618 Ch. 16 • The Revolutions of 1848
clubs went into the provinces with the goal of wooing the overwhelmingly
rural electorate away from the influence of local notables who favored a
monarchy.
The economic crisis immediately widened the gap between moderate
republicans and socialists. Unable to secure credit, many businesses closed.
Government bonds plunged in value, and the Paris Stock Exchange tem
porarily shut down. Artisans were left without clients, laborers without work.
More than half of the workforce in the capital was unemployed. Younger and
more marginal workers were enrolled in an auxiliary paramilitary police
force, the Mobile Guard, organized by the provisional government to help
maintain order. Short of funds, the provisional government raised direct taxes
on an emergency basis by 45 percent, the 45 centimes tax.
With more provincial workers arriving in Paris every day looking for assis
tance, the provisional government opened “National Workshops,” paying
unemployed workers to repair roads and level hills. Many well-off Parisians
began to grumble about the new government having to support unemployed
workers. The government finally agreed to restrict the workday to a maxi
mum of ten hours in Paris and twelve hours in the provinces. At the request
of the socialists, the government also established the “Luxembourg Commis
sion” to study working conditions.
By undermining existing political structures, the 1848 revolution called
into question all social institutions, including the existing gender hierarchy.
In Paris, women formed a number of clubs. The Womens Voice and several
other newspapers begun by women called for reforms, including equality of
women before the law, the right to divorce, and better working conditions.
Petitioners demanded that the republic extend the electoral franchise to