Charles X of France essays

Charles X of France essays When Charles X ascended the throne (1824) he was 67 years old. He had become bigoted and set in his ways. However, the people of France seemed to welcome his ascension due to their jealousy over the British Monarchy. Had Charles X perhaps been more accommodating to the needs of the ordinary people of France, or acted more subtly, his reign promised to be a successful one. So why was it that it lasted only 6 years (1824-30)? One of the mistakes that Charles X made was his failure to reconcile the gains of the revolution with the Ultras. This may have caused some conflict. Charles X, who was the leader of the Ultras, was open about the connection and made it clear that the aims of the Ultras went against the Charter and many of the main gains of the revolution. For example, the revolution had gained freedom of the press, of association, of speech and movement, as well as careers being open to talent and equality before the law. However, the Ultras wanted a return to a feudalistic system where strict censorship of the press was enforced, and aristocratic privileges restored. The prospect of these aims being gratified was abhorrent to the people of France, hence their suspicions of a monarch so obviously in favour of the Ultra movement. These suspicions grew when Charles X began to put some of the aims of the Ultras into practice. For example, the re-admittance of the Jesuits into France, the disban ding of the National Guard and civil militia and the re-establishment of censorship of the press. The French people were scared of a return to the unjust era, which preceded the revolution of 1789. One of the fears of the French people was that Charles X would recover the estates that used to belong to the migrs, as this was an aim of the Ultras. However, Charles X did not do so. He instead compensated the migrs in 1825, which confirmed the current lan ...