| The June Days | |
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Painting of a barricade on Rue Soufflot (with the Panthéon behind), Paris, June 1848. By Horace Vernet. |
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| Participants | The working class of France |
| Location | France |
| Date | 23 June 1848 – 26 June 1848 |
| Result | Revolution is a failure, however the provisional government puts forward a new constitution and elections are called in which Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte is elected. |
The June Days Uprising (French: les journées de Juin) was a revolution staged by the citizens of France, whose only source of income was the National Workshops, from 23 June to 26 June 1848.[1] The Workshops were created by the Second Republic in order to provide work and a source of income for the unemployed; however, only pointless jobs were provided, which barely gave them enough money to survive.[2] When the revolution broke out the National Guard, led by General Louis Eugène Cavaignac, was called out to quell the protests. Things did not go peacefully, however, and in the repression that followed 4,500 people were killed and over 4,000 insurgents were deported to Algeria. Soon after all thoughts of a revolution were forgotten.[2] This marked the end of the hopes of a "Democratic and Social Republic" (République démocratique et sociale) and the victory of the liberals over the Radical Republicans.
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During this time France was in a period of internal turmoil and had gone through many revolutions, such as the July Revolution, and the 1848 Revolution.[1] All of these revolutions were caused by the fact that the rulers who came to power after the defeat of Napoleon were conservative, and thus wanted to keep the old ways of society, such as allowing only the upper classes to vote and to have privileges in society, which the people did not like.[1] Leaders such as Charles X and Louis XVIII were overthrown and a ruler who slightly differed from these two came into power; his name was Louis Philippe.[3]
Although Louis Philippe was considered conservative, his ruled differed in significant ways from the previous two rulers. Philippe was a king who mainly associated with the middle classes, during his reign extending voting rights, among other privileges, to the middle class. This was a big step for France, as the king was no longer just focusing on the upper class, but spreading privileges to other social classes. However, Philippe also retained some of the qualities of the previous kings. Specifically, the lower class continued to receive extremely little attention, both from the king and his foreign minister Guizot.[1] The lower classes spent almost 15 hours a day laboring in factories and even their children, who were under 18, where toiling in the factories.[1] Working and living conditions were extremely harsh and the pay was minimal. The people cried out to the king for help; however these calls were largely ignored.[4] Due to these growing concerns as well as the economic crisis that ensued during Philippe's reign, a revolution rose against him and he abdicated to England.[4]
This led, in turn, to the formation of the French Second Republic.[2] This government got off to a good start, improving Paris, introducing Universal adult suffrage, which gave everyone over 21 the right to vote and also, starting the National Workshops which was to provide jobs for the unemployed, although these jobs were very pointless.[2] Soon, the Workshops were being flooded with unemployed workers seeking jobs and the system was becoming over-burdenened and neared its breaking point.[2] As the number of workers continued to increase, the government requested that General Eugène Cavaignac start planning defenses for the city.[2] Soon after the government began to hear that banquets being held for the workers were planning mass demonstrations, and as a result, on 21 June, plans were already underway to close the Workshops.[2]
On 23 June, the Comte de Falloux's committee issued a decree that the Workshops would be closed in three days and that the options were that young men could join the army, provincials could return home or they could simply be dismissed.[2] The anger about the closing of the Workshops increased, and shortly after began the June Days (officially 24–26 June 1848).[1] In certain sections of the city hundreds of barricades were thrown up which blocked communication and reduced mobility of persons significantly.[2] The National Guard was called out to stop the rioting and when the Guard confronted the protesters fierce fighting broke out.[2]
The hard workers had now become insurgents and were tearing up stones to use as barricades.[2] The numbers of military members were estimated to be over 40,000, however the number of insurgents were estimated to be higher. The number of insurgents were growing as they traveled from house to house recruiting other citizens to join them and threatening them with death if they refused.[2] The insurgents also seized many armories to gather weapons, regardless they were still running low on ammunition.[2] However, the revolutionists would rather die than to return to their lives of poverty.[2]
Large amounts of blood was shed on the streets as the National Guard fired on the barricades, but the National Guard's men were not the only ones firing. The insurgents also inflicted heavy casualties to the Guard, who lost many of their men. By 26 June, the revolution was all over, 4,500 people lay dead, with many more injured and over 4,000 insurgents were deported to Algeria. After the insurgents were crushed, all ideas of a revolution were abandoned.[1][2]
After the revolution, a new constitution was put in place declaring France a democratic republic [5] and that the people should elect a new president every four years.[6] Once a president was elected he would have the power to select and dismiss his Ministers and high-ranking officials.[6] The constitution also stated that there should be an Assembly of 750 legislators; these people were to be elected by the people every three years.[6] After this constitution was introduced, elections were held and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was elected, and after four years in power he staged a coup d'état against the Republic thus becoming the Emperor of the Second French Empire.[1]