiti the sum of 25 (twenty-five) thousand francs. Having worsened its diplomatic relations with England, Orleanist France drew closer to Austria, where the famous reactionary, Chancellor Clement Metternich, ruled, and Emperor Nicholas I of Tsarist Russia. The cabinet of Francois Guise O tacitly agreed with the liquidation of the last seat of Polish independence - Krakow - and its accession to the Habsburg Empire in 1846. France was defeated in Italy, the rate of the cabinet of François Guise O on the Italian reactionaries turned out to be a bat. An eyewitness to the events, the Russian writer Alexander Herzen expressed the essence of the changes in these words: “France has become a secondary state. The governments stopped being afraid of it, the peoples began to hate it.”

Reactionary politics and the failures of the cabinet of ministers Francois Guise O accelerated the approach of the revolutionary denouement. Few people in France did not criticize the Guise cabinet O: in parliament, in the press, in public and political organizations, among the broad masses, and even in the personal correspondence of the princes of the Orleans dynasty, the government was subjected to fierce criticism. The Orléanists wrote indignantly about the servility of France to Austria, that France assumed the role of "a gendarme in Switzerland and a strangler of freedom in Italy." One of the princes (the Prince of Joinville) made it clear: "I'm starting to get very worried lest we be led into a revolution." The “crisis of the upper classes” and the approach of the revolution were also felt by the opposition. Grouping liberal Odilon Barr O(the so-called "dynastic opposition") put forward the slogan: "Reform to avoid revolution." The "dynastic opposition" adhered to the tactics of blocking with the bourgeois republicans on the eve of the revolution.

In 1847, a new political group appeared on the political arena of France - the “political conservatives”, which O to a greater extent spoke of a deep “crisis of the upper classes”. This grouping arose within the government party itself. It was headed by the unprincipled Emile de Girardin. He expressed his credo with the words: "We are in the opposition, but we are not from the opposition." At first, the “progressive conservatives” limited themselves to a program of economic measures (improved credit conditions, tax reform, lowering the price of salt, etc.), but soon their leader, Emile de Girardin, joined the supporters of electoral reform. For years, Girardin had been sold to the Orléanists, and now he took advantage of the public platform to expose government corruption.

Two different groupings of Republicans, both named after their newspapers, Nacional and Reforma, also intensified propaganda activities in 1847-1848. In France, the organization and holding of political banquets - the so-called "banquet campaign" - has again become fashionable. Banquets were a very convenient, closed, narrow in composition, form of political struggle. The first banquet took place on July 9, 1847 in Paris, at the Chateau Rouge. The initiator of this banquet campaign was the leader of the "dynastic opposition" Odilon Barrot. The Republicans representing the Nacional group soon discredited themselves by rejecting the program of socio-economic reforms and confining themselves to "pure politics", moreover, hostile to the entire revolutionary-democratic camp. The workers despised the Nacional as a newspaper of the “gentlemen”, and its leader, Arm A on Marr A one hundred - was called the "republican in yellow gloves."

Petty-bourgeois democrat Alexandre Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e he was at the head of the second republican group "Reform". Influenced by the actions of the working masses Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e n, like other members of the editorial board of the Reform newspaper, put forward a program of social transformation. The political bloc with the workers was one of the main tactical tasks of this republican grouping. November 7, 1847 at a banquet in Lille, in the city garden, in the presence of a thousand one hundred people in response to toasts: “For the workers, for their inalienable rights! For their sacred interests!” Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e He made a speech, the text of which was published not only in the democratic press of France, but also in England, in the Chartist newspaper Polar Star. The words uttered by Alexander Ledr became a kind of slogan Yu-Roll e nom: "The people not only deserve to represent themselves, but they can only be represented by themselves." The crowded banquet in Dijon also showed that the Reform party is gaining political influence in society. In Dijon, led by Alexandre Ledre, gathered Yu-Roll e Mr. and Louis-Blanc, representatives of other cities of France, delegates from Switzerland. The workers arrived at the banquet in Dijon in the amount of four hundred people. At this banquet, Alexandre Ledru-Rollin made a toast: “To the Convention that saved France from the yoke of kings!” Despite the efforts of the “dynastic opposition”, the banquets in favor of electoral reform gradually became more radical.

The banquet campaign contributed to the development of the struggle for electoral reform in various regions of France. But not one of the petty-bourgeois groupings or other opposition forces could and did not dare to raise a revolutionary armed uprising with the aim of forcibly overthrowing the regime of King Louis-Philippe of Orleans. But the revolution began anyway, as F. Engels predicted in 1847: “At the moment when a clash between the people and the government becomes inevitable, the workers will instantly find themselves on the streets and squares, tear up the pavements, block the streets with omnibuses, wagons and carriages, barricade every passageway, every narrow lane will be turned into a fortress and will move, sweeping away all obstacles, from Place de la Bastille to the Tuileries Palace” (Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 4, p. 364).

February Revolution. On the eve of the revolution, much was said about the impending revolutionary explosion. The financial aristocracy represented by the Second Empire proved to be the least capable of governing the country. Ignoring the opposition, rejecting all proposals for electoral reform, the government of Francois Guise O stubbornly did not want to see the approaching revolution. Guizot showed a rare political short-sightedness, blind stubbornness, the self-confidence of the historian-minister was transferred to his entourage and the close-minded "king-citizen", the power-hungry Louis-Philippe of Orleans. This blind stubbornness was organically characteristic of the “kingdom of the bankers”. The features, the signs of this "kingdom of the bankers" were the domination of the aristocracy, the monopoly privileges of big money capital, the merging of capital with the state apparatus, the predatory exploitation of the state budget, stock market games and speculative transactions around state policy. The top of the bourgeois plutocracy enriched itself around state power and with the help of this power, it did not put up with the fact that some other stratum of the bourgeoisie would join the power. If this happened, then the growing commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, which the development of capitalism brought to the fore, would inevitably come to power.

Even more unacceptable for the bourgeois financial plutocracy would be the granting of voting rights to the broad masses of the petty bourgeoisie. In France, the petty bourgeoisie was so crushed by the big capitalists, ruined and robbed by them, that, having received the right to vote, it would immediately join the political struggle against the "financial tycoons" and "money bigwigs". In this forthcoming struggle for a more just reorganization of society, the French petty bourgeoisie would be forced to rely on a temporary alliance with the working class, and together with it, in alliance, overthrow the monarchy and proclaim a republic. The strength of the alliance between the workers and the petty bourgeoisie was of an explosive nature, which immediately manifested itself as soon as the course of events united the working class and the petty bourgeoisie in a general uprising against the oppression and dominance of the financial aristocracy.

Banquet campaign of electoral reformers against the government of François Guise O resumed in January. A new banquet was scheduled for January 19th, but was rescheduled for February 22nd. In addition to the banquet, it was planned to hold a massive street demonstration in defense of freedom of assembly. The authorities categorically banned both the banquet and the demonstration. The liberal opposition got scared again and retreated. Most of all, the liberal opposition was afraid of the revolutionary actions of the masses. Writer Prosp e p Merim e described the fear of the leaders of the opposition in this way: “Its leaders are like horsemen who have dispersed their horses and do not know how to stop them.” On the evening of February 21, opposition deputies and journalists called on the people to submit to the authorities. Most Republicans and Democrats also hesitated to call on the people to fight. On February 19, at a meeting in the editorial office of the Reform newspaper, Alexander Auguste Ledr Yu-Roll e n, maintained by Louis Bl A nom, spoke out against the use of a banquet conflict for an organized demonstration of the masses, arguing that the people were not yet ready to fight and did not have weapons. The participants in the meeting were Marc Cossidière, Joseph Louis Lagrange and Eugene Bon - all three were associated with secret societies and spoke in favor of revolutionary action. However, the point of view of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e but won - the Reform party urged Parisians to remain calm and stay at home. The petty-bourgeois socialists Pierre Lehr also warned against participation in the revolutionary struggle. at, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Victus O r Consideran.

Contrary to exhortations and warnings, thousands of Parisians - workers from the suburbs, student youth - singing the Marseillaise, took to the streets and squares of Paris on February 22 early in the morning. The demonstrators carried slogans: “Long live the reform! Down with Guizot!” The troops of the municipal guard attacked the work columns, a rebuff followed. The streets were covered with barricades. Fighting between demonstrators and troops and police continued to escalate the next day. Fighters from secret societies joined the fight, the number of barricades in the suburbs and in the center was constantly increasing. By the evening of February 22, government troops dispersed the demonstrators and took control of the situation. But the next day, the armed struggle in the streets of Paris resumed.

Battalions of the national guard acted against the rebels. The guardsmen were sympathetic to the rebels, did not follow orders, calls were heard among the battalions: “Down with Guise O! Long live electoral reform!” By the end of the day on February 23, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans still decided to sacrifice Prime Minister Francois Guise O. New ministers were appointed - supporters of electoral reform. Count Mathieu Louis Mol was appointed head of the new government e, By conviction, he is a liberal Orléanist. In the circles of the bourgeoisie, this news was greeted with enthusiasm. Liberal opposition figures and officers of the National Guard appealed to the people to stop the struggle.

But the Parisian proletariat, remembering the lessons of the revolution of 1830, this time did not allow itself to be deceived and continued to fight against the monarchy. The revolutionary workers said: “They say e or Guise O- it doesn't matter to us. The people at the barricades hold their weapons in their hands and will not lay them down until Louis Philippe is deposed from his throne. Down with Louis Philippe!”

This slogan found an ever more powerful response, and one push was enough for a popular uprising to be swept away by the rotten regime of Louis Philippe. Soon this push came. On the evening of February 23, in the center of Paris, on the Boulevard des Capucines, a column of unarmed demonstrators was heading towards the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Francois Guise lived O, was shot by guard soldiers. Dozens of Parisians were killed and injured. Upon learning of this bloody atrocity, the working people of the capital immediately rebelled. Thousands of workers, artisans, shopkeepers, students rushed into battle. One and a half thousand barricades were erected in one night. The uprising against the Orleans monarchy took on a truly popular character. The organizing force of the uprising was members of the secret republican societies, workers and small artisans.

On the morning of February 24, the struggle in the streets of Paris resumed with increasing force. Many members of the National Guard joined the uprising. The people took possession of all the mayor's offices of the districts. soldiers regular army began to fraternize with the population. Count Mathieu Louis Maul appointed Prime Minister by the King e refused to hold this post, then the premiership was offered to Louis Adolphe Thiers, and after his refusal, to the leader of the dynastic opposition, Odilon Barrot.

At noon, armed detachments of the insurgent people began an assault on the royal residence - the Tuilre Palace. And. Seeing the hopelessness of his situation, King Louis-Philippe of Orleans agreed to abdicate in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris, and his mother was appointed regent by royal decree until she came of age. Having signed the abdication, Louis-Philippe and his family hastened to leave the capital and fled to England. François Guizot also disappeared there. The Tuileries Palace was captured by the rebellious people, the royal throne was solemnly transferred to Place de la Bastille, where a crowded jubilant crowd burned it at the stake - a symbol of the July Monarchy. The insurgent people fought the last battle of the July Monarchy and its defenders in the Bourbon Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies met. The monarchical majority of this chamber intended to approve the regency of the Duchess of Orléans in order to save the monarchy by a change of faces. The top of the bourgeoisie also continued to defend the monarchy, they were afraid of the very word "republic". The situation reminded them of the onset of the Jacobin dictatorship and the revolutionary terror of 1793-1794. Only a small group of Republican deputies, having persuaded Alphonse Marie de Lamartine to their side, came up with a proposal to create a Provisional Government.

And here, in the Bourbon Palace, where the deputies sat, the issue was decided by the fighters of the barricades, who burst into the parliament's meeting room. “Down with the ward! Out of the shameless merchants! Long live the Republic!” the Parisians exclaimed, brandishing their weapons. Most of the deputies fled, remaining under pressure from the rebels decided to elect the Provisional Government. In complete confusion, the list of members of the government, compiled by the bourgeois republicans of the Nacional party, together with Alphonse Lamartine, received the approval of those present. But after their departure, another list was also drawn up and approved, developed in the editorial office of the Reforma newspaper and announced in the chamber of Alexander Ledr Yu-Roll e nom.

In the last years of the July Monarchy, the famous historian F. Guizot played a leading role in the government of France, the main principle of whose policy was to preserve the existing order. His policy suited Louis Philippe, who sought to strengthen royal power. Having taken the electoral process under control, the government created in the Chamber of Deputies the majority of officials devoted to it. The liberal Guizot turned the bribery of deputies into a system, thus encouraging corruption and mass speculation.

In 1847, France was shaken by scandals related to speculation in the royal environment, which further discredited the July Monarchy. The economic crisis that began in the same year led to numerous bankruptcies, a breakdown in monetary circulation, mass unemployment, and rising prices. The opposition organized a "banquet campaign", during which the issue of "replacing the uncontrolled and irresponsible system of personal government with such a regime under which the country would manage its own forces" was discussed. Opponents of the regime called for "reform in order to avoid revolution", and in case of refusal of reforms they predicted "a revolution of indignant public conscience and a revolution of contempt".

The beginning of the revolution

Deposition of Louis Philippe

The ban on the next banquet, scheduled for February 22, 1848, became the reason for the start of an armed uprising in Paris. Two days later, Louis-Philippe abdicated, and the Republicans formed a Provisional Government, which for the first time in history included socialists. The new government abolished titles of nobility, proclaimed universal suffrage for men, freedom of the press and assembly.

The revolution led to an unprecedented intensification of political life. The largest theoreticians of socialism and communism, O. Blanqui, E. Cabet, T. Desami, P.-J. Proudhon and even R. Owen, who came specially from England. The most active was Blanqui, who argued: “There is no freedom if there is no bread. There is no equality if abundance is paraded alongside poverty.”

Decree on the "right to work"

At the initiative of the socialist L. Blanc, the Provisional Government issued a decree on the "right to work", by which its author meant the elimination of unemployment and ensuring a decent existence for workers through fair pay for their work. The French Republic assumed these obligations on the basis that “the question of labor is a question of the greatest importance; that there is no question higher or more worthy of the concern of the republican government.” In France, the organization of public works in the form of "national workshops" began, the workers of which were paid guaranteed and equal for all wage.

Causes of the uprising

The February revolution posed a threat to the dominance of the financial aristocracy, the stock market panic began in the country, the financial system fell into complete disorder. In the hope of correcting the situation, the government introduced an additional tax, which the most astute revolutionaries regarded as a death sentence for the republic. The main burden of additional payments fell on the peasants, so the new tax gave rise to hatred in the countryside for the "republic of 45 centimes." The opponents of the republic inspired the peasants that they were charged money for the maintenance of "Paris idlers" in national workshops. In such a tense atmosphere, elections were held in constituent Assembly, which brought defeat to the supporters of the continuation of social transformations. The new authorities closed revolutionary clubs and national workshops, dooming tens of thousands of workers to poverty.

June 23-26, 1848

In June 1848, the Parisian proletarians responded with an armed uprising, which contemporaries perceived as the beginning of a civil war. For four days, fierce barricade battles were going on in Paris. The Constituent Assembly handed over full power to the Minister of War L.-E. Cavaignac, who became famous for the brutal suppression of the uprising in Algeria. Using artillery and not stopping before the destruction of entire neighborhoods, the general just as decisively suppressed the uprising in his own capital. Volunteers from the provinces came to the aid of the regular army, who organized a real campaign against Paris in order to put an end to the "eternal uprisings of the Parisian workers." material from the site

“The February Revolution of 1848 ... gave unexpected results for everyone. Again it turned out that the government, apparently strong, had no support and collapsed at the first onslaught. Again, as in 1830, it was not those who constituted the visible opposition that won, but a small group that vigorously fought with weapons in their hands in a moment of general confusion. But the victors could not seize power, since even in Paris they had few supporters, and the provinces were against them.

Second Republic in France

On December 10, 1848, presidential elections were held, which ended with a sensational result. Prince elected head of the French Republic Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I. The main force that ensured his victory was the peasants, who continued to believe in the legend of the "peasant emperor Napoleon". Thus ended the first experiment with universal suffrage in Europe. Relying on the support of the peasantry and the army, Louis Napoleon set a course for the restoration of the empire. Bo-Napartist propaganda claimed: "This

bourgeois-democratic revolution that overthrew the bourgeois July Monarchy and established the Second Republic in France (1848-52). The revolution was caused both by intensified contradictions within the French bourgeoisie (between the financial aristocracy, which concentrated power in its hands after the July Revolution of 1830, and the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, which gained strength during the industrial revolution and sought participation in the management of state affairs), and by extremely aggravated class contradictions. between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The maturation of the revolutionary situation was accelerated by the crop failures of 1845 and 1846, the economic crisis of 1847, as well as the “crisis of the top”, which was reflected in the so-called banquet campaign of the liberal-bourgeois opposition, which demanded at banquets an electoral reform and the resignation of the government of F. P. G. Guizot . The impetus for the revolutionary explosion was the ban on February 22, 1848, scheduled by the opposition for another banquet and a demonstration of reform supporters in Paris. Despite the cowardly appeal of the liberals to submit to the authorities, on February 22, tens of thousands of Parisians demonstrated, clashes between the demonstrators and the troops began. On February 23-24, a popular uprising took place, in which the workers, supported by the petty bourgeoisie, played a decisive role. Under pressure from the insurgent workers, who had won a victory over the troops in the street struggle, the Provisional Government was formed on February 24 (the revolutionary events of February 22-24 are usually called the February Revolution). Having won, the armed Parisian proletariat imposed its will not only on the monarchist, but also on the republican bourgeoisie, which came to power thanks to the people. But soon the bourgeoisie took the offensive. R. 1848, in contrast to the French Revolution, developed in a downward direction.

The first, so-called February period (February 24 - May 4, 1848) is characterized by a regrouping of class forces that prepared the way for the establishment of a bourgeois republic. The provisional government was coalition in its composition, it was "... a compromise between different classes ..." (K. Marx, see K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 7, p. 13). The leading role in this government belonged to the bourgeois republicans (A. M. Lamartine, J. Ch. Dupont de l "Eure, I. A. Cremieux, L. A. Garnier-Pages, and others); it included petty-bourgeois democrats (A O. Ledru-Rollin, F. Flocon) and as representatives of the working class - L. Blanc and Albert. At first, the Provisional Government was forced to reckon with the working class. At the request of the workers, a republic was proclaimed on February 25, on February 28 a Luxembourg commission was created to develop measures to improve the conditions of the working class, France introduced universal male suffrage by decree of March 4. The decree of March 2 shortened the working day by 1 h(to 10 h in Paris, until 11 h in the province). However, the ideological immaturity of the proletariat, under the influence of the petty-bourgeois socialists, made it easier for the bourgeoisie to prepare the conditions for launching a counteroffensive against the working class. The confidence of the workers in the republican bourgeoisie, in the Provisional Government, was strengthened by the presence in it of Blanc and Albert, whose conciliatory policy lulled the masses and paralyzed revolutionary action the proletariat. In an effort to split the ranks of the proletariat, the Provisional Government formed from declassed elements and unemployed working youth armed detachments of the so-called mobile guard, bribing them with high remuneration; at the same time, the government expected to use the mobile guard against the revolutionary Parisian proletariat. Under the sign of the “right to work” promised to the proletariat, National Workshops for the unemployed were created in Paris and a number of other cities with the expectation of turning the workers employed in them into a support for the bourgeoisie. The Provisional Government increased (for a year) by 45% all direct taxes falling on landowners, motivating this measure with expenses caused by the "squandering" of the working class. This taxation, which hit mainly the peasants, caused them disillusionment with the republic and a hostile attitude towards the Parisian proletariat.

The pushing back of the proletariat from the positions won in the February days was clearly revealed in the elections to the Constituent Assembly (April 23-24, 1848): the bourgeois republicans won, significant number monarchists and the workers' candidates, advanced democrats and socialists were defeated. On May 4, 1848, the Constituent Assembly began its work.

The period of the establishment of the bourgeois republic and the Constituent Assembly (May 4, 1848 - May 1849) is characterized by a full-scale attack of the bourgeoisie on the working class, the defeat of its revolutionary forces and the transfer of power into the hands of the monarchists.

In the new government - the so-called. Executive Commission - Socialists were not included; the ministers belonged to the most right-wing reactionary elements of the bourgeois-republican camp. A popular demonstration in Paris on May 15, which culminated in an attempt to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, ended in failure and the arrest of the revolutionary leaders—L. O. Blanqui, A. Barbès, and others. On June 23, the workers of Paris took to the barricades. The uprising that began was the first armed action by the proletariat against the bourgeoisie (see the June uprising of 1848). The suppression of this uprising was a turning point in the history of R. 1848. The bourgeois republicans made a number of significant concessions to the monarchists. On November 4, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of the Second Republic, which contained a number of anti-democratic articles, in particular, it established a strong executive power in the person of the president of the republic, endowed with almost royal rights. In the presidential elections of December 10, 1848, the protege of the monarchist bourgeoisie, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (see Napoleon III), won the victory, supported by the votes of the multimillion-strong peasantry, who saw Napoleon I's nephew as a "peasant emperor." The transfer of government power into the hands of the monarchists, all of whose currents united in the "party of order", gave rise to a series of sharp conflicts between the president and the republican majority of the Constituent Assembly, ending in the capitulation of the bourgeois republicans, who, testing before the masses greater fear than before the reaction, they accepted the demand of the monarchists for the early dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. The elections to the Legislative Assembly (May 13, 1849) brought complete defeat to the bourgeois republicans; at the same time, a new upsurge in the forces of the democratic camp was outlined; a bloc of petty-bourgeois democrats and socialists was formed (Novaya Gora, 1849, see article Gora). The leadership in this bloc belonged to the petty-bourgeois democrats, who hoped to defeat the reaction by legal means without rousing the masses to revolutionary action.

The period of the parliamentary bourgeois republic and the Legislative Assembly (May 28, 1849 - December 2, 1851) is characterized by the legislative dictatorship of the united monarchists. The bourgeois counter-revolution represented by the "Party of Order", which formed the majority in the Legislative Assembly (which began working on May 28, 1849), turned the Second Republic into a police state and cleared the way for the restoration of the monarchy. The defeat of the petty-bourgeois democracy (the failure of a protest demonstration organized by Gora on June 13, 1849 against the president's violation of the constitution - sending French troops to suppress the revolution in Rome) was used by the "party of order" to further eliminate the gains of the February Revolution. Legislative Assembly put the seal, clubs, popular assemblies, municipalities, public education under the supervision of the police and the clergy. The liquidation of the last major democratic conquest of R. 1848 - universal suffrage (May 31, 1850) - meant that the French bourgeoisie was unable to ensure its rule while maintaining the foundations of bourgeois democracy and the republic.

In 1850-51, a sharp struggle unfolded between rival monarchist factions. In this struggle, the Bonapartists won, whose protege, Louis Napoleon, as president, had at his disposal enormous means of influencing state machine, the army and the politically backward masses of the population, especially the peasantry. December 2, 1851 Louis Napoleon carried out a coup d'état (supported by the big bourgeoisie, officials, officers, Catholic clergy). Having dissolved the Legislative Assembly and concentrated dictatorial power in the hands of the Bonapartist elite, he, demagogically announcing the restoration of universal suffrage, in fact pursued a policy of terror against republicans and democrats. In fact, the Second Republic was liquidated, and in December 1852 the monarchy was officially restored in the form of a military-police Second Empire. The Bonapartist coup d'état received an exhaustive description in the work of K. Marx "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" and in the writings of V. I. Lenin. “Bonapartism,” Lenin pointed out, “is a form of government that grows out of the counter-revolutionary nature of the bourgeoisie in an environment of democratic transformation and democratic revolution” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 34, p. 83). The revolution of 1848 was defeated as a result of the counter-revolutionary nature of the bourgeoisie in conditions when a clear class consciousness, the revolutionary spirit of the proletariat, had not yet matured; the peasantry, which the working class was unable to win over to its side, remained the reserve of the bourgeoisie and for the most part became the mainstay of Bonapartism.

Lit.: Marx K., The class struggle in France from 1848 to 1850, Marx K. and Engels F., Soch., 2nd ed. , v. 7; his, the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, ibid., vol. 8; Lenin V.I., Luiblanovshchina, Poln. coll. soch., 5th ed., v. 31; his own, From what class source do the Cavaignacs come and “will come”?, ibid., vol. 32; Zastenker N. E., Revolution of 1848 in France, M., 1948; Revolutions of 1848-1849, vol. 1-2, M., 1952; Sobul A., From the history of the Great Bourgeois Revolution of 1789-1794. and the Revolution of 1848 in France, trans. from French, Moscow, 1960.

N. E. Zastenker.

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REVOLUTION OF 1848