Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

During the early to mid eighteen hundreds, several revolutions arose in Europe, and these brought about tremendous change throughout the nations. France was where the greatest change would occur, as masked under the revolutions, was a large scale plan to implement the socialist movement into government. This shows us that even in a serious revolution, there can be a deeper plan going on, with many different forces looking to manipulate and profit from it. 

            The Revolution of Eighteen Thirty began in France when Charles X came to power following Louis XVIII, and began to revoke the reforms of his predecessor and take on an almost absolutist rule, and due to his oppression, there was an uprising in France. This revolution deposed him, electing Louis Philippe, who, contrary to Charles, took a conservative style of ruling, when he attempted to benefit France. Loui’s administration was comprised of a conservative liberal Prime Minister named Francois Guizot, who stirred up great controversy due to his restrictions, and it gave rise to another revolution, deposing Louis Philippe, and giving rise to Louis Napoleon or Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, he (Louis Napoleon) was president and then emperor France until the Franco-Prussian War. These revolutions gave rise to other uprisings around Europe, including one in Poland. However, these revolutions, though small, were used for a greater movement, one that would decide the fate of nations. Underneath the passion for freedom and the glorification of these revolutions, there was political development going on. Groups saw these revolutions as an opportunity to get inside the government of France, and these groups included Socialists, men such as Louis Blanc, who was a member of the Provisional Government of France, and he was a particularly dangerous member because he saw an opportunity to use the government to implement Socialism. Up until this point, most parties had to do their own promoting and applying of their systems, and Socialists believed in starting their own “Utopia”, but Blank saw an opportunity to get inside the government in order to get socialism into the country at a much faster and more enforced rate. The first thing he began to develop through the Provisional Government, was a works program so that the unemployed could go to workshops and labor in order to gain income. Though these were small enactments, it got the Socialist’s foot in the door, moreover, there was much tension between the Liberals and the Socialists, who, at this time, were referred to as Republicans, but most saw them as radicals. Frederic Bastiat was a Liberal at this time who opposed Louis Blanc and wrote The Law, which refuted the ideas of men like him. His main disagreement was with how they used the government to force the social change on France, he preferred that they experiment among themselves and leave the common man alone. These events set France up for a large scale political battle between the radical Republicans (Socialists) and the Classical Liberals, a battle that has lasted to this very day.

            The Revolutions of Eighteen Thirty and Eighteen Forty Eight were heavily influential on the nations of Europe, not only in lives lost, but in the political agendas moved into position, such as socialism infiltrating the government of France in order to slowly turn the nation in the direction of their regime. In conclusion, any large scale political occurrences are guaranteed to hold unseen results, this is why it is so important to have many opinions in order to see the true costs, whether it be from political advancements, or nationwide revolutions.