I had missed that part… still Lombardy-Venetia (and so Austria) having important ports on both sides of Italy is too much for anyone liking, specially France (and also England) so Lucca back to Tuscany and Parma+Genoa to Modena is the best for everyone
Frankie Goes to the Hofburg, or Napoléon II, Regent of Austria?
Good News For The People Who Love Bad News
Soundtrack: Saverio Mercadante - Orazi e Curiazi - Oath: Pria di Pugnar Si Sciolgano [1]
*exterior* *Paris* *we see the Champs-Élysée fixed up for a big parade*
*cut to the day of the parade* *we see countless French soldiers tramping down the street* *military bands are playing triumphal music by Auber and Halévy [2]* *after one of the regiments passes, we see the royal party* *preceded by Marshals Soult, Oudinot, Macdonald and Grouchy* *then comes Louis Philippe on a white horse* *followed by an open carriage with Madame Adélaïde, Queen Marie Amélie, and the dowager duchesse de Chartres* *the Queen has a look on her face like you see in a proof of life video where the hostage assures you that their captors are treating them well* *Adélaïde and the duchesse are both beaming at the crowd* *behind their carriage rides the dauphin on a white pony [3]* *followed at a respectable distance by another open coach with the (pregnant) duchesse de Nemours [Marie of Saxe-Altenburg], the dauphin's brother, the duc d'Orléans, the princesse de Joinville [Janvière of Brasil] and her year-old son* *bringing up the rear are the duc de Nemours, the prince de Joinville - in his admiral's uniform - and the duc de Montpensier riding three abreast* *behind them ride the cabinet ministers* *followed by the captured guns* *and then more soldiers*
*Cut to the crowds flanking the street*
François-René de Chateaubriand: the king looks as though he can barely stay on the horse!
Alexis de Tocqueville: his Majesty insisted on it. What will the troops think if their king rides in a carriage to celebrate their victory?
Chateaubriand: that the man reminds them he is not King Charles [X]?
Tocqueville: exactly.
Chateaubriand: no, my dear Alexis, I mean that even in 1830, being three years older than what the king is now, King Charles could still sit a horse and command respect. That is the reason they forced him to take a carriage to Dieppe and not ride. They were scared that if the people saw a king they would revolt. Here we have a man who looks like a corpse strapped to a horse. Surely there must've been a hairdresser in Paris who could've swayed the king's vanity to either dye his hair or at least wear a wig.
Tocqueville: to the matter of wigs, he remarked there was no reason to remind the people why so many of them ended in the bottom of baskets.
Chateaubriand: all the enamel and rouge in the world cannot make them forget what they see here. An old fool and a little boy much too young.
Tocqueville: *watches the dauphin riding past* what will his future be, I wonder?
Chateaubriand: unless the king were to follow Charles Albert's example, I do not see a future for him. Have you ever seen a victory parade where the band doesn't have to play louder than the cheering crowd?
Tocqueville: in 1815, when King Louis [XVIII] returned.
Chateaubriand: the king should take a lesson from whomever thought about the arrangements for this procession. Ahead of him walk the marshals who betrayed Napoléon and the Revolution. With the king are the ministers who betrayed King Charles. While behind walk men [the army] who would think nothing of betraying him.
Tocqueville: you don't think the army will remain loyal?
Chateaubriand: do you think that it was the absence of troops which allowed the comte de Chambord to spend Christmas at Chambord? Or that there are troops who secretly side with him?
Tocqueville: why should they side with him. He has done nothing for them?
Chateaubriand: because much though the king has downplayed it, the comte proved more than capable as a soldier during his time in the Rhineland, however brief. His "flight from Belfort" - an act of cowardice, as the king portrays it - was that of a commander more concerned with the well-being of his men than of a coward.
Tocqueville: I thought he only had Marshal Ney with him.
Chateaubrind: and they were unarmed except for two pistols and their swords. If it were cowardice, the comte would've had no reason not to order Ney to stand and fight so that he could escape-
Tocqueville: *watches the "missing man" formation of Nemours, Joinville and Montpensier ride by*
Chateaubriand: instead, the comte and Ney both flee. To a soldier, to know that your commander is prudent, cool under fire and heeds the advice of those more experienced than he, will count a great deal. None would've held it against Chambord had he scurried back to Geneva after that event. The king did something similar in 1793, leaving General Dumouriez and his father to take the heat for his actions. Instead, Chambord plunges even further into enemy territory. Even if the soldiers dispute his intelligence, he has shown himself as more than a coward.
Tocqueville: you make him sound as though he were the best of all.
Chateaubriand: a grown man, untouched by scandal, capable and brave. Compared to the capable and brave Reichstadt, who for all his redeeming qualities, will never cease to be viewed as an outsider, the son of a usurper. And a childish heir to an old man.
Tocqueville: I would caution the French for embracing the comte.
Chateaubriand: *walks away* oh?
Tocqueville
following* he's a socialist.
Chateaubriand: so is the king of Spain's brother, and the king of Portugal, and the queen of England's husband. Hardly as though it would be anything.
Tocqueville: there is a line between democracy and socialism, called liberty. Socialists call for the forfeiture of human liberty, to the point where, were I attempt to sum up what socialism is, I would call it simply a new system of serfdom.[4]
Chateaubriand: and you believe that the comte de Chambord intends to rule as Louis XIV did?
Tocqueville: I believe, based on his manifesto, that he believes in the excellence of liberty. But he would be unlike all other men in should he wish not to keep it for himself and promote the idea that no else is worthy of it. After all, love of liberty does not reveal anything about a man aside from that the support for an absolute government is in direct proportion to the contempt he feels for his country.
Chateaubriand: you do not agree with his idea of extending the electoral franchise?
Tocqueville: it is a manly and legitimate passion of his to believe that all men should be strong and esteemed. But there is a depraved taste in human hearts to elevate the undeserving to the rank of the strong, which reduces men to believing they are equally enslaved to being free and unequal. By extending the franchise, the comte is showing that he has no regard for the law in attempting to change the nation's opinion, and the he will trample it's wishes under foot.
Chateaubriand: are you talking about his desire to extend the electoral franchise or his desire to end slavery, Alexis?
Tocqueville: I feel he would cause himself untold difficulties in both. But on the matter of slavery, he cannot give the negro his freedom without giving him rights. As slaves, they remain uncomplainingly so, but as freedmen, they will certainly become our enemies and overwhelm us. His physiognomy is hideous, his understanding weak, his tastes low, nothing more than the intermediate between the man and the beasts. [4]
Chateaubriand: I wondered what you had said to Monsieur Dumas to earn such an unwavering hatred from his part.
Tocqueville: *silent as they pause in front of the coach8
Chateaubriand: perhaps you would like to accompany an old man to Rouen.
Tocqueville: to see Chambord?
Chateaubriand: I have met him already. I merely thought he would be interested in hearing your views, Alexis. After all, I have no doubt that you are far more in touch with what the young people are saying nowadays. *climbs into coach*
Tocqueville: *about to reply*
*from the crowd*: Vive le République!
*voice from the crowd* you sold our sons to save your throne!
Tocqueville: *climbing hurriedly into coach*
*voice from the crowd* À bas la monarchie!
Tocqueville: *closes door* on second thoughts, Paris seems...remarkably unseasonal at the moment.
Chateaubriand: *watching as the royal carriages carry on rumbling en route as though not hearing anything* *simply notes that the bands seem to be playing louder*
*fade to black*
[1] based on the story of the Horatii and Curatii (most exemplified in David's famous painting: the Oath of the Horatii). Title translates as "instead of fighting/stabbing, they melt". The second part is "not with trumpets, nor brandishing swords"
[2] both wrote marches for the "Retour des Cendres" of Napoléon, so I could see them being employed in similar fashion here.
[3] figure if the Prince Imperial could've ridden his pony in the victory parade after the Armistice of Villafranca its not impossible
[4] Tocqueville actually said this OTL. He had no truck with socialism at any point. As for slavery, despite identifying as a liberal, he was a fervent anti-abolitionist
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*exterior* *Paris* *we see the Champs-Élysée fixed up for a big parade*
*cut to the day of the parade* *we see countless French soldiers tramping down the street* *military bands are playing triumphal music by Auber and Halévy [2]* *after one of the regiments passes, we see the royal party* *preceded by Marshals Soult, Oudinot, Macdonald and Grouchy* *then comes Louis Philippe on a white horse* *followed by an open carriage with Madame Adélaïde, Queen Marie Amélie, and the dowager duchesse de Chartres* *the Queen has a look on her face like you see in a proof of life video where the hostage assures you that their captors are treating them well* *Adélaïde and the duchesse are both beaming at the crowd* *behind their carriage rides the dauphin on a white pony [3]* *followed at a respectable distance by another open coach with the (pregnant) duchesse de Nemours [Marie of Saxe-Altenburg], the dauphin's brother, the duc d'Orléans, the princesse de Joinville [Janvière of Brasil] and her year-old son* *bringing up the rear are the duc de Nemours, the prince de Joinville - in his admiral's uniform - and the duc de Montpensier riding three abreast* *behind them ride the cabinet ministers* *followed by the captured guns* *and then more soldiers*
*Cut to the crowds flanking the street*
François-René de Chateaubriand: the king looks as though he can barely stay on the horse!
Alexis de Tocqueville: his Majesty insisted on it. What will the troops think if their king rides in a carriage to celebrate their victory?
Chateaubriand: that the man reminds them he is not King Charles [X]?
Tocqueville: exactly.
Chateaubriand: no, my dear Alexis, I mean that even in 1830, being three years older than what the king is now, King Charles could still sit a horse and command respect. That is the reason they forced him to take a carriage to Dieppe and not ride. They were scared that if the people saw a king they would revolt. Here we have a man who looks like a corpse strapped to a horse. Surely there must've been a hairdresser in Paris who could've swayed the king's vanity to either dye his hair or at least wear a wig.
Tocqueville: to the matter of wigs, he remarked there was no reason to remind the people why so many of them ended in the bottom of baskets.
Chateaubriand: all the enamel and rouge in the world cannot make them forget what they see here. An old fool and a little boy much too young.
Tocqueville: *watches the dauphin riding past* what will his future be, I wonder?
Chateaubriand: unless the king were to follow Charles Albert's example, I do not see a future for him. Have you ever seen a victory parade where the band doesn't have to play louder than the cheering crowd?
Tocqueville: in 1815, when King Louis [XVIII] returned.
Chateaubriand: the king should take a lesson from whomever thought about the arrangements for this procession. Ahead of him walk the marshals who betrayed Napoléon and the Revolution. With the king are the ministers who betrayed King Charles. While behind walk men [the army] who would think nothing of betraying him.
Tocqueville: you don't think the army will remain loyal?
Chateaubriand: do you think that it was the absence of troops which allowed the comte de Chambord to spend Christmas at Chambord? Or that there are troops who secretly side with him?
Tocqueville: why should they side with him. He has done nothing for them?
Chateaubriand: because much though the king has downplayed it, the comte proved more than capable as a soldier during his time in the Rhineland, however brief. His "flight from Belfort" - an act of cowardice, as the king portrays it - was that of a commander more concerned with the well-being of his men than of a coward.
Tocqueville: I thought he only had Marshal Ney with him.
Chateaubrind: and they were unarmed except for two pistols and their swords. If it were cowardice, the comte would've had no reason not to order Ney to stand and fight so that he could escape-
Tocqueville: *watches the "missing man" formation of Nemours, Joinville and Montpensier ride by*
Chateaubriand: instead, the comte and Ney both flee. To a soldier, to know that your commander is prudent, cool under fire and heeds the advice of those more experienced than he, will count a great deal. None would've held it against Chambord had he scurried back to Geneva after that event. The king did something similar in 1793, leaving General Dumouriez and his father to take the heat for his actions. Instead, Chambord plunges even further into enemy territory. Even if the soldiers dispute his intelligence, he has shown himself as more than a coward.
Tocqueville: you make him sound as though he were the best of all.
Chateaubriand: a grown man, untouched by scandal, capable and brave. Compared to the capable and brave Reichstadt, who for all his redeeming qualities, will never cease to be viewed as an outsider, the son of a usurper. And a childish heir to an old man.
Tocqueville: I would caution the French for embracing the comte.
Chateaubriand: *walks away* oh?
Tocqueville
following* he's a socialist.Chateaubriand: so is the king of Spain's brother, and the king of Portugal, and the queen of England's husband. Hardly as though it would be anything.
Tocqueville: there is a line between democracy and socialism, called liberty. Socialists call for the forfeiture of human liberty, to the point where, were I attempt to sum up what socialism is, I would call it simply a new system of serfdom.[4]
Chateaubriand: and you believe that the comte de Chambord intends to rule as Louis XIV did?
Tocqueville: I believe, based on his manifesto, that he believes in the excellence of liberty. But he would be unlike all other men in should he wish not to keep it for himself and promote the idea that no else is worthy of it. After all, love of liberty does not reveal anything about a man aside from that the support for an absolute government is in direct proportion to the contempt he feels for his country.
Chateaubriand: you do not agree with his idea of extending the electoral franchise?
Tocqueville: it is a manly and legitimate passion of his to believe that all men should be strong and esteemed. But there is a depraved taste in human hearts to elevate the undeserving to the rank of the strong, which reduces men to believing they are equally enslaved to being free and unequal. By extending the franchise, the comte is showing that he has no regard for the law in attempting to change the nation's opinion, and the he will trample it's wishes under foot.
Chateaubriand: are you talking about his desire to extend the electoral franchise or his desire to end slavery, Alexis?
Tocqueville: I feel he would cause himself untold difficulties in both. But on the matter of slavery, he cannot give the negro his freedom without giving him rights. As slaves, they remain uncomplainingly so, but as freedmen, they will certainly become our enemies and overwhelm us. His physiognomy is hideous, his understanding weak, his tastes low, nothing more than the intermediate between the man and the beasts. [4]
Chateaubriand: I wondered what you had said to Monsieur Dumas to earn such an unwavering hatred from his part.
Tocqueville: *silent as they pause in front of the coach8
Chateaubriand: perhaps you would like to accompany an old man to Rouen.
Tocqueville: to see Chambord?
Chateaubriand: I have met him already. I merely thought he would be interested in hearing your views, Alexis. After all, I have no doubt that you are far more in touch with what the young people are saying nowadays. *climbs into coach*
Tocqueville: *about to reply*
*from the crowd*: Vive le République!
*voice from the crowd* you sold our sons to save your throne!
Tocqueville: *climbing hurriedly into coach*
*voice from the crowd* À bas la monarchie!
Tocqueville: *closes door* on second thoughts, Paris seems...remarkably unseasonal at the moment.
Chateaubriand: *watching as the royal carriages carry on rumbling en route as though not hearing anything* *simply notes that the bands seem to be playing louder*
*fade to black*
[1] based on the story of the Horatii and Curatii (most exemplified in David's famous painting: the Oath of the Horatii). Title translates as "instead of fighting/stabbing, they melt". The second part is "not with trumpets, nor brandishing swords"
[3] figure if the Prince Imperial could've ridden his pony in the victory parade after the Armistice of Villafranca its not impossible
[4] Tocqueville actually said this OTL. He had no truck with socialism at any point. As for slavery, despite identifying as a liberal, he was a fervent anti-abolitionist
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The French border with Lombardy-Venetia is now at the Po River's tributaries as far south as Alessandria. The former republic of Genoa was agreed to go to Austria, conditional on Austria ceding it to Modena immediately. Modena has been expanded with the duchy of Parma and the Genoese coast, while the duchy of Lucca is once more incorporated into Tuscany.
They did actually contribute troops and ships (Modena did have a port in 1832) to the landings on the coast, and their army was probably the one doing most of the attacking in Parma and Lucca (Frankie keeping whatever army the Tuscans had in reserve, similarly to Bavaria). And as @isabella pointed out, nobody will allow Lombardy-Venetia to have two coastlines, and nobody wants to give France a longer coastline into the Mediterranean. Extending Modena's coastline is likely to only have objections from Sardinia (and that's about losing territory rather than who they're losing it to).
Still, Modena pretty much triples in size like this. Wouldn't it make more sense to create a new "Kingdom of Genoa" with another Habsburg branch or affiliate family in charge?
while I could see that being proposed, it would cause a squabble about which Habsburg branch. Tuscany's sons are too young. Rainier's sons are half-Sardinian so while the Habsburgs might suggest it, I don't see France being comfortable with it. Fritz of Teschen is a minor archduke (a third son of a third son). Neither Albrecht of Teschen nor Stephan of Hungary were involved here, so I could see that being an issue, Stephan's half-brother is also too young. Which leaves Modena as the main archduke who has two adult sons who are also half-Sardinian (but not likely to side with Carlo Alberto), have connections to Austria and Parma (via their mother), Frankie, the Bonapartes, Baden, Bavaria, the Hohenzollerns and Sweden (via Théodelinde de Beauharnais). Given how "radically conservative" Francesco IV is, Louis Philippe might back him specifically because he knows that the Genoese won't like his rule very much and will soon revolt, which gives France an opportunity to swoop in as the "liberator". Especially since the Lombard (Rainier) and Tuscan Habsburgs probably won't like it and if Francesco has a revolt aren't likely to help him.
Just Watch The Fireworks
Soundtrack: J. S. Bach (orch. Leopold Stokowski) - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
*exterior* *Paris* *morning* *view of the Tuileries* *title card flashes Tuesday, 4 April 1843*
*interior* *Louis Philippe is at breakfast with his wife, the duc de Montpensier and grandchildren*
Chamberlain: your Majesty, the duc de Broglie has arrived to see you.
Louis Philippe: *irritable looks up from being a doting grandfather* what does he want?
Chamberlain: he did not say, your Majesty. Only that it is urgent.
Louis Philippe: tell him that if his son has married that Spaniards adventuress [1], I don't want to hear of it .
Chamberlain: he said you would probably say that, and that he wouldn't bother you about that.
Marie Amélie: *timidly* perhaps you should just see what he wants while I take the [grand]children to mass?
Louis Philippe: *stands up* *gives her a look like "do whatever you want" * *and walks out of the room*
*cut to antechamber* *Victor, duc de Broglie is prowling around like a restless cat when Louis Philippe enters*
Broglie: *bows* *kisses the king's hand*
Louis Philippe: you told Baudoin this is urgent, now speak.
Broglie: your Majesty, I've just heard the dreadful news.
Louis Philippe: what news? That at the parade some canailles were shouting "à bas la monarchie!" and "vive le république!"?
Broglie: *clearly hadn't heard this* no, sire, that the comte de Chambord is-
Louis Philippe: is coming? He's at the gates of Paris? They've been saying that since January last year, and he's gotten no closer than Rouen [2]. He'll never have children if he keeps pulling out before he comes.
Broglie: your Majesty, he has set up camp at the Chateau d'Eu![3]
Louis Philippe: you see what I say about he withdraws every time he comes close? Eu is sixty kilometers from Rouen in the opposite direction to Paris. Perhaps we'll get lucky and he'll finally leave for England this time.
Broglie: but the Parisians grow restless, sire, perhaps it would be better if you withdrew to Saint-Cloud for the summer. You and your cabinet could rule from there
Louis Philippe: and show that I am afraid of a beardless boy who is no doubt collecting sea shells on the seashore? I learned my lesson in 1830, Broglie, if one leaves Paris, one is finished. I will not move from here.
Broglie: your Majesty will then no doubt defend himself?
Louis Philippe: I'll not stir from here. I will not allow a shot to be fired. And I will not run away in a cab like Charles X. Nor will I be shuffled from town to town like that silly little boy, the duc de Reichstadt. I hold Paris, and in Paris I will remain.
Broglie: then, in the name of sanity, sire, at least allow the queen, the Duchesse de Chartres and the dauphin... The Duchesse de Nemours is pregnant...at least allow them to go to Saint Cloud or Rambouillet until the crisis is passed.
Louis Philippe: Broglie, it looks the same, whether I go or they go. If they go without me it divides our government. Divides our strength. No, I will not send them. Nemours and his wife, the princesse de Joinville, they may go. Hélène [the duchesse de Chartres] too, if she wishes, but her sons stay with me.
Broglie: *defeatedly* as your Majesty commands.
*title card flashes Wednesday, 5 April 1843*
*cut to the Palais Bourbon* *Prime Minister Soult is giving a speech on the current state of the food crisis in France[4]* *he is announcing that the government is proposing a new law that deems any hunting without a hunting license as poaching and is a crime*
*cut to the new Minister of Finance Jean Lacave-Laplagne [5] announcing that the government has resolved that the economy shall be made self-regulating*
*neither of these moves provoke any reaction from the house* *there are a few ragged cheers but in general, the house remains silent*
*cut to the Tuileries* *the comte de Montalivet [6] is making his report to Louis Philippe in the man's study*
Montalivet: and they also voted against the motion that the duc d'Orléans be acknowledged as the late prince de Condé's heir, your Majesty.. With some pointing out that the prince's will specified the late duc d'Aumale as heir, not Orléans.
Louis Philippe: so my son's will that leaves his possessions to his nephew is not to be respected?
Chancellor Pasquier, President of the Chambre des Pairs: the chamber has declared itself unfit to decide on this matter, your Majesty. Particularly after the parti des ducs - that is Noailles, Fitz-James, Crussol [7], Mortemarte and Richelieu - combined with the duc de Valmy and princes de Wagram, Eckmühl and de la Moskowa, to point out that since the prince de Condé's final will is thus without an heir, that it is customary then to consult who would be the nearest heir.
Louis Philippe: that would be me
Montalivet: unfortunately for your Majesty, Noailles raised the fact that there is a prior will of the late prince. And the heir to that will is still alive.
Louis Philippe: they would not accept him as king of France in 1830 but now they wish to accept him as heir to the fortune?
Montalivet: it is why the chamber declared itself unfit to decide. *pauses* if I may make a suggestion, your Majesty...perhaps it would be best to...acknowledge the comte de Chambord as heir to the prince de Condé's fortune.
*stunned silence*
Montalivet: it removes one of the complaints which Chambord likely has, certainly it's the one that he's been leveraging to all and sundry these last months-
Guizot: you want to pay him to go away? That's ridiculous!
Montalivet: I do not wish to pay him to go away. I simply feel that by showing himself as "gracious" and "honourable", his Majesty would undermine the comte's support in public. The comte can even be made to sign a will by which he acknowledges the duc d'Orléans as his heir.
Louis Philippe: he will never accept that.
Montalivet: but he is young and childless. Were there to occur an unfortunate repetition of the potato in Roche-sur-Yon with much more fatal consequences, under the current terms of his will, that fortune would devolve on the king of Spain. The French will never accept that a foreigner owns so much land in France.
Louis Philippe: and what of the comte, he is a foreigner.
Montalivet: if he can be persuaded to acknowledge your grandson as his heir in this matter, sire, perhaps he would be content to retire to Vienna while appointing a custodian to oversee the management of the estates.
Louis Philippe: he'll refuse. I have no doubt of it.
Guizot: then your Majesty can use it to portray him as unreasonable and greedy. It will undermine the faith that the poor and the working class have placed in him about his supposedly being on their side.
Montalivet: *annoyed at being interrupted* your Majesty, I do however wish to mention two things that your Majesty could do to save your throne-
Guizot: the throne is not unstable, Monsieur le Comte. His Majesty has 30 000 troops in and around Paris that can be relied on.
Montalivet: *measuredly* an army of ideas can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot, Monsieur Guizot. My first request is one I have made to your Majesty countless times before: extend the voting franchise. Allow the wealthy industrialists of the bourgeoisie to participate in government. Monsieur Arago is already wooing them to his cause, and the comte de Chambord is already promising to extend it, if they were allowed to participate, it would undermine the support that both Chambord and Arago receive from such factions.
Louis Philippe: they are not factions, Monsieur le Comte. They are simply men who are distinguished by no birth, merit or education! I would sooner welcome the Faubourg de Saint-Germain back that allow the Faubourg de Saint-Marceau[8] in! You may not remember what happened when the mob ruled, but I do.
Pasquier: your Majesty, Monsieur le Comte is referring to the industrialists not the mob.
Montalivet: I am, sire, it would go a long way to conciliate them with the monarchy.
Guizot: and your other request?
Montalivet: *to Louis Philippe* abdicate, your Majesty.
*stunned silence*
Montalivet: abdicating such powers as your Majesty has to the Corps Législatif and Chambre des Pairs will save the throne for the dauphin. There are already calls by Messieurs Dupont de l'Eure, Marrast and Cavaignac [9] for the dethronement and establishment of a republic.
Louis Philippe: *calmly* we thank you, Monsieur le Comte for your candour, but one can only abdicate what is within one's own rights to give, never that which has been received in trust. The sovereignty is not mine to give. I will not abdicate
*fade to black*
[1] Broglie's eldest son, the former ambassador to Spain's secretary, fell hopelessly in love with a Spanish countess named Eugenia Ignaçia Agostina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick around this time, but his father and her mother blocked the match.
[2] Chambord is ~180km from Paris, Rouen is ~130km.
[3] the chateau d'Eu was Louis Philippe's "private" property. So Henri setting up shop there is a calculated "taunt" of "who da real king of France?"
[4] France was going through a food shortage already as early as 1843 (and that was without a war to exacerbate it) thanks to bad harvests in 1841 and 1842, the railway bubble had also just burst, so lots of people without work (nearly 70 000), or who lost money in the "bubble"
[5] Lacave-Laplagne only became finance minister at the end of April after Georges Humann died. Let's just say that the additional stress of a war finishes Humann (b.1780) off a bit earlier. Self-regulating economy was one of Lacave-Laplagne's moves OTL, that caused enough bad blood in the 1840s. Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing. PS, can you tell I know nothing of finance?
[6] Montalivet was a personal friend of Louis Philippe's. And one of his chief aims OTL on the eve of the 1848 Revolution was to try to get Louis Philippe to make concessions to the centre left. As well as to fire Guizot. He's also the intendant of the civil list, which shows the amount of trust that the king has in him. He was also one of those who was working - as early as 1851 - for a reconciliation between Chambord and the Orléanists, where Chambord would recognize the comte de Paris as his heir "until such time as he had an heir himself". Louis Philippe's widow and the duchesse de Berri were both partial to this idea, but it finally tanked due to Hélène, Duchesse d'Orléans' opposition (rather than the commonly estimated Madame Royal and Chambord) followed by Napoléon III's coup d'etat in 1852
[7] Mathilde Bonaparte's husband. Valmy (Kellermann), Wagram (Berthier), Eckmühl (Davout) and de la Moskowa (Ney) are all sons of Napoléonic marshals
[8] Faubourg de Saint-Germain (also just "le Faubourg") is the suburb of Paris that was inhabited by the high nobility. The term became a byword for the elites under the Orléans monarchy. The Faubourg de Saint-Marceau, by contrast, was nicknamed the "faubourg souffrant", since it was deemed to have "dirty little streets and stinking, ugly black houses, the air of filth, poverty, beggars, carters, menders, criers of herbal teas and old hats"
[9] this would be Godefroi Cavaignac rather than Eugène (the opponent of Napoléon III)
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*exterior* *Paris* *morning* *view of the Tuileries* *title card flashes Tuesday, 4 April 1843*
*interior* *Louis Philippe is at breakfast with his wife, the duc de Montpensier and grandchildren*
Chamberlain: your Majesty, the duc de Broglie has arrived to see you.
Louis Philippe: *irritable looks up from being a doting grandfather* what does he want?
Chamberlain: he did not say, your Majesty. Only that it is urgent.
Louis Philippe: tell him that if his son has married that Spaniards adventuress [1], I don't want to hear of it .
Chamberlain: he said you would probably say that, and that he wouldn't bother you about that.
Marie Amélie: *timidly* perhaps you should just see what he wants while I take the [grand]children to mass?
Louis Philippe: *stands up* *gives her a look like "do whatever you want" * *and walks out of the room*
*cut to antechamber* *Victor, duc de Broglie is prowling around like a restless cat when Louis Philippe enters*
Broglie: *bows* *kisses the king's hand*
Louis Philippe: you told Baudoin this is urgent, now speak.
Broglie: your Majesty, I've just heard the dreadful news.
Louis Philippe: what news? That at the parade some canailles were shouting "à bas la monarchie!" and "vive le république!"?
Broglie: *clearly hadn't heard this* no, sire, that the comte de Chambord is-
Louis Philippe: is coming? He's at the gates of Paris? They've been saying that since January last year, and he's gotten no closer than Rouen [2]. He'll never have children if he keeps pulling out before he comes.
Broglie: your Majesty, he has set up camp at the Chateau d'Eu![3]
Louis Philippe: you see what I say about he withdraws every time he comes close? Eu is sixty kilometers from Rouen in the opposite direction to Paris. Perhaps we'll get lucky and he'll finally leave for England this time.
Broglie: but the Parisians grow restless, sire, perhaps it would be better if you withdrew to Saint-Cloud for the summer. You and your cabinet could rule from there
Louis Philippe: and show that I am afraid of a beardless boy who is no doubt collecting sea shells on the seashore? I learned my lesson in 1830, Broglie, if one leaves Paris, one is finished. I will not move from here.
Broglie: your Majesty will then no doubt defend himself?
Louis Philippe: I'll not stir from here. I will not allow a shot to be fired. And I will not run away in a cab like Charles X. Nor will I be shuffled from town to town like that silly little boy, the duc de Reichstadt. I hold Paris, and in Paris I will remain.
Broglie: then, in the name of sanity, sire, at least allow the queen, the Duchesse de Chartres and the dauphin... The Duchesse de Nemours is pregnant...at least allow them to go to Saint Cloud or Rambouillet until the crisis is passed.
Louis Philippe: Broglie, it looks the same, whether I go or they go. If they go without me it divides our government. Divides our strength. No, I will not send them. Nemours and his wife, the princesse de Joinville, they may go. Hélène [the duchesse de Chartres] too, if she wishes, but her sons stay with me.
Broglie: *defeatedly* as your Majesty commands.
*title card flashes Wednesday, 5 April 1843*
*cut to the Palais Bourbon* *Prime Minister Soult is giving a speech on the current state of the food crisis in France[4]* *he is announcing that the government is proposing a new law that deems any hunting without a hunting license as poaching and is a crime*
*cut to the new Minister of Finance Jean Lacave-Laplagne [5] announcing that the government has resolved that the economy shall be made self-regulating*
*neither of these moves provoke any reaction from the house* *there are a few ragged cheers but in general, the house remains silent*
*cut to the Tuileries* *the comte de Montalivet [6] is making his report to Louis Philippe in the man's study*
Montalivet: and they also voted against the motion that the duc d'Orléans be acknowledged as the late prince de Condé's heir, your Majesty.. With some pointing out that the prince's will specified the late duc d'Aumale as heir, not Orléans.
Louis Philippe: so my son's will that leaves his possessions to his nephew is not to be respected?
Chancellor Pasquier, President of the Chambre des Pairs: the chamber has declared itself unfit to decide on this matter, your Majesty. Particularly after the parti des ducs - that is Noailles, Fitz-James, Crussol [7], Mortemarte and Richelieu - combined with the duc de Valmy and princes de Wagram, Eckmühl and de la Moskowa, to point out that since the prince de Condé's final will is thus without an heir, that it is customary then to consult who would be the nearest heir.
Louis Philippe: that would be me
Montalivet: unfortunately for your Majesty, Noailles raised the fact that there is a prior will of the late prince. And the heir to that will is still alive.
Louis Philippe: they would not accept him as king of France in 1830 but now they wish to accept him as heir to the fortune?
Montalivet: it is why the chamber declared itself unfit to decide. *pauses* if I may make a suggestion, your Majesty...perhaps it would be best to...acknowledge the comte de Chambord as heir to the prince de Condé's fortune.
*stunned silence*
Montalivet: it removes one of the complaints which Chambord likely has, certainly it's the one that he's been leveraging to all and sundry these last months-
Guizot: you want to pay him to go away? That's ridiculous!
Montalivet: I do not wish to pay him to go away. I simply feel that by showing himself as "gracious" and "honourable", his Majesty would undermine the comte's support in public. The comte can even be made to sign a will by which he acknowledges the duc d'Orléans as his heir.
Louis Philippe: he will never accept that.
Montalivet: but he is young and childless. Were there to occur an unfortunate repetition of the potato in Roche-sur-Yon with much more fatal consequences, under the current terms of his will, that fortune would devolve on the king of Spain. The French will never accept that a foreigner owns so much land in France.
Louis Philippe: and what of the comte, he is a foreigner.
Montalivet: if he can be persuaded to acknowledge your grandson as his heir in this matter, sire, perhaps he would be content to retire to Vienna while appointing a custodian to oversee the management of the estates.
Louis Philippe: he'll refuse. I have no doubt of it.
Guizot: then your Majesty can use it to portray him as unreasonable and greedy. It will undermine the faith that the poor and the working class have placed in him about his supposedly being on their side.
Montalivet: *annoyed at being interrupted* your Majesty, I do however wish to mention two things that your Majesty could do to save your throne-
Guizot: the throne is not unstable, Monsieur le Comte. His Majesty has 30 000 troops in and around Paris that can be relied on.
Montalivet: *measuredly* an army of ideas can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot, Monsieur Guizot. My first request is one I have made to your Majesty countless times before: extend the voting franchise. Allow the wealthy industrialists of the bourgeoisie to participate in government. Monsieur Arago is already wooing them to his cause, and the comte de Chambord is already promising to extend it, if they were allowed to participate, it would undermine the support that both Chambord and Arago receive from such factions.
Louis Philippe: they are not factions, Monsieur le Comte. They are simply men who are distinguished by no birth, merit or education! I would sooner welcome the Faubourg de Saint-Germain back that allow the Faubourg de Saint-Marceau[8] in! You may not remember what happened when the mob ruled, but I do.
Pasquier: your Majesty, Monsieur le Comte is referring to the industrialists not the mob.
Montalivet: I am, sire, it would go a long way to conciliate them with the monarchy.
Guizot: and your other request?
Montalivet: *to Louis Philippe* abdicate, your Majesty.
*stunned silence*
Montalivet: abdicating such powers as your Majesty has to the Corps Législatif and Chambre des Pairs will save the throne for the dauphin. There are already calls by Messieurs Dupont de l'Eure, Marrast and Cavaignac [9] for the dethronement and establishment of a republic.
Louis Philippe: *calmly* we thank you, Monsieur le Comte for your candour, but one can only abdicate what is within one's own rights to give, never that which has been received in trust. The sovereignty is not mine to give. I will not abdicate
*fade to black*
[1] Broglie's eldest son, the former ambassador to Spain's secretary, fell hopelessly in love with a Spanish countess named Eugenia Ignaçia Agostina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick around this time, but his father and her mother blocked the match.
[2] Chambord is ~180km from Paris, Rouen is ~130km.
[3] the chateau d'Eu was Louis Philippe's "private" property. So Henri setting up shop there is a calculated "taunt" of "who da real king of France?"
[4] France was going through a food shortage already as early as 1843 (and that was without a war to exacerbate it) thanks to bad harvests in 1841 and 1842, the railway bubble had also just burst, so lots of people without work (nearly 70 000), or who lost money in the "bubble"
[5] Lacave-Laplagne only became finance minister at the end of April after Georges Humann died. Let's just say that the additional stress of a war finishes Humann (b.1780) off a bit earlier. Self-regulating economy was one of Lacave-Laplagne's moves OTL, that caused enough bad blood in the 1840s. Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing. PS, can you tell I know nothing of finance?
[6] Montalivet was a personal friend of Louis Philippe's. And one of his chief aims OTL on the eve of the 1848 Revolution was to try to get Louis Philippe to make concessions to the centre left. As well as to fire Guizot. He's also the intendant of the civil list, which shows the amount of trust that the king has in him. He was also one of those who was working - as early as 1851 - for a reconciliation between Chambord and the Orléanists, where Chambord would recognize the comte de Paris as his heir "until such time as he had an heir himself". Louis Philippe's widow and the duchesse de Berri were both partial to this idea, but it finally tanked due to Hélène, Duchesse d'Orléans' opposition (rather than the commonly estimated Madame Royal and Chambord) followed by Napoléon III's coup d'etat in 1852
[7] Mathilde Bonaparte's husband. Valmy (Kellermann), Wagram (Berthier), Eckmühl (Davout) and de la Moskowa (Ney) are all sons of Napoléonic marshals
[8] Faubourg de Saint-Germain (also just "le Faubourg") is the suburb of Paris that was inhabited by the high nobility. The term became a byword for the elites under the Orléans monarchy. The Faubourg de Saint-Marceau, by contrast, was nicknamed the "faubourg souffrant", since it was deemed to have "dirty little streets and stinking, ugly black houses, the air of filth, poverty, beggars, carters, menders, criers of herbal teas and old hats"
[9] this would be Godefroi Cavaignac rather than Eugène (the opponent of Napoléon III)
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Does the French army occupying the newly conquered regions in Italy or belgium or will they be recalled if a revolution occur ? What Italian prince is not hamstrung to connection to Austria to take advantage? At this moment what colonies the French have? Algeria if I remember correctly was one of the first ,maybe Morocco invade?
Maybe the French south American possessions?
Maybe the French south American possessions?
mmm why do I feel like the decision not to abdicate will bite Louis Philippe in the ass…
Te Souviens-tu? [1]
Soundtrack: Gossec - Suite d'airs Revolutionnaires
*exterior* *Paris* *establishing shot of Notre Dame* *then we see the seat of the Corps Législatif at the Palais Bourbon* *and the seat of the Chambre des Pairs at the Palais Luxembourg*
*cut to interior* *the cabinet des ministres at the Tuileries* *all the cabinet is present, as is Louis Philippe* *title card flashes 6 April 1843*
Laurent Cunin-Gridaine, Minister of Agriculture: *banging his fists on the table* I've said it before, the leaders of this opposition should be terrorized by seeing their leaders arrested.
Guizot: should we do that we are even more likely to cause a revolution than if we let them speak.
Soult: even if we wanted to, I can give no assurances that the men will follow an order to open fire on the people
Cunin-Gridaine: then court-martial them if they refuse!
Soult: spoken like a man who has never served in the army. That would be the first step to getting them to join the people. We have twelve legions of the National Guard in Paris and I cannot speak for one's loyalty to the crown.
Pierre Sylvain-Dumon, Minister of Public Works [2]: what we should consider doing is form a regency council, chosen by the Corps Législatif, and armed with absolute powers. It will be presided over by the king and Marshal Soult. This council will then keep order in France until the crisis is passed.
Soult: you speak of the crisis as if it were merely a changing season.
Louis Philippe: Monsieur Sylvaint-Dumon's suggestion has merit, it will assauge the more radical of the Corps Législatif, and it will allow us to take care of business, Monsieur le Maréchal.
Soult: *doesn't look entirely convinced but when the vote in favour comes around, he and the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Duperre and Minister of Justice, Tanneguy Duchatel [3], seem to be competing for who votes in favour first*
Louis Philippe: then it is decided, this decision shall be presented to the Chambers.
*cut to the headquarters of Le National newspaper* *in the office, two men are seated* *Odillon Barot and Adolphe Thiers* *Thiers has his feet up on the table*
*a messenger arrives* *hands a note to Thiers*
Thiers: *gives the boy a coin*
Messenger: I was told to wait for your answer, M'sieur.
Thiers: *scans note* tell them I have no answer for them.
Messenger: *looks unsatisfied at that answer*
Barrot: who's it from?
Thiers: *indifferently* the king.
Barrot: which one, in France at the moment, we have a full house: two kings, a queen, fools without count-
Thiers: the one who sits in the Tuileries.
Barrot: and what answer did he want?
Thiers: *sharkish smile* whether I would consider assuming a post in government.
Barrot: what post would that be?
Thiers: does it matter? Whatever post it is, would be under that idiot Guizot. People don't realize it but Soult is just the face...Guizot's the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. The king will only send for me when he is in danger. I will only take the ministry on the condition of being the master there
Barrot: you are not concerned about the possibility of a coup d'état?
Thiers: *walks over to window* *looks out at the street* it will be a revolution, not a coup. Possibly even bloodier than 1793. The conditions are the same: the king is ruling, not reigning - poorly, I might add - and the people are starving and malcontent.
Barrot: so you are not for the king?
Thiers: I am waiting to see what course events take.
Barrot: and if they go against you, they will surely come for your head.
Thiers: they will come for my head if I side with them and they still fall. Take courage, Jules, I have already sent my resolution to the Palais Bourbon to be read when they adjourn after lunch.
*cut to Palais Bourbon* *the deputies are all assembled* *the mood is tense* *Sylvain-Dumon's proposal has just been read*
President of the Chamber, Paul Jean Sauzet: the chamber acknowledges the Deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône.
Thiers: *stands up to speak* I am not a radical, gentlemen, the radicals know it well and one only has to read their newspapers to be convinced of it. But listen to my feelings. I am of the party of the revolution, both in France and in Europe; I hope that the government of the revolution will remain in the hands of moderate men; I will do everything I can to keep it there; but when this government passes into the hands of men less moderate than myself and my friends, into the hands of ardent men, were the Radicals, I will not abandon my cause for this reason: I will always be on the party of the revolution -
*murmurs from the rest of the chamber*
Thiers: this is why I propose that we accept Minister Sylvain-Dumon's proposal-
*several catcalls from the more republican aspects*
Thiers: *holds up single finger for silence* we accept the proposal, but with our own modifications. The Chamber will nominate a council of National Defense. The power will be removed from the hands of the most messy of kings without enforcing dethronement. It shall ensure the substance if not the form of an abdication. I neither support nor suppress the monarchy, and I leave the future in the hands of God and circumstance.
*where there were catcalls from the pro-republican side of the bench before, now there are from the pro-royalist side of the bench*
Sauzet: the chamber acknowledges the Deputy for Meurthe
Charles-Juste de Craon, Deputy for Meurthe [4]: honourable members...I would call to mind that Monsieur Thiers was one of the foremost advocates for his Majesty to ascend the throne in 1830. His exact words, let us remind the honourable chamber *reads from paper* Charles X can no longer return to Paris: he has caused the blood of the people to flow. The republic would expose us to terrible divisions; it would embroil us with Europe. The duc d'Orléans is devoted to the cause of the Revolution. He has never fought against us. He has carried the tricolour under fire. He alone can still wear them. He has spoken, he accepts the Charte as we wanted that it is from the French people that he will hold his crown!
Thiers: And it is because his Majesty has betrayed those promises that I propose this council.
Craon: Let us not forget, Messieurs [Louis] Blanc et [Jules] Michelet, that where you have sought to detach the idea of the republic from the Terror, Monsieur Thiers has gloried in it. He has called the revolution of 1789 necessary and the dictatorship that followed, he calls the fruit of the circumstances imposed by the aristocracy! One can only imagine that Monsieur Thiers hopes that once more a revolution will be necessary! That he may rise to rule you all as a new Bonaparte! [5]
Thiers: *over the braying of the chamber* we will excuse that Monsieur de Craon wishes to critique my politics of more than a decade ago when he has no previous experience playing politics.
Craon: one doesn't need experience to smell a rank opportunist, Monsieur Thiers. While some of us may be barred from our rightful place, there are others who would fly to high for theirs.
Thiers: interesting how Monsieur de Craon talks of opportunism when he fought with Napoléon, his father was the emperor's chamberlain, and now he bends the knee to a man who would happily see this chamber suppressed!
Craon: there is no escaping the blood on a judge's robe, Monsieur Thiers, or mud on a uniform for any of us. But we should not be encouraged by this *sarcastically* honourable and learned gentleman to so quickly violate the oaths we all swore on taking this office.
Thiers: you would have us believe that should the comte de Chambord show up outside of Paris tomorrow, you will remember your duties to the king?
Craon: until such time as, as you pointed out, the comte chooses to dissolve the chamber, I will serve the departement I swore to represent. I am not alone in being one who does not approve of his Majesty's policies, nor am I alone in being the one who will carry them out to their utmost. If you gentlemen will vote for the minister's proposal, then you should vote for the proposal. If you wish to vote for Monsieur Thiers' idea of a committee of national defense- which, to my mind, sounds no more than a new name for a committee of public safety- then by all means, do so. Just know that what Monsieur Thiers is proposing is little short of a usurpation of the powers that these chambers granted to the king in 1830. It is up to him to abdicate those powers to you, not for you to take them as Monsieur Thiers proposes. By taking those powers, you prove to the crowned heads of Europe that you wish to start a second revolution and to the people of France that if you cannot honour the word given to your king, why should you honour the word you have given to them? You have proved yourselves ungrateful of the trust placed in you, unreliable in times of trouble, that you would perjure yourselves for the sake of it, cowardly in that you are swayed by the arguments of *looks at Thiers* lesser men [6] and greedy for profits. Don't make the mistake of trusting the devils around you, once they have what they want, they leave you to your fate. You have two paths before you, gentlemen. One is that of justice, dishonour lies at the end of the other. But know that as soon as you have crossed the threshold of dishonour, you are dishonoured forever and your conscience will die each day that you live. *sits down*
*cut to sundown* *we see a shot of the Hotel des Invalides* *the military governor of Paris Tiburce Sébastiani, Vicomte de la Porta, is just returning from the sitting of the Chambre des Pairs at the Luxembourg*
Footman: this arrived for you from Marechal le Duc de Reggio, Monsieur le Gouverneur *hands a letter*
Sébastiani: *reads*
Reggio: *voice over* Monsieur le Gouverneur, I hereby forward you the orders that I received from Maréchal le Duc de Dalmatie, I hope you will find them useful.
Sébastiani: *opens the second letter as he walks*
Soult: *voice over* I know for a fact that trouble is brewing. The matter being entirely outside of the defense of Paris, which is your special concern, any steps you may have to take for public order are to be reported directly to me. You will, furthermore, receive your orders directly from me if the peace is disturbed. Dalmatie. [7]
Sébastiani: *looks at the note* *then crumples it up and tosses is it away* Where is the duc de Reggio?
Footman: he is at dinner sir.
Sébastiani: then that is where I'll be.
Footman: and if the duc de Dalmatie sends for you, sir?
Sébastiani: since the duc does not need me, then well and good. I shall concern myself only with the external defense of Paris. And I shall leave him to handle the coming disturbances as best he can. *walks away*
*cut to mess hall at Les Invalides [8]* *Sébastiani and Maréchal Oudinot, Duc de Reggio, Governor of Les Invalides are both seated at the table* *there are a few other soldiers in the hall* *some are telling stories or playing cards* *servants are busy clearing away the dishes*
*a man approaches where they are sitting*
Sébastiani: what is it, Passy?
Antoine François Passy, Under-Secretary of the Interior: his Majesty would like to know if you can call on him?
Sébastiani: *busies himself with his food in front of him* *in fact, we get the idea - looking at the plate - he arrived late for dinner and had to content himself with "what's left"*
Reggio: can't you see the Gouverneur is busy eating?
Sébastiani: *swallows his food* tell the king, Passy, that I am tired after sitting in the Chambre des Pairs all day. My arse is sore, my back is sore, my legs are sore.
Passy: the king would like your advice on how best to control the rising agitation in the city.
Sébastiani: you may tell his Majesty that I will call on him later.
Passy: *insistently* the king is most anxious for the state of affairs. It is at this moment that the prince de Craon's speech holds true: our place is at his Majesty's side, that all his faithful friends array themselves around him.
Sébastiani: *takes his wine glass* you may tell his Majesty that I will call on him. Later.
*fade to black*
[1] Do you remember? Name of a post-Napoléonic song written in 1817
[2] Sylvain-Dumon bounced around in the third Soult Ministry. He was ministry of public works from 1843-1845 and again from 1845-1847, Minister of Education in 1845, then minister of finance from 1847. Thing is, I can't seem to find that he was actually capable or whether Guizot just liked him (since the "shuffling" was Guizot's idea)
[3] Duperre and Duchatel here are sort of attempting to "curry favour" with Louis Philippe. They were responsible OTL for losing the request for an endowment for the duc de Nemours in 1842, TTL that has turned into Louis Philippe's scheme for settling the Condé inheritance on his grandson. Which means that their failure is driving them to show how "devoted" they are lest they be accused of "deliberately blocking" it.
[4] Craon is married to Elise Baciocchi. Elise is the sister of Henri de Chambord's secretary. While Craon showed absolutely no interest in politics OTL, I don't see his wife - who was a formidable figure, letting him stand idly by when the elections of 1842 showed up. Why is Craon sitting in the chamber of deputies and not the chamber of peers? OTL neither he nor his dad were allowed to sit in the chamber of peers after 1830 (they're not listed on the rolls), so him - or rather his wife - campaigning to get elected to the deputies is not that ASB.
[5] Thiers actually made such sweeping statements in his runaway best-seller History of the French Revolution (by 1845 850000 copies had been sold already). Blanc and Michelet (Michelet the former tutor to Princess Clémentine and an ally of Guizot) who rejected this. Tocqueville, Stendhal and Chateaubriand were all indignant/horrified at what Thiers had written. Craon standing up to remind the deputies of this is the equivalent of a modern politician getting exposed by a scandalous remark or tweet he made
[6] Thiers was short, so "lesser" in that sense, not that Craon is demeaning him. Craon is not actually taking a side beyond cutting the floor out from under Thiers. He likely does mean what he says about service, come rain or shine, he will serve the people of Meurthe (noblesse oblige), where, FWIG, Thiers hasn't done anything in Bouches-du-Rhône since he got elected for the département in 1830. His analogy of justice/dishonour is justice=stand by your oaths, dishonour=break them. It's more a warning shot that says "remember how the guys who voted for the king's execution in 1793 were treated"
[7] Soult and Tiburce's brother, Horace Sebastiani, have a long history of not getting along (all the way back to the Peninsular War), however Soult sending these orders is not to "fan flames" but rather, because of Horace's faux pas of 1832 where he announced, after the brutal suppression of the November Revolution "order reigns in Warsaw". That, just in case Horace tells his brother (who was fanatically loyal to him) to "do something" about a rising in Paris, Tiburce is made aware that he has to run it past Soult first, he does not have carte blanche.
[8] I don't know if Les Invalides had/has a communal mess hall, but I would imagine that a home for wounded soldiers would not have them eating off a tray in their rooms
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*exterior* *Paris* *establishing shot of Notre Dame* *then we see the seat of the Corps Législatif at the Palais Bourbon* *and the seat of the Chambre des Pairs at the Palais Luxembourg*
*cut to interior* *the cabinet des ministres at the Tuileries* *all the cabinet is present, as is Louis Philippe* *title card flashes 6 April 1843*
Laurent Cunin-Gridaine, Minister of Agriculture: *banging his fists on the table* I've said it before, the leaders of this opposition should be terrorized by seeing their leaders arrested.
Guizot: should we do that we are even more likely to cause a revolution than if we let them speak.
Soult: even if we wanted to, I can give no assurances that the men will follow an order to open fire on the people
Cunin-Gridaine: then court-martial them if they refuse!
Soult: spoken like a man who has never served in the army. That would be the first step to getting them to join the people. We have twelve legions of the National Guard in Paris and I cannot speak for one's loyalty to the crown.
Pierre Sylvain-Dumon, Minister of Public Works [2]: what we should consider doing is form a regency council, chosen by the Corps Législatif, and armed with absolute powers. It will be presided over by the king and Marshal Soult. This council will then keep order in France until the crisis is passed.
Soult: you speak of the crisis as if it were merely a changing season.
Louis Philippe: Monsieur Sylvaint-Dumon's suggestion has merit, it will assauge the more radical of the Corps Législatif, and it will allow us to take care of business, Monsieur le Maréchal.
Soult: *doesn't look entirely convinced but when the vote in favour comes around, he and the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Duperre and Minister of Justice, Tanneguy Duchatel [3], seem to be competing for who votes in favour first*
Louis Philippe: then it is decided, this decision shall be presented to the Chambers.
*cut to the headquarters of Le National newspaper* *in the office, two men are seated* *Odillon Barot and Adolphe Thiers* *Thiers has his feet up on the table*
*a messenger arrives* *hands a note to Thiers*
Thiers: *gives the boy a coin*
Messenger: I was told to wait for your answer, M'sieur.
Thiers: *scans note* tell them I have no answer for them.
Messenger: *looks unsatisfied at that answer*
Barrot: who's it from?
Thiers: *indifferently* the king.
Barrot: which one, in France at the moment, we have a full house: two kings, a queen, fools without count-
Thiers: the one who sits in the Tuileries.
Barrot: and what answer did he want?
Thiers: *sharkish smile* whether I would consider assuming a post in government.
Barrot: what post would that be?
Thiers: does it matter? Whatever post it is, would be under that idiot Guizot. People don't realize it but Soult is just the face...Guizot's the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. The king will only send for me when he is in danger. I will only take the ministry on the condition of being the master there
Barrot: you are not concerned about the possibility of a coup d'état?
Thiers: *walks over to window* *looks out at the street* it will be a revolution, not a coup. Possibly even bloodier than 1793. The conditions are the same: the king is ruling, not reigning - poorly, I might add - and the people are starving and malcontent.
Barrot: so you are not for the king?
Thiers: I am waiting to see what course events take.
Barrot: and if they go against you, they will surely come for your head.
Thiers: they will come for my head if I side with them and they still fall. Take courage, Jules, I have already sent my resolution to the Palais Bourbon to be read when they adjourn after lunch.
*cut to Palais Bourbon* *the deputies are all assembled* *the mood is tense* *Sylvain-Dumon's proposal has just been read*
President of the Chamber, Paul Jean Sauzet: the chamber acknowledges the Deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône.
Thiers: *stands up to speak* I am not a radical, gentlemen, the radicals know it well and one only has to read their newspapers to be convinced of it. But listen to my feelings. I am of the party of the revolution, both in France and in Europe; I hope that the government of the revolution will remain in the hands of moderate men; I will do everything I can to keep it there; but when this government passes into the hands of men less moderate than myself and my friends, into the hands of ardent men, were the Radicals, I will not abandon my cause for this reason: I will always be on the party of the revolution -
*murmurs from the rest of the chamber*
Thiers: this is why I propose that we accept Minister Sylvain-Dumon's proposal-
*several catcalls from the more republican aspects*
Thiers: *holds up single finger for silence* we accept the proposal, but with our own modifications. The Chamber will nominate a council of National Defense. The power will be removed from the hands of the most messy of kings without enforcing dethronement. It shall ensure the substance if not the form of an abdication. I neither support nor suppress the monarchy, and I leave the future in the hands of God and circumstance.
*where there were catcalls from the pro-republican side of the bench before, now there are from the pro-royalist side of the bench*
Sauzet: the chamber acknowledges the Deputy for Meurthe
Charles-Juste de Craon, Deputy for Meurthe [4]: honourable members...I would call to mind that Monsieur Thiers was one of the foremost advocates for his Majesty to ascend the throne in 1830. His exact words, let us remind the honourable chamber *reads from paper* Charles X can no longer return to Paris: he has caused the blood of the people to flow. The republic would expose us to terrible divisions; it would embroil us with Europe. The duc d'Orléans is devoted to the cause of the Revolution. He has never fought against us. He has carried the tricolour under fire. He alone can still wear them. He has spoken, he accepts the Charte as we wanted that it is from the French people that he will hold his crown!
Thiers: And it is because his Majesty has betrayed those promises that I propose this council.
Craon: Let us not forget, Messieurs [Louis] Blanc et [Jules] Michelet, that where you have sought to detach the idea of the republic from the Terror, Monsieur Thiers has gloried in it. He has called the revolution of 1789 necessary and the dictatorship that followed, he calls the fruit of the circumstances imposed by the aristocracy! One can only imagine that Monsieur Thiers hopes that once more a revolution will be necessary! That he may rise to rule you all as a new Bonaparte! [5]
Thiers: *over the braying of the chamber* we will excuse that Monsieur de Craon wishes to critique my politics of more than a decade ago when he has no previous experience playing politics.
Craon: one doesn't need experience to smell a rank opportunist, Monsieur Thiers. While some of us may be barred from our rightful place, there are others who would fly to high for theirs.
Thiers: interesting how Monsieur de Craon talks of opportunism when he fought with Napoléon, his father was the emperor's chamberlain, and now he bends the knee to a man who would happily see this chamber suppressed!
Craon: there is no escaping the blood on a judge's robe, Monsieur Thiers, or mud on a uniform for any of us. But we should not be encouraged by this *sarcastically* honourable and learned gentleman to so quickly violate the oaths we all swore on taking this office.
Thiers: you would have us believe that should the comte de Chambord show up outside of Paris tomorrow, you will remember your duties to the king?
Craon: until such time as, as you pointed out, the comte chooses to dissolve the chamber, I will serve the departement I swore to represent. I am not alone in being one who does not approve of his Majesty's policies, nor am I alone in being the one who will carry them out to their utmost. If you gentlemen will vote for the minister's proposal, then you should vote for the proposal. If you wish to vote for Monsieur Thiers' idea of a committee of national defense- which, to my mind, sounds no more than a new name for a committee of public safety- then by all means, do so. Just know that what Monsieur Thiers is proposing is little short of a usurpation of the powers that these chambers granted to the king in 1830. It is up to him to abdicate those powers to you, not for you to take them as Monsieur Thiers proposes. By taking those powers, you prove to the crowned heads of Europe that you wish to start a second revolution and to the people of France that if you cannot honour the word given to your king, why should you honour the word you have given to them? You have proved yourselves ungrateful of the trust placed in you, unreliable in times of trouble, that you would perjure yourselves for the sake of it, cowardly in that you are swayed by the arguments of *looks at Thiers* lesser men [6] and greedy for profits. Don't make the mistake of trusting the devils around you, once they have what they want, they leave you to your fate. You have two paths before you, gentlemen. One is that of justice, dishonour lies at the end of the other. But know that as soon as you have crossed the threshold of dishonour, you are dishonoured forever and your conscience will die each day that you live. *sits down*
*cut to sundown* *we see a shot of the Hotel des Invalides* *the military governor of Paris Tiburce Sébastiani, Vicomte de la Porta, is just returning from the sitting of the Chambre des Pairs at the Luxembourg*
Footman: this arrived for you from Marechal le Duc de Reggio, Monsieur le Gouverneur *hands a letter*
Sébastiani: *reads*
Reggio: *voice over* Monsieur le Gouverneur, I hereby forward you the orders that I received from Maréchal le Duc de Dalmatie, I hope you will find them useful.
Sébastiani: *opens the second letter as he walks*
Soult: *voice over* I know for a fact that trouble is brewing. The matter being entirely outside of the defense of Paris, which is your special concern, any steps you may have to take for public order are to be reported directly to me. You will, furthermore, receive your orders directly from me if the peace is disturbed. Dalmatie. [7]
Sébastiani: *looks at the note* *then crumples it up and tosses is it away* Where is the duc de Reggio?
Footman: he is at dinner sir.
Sébastiani: then that is where I'll be.
Footman: and if the duc de Dalmatie sends for you, sir?
Sébastiani: since the duc does not need me, then well and good. I shall concern myself only with the external defense of Paris. And I shall leave him to handle the coming disturbances as best he can. *walks away*
*cut to mess hall at Les Invalides [8]* *Sébastiani and Maréchal Oudinot, Duc de Reggio, Governor of Les Invalides are both seated at the table* *there are a few other soldiers in the hall* *some are telling stories or playing cards* *servants are busy clearing away the dishes*
*a man approaches where they are sitting*
Sébastiani: what is it, Passy?
Antoine François Passy, Under-Secretary of the Interior: his Majesty would like to know if you can call on him?
Sébastiani: *busies himself with his food in front of him* *in fact, we get the idea - looking at the plate - he arrived late for dinner and had to content himself with "what's left"*
Reggio: can't you see the Gouverneur is busy eating?
Sébastiani: *swallows his food* tell the king, Passy, that I am tired after sitting in the Chambre des Pairs all day. My arse is sore, my back is sore, my legs are sore.
Passy: the king would like your advice on how best to control the rising agitation in the city.
Sébastiani: you may tell his Majesty that I will call on him later.
Passy: *insistently* the king is most anxious for the state of affairs. It is at this moment that the prince de Craon's speech holds true: our place is at his Majesty's side, that all his faithful friends array themselves around him.
Sébastiani: *takes his wine glass* you may tell his Majesty that I will call on him. Later.
*fade to black*
[1] Do you remember? Name of a post-Napoléonic song written in 1817
[3] Duperre and Duchatel here are sort of attempting to "curry favour" with Louis Philippe. They were responsible OTL for losing the request for an endowment for the duc de Nemours in 1842, TTL that has turned into Louis Philippe's scheme for settling the Condé inheritance on his grandson. Which means that their failure is driving them to show how "devoted" they are lest they be accused of "deliberately blocking" it.
[4] Craon is married to Elise Baciocchi. Elise is the sister of Henri de Chambord's secretary. While Craon showed absolutely no interest in politics OTL, I don't see his wife - who was a formidable figure, letting him stand idly by when the elections of 1842 showed up. Why is Craon sitting in the chamber of deputies and not the chamber of peers? OTL neither he nor his dad were allowed to sit in the chamber of peers after 1830 (they're not listed on the rolls), so him - or rather his wife - campaigning to get elected to the deputies is not that ASB.
[5] Thiers actually made such sweeping statements in his runaway best-seller History of the French Revolution (by 1845 850000 copies had been sold already). Blanc and Michelet (Michelet the former tutor to Princess Clémentine and an ally of Guizot) who rejected this. Tocqueville, Stendhal and Chateaubriand were all indignant/horrified at what Thiers had written. Craon standing up to remind the deputies of this is the equivalent of a modern politician getting exposed by a scandalous remark or tweet he made
[6] Thiers was short, so "lesser" in that sense, not that Craon is demeaning him. Craon is not actually taking a side beyond cutting the floor out from under Thiers. He likely does mean what he says about service, come rain or shine, he will serve the people of Meurthe (noblesse oblige), where, FWIG, Thiers hasn't done anything in Bouches-du-Rhône since he got elected for the département in 1830. His analogy of justice/dishonour is justice=stand by your oaths, dishonour=break them. It's more a warning shot that says "remember how the guys who voted for the king's execution in 1793 were treated"
[7] Soult and Tiburce's brother, Horace Sebastiani, have a long history of not getting along (all the way back to the Peninsular War), however Soult sending these orders is not to "fan flames" but rather, because of Horace's faux pas of 1832 where he announced, after the brutal suppression of the November Revolution "order reigns in Warsaw". That, just in case Horace tells his brother (who was fanatically loyal to him) to "do something" about a rising in Paris, Tiburce is made aware that he has to run it past Soult first, he does not have carte blanche.
[8] I don't know if Les Invalides had/has a communal mess hall, but I would imagine that a home for wounded soldiers would not have them eating off a tray in their rooms
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Are We Patiently Burning, Waiting To Be Saved?
Soundtrack: Claude Balbastre [1] - La marche des Marseillois - Ça ira
*exterior* *Paris* *shots of Les Invalides* *the Hôtel de Ville* *the Palais Bourbon* *the Conciergerie* *finally the Place de la Concorde* *there are milling crowds on the square*
*title card flashes April 7 1843*
*we see Louis Philippe - his hair now dyed - and Marie Amélie in the Tuileries Chapel* *over the organ and the priest, we can hear - however faintly - the rhythmic chant of De-ché-ance! De-ché-ance! [2]*
*standing at the back of the chapel* *Passy and Duchâtel are talking*
Passy: did Monsieur le Gouverneur [Sébastiani] not call on his Majesty?
Duchâtel: no. Nor did he send his chief-of-staff as he promised.
Passy: you think he's playing a waiting game?
Duchâtel: half this ministry is playing a waiting game. They don't want to nail their colours to the mast for the king in case he gets swept out by the comte de Chambord.
Passy: no chance of that.
Duchâtel: you think it's to be a republic?
Passy: my sources in Normandie [3] tell me that Monseigneur has finally been able to charter a boatman at Dieppe.
Duchâtel: to take him where? Cherbourg? Le Hâvre?
Passy: Folkestone.
Duchâtel: In England?
Passy: it seems that Monseigneur has decided that, if there is to be a revolution, he is not prepared to risk his neck.
Duchâtel: this could all be a ruse, Passy.
Passy: he is back to travelling as the Chevalier de Saint-Hermine (and his grandfather). Even his party is dissolving. The men have been slipping away by night. A barkeep in Abbeville overheard a bunch of soldiers expressing their disgust for Monseigneur's cowardice. Something about "he will not fight like a man for what he cannot hold as a woman".
Duchâtel: disgruntled soldiers hardly make reliable witnesses.
Passy: no, but the litter of his erstwhile supporters on roads north and south of Eu, of the aristocrats who are equally disillusioned and putting as much distance between themselves and Monseigneur tells a different story.
Duchâtel: I wonder what made him suddenly so unpopular.
Passy: perhaps it was the announcement of his sudden departure. Or they fear for their own necks if we do have a revolution.
Duchâtel: if he has found a boatman, then let us hope he arrives at Folkestone with all haste. Or the boat sinks in the attempt. Will mean that the king does not have to divide his forces between dealing with whatever trouble Chambord makes in the provinces and whatever mischief the Parisians get up to. In fact, I suspect that now that Chambord has left, they will settle down.
Passy: you don't trust the troops who are guarding the king?
Duchâtel: they have been sharing the duties with Garde National, so who knows how loyal they are. Some of the household troops have even started looking at the royal family as if to say "your minutes are numbered". And even if we could count on their loyalty, the king has ordered that they are not to fire into the crowd, so what comfort would there be?
Passy: he stands by that?
Duchâtel: I've spoken to the duc de Nemours about it. He told me that he will speak to his father about it, as soon as he returns from leaving his wife at Compiègne with the Joinvilles. Although since he backs his father on that the duchesse d'Orléans or her son should not move from Paris, I have my doubts whether he will be of a differing opinion.
Passy: *looks at the duc de Montpensier* what about attempting to rally Monsieur Antoine?
Duchâtel: the boy is more frightened by events. He's actually one of the main voices urging the king to abdicate [4].
Passy: I'm not sure if that makes him sensible or a fool. We'll soon hear what the Assemblée has decided on our proposal from yesterday. Especially since that bastard, Thiers, got slapped down and made a fool of by Craon.
Duchâtel: after I heard of it, I suggested his Majesty meet with either Thiers or Craon. Thiers didn't reply, and the king would not hear of Craon. Instead he orders me to get Sébastiani in. And where are we now, nearly eighteen hours after I sent you, with neither hide nor hair of the governor of Paris. I've even asked his brother to call on him, his brother replied he would see what he could do. *scoffs*
*cut to the cabinet des Ministres* *it looks more or less as it did yesterday* *only Nemours and Joinville are now present as well* *however, what we also notice is that the portraits and ornaments on the walls have been taken down* *with the exception of the table in the middle of the room, the furniture has been dust-sheeted*
Émile de Girardin, from the Chamber of Deputies: your Majesty, I come before the afternoon session is due to commence. We, of the Parti dela Résistance [5], and a great many others in the Chamber have come to a conclusion that we believe will satisfy everyone. Despite the prince de Craon's speech tackling Monsieur Thiers yesterday, there are still too many in the chamber who are not in favour of the council of regency proposed. Fortunately for your Majesty, there is as little appetite for the council of national defense. Many are worried of the legality of the move.
Nemours: quite right that they are.
Girardin: the solution we arrived at was this, sire...you must voluntarily hand over your executive powers to the Corps Législatif. This is so that the Corps Législatif can have the authority to nominate a provisional government to work solely for the salvation of France, whilst leaving the dynastic question untouched. This way, the deputies can make their decisions free of their concerns about their oath of allegiance to your Majesty, and only focus on the matter at hand, namely choosing of a government that will have the teeth of legality attached to it.
Nemours: that is an abdication in all but name, Monsieur Girardin. You would like the king to hand over the powers he has with the promise held out to him that, at some arbitrary date in the future, they will be restored to him. *sarcastically* it's a pity that the Temple Prison has already been demolished, since I feel we would be taking lodgings there before long.
Girardin: not at all, your Royal Highness. The government would be nominated by the Corps Législatif at the invitation of his Majesty. We deputies are not violating our oath and the government will be perfectly legal. All lovers of good order and patriotic citizens will thus be drawn to the government's side, regardless of their party, in order to help steer it through such a terrible crisis as we are now facing.
Joinville: papa, perhaps we should listen to Monsieur Girardin. If only to avoid a revolution caused by you refusing to do this.
Louis Philippe: I cannot, I dare not consent to this. The future - not of France, but of the dynasty - is at the moment, the very least of my worries. Believe me, gentlemen, the ordeals to which I have been subjected have been so painful and so terrible that at present, the thought of preserving the Crown for myself or the dauphin weighs very little with me.
*silence in the room*
Louis Philippe: My only desire, my only ambition, is to carry out faithfully the duties which have been imposed upon me. If you think - if the Corps Législatif thinks - that I am an obstacle and that the name of the king is an obstacle rather than a rallying point and a symbol of resistance, then let them pronounce our deposition: I shall not complain. I can then quit my post with honour. I shall not have deserted it. But I am convinced that the only sensible and practical course is for the country's representatives to rally around me and my government, to put aside for the moment all internal questions and to unite our efforts...As for myself, I am ready to face all dangers and to follow the Corps Législatif to wherever it decides to form a nucleus of resistance. If this resistance becomes impossible, I believe that I could still be useful in obtaining better peace terms [6]. Yesterday, the ambassador of a great power offered to propose a mediation of the neutral states on the following two bases: first, that no territory be taken from France and second, that the dynasty be maintained. I replied that I was ready to accept the first condition, but that I was absolutely opposed to the second. The maintenance of the dynasty is a question which concerns this country only, and I will never permit a foreign power to intervene in our internal affairs.
Joinville papa, keeping the crown would be the only sensible plan, but the circumstances in Paris, both in the streets and in the chambers, make it impossible.
Girardin: you fear, sire, that you will be accused of deserting your post, but you will have given even greater proof of your courage by sacrificing yourself for the public good and in sparing France the horror of revolution.
*doors to room burst open as a messenger hurries in*
Louis Philippe: what is it?
Messenger: the portrait of your Majesty taking the oath to the nation at the Palais Bourbon has been torn down. And the mob has invaded the chamber.
*stunned silence from the ministers*
Girardin: if your Majesty wishes to avoid a revolution, this may be the last chance that exists.
Louis Philippe: *calmly* personally, I believe this to be a mistake, but you gentlemen wish it, and let it never be said that as a constitutional king I have not given up my opinion for yours. But I will have it done legally. The ministers are to be consulted on the matter. Should they agree with your wisdom of the proposed course...no further opposition will be heard from my lips.
*fade to black*
[1] Balbastre was the organist in the Chapel Royal at Versailles pre-1789, the private organist to Louis XVIII at the Palais de Luxembourg, the harpsichord teacher to Marie Antoinette, and after 1789, the organist of Notre Dame de Paris until it was shuttered by the Revolution.
[2] dechéance, literally "forfeiture". The call for dethronement.
[3] Passy's family is from Gisors in Normandie
[4] this is OTL as well. Montpensier was one of the strongest voices in the council in 1848 urging an abdication to prevent bloodshed.
[5] centre-right political party under the July Monarchy of which Guizot was the leader. Many of the members supported the monarchy, but had grown disillusioned with the king. The parti held 58% of the seats after the 1842 election. And with Louis Philippe's growing unpopularity earlier here, that number might even be at the 63% the 1846 elections brought already. Their allies would be practically anyone who wants to get rid of the king but not become a republic. Even Thiers' Parti du Mouvement holding 42% of the house can't necessarily bank that all will be in favour of a republic
[6] France is still (technically) at war with Austria, even if her allies in Sardinia, Belgium and Prussia have already been dealt with
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*exterior* *Paris* *shots of Les Invalides* *the Hôtel de Ville* *the Palais Bourbon* *the Conciergerie* *finally the Place de la Concorde* *there are milling crowds on the square*
*title card flashes April 7 1843*
*we see Louis Philippe - his hair now dyed - and Marie Amélie in the Tuileries Chapel* *over the organ and the priest, we can hear - however faintly - the rhythmic chant of De-ché-ance! De-ché-ance! [2]*
*standing at the back of the chapel* *Passy and Duchâtel are talking*
Passy: did Monsieur le Gouverneur [Sébastiani] not call on his Majesty?
Duchâtel: no. Nor did he send his chief-of-staff as he promised.
Passy: you think he's playing a waiting game?
Duchâtel: half this ministry is playing a waiting game. They don't want to nail their colours to the mast for the king in case he gets swept out by the comte de Chambord.
Passy: no chance of that.
Duchâtel: you think it's to be a republic?
Passy: my sources in Normandie [3] tell me that Monseigneur has finally been able to charter a boatman at Dieppe.
Duchâtel: to take him where? Cherbourg? Le Hâvre?
Passy: Folkestone.
Duchâtel: In England?
Passy: it seems that Monseigneur has decided that, if there is to be a revolution, he is not prepared to risk his neck.
Duchâtel: this could all be a ruse, Passy.
Passy: he is back to travelling as the Chevalier de Saint-Hermine (and his grandfather). Even his party is dissolving. The men have been slipping away by night. A barkeep in Abbeville overheard a bunch of soldiers expressing their disgust for Monseigneur's cowardice. Something about "he will not fight like a man for what he cannot hold as a woman".
Duchâtel: disgruntled soldiers hardly make reliable witnesses.
Passy: no, but the litter of his erstwhile supporters on roads north and south of Eu, of the aristocrats who are equally disillusioned and putting as much distance between themselves and Monseigneur tells a different story.
Duchâtel: I wonder what made him suddenly so unpopular.
Passy: perhaps it was the announcement of his sudden departure. Or they fear for their own necks if we do have a revolution.
Duchâtel: if he has found a boatman, then let us hope he arrives at Folkestone with all haste. Or the boat sinks in the attempt. Will mean that the king does not have to divide his forces between dealing with whatever trouble Chambord makes in the provinces and whatever mischief the Parisians get up to. In fact, I suspect that now that Chambord has left, they will settle down.
Passy: you don't trust the troops who are guarding the king?
Duchâtel: they have been sharing the duties with Garde National, so who knows how loyal they are. Some of the household troops have even started looking at the royal family as if to say "your minutes are numbered". And even if we could count on their loyalty, the king has ordered that they are not to fire into the crowd, so what comfort would there be?
Passy: he stands by that?
Duchâtel: I've spoken to the duc de Nemours about it. He told me that he will speak to his father about it, as soon as he returns from leaving his wife at Compiègne with the Joinvilles. Although since he backs his father on that the duchesse d'Orléans or her son should not move from Paris, I have my doubts whether he will be of a differing opinion.
Passy: *looks at the duc de Montpensier* what about attempting to rally Monsieur Antoine?
Duchâtel: the boy is more frightened by events. He's actually one of the main voices urging the king to abdicate [4].
Passy: I'm not sure if that makes him sensible or a fool. We'll soon hear what the Assemblée has decided on our proposal from yesterday. Especially since that bastard, Thiers, got slapped down and made a fool of by Craon.
Duchâtel: after I heard of it, I suggested his Majesty meet with either Thiers or Craon. Thiers didn't reply, and the king would not hear of Craon. Instead he orders me to get Sébastiani in. And where are we now, nearly eighteen hours after I sent you, with neither hide nor hair of the governor of Paris. I've even asked his brother to call on him, his brother replied he would see what he could do. *scoffs*
*cut to the cabinet des Ministres* *it looks more or less as it did yesterday* *only Nemours and Joinville are now present as well* *however, what we also notice is that the portraits and ornaments on the walls have been taken down* *with the exception of the table in the middle of the room, the furniture has been dust-sheeted*
Émile de Girardin, from the Chamber of Deputies: your Majesty, I come before the afternoon session is due to commence. We, of the Parti dela Résistance [5], and a great many others in the Chamber have come to a conclusion that we believe will satisfy everyone. Despite the prince de Craon's speech tackling Monsieur Thiers yesterday, there are still too many in the chamber who are not in favour of the council of regency proposed. Fortunately for your Majesty, there is as little appetite for the council of national defense. Many are worried of the legality of the move.
Nemours: quite right that they are.
Girardin: the solution we arrived at was this, sire...you must voluntarily hand over your executive powers to the Corps Législatif. This is so that the Corps Législatif can have the authority to nominate a provisional government to work solely for the salvation of France, whilst leaving the dynastic question untouched. This way, the deputies can make their decisions free of their concerns about their oath of allegiance to your Majesty, and only focus on the matter at hand, namely choosing of a government that will have the teeth of legality attached to it.
Nemours: that is an abdication in all but name, Monsieur Girardin. You would like the king to hand over the powers he has with the promise held out to him that, at some arbitrary date in the future, they will be restored to him. *sarcastically* it's a pity that the Temple Prison has already been demolished, since I feel we would be taking lodgings there before long.
Girardin: not at all, your Royal Highness. The government would be nominated by the Corps Législatif at the invitation of his Majesty. We deputies are not violating our oath and the government will be perfectly legal. All lovers of good order and patriotic citizens will thus be drawn to the government's side, regardless of their party, in order to help steer it through such a terrible crisis as we are now facing.
Joinville: papa, perhaps we should listen to Monsieur Girardin. If only to avoid a revolution caused by you refusing to do this.
Louis Philippe: I cannot, I dare not consent to this. The future - not of France, but of the dynasty - is at the moment, the very least of my worries. Believe me, gentlemen, the ordeals to which I have been subjected have been so painful and so terrible that at present, the thought of preserving the Crown for myself or the dauphin weighs very little with me.
*silence in the room*
Louis Philippe: My only desire, my only ambition, is to carry out faithfully the duties which have been imposed upon me. If you think - if the Corps Législatif thinks - that I am an obstacle and that the name of the king is an obstacle rather than a rallying point and a symbol of resistance, then let them pronounce our deposition: I shall not complain. I can then quit my post with honour. I shall not have deserted it. But I am convinced that the only sensible and practical course is for the country's representatives to rally around me and my government, to put aside for the moment all internal questions and to unite our efforts...As for myself, I am ready to face all dangers and to follow the Corps Législatif to wherever it decides to form a nucleus of resistance. If this resistance becomes impossible, I believe that I could still be useful in obtaining better peace terms [6]. Yesterday, the ambassador of a great power offered to propose a mediation of the neutral states on the following two bases: first, that no territory be taken from France and second, that the dynasty be maintained. I replied that I was ready to accept the first condition, but that I was absolutely opposed to the second. The maintenance of the dynasty is a question which concerns this country only, and I will never permit a foreign power to intervene in our internal affairs.
Joinville papa, keeping the crown would be the only sensible plan, but the circumstances in Paris, both in the streets and in the chambers, make it impossible.
Girardin: you fear, sire, that you will be accused of deserting your post, but you will have given even greater proof of your courage by sacrificing yourself for the public good and in sparing France the horror of revolution.
*doors to room burst open as a messenger hurries in*
Louis Philippe: what is it?
Messenger: the portrait of your Majesty taking the oath to the nation at the Palais Bourbon has been torn down. And the mob has invaded the chamber.
*stunned silence from the ministers*
Girardin: if your Majesty wishes to avoid a revolution, this may be the last chance that exists.
Louis Philippe: *calmly* personally, I believe this to be a mistake, but you gentlemen wish it, and let it never be said that as a constitutional king I have not given up my opinion for yours. But I will have it done legally. The ministers are to be consulted on the matter. Should they agree with your wisdom of the proposed course...no further opposition will be heard from my lips.
*fade to black*
[1] Balbastre was the organist in the Chapel Royal at Versailles pre-1789, the private organist to Louis XVIII at the Palais de Luxembourg, the harpsichord teacher to Marie Antoinette, and after 1789, the organist of Notre Dame de Paris until it was shuttered by the Revolution.
[2] dechéance, literally "forfeiture". The call for dethronement.
[3] Passy's family is from Gisors in Normandie
[4] this is OTL as well. Montpensier was one of the strongest voices in the council in 1848 urging an abdication to prevent bloodshed.
[5] centre-right political party under the July Monarchy of which Guizot was the leader. Many of the members supported the monarchy, but had grown disillusioned with the king. The parti held 58% of the seats after the 1842 election. And with Louis Philippe's growing unpopularity earlier here, that number might even be at the 63% the 1846 elections brought already. Their allies would be practically anyone who wants to get rid of the king but not become a republic. Even Thiers' Parti du Mouvement holding 42% of the house can't necessarily bank that all will be in favour of a republic
[6] France is still (technically) at war with Austria, even if her allies in Sardinia, Belgium and Prussia have already been dealt with
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