Aux armes citoyens!

The Paris Revolutions of the Romantic Era: 1830-1848

with Chris Boïcos

The Revolutionary spirit that overwhelmed France in 1789 did not die out with the advent of Napoleon or the return of the Bourbons in 1814/15. Our lecture will analyze the social and political background of the two revolutions – the “July” revolution of 1830 and the “February” revolution of 1848 - that shook France in the first half of the 19th century and had a considerable impact on the rest of Europe too.

We will examine the key political and cultural figures of these later revolutions – Kings Charles X and Louis-Philippe, politicians Thiers, Guizot, Casimir Perier, Lamartine & Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, press publisher Philippon, artists Daumier, Scheffer, Delacroix & Meissonier and writers Dumas & Hugo among others. We will look at the key Paris venues and symbolic urban spaces of the two revolutions and see how echoes of the political and social conflicts of that period still define the France of today.