After overthrowing Louis XIV, France endured what is known as the Reign
was on the verge of becoming the next ruler of France before he was sent
to the guillotine. France was looking for someone to follow that period
of despair. Napoleon was a product of the Revolution. Soldiers were able
to progress at an alarming rate during the Revolution. He took the opportunity
and ran with it. He overthrew the Directory and began to take over the
world. The French people were behind him. To them, he represented the Revolution.
He was a measly soldier that had study the works of the Enlightenment writers
and now he was he most powerful man in the nation. Remusat stated in Memoirs:
Napoleon’s Appeal: "He had some grounds for his belief that he was necessary;
France believed it, too; and he even succeeded in persuading foreign sovereigns
that he constituted a barrier against republican influences, which, but
for him, might spread widely." Napoleon realized that reform was necessary
to keep the people happy and the nation thriving. He practically ended
religious strife, drew up a constitution, and increased public morale.
He almost single handily revolutionized the Nation during his reign.
1848, French revolution that overthrew the monarchy of LOUIS PHILIPPE and established the Second Republic. There was general dissatisfaction with the reactionary policies of the king and his minister François GUIZOT and with the poor conditions of the working class, which worsened in the economic crisis of 1846-47. After the government forbade a banquet to promote political opposition, street fighting began and government troops fired (Feb. 23, 1848) on the demonstrators, settin off the revolution. Louis Philippe abdicated on Feb. 24. A provisional government was formed and a republic was proclaimed, but the differing aims of the bourgeois revolutionaries and the radicals contributed to the revolution's eventual failure. To appease the workers and radicals, the right to work was guaranteed and national workshops were established, but deliberate mismanagement and the election of a more moderate government led to the dissolution of the workshops in May. The resulting workers' rebellion, known as the JUNE DAYS, was crushed. After the completion of the republican constitution, Prince Louis Napoleon (later NAPOLEON III) was elected president. The revolution set off similar uprisings in Europe, but they failed virtually everywhere.