French Revolution of 1848

The uprising in France in February 1848 that overthrew King Louis Philippe, ended the July Monarchy, and established the Second French Republic.

Reform Banquets: Political dinners held by French reformers in 1847–1848 to demand expanded suffrage and other changes. The government’s ban on a planned banquet in Paris helped trigger the February protests.
July Monarchy: The French constitutional monarchy ruled by Louis Philippe from 1830 to 1848. The revolution ended this regime after years of restricted political participation.
Alphonse de Lamartine: A French poet and politician who helped lead the provisional government established in February 1848. He defended the republic and its tricolor flag during the revolution’s unsettled first days.
Second French Republic: The French republic established in 1848 and ended by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte’s coup in 1851. It was the political order created by the revolution.
French Revolution of 1789: The revolution that began in 1789, ended the French absolute monarchy, and transformed France’s political order. Its legacy supplied symbols and precedents, but 1848 overthrew a constitutional monarchy rather than an absolute one.
February Days: The Paris uprising of 22–24 February 1848 that forced Louis Philippe to abdicate. These three days were the revolution’s decisive insurrection.
Louis Philippe I: King of the French from 1830 until his abdication during the February Revolution of 1848. His decision to abdicate marked the collapse of the monarchy.
Alexandre Ledru-Rollin: A French republican politician who served as interior minister in the provisional government of 1848. He organized republican political activity and helped oversee the transition to elections.
National Workshops: A public employment program established in 1848 to provide work for unemployed men in France. Their creation and closure became a flashpoint in the struggle over the republic’s social obligations.
July Revolution: The French uprising of July 1830 that overthrew Charles X and installed Louis Philippe as king. The revolution of 1848 removed the monarch installed by this earlier uprising.

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