Achievements Of Louis Xviii (1815 -1824) during his time when he was in power in france

-

 1. King Louis XVIII was less despotic. He maintained a parliamentary system 
of government and tried to abide by the provisions of the constitutional 
charter of 1814. This helped to cool down the French revolutionaries and 
Napoleonic supporters whose fear was that the restored Bourbon 
monarchy would revive the despotic and undemocratic pre 1789 system 
of rule. His acceptance of the 1814 constitutional charter also won him 
diplomatic recognition from the Great powers especially Britain. All these 
helped to consolidate the rule of the restored Bourbon monarchy in a 
dynamic and revolutionary France.
2. Louis XVIII succeeded in paying off the war indemnity that had been 
imposed on France after the downfall of Napoleon I. At the 2nd Paris peace 
treaty of20th Nov 1815, the victor powers imposed a huge war indemnity 
of_700'million francs on France. King Louis XVI cleared off the whole 
indemnity within only three (3) years. This made the victorious powers to 
withdraw the army of occupation from France in 1818 at the congress of 
Aix Lachapalle.
3. Louis XVIlI restored the greatness of France in Europe. France had been 
in a hostile relationship with Europe right from the revolutionary government 
through the reign of Napoleon ), However in 1818, Richelieu, the French 
representative at the congress of Aix Lachapalle advocated for the 
admission of France in the congress system. This was accepted and France 
was admitted in the congress system, which ended her isolation amongst 
the great powers of Europe. This meant that France under Louis XVIII was 
still a great power to reckon with in European politics.
4. Louis XVIII succeeded in reorganizing and re- equipping the French army 
under military genius of Marshall Cyr. The French military apparatus and 
army were completely disorganized by the allied forces that defeated 
Napoleon. Louis XVIII improved the military position of France by recruiting 
young Frenchmen into the army and re- deploying old generals.
Furthermore, the ministry of Duke de- decades (1818-1820), a liberal army 
law was passed that provided for on merit and voluntary recruitment.
5. Economically, during Villeles' ministry (1821 - 1827), high import duties 
were adopted to protect home industries from competition. Financial re-
organization that was begun by -eon I was also successfully accomplished. 
This helped to restore some degree of financial stability of an economy that had been destroyed by war for over decades.
6. Louis XVIII was realistic and was not ready to tamper with the 
achievements of the French Revolution and its heir Napoleon. These 
included trial by jury and the code Napoleon. He to restrain the ultra 
royalists in their quest for revenge (The white terror). This is why he 
granted amnesty for the victims of ultra-royalist quest for revenge who had 
not yet been compromised. All that Louis XVIII wanted was peaceful co-
existence between the past revolutionaries and. The royalists as he said 
that, I will not be a king of two people.
7. In his foreign policy, Louis XVIII recorded success when he suppressed the 
Spanish revolts in 1823 and restored Ferdinand VII to power. This earned him 
and France glory and prestige showing that he had not learnt nothing and 
forgotten nothing of how adventurous the French men were.
However, he failed to help Ferdinand VII and Spain to recover the Spanish 
American colonies due to opposition from Britain and President Monroe of 
the United States of America nevertheless; he had succeeded in re-
establishing the Bourbon dynasty in Spain,
Lastly, Louis XVIII succeeded in his reconciliation policy. He avoided to 
completely adopt the ultra royalist programs and even warned his brother 
Charles X about it on the eve of his death. He sided with moderate ultra-
royalists. Louis also created a strong solidarity with some former 
revolutionaries and Napoleon's supporters. For example, he appointed 
Napoleon's former ministers like Fochi to his cabinet. This brought harmony 
after the white terror showing that he had learnt something from the reign 
of terror during the course of the French Revolution.Readmore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brainshare: Exploring the Complexities of the Eastern Question

-
Image
 1. THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1821-1832 The Greek war of independence was the first phase of the Eastern Question  that started in 1821 up to 1832. The Greeks were forcefully conquered andincorporated in the Turkish Empire during the Century. This deprived the  Greeks of their former position and privileges hitherto enjoyed in Europe and  the World at large. The Greeks were forced to be under Turkish Moslem  administrators. In spite of the privileges the Greeks enjoyed in the empire  such as freedom of education and commerce, the Greeks rose up  demanding for greater freedom and independence. The rebellion was  therefore a nationalistic movement by the Greeks against Turkey in which  religion was used as a tool of resistance against the Moslem Turks. It was  due to political, economic, social and religious factors within and outside  Greece. CAUSES 1. The growth of Greek nationalism for independence was primarily  responsi...
Read more

Contributions/ Role Of European Powers In The Dowfall Of The Congress System

-
Image
 1) Britain (Lord Stewart Castlereagh and George Canning) I) Britain was primarily responsible for the collapse of the congress system.  She pursued a policy of isolation from continental obligations i.e. non  interventionist foreign policy. The policy was to avoid unnecessary  expenses, loss of her citizens in suppressing revolutions and negative public  opinion in case of failures. The policy was unfortunate for the congress  system because it was Britain that played the greatest role in the dawn fall  of Napoleon and her role in the post Napoleonic re-organization of Europe  was therefore of paramount importance. Above all, Britain was the most  politically stable state and the greatest economic and military power in  Europe. The British isolation therefore denied the congress system of her  enormous economic resources and military power that could have  improved the capacity of the congress system to meet its challenges. He...
Read more

DOMESTIC POLICY OF LOUIS PHILIPPE (ORLEANS MONARCHY), 1830 - 1848

-
Image
 Louis Philippe's government was very unstable from 1830 - 1840. It was  characterized by revolts, strikes and demonstrations. These were master  minded by republicans who felt cheated in 1830 since they had played a  leading role in the revolution of 1830. They had wanted a republican  government but had failed because of the fear of the possibility of war with  other monarchial governments in Europe. From 1830-1840, ten different  chief ministers (prime ministers) held office. Adolph Thiers was the last who  resigned in 1840 because of dissatisfaction over Mehemet All's affairs. From  1840 - 1848, Guizot's cabinet held power. His policies greatly contributed to  the downfall of Louis Philippe in 1848. The following were the achievements,  failures and weaknesses of Louis Philippe's domestic policies. Achievements and positive impact of Louis Philippe (Orleans monarchy) in  France 1. Industrialization Louis Philippe made comme...
Read more