472 Chapter 24
compromise rested upon Louis’s acceptance of a
constitution and parliament. Louis insisted that his
“constitutional charter” was a royal gift to the nation
(not their natural right) and that the Bourbons still had
a divine right to the throne; in return, the charter also
included the liberal principles of equality before the
law, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press (see
document 24.4). This constitution created a Chamber
of Deputies, elected by eighty-eight thousand well-to-
do men (0.3 percent of the population), of whom fif-
teen thousand (0.06 percent) were eligible to be
candidates. This contrasted with the French republic of
1792 with its universal manhood suffrage and Britain
where 2.5 percent of adult men voted in 1815. The
most democratic states in Europe were Norway and
Sweden, where 10 percent voted, yet France remained
decidedly more liberal than Austria, Prussia, Russia, or
Spain, where there were no parliaments.
Reactionary nobles hated this compromise and fa-
vored a Metternichian, or even Russian government.
These ultraroyalists (or “ultras”) were led by Louis
XVIII’s younger brother, the count of Artois. The ultras
had returned to France from twenty years in exile, de-
termined to revive the Old Regime. They relied upon
Louis’s having no surviving sons, so Artois would inherit
the throne (see genealogy 24.1). This prompted Louis
to remark presciently that the fate of the Bourbon
Restoration depended upon his outliving his brother.
The French compromise seemed vulnerable during the
first year of the Bourbon Restoration. Revenge against
the supporters of previous regimes saw prominent sup-
porters of Napoleon executed, peerages revoked, offi-
cers court-martialed, and government employees fired.
The worst outrage was a vigilante bloodbath, known as
“the white terror,” directed against republicans and
Protestants. More than two hundred people were killed
in the white terror in the south of France. Louis XVIII,
however, prevented the ultras from gaining control of
the government and from returning to former owners
the lands taken during the French Revolution. The suc-
cessful peasant and middle-class proprietors who had
purchased this “national property” received constitu-
tional guarantees that their land was inviolable. Louis
preserved his moderate compromise until 1820, when
the son of Artois (and the heir to the throne) was assas-
sinated. The king—tired, obese, sixty-five, and suffering
from a bad case of the gout—then capitulated to many
of the ultras’ demands. French censorship became so
strict that authors could be imprisoned if their books
“cast disfavor” on the government; the police received
the power to make arrests based solely upon suspicion;
DOCUMENT 24.4
A Compromise Constitution:
The French Charter of 1814
Louis, by the grace of God, King of France....
Divine Providence, in recalling us to our es-
tates after a long absence, has laid upon us great
obligations.... A constitutional charter was called
for by the actual conditions of the kingdom; we
promised it... although all authority in France
resides in the person of the king....
Public Law of the French- Frenchmen are equal before the law, what-
ever may be their titles.... - They contribute without distinction, in pro-
portion to their fortunes, towards the expenses of
the state. - They are all equally admissible to civil and
military employments. - Their personal liberty is likewise guaran-
teed.... - Every one may profess his religion with
equal freedom, and shall obtain for his worship the
same protection. - Nevertheless, the Catholic, Apostolic, and
Roman religion is the religion of the state.... - Frenchmen have the right to publish and to
have printed their opinions, while conforming
with the laws which are necessary to restrain
abuses of that liberty. - All property is inviolable....
Form of the Government of the King - The person of the King is inviolable and
sacred. His ministers are responsible [to him]. To
the King alone belongs the executive power. - The King is the supreme head of the state,
commands the land and sea forces, declares war,
makes treaties.
Anderson, Frank M., ed. The Constitutions and Other Select
Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789–1907.
Minneapolis: 1908.
and the Sorbonne was placed under the control of a
bishop and liberal professors were fired. The electorate
for the Chamber of Deputies was sharply reduced,
while the rich were given a second vote.