THE JOURNALISTS AND THE JULY REVOLUTION IN FRANCE THE JOURNALISTS AND THE JULY REVOLUTION IN FRANCE THE ROLE OF THE POLITICAL PRESS IN THE OVERTHROW OF THE BOURBON RESTORATION 1827-1830 by DANIEL L. RADER San Diego State University - - SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. 1973 © 1973 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Martinus Nijholf, The Hague, Nethet'lands in 1973 All rights reserved, including the right to trans/ate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form ISBN 978-94-015-0388-4 ISBN 978-94-015-0981-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-0981-7 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE VII INTRODUCTION. Journalism in the Reign of Charles X: The Social and Political Setting CHAPTER I. Liberty of the Press in the Restoration 9 CHAPTER II. Parisian Journals and Journalists in the Late Restoration 17 CHAPTER III. Political Journalism in the Fall of the Viiieie Ministry, 1827-1828: A Preview of Revolution 36 CHAPTER IV. Political Journalism and the Martignac Ministry, 1828- 1829: The Failure of Conciliation 46 CHAPTER V. The Political Press and the Parti-Pretre: The Anticlerical Campaign of 1828-1829 74 CHAPTER VI. The Press in the Crisis of August 8, 1829 89 CHAPTER VII. The New Militant Press 106 CHAPTER VIII. Legal Resistance: The Breton Association and the Press 124 CHAPTER IX. Winter Quarters: November, 1829 - February, 1830 139 CHAPTER X. The Press and the "221" 152 CHAPTER XI. Judicial Ordea1s, February-March, 1830 170 CHAPTER XII. "The King will not Yie1d" 186 CHAPTER XIII. "lt is Life or Death" 208 CHAPTER XIV. The Journalists in the Trois Glorieuses 220 CHAPTER XV. The Revolutionary Influence of Journalism 244 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Appendices 260 Bibliography 268 Index 275 PREFACE The "July Revolution" of 1830 in France overthrew the King, brought down the Bourbon dynasty, and ended the fifteen-year era known as the Restoration. lt established the "July Monarchy" of Louis-Philippe, citizen King of the Hause of Orleans, a regime also destined for extinction eighteen years later. Although the 1848 revolt is of somewhat greater domestic political importance and considerably greater in its European scope and its social implications, the July Revolution of 1830 should not be relegated to the lower Ievels of historical consciousness. Yet, in modern times, even in France, relatively few works have been published concerning either the Restoration or the revolution which terminated it. New interpretations, such as the excellent works of Bertier de Sauvigny and David Pinkney have awakened the enthusiasm of scholars; but in general, the intrinsic importance of this period has been slighted for nearly a century. There are reasons for this inattention: At first glance, the era seems retrograde, born of a conservative reaction; and placid - it falls between Napoleon's giant earthquake on one side, and on the other, the dynamics of European nationalism, imperialism, and the class struggle. But the Restoration was neither archaic nor calm. lt was, for all its manifest anachronisms, an age of rapid political, cultural, and social growth. France, during these years, was maturing and ripening toward nationhood - and toward the collision of many complex forces, culminating in revolution. In all these changes, in all this political ripening, the journalists of the periodical press played a uniquely decisive role. Unique because the French press was then legally more free, for more consecutive years, under the Charter of 1814, than it had ever been. Unique, too, because there then existed a true journalism of opinion, education, and the propaganda of ideas. Newspapers were not deterred by advertising revenues or by a desire to please everyone. The dialag they provoked was real, but even more important m those years before mass communication, the dialag was effective. VIII PREFACE In this book, the writer intends to trace the activities and influences, mainly political, of French journals and their journalists in the late Restoration years. I also propose to argue how the uniqueness of the press, at that time and place, allowed it not only to develop political attitudes, but also to guide political action, including eventually the revolution itself. Among textbook authors, the tradition has been to pause at 1830 with a paragraph or two about that "simple" and "clean" revolution, noting briefly the key role of the press in bringing it off. Here, they invariably stress two journals that were committed to the Orleanist campaign in the final six months and they overlook the long years of preparation and ordeal when the press was frequently more im portant than the legislative chambers as the nation's forum of opinion. This study is concerned with the press, so that the background of political and social history is kept to what the writer considers the essential minimum, to complete a picture or to facilitate narrative. The work is also limited chronologically, except for a short introduction, to the two-and-a-half critical years that begin late in 1827 and end with the aftermath of the July Revolution in 1830. The reason for this is political: 1827 saw the fall from power of Charles X's capable reactionary minister, Villele; a change that evoked a new stirring of activity in the political press and deepened existing schisms among the royalist newspapers. Villele, whose six-year ministry served two kings, came closer than any of bis contemporaries to duplicating in France the kind of pragmatic reactionary control that Prince Metternich enjoyed in the German states and Austria. His pragmatism, bis quasi-constitutionalism, and bis sound, if politically oriented, economic policies, made him a formidable and slippery opponent. His policy in regard to the press was effective enough to force opposition editors to a defensive stance. He made it difficult for journalists to reach the small but important electorate who chose the members of the law making Chamber of Deputies, and, through bis prefectural bureaucracy, he kept a tight rein on the provinces where journalism was weak and where nine-tenths of the electors voted. But the opposition learned the tactics of its enemy and grew in wisdom. lt learned how to strike with the least risk of prison; where to aim for the most sensitive reaction; how to make use of the growing economic crisis; and above all, how to create a fanatically reactionary image of Villele, who was neither a fanatic nor as reactionary as many of the truly "Ultra" royalists. Villele's fall, in the closing weeks of 1827, allowed an entirely new political atmosphere to develop. Now the various ideological factions on the Left, as well as on the Right (which included some of Villele's worst enemies) could exercise their opinions more freely than ever before. Now the Opposition, PREFACE IX conditioned to defend, could plan the attack. This attack was at first confused and diverse, but, by 1829, appeared tobe consolidating into a guided political missile. At the same time, the journalism of the Right became more divided and ineffective. Profiting from its own experience, as well as the blunders of the establishment it attacked, the opposition press went on to hasten the overthrow of the old order and to shape the character of the new. Political semantics reflect an inexact science. I have chosen mainly the terminology of contemporaries of that era. "Left" and "Right" are very general and are virtually synonyms for "opposition" and "Ultra". "Ultra" refers to ultraroyalists, of which there were at least two species, but who were all political reactionaries. "Clerical(ists)" were laymen or clergy who sought to involve the Church in politics, either formally or via the back door. Some "Ultras" were anticlerical; most were not, but all the Left was anticlerical. "Liberal" is very nineteenth century; definitely on the Left, but clearly not including the radical Left which was mostly republican. "Legi timist" refers to a doctrine of all who supported the Bourbon claim to the throne, but it became the special tag for a group of "liberal", non-"Ultra" royalists! "Defection" Iabels Ultras against Villele as well as Chateaubriand's Legitimists who opposed both Villele and Polignac. Translations, unless otherwise indicated, are my own responsibility and I apologize for whatever gracelessness appears from my attempts to conserve meaning and intent without the courage of poetic Jicense. I am also responsible for any errors which may have inadvertently survived the Jong sessions of rechecking and proofreading. I am indebted to many friendly and helpful people: To a host of librarians in France and America; to my cherished friend, Professor Franklin Palm of Berkeley for his encouragement; to the editors of French Historical Studies for permission to use portions of an earlier article of mine; to the San Diego State University Foundation, for financial assistance in preparing the manu script; to Mrs. Marion Leitner for her careful typing; and, not the least, to my wife and daughters for their intuition and forbearance. San Diego State University Daniel L. Rader INTRODUCTION JOURNAL! SM IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES X: THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SETTING The French have placed memorials to greatness throughout the city of Paris. From the countless names of streets to the bullet-pocked walls inscribed with the names of students who fell before Nazi firing squads, all talents and spirits have been honored. In the temple of the Pantheon, such monuments are dedicated especially to those whose courage rase from the mind and whose weapon was the pen. Beneath the great dome stands a !arge and prominent sculptured group-suitably in the Romantic style and labeled, "The Journalists of the Restoration". Among the figures, a visitor may discover the aristocratic face of Chateau briand, vain genius who died farnaus at eighty; or, he may recognize the more youthful portrait of Armand Carrel, reflecting a life of idealistic adventure tragically shortened by an act of romantic folly. Liberals, royalists, sceptics, militants, and conservatives are all represented here. One may wonder why such a partisan nation would enshrine. in a single statue, such a diverse group of men. The answer may be simply that most of the journalists of the Re storation shared three characteristics that bound them to their countrymen: They were critical; they were individualistic; and they loved France. Journalism in the Restoration shaped and measured the distinctive environ ment in which it lived. The whole era of fifteen years was a synthesis of the turbulent past, enriched with new forces of its own making. In 1815, Napoleon I fled bis exile at Elba and reconquered France in three weeks. Everything tha t the conquering Allies bad impressed on France in 1814 - the Bourbons, the clergy, the old aristocracy - again ran for cover when Napoleon stamped his foot. After the Hundred Days and Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the Allies once again allowed the return of the royal remnants of the old regime. This "Second Restoration" was something the French were not likely to forget. Napoleon by bis vainglorious return, had exposed a painful and striking cantrast for all the world to see. In three weeks he bad won Paris without a shot; yet Louis XVIII was escorted in and out of