Charles X of France

A detailed Summary of Charles X of France

When Charles X ascended the throne (1824) he was 67 years old. He had become bigoted and 'set in his ways'. However, the people of France seemed to welcome his ascension due to their jealousy over the British Monarchy. Had Charles X perhaps been more accommodating to the needs of the 'ordinary' people of France, or acted more subtly, his reign promised to be a successful one. So why was it that it lasted only 6 years (1824-30)?

One of the mistakes that Charles X made was his failure to reconcile the gains of the revolution with the Ultras. This may have caused some conflict. Charles X, who was the leader of the Ultras, was open about the connection and made it clear that the aims of the Ultras went against the Charter and many of the main gains of the revolution. For example, the revolution had gained freedom of the press, of association, of speech and movement, as well as careers being open to talent and equality before the law. However, the Ultras wanted a return to a feudalistic system where strict censorship of the press was enforced, and aristocratic privileges restored. The prospect of these aims being gratified was abhorrent to the people of France, hence their suspicions of a monarch so obviously

In this appointment, Charles made it clear to the people of France that all of the gains of the revolution were going to be attacked, and the charter overturned, and those who had been prepared to give Charles the benefit of the doubt were now sure that he meant to go against the Charter. For Polignac to gain more support, more elections were to be held. These elections however, failed to gain a majority, and the king conducted a coup d'etat. On the 25th of July, the Ordinances of St Cloud were issued. These meant that the new chamber would be dissolved, the recent elections declared null and void, depriving the Bourgeoisie of the vote, and suspending liberty of the press. To the outrage of the French people, Charles had become a dictator. The following day, barricades were erected, riots broke out and Charles was forced to abdicate.

1826 saw the beginning of an economic recession. There were poor harvests, which led to high food prices. People were hungry and lived in awful conditions, with low wages and high unemployment throughout the country. Jobless, educated Bourgeoisie began to remember the Napoleonic era as a golden age of career and opportunity. Although the recession of 1826 could not have been prevented by Charles X or his government, it presented itself as an opportunity for him to redeem himself in the eyes of his people. Although he could have done so in helping the people of France, through charities or welfare, Charles X and his government pronounced themselves as powerless in the situation and basically ignored the situation. This angered the people who were the worst effected (peasa

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Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History