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Interpretations of the Orleanist Monarchy (aka Louis Philippe). www.educationforum.co.uk. Traditional Interpretation. The traditional interpretation has been an adapted Marxist one LP’s regime seen as a ‘bourgeois monarchy’
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Interpretations of the Orleanist Monarchy (aka Louis Philippe) www.educationforum.co.uk
Traditional Interpretation • The traditional interpretation has been an adapted Marxist one • LP’s regime seen as a ‘bourgeois monarchy’ • 1830 seen as the final victory for the bourgeoisie after a short ‘Indian summer’ for the Aristocracy 1815-30 • Capitalism and industrialisation allowed to develop and thrive under LP’s policies and France run like a massive joint stock company by a narrow oligarchy of capitalists
Revisionism • Revisionists have put forward a very different model. • Pinkney suggests that 1830 was a victory for lawyers, bureaucrats and Bonapartists NOT a recognisable capitalist class – only a change of personnel at the top not a seismic shift • Cobban points out that leading figures in the regime were actually landowners not industrialists and that Guizot followed an economic policy of protectionism not free trade
Revisionism 2 • Revisionists like Pinkney have also challenged the idea of a vibrant and growing capitalist economy – sluggish economic growth and patchy industrialisation • Also that Orleanist elites behaved like aristocrats mimicking their chateaux and lifestyles – not a assertive new ruling class at all • Also that the bourgeoisie was too heterogeneous to be recognised as a class with class interests – intra class conflicts between different sectors – financiers clashed with railway capitalists – iron, coal and cotton producers wanted protection from foreign trade – silk wine and shipping capitalists wanted free trade
Arguments for Marxist Interpretation • Ruthless repression of socialism and trade unionism reveals true class nature of the regime • Divisions within the elite actually point to the strength of their dominance rather than at any weakness • Regime presided over most rapid industrialisation despite the fact it may have appeared ‘sluggish’ when compared to GB
Reading • Read Magraw pages 51-63 • Rally write robin on a large sheet of display paper evidence supporting Marxist interpretation and evidence supporting revisionist interpretations • By the end of the lesson be prepared to state and justify which interpretation you favour