"France of Louis XVIII & Charles X 1814-30" Topic

"French princes in exile had proclaimed Louis XVI's brother King Louis XVIII on 16 June 1795 while he was in Verona. He moved north when Napoleon invaded the Venetian Republic in 1796. He lived in Prussian territory until 1804 and then fled further north to Sweden and Livonia. He moved to England in 1807. On 12 April 1814 his younger brother, the Count of Artois, entered Paris and had his power confirmed as Lt. General of the realm. On 3 May King Louis was welcomed by many Parisians even though he was 59 and too obese to ride a horse or walk without aid. He gave Talleyrand authority to negotiate peace with the Allies and appointed him foreign minister, and on 30 May Talleyrand signed the treaty of Paris.

A constitutional Charter was promulgated on 4 June 1814 that promised freedom of the press and religion, an independent judiciary, acceptance of the public debt and pensions, and not disturbing anyone for previous opinions. However, the Roman Catholic religion was established by the state. The legislature had two houses and had control over the budget, but the King ruled over war and peace and proposed laws. Deputies would be elected for five-year terms, a fifth of them each year; but the Imperial Legislative Body served as the Chamber of Deputies until the first election in 1816. More than 300,000 soldiers were dismissed in June 1814, leaving an army of 223,000 men. A treaty with Bern in September hired 6,000 Swiss officers whose pay was to be 20,390,000 francs.

In October the restored Louis XVIIII returned national property to émigrés. The Chamber of Peers was appointed with 155 members including 84 from the Imperial Senate, 46 grands seigneurs or Church dignitaries, and 19 Marshals of the Empire. The administration retained three-quarters of the imperial personnel and two-thirds of the prefects. France had a debt of 759 million francs. To reduce this, expenses on the Navy were cut, and taxes were increased. The King was allowed 25 million francs and the princes 5 million, but these were less than had been allocated for Napoleon's family. On 3 January 1815 Talleyrand agreed to a defensive alliance with Britain and Austria…."
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Amicalement
Armand

More a philosophy than a history, hardly surprising if one is to summarise 26 turbulent years in a few pages.

I did enjoy reading;

" Louis XVIII returned to Paris on 8 July 1815. Within two weeks the British and Prussian army of 150,000 men was at the gates. "

Suggests brave old Orson Welles pitching up solo at the Tuilleries, "nice to be back, now let us prepare a nice welcome for Wellington, Blucher at al". I think the sequence might just have been reversed.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand