Was The 1848 Revolution In France A Complete Failure?

A. J. P. Taylor's often quoted assessment of the revolutions of 1848 as a turning point which 'failed to turn' typifies the notion of failure that the year 1848 evokes. In France, as was the case across Europe, these failures were often desperately tragic when the 'social question', as German Democrat Ludwig Bamberger put it, entered the turmoil of the political struggle . The February revolution was to fall short of its goals and the Second Republic was to give way to dictatorship at the hands of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet the achievements of 1848 are numerous and its mark on French political culture was to be felt for the remainder of the century and throughout the bitter conflicts of the twentieth century. Millions of people across Europe, including peasants and workers, experienced politics for the first time. Universal male suffrage, implemented in March, transformed a politically inactive mass of people into an active electorate whereas many who had never voted stood for elections. Women were politicised by the experience of 1848 and were actively engaged in the revolution and the subsequent political developments. The politicisation of a mass of citizens took place amidst a flourishing civil society, enjoying newly acquired civil liberties that, although ultimately fleeting, were significant achievements. Political clubs engaged both men and women throughout the country in political discussion and debate. Political movements we recognise today emerged both driving the developments of the revolution and counter-revolution, and responding to the problems raised during 1848. The problems of 1848 spawned a range of responses from liberal capitalism to socialism, from communism to fascism, the implications of which we are still dealing with today. This of course was a Europe wide feature of 1848 but, in France, the political and social questions of 1848 left its mark on the development of the Republic, the nation and French political culture. It was significant in the development of liberal ideology, constitutionalism, socialism, and republicanism, as well as conservative ideology which itself also represents politicisation, even if seemingly not progressive. Yet it was also significant in the development of deep divisions in France with their roots in 1789. These same divisions have existed since, and can be traced through the Paris commune of 1870, the conviction of Alfred Dreyfus in 1894 and subsequent scandal, the Popular Front government of the 1930s, the Vichy Regime of the 1940s, the protests of May 1968, and even in the elections of 2002. Geographical, political, cultural, religious, and social divisions have remained a potent force in France and the revolution of 1848 was a formative experience for ordinary citizens and for wider ideas and discourses. The concrete achievements of 1848 include the abolition of slavery throughout French colonies, the abolition of aristocratic titles whilst the National Guard, once reserved for the privileged classes, became open to every adult male citizen. The abolition of the death penalty represented Alphonse de Lamartine and Louis Blanc's efforts to distance the Second Republic from the First Republic. The violence and terror that the French Revolution of 1789 descended into during 1793 made many weary of republicanism whilst France's neighbours were also understandably concerned at the declaration of a Second French Republic given the aggressive expansionism associated with French liberté. Lamartine sought to assure France's neighbours of the Second Republic's peaceful intentions. One of the achievements of 1848 was its contribution to the development of French Republicanism, Agulhon calling it a republican 'apprenticeship' . The expansion of the franchise to all men over 21, established on March 5, was a cause that bound all French republicans. Although its effect was conservative given the huge number of the peasantry that were awarded the vote, universal male suffrage was a profoundly revolutionary act by the Provisional Government. The Luxemburg commission, providing work for the unemployed through the establishment of national workshops, represented the state intervening to alleviate poverty and unemployment. The creation of stronger, more direct links between the individual and the state was a major achievement of 1848 as it was in 1789, not only for the urban worker, but for peasantry as well. The creation of a radically democratic, progressive state taking an interest in social questions was of huge significance. Not only was it revolutionary in its implementation of new rights, but it was revolutionary in defining the individual's relationship with the state and the responsibility of the state. Another concrete revolutionary achievement was the abolition of censorship and of stamp duty on newspapers. The effect was immediate as Paris became inundated with newspapers and journals. Restrictions on rights of assembly were also lifted which had a similarly immediate effect. Between February and June, France experienced the most free and vibrant press in its history. Clubs of a variety of political and social perspectives numbered 450 by May. Blangui's Societe Republicaine Centrale demanded political change whilst the Club de la Revolution and the Societe des Droits de l'Homme were among those that, as Caussidiere wrote, 'assumed at once great importance.the spirit of the people was enlightened by animated and original debates' . Blanqui, Barbes, Raspail, Cabet, and Sobrier all led notable clubs and societies yet, as Lamartine noted, 'other clubs, ruled by men less known, held their nightly meetings, and kept up agitation in the populous districts of Paris' . The democratic effect of an expanding civil society was not limited to men of notable status and exclusive clubs; men of all class and status had a voice through clubs and gatherings as did women. Indeed, one must consider the considerable contribution of women to the events of 1848 when considering its achievements. Although women were still excluded from the franchise and structural inequalities and restrictions persisted throughout Europe during the wave of revolutions, women in France played a significant part in the building of, maintaining, and often fighting on barricades as well as joining, and in some cases starting, political clubs and societies. Women were present in the most violent episodes of 1848 as well as being part of the expanding and flourishing civil society. Marie d'Agoult, under the pen name Daniel Stern, wrote an account of 1848 still useful to the historian. George Sand also wrote extensively during the period; she started her own newspaper thereby gaining political influence whilst Jeanne Deroin actually stood for election. Although her candidacy was disavowed by the socialists, she still stood and received fifteen votes. They also bore the burden of looking after fighters on the barricades, supplying them with food and attending to the wounded. Women were both actors in and reporters of the events of 1848. The experience of women during the revolution was an enduring and significant feature of it. It is perhaps the less tangible features of the 1848 French Revolution that are most significant. Lewis Namier saw 1848 as a 'seed pot of history '. The events of the year 'crystallised ideas and projected the pattern of things to come; it determined the course of the following century' . The political ideologies of the twentieth century claimed to deliver social justice and individual liberty as they attempted to resolve the moral and political questions of 1848. It was a 'seed pot' in more than one sense, spawning both inspirational and ominous ideological forces. When Ludwig Bamberger heard of the June Days in Paris, he recognised the significance of the social question and how, in entering the turmoil of the political struggle for the first time, the victory of political freedom would be made 'more difficult, if not impossible' . The divide between liberals and radicals, between liberal values and an emphasis on social justice, is seen as one of the tragedies of 1848. The radical element of the revolution, according to Frank Eyck, 'destroyed constitutionalism and the tender beginnings of representative government' . Yet the seemingly spectacular shortcomings of the revolution should not be dismissed as a complete failure. No longer was the political order set in stone across Europe including France, whilst the June Days were a formative experience for French and indeed European socialists. It established the interests of the propertied bourgeoisie as opposed to those of the working class, Karl Marx perceiving the violence as 'bourgeois terrorism' . The Second republic was the 'first occasion in the world when socialists intervened in national politics' and the events of 1848 would shape their outlook and cement their sense of distrust of the middle classes. The ultimate achievement of 1848 may be found in the success of the Third Republic. Whilst the Second Republic lasted a little under five years, the Third Republic lasted for seventy years, the most enduring French Republic to date. Yet there were sixty different ministries between 1870 and 1914 alone and it lurched from crisis to crisis surviving deep divisions, successive scandals, and attempted coup d'états. The social order had to be stable to withstand such political instability. In Gramscian terms, the buttresses and earthworks of the state, the propertied middle classes, were to recover from February 1848 and it was their strength that the conservative Third Republic rested on. Gramsci himself, and his ideas of a war of position and manoeuvre, were informed by the developments of 1848. The 'hardening of bourgeois sensibilities into a dogmatic mode' as Livesy puts it, ensured that the propertied middle class were the beneficiaries of 1848, able to overcome the crisis of 1870 and maintain their dominance in the Third republic and into the Fifth Republic. The idea of 1848 as a 'European Revolution' is a common theme in many of the textbooks on 1848. References to a 'contagion' of upheaval spreading like across Europe are not uncommon generally bound by an agreement over the pivotal role of France. There was an awareness of this at the time across Europe and within France. Although there are those who argue against the European nature of the revolutions, Charles Pouthas calling them a 'sum of local events' , Von Strandmann points to a poster in Berlin in April, 1848, proclaiming a 'great European Revolution', with the republic hailed in French, English, and German to illustrate the European character of the revolutions. In France there was an awareness of their role as an 'exemplary people', a 'model' for the rest of Europe fortified by 1789 and even 1830. The political clubs in Paris reflected this spirit of internationalism considering themselves as playing a central role in the development and expression of European consciousness . Resolutions were passed supporting movements in other European states whilst Blanqui's invasion of the Constituent Assembly in May was, officially, to protest against the suppression of the Poles by the Prussian army. Women's clubs in Paris declared 'Revolutionary Sorority'. One could argue that a major achievement of 1848 was the establishment of a European consciousness and greater internationalism and fraternity with Mazzini's Young Europe movement also active at the time. A wave of successive and aggressive nationalist movements was to crush this ideal in many parts of Europe but there was certainly a development of European consciousness in France coupled with the idea that, whilst France was unique, it still could inspire Revolution on the streets of other European capitals. The Second Republic had a monumental role in the politicisation of the French countryside and French towns. Vigier and Agulhon both emphasise the politicisation of ordinary people in 1848 whilst Georges Renard described peasants as being 'awakened' to political life largely in their opposition to Napoleon's coup of December, 1851 . By 1851 they were ready to defend 'la Republique des Paysans ' implying that the countryside had been ideologically penetrated by the revolution. The Social Republic, as John Merriman asserts, was not only an urban ideal, but a rural one as well . Political clubs were established in rural communities and, although it has been shown that local rivalries were often dominant in these clubs , the revolution of 1848 still reverberated to even the most remote corners of France. Before 1848 Paris was a distant and detached concept for many in rural France. Although it remained so for some and still does today, after 1848, many started to make the link between events in Paris and evens in their own communities. Sometimes this was in support of the Revolution, often in opposition to it. Margandant identifies a 'shift from local to national symbols of group identity' occurring in 1848 . Emerging from the revolution was a 'distinctly modern component of national identity' . Grievances came to be linked with Paris, particularly the 45 centimes tax. The experience of the revolution brought Paris into focus in either supporting or opposing the revolution and, as Agulhon has demonstrated, many were prepared to defend the republic against the Napoleon in 1851. Through habit and accumulative experience, ordinary people in both the cities and the countryside became more politically and culturally aware contributing to the development of French national identity and local identities. The failings of the revolution have to be recognised by this essay as they, as much as the achievements of the revolution, were to have a lasting effect on French society. After 1848, the language of the enlightenment faded from discussions of morality and politics. In its place a language of race, ethnicity, nationalism, and class emerged, a result of the tensions of the conflict across Europe. 1848 achieved a regeneration of the collective memory of 1789. On March 4, Lamartine declared that the Republic had no enemies, the intention being, along with the abolition of the death penalty, to redefine the Republic. But there was also a redefinition of the revolutionary. Marx dismissed the February revolution as 'only words' yet Lamartine, among others, helped to create the model of an intellectual revolutionary in contrast to terror and proscri ption, war and aggression. The 'words' of the revolution of 1848 undoubtedly represent a significant achievement of the Revolution. Ultimately 1848 allowed the 'values of 1789', to use François Furet's analogy, to finally come into port and achieve acceptance within France in 1870 and the establishment of the Third Republic.

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