Part Four

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

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H E Revolution o f February, 1848, though it appears to have
taken the French government by surprise (Louis-Philippe
told a Prussian diplomat in January that revolution could not
happen again in France) was not unexpected by more astute ob­
servers. Men of insight who had watched the steadily deepening
economic crises from 1845 onwards, who had observed the
diminution of wages and increase in living costs under the Citizen
King, were aware of the emotions that were being kindled in the
hearts o f the poor and the aims that were taking shape in their
minds.
The suicidal insurrections of the 1830’s were not repeated, but
the secret societies were still at work, and the producing classes
were beginning to ask, not only for political rights, but also for
social security. The demand for the right to work, which domi­
nated the actions o f the Paris workers from February to June,
may seem almost retrogressive at a time when the English workers
were already making the more revolutionary demand for the right
to shorter hours and less work, but it was symptomatic o f the
economic conditions o f France in the 1840’s and o f the despera­
tion o f the poorest class, who asked rarely for more wages or more

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