July Revolution of 1830

Catalyzed by the decreasing popularity of Charles X and the continual economic hardships of the working class, the July Revolution of 1830, also known as “Les Trois Glorieuses,” ended the Bourbon monarchy and brought Louis-Philippe to the throne. The first day of violence occurred on July 27th, following the publication of the king's controversial ordinances banning freedom of the press. Protesters rioted violently throughout Paris , and the French government was forced to set up various barricades, but to little avail. By July 29th, the third and final day of fighting, the throne of Charles X was clearly overthrown. His court was forced to flee to Rambouillet, and on August 9th Louis-Philippe took the civil oath in office and was declared king of the “July Monarchy.”

Hôtel de Ville de Paris, le 30 Juillet, 1830.

[ Paris  : 1830?]. Hand-colored engraving by Cropin ; drawing by Mavski. 30 x 43 cm.

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Nominated to be king on July 30, historical sources indicate that Louis-Philippe presented himself to the people at the Hôtel de Ville, known to be the “heart of Paris ,” on July 31, rather than July 30 th as the engraving indicates. The people did not greet Louis-Philippe without resistance; although many Parisians welcomed the new king, many revolutionaries continued to express hostility towards his nomination.

Revolution of 1848

Louis-Philippe is known as the “citizen king” because of his bourgeois manners and clothes, but his reign proved differently. Although Louis-Philippe's government revised the Constitutional Charters of 1814, it remained generally unresponsive to the needs of lower class citizens. Legitimists and Bonapartists, in addition to revolutionary leftists, began to oppose the ruling government. France experienced a severe economic crisis between 1846-1847, and the already poor working conditions for the lower classes greatly worsened. In an attempt to demand electoral reform, the resistance organized the Banquet Campaign in 1848. When the government refused to allow the Banquet to meet on February 22, street fighting and uprisings broke out all over Paris . On February 23, while trying to control the crowds, French troops fired on demonstrators, sparking the February Revolution of 1848. Although Louis-Philippe was forced to flee to England , the revolution eventually proved to be unsuccessful due to irresolvable differences between the radicals and the bourgeois. In April, the French citizens elected moderates to the government but then attempted to overthrow the newly elected National Assembly one month later. The effort failed and Napoléon III was elected president of the Second Republic on December 10, 1848 .

Lacoste, Eugène, 1818-1907.

Affaire Schmit, rue St. Honoré, 1847.

[ Paris : 1847?]. Original watercolor. 23 x 33 cm.

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Preceding the Revolution of 1848, conflicts between the Parisian working class and the government escalated in the capital city.

Lacoste, Eugène, 1818-1907.

Paris—février 1848.

[ Paris  : 1848?]. Original water-color. 23 x 33 cm.

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Gaildrau, Jules

Attaque du Château d'Eau. Place du Palais Royal, le 24 Février 1848.

Paris : Leclere éditeur, 29 Boulevard Poissonière, Imp. Lemercier, [1848?]. Hand-colored engraving. 26.7 x 32 cm.

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

The Château d'Eau was built in the early 18 th century as an indestructible stronghold for the French militia. On February 24, 1848 , the Château d'Eau was the site of heavy rioting by Parisian revolutionaries. Occupied by members of the Garde Municipale, as well as many insurgents that they held as prisoners, the Château d'Eau was a revolutionary target. Parisians stormed the building and demanded that the guards give up their weapons, but to no avail. Shooting broke out shortly after, and the insurgents responded by setting the Château d'Eau ablaze; surviving soldiers were forced to surrender. An estimated 11 soldiers and 38 citizens were killed in the riot.

Lacoste, Eugène, 1818-1907.

Translation des Arbres de Liberté.

[ Paris : 1848?]. Original watercolor. 23 x 33 cm.

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

A return to the Republican symbolism of the Revolution of 1789, the icon of the “Arbres de liberté”, or “liberty trees” was resurrected during the Revolution of 1848 in an attempt to unify the interests of the people and those of the radical Republicans. Representing both freedom and equality, the trees were planted throughout Paris and its surrounding areas by the working-class and political revolutionaries of all ages, expressing once again a powerful message of independence, freedom and universalism. However, in the aftermaths of the revolution of 1848, the newly-elected prefects insisted that the trees be dug up, claiming they interfered with the flow of traffic. In 1852, Napoléon III ordered removal of the remaining trees in an attempt to rid Paris of the taints of the Second Republic .

Lacoste, Eugène, 1818-1907.

La Garde Municipale brise ses armes.

[Paris : 1848?]. Original watercolor. 23 x 33 cm.
Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

The Garde Municipale was responsible for maintaining order in the capital city under Louis-Philippe's reign. During the Revolution of 1848, the Garde was in charge of protecting Parisian institutions from the escalating violence and rioting, and were sometimes forced to destroy weapons to ensure the capital's security.

Commune, 1871

Despite the horrific defeat of the French by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the city of Paris refused to surrender to German occupation of the capital. Although the newly elected French National Assembly, under the direction of Adolphe Thiers, accepted a peace agreement with Prussia and negotiated terms of surrender in March of 1871, the city of Paris refused submission to Thiers and the Germans, and opted instead to elect a municipal council known as the Commune of Paris. Officially established on March 18th and comprised mainly of members of the working class, the Commune was considered to be a socialist government formed by and for the people, and represented an attempt for Parisians to rewrite laws and reclaim power from the bottom. Shortly after establishing itself, the Commune passed laws that lowered rent, granted freedom of the press, separated church and state, and improved general working conditions for Parisian citizens.

Thiers's National Assembly of Versailles thus found itself in opposition with the Paris Commune. In response to the Commune's resistance, troops supportive of the Thiers regime coordinated a Siege of Paris in April and May of 1871. On April 11, Thiers's troops entered Paris in an attempt to regain control, resulting in five weeks of violent fighting. The week of May 21st-28th, known as the "semaine sanglante", was especially gruesome for the communards, whose death toll reached an estimated 30,000; they were officially defeated on May 28, 1871. In addition to the lives that were lost to the fighting and executions, as well as the massive architectural damage suffered by the city, around 4,500 Parisians were deported to New Caledonia and 43,500 were arrested by the Versailles troops.

Because it symbolized the absolute rule of consecutive monarchies, the Tuileries Palace, destroyed by the communards, was never rebuilt under the Third Republic, leaving the U-shaped Louvre now opening up to the Champs-Elysées.

" Hôtel de Ville, 24 Mai 1871 "

Hoffbauer, 1839-1922
Paris à travers les âges : aspects successifs des monuments et quartiers historiques de Paris depuis le XIIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours / fidèlement restitués d'après les documents authentiques par M. F. Hoffbauer ; texte par MM. Édouard Fournier, Paul Lacroix, A. de Montaiglon, A. Bonnardot, Jules Cousin, Franklin, Valentin Dufour, etc.

Paris : Firmin-Didot, 1875-1882. Vol. 1, chapitre 1, pl. [VI]. Colored lithograph by Eugène Cicéri, drawing by F. Hoffbauer.
John Hay Library Starred Books Collection

During the "semaine sanglante" of May of 1871, the Hôtel de Ville was set afire by the communards and took nearly eight days to be fully extinguished. Completely destroyed in the fire, the building was eventually rebuilt under the Third Republic. The total construction process took around ten years to complete, and the restored Hôtel de Ville was a near replica of that which was the center of Paris prior to the Commune.

The Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, located on the boulevard Saint-Martin, was inaugurated under this name in 1814. Invaded during the Commune in May of 1871, the federals fired guns at Parisian communards from the windows of the theatre before it was completely set ablaze and destroyed. It was eventually restored and re-inaugurated in 1873.

[Paris] : Duval, éditeur, 27, rue de Châteaudun, [1871?] ([Paris] : Association d'ouvriers lithographes, Schmit & Cie., quai Valmy, 21) #8. Tinted lithograph by Siméon; drawing by Véron.
John Hay Library Starred Books Collection

Colonne Vendôme
As early as 1803, Napoléon articulated plans for a column to be erected at the place Vendôme. It wasn't until the legendary battle of Austerlitz in 1805 that the emperor specified his plans for the monument. Construction for the Colonne Vendôme began in 1806 and was intended to pay tribute to the soldiers of the Grande Armée. Inaugurated in 1810, the Colonne Vendôme measured a total of 200 meters tall and depicted Napoléon as a roman emperor: "Ah! qu'on est fier d'être Français/ Quand on regarde la Colonne."

Symbolically controversial during the periods to follow, the Colonne Vendôme was dismantled and redesigned on multiple occasions during the first half of the 19th century. In 1863, Napoléon III ordered the construction of the present column, once again commemorating his uncle Napoléon Bonaparte. This symbol of the greatly despised Empire was dismantled once again by the Paris Commune on May 16, 1871. Falling onto a bed of hay and manure, the Colonne Vendôme was destroyed and broken into pieces in a symbolic gesture on behalf of the Parisians. It was eventually restored in 1873, following the defeat of the Commune, and weighed a total of 2,000 tons. It is located in the first arrondissement.