History of Charles X of France

Charles X of France, born Charles Philippe on October 9, 1757, was a significant yet controversial figure in French history, mainly due to his reign as king from 1824 to 1830, which ended in the July Revolution and his subsequent abdication. As a politician, his career was shaped by the turbulent circumstances of revolutionary France and the broader European environment.

Charles was the youngest brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, belonging to the Bourbon dynasty, which had significant influence over France for several centuries. From an early age, Charles was shaped by the royalist principles that guided his family. During the reign of Louis XVI, he held the title of Count of Artois.

When the French Revolution erupted in 1789, Charles was a fervent supporter of the traditional royalist cause. His staunch advocacy for absolute monarchy and opposition to revolutionary ideals led him to emigrate in 1789, where he sought to muster support against the revolutionary government. Spending much of his exile in places like England, Prussia, and Russia, he was a central figure in counter-revolutionary activities. His efforts were characterized by his participation in the War of the First Coalition, where emigrant forces aimed to restore the old regime.

Charles' prospects changed dramatically with the fall of Napoleon. After the latter's defeat in 1814, the Bourbons were restored to power with Louis XVIII ascending the throne. Charles returned to France as heir presumptive, reinstated as a leading figure in French politics. Under Louis XVIII, he was cautiously reintroduced to diplomacy and governance, reflecting a monarchy now required to balance newly established constitutional frameworks with traditional authority.

Charles' political strategy leaned towards ultramontanism and conservatism. Louis XVIII, often seen as more inclined to constitutional moderation, clashed frequently with Charles’ desire to reassert royal authority. In 1824, Charles ascended the throne following Louis XVIII’s death, amidst the early years of the Bourbon Restoration. As king, Charles’ desire to reverse the Revolution's changes became evident. His reign was marked by conservative policies that sought to restore the influence of the Church and the traditional aristocracy.

Key to understanding Charles X's political actions is the idea of “ultraroyalism.” His government was characterized by attempts to restore the significant Catholic influence removed during the revolutionary period. Early in his reign, he passed laws increasing compensation for émigrés who had lost property during the Revolution, hinting at a restoration of the pre-1789 social order. Moving further in this direction, Charles established the sacrilege law in 1825–making offenses against religion a capital crime.

Moreover, Charles’ reign saw heavy influence from his advisors, notably Jules de Polignac, whose reactionary policies increased tensions with various segments of French society. Despite the liberalizing industrial revolution spreading across Europe, Charles maintained a rigid stance on governance. One of the most notable events, reflecting Charles' political dogmatism, was the 1830 "July Ordinances." These aimed to suspend the freedom of the press, dissolve the newly elected Chamber of Deputies, and limit the electorate's size, effectively rolling back constitutional advances.

These ordinances catalyzed the July Revolution, also known as the "Three Glorious Days," during which widespread dissatisfaction among liberals, workers, and the growing middle class led to an eruption of revolt. Paris turned into a battlefield of insurrections that left Charles politically isolated, undermining his reign's legacies. With his power eroded by the swift and decisive public response, Charles was forced to abdicate in favor of his grandson, Henri, Count of Chambord.

Following his abdication, Charles went into exile, living the remainder of his life in Britain and later in the Austrian Empire, where he died of cholera on November 6, 1836. His political legacy is heavily colored by the incongruence of his ultraroyalist ideals with the shifting paradigms of post-revolution France and burgeoning European liberalism. While his desire was to revert France to the ancien régime’s politics, the powerful undercurrents of social and political change during his reign acted as significant counterweights.

In retrospection, Charles X’s political life provides a rich case study in the limits of reactionary governance amidst revolutionary currents. He stood, in many ways, as the last of the French monarchs to heavily invest political capital into rolling back the revolutionary changes that had reshaped France. History remembers Charles as a tragic figure, caught in the clash between an unyielding faith in royal prerogative and the emergent liberal currents that were redefining political life in 19th-century Europe. His reign marks the end of the Bourbon line and the rise of the July Monarchy under Louis-Philippe, bringing temporary closure to the tumultuous revolutionary epoch that began decades earlier.