Citizen! Welcome back to the journey throughout French history!
Oh bonjour citizen!
Welcome to my barricade!
To catch up on my previous time travel journeys you can access the revolution before this
French Revolution
or the one after this
June Rebellion.
I will write as though we are experiencing the events as I speak. In this series, I may reference something in the contemporary day but must stick to what my character's opinions would have been at the time.
I remain yours truly, the time traveling republican revolutionary in 18th/19th century France.
If you wish for more rebellions during the Atlantic World Revolutions, send me a message and I'll see what I can do.
Citizen!! Could you believe the Bourbon dynasty is back? Disgusting. Awful. Tyrannical. Despots! Oh just a few words I can use to describe my distaste for the regime, you saw me in 1789 for the French Revolution, and you saw me in 1832 for the June Rebellion. I skipped over the 1830 Revolution which I shall cover now!
Anyway, will you help me distribute these pamphlets? Shhh, citizen, we must do this in the quiet of the night. Napoleon Buonaparte took control of France after the White Terror (the revolt against the French Revolution which killed more people than the Reign of Terror did), and after Buonaparte's exile to Saint-Helena the wonderful international community (sarcasm) decided it was a great idea to put a Bourbon on the throne of France *again.*
Yes, the same Bourbon dynasty that killed thousands of French citizens throughout the years and had a zero-tolerance policy on freedom of religion.
First, we get Louis XVIII who under international pressure has a constitution to follow, but we fought and died for a republic, not a constitutional monarchy. Please keep this in mind. Also, this "constitution" still invests all the powers into the executive (aka the king or queen if she is in charge).
Meet Charles X, Oh bonjour Citizen Charles! Oops, pardon me I called him "citizen" I should have said "your royal highness" but oh well, I only bow to God, not man.
Anyway, remember that cute little dauphin? Marie Antoinette's son? Yes, Charles is his son. Also, I need to remind everybody that all the aristos in Europe are related- so see Louis Phillippe there. He seems to be on our side of the barricade for now but I don't exactly trust him... I will get to Louis P. later.
So Charles X believes he is divinely ordained by God, his will is the will of God. As I've argued before, this philosophy is dangerous and unbiblical. It places the king above reproach and places him as "a God." Charles X claims he will allow religious freedom, but given the history of religious "freedom" in France at this point, I don't know if I can trust him.
Now in an ideal world, the king would go to church, read the scriptures and learn about how God wants us all to love each other and help the poor. Sadly, this wasn't the reality in history. Kings used the Bible out of context to abuse their power and oppress the masses. In fact, a secular state where church and state are completely separate there is more religious freedom than in a country with an official church.
Technically you have religious freedom, but the divine right of kings is kind of troubling. What is to say the king will not crush dissident religions? Mind you, the Bourbon family did in the past. How am I to know they won't do it again? I'm simply your host, the time-traveling revolutionary here to make you excited about this era in history. With the Catholic Church being official, does this mean a crackdown on Protestants as political dissidents? Protestants usually believe the divine right of kings to be unbiblical. Uhh ohhh.
Not just Protestants are in danger- Atheists, Deists, Jewish people, anybody who isn't a Catholic.
Ohh you are a Catholic? Very nice, but please know you aren't safe either, just because you are a Catholic doesn't mean the king won't find other reasons to get you in trouble, like if you are a republican, libertarian, socialist, or anything that's different.
We supporters of the republic and democracy must all unite against the despotic authoritarian regime of the monarchy.
Oops! did I see a protest sign on that poor person's desk? Oh no he is in trouble! You can't peacefully protest the king! #ResistBourbons will not work I repeat for the one-millionth time- this is not the 21st century, this is an absolute monarchy in the 19th century. There are no human rights here!
Of course, I believe there are human rights- but those in power don't.
Dear citizen time-traveler, I heard that your people are very upset about possible foreign interference in your election. Now I (as a 1830 republican) don't know much about that- but Charles X was in a way foreign interference in our election. The combined monarchies of Europe put him in place because they were afraid of the French Revolution growing and them possibly losing their own heads in a similar revolution. So they collaborated at the Congress of Vienna and put this Bourbon (from a long line of human rights violators) on the throne. Oh, the indignance of the people who all we dreamt of was a republic! The object of our greatest devotion!
Imagine in 1789 finally overthrowing the chains of the family that held yours back for generations- only to have a dictator (Buonaparte) take over in a coup, and afterward have foreign powers put another Bourbon on the throne of France. Alas! Human rights are so fleeting during this time. Oh liberty, dear liberty, shall I ever see? Oh to see liberty reign supreme over all that is the one wish I have in this life dear citizen!
So what can we do about Charles X????
Oh no, I'll get back to you citizen!
Look at this!! So remember in the French Revolution how nobles fled France and we took their land? The king gave the land back to them!
Ever heard of the Ultras? This political party in 1830, is actively supporting banning freedom of the press, actually nevermind that just happened. You can't write anything you want.
This Political Pamphlet Advocating for Republican Principles is officially Censored. You think you can just write ideologies criticizing the king? LOL LOL LOL I'M DIVINELY ORDAINED BY GOD AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK! I'M THE KING.
Like that.
Freedom of the press is another cornerstone of a free society. Without it, the people will never know what is truly going on because the king controls everything.
Also, 413/430 seats in Congress were at one point held by these guys. As you know, I dislike supermajorities of any political party- but especially this one.
Alas!! Liberty how long will you anguish???
Citizen, tell me this- where do rights come from?
Do they come from the king/government? Or are they natural within us all?
If the king gives you rights, the king can (and will) take them away.
We hold these truths to be held self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable (or inalienable) rights and among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. - United States of America's Declaration of Independence.
Interesting, let's go to another Atlantic World Revolution
2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.
3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. Nobody nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law. - French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. French Revolution.
See the connection here citizen?
Similar constitutions in Poland, Latin America, and throughout the world have expressed similar sentiments. There is a deep desire in the heart of humanity to be free, to be heard, to have a voice.
Liberty, this is the greatest right of them all. For this right, I believe that it was justified going to the barricades in 1830, just as it was in 1789, and 1832.
All of these were for the same reason- a republic. Liberty, for the people to govern through a Constitution and elected government respecting their rights.
We must go, citizen- to the barricades!
Citizen!!!!!! We won!! Charles X has fled France!! Oh, what jubilation I feel from the depths of my soul. My whole self-rejoices to see alas the chains of tyranny broken.
Ahh! Three days of fighting at the barricade. Three glorious days as they became known.
Remember this picture?
The above picture takes place during this rebellion, and that woman is Marianne the representation of the French Republic. If we wanted a monarchy again that would be Joan of Arc and not Marianne.
NO!!!! The indignation!! How could he?? That is right, I told you never to trust a member of the royal family-- Louis Phillippe took the throne of France, we are a monarchy again.
How?? Is this what we fought for??
I would like to introduce you to my fellow Republican, Charles Jeanne.
Jeanne was a real-life leader of both the 1830 and 1832 revolutions in France.
Jeanne said, "ever since I reached the age of reason my dream of every moment was the liberty of my Patria." He also mentioned being very indignant at the outcome of the 1830 rebellion and how it betrayed the very values they fought for.
I've paraphrased some of his accounts for the primary source info on the feelings of the people.
Keep his name in mind, I've written on him- and will write more on him.
Stay tuned citizen for the 1832 Rebellion article...
Vive la republique!
Liberté, Égalité,Fraternité ou la mort!
Liberty, equality, fraternity or death!
