Louis XVIII of France

Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) was King of France and Navarre from 1814 (although he declared that he considered his reign to have begun in 1795) until his death in 1824, with a brief break in 1815 due to Napoleon's return in the Hundred Days.

Reign

However, in 1814, following the defeat of Napoleon, Louis XVIII was finally able to secure the French throne thanks to the support of the Allied Powers and, within France, Napoleon's old foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. Louis was forced by Talleyrand and the Napoleonic elites to grant a written constitution which would guarantee a bicameral legislature, the Charter of 1814. The Charter created a hereditary/appointive Chamber of Peers and an elected Chamber of Deputies, although the franchise was extremely limited. Louis's regime also allowed much greater freedom of expression than the Napoleonic regime which had preceded it.

Related Topics:
1814 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

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Louis's (largely symbolic) efforts to reverse the results of the French Revolution quickly made him unpopular. Within a year, he fled Paris to Ghent on the news of the return of Napoleon from Elba, but returned after the Battle of Waterloo had ended Napoleon's rule of the Hundred Days. This Second Restoration saw the atrocities of the White Terror, largely in the south, when supporters of the monarchy murdered many who had supported Napoleon's return. Although the King and his ministers opposed the violence, they were ineffectual in taking active steps to stop it.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - Paris - Ghent - Elba - Battle of Waterloo - Hundred Days - White Terror

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King Louis' chief ministers were at first moderate, including Talleyrand, the Duc de Richelieu, and Élie Decazes, and Louis himself followed a cautious, moderate policy, hoping that moderation would ensure the continuation of the dynasty. The parliament elected in 1815, dominated by ultraroyalists, or Ultras, was dissolved by Richelieu as being impossible to work with, and electoral gerrymandering resulted in a more liberal chamber in 1816. However, the liberals ultimately proved just as unmanageable, , and by 1820 Decazes and the King were looking to revise the electoral laws again to ensure a more conservative majority. However, the assassination of the Duc de Berry, the ultrareactionary son of Louis's ultrareactionary brother (and heir-presumptive) the Comte d'Artois, in February 1820, caused Decazes's fall from power and the Triumph of the Ultras. After an interval in which Richelieu returned to power from 1820 to 1821, a new Ultra ministry was formed, headed by the Comte de Villèle, a leading Ultra. Soon, however, Villèle proved himself to be nearly as cautious as his master, and, so long as Louis lived, overtly reactionary policies were kept to a minimum.

Related Topics:
Duc de Richelieu - Élie Decazes - Ultraroyalist - Duc de Berry - Comte d'Artois - 1820 - Comte de Villèle

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Louis XVIII died on September 16, 1824, and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica. His brother, the Comte d'Artois, succeeded him as Charles X. It was to be the only fully regular transfer of power in France from one head of state to another of the entire 19th century.1

Related Topics:
September 16 - 1824 - Saint Denis Basilica - Charles X - 19th century

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1Charles X, Louis Philippe, and Napoleon III were ousted by revolution, while the French Second Republic ended with a presidential coup d'état. No Third Republic President would serve out his whole term until Émile Loubet finished his term in 1906 and was succeeded by Armand Fallières.

Related Topics:
Louis Philippe - Napoleon III - French Second Republic - Coup d'état - Third Republic - President - Émile Loubet - 1906 - Armand Fallières

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