Bourbon Restoration in France

Permanent changes in French society[edit]

The eras of the French Revolution and Napoleon brought a series of major changes to France which the Bourbon Restoration did not reverse.^[7][8][9]


Administration: First, France was now highly centralised, with all important decisions made in Paris. The political geography was completely reorganised and made uniform, dividing the nation into more than 80 départements which have endured into the 21st century. Each department had an identical administrative structure, and was tightly controlled by a prefect appointed by Paris. The thicket of overlapping legal jurisdictions of the old regime had all been abolished, and there was now one standardised legal code, administered by judges appointed by Paris, and supported by police under national control.


The church: The Revolutionary governments had confiscated all the lands and buildings of the Catholic Church, selling them to innumerable middle-class buyers, and it was politically impossible to restore them. The bishop still ruled his diocese (which was aligned with the new department boundaries) and communicated with the pope through the government in Paris. Bishops, priests, nuns and other religious were paid state salaries.


All the old religious rites and ceremonies were retained, and the government maintained the religious buildings. The Church was allowed to operate its own seminaries and to some extent local schools as well, although this became a central political issue into the 20th century. Bishops were much less powerful than before, and had no political voice. However, the Catholic Church reinvented itself with a new emphasis on personal piety that gave it a hold on the psychology of the faithful.^[10]


Education: Public education was centralised, with the Grand Master of the University of France controlling every element of the national educational system from Paris. New technical universities were opened in Paris which to this day have a critical role in training the elite.^[11]


The aristocracy: Conservatism was bitterly split into the returning old aristocracy and the new elites arising under Napoleon after 1796. The old aristocracy was eager to regain its land, but felt no loyalty to the new regime. The newer elite, the "noblesse d'empire", ridiculed the older group as an outdated remnant of a discredited regime that had led the nation to disaster. Both groups shared a fear of social disorder, but the level of distrust as well as the cultural differences were too great, and the monarchy too inconsistent in its policies, for political cooperation to be possible.^[12]


The returning old aristocracy recovered much of the land they had owned directly. However, they lost all their old seigneurial rights to the rest of the farmland, and the peasants were no longer under their control. The pre-Revolutionary aristocracy had dallied with the ideas of the Enlightenment and rationalism. Now the aristocracy was much more conservative and supportive of the Catholic Church. For the best jobs, meritocracy was the new policy, and aristocrats had to compete directly with the growing business and professional class.


Citizens' rights: Public anti-clerical sentiment became stronger than ever before, but was now based in certain elements of the middle class and even the peasantry. The great masses of French people were peasants in the countryside or impoverished workers in the cities. They gained new rights and a new sense of possibilities. Although relieved of many of the old burdens, controls, and taxes, the peasantry was still highly traditional in its social and economic behaviour. Many eagerly took on mortgages to buy as much land as possible for their children, so debt was an important factor in their calculations. The working class in the cities was a small element, and had been freed of many restrictions imposed by medieval guilds. However, France was very slow to industrialise, and much of the work remained drudgery without machinery or technology to help. France was still split into localities, especially in terms of language, but now there was an emerging French nationalism that focused national pride in the Army and foreign affairs.^[13]

Romanticism reshaped art and literature.^[89] It stimulated the emergence of a wide new middle class audience.^[90] Among the most popular works were:

Memory and historical evaluation[edit]

After two decades of war and revolution, the restoration brought peace and quiet, and general prosperity. Gordon Wright says, "Frenchmen were, on the whole, well governed, prosperous, contented during the 15-year period; one historian even describes the restoration era as 'one of the happiest periods in [France's] history.^[92]


France had recovered from the strain and disorganization, the wars, the killings, the horrors, of two decades of disruption. It was at peace throughout the period. It paid a large war indemnity to the winners, but managed to finance that without distress; the occupation soldiers left peacefully. France's population increased by three million, and prosperity was strong from 1815 to 1825, with the depression of 1825 caused by bad harvests. The national credit was strong, there was significant increase in public wealth, and the national budget showed a surplus every year. In the private sector, banking grew dramatically, making Paris a world center for finance, along with London. The Rothschild family was world-famous, with the French branch led by James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868). The communication system was improved, as roads were upgraded, canals were lengthened, and steamboat traffic became common. Industrialization was delayed in comparison to Britain and Belgium. The railway system had yet to make an appearance. Industry was heavily protected with tariffs, so there was little demand for entrepreneurship or innovation.^[93][94]


Culture flourished with the new romantic impulses. Oratory was highly regarded, and sophisticated debate flourished. Châteaubriand and Madame de Stael (1766–1817) enjoyed Europe-wide reputations for their innovations in romantic literature. She made important contributions to political sociology, and the sociology of literature.^[95] History flourished; François Guizot, Benjamin Constant and Madame de Staël drew lessons from the past to guide the future.^[96] The paintings of Eugène Delacroix set the standards for romantic art. Music, theater, science, and philosophy all flourished.^[97] The higher learning flourished at the Sorbonne. Major new institutions gave France world leadership in numerous advanced fields, as typified by the École Nationale des Chartes (1821) for historiography, the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1829 for innovative engineering; and the École des Beaux-Arts for the fine arts, reestablished in 1830.^[98]


Charles X repeatedly exacerbated internal tensions, and tried to neutralize his enemies with repressive measures. They totally failed and forced him into exile for the third time. However the government's handling of foreign affairs was a success. France kept a low profile, and Europe forgot its animosities. Louis and Charles had little interest in foreign affairs, so France played only minor roles. For example, it helped the other powers deal with Greece and Turkey. Charles X mistakenly thought that foreign glory would cover domestic frustration, so he made an all-out effort to conquer Algiers in 1830. He sent a massive force of 38,000 soldiers and 4,500 horses carried by 103 warships and 469 merchant ships. The expedition was a dramatic military success.^[99] It even paid for itself with captured treasures. The episode launched the second French colonial empire, but it did not provide desperately needed political support for the King at home.^[100]