Bonjour Citoyens!
We are here to trace one of the great struggles for liberty in France. The particular struggle that isn't talked about often but you may know it very well from a famous musical, "Les Miserables."

We are back in the June Rebellion of 1832, the Rebellion depicted in Les Miserables (which is not the French Revolution of 1789).

For access to my June Rebellion Opinion Article go here.

For my Charles Jeanne article go here and my French Revolution stuff go here.

Alright, now I hear you are all very familiar with the classic musical, and hopefully the novel Les Miserablesand ask of me, the time-traveling revolutionary to give my opinion on its authenticity.

Alright then citizens, here we go- and I shall use Charles Jeanne, the leader of the Saint-Merri Barricade as my primary source.

Overall Les Miserables was very close to the reality that happened here upon these barricades.

Finally, somebody took the torch of making the world know about this rebellion. Alas, us republicans had the highest joys and aspirations snatched from us after we won in 1830, a monarch again took the throne of France. But we would not give up, come what may.

"Do You Hear the People Sing" at the barricade?

Yes, actually. I do hear the people sing at the barricade! The songs of liberty!
Did you know singing is a vital part of revolutions? It helps unite the people, raise their morale and bring a psychological feeling of comradery. Singing is vital to the rebellion!
They sang patriotic songs like Chant du Depart, La Marseillaise, etc.

The French Revolution of 1789 was also a very musical revolution, as was the American Revolution.

This part of the musical was very accurate.

Other Rebellions?

Now, this is covered in the book and briefly at the beginning of the movie and some people seem to have missed it.
The French Revolution was in 1789, Napoleon Bonaparte took over in a coup, after Bonaparte-- France at the controversial (and cruel) Bourbon dynasty back.

In 1830 we had a rebellion against the monarchy (which the Les Amis from Les Mis were involved in) and............

wait for it

OH, THE INDIGNATION! Oh, the rage! Alas, the election was stolen from the people! We fought on the barricades for liberty and now stuck with another despotic tyrant from one of the most powerful families in France.

No, the June Rebellion didn't pop out of nowhere. The Republicans were not going to surrender a bit of their dreams of 1830.

Students only?

Well, in Les Miserables they do emphasize it was workers and students. The character Feuilly is a working-class republican bent on making a better world for everybody.

Some people misinterpret Les Mis to be "the student's revolt" when it was much broader.
Charles Jeanne, who Enjolras is loosely based on, was a working-class republican.

Whereas Enjolras (from the barricade down the street- literally) is introduced as a student in 1828, in 1832 he would have been 26 and it is unmentioned whether he is a student still (we can assume law since that is usually what "student" meant at the time, but text doesn't clearly state).

Everybody is allowed at the barricade, we are all here under a common goal- the goal of liberty.

One barricade?

If you only watched the musical you may be under the impression there was only one barricade. Nope, not at all! In the book, it mentions the various barricades conversing with each other. Many ideologies were represented at the barricades, including legitimists who wanted the other royal family back on the throne of France!

We are here at the Republican barricade and we want a republic. Some here at this barricade are more utopian and radical than others, but overall we are Republicans in the likes of Robespierre, Danton and the revolutionaries of 1789.

A daily ritual for us republicans is gathering at coffeehouses with our Robespierre books and debating, discussing, and dreaming of a world with liberty and equality on the throne and not a monarch.

People lived.

A friend of mine down the street at the socialist barricade has informed me that another difference from the Les Mis musical is more people lived in real life.

Many of these hid in houses or churches. Charles Jeanne tried to bolt out of the house that was hiding him and fight the national guards solo but the housekeeper warned him that by doing so Jeanne would give away the hiding place of his comrades.

Charles Jeanne and many others at the end ran and hid in disguises for months. Alas, the king's spies were everywhere and captured the revolutionaries. Many of them were imprisoned, and Jeanne passionately defended his beliefs on the floor in front of the king.

Revolution, what revolution?? A rebel nervously laughs in hopes that the king would pardon him, another granted a script by the king makes outrageous claims.

Alas, I can take no more!

Yes, I was at the barricades! Yes, we conducted ourselves in extreme honor. Vive la Republique, I shall never apologize and I shall keep fighting until the world is free.

Somebody had to make a stand- and that somebody was Charles Jeanne (along with many others)

Les Barricades de nombreuses langues

This part is true! Standing here at the Saint-Merri Barricade you can hear;

"Dzien Dobry!"
"Guten tag!"
"Hola!" and of course, "Bonjour!"

People from all the closed, despotic, authoritarian monarchies (and partitioned Poland) have fled to France for hopes of freedom- only to see those freedoms trampled by a despotic oligarchy! These brave people were not going to remain silent and they took to the barricades to fight for (as Poland's motto says)-- "For Our Freedom and Yours!"

Overall

Les Miserables is pretty faithful to the actual history of the June Rebellion. Victor Hugo actually is right behind that bench writing away about these dramatic events. Hugo was in the Tuileries Garden heard some gunshots and ran to see where the action was.

Charles Jeanne's letter to his sister exposing what went on at the barricades served as a vital primary source document proving that many of Hugo's words were correct.

Like the Revolutionaries in Les Miserables, Jeanne's revolutionaries obeyed a strict honor code and sent all those with dependents away from the barricade when they realized the fight was getting worse. From the Republican angle, Jeanne's barricade represented a place of hope and a place for the Republicans to express their indignation at the revolution of 1830 being stolen from them by another monarch.

Imagine seeing your comrades fall in 1830 for hopes and dreams of a government where you may have a voice, but to have that voice stolen from you when another monarch ascends to the throne of France! A throne that belongs solely to the people! (Actually, there should be no throne. Vive la Republique!)

From the socialist standpoints, journalist Louis Blanc also gave a very reliable account of the barricades he witnessed. He detailed the fighting, and the attitudes conveyed by the barricade leaders.

We can confirm that Les Miserables, while a piece of historical fiction and shouldn't be used as actual history still managed to stay very true and faithful to the events at the barricades.

Citizen, I hope you enjoyed bouncing back and forth between the centuries.

The June Rebellion may have failed in the short run, but in the long run, they won. The Republicans finally emerged victoriously, and after years of fighting for their rights finally achieved them.

They didn't know that the rebellion was going to fail, after all, 1830 succeeded!
Louis Phillippe did a powerful job of suppressing the rebellion.

This is why the right to peaceful protest and the right to a democracy should always be appreciated and upheld. Not everybody had that right in history, and we should always keep in mind that dissent is needed in a free society. The light of liberty shines brightly throughout history, and all the attempts of despotism to darken it have failed against the people's persistence to see liberty sit on the throne of humanity. To see liberty, equality, and fraternity be the governing rules of a happy nation. Long live liberty!