In February of 1848, the social tensions in France intensified because of the monarchy’s inability to promote liberal changes in the social life and government. Focusing on the industrial and agricultural decline in the country and on the necessity of the electoral reforms, people chose to follow the known path of a revolt and the further revolution in order to change the situation (De Lamartine par. 6).
Thus, the rise of nationalism in France was associated with the rise of people to promote positive changes and reforms in the country in order to improve the rule of Louis-Philippe as a monarch. In spite of the fact that the Revolution of 1848 was supported by the wide categories of the French public oriented to reforming the regime, the revolution led to the further restoration of monarchy in its new form.
The Revolution of 1848 started as a revolt directed by the activists whose main purpose was to promote the electoral reform and possible changes in the monarch’s rule, in the ministry, and in the Chambers. According to Alphonse de Lamartine, the French people aroused against the corruption of the government and against the rulers’ ignorance in relation to the problems of the vulnerable categories of the French society (De Lamartine par. 19).
Thus, “the government was blamed for causing the trouble and also for failing to help the poor” (Pearce 23). The problem was in the fact that Louis-Philippe was the representative of the ‘party of resistance’ who believed in the successful realization of the revolutionary ideals in the past. However, there also was the ‘party of movement’ focused on changing the regime and proclaiming the social justice (Pearce 22). From this point, the citizens who organized barricades in February of 1848 were the representatives of the ‘party of movement’.
A distinctive feature of the Revolution of 1948 was the fact that the National Guard chose to remain neutral in relation to the revolt, and that neutrality was discussed as the support for the idea of the people’s revolution. The National Guards acted along with the other French people who “felt an antipathy” to the regime and to Guizot as a chief minister (De Lamartine par. 14). As a result, the monarchy fell, and the Second Republic became the reality for the thousands of people who were oriented to prolonged changes in the political, economic, and social spheres.
The problem was in the fact that Louis Napoleon elected as the president of the Republic chose to restore the monarchy in spite of the accomplishments of the Revolution of 1948. The idea of nationalism during the period after the Revolution of 1948 was realized in the form of building the strong stabilized authority and in the form of developing the economic potential of the country (Pearce 23). However, the ideals of Louis-Philippe’s monarchy were not restored after the Revolution of 1948.
The Revolution of 1948 demonstrated that the French people were ready to fight for the revolutionary ideals during a long period of time, and that the movement to the developed future was the priority for the society. In spite of the fact that the Second Republic fell after some years of its existence, the results of the Revolution of 1948 for the national development of France in the 19th century were significant.
Works Cited
De Lamartine, Alphonse. History of the Revolution of 1848 in France. 1998. Web.
Pearce, Robert. “Louis-Philippe and the 1848 Revolutions”. History Review 71.1 (2011): 18-23. Print.