Bourbon Restoration - The Four Ordinances

The Four Ordinances

Technically, the Charter of 1814 had made France a constitutional monarchy. While the King retained extensive power over policy-making, as well as the sole power of the Executive, he was, nonetheless, reliant upon the Parliament to accept and pass his legal decrees. The Charter also fixed the method of election of the Deputies, their rights within the Chamber of Deputies, and the rights of the majority bloc. Thus, in 1830, Charles X faced a significant problem. He could not overstep his constitutional bounds, and yet, he could not preserve his policies with a liberal majority within the Chamber of Deputies. Stark action was required.

A final no-confidence vote by the liberals, in March 1830, spurred the king into action, and he set about to alter the Charter of 1814 by decree. These decrees, known as the "Four Ordinances", or the "Ordinances of Saint-Cloud", were:

1. Dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies
2. Restriction of the Press Laws
3. Restriction of the franchise to only the wealthiest within France
4. Immediate new elections based upon the new electorate

Word spread quickly of the king's intent. On 10 July 1830, before the king had even made his declarations, a group of wealthy, liberal journalists and newspaper proprietors, led by Adolphe Thiers, met in Paris to decide upon a strategy to counter Charles X. It was decided then, nearly three weeks before the Revolution, that in the event of Charles' expected proclamations, the journalistic establishment of Paris would publish vitriolic criticisms of the king's policies in an attempt to mobilize the masses. Thus, when Charles X made his declarations on the 25 July 1830, the liberal journalism machine mobilized, publishing articles and complaints decrying the despotism of the king's actions.

The urban mobs of Paris also mobilized, driven by patriotic fervor and economic hardship, assembling barricades and attacking the infrastructure of Charles X. Within days, the situation escalated beyond the ability of the monarchy to control it. As the Crown moved to shut down liberal periodicals, the radical Parisian masses defended those publications. They also launched attacks against pro-Bourbon presses, and paralyzed the coercive apparatus of the monarchy. Seizing the opportunity, the liberals in Parliament began drafting resolutions, complaints, and censures against the king.

The king finally abdicated on 30 July 1830. Twenty minutes later, his son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, who had nominally succeeded as Louis XIX, also abdicated, having lasted what is believed to be the shortest reign on record. The Crown nominally then fell upon the son of Louis Antoine's younger brother, Charles X's grandson, who became Henri V, with Louis-Phillippe, Duc d'Orléans, as Lieutenant-General of the realm. However, the newly-empowered Chamber of Deputies declared the throne vacant, and on 9 August, elevated Louis-Philippe, to the throne. Thus, the July Monarchy began.