diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1346-0.txt | 4381 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1346-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 98572 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1346-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 100555 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1346-h/1346-h.htm | 4704 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1346.txt | 4337 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1346.zip | bin | 0 -> 98232 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/mar1810.txt | 4232 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/mar1810.zip | bin | 0 -> 96189 bytes |
8 files changed, 17654 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/1346-0.txt b/old/1346-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d80c8c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1346-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, by Karl Marx + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + +Author: Karl Marx + +Translator: Daniel de Leon + +Release Date: June, 1998 [eBook #1346] +[Most recently updated: April 19, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE *** + + + + +The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + +by Karl Marx + + +Contents + + Translator’s Preface + I. + II. + III. + IV. + V. + VI. + VII. + + + + +Translator’s Preface + + +“The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte” is one of Karl Marx’ most +profound and most brilliant monographs. It may be considered the best +work extant on the philosophy of history, with an eye especially upon +the history of the Movement of the Proletariat, together with the +bourgeois and other manifestations that accompany the same, and the +tactics that such conditions dictate. + +The recent populist uprising; the more recent “Debs Movement”; the +thousand and one utopian and chimerical notions that are flaring up; +the capitalist maneuvers; the hopeless, helpless grasping after straws, +that characterize the conduct of the bulk of the working class; all of +these, together with the empty-headed, ominous figures that are +springing into notoriety for a time and have their day, mark the +present period of the Labor Movement in the nation a critical one. The +best information acquirable, the best mental training obtainable are +requisite to steer through the existing chaos that the death-tainted +social system of today creates all around us. To aid in this needed +information and mental training, this instructive work is now made +accessible to English readers, and is commended to the serious study of +the serious. + +The teachings contained in this work are hung on an episode in recent +French history. With some this fact may detract of its value. A +pedantic, supercilious notion is extensively abroad among us that we +are an “Anglo Saxon” nation; and an equally pedantic, supercilious +habit causes many to look to England for inspiration, as from a racial +birthplace. Nevertheless, for weal or for woe, there is no such thing +extant as “Anglo-Saxon”—of all nations, said to be “Anglo-Saxon,” in +the United States least. What we still have from England, much as +appearances may seem to point the other way, is not of our +bone-and-marrow, so to speak, but rather partakes of the nature of +“importations.” We are no more English on account of them than we are +Chinese because we all drink tea. + +Of all European nations, France is the on to which we come nearest. +Besides its republican form of government—the directness of its +history, the unity of its actions, the sharpness that marks its +internal development, are all characteristics that find their parallel +her best, and vice versa. In all essentials the study of modern French +history, particularly when sketched by such a master hand as Marx’, is +the most valuable one for the acquisition of that historic, social and +biologic insight that our country stands particularly in need of, and +that will be inestimable during the approaching critical days. + +For the assistance of those who, unfamiliar with the history of France, +may be confused by some of the terms used by Marx, the following +explanations may prove aidful: + +On the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9th), the post-revolutionary development of +affairs in France enabled the first Napoleon to take a step that led +with inevitable certainty to the imperial throne. The circumstance that +fifty and odd years later similar events aided his nephew, Louis +Bonaparte, to take a similar step with a similar result, gives the name +to this work—“The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.” + +As to the other terms and allusions that occur, the following sketch +will suffice: + +Upon the overthrow of the first Napoleon came the restoration of the +Bourbon throne (Louis XVIII, succeeded by Charles X). In July, 1830, an +uprising of the upper tier of the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class—the +aristocracy of finance—overthrew the Bourbon throne, or landed +aristocracy, and set up the throne of Orleans, a younger branch of the +house of Bourbon, with Louis Philippe as king. From the month in which +this revolution occurred, Louis Philippe’s monarchy is called the “July +Monarchy.” In February, 1848, a revolt of a lower tier of the +capitalist class—the industrial bourgeoisie—against the aristocracy of +finance, in turn dethroned Louis Philippe. The affair, also named from +the month in which it took place, is the “February Revolution”. “The +Eighteenth Brumaire” starts with that event. + +Despite the inapplicableness to our affairs of the political names and +political leadership herein described, both these names and leaderships +are to such an extent the products of an economic-social development +that has here too taken place with even greater sharpens, and they have +their present or threatened counterparts here so completely, that, by +the light of this work of Marx’, we are best enabled to understand our +own history, to know whence we came, and whither we are going and how +to conduct ourselves. + +D.D.L. New York, Sept. 12, 1897 + + + + +THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE + + + + +I. + + +Hegel says somewhere that that great historic facts and personages +recur twice. He forgot to add: “Once as tragedy, and again as farce.” +Caussidiere for Danton, Louis Blanc for Robespierre, the “Mountain” of +1848-51 for the “Mountain” of 1793-05, the Nephew for the Uncle. The +identical caricature marks also the conditions under which the second +edition of the eighteenth Brumaire is issued. + +Man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of the whole +cloth; he does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself, but out +of such as he finds close at hand. The tradition of all past +generations weighs like an alp upon the brain of the living. At the +very time when men appear engaged in revolutionizing things and +themselves, in bringing about what never was before, at such very +epochs of revolutionary crisis do they anxiously conjure up into their +service the spirits of the past, assume their names, their battle +cries, their costumes to enact a new historic scene in such +time-honored disguise and with such borrowed language Thus did Luther +masquerade as the Apostle Paul; thus did the revolution of 1789-1814 +drape itself alternately as Roman Republic and as Roman Empire; nor did +the revolution of 1818 know what better to do than to parody at one +time the year 1789, at another the revolutionary traditions of 1793-95. +Thus does the beginner, who has acquired a new language, keep on +translating it back into his own mother tongue; only then has he +grasped the spirit of the new language and is able freely to express +himself therewith when he moves in it without recollections of the old, +and has forgotten in its use his own hereditary tongue. + +When these historic configurations of the dead past are closely +observed a striking difference is forthwith noticeable. Camille +Desmoulins, Danton, Robespierre, St. Juste, Napoleon, the heroes as +well as the parties and the masses of the old French revolution, +achieved in Roman costumes and with Roman phrases the task of their +time: the emancipation and the establishment of modern bourgeois +society. One set knocked to pieces the old feudal groundwork and mowed +down the feudal heads that had grown upon it; Napoleon brought about, +within France, the conditions under which alone free competition could +develop, the partitioned lands be exploited, the nation’s unshackled +powers of industrial production be utilized; while, beyond the French +frontier, he swept away everywhere the establishments of feudality, so +far as requisite, to furnish the bourgeois social system of France with +fit surroundings of the European continent, and such as were in keeping +with the times. Once the new social establishment was set on foot, the +antediluvian giants vanished, and, along with them, the resuscitated +Roman world—the Brutuses, Gracchi, Publicolas, the Tribunes, the +Senators, and Caesar himself. In its sober reality, bourgeois society +had produced its own true interpretation in the Says, Cousins, +Royer-Collards, Benjamin Constants and Guizots; its real generals sat +behind the office desks; and the mutton-head of Louis XVIII was its +political lead. Wholly absorbed in the production of wealth and in the +peaceful fight of competition, this society could no longer understand +that the ghosts of the days of Rome had watched over its cradle. And +yet, lacking in heroism as bourgeois society is, it nevertheless had +stood in need of heroism, of self-sacrifice, of terror, of civil war, +and of bloody battle fields to bring it into the world. Its gladiators +found in the stern classic traditions of the Roman republic the ideals +and the form, the self-deceptions, that they needed in order to conceal +from themselves the narrow bourgeois substance of their own struggles, +and to keep their passion up to the height of a great historic tragedy. +Thus, at another stage of development a century before, did Cromwell +and the English people draw from the Old Testament the language, +passions and illusions for their own bourgeois revolution. When the +real goal was reached, when the remodeling of English society was +accomplished, Locke supplanted Habakuk. + +Accordingly, the reviving of the dead in those revolutions served the +purpose of glorifying the new struggles, not of parodying the old; it +served the purpose of exaggerating to the imagination the given task, +not to recoil before its practical solution; it served the purpose of +rekindling the revolutionary spirit, not to trot out its ghost. + +In 1848-51 only the ghost of the old revolution wandered about, from +Marrast the “Republicain en gaunts jaunes,” [#1 Silk-stocking +republican] who disguised himself in old Bailly, down to the +adventurer, who hid his repulsively trivial features under the iron +death mask of Napoleon. A whole people, that imagines it has imparted +to itself accelerated powers of motion through a revolution, suddenly +finds itself transferred back to a dead epoch, and, lest there be any +mistake possible on this head, the old dates turn up again; the old +calendars; the old names; the old edicts, which long since had sunk to +the level of the antiquarian’s learning; even the old bailiffs, who had +long seemed mouldering with decay. The nation takes on the appearance +of that crazy Englishman in Bedlam, who imagines he is living in the +days of the Pharaohs, and daily laments the hard work that he must do +in the Ethiopian mines as gold digger, immured in a subterranean +prison, with a dim lamp fastened on his head, behind him the slave +overseer with a long whip, and, at the mouths of the mine a mob of +barbarous camp servants who understand neither the convicts in the +mines nor one another, because they do not speak a common language. +“And all this,” cries the crazy Englishman, “is demanded of me, the +free-born Englishman, in order to make gold for old Pharaoh.” “In order +to pay off the debts of the Bonaparte family”—sobs the French nation. +The Englishman, so long as he was in his senses, could not rid himself +of the rooted thought making gold. The Frenchmen, so long as they were +busy with a revolution, could not rid then selves of the Napoleonic +memory, as the election of December 10th proved. They longed to escape +from the dangers of revolution back to the flesh pots of Egypt; the 2d +of December, 1851 was the answer. They have not merely the character of +the old Napoleon, but the old Napoleon himself—caricatured as he needs +must appear in the middle of the nineteenth century. + +The social revolution of the nineteenth century can not draw its poetry +from the past, it can draw that only from the future. It cannot start +upon its work before it has stricken off all superstition concerning +the past. Former revolutions require historic reminiscences in order to +intoxicate themselves with their own issues. The revolution of the +nineteenth century must let the dead bury their dead in order to reach +its issue. With the former, the phrase surpasses the substance; with +this one, the substance surpasses the phrase. + +The February revolution was a surprisal; old society was taken +unawares; and the people proclaimed this political stroke a great +historic act whereby the new era was opened. On the 2d of December, the +February revolution is jockeyed by the trick of a false player, and +what seems to be overthrown is no longer the monarchy, but the liberal +concessions which had been wrung from it by centuries of struggles. +Instead of society itself having conquered a new point, only the State +appears to have returned to its oldest form, to the simply brazen rule +of the sword and the club. Thus, upon the “coup de main” of February, +1848, comes the response of the “coup de tete” December, 1851. So won, +so lost. Meanwhile, the interval did not go by unutilized. During the +years 1848-1851, French society retrieved in abbreviated, because +revolutionary, method the lessons and teachings, which—if it was to be +more than a disturbance of the surface—should have preceded the +February revolution, had it developed in regular order, by rule, so to +say. Now French society seems to have receded behind its point of +departure; in fact, however, it was compelled to first produce its own +revolutionary point of departure, the situation, circumstances, +conditions, under which alone the modern revolution is in earnest. + +Bourgeois revolutions, like those of the eighteenth century, rush +onward rapidly from success to success, their stage effects outbid one +another, men and things seem to be set in flaming brilliants, ecstasy +is the prevailing spirit; but they are short-lived, they reach their +climax speedily, then society relapses into a long fit of nervous +reaction before it learns how to appropriate the fruits of its period +of feverish excitement. Proletarian revolutions, on the contrary, such +as those of the nineteenth century, criticize themselves constantly; +constantly interrupt themselves in their own course; come back to what +seems to have been accomplished, in order to start over anew; scorn +with cruel thoroughness the half measures, weaknesses and meannesses of +their first attempts; seem to throw down their adversary only in order +to enable him to draw fresh strength from the earth, and again, to rise +up against them in more gigantic stature; constantly recoil in fear +before the undefined monster magnitude of their own objects—until +finally that situation is created which renders all retreat impossible, +and the conditions themselves cry out: + +“Hic Rhodus, hic salta!” +[#2 Here is Rhodes, leap here! An allusion to Aesop’s Fables.] + + +Every observer of average intelligence; even if he failed to follow +step by step the course of French development, must have anticipated +that an unheard of fiasco was in store for the revolution. It was +enough to hear the self-satisfied yelpings of victory wherewith the +Messieurs Democrats mutually congratulated one another upon the pardons +of May 2d, 1852. Indeed, May 2d had become a fixed idea in their heads; +it had become a dogma with them—something like the day on which Christ +was to reappear and the Millennium to begin had formed in the heads of +the Chiliasts. Weakness had, as it ever does, taken refuge in the +wonderful; it believed the enemy was overcome if, in its imagination, +it hocus-pocused him away; and it lost all sense of the present in the +imaginary apotheosis of the future, that was at hand, and of the deeds, +that it had “in petto,” but which it did not yet want to bring to the +scratch. The heroes, who ever seek to refute their established +incompetence by mutually bestowing their sympathy upon one another and +by pulling together, had packed their satchels, taken their laurels in +advance payments and were just engaged in the work of getting +discounted “in partibus,” on the stock exchange, the republics for +which, in the silence of their unassuming dispositions, they had +carefully organized the government personnel. The 2d of December struck +them like a bolt from a clear sky; and the peoples, who, in periods of +timid despondency, gladly allow their hidden fears to be drowned by the +loudest screamers, will perhaps have become convinced that the days are +gone by when the cackling of geese could save the Capitol. + +The constitution, the national assembly, the dynastic parties, the blue +and the red republicans, the heroes from Africa, the thunder from the +tribune, the flash-lightnings from the daily press, the whole +literature, the political names and the intellectual celebrities, the +civil and the criminal law, the “liberte’, egalite’, fraternite’,” +together with the 2d of May 1852—all vanished like a phantasmagoria +before the ban of one man, whom his enemies themselves do not pronounce +an adept at witchcraft. Universal suffrage seems to have survived only +for a moment, to the end that, before the eyes of the whole world, it +should make its own testament with its own hands, and, in the name of +the people, declare: “All that exists deserves to perish.” + +It is not enough to say, as the Frenchmen do, that their nation was +taken by surprise. A nation, no more than a woman, is excused for the +unguarded hour when the first adventurer who comes along can do +violence to her. The riddle is not solved by such shifts, it is only +formulated in other words. There remains to be explained how a nation +of thirty-six millions can be surprised by three swindlers, and taken +to prison without resistance. + +Let us recapitulate in general outlines the phases which the French +revolution of February 24th, 1848, to December, 1851, ran through. + +Three main periods are unmistakable: + +First—The February period; + +Second—The period of constituting the republic, or of the constitutive +national assembly (May 4, 1848, to May 29th, 1849); + +Third—The period of the constitutional republic, or of the legislative +national assembly (May 29, 1849, to December 2, 1851). + +The first period, from February 24, or the downfall of Louis Philippe, +to May 4, 1848, the date of the assembling of the constitutive +assembly—the February period proper—may be designated as the prologue +of the revolution. It officially expressed its own character in this, +that the government which it improvised declared itself “provisional;” +and, like the government, everything that was broached, attempted, or +uttered, pronounced itself provisional. Nobody and nothing dared to +assume the right of permanent existence and of an actual fact. All the +elements that had prepared or determined the revolution—dynastic +opposition, republican bourgeoisie, democratic-republican small +traders’ class, social-democratic labor element—all found +“provisionally” their place in the February government. + +It could not be otherwise. The February days contemplated originally a +reform of the suffrage laws, whereby the area of the politically +privileged among the property-holding class was to be extended, while +the exclusive rule of the aristocracy of finance was to be overthrown. +When however, it came to a real conflict, when the people mounted the +barricades, when the National Guard stood passive, when the army +offered no serious resistance, and the kingdom ran away, then the +republic seemed self-understood. Each party interpreted it in its own +sense. Won, arms in hand, by the proletariat, they put upon it the +stamp of their own class, and proclaimed the social republic. Thus the +general purpose of modern revolutions was indicated, a purpose, +however, that stood in most singular contradiction to every thing that, +with the material at hand, with the stage of enlightenment that the +masses had reached, and under existing circumstances and conditions, +could be immediately used. On the other hand, the claims of all the +other elements, that had cooperated in the revolution of February, were +recognized by the lion’s share that they received in the government. +Hence, in no period do we find a more motley mixture of high-sounding +phrases together with actual doubt and helplessness; of more +enthusiastic reform aspirations, together with a more slavish adherence +to the old routine; more seeming harmony permeating the whole of +society together with a deeper alienation of its several elements. +While the Parisian proletariat was still gloating over the sight of the +great perspective that had disclosed itself to their view, and was +indulging in seriously meant discussions over the social problems, the +old powers of society had groomed themselves, had gathered together, +had deliberated and found an unexpected support in the mass of the +nation—the peasants and small traders—all of whom threw themselves on a +sudden upon the political stage, after the barriers of the July +monarchy had fallen down. + +The second period, from May 4, 1848, to the end of May, 1849, is the +period of the constitution, of the founding of the bourgeois republic +immediately after the February days, not only was the dynastic +opposition surprised by the republicans, and the republicans by the +Socialists, but all France was surprised by Paris. The national +assembly, that met on May 4, 1848, to frame a constitution, was the +outcome of the national elections; it represented the nation. It was a +living protest against the assumption of the February days, and it was +intended to bring the results of the revolution back to the bourgeois +measure. In vain did the proletariat of Paris, which forthwith +understood the character of this national assembly, endeavor, a few +days after its meeting; on May 15, to deny its existence by force, to +dissolve it, to disperse the organic apparition, in which the reacting +spirit of the nation was threatening them, and thus reduce it back to +its separate component parts. As is known, the 15th of May had no other +result than that of removing Blanqui and his associates, i.e. the real +leaders of the proletarian party, from the public scene for the whole +period of the cycle which we are here considering. + +Upon the bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe, only the bourgeois +republic could follow; that is to say, a limited portion of the +bourgeoisie having ruled under the name of the king, now the whole +bourgeoisie was to rule under the name of the people. The demands of +the Parisian proletariat are utopian tom-fooleries that have to be done +away with. To this declaration of the constitutional national assembly, +the Paris proletariat answers with the June insurrection, the most +colossal event in the history of European civil wars. The bourgeois +republic won. On its side stood the aristocracy of finance, the +industrial bourgeoisie; the middle class; the small traders’ class; the +army; the slums, organized as Guarde Mobile; the intellectual +celebrities, the parsons’ class, and the rural population. On the side +of the Parisian proletariat stood none but itself. Over 3,000 +insurgents were massacred, after the victory 15,000 were transported +without trial. With this defeat, the proletariat steps to the +background on the revolutionary stage. It always seeks to crowd +forward, so soon as the movement seems to acquire new impetus, but with +ever weaker effort and ever smaller results; So soon as any of the +above lying layers of society gets into revolutionary fermentation, it +enters into alliance therewith and thus shares all the defeats which +the several parties successively suffer. But these succeeding blows +become ever weaker the more generally they are distributed over the +whole surface of society. The more important leaders of the +Proletariat, in its councils, and the press, fall one after another +victims of the courts, and ever more questionable figures step to the +front. It partly throws itself it upon doctrinaire experiments, +“co-operative banking” and “labor exchange” schemes; in other words, +movements, in which it goes into movements in which it gives up the +task of revolutionizing the old world with its own large collective +weapons and on the contrary, seeks to bring about its emancipation, +behind the back of society, in private ways, within the narrow bounds +of its own class conditions, and, consequently, inevitably fails. The +proletariat seems to be able neither to find again the revolutionary +magnitude within itself nor to draw new energy from the newly formed +alliances until all the classes, with whom it contended in June, shall +lie prostrate along with itself. But in all these defeats, the +proletariat succumbs at least with the honor that attaches to great +historic struggles; not France alone, all Europe trembles before the +June earthquake, while the successive defeats inflicted upon the higher +classes are bought so easily that they need the brazen exaggeration of +the victorious party itself to be at all able to pass muster as an +event; and these defeats become more disgraceful the further removed +the defeated party stands from the proletariat. + +True enough, the defeat of the June insurgents prepared, leveled the +ground, upon which the bourgeois republic could be founded and erected; +but it, at the same time, showed that there are in Europe other issues +besides that of “Republic or Monarchy.” It revealed the fact that here +the Bourgeois Republic meant the unbridled despotism of one class over +another. It proved that, with nations enjoying an older civilization, +having developed class distinctions, modern conditions of production, +an intellectual consciousness, wherein all traditions of old have been +dissolved through the work of centuries, that with such countries the +republic means only the political revolutionary form of bourgeois +society, not its conservative form of existence, as is the case in the +United States of America, where, true enough, the classes already +exist, but have not yet acquired permanent character, are in constant +flux and reflux, constantly changing their elements and yielding them +up to one another where the modern means of production, instead of +coinciding with a stagnant population, rather compensate for the +relative scarcity of heads and hands; and, finally, where the +feverishly youthful life of material production, which has to +appropriate a new world to itself, has so far left neither time nor +opportunity to abolish the illusions of old. [#3 This was written at +the beginning of 1852.] + +All classes and parties joined hands in the June days in a “Party of +Order” against the class of the proletariat, which was designated as +the “Party of Anarchy,” of Socialism, of Communism. They claimed to +have “saved” society against the “enemies of society.” They gave out +the slogans of the old social order—“Property, Family, Religion, +Order”—as the passwords for their army, and cried out to the +counter-revolutionary crusaders: “In this sign thou wilt conquer!” From +that moment on, so soon as any of the numerous parties, which had +marshaled themselves under this sign against the June insurgents, +tries, in turn, to take the revolutionary field in the interest of its +own class, it goes down in its turn before the cry: “Property, Family, +Religion, Order.” Thus it happens that “society is saved” as often as +the circle of its ruling class is narrowed, as often as a more +exclusive interest asserts itself over the general. Every demand for +the most simple bourgeois financial reform, for the most ordinary +liberalism, for the most commonplace republicanism, for the flattest +democracy, is forthwith punished as an “assault upon society,” and is +branded as “Socialism.” Finally the High Priests of “Religion and +Order” themselves are kicked off their tripods; are fetched out of +their beds in the dark; hurried into patrol wagons, thrust into jail or +sent into exile; their temple is razed to the ground, their mouths are +sealed, their pen is broken, their law torn to pieces in the name of +Religion, of Family, of Property, and of Order. Bourgeois, fanatic on +the point of “Order,” are shot down on their own balconies by drunken +soldiers, forfeit their family property, and their houses are bombarded +for pastime—all in the name of Property, of Family, of Religion, and of +Order. Finally, the refuse of bourgeois society constitutes the “holy +phalanx of Order,” and the hero Crapulinsky makes his entry into the +Tuileries as the “Savior of Society.” + + + + +II. + + +Let us resume the thread of events. + +The history of the Constitutional National Assembly from the June days +on, is the history of the supremacy and dissolution of the republican +bourgeois party, the party which is known under several names of +“Tricolor Republican,” “True Republican,” “Political Republican,” +“Formal Republican,” etc., etc. Under the bourgeois monarchy of Louis +Philippe, this party had constituted the Official Republican +Opposition, and consequently had been a recognized element in the then +political world. It had its representatives in the Chambers, and +commanded considerable influence in the press. Its Parisian organ, the +“National,” passed, in its way, for as respectable a paper as the +“Journal des Debats.” This position in the constitutional monarchy +corresponded to its character. The party was not a fraction of the +bourgeoisie, held together by great and common interests, and marked by +special business requirements. It was a coterie of bourgeois with +republican ideas—writers, lawyers, officers and civil employees, whose +influence rested upon the personal antipathies of the country for Louis +Philippe, upon reminiscences of the old Republic, upon the republican +faith of a number of enthusiasts, and, above all, upon the spirit of +French patriotism, whose hatred of the treaties of Vienna and of the +alliance with England kept them perpetually on the alert. The +“National” owed a large portion of its following under Louis Philippe +to this covert imperialism, that, later under the republic, could stand +up against it as a deadly competitor in the person of Louis Bonaparte. +The paper fought the aristocracy of finance just the same as did the +rest of the bourgeois opposition. The polemic against the budget, which +in France, was closely connected with the opposition to the aristocracy +of finance, furnished too cheap a popularity and too rich a material +for Puritanical leading articles, not to be exploited. The industrial +bourgeoisie was thankful to it for its servile defense of the French +tariff system, which, however, the paper had taken up, more out of +patriotic than economic reasons; the whole bourgeois class was thankful +to it for its vicious denunciations of Communism and Socialism. For the +rest, the party of the “National” was purely republican, i.e. it +demanded a republican instead of a monarchic form of bourgeois +government; above all, it demanded for the bourgeoisie the lion’s share +of the government. As to how this transformation was to be +accomplished, the party was far from being clear. What, however, was +clear as day to it and was openly declared at the reform banquets +during the last days of Louis Philippe’s reign, was its unpopularity +with the democratic middle class, especially with the revolutionary +proletariat. These pure republicans, as pure republicans go, were at +first on the very point of contenting themselves with the regency of +the Duchess of Orleans, when the February revolution broke out, and +when it gave their best known representatives a place in the +provisional government. Of course, they enjoyed from the start the +confidence of the bourgeoisie and of the majority of the Constitutional +National Assembly. The Socialist elements of the Provisional Government +were promptly excluded from the Executive Committee which the Assembly +had elected upon its convening, and the party of the “National” +subsequently utilized the outbreak of the June insurrection to dismiss +this Executive Committee also, and thus rid itself of its nearest +rivals—the small traders’ class or democratic republicans +(Ledru-Rollin, etc.). Cavaignac, the General of the bourgeois +republican party, who commanded at the battle of June, stepped into the +place of the Executive Committee with a sort of dictatorial power. +Marrast, former editor-in-chief of the “National”, became permanent +President of the Constitutional National Assembly, and the +Secretaryship of State, together with all the other important posts, +devolved upon the pure republicans. + +The republican bourgeois party, which since long had looked upon itself +as the legitimate heir of the July monarchy, thus found itself +surpassed in its own ideal; but it came to power, not as it had dreamed +under Louis Philippe, through a liberal revolt of the bourgeoisie +against the throne, but through a grape-shot-and-canistered mutiny of +the proletariat against Capital. That which it imagined to be the most +revolutionary, came about as the most counter-revolutionary event. The +fruit fell into its lap, but it fell from the Tree of Knowledge, not +from the Tree of Life. + +The exclusive power of the bourgeois republic lasted only from June 24 +to the 10th of December, 1848. It is summed up in the framing of a +republican constitution and in the state of siege of Paris. + +The new Constitution was in substance only a republicanized edition of +the constitutional charter of 1830. The limited suffrage of the July +monarchy, which excluded even a large portion of the bourgeoisie from +political power, was irreconcilable with the existence of the bourgeois +republic. The February revolution had forthwith proclaimed direct and +universal suffrage in place of the old law. The bourgeois republic +could not annul this act. They had to content themselves with tacking +to it the limitation a six months’ residence. The old organization of +the administrative law, of municipal government, of court procedures of +the army, etc., remained untouched, or, where the constitution did +change them, the change affected their index, not their subject; their +name, not their substance. + +The inevitable “General Staff” of the “freedoms” of 1848—personal +freedom, freedom of the press, of speech, of association and of +assemblage, freedom of instruction, of religion, etc.—received a +constitutional uniform that rendered them invulnerable. Each of these +freedoms is proclaimed the absolute right of the French citizen, but +always with the gloss that it is unlimited in so far only as it be not +curtailed by the “equal rights of others,” and by the “public safety,” +or by the “laws,” which are intended to effect this harmony. For +instance: + +“Citizens have the right of association, of peaceful and unarmed +assemblage, of petitioning, and of expressing their opinions through +the press or otherwise. The enjoyment of these rights has no limitation +other than the equal rights of others and the public safety.” (Chap. +II. of the French Constitution, Section 8.) + +“Education is free. The freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the +conditions provided by law, and under the supervision of the State.” +(Section 9.) + +“The domicile of the citizen is inviolable, except under the forms +prescribed by law.” (Chap. I., Section 3), etc., etc. + +The Constitution, it will be noticed, constantly alludes to future +organic laws, that are to carry out the glosses, and are intended to +regulate the enjoyment of these unabridged freedoms, to the end that +they collide neither with one another nor with the public safety. Later +on, the organic laws are called into existence by the “Friends of +Order,” and all the above named freedoms are so regulated that, in +their enjoyment, the bourgeoisie encounter no opposition from the like +rights of the other classes. Wherever the bourgeoisie wholly +interdicted these rights to “others,” or allowed them their enjoyment +under conditions that were but so many police snares, it was always +done only in the interest of the “public safety,” i. e., of the +bourgeoisie, as required by the Constitution. + +Hence it comes that both sides—the “Friends of Order,” who abolished +all those freedoms, as, well as the democrats, who had demanded them +all—appeal with full right to the Constitution: Each paragraph of the +Constitution contains its own antithesis, its own Upper and Lower +House—freedom as a generalization, the abolition of freedom as a +specification. Accordingly, so long as the name of freedom was +respected, and only its real enforcement was prevented in a legal way, +of course the constitutional existence of freedom remained uninjured, +untouched, however completely its common existence might be +extinguished. + +This Constitution, so ingeniously made invulnerable, was, however, like +Achilles, vulnerable at one point: not in its heel, but in its head, or +rather, in the two heads into which it ran out—the Legislative +Assembly, on the one hand, and the President on the other. Run through +the Constitution and it will be found that only those paragraphs +wherein the relation of the President to the Legislative Assembly is +defined, are absolute, positive, uncontradictory, undistortable. + +Here the bourgeois republicans were concerned in securing their own +position. Articles 45-70 of the Constitution are so framed that the +National Assembly can constitutionally remove the President, but the +President can set aside the National Assembly only unconstitutionally, +he can set it aside only by setting aside the Constitution itself. +Accordingly, by these provisions, the National Assembly challenges its +own violent destruction. It not only consecrates, like the character of +1830, the division of powers, but it extends this feature to an +unbearably contradictory extreme. The “play of constitutional powers,” +as Guizot styled the clapper-clawings between the legislative and the +executive powers, plays permanent “vabanque” in the Constitution of +1848. On the one side, 750 representatives of the people, elected and +qualified for re-election by universal suffrage, who constitute an +uncontrollable, indissoluble, indivisible National Assembly, a National +Assembly that enjoys legislative omnipotence, that decides in the last +instance over war, peace and commercial treaties, that alone has the +power to grant amnesties, and that, through its perpetuity, continually +maintains the foreground on the stage; on the other, a President, clad +with all the attributes of royalty, with the right to appoint and +remove his ministers independently from the national assembly, holding +in his hands all the means of executive power, the dispenser of all +posts, and thereby the arbiter of at least one and a half million +existences in France, so many being dependent upon the 500,000 civil +employees and upon the officers of all grades. He has the whole armed +power behind him. He enjoys the privilege of granting pardons to +individual criminals; suspending the National Guards; of removing with +the consent of the Council of State the general, cantonal and municipal +Councilmen, elected by the citizens themselves. The initiative and +direction of all negotiations with foreign countries are reserved to +him. While the Assembly itself is constantly acting upon the stage, and +is exposed to the critically vulgar light of day, he leads a hidden +life in the Elysian fields, only with Article 45 of the Constitution +before his eyes and in his heart daily calling out to him, “Frere, il +faut mourir!” [#1 Brother, you must die!] Your power expires on the +second Sunday of the beautiful month of May, in the fourth year after +your election! The glory is then at an end; the play is not performed +twice; and, if you have any debts, see to it betimes that you pay them +off with the 600,000 francs that the Constitution has set aside for +you, unless, perchance, you should prefer traveling to Clichy [#2 The +debtors’ prison.] on the second Monday of the beautiful month of May. + +While the Constitution thus clothes the President with actual power, it +seeks to secure the moral power to the National Assembly. Apart from +the circumstance that it is impossible to create a moral power through +legislative paragraphs, the Constitution again neutralizes itself in +that it causes the President to be chosen by all the Frenchmen through +direct suffrage. While the votes of France are splintered to pieces +upon the 750 members of the National Assembly they are here, on the +contrary, concentrated upon one individual. While each separate +Representative represents only this or that party, this or that city, +this or that dunghill, or possibly only the necessity of electing some +one Seven-hundred-and-fiftieth or other, with whom neither the issue +nor the man is closely considered, that one, the President, on the +contrary, is the elect of the nation, and the act of his election is +the trump card, that, the sovereign people plays out once every four +years. The elected National Assembly stands in a metaphysical, but the +elected President in a personal, relation to the nation. True enough, +the National Assembly presents in its several Representatives the +various sides of the national spirit, but, in the President, this +spirit is incarnated. As against the National Assembly, the President +possesses a sort of divine right, he is by the grace of the people. + +Thetis, the sea-goddess, had prophesied to Achilles that he would die +in the bloom of youth. The Constitution, which had its weak spot, like +Achilles, had also, like Achilles, the presentiment that it would +depart by premature death. It was enough for the pure republicans, +engaged at the work of framing a constitution, to cast a glance from +the misty heights of their ideal republic down upon the profane world +in order to realize how the arrogance of the royalists, of the +Bonapartists, of the democrats, of the Communists, rose daily, together +with their own discredit, and in the same measure as they approached +the completion of their legislative work of art, without Thetis having +for this purpose to leave the sea and impart the secret to them. They +ought to outwit fate by means of constitutional artifice, through +Section 111 of the Constitution, according to which every motion to +revise the Constitution had to be discussed three successive times +between each of which a full month was to elapse and required at least +a three-fourths majority, with the additional proviso that not less +than 500 members of the National Assembly voted. They thereby only made +the impotent attempt, still to exercise as a parliamentary minority, to +which in their mind’s eye they prophetically saw themselves reduced, a +power, that, at this very time, when they still disposed over the +parliamentary majority and over all the machinery of government, was +daily slipping from their weak hands. + +Finally, the Constitution entrusts itself for safe keeping, in a +melodramatic paragraph, “to the watchfulness and patriotism of the +whole French people, and of each individual Frenchman,” after having +just before, in another paragraph entrusted the “watchful” and the +“patriotic” themselves to the tender, inquisitorial attention of the +High Court, instituted by itself. + +That was the Constitution of 1848, which on, the 2d of December, 1851, +was not overthrown by one head, but tumbled down at the touch of a mere +hat; though, true enough, that hat was a three-cornered Napoleon hat. + +While the bourgeois’ republicans were engaged in the Assembly with the +work of splicing this Constitution, of discussing and voting, +Cavaignac, on the outside, maintained the state of siege of Paris. The +state of siege of Paris was the midwife of the constitutional assembly, +during its republican pains of travail. When the Constitution is later +on swept off the earth by the bayonet, it should not be forgotten that +it was by the bayonet, likewise—and the bayonet turned against the +people, at that—that it had to be protected in its mother’s womb, and +that by the bayonet it had to be planted on earth. The ancestors of +these “honest republicans” had caused their symbol, the tricolor, to +make the tour of Europe. These, in their turn also made a discovery, +which all of itself, found its way over the whole continent, but, with +ever renewed love, came back to France, until, by this time, if had +acquired the right of citizenship in one-half of her Departments—the +state of siege. A wondrous discovery this was, periodically applied at +each succeeding crisis in the course of the French revolution. But the +barrack and the bivouac, thus periodically laid on the head of French +society, to compress her brain and reduce her to quiet; the sabre and +the musket, periodically made to perform the functions of judges and of +administrators, of guardians and of censors, of police officers and of +watchmen; the military moustache and the soldier’s jacket, periodically +heralded as the highest wisdom and guiding stars of society;—were not +all of these, the barrack and the bivouac, the sabre and the musket, +the moustache and the soldier’s jacket bound, in the end, to hit upon +the idea that they might as well save society once for all, by +proclaiming their own regime as supreme, and relieve bourgeois society +wholly of the care of ruling itself? The barrack and the bivouac, the +sabre and the musket, the moustache and the soldier’s jacket were all +the more bound to hit upon this idea, seeing that they could then also +expect better cash payment for their increased deserts, while at the +merely periodic states of siege and the transitory savings of society +at the behest of this or that bourgeois faction, very little solid +matter fell to them except some dead and wounded, besides some friendly +bourgeois grimaces. Should not the military, finally, in and for its +own interest, play the game of “state of siege,” and simultaneously +besiege the bourgeois exchanges? Moreover, it must not be forgotten, +and be it observed in passing, that Col. Bernard, the same President of +the Military Committee, who, under Cavaignac, helped to deport 15,000 +insurgents without trial, moves at this period again at the head of the +Military Committees now active in Paris. + +Although the honest, the pure republicans built with the state of siege +the nursery in which the Praetorian guards of December 2, 1851, were to +be reared, they, on the other hand, deserve praise in that, instead of +exaggerating the feeling of patriotism, as under Louis Philippe, now; +they themselves are in command of the national power, they crawl before +foreign powers; instead of making Italy free, they allow her to be +reconquered by Austrians and Neapolitans. The election of Louis +Bonaparte for President on December 10, 1848, put an end to the +dictatorship of Cavaignac and to the constitutional assembly. + +In Article 44 of the Constitution it is said “The President of the +French Republic must never have lost his status as a French citizen.” +The first President of the French Republic, L. N. Bonaparte, had not +only lost his status as a French citizen, had not only been an English +special constable, but was even a naturalized Swiss citizen. + +In the previous chapter I have explained the meaning of the election of +December 10. I shall not here return to it. Suffice it here to say that +it was a reaction of the farmers’ class, who had been expected to pay +the costs of the February revolution, against the other classes of the +nation: it was a reaction of the country against the city. It met with +great favor among the soldiers, to whom the republicans of the +“National” had brought neither fame nor funds; among the great +bourgeoisie, who hailed Bonaparte as a bridge to the monarchy; and +among the proletarians and small traders, who hailed him as a scourge +to Cavaignac. I shall later have occasion to enter closer into the +relation of the farmers to the French revolution. + +The epoch between December 20, 1848, and the dissolution of the +constitutional assembly in May, 1849, embraces the history of the +downfall of the bourgeois republicans. After they had founded a +republic for the bourgeoisie, had driven the revolutionary proletariat +from the field and had meanwhile silenced the democratic middle class, +they are themselves shoved aside by the mass of the bourgeoisie who +justly appropriate this republic as their property. This bourgeois mass +was Royalist, however. A part thereof, the large landed proprietors, +had ruled under the restoration, hence, was Legitimist; the other part, +the aristocrats of finance and the large industrial capitalists, had +ruled under the July monarchy, hence, was Orleanist. The high +functionaries of the Army, of the University, of the Church, in the +civil service, of the Academy and of the press, divided themselves on +both sides, although in unequal parts. Here, in the bourgeois republic, +that bore neither the name of Bourbon, nor of Orleans, but the name of +Capital, they had found the form of government under which they could +all rule in common. Already the June insurrection had united them all +into a “Party of Order.” The next thing to do was to remove the +bourgeois republicans who still held the seats in the National +Assembly. As brutally as these pure republicans had abused their own +physical power against the people, so cowardly, low-spirited, +disheartened, broken, powerless did they yield, now when the issue was +the maintenance of their own republicanism and their own legislative +rights against the Executive power and the royalists I need not here +narrate the shameful history of their dissolution. It was not a +downfall, it was extinction. Their history is at an end for all time. +In the period that follows, they figure, whether within or without the +Assembly, only as memories—memories that seem again to come to life so +soon as the question is again only the word “Republic,” and as often as +the revolutionary conflict threatens to sink down to the lowest level. +In passing, I might observe that the journal which gave to this party +its name, the “National,” goes over to Socialism during the following +period. + +Before we close this period, we must look back upon the two powers, one +of destroys the other on December 2, 1851, while, from December 20, +1848, down to the departure of the constitutional assembly, they live +marital relations. We mean Louis Bonaparte, on the-one hand, on the +other, the party of the allied royalists; of Order, and of the large +bourgeoisie. + +At the inauguration of his presidency, Bonaparte forthwith framed a +ministry out of the party of Order, at whose head he placed Odillon +Barrot, be it noted, the old leader of the liberal wing of the +parliamentary bourgeoisie. Mr. Barrot had finally hunted down a seat in +the ministry, the spook of which had been pursuing him since 1830; and +what is more, he had the chairmanship in this ministry, although not, +as he had imagined under Louis Philippe, the promoted leader of the +parliamentary opposition, but with the commission to kill a parliament, +and, moreover, as an ally of all his arch enemies, the Jesuits and the +Legitimists. Finally he leads the bride home, but only after she has +been prostituted. As to Bonaparte, he seemed to eclipse himself +completely. The party of Order acted for him. + +Immediately at the first session of the ministry the expedition to Rome +was decided upon, which it was there agreed, was to be carried out +behind I the back of the National Assembly, and the funds for which, it +was equally agreed, were to be wrung from the Assembly under false +pretences. Thus the start was made with a swindle on the National +Assembly, together with a secret conspiracy with the absolute foreign +powers against the revolutionary Roman republic. In the same way, and +with a similar maneuver, did Bonaparte prepare his stroke of December 2 +against the royalist legislature and its constitutional republic. Let +it not be forgotten that the same party, which, on December 20, 1848, +constituted Bonaparte’s ministry, constituted also, on December 2, +1851, the majority of the legislative National Assembly. + +In August the constitutive assembly decided not to dissolve until it +had prepared and promulgated a whole series of organic laws, intended +to supplement the Constitution. The party of Order proposed to the +assembly, through Representative Rateau, on January 6, 1849, to let the +Organic laws go, and rather to order its own dissolution. Not the +ministry alone, with Mr. Odillon Barrot at its head, but all the +royalist members of the National Assembly were also at this time +hectoring to it that its dissolution was necessary for the restoration +of the public credit, for the consolidation of order, to put an end to +the existing uncertain and provisional, and establish a definite state +of things; they claimed that its continued existence hindered the +effectiveness of the new Government, that it sought to prolong its life +out of pure malice, and that the country was tired of it. Bonaparte +took notice of all these invectives hurled at the legislative power, he +learned them by heart, and, on December 21, 1851, he showed the +parliamentary royalists that he had learned from them. He repeated +their own slogans against themselves. + +The Barrot ministry and the party of Order went further. They called +all over France for petitions to the National Assembly in which that +body was politely requested to disappear. Thus they led the people’s +unorganic masses to the fray against the National Assembly, i.e., the +constitutionally organized expression of people itself. They taught +Bonaparte, to appeal from the parliamentary body to the people. +Finally, on January 29, 1849, the day arrived when the constitutional +assembly was to decide about its own dissolution. On that day the body +found its building occupied by the military; Changarnier, the General +of the party of Order, in whose hands was joined the supreme command of +both the National Guards and the regulars, held that day a great +military review, as though a battle were imminent; and the coalized +royalists declared threateningly to the constitutional assembly that +force would be applied if it did not act willingly. It was willing, and +chaffered only for a very short respite. What else was the 29th of +January, 1849, than the “coup d’etat” of December 2, 1851, only +executed by the royalists with Napoleon’s aid against the republican +National Assembly? These gentlemen did not notice, or did not want to +notice, that Napoleon utilized the 29th of January, 1849, to cause a +part of the troops to file before him in front of the Tuileries, and +that he seized with avidity this very first open exercise of the +military against the parliamentary power in order to hint at Caligula. +The allied royalists saw only their own Changarnier. + +Another reason that particularly moved the party of Order forcibly to +shorten the term of the constitutional assembly were the organic laws, +the laws that were to supplement the Constitution, as, for instance, +the laws on education, on religion, etc. The allied royalists had every +interest in framing these laws themselves, and not allowing them to be +framed by the already suspicious republicans. Among these organic laws, +there was, however, one on the responsibility of the President of the +republic. In 1851 the Legislature was just engaged in framing such a +law when Bonaparte forestalled that political stroke by his own of +December 2. What all would not the coalized royalists have given in +their winter parliamentary campaign of 1851, had they but found this +“Responsibility law” ready made, and framed at that, by the suspicious, +the vicious republican Assembly! + +After, on January 29, 1849, the constitutive assembly had itself broken +its last weapon, the Barrot ministry and the “Friends of Order” +harassed it to death, left nothing undone to humiliate it, and wrung +from its weakness, despairing of itself, laws that cost it the last +vestige of respect with the public. Bonaparte, occupied with his own +fixed Napoleonic idea, was audacious enough openly to exploit this +degradation of the parliamentary power: When the National Assembly, on +May 8, 1849, passed a vote of censure upon the Ministry on account of +the occupation of Civita-Vecchia by Oudinot, and ordered that the Roman +expedition be brought back to its alleged purpose, Bonaparte published +that same evening in the “Moniteur” a letter to Oudinot, in which he +congratulated him on his heroic feats, and already, in contrast with +the quill-pushing parliamentarians, posed as the generous protector of +the Army. The royalists smiled at this. They took him simply for their +dupe. Finally, as Marrast, the President of the constitutional +assembly, believed on a certain occasion the safety of the body to be +in danger, and, resting on the Constitution, made a requisition upon a +Colonel, together with his regiment, the Colonel refused obedience, +took refuge behind the “discipline,” and referred Marrast to +Changarnier, who scornfully sent him off with the remark that he did +not like “bayonettes intelligentes.” [#1 Intelligent bayonets] In +November, 1851, as the coalized royalists wanted to begin the decisive +struggle with Bonaparte, they sought, by means of their notorious +“Questors Bill,” to enforce the principle of the right of the President +of the National Assembly to issue direct requisitions for troops. One +of their Generals, Leflo, supported the motion. In vain did Changarnier +vote for it, or did Thiers render homage to the cautious wisdom of the +late constitutional assembly. The Minister of War, St. Arnaud, answered +him as Changarnier had answered Marrast—and he did so amidst the +plaudits of the Mountain. + +Thus did the party of Order itself, when as yet it was not the National +Assembly, when as yet it was only a Ministry, brand the parliamentary +regime. And yet this party objects vociferously when the 2d of +December, 1851, banishes that regime from France! + +We wish it a happy journey. + + + + +III. + + +On May 29, 1849, the legislative National Assembly convened. On +December 2, 1851, it was broken up. This period embraces the term of +the Constitutional or Parliamentary public. + +In the first French revolution, upon the reign of the +Constitutionalists succeeds that of the Girondins; and upon the reign +of the Girondins follows that of the Jacobins. Each of these parties in +succession rests upon its more advanced element. So soon as it has +carried the revolution far enough not to be able to keep pace with, +much less march ahead of it, it is shoved aside by its more daring +allies, who stand behind it, and it is sent to the guillotine. Thus the +revolution moves along an upward line. + +Just the reverse in 1848. The proletarian party appears as an appendage +to the small traders’ or democratic party; it is betrayed by the latter +and allowed to fall on April 16, May 15, and in the June days. In its +turn, the democratic party leans upon the shoulders of the bourgeois +republicans; barely do the bourgeois republicans believe themselves +firmly in power, than they shake off these troublesome associates for +the purpose of themselves leaning upon the shoulders of the party of +Order. The party of Order draws in its shoulders, lets the bourgeois +republicans tumble down heels over head, and throws itself upon the +shoulders of the armed power. Finally, still of the mind that it is +sustained by the shoulders of the armed power, the party of Order +notices one fine morning that these shoulders have turned into +bayonets. Each party kicks backward at those that are pushing forward, +and leans forward upon those that are crowding backward; no wonder +that, in this ludicrous posture, each loses its balance, and, after +having cut the unavoidable grimaces, breaks down amid singular +somersaults. Accordingly, the revolution moves along a downward line. +It finds itself in this retreating motion before the last +February-barricade is cleared away, and the first governmental +authority of the revolution has been constituted. + +The period we now have before us embraces the motliest jumble of crying +contradictions: constitutionalists, who openly conspire against the +Constitution; revolutionists, who admittedly are constitutional; a +National Assembly that wishes to be omnipotent yet remains +parliamentary; a Mountain, that finds its occupation in submission, +that parries its present defeats with prophecies of future victories; +royalists, who constitute the “patres conscripti” of the republic, and +are compelled by the situation to uphold abroad the hostile monarchic +houses, whose adherents they are, while in France they support the +republic that they hate; an Executive power that finds its strength in +its very weakness, and its dignity in the contempt that it inspires; a +republic, that is nothing else than the combined infamy of two +monarchies—the Restoration and the July Monarchy—with an imperial +label; unions, whose first clause is disunion; struggles, whose first +law is in-decision; in the name of peace, barren and hollow agitation; +in the name of the revolution, solemn sermonizings on peace; passions +without truth; truths without passion; heroes without heroism; history +without events; development, whose only moving force seems to be the +calendar, and tiresome by the constant reiteration of the same tensions +and relaxes; contrasts, that seem to intensify themselves periodically, +only in order to wear themselves off and collapse without a solution; +pretentious efforts made for show, and bourgeois frights at the danger +of the destruction of the world, simultaneous with the carrying on of +the pettiest intrigues and the performance of court comedies by the +world’s saviours, who, in their “laisser aller,” recall the Day of +Judgment not so much as the days of the Fronde; the official collective +genius of France brought to shame by the artful stupidity of a single +individual; the collective will of the nation, as often as it speaks +through the general suffrage, seeking its true expression in the +prescriptive enemies of the public interests until it finally finds it +in the arbitrary will of a filibuster. If ever a slice from history is +drawn black upon black, it is this. Men and events appear as reversed +“Schlemihls,” [#1 The hero In Chamisso’s “Peter Schiemihi,” who loses +his own shadow.] as shadows, the bodies of which have been lost. The +revolution itself paralyzes its own apostles, and equips only its +adversaries with passionate violence. When the “Red Spectre,” +constantly conjured up and exorcised by the counter-revolutionists +finally does appear, it does not appear with the Anarchist Phrygian cap +on its head, but in the uniform of Order, in the Red Breeches of the +French Soldier. + +We saw that the Ministry, which Bonaparte installed on December 20, +1849, the day of his “Ascension,” was a ministry of the party of Order, +of the Legitimist and Orleanist coalition. The Barrot-Falloux ministry +had weathered the republican constitutive convention, whose term of +life it had shortened with more or less violence, and found itself +still at the helm. Changamier, the General of the allied royalists +continued to unite in his person the command-in-chief of the First +Military Division and of the Parisian National Guard. Finally, the +general elections had secured the large majority in the National +Assembly to the party of Order. Here the Deputies and Peers of Louis +Phillipe met a saintly crowd of Legitimists, for whose benefit numerous +ballots of the nation had been converted into admission tickets to the +political stage. The Bonapartist representatives were too thinly sowed +to be able to build an independent parliamentary party. They appeared +only as “mauvaise queue” [#2 Practical joke] played upon the party of +Order. Thus the party of Order was in possession of the Government, of +the Army, and of the legislative body, in short, of the total power of +the State, morally strengthened by the general elections, that caused +their sovereignty to appear as the will of the people, and by the +simultaneous victory of the counter-revolution on the whole continent +of Europe. + +Never did party open its campaign with larger means at its disposal and +under more favorable auspices. + +The shipwrecked pure republicans found themselves in the legislative +National Assembly melted down to a clique of fifty men, with the +African Generals Cavaignac, Lamorciere and Bedeau at its head. The +great Opposition party was, however, formed by the Mountain. This +parliamentary baptismal name was given to itself by the Social +Democratic party. It disposed of more than two hundred votes out of the +seven hundred and fifty in the National Assembly, and, hence, was at +least just as powerful as any one of the three factions of the party of +Order. Its relative minority to the total royalist coalition seemed +counterbalanced by special circumstances. Not only did the Departmental +election returns show that it had gained a considerable following among +the rural population, but, furthermore, it numbered almost all the +Paris Deputies in its camp; the Army had, by the election of three +under-officers, made a confession of democratic faith; and the leader +of the Mountain, Ledru-Rollin had in contrast to all the +representatives of the party of Order, been raised to the rank of the +“parliamentary nobility” by five Departments, who combined their +suffrages upon him. Accordingly, in view of the inevitable collisions +of the royalists among themselves, on the one hand, and of the whole +party of Order with Bonaparte, on the other, the Mountain seemed on May +29,1849, to have before it all the elements of success. A fortnight +later, it had lost everything, its honor included. + +Before we follow this parliamentary history any further, a few +observations are necessary, in order to avoid certain common deceptions +concerning the whole character of the epoch that lies before us. +According to the view of the democrats, the issue, during the period of +the legislative National Assembly, was, the same as during the period +of the constitutive assembly, simply the struggle between republicans +and royalists; the movement itself was summed up by them in the +catch-word Reaction—night, in which all cats are grey, and allows them +to drawl out their drowsy commonplaces. Indeed, at first sight, the +party of Order presents the appearance of a tangle of royalist +factions, that, not only intrigue against each other, each aiming to +raise its own Pretender to the throne, and exclude the Pretender of the +Opposite party, but also are all united in a common hatred for and +common attacks against the “Republic.” On its side, the Mountain +appears, in counter-distinction to the royalist conspiracy, as the +representative of the “Republic.” The party of Order seems constantly +engaged in a “Reaction,” which, neither more nor less than in Prussia, +is directed against the press, the right of association and the like, +and is enforced by brutal police interventions on the part of the +bureaucracy, the police and the public prosecutor—just as in Prussia; +the Mountain on the contrary, is engaged with equal assiduity in +parrying these attacks, and thus in defending the “eternal rights of +man”—as every so-called people’s party has more or less done for the +last hundred and fifty years. At a closer inspection, however, of the +situation and of the parties, this superficial appearance, which veils +the Class Struggle, together with the peculiar physiognomy of this +period, vanishes wholly. + +Legitimists and Orleanists constituted, as said before, the two large +factions of the party of Order. What held these two factions to their +respective Pretenders, and inversely kept them apart from each other, +what else was it but the lily and the tricolor, the House of Bourbon +and the house of Orleans, different shades of royalty? Under the +Bourbons, Large Landed Property ruled together with its parsons and +lackeys; under the Orleanist, it was the high finance, large industry, +large commerce, i.e., Capital, with its retinue of lawyers, professors +and orators. The Legitimate kingdom was but the political expression +for the hereditary rule of the landlords, as the July monarchy was bur +the political expression for the usurped rule of the bourgeois +upstarts. What, accordingly, kept these two factions apart was no +so-called set of principles, it was their material conditions for +life—two different sorts of property—; it was the old antagonism of the +City and the Country, the rivalry between Capital and Landed property. +That simultaneously old recollections; personal animosities, fears and +hopes; prejudices and illusions; sympathies and antipathies; +convictions, faith and principles bound these factions to one House or +the other, who denies it? Upon the several forms of property, upon the +social conditions of existence, a whole superstructure is reared of +various and peculiarly shaped feelings, illusions, habits of thought +and conceptions of life. The whole class produces and shapes these out +of its material foundation and out of the corresponding social +conditions. The individual unit to whom they flow through tradition and +education, may fancy that they constitute the true reasons for and +premises of his conduct. Although Orleanists and Legitimists, each of +these factions, sought to make itself and the other believe that what +kept the two apart was the attachment of each to its respective royal +House; nevertheless, facts proved later that it rather was their +divided interest that forbade the union of the two royal Houses. As, in +private life, the distinction is made between what a man thinks of +himself and says, and that which he really is and does, so, all the +more, must the phrases and notions of parties in historic struggles be +distinguished from the real organism, and their real interests, their +notions and their reality. Orleanists and Legitimists found themselves +in the republic beside each other with equal claims. Each side wishing, +in opposition to the other, to carry out the restoration of its own +royal House, meant nothing else than that each of the two great +Interests into which the bourgeoisie is divided—Land and Capital—sought +to restore its own supremacy and the subordinacy of the other. We speak +of two bourgeois interests because large landed property, despite its +feudal coquetry and pride of race, has become completely bourgeois +through the development of modern society. Thus did the Tories of +England long fancy that they were enthusiastic for the Kingdom, the +Church and the beauties of the old English Constitution, until the day +of danger wrung from them the admission that their enthusiasm was only +for Ground Rent. + +The coalized royalists carried on their intrigues against each other in +the press, in Ems, in Clarmont—outside of the parliament. Behind the +scenes, they don again their old Orleanist and Legitimist liveries, and +conduct their old tourneys; on the public stage, however, in their +public acts, as a great parliamentary party, they dispose of their +respective royal houses with mere courtesies, adjourn “in infinitum” +the restoration of the monarchy. Their real business is transacted as +Party of Order, i. e., under a Social, not a Political title; as +representatives of the bourgeois social system; not as knights of +traveling princesses, but as the bourgeois class against the other +classes; not as royalists against republicans. Indeed, as party of +Order they exercised a more unlimited and harder dominion over the +other classes of society than ever before either under the restoration +or the July monarchy-a thing possible only under the form of a +parliamentary republic, because under this form alone could the two +large divisions of the French bourgeoisie be united; in other words, +only under this form could they place on the order of business the +sovereignty of their class, in lieu of the regime of a privileged +faction of the same. If, this notwithstanding, they are seen as the +party of Order to insult the republic and express their antipathy for +it, it happened not out of royalist traditions only: Instinct taught +them that while, indeed, the republic completes their authority, it at +the same time undermined their social foundation, in that, without +intermediary, without the mask of the crown, without being able to turn +aside the national interest by means of its subordinate struggles among +its own conflicting elements and with the crown, the republic is +compelled to stand up sharp against the subjugated classes, and wrestle +with them. It was a sense of weakness that caused them to recoil before +the unqualified demands of their own class rule, and to retreat to the +less complete, less developed, and, for that very reason, less +dangerous forms of the same. As often, on the contrary, as the allied +royalists come into conflict with the Pretender who stands before +them—with Bonaparte—, as often as they believe their parliamentary +omnipotence to be endangered by the Executive, in other words, as often +as they must trot out the political title of their authority, they step +up as Republicans, not as Royalists—and this is done from the Orleanist +Thiers, who warns the National Assembly that the republic divides them +least, down to Legitimist Berryer, who, on December 2, 1851, the scarf +of the tricolor around him, harangues the people assembled before the +Mayor’s building of the Tenth Arrondissement, as a tribune in the name +of the Republic; the echo, however, derisively answering back to him: +“Henry V.! Henry V!” [#3 The candidate of the Bourbons, or Legitimists, +for the throne.] + +However, against the allied bourgeois, a coalition was made between the +small traders and the workingmen—the so-called Social Democratic party. +The small traders found themselves ill rewarded after the June days of +1848; they saw their material interests endangered, and the democratic +guarantees, that were to uphold their interests, made doubtful. Hence, +they drew closer to the workingmen. On the other hand, their +parliamentary representatives—the Mountain—, after being shoved aside +during the dictatorship of the bourgeois republicans, had, during the +last half of the term of the constitutive convention, regained their +lost popularity through the struggle with Bonaparte and the royalist +ministers. They had made an alliance with the Socialist leaders. During +February, 1849, reconciliation banquets were held. A common program was +drafted, joint election committees were empanelled, and fusion +candidates were set up. The revolutionary point was thereby broken off +from the social demands of the proletariat and a democratic turn given +to them; while, from the democratic claims of the small traders’ class, +the mere political form was rubbed off and the Socialist point was +pushed forward. Thus came the Social Democracy about. The new Mountain, +the result of this combination, contained, with the exception of some +figures from the working class and some Socialist sectarians, the +identical elements of the old Mountain, only numerically stronger. In +the course of events it had, however, changed, together with the class +that it represented. The peculiar character of the Social Democracy is +summed up in this that democratic-republican institutions are demanded +as the means, not to remove the two extremes—Capital and Wage-slavery—, +but in order to weaken their antagonism and transform them into a +harmonious whole. However different the methods may be that are +proposed for the accomplishment of this object, however much the object +itself may be festooned with more or less revolutionary fancies, the +substance remains the same. This substance is the transformation of +society upon democratic lines, but a transformation within the +boundaries of the small traders’ class. No one must run away with the +narrow notion that the small traders’ class means on principle to +enforce a selfish class interest. It believes rather that the special +conditions for its own emancipation are the general conditions under +which alone modern society can be saved and the class struggle avoided. +Likewise must we avoid running away with the notion that the Democratic +Representatives are all “shopkeepers,” or enthuse for these. They +may—by education and individual standing—be as distant from them as +heaven is from earth. That which makes them representatives of the +small traders’ class is that they do not intellectually leap the bounds +which that class itself does not leap in practical life; that, +consequently, they are theoretically driven to the same problems and +solutions, to which material interests and social standing practically +drive the latter. Such, in fact, is at all times the relation of the +“political” and the “literary” representatives of a class to the class +they represent. + +After the foregoing explanations, it goes with-out saying that, while +the Mountain is constantly wrestling for the republic and the so-called +“rights of man,” neither the republic nor the “rights of man” is its +real goal, as little as an army, whose weapons it is sought to deprive +it of and that defends itself, steps on the field of battle simply in +order to remain in possession of implements of warfare. + +The party of Order provoked the Mountain immediately upon the convening +of the assembly. The bourgeoisie now felt the necessity of disposing of +the democratic small traders’ class, just as a year before it had +understood the necessity of putting an end to the revolutionary +proletariat. + +But the position of the foe had changed. The strength of the +proletarian party was on the streets; that of the small traders’ class +was in the National Assembly itself. The point was, accordingly, to +wheedle them out of the National Assembly into the street, and to have +them break their parliamentary power themselves, before time and +opportunity could consolidate them. The Mountain jumped with loose +reins into the trap. + +The bombardment of Rome by the French troops was the bait thrown at the +Mountain. It violated Article V. of the Constitution, which forbade the +French republic to use its forces against the liberties of other +nations; besides, Article IV. forbade all declaration of war by the +Executive without the consent of the National Assembly; furthermore, +the constitutive assembly had censured the Roman expedition by its +resolution of May 8. Upon these grounds, Ledru-Rollin submitted on June +11, 1849, a motion impeaching Bonaparte and his Ministers. Instigated +by the wasp-stings of Thiers, he even allowed himself to be carried +away to the point of threatening to defend the Constitution by all +means, even arms in hand. The Mountain rose as one man, and repeated +the challenge. On June 12, the National Assembly rejected the notion to +impeach, and the Mountain left the parliament. The events of June 13 +are known: the proclamation by a part of the Mountain pronouncing +Napoleon and his Ministers “outside the pale of the Constitution”; the +street parades of the democratic National Guards, who, unarmed as they +were, flew apart at contact with the troops of Changarnier; etc., etc. +Part of the Mountain fled abroad, another part was assigned to the High +Court of Bourges, and a parliamentary regulation placed the rest under +the school-master supervision of the President of the National +Assembly. Paris was again put under a state of siege; and the +democratic portion of the National Guards was disbanded. Thus the +influence of the Mountain in parliament was broken, together with the +power; of the small traders’ class in Paris. + +Lyons, where the 13th of June had given the signal to a bloody labor +uprising, was, together with the five surrounding Departments, likewise +pronounced in state of siege, a condition that continues down to this +moment. [#4 January, 1852] + +The bulk of the Mountain had left its vanguard in the lurch by refusing +their signatures to the proclamation; the press had deserted: only two +papers dared to publish the pronunciamento; the small traders had +betrayed their Representatives: the National Guards stayed away, or, +where they did turn up, hindered the raising of barricades; the +Representatives had duped the small traders: nowhere were the alleged +affiliated members from the Army to be seen; finally, instead of +gathering strength from them, the democratic party had infected the +proletariat with its own weakness, and, as usual with democratic feats, +the leaders had the satisfaction of charging “their people” with +desertion, and the people had the satisfaction of charging their +leaders with fraud. + +Seldom was an act announced with greater noise than the campaign +contemplated by the Mountain; seldom was an event trumpeted ahead with +more certainty and longer beforehand than the “inevitable victory of +the democracy.” This is evident: the democrats believe in the trombones +before whose blasts the walls of Jericho fall together; as often as +they stand before the walls of despotism, they seek to imitate the +miracle. If the Mountain wished to win in parliament, it should not +appeal to arms; if it called to arms in parliament, it should not +conduct itself parliamentarily on the street; if the friendly +demonstration was meant seriously, it was silly not to foresee that it +would meet with a warlike reception; if it was intended for actual war, +it was rather original to lay aside the weapons with which war had to +be conducted. But the revolutionary threats of the middle class and of +their democratic representatives are mere attempts to frighten an +adversary; when they have run themselves into a blind alley, when they +have sufficiently compromised themselves and are compelled to execute +their threats, the thing is done in a hesitating manner that avoids +nothing so much as the means to the end, and catches at pretexts to +succumb. The bray of the overture, that announces the fray, is lost in +a timid growl so soon as this is to start; the actors cease to take +themselves seriously, and the performance falls flat like an inflated +balloon that is pricked with a needle. + +No party exaggerates to itself the means at its disposal more than the +democratic, none deceives itself with greater heedlessness on the +situation. A part of the Army voted for it, thereupon the Mountain is +of the opinion that the Army would revolt in its favor. And by what +occasion? By an occasion, that, from the standpoint of the troops, +meant nothing else than that the revolutionary soldiers should take the +part of the soldiers of Rome against French soldiers. On the other +hand, the memory of June, 1848, was still too fresh not to keep alive a +deep aversion on the part of the proletariat towards the National +Guard, and a strong feeling of mistrust on the part of the leaders of +the secret societies for the democratic leaders. In order to balance +these differences, great common interests at stake were needed. The +violation of an abstract constitutional paragraph could not supply such +interests. Had not the constitution been repeatedly violated, according +to the assurances of the democrats themselves? Had not the most popular +papers branded them as a counter-revolutionary artifice? But the +democrat—by reason of his representing the middle class, that is to +say, a Transition Class, in which the interests of two other classes +are mutually dulled—, imagines himself above all class contrast. The +democrats grant that opposed to them stands a privileged class, but +they, together with the whole remaining mass of the nation, constitute +the “PEOPLE.” What they represent is the “people’s rights”; their +interests are the “people’s interests.” Hence, they do not consider +that, at an impending struggle, they need to examine the interests and +attitude of the different classes. They need not too seriously weigh +their own means. All they have to do is to give the signal in order to +have the “people” fall upon the “oppressors” with all its inexhaustible +resources. If, thereupon, in the execution, their interests turn out to +be uninteresting, and their power to be impotence, it is ascribed +either to depraved sophists, who split up the “undivisible people” into +several hostile camps; or to the army being too far brutalized and +blinded to appreciate the pure aims of the democracy as its own best; +or to some detail in the execution that wrecks the whole plan; or, +finally, to an unforeseen accident that spoiled the game this time. At +all events, the democrat comes out of the disgraceful defeat as +immaculate as he went innocently into it, and with the refreshed +conviction that he must win; not that he himself and his party must +give up their old standpoint, but that, on the contrary, conditions +must come to his aid. + +For all this, one must not picture to himself the decimated, broken, +and, by the new parliamentary regulation, humbled Mountain altogether +too unhappy. If June 13 removed its leaders, it, on the other hand, +made room for new ones of inferior capacity, who are flattered by their +new position. If their impotence in parliament could no longer be +doubted, they were now justified to limit their activity to outbursts +of moral indignation. If the party of Order pretended to see in them, +as the last official representatives of the revolution, all the horrors +of anarchy incarnated, they were free to appear all the more flat and +modest in reality. Over June 13 they consoled themselves with the +profound expression: “If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . . +. then . . . then we will show who we are!” Nous verrons. [#5 We shall +see.] + +As to the “Mountaineers,” who had fled abroad, it suffices here to say +that Ledru-Rollin—he having accomplished the feat of hopelessly +ruining, in barely a fortnight, the powerful party at whose head he +stood—, found himself called upon to build up a French government “in +partibus;” that his figure, at a distance, removed from the field of +action, seemed to gain in size in the measure that the level of the +revolution sank and the official prominences of official France became +more and more dwarfish; that he could figure as republican Pretender +for 1852, and periodically issued to the Wallachians and other peoples +circulars in which “despot of the continent” is threatened with the +feats that he and his allies had in contemplation. Was Proudhon wholly +wrong when he cried out to these gentlemen: “Vous n’êtes que des +blaqueurs”? [#6 You are nothing but fakirs.] + +The party of Order had, on June 13, not only broken up the Mountain, it +had also established the Subordination of the Constitution to the +Majority Decisions of the National Assembly. So, indeed, did the +republic understand it, to—wit, that the bourgeois ruled here in +parliamentary form, without, as in the monarchy, finding a check in the +veto of the Executive power, or the liability of parliament to +dissolution. It was a “parliamentary republic,” as Thiers styled it. +But if, on June 13, the bourgeoisie secured its omnipotence within the +parliament building, did it not also strike the parliament itself, as +against the Executive and the people, with incurable weakness by +excluding its most popular part? By giving up numerous Deputies, +without further ceremony to the mercies of the public prosecutor, it +abolished its own parliamentary inviolability. The humiliating +regulation, that it subjected the Mountain to, raised the President of +the republic in the same measure that it lowered the individual +Representatives of the people. By branding an insurrection in defense +of the Constitution as anarchy, and as a deed looking to the overthrow +of society, it interdicted to itself all appeal to insurrection +whenever the Executive should violate the Constitution against it. And, +indeed, the irony of history wills it that the very General, who by +order of Bonaparte bombarded Rome, and thus gave the immediate occasion +to the constitutional riot of June 13, that Oudinot, on December 22, +1851, is the one imploringly and vainly to be offered to the people by +the party of Order as the General of the Constitution. Another hero of +June 13, Vieyra, who earned praise from the tribune of the National +Assembly for the brutalities that he had committed in the democratic +newspaper offices at the head of a gang of National Guards in the hire +of the high finance—this identical Vieyra was initiated in the +conspiracy of Bonaparte, and contributed materially in cutting off all +protection that could come to the National Assembly, in the hour of its +agony, from the side of the National Guard. + +June 13 had still another meaning. The Mountain had wanted to place +Bonaparte under charges. Their defeat was, accordingly, a direct +victory of Bonaparte; it was his personal triumph over his democratic +enemies. The party of Order fought for the victory, Bonaparte needed +only to pocket it. He did so. On June 14, a proclamation was to be read +on the walls of Paris wherein the President, as it were, without his +connivance, against his will, driven by the mere force of +circumstances, steps forward from his cloisterly seclusion like +misjudged virtue, complains of the calumnies of his antagonists, and, +while seeming to identify his own person with the cause of order, +rather identifies the cause of order with his own person. Besides this, +the National Assembly had subsequently approved the expedition against +Rome; Bonaparte, however, had taken the initiative in the affair. After +he had led the High Priest Samuel back into the Vatican, he could hope +as King David to occupy the Tuileries. He had won the parson-interests +over to himself. + +The riot of June 13 limited itself, as we have seen, to a peaceful +street procession. There were, consequently, no laurels to be won from +it. Nevertheless, in these days, poor in heroes and events, the party +of Order converted this bloodless battle into a second Austerlitz. +Tribune and press lauded the army as the power of order against the +popular multitude, and the impotence of anarchy; and Changarnier as the +“bulwark of society”—a mystification that he finally believed in +himself. Underhand, however, the corps that seemed doubtful were +removed from Paris; the regiments whose suffrage had turned out most +democratic were banished from France to Algiers the restless heads +among the troops were consigned to penal quarters; finally, the +shutting out of the press from the barracks, and of the barracks from +contact with the citizens was systematically carried out. + +We stand here at the critical turning point in the history of the +French National Guard. In 1830, it had decided the downfall of the +restoration. Under Louis Philippe, every riot failed, at which the +National Guard stood on the side of the troops. When, in the February +days of 1848, it showed itself passive against the uprising and +doubtful toward Louis Philippe himself, he gave himself up for lost. +Thus the conviction cast root that a revolution could not win without, +nor the Army against the National Guard. This was the superstitious +faith of the Army in bourgeois omnipotence. The June days of 1548, when +the whole National Guard, jointly with the regular troops, threw down +the insurrection, had confirmed the superstition. After the +inauguration of Bonaparte’s administration, the position of the +National Guard sank somewhat through the unconstitutional joining of +their command with the command of the First Military Division in the +person of Changarnier. + +As the command of the National Guard appeared here merely an attribute +of the military commander-in-chief, so did the Guard itself appear only +as an appendage of the regular troops. Finally, on June 13, the +National Guard was broken up, not through its partial dissolution only, +that from that date forward was periodically repeated at all points of +France, leaving only wrecks of its former self behind. The +demonstration of June 13 was, above all, a demonstration of the +National Guards. True, they had not carried their arms, but they had +carried their uniforms against the Army—and the talisman lay just in +these uniforms. The Army then learned that this uniform was but a +woolen rag, like any other. The spell was broken. In the June days of +1848, bourgeoisie and small traders were united as National Guard with +the Army against the proletariat; on June 13, 1849, the bourgeoisie had +the small traders’ National Guard broken up; on December 2, 1851, the +National Guard of the bourgeoisie itself vanished, and Bonaparte +attested the fact when he subsequently signed the decree for its +disbandment. Thus the bourgeoisie had itself broken its last weapon +against the army, from the moment when the small traders’ class no +longer stood as a vassal behind, but as a rebel before it; indeed, it +was bound to do so, as it was bound to destroy with its own hand all +its means of defence against absolutism, so soon as itself was +absolute. + +In the meantime, the party of Order celebrated the recovery of a power +that seemed lost in 1848 only in order that, freed from its trammels in +1849, it be found again through invectives against the republic and the +Constitution; through the malediction of all future, present and past +revolutions, that one included which its own leaders had made; and, +finally, in laws by which the press was gagged, the right of +association destroyed, and the stage of siege regulated as an organic +institution. The National Assembly then adjourned from the middle of +August to the middle of October, after it had appointed a Permanent +Committee for the period of its absence. During these vacations, the +Legitimists intrigued with Ems; the Orleanists with Claremont; +Bonaparte through princely excursions; the Departmental Councilmen in +conferences over the revision of the Constitution;—occurrences, all of +which recurred regularly at the periodical vacations of the National +Assembly, and upon which I shall not enter until they have matured into +events. Be it here only observed that the National Assembly was +impolitic in vanishing from the stage for long intervals, and leaving +in view, at the head of the republic, only one, however sorry, +figure—Louis Bonaparte’s—, while, to the public scandal, the party of +Order broke up into its own royalist component parts, that pursued +their conflicting aspirations after the restoration. As often as, +during these vacations the confusing noise of the parliament was +hushed, and its body was dissolved in the nation, it was unmistakably +shown that only one thing was still wanting to complete the true figure +of the republic: to make the vacation of the National Assembly +permanent, and substitute its inscription—“Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity”—by the unequivocal words, “Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery”. + + + + +IV. + + +The National Assembly reconvened in the middle of October. On November +1, Bonaparte surprised it with a message, in which he announced the +dismissal of the Barrot-Falloux Ministry, and the framing of a new. +Never have lackeys been chased from service with less ceremony than +Bonaparte did his ministers. The kicks, that were eventually destined +for the National Assembly, Barrot & Company received in the meantime. + +The Barrot Ministry was, as we have seen, composed of Legitimists and +Orleanists; it was a Ministry of the party of Order. Bonaparte needed +that Ministry in order to dissolve the republican constituent assembly, +to effect the expedition against Rome, and to break up the democratic +party. He had seemingly eclipsed himself behind this Ministry, yielded +the reins to the hands of the party of Order, and assumed the modest +mask, which, under Louis Philippe, had been worn by the responsible +overseer of the newspapers—the mask of “homme de paille.” [#1 Man of +straw] Now he threw off the mask, it being no longer the light curtain +behind which he could conceal, but the Iron Mask, which prevented him +from revealing his own physiognomy. He had instituted the Barrot +Ministry in order to break up the republican National Assembly in the +name of the party of Order; he now dismissed it in order to declare his +own name independent of the parliament of the party of Order. + +There was no want of plausible pretexts for this dismissal. The Barrot +Ministry had neglected even the forms of decency that would have +allowed the president of the republic to appear as a power along with +the National Assembly. For instance, during the vacation of the +National Assembly, Bonaparte published a letter to Edgar Ney, in which +he seemed to disapprove the liberal attitude of the Pope, just as, in +opposition to the constitutive assembly, he had published a letter, in +which he praised Oudinot for his attack upon the Roman republic; when +the National Assembly came to vote on the budget for the Roman +expedition, Victor Hugo, out of pretended liberalism, brought up that +letter for discussion; the party of Order drowned this notion of +Bonaparte’s under exclamations of contempt and incredulity as though +notions of Bonaparte could not possibly have any political weight;—and +none of the Ministers took up the gauntlet for him. On another +occasion, Barrot, with his well-known hollow pathos, dropped, from the +speakers’ tribune in the Assembly, words of indignation upon the +“abominable machinations,” which, according to him, went on in the +immediate vicinity of the President. Finally, while the Ministry +obtained from the National Assembly a widow’s pension for the Duchess +of Orleans, it denied every motion to raise the Presidential civil +list;—and, in Bonaparte, be it always remembered, the Imperial +Pretender was so closely blended with the impecunious adventurer, that +the great idea of his being destined to restore the Empire was ever +supplemented by that other, to-wit, that the French people was destined +to pay his debts. + +The Barrot-Falloux Ministry was the first and last parliamentary +Ministry that Bonaparte called into life. Its dismissal marks, +accordingly, a decisive period. With the Ministry, the party of Order +lost, never to regain, an indispensable post to the maintenance of the +parliamentary regime,—the handle to the Executive power. It is readily +understood that, in a country like France, where the Executive disposes +over an army of more than half a million office-holders, and, +consequently, keeps permanently a large mass of interests and +existences in the completest dependence upon itself; where the +Government surrounds, controls, regulates, supervises and guards +society, from its mightiest acts of national life, down to its most +insignificant motions; from its common life, down to the private life +of each individual; where, due to such extraordinary centralization, +this body of parasites acquires a ubiquity and omniscience, a quickened +capacity for motion and rapidity that finds an analogue only in the +helpless lack of self-reliance, in the unstrung weakness of the body +social itself;—that in such a country the National Assembly lost, with +the control of the ministerial posts, all real influence; unless it +simultaneously simplified the administration; if possible, reduced the +army of office-holders; and, finally, allowed society and public +opinion to establish its own organs, independent of government +censorship. But the Material Interest of the French bourgeoisie is most +intimately bound up in maintenance of just such a large and extensively +ramified governmental machine. There the bourgeoisie provides for its +own superfluous membership; and supplies, in the shape of government +salaries, what it can not pocket in the form of profit, interest, rent +and fees. On the other hand, its Political Interests daily compel it to +increase the power of repression, i.e., the means and the personnel of +the government; it is at the same time forced to conduct an +uninterrupted warfare against public opinion, and, full of suspicion, +to hamstring and lame the independent organs of society—whenever it +does not succeed in amputating them wholly. Thus the bourgeoisie of +France was forced by its own class attitude, on the one hand, to +destroy the conditions for all parliamentary power, its own included, +and, on the other, to render irresistible the Executive power that +stood hostile to it. + +The new Ministry was called the d’Hautpoul Ministry. Not that General +d’Hautpoul had gained the rank of Ministerial President. Along with +Barrot, Bonaparte abolished this dignity, which, it must be granted, +condemned the President of the republic to the legal nothingness of a +constitutional kind, of a constitutional king at that, without throne +and crown, without sceptre and without sword, without irresponsibility, +without the imperishable possession of the highest dignity in the +State, and, what was most untoward of all—without a civil list. The +d’Hautpoul Ministry numbered only one man of parliamentary reputation, +the Jew Fould, one of the most notorious members of the high finance. +To him fell the portfolio of finance. Turn to the Paris stock +quotations, and it will be found that from November 1, 1849, French +stocks fall and rise with the falling and rising of the Bonapartist +shares. While Bonaparte had thus found his ally in the Bourse, he at +the same time took possession of the Police through the appointment of +Carlier as Prefect of Police. + +But the consequences of the change of Ministry could reveal themselves +only in the course of events. So far, Bonaparte had taken only one step +forward, to be all the more glaringly driven back. Upon his harsh +message, followed the most servile declarations of submissiveness to +the National Assembly. As often as the Ministers made timid attempts to +introduce his own personal hobbies as bills, they themselves seemed +unwilling and compelled only by their position to run the comic +errands, of whose futility they were convinced in advance. As often as +Bonaparte blabbed out his plans behind the backs of his Ministers, and +sported his “idees napoleoniennes,” [#2 Napoleonic ideas.] his own +Ministers disavowed him from the speakers’ tribune in the National +Assembly. His aspirations after usurpation seemed to become audible +only to the end that the ironical laughter of his adversaries should +not die out. He deported himself like an unappreciated genius, whom the +world takes for a simpleton. Never did lie enjoy in fuller measure the +contempt of all classes than at this period. Never did the bourgeoisie +rule more absolutely; never did it more boastfully display the insignia +of sovereignty. + +It is not here my purpose to write the history of its legislative +activity, which is summed up in two laws passed during this period: the +law reestablishing the duty on wine, and the laws on education, to +suppress infidelity. While the drinking of wine was made difficult to +the Frenchmen, all the more bounteously was the water of pure life +poured out to them. Although in the law on the duty on wine the +bourgeoisie declares the old hated French tariff system to be +inviolable, it sought, by means of the laws on education, to secure the +old good will of the masses that made the former bearable. One wonders +to see the Orleanists, the liberal bourgeois, these old apostles of +Voltarianism and of eclectic philosophy, entrusting the supervision of +the French intellect to their hereditary enemies, the Jesuits. But, +while Orleanists and Legitimists could part company on the question of +the Pretender to the crown, they understood full well that their joint +reign dictated the joining of the means of oppression of two distinct +epochs; that the means of subjugation of the July monarchy had to be +supplemented with and strengthened by the means of subjugation of the +restoration. + +The farmers, deceived in all their expectations, more than ever ground +down by the law scale of the price of corn, on the one hand, and, on +the other, by the growing load of taxation and mortgages, began to stir +in the Departments. They were answered by the systematic baiting of the +school masters, whom the Government subjected to the clergy; by the +systematic baiting of the Mayors, whom it subjected to the Prefects; +and by a system of espionage to which all were subjected. In Paris and +the large towns, the reaction itself carries the physiognomy of its own +epoch; it irritates more than it cows; in the country, it becomes low, +moan, petty, tiresome, vexatious,—in a word, it becomes “gensdarme.” It +is easily understood how three years of the gensdarme regime, +sanctified by the regime of the clergyman, was bound to demoralize +unripe masses. + +Whatever the mass of passion and declamation, that the party of Order +expended from the speakers’ tribune in the National Assembly against +the minority, its speech remained monosyllabic, like that of the +Christian, whose speech was to be “Aye, aye; nay, nay.” It was +monosyllabic, whether from the tribune or the press; dull as a +conundrum, whose solution is known beforehand. Whether the question was +the right of petition or the duty on wine, the liberty of the press or +free trade, clubs or municipal laws, protection of individual freedom +or the regulation of national economy, the slogan returns ever again, +the theme is monotonously the same, the verdict is ever ready and +unchanged: Socialism! Even bourgeois liberalism is pronounced +socialistic; socialistic, alike, is pronounced popular education; and, +likewise, socialistic national financial reform. It was socialistic to +build a railroad where already a canal was; and it was socialistic to +defend oneself with a stick when attacked with a sword. + +This was not a mere form of speech, a fashion, nor yet party tactics. +The bourgeoisie perceives correctly that all the weapons, which it +forged against feudalism, turn their edges against itself; that all the +means of education, which it brought forth, rebel against its own +civilization; that all the gods, which it made, have fallen away from +it. It understands that all its so-called citizens’ rights and +progressive organs assail and menace its class rule, both in its social +foundation and its political superstructure—consequently, have become +“socialistic.” It justly scents in this menace and assault the secret +of Socialism, whose meaning and tendency it estimates more correctly +than the spurious, so-called Socialism, is capable of estimating +itself, and which, consequently, is unable to understand how it is that +the bourgeoisie obdurately shuts up its ears to it, alike whether it +sentimentally whines about the sufferings of humanity; or announces in +Christian style the millennium and universal brotherhood; or twaddles +humanistically about the soul, culture and freedom; or doctrinally +matches out a system of harmony and wellbeing for all classes. What, +however, the bourgeoisie does not understand is the consequence that +its own parliamentary regime, its own political reign, is also of +necessity bound to fall under the general ban of “socialistic.” So long +as the rule of the bourgeoisie is not fully organized, has not acquired +its purely political character, the contrast with the other classes +cannot come into view in all its sharpness; and, where it does come +into view, it cannot take that dangerous turn that converts every +conflict with the Government into a conflict with Capital. When, +however, the French bourgeoisie began to realize in every pulsation of +society a menace to “peace,” how could it, at the head of society, +pretend to uphold the regime of unrest, its own regime, the +parliamentary regime, which, according to the expression of one of its +own orators, lives in struggle, and through struggle? The parliamentary +regime lives on discussion,—how can it forbid discussion? Every single +interest, every single social institution is there converted into +general thoughts, is treated as a thought,—how could any interest or +institution claim to be above thought, and impose itself as an article +of faith? The orators’ conflict in the tribune calls forth the conflict +of the rowdies in the press the debating club in parliament is +necessarily supplemented by debating clubs in the salons and the +barrooms; the representatives, who are constantly appealing to popular +opinion, justify popular opinion in expressing its real opinion in +petitions. The parliamentary regime leaves everything to the decision +of majorities,—how can the large majorities beyond parliament be +expected not to wish to decide? If, from above, they hear the fiddle +screeching, what else is to be expected than that those below should +dance? + +Accordingly, by now persecuting as Socialist what formerly it had +celebrated as Liberal, the bourgeoisie admits that its own interest +orders it to raise itself above the danger of self government; that, in +order to restore rest to the land, its own bourgeois parliament must, +before all, be brought to rest; that, in order to preserve its social +power unhurt, its political power must be broken; that the private +bourgeois can continue to exploit the other classes and rejoice in +“property,” “family,” “religion” and “order” only under the condition +that his own class be condemned to the same political nullity of the +other classes, that, in order to save their purse, the crown must be +knocked off their heads, and the sword that was to shield them, must at +the same time be hung over their heads as a sword of Damocles. + +In the domain of general bourgeois interests, the National Assembly +proved itself so barren, that, for instance, the discussion over the +Paris-Avignon railroad, opened in the winter of 1850, was not yet ripe +for a vote on December 2, 1851. Wherever it did not oppress or was +reactionary, the bourgeoisie was smitten with incurable barrenness. + +While Bonaparte’s Ministry either sought to take the initiative of laws +in the spirit of the party of Order, or even exaggerated their severity +in their enforcement and administration, he, on his part, sought to win +popularity by means of childishly silly propositions, to exhibit the +contrast between himself and the National Assembly, and to hint at a +secret plan, held in reserve and only through circumstances temporarily +prevented from disclosing its hidden treasures to the French people. Of +this nature was the proposition to decree a daily extra pay of four +sous to the under-officers; so, likewise, the proposition for a “word +of honor” loan bank for working-men. To have money given and money +borrowed—that was the perspective that he hoped to cajole the masses +with. Presents and loans—to that was limited the financial wisdom of +the slums, the high as well as the low; to that were limited the +springs which Bonaparte knew how to set in motion. Never did Pretender +speculate more dully upon the dullness of the masses. + +Again and again did the National Assembly fly into a passion at these +unmistakable attempts to win popularity at its expense, and at the +growing danger that this adventurer, lashed on by debts and +unrestrained by reputation, might venture upon some desperate act. The +strained relations between the party of Order and the President had +taken on a threatening aspect, when an unforeseen event threw him back, +rueful into its arms. We mean the supplementary elections of March, +1850. These elections took place to fill the vacancies created in the +National Assembly, after June 13, by imprisonment and exile. Paris +elected only Social-Democratic candidates; it even united the largest +vote upon one of the insurgents of June, 1848,—Deflotte. In this way +the small traders’ world of Paris, now allied with the proletariat, +revenged itself for the defeat of June 13, 1849. It seemed to have +disappeared from the field of battle at the hour of danger only to step +on it again at a more favorable opportunity, with increased forces for +the fray, and with a bolder war cry. A circumstance seemed to heighten +the danger of this electoral victory. The Army voted in Paris for a +June insurgent against Lahitte, a Minister of Bonaparte’s, and, in the +Departments, mostly for the candidates of the Mountain, who, there +also, although not as decisively as in Paris, maintained the upper hand +over their adversaries. + +Bonaparte suddenly saw himself again face to face with the revolution. +As on January 29, 1849, as on June 13, 1849, on May 10, 1850, he +vanished again behind the party of Order. He bent low; he timidly +apologized; he offered to appoint any Ministry whatever at the behest +of the parliamentary majority; he even implored the Orleanist and +Legitimist party leaders—the Thiers, Berryers, Broglies, Moles, in +short, the so-called burgraves—to take hold of the helm of State in +person. The party of Order did not know how to utilize this +opportunity, that was never to return. Instead of boldly taking +possession of the proffered power, it did not even force Bonaparte to +restore the Ministry dismissed on November 1; it contented itself with +humiliating him with its pardon, and with affiliating Mr. Baroche to +the d’Hautpoul Ministry. This Baroche had, as Public Prosecutor, +stormed before the High Court at Bourges, once against the +revolutionists of May 15, another time against the Democrats of June +13, both times on the charge of “attentats” against the National +Assembly. None of Bonaparte’s Ministers contributed later more towards +the degradation of the National Assembly; and, after December 2, 1851, +we meet him again as the comfortably stalled and dearly paid +Vice-President of the Senate. He had spat into the soup of the +revolutionists for Bonaparte to eat it. + +On its part, the Social Democratic party seemed only to look for +pretexts in order to make its own victory doubtful, and to dull its +edge. Vidal, one of the newly elected Paris representatives, was +returned for Strassburg also. He was induced to decline the seat for +Paris and accept the one for Strassburg. Thus, instead of giving a +definite character to their victory at the hustings, and thereby +compelling the party of Order forthwith to contest it in parliament; +instead of thus driving the foe to battle at the season of popular +enthusiasm and of a favorable temper in the Army, the democratic party +tired out Paris with a new campaign during the months of March and +April; it allowed the excited popular passions to wear themselves out +in this second provisional electoral play it allowed the revolutionary +vigor to satiate itself with constitutional successes, and lose its +breath in petty intrigues, hollow declamation and sham moves; it gave +the bourgeoisie time to collect itself and make its preparations +finally, it allowed the significance of the March elections to find a +sentimentally weakening commentary at the subsequent April election in +the victory of Eugene Sue. In one word, it turned the 10th of March +into an April Fool. + +The parliamentary majority perceived the weakness of its adversary. Its +seventeen burgraves—Bonaparte had left to it the direction of and +responsibility for the attack—, framed a new election law, the moving +of which was entrusted to Mr. Faucher, who had applied for the honor. +On May 8, he introduced the new law whereby universal suffrage was +abolished; a three years residence in the election district imposed as +a condition for voting; and, finally, the proof of this residence made +dependent, for the working-man, upon the testimony of his employer. + +As revolutionarily as the democrats had agitated and stormed during the +constitutional struggles, so constitutionally did they, now, when it +was imperative to attest, arms in hand, the earnestness of their late +electoral victories, preach order, “majestic calmness,” lawful conduct, +i. e., blind submission to the will of the counter-revolution, which +revealed itself as law. During the debate, the Mountain put the party +of Order to shame by maintaining the passionless attitude of the +law-abiding burger, who upholds the principle of law against +revolutionary passions; and by twitting the party of Order with the +fearful reproach of proceeding in a revolutionary manner. Even the +newly elected deputies took pains to prove by their decent and +thoughtful deportment what an act of misjudgment it was to decry them +as anarchists, or explain their election as a victory of the +revolution. The new election law was passed on May 31. The Mountain +contented itself with smuggling a protest into the pockets of the +President of the Assembly. To the election law followed a new press +law, whereby the revolutionary press was completely done away with. It +had deserved its fate. The “National” and the “Presse,” two bourgeois +organs, remained after this deluge the extreme outposts of the +revolution. + +We have seen how, during March and April, the democratic leaders did +everything to involve the people of Paris in a sham battle, and how, +after May 8, they did everything to keep it away from a real battle. We +may not here forget that the year 1850 was one of the most brilliant +years of industrial and commercial prosperity; consequently, that the +Parisian proletariat was completely employed. But the election law of +May 31, 1850 excluded them from all participation in political power; +it cut the field of battle itself from under them; it threw the +workingmen back into the state of pariahs, which they had occupied +before the February revolution. In allowing themselves, in sight of +such an occurrence, to be led by the democrats, and in forgetting the +revolutionary interests of their class through temporary comfort, the +workingmen abdicated the honor of being a conquering power; they +submitted to their fate; they proved that the defeat of June, 1848, had +incapacitated them from resistance for many a year to come finally, +that the historic process must again, for the time being, proceed over +their heads. As to the small traders’ democracy, which, on June 13, had +cried out: “If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . . . then . +. . then we will show who we are!”—they now consoled themselves with +the thought that the counter-revolutionary blow, which had struck them, +was no blow at all, and that the law of May 31 was no law. On May 2, +1852, according to them, every Frenchman would appear at the hustings, +in one hand the ballot, in the other the sword. With this prophecy they +set their hearts at ease. Finally, the Army was punished by its +superiors for the elections of May and April, 1850, as it was punished +for the election of May 29, 1849. This time, however, it said to itself +determinately: “The revolution shall not cheat us a third time.” + +The law of May 31, 1850, was the “coup d’etat” of the bourgeoisie. All +its previous conquests over the revolution had only a temporary +character: they became uncertain the moment the National Assembly +stepped off the stage; they depended upon the accident of general +elections, and the history of the elections since 1848 proved +irrefutably that, in the same measure as the actual reign of the +bourgeoisie gathered strength, its moral reign over the masses wore +off. Universal suffrage pronounced itself on May 10 pointedly against +the reign of the bourgeoisie; the bourgeoisie answered with the +banishment of universal suffrage. The law of May 31 was, accordingly, +one of the necessities of the class struggle. On the other hand, the +constitution required a minimum of two million votes for the valid +ejection of the President of the republic. If none of the Presidential +candidates polled this minimum, then the National Assembly was to elect +the President out of the three candidates polling the highest votes. At +the time that the constitutive body made this law, ten million voters +were registered on the election rolls. In its opinion, accordingly, +one-fifth of the qualified voters sufficed to make a choice for +President valid. The law of May 31 struck at least three million voters +off the rolls, reduced the number of qualified voters to seven +millions, and yet, not withstanding, it kept the lawful minimum at two +millions for the election of a President. Accordingly, it raised the +lawful minimum from a fifth to almost a third of the qualified voters, +i.e., it did all it could to smuggle the Presidential election out of +the hands of the people into those of the National Assembly. Thus, by +the election law of May 31, the party of Order seemed to have doubly +secured its empire, in that it placed the election of both the National +Assembly and the President of the republic in the keeping of the stable +portion of society. + + + + +V. + + +The strife immediately broke out again between the National Assembly +and Bonaparte, so soon as the revolutionary crisis was weathered, and +universal suffrage was abolished. + +The Constitution had fixed the salary of Bonaparte at 600,000 francs. +Barely half a year after his installation, he succeeded in raising this +sum to its double: Odillon Barrot had wrung from the constitutive +assembly a yearly allowance of 600,000 francs for so-called +representation expenses. After June 13, Bonaparte hinted at similar +solicitations, to which, however, Barrot then turned a deaf ear. Now, +after May 31, he forthwith utilized the favorable moment, and caused +his ministers to move a civil list of three millions in the National +Assembly. A long adventurous, vagabond career had gifted him with the +best developed antennae for feeling out the weak moments when he could +venture upon squeezing money from his bourgeois. He carried on regular +blackmail. The National Assembly had maimed the sovereignty of the +people with his aid and his knowledge: he now threatened to denounce +its crime to the tribunal of the people, if it did not pull out its +purse and buy his silence with three millions annually. It had robbed +three million Frenchmen of the suffrage: for every Frenchman thrown +“out of circulation,” he demanded a franc “in circulation.” He, the +elect of six million, demanded indemnity for the votes he had been +subsequently cheated of. The Committee of the National Assembly turned +the importunate fellow away. The Bonapartist press threatened: Could +the National Assembly break with the President of the republic at a +time when it had broken definitely and on principle with the mass of +the nation? It rejected the annual civil list, but granted, for this +once, an allowance of 2,160,000 francs. Thus it made itself guilty of +the double weakness of granting the money, and, at the same time, +showing by its anger that it did so only unwillingly. We shall +presently see to what use Bonaparte put the money. After this +aggravating after-play, that followed upon the heels of the abolition +of universal suffrage, and in which Bonaparte exchanged his humble +attitude of the days of the crisis of March and April for one of +defiant impudence towards the usurping parliament, the National +Assembly adjourned for three months, from August 11, to November 11. It +left behind in its place a Permanent Committee of 18 members that +contained no Bonapartist, but did contain a few moderate republicans. +The Permanent Committee of the year 1849 had numbered only men of order +and Bonapartists. At that time, however, the party of Order declared +itself in permanence against the revolution; now the parliamentary +republic declared itself in permanence against the President. After the +law of May 31, only this rival still confronted the party of Order. + +When the National Assembly reconvened in November, 1850, instead of its +former petty skirmishes with the President, a great headlong struggle, +a struggle for life between the two powers, seemed to have become +inevitable. + +As in the year 1849, the party of Order had during this year’s +vacation, dissolved into its two separate factions, each occupied with +its own restoration intrigues, which had received new impetus from the +death of Louis Philippe. The Legitimist King, Henry V, had even +appointed a regular Ministry, that resided in Paris, and in which sat +members of the Permanent Committee. Hence, Bonaparte was, on his part, +justified in making tours through the French Departments, and—according +to the disposition of the towns that he happened to be gladdening with +his presence—some times covertly, other times more openly blabbing out +his own restoration plans, and gaining votes for himself On these +excursions, which the large official “Moniteur” and the small private +“Moniteurs” of Bonaparte were, of course, bound to celebrate as +triumphal marches, he was constantly accompanied by affiliated members +of the “Society of December 10” This society dated from the year 1849. +Under the pretext of founding a benevolent association, the +slum-proletariat of Paris was organized into secret sections, each +section led by Bonapartist agents, with a Bonapartist General at the +head of all. Along with ruined roues of questionable means of support +and questionable antecedents, along with the foul and +adventures-seeking dregs of the bourgeoisie, there were vagabonds, +dismissed soldiers, discharged convicts, runaway galley slaves, +sharpers, jugglers, lazzaroni, pickpockets, sleight-of-hand performers, +gamblers, procurers, keepers of disorderly houses, porters, literati, +organ grinders, rag pickers, scissors grinders, tinkers, beggars—in +short, that whole undefined, dissolute, kicked-about mass that the +Frenchmen style “la Boheme” With this kindred element, Bonaparte formed +the stock of the “Society of December 10,” a “benevolent association” +in so far as, like Bonaparte himself, all its members felt the need of +being benevolent to themselves at the expense of the toiling nation. +The Bonaparte, who here constitutes himself Chief of the +Slum-Proletariat; who only here finds again in plenteous form the +interests which he personally pursues; who, in this refuse, offal and +wreck of all classes, recognizes the only class upon which he can +depend unconditionally;—this is the real Bonaparte, the Bonaparte +without qualification. An old and crafty roue, he looks upon the +historic life of nations, upon their great and public acts, as comedies +in the ordinary sense, as a carnival, where the great costumes, words +and postures serve only as masks for the pettiest chicaneries. So, on +the occasion of his expedition against Strassburg when a trained Swiss +vulture impersonated the Napoleonic eagle; so, again, on the occasion +of his raid upon Boulogne, when he struck a few London lackeys into +French uniform: they impersonated the army; [#1 Under the reign of +Louis Philippe, Bonaparte made two attempts to restore the throne of +Napoleon: one in October, 1836, in an expedition from Switzerland upon +Strassburg and one in August, 1840, in an expedition from England upon +Boulogne.] and so now, in his “Society of December 10,” he collects +10,000 loafers who are to impersonate the people as Snug the Joiner +does the lion. At a period when the bourgeoisie itself is playing the +sheerest comedy, but in the most solemn manner in the world, without +doing violence to any of the pedantic requirements of French dramatic +etiquette, and is itself partly deceived by, partly convinced of, the +solemnity of its own public acts, the adventurer, who took the comedy +for simple comedy, was bound to win. Only after he has removed his +solemn opponent, when he himself takes seriously his own role of +emperor, and, with the Napoleonic mask on, imagines he impersonates the +real Napoleon, only then does he become the victim of his own peculiar +conception of history—the serious clown, who no longer takes history +for a comedy, but a comedy for history. What the national work-shops +were to the socialist workingmen, what the “Gardes mobiles” were to the +bourgeois republicans, that was to Bonaparte the “Society of December +10,”—a force for partisan warfare peculiar to himself. On his journeys, +the divisions of the Society, packed away on the railroads, improvised +an audience for him, performed public enthusiasm, shouted “vive +l’Empereur,” insulted and clubbed the republicans,—all, of course, +under the protection of the police. On his return stages to Paris, this +rabble constituted his vanguard, it forestalled or dispersed +counter-demonstrations. The “Society of December 10” belonged to him, +it was his own handiwork, his own thought. Whatever else he +appropriates, the power of circumstances places in his hands; whatever +else he does, either circumstances do for him, or he is content to copy +from the deeds of others, but he posing before the citizens with the +official phrases about “Order,” “Religion,” “Family,” “Property,” and, +behind him, the secret society of skipjacks and picaroons, the society +of disorder, of prostitution, and of theft,—that is Bonaparte himself +as the original author; and the history of the “Society of December 10” +is his own history. Now, then, it happened that Representatives +belonging to the party of order occasionally got under the clubs of the +Decembrists. Nay, more. Police Commissioner Yon, who had been assigned +to the National Assembly, and was charged with the guardianship of its +safety, reported to the Permanent Committee upon the testimony of one +Alais, that a Section of the Decembrists had decided on the murder of +General Changarnier and of Dupin, the President of the National +Assembly, and had already settled upon the men to execute the decree. +One can imagine the fright of Mr. Dupin. A parliamentary inquest over +the “Society of December 10,” i. e., the profanation of the Bonapartist +secret world now seemed inevitable. Just before the reconvening of the +National Assembly, Bonaparte circumspectly dissolved his Society, of +course, on paper only. As late as the end of 1851, Police Prefect +Carlier vainly sought, in an exhaustive memorial, to move him to the +real dissolution of the Decembrists. + +The “Society of December 10” was to remain the private army of +Bonaparte until he should have succeeded in converting the public Army +into a “Society of December 10.” Bonaparte made the first attempt in +this direction shortly after the adjournment of the National Assembly, +and he did so with the money which he had just wrung from it. As a +fatalist, he lives devoted to the conviction that there are certain +Higher Powers, whom man, particularly the soldier, cannot resist. First +among these Powers he numbers cigars and champagne, cold poultry and +garlic-sausage. Accordingly, in the apartments of the Elysee, he +treated first the officers and under-officers to cigars and champagne, +to cold poultry and garlic-sausage. On October 3, he repeats this +manoeuvre with the rank and file of the troops by the review of St. +Maur; and, on October 10, the same manoeuvre again, upon a larger +scale, at the army parade of Satory. The Uncle bore in remembrance the +campaigns of Alexander in Asia: the Nephew bore in remembrance the +triumphal marches of Bacchus in the same country. Alexander was, +indeed, a demigod; but Bacchus was a full-fledged god, and the patron +deity, at that, of the “Society of December 10.” + +After the review of October 3, the Permanent Committee summoned the +Minister of War, d’Hautpoul, before it. He promised that such breaches +of discipline should not recur. We have seen how, on October 10th, +Bonaparte kept d’Hautpoul’s word. At both reviews Changarnier had +commanded as Commander-in-chief of the Army of Paris. He, at once +member of the Permanent Committee, Chief of the National Guard, the +“Savior” of January 29, and June 13, the “Bulwark of Society,” +candidate of the Party of Order for the office of President, the +suspected Monk of two monarchies,—he had never acknowledged his +subordination to the Minister of War, had ever openly scoffed at the +republican Constitution, and had pursued Bonaparte with a protection +that was ambiguously distinguished. Now he became zealous for the +discipline in opposition to Bonaparte. While, on October 10, a part of +the cavalry cried: “Vive Napoleon! Vivent les saucissons;” [#2 Long +live Napoleon! Long live the sausages!] Changarnier saw to it that at +least the infantry, which filed by under the command of his friend +Neumeyer, should observe an icy silence. In punishment, the Minister of +War, at the instigation of Bonaparte, deposed General Neumeyer from his +post in Paris, under the pretext of providing for him as +Commander-in-chief of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Military Divisions. +Neumeyer declined the exchange, and had, in consequence, to give his +resignation. On his part, Changarnier published on November 2, an +order, wherein he forbade the troops to indulge, while under arms, in +any sort of political cries or demonstrations. The papers devoted to +the Elysee interests attacked Changarnier; the papers of the party of +Order attacked Bonaparte; the Permanent Committee held frequent secret +sessions, at which it was repeatedly proposed to declare the fatherland +in danger; the Army seemed divided into two hostile camps, with two +hostile staffs; one at the Elysee, where Bonaparte, the other at the +Tuileries, where Changarnier resided. All that seemed wanting for the +signal of battle to sound was the convening of the National Assembly. +The French public looked upon the friction between Bonaparte and +Changarnier in the light of the English journalist, who characterized +it in these words: “The political servant girls of France are mopping +away the glowing lava of the revolution with old mops, and they scold +each other while doing their work.” + +Meanwhile, Bonaparte hastened to depose the Minister of War, +d’Hautpoul; to expedite him heels over head to Algiers; and to appoint +in his place General Schramm as Minister of War. On November 12, he +sent to the National Assembly a message of American excursiveness, +overloaded with details, redolent of order, athirst for conciliation, +resignful to the Constitution, dealing with all and everything, only +not with the burning questions of the moment. As if in passing he +dropped the words that according to the express provisions of the +Constitution, the President alone disposes over the Army. The message +closed with the following high-sounding protestations: + +“France demands, above all things, peace . . . Alone bound by an oath, +I shall keep myself within the narrow bounds marked out by it to me . . +. As to me, elected by the people, and owing my power to it alone, I +shall always submit to its lawfully expressed will. Should you at this +session decide upon the revision of the Constitution, a Constitutional +Convention will regulate the position of the Executive power. If you do +not, then, the people will, in 1852, solemnly announce its decision. +But, whatever the solution may be that the future has in store, let us +arrive at an understanding to the end that never may passion, surprise +or violence decide over the fate of a great nation. . . . That which, +above all, bespeaks my attention is, not who will, in 1852, rule over +France, but to so devote the time at my disposal that the interval may +pass by with-out agitation and disturbance. I have straightforwardly +opened my heart to you, you will answer my frankness with your +confidence, my good efforts with your co-operation. God will do the +rest.” + +The honnete, hypocritically temperate, commonplace-virtuous language of +the bourgeoisie reveals its deep meaning in the mouth of the +self-appointed ruler of the “Society of December 10,” and of the +picnic-hero of St. Maur and Satory. + +The burgraves of the party of Order did not for a moment deceive +themselves on the confidence that this unbosoming deserved. They were +long blase on oaths; they numbered among themselves veterans and +virtuosi of perjury. The passage about the army did not, however, +escape them. They observed with annoyance that the message, despite its +prolix enumeration of the lately enacted laws, passed, with affected +silence, over the most important of all, the election law, and, +moreover, in case no revision of the Constitution was held, left the +choice of the President, in 1852, with the people. The election law was +the ball-and-chain to the feet of the party of Order, that hindered +them from walking, and now assuredly from storming. Furthermore, by the +official disbandment of the “Society of December 10,” and the dismissal +of the Minister of War, d’Hautpoul, Bonaparte had, with his own hands, +sacrificed the scapegoats on the altar of the fatherland. He had turned +off the expected collision. Finally, the party of Order itself +anxiously sought to avoid every decisive conflict with the Executive, +to weaken and to blur it over. Fearing to lose its conquests over the +revolution, it let its rival gather the fruits thereof. “France +demands, above all things, peace,” with this language had the party of +Order been apostrophizing the revolution, since February; with this +language did Bonaparte’s message now apostrophize the party of Order: +“France demands, above all things, peace.” Bonaparte committed acts +that aimed at usurpation, but the party of Order committed a +“disturbance of the peace,” if it raised the hue and cry, and explained +them hypochrondriacally. The sausages of Satory were mouse-still when +nobody talked about them;—France demands, above all things, “peace.” +Accordingly, Bonaparte demanded that he be let alone; and the +parliamentary party was lamed with a double fear: the fear of +re-conjuring up the revolutionary disturbance of the peace, and the +fear of itself appearing as the disturber of the peace in the eyes of +its own class, of the bourgeosie. Seeing that, above all things, France +demanded peace, the party of Order did not dare, after Bonaparte had +said “peace” in his message, to answer “war.” The public, who had +promised to itself the pleasure of seeing great scenes of scandal at +the opening of the National Assembly, was cheated out of its +expectations. The opposition deputies, who demanded the submission of +the minutes of the Permanent Committee over the October occurrences, +were outvoted. All debate that might excite was fled from on principle. +The labors of the National Assembly during November and December, 1850, +were without interest. + +Finally, toward the end of December, began a guerilla warfare about +certain prerogatives of the parliament. The movement sank into the mire +of petty chicaneries on the prerogative of the two powers, since, with +the abolition of universal suffrage, the bourgeoisie had done away with +the class struggle. + +A judgment for debt had been secured against Mauguin, one of the +Representatives. Upon inquiry by the President of the Court, the +Minister of Justice, Rouher, declared that an order of arrest should be +made out without delay. Manguin was, accordingly, cast into the +debtors’ prison. The National Assembly bristled up when it heard of the +“attentat.” It not only ordered his immediate release, but had him +forcibly taken out of Clichy the same evening by its own greffier. In +order, nevertheless, to shield its belief in the “sacredness of private +property,” and also with the ulterior thought of opening, in case of +need, an asylum for troublesome Mountainers, it declared the +imprisonment of a Representative for debt to be permissible upon its +previous consent. It forgot to decree that the President also could be +locked up for debt. By its act, it wiped out the last semblance of +inviolability that surrounded the members of its own body. + +It will be remembered that, upon the testimony of one Allais, Police +Commissioner Yon had charged a Section of Decembrists with a plan to +murder Dupin and Changarnier. With an eye upon that, the questors +proposed at the very first session, that the parliament organize a +police force of its own, paid for out of the private budget of the +National Assembly itself, and wholly independent of the Police +Prefects. The Minister of the Interior, Baroche, protested against this +trespass on his preserves. A miserable compromise followed, according +to which the Police Commissioner of the Assembly was to be paid out of +its own private budget and was to be subject to the appointment and +dismissal of its own questors, but only upon previous agreement with +the Minister of the Interior. In the meantime Allais had been +prosecuted by the Government. It was an easy thing in Court, to present +his testimony in the light of a mystification, and, through the mouth +of the Public Prosecutor, to throw Dupin, Changarnier, Yon, together +with the whole National Assembly, into a ridiculous light. Thereupon, +on December 29, Minister Baroche writes a letter to Dupin, in which he +demands the dismissal of Yon. The Committee of the National Assembly +decides to keep Yon in office; nevertheless, the National Assembly, +frightened by its own violence in the affair of Mauguin, and +accustomed, every time it has shied a blow at the Executive, to receive +back from it two in exchange, does not sanction this decision. It +dismisses Yon in reward for his zeal in office, and robs itself of a +parliamentary prerogative, indispensable against a person who does not +decide by night to execute by day, but decides by day and executes by +night. + +We have seen how, during the months of November and December, under +great and severe provocations, the National Assembly evaded and refused +the combat with the Executive power. Now we see it compelled to accept +it on the smallest occasions. In the affair of Mauguin, it confirms in +principle the liability of a Representative to imprisonment for debt, +but to itself reserves the power of allowing the principle to be +applied only to the Representatives whom it dislikes,-and for this +infamous privilege we see it wrangling with the Minister of Justice. +Instead of utilizing the alleged murder plan to the end of fastening an +inquest upon the “Society of December 10,” and of exposing Bonaparte +beyond redemption before France and his true figure, as the head of the +slum-proletariat of Paris, it allows the collision to sink to a point +where the only issue between itself and the Minister of the Interior +is. Who has jurisdiction over the appointment and dismissal of a Police +Commissioner? Thus we see the party of Order, during this whole period, +compelled by its ambiguous position to wear out and fritter away its +conflict with the Executive power in small quarrels about jurisdiction, +in chicaneries, in pettifogging, in boundary disputes, and to turn the +stalest questions of form into the very substance of its activity. It +dares not accept the collision at the moment when it involves a +principle, when the Executive power has really given itself a blank, +and when the cause of the National Assembly would be the cause of the +nation. It would thereby have issued to the nation an order of march; +and it feared nothing so much as that the nation should move. Hence, on +these occasions, it rejects the motions of the Mountain, and proceeds +to the order of the day. After the issue has in this way lost all +magnitude, the Executive power quietly awaits the moment when it can +take it up again upon small and insignificant occasions; when, so to +say, the issue offers only a parliamentary local interest. Then does +the repressed valor of the party of Order break forth, then it tears +away the curtain from the scene, then it denounces the President, then +it declares the republic to be in danger,—but then all its pathos +appears stale, and the occasion for the quarrel a hypocritical pretext, +or not at all worth the effort. The parliamentary tempest becomes a +tempest in a tea-pot, the struggle an intrigue, the collision a +scandal. While the revolutionary classes gloat with sardonic laughter +over the humiliation of the National Assembly—they, of course, being as +enthusiastic for the prerogatives of the parliament as that body is for +public freedom—the bourgeoisie, outside of the parliament, does not +understand how the bourgeoisie, inside of the parliament, can squander +its time with such petty bickerings, and can endanger peace by such +wretched rivalries with the President. It is puzzled at a strategy that +makes peace the very moment when everybody expects battles, and that +attacks the very moment everybody believes peace has been concluded. + +On December 20, Pascal Duprat interpellated the Minister of the +Interior on the “Goldbar Lottery.” This lottery was a “Daughter from +Elysium”; Bonaparte, together with his faithful, had given her birth; +and Police Prefect Carlier had placed her under his official +protection, although the French law forbade all lotteries, with the +exception of games for benevolent purposes. Seven million tickets, a +franc a piece, and the profit ostensibly destined to the shipping of +Parisian vagabonds to California. Golden dreams were to displace the +Socialist dreams of the Parisian proletariat; the tempting prospect of +a prize was to displace the doctrinal right to labor. Of course, the +workingmen of Paris did not recognize in the lustre of the California +gold bars the lack-lustre francs that had been wheedled out of their +pockets. In the main, however, the scheme was an unmitigated swindle. +The vagabonds, who meant to open California gold mines without taking +the pains to leave Paris, were Bonaparte himself and his Round Table of +desperate insolvents. The three millions granted by the National +Assembly were rioted away; the Treasury had to be refilled somehow or +another. In vain did Bonaparte open a national subscription, at the +head of which he himself figured with a large sum, for the +establishment of so-called “cites ouvrieres.” [#3 Work cities.] The +hard-hearted bourgeois waited, distrustful, for the payment of his own +shares; and, as this, of course, never took place, the speculation in +Socialist castles in the air fell flat. The gold bars drew better. +Bonaparte and his associates did not content themselves with putting +into their own pockets part of the surplus of the seven millions over +and above the bars that were to be drawn; they manufactured false +tickets; they sold, of Number 10 alone, fifteen to twenty lots—a +financial operation fully in the spirit of the “Society of December +10”! The National Assembly did not here have before it the fictitious +President of the Republic, but Bonaparte himself in flesh and blood. +Here it could catch him in the act, not in conflict with the +Constitution, but with the penal code. When, upon Duprat’s +interpellation, the National Assembly went over to the order of the +day, this did not happen simply because Girardin’s motion to declare +itself “satisfied” reminded the party of Order of its own systematic +corruption: the bourgeois, above all the bourgeois who has been +inflated into a statesman, supplements his practical meanness with +theoretical pompousness. As statesman, he becomes, like the Government +facing him, a superior being, who can be fought only in a higher, more +exalted manner. + +Bonaparte-who, for the very reason of his being a “bohemian,” a +princely slum-proletarian, had over the scampish bourgeois the +advantage that he could carry on the fight after the Assembly itself +had carried him with its own hands over the slippery ground of the +military banquets, of the reviews, of the “Society of December 10,” +and, finally, of the penal code-now saw that the moment had arrived +when he could move from the seemingly defensive to the offensive. He +was but little troubled by the intermediate and trifling defeats of the +Minister of Justice, of the Minister of War, of the Minister of the +Navy, of the Minister of Finance, whereby the National Assembly +indicated its growling displeasure. Not only did he prevent the +Ministers from resigning, and thus recognizing the subordination of the +executive power to the Parliament; he could now accomplish what during +the vacation of the National Assembly he had commenced, the separation +of the military power from the Assembly—the deposition of Changarnier. + +An Elysee paper published an order, issued during the month of May, +ostensibly to the First Military Division, and, hence, proceeding from +Changarnier, wherein the officers were recommended, in case of an +uprising, to give no quarter to the traitors in their own ranks, to +shoot them down on the spot, and to refuse troops to the National +Assembly, should it make a requisition for such. On January 3, 1851, +the Cabinet was interpellated on this order. The Cabinet demands for +the examination of the affair at first three months, then one week, +finally only twenty-four hours’ time. The Assembly orders an immediate +explanation Changarnier rises and declares that this order never +existed; he adds that he would ever hasten to respond to the calls of +the National Assembly, and that, in case of a collision, they could +count upon him. The Assembly receives his utterances with inexpressible +applause, and decrees a vote of confidence to him. It thereby resign +its own powers; it decrees its own impotence and the omnipotence of the +Army by committing itself to the private protection of a general. But +the general, in turn, deceives himself when he places at the Assembly’s +disposal and against Bonaparte a power that he holds only as a fief +from that same Bonaparte, and when, on his part, he expects protection +from this Parliament, from his protege’, itself needful of protection. +But Changarnier has faith in the mysterious power with which since +January, 1849, he had been clad by the bourgeoisie. He takes himself +for the Third Power, standing beside the other Powers of Government. He +shares the faith of all the other heroes, or rather saints, of this +epoch, whose greatness consists but in the interested good opinion that +their own party holds of them, and who shrink into every-day figures so +soon as circumstances invite them to perform miracles. Infidelity is, +indeed, the deadly enemy of these supposed heroes and real saints. +Hence their virtuously proud indignation at the unenthusiastic wits and +scoffers. + +That same evening the Ministers were summoned to the Elysee; Bonaparte +presses the removal of Changarnier; five Ministers refuse to sign the +order; the “Moniteur” announces a Ministerial crisis; and the party of +Order threatens the formation of a Parliamentary army under the command +of Changarnier. The party of Order had the constitutional power hereto. +It needed only to elect Changarnier President of the National Assembly +in order to make a requisition for whatever military forces it needed +for its own safety. It could do this all the more safely, seeing that +Changarnier still stood at the head of the Army and of the Parisian +National Guard, and only lay in wait to be summoned, together with the +Army. The Bonapartist press did not even dare to question the right of +the National Assembly to issue a direct requisition for troops;—a legal +scruple, that, under the given circumstances, did not promise success. +That the Army would have obeyed the orders of the National Assembly is +probable, when it is considered that Bonaparte had to look eight days +all over Paris to find two generals—Baraguay d’Hilliers and St. Jean +d’Angley—who declared themselves ready to countersign the order +cashiering Changamier. That, however, the party of Order would have +found in its own ranks and in the parliament the requisite vote for +such a decision is more than doubtful, when it is considered that, +eight days later, 286 votes pulled away from it, and that, as late as +December, 1851, at the last decisive hour, the Mountain rejected a +similar proposition. Nevertheless, the burgraves might still have +succeeded in driving the mass of their party to an act of heroism, +consisting in feeling safe behind a forest of bayonets, and in +accepting the services of the Army, which found itself deserted in its +camp. Instead of this, the Messieurs Burgraves betook themselves to the +Elysee on the evening of January 6, with the view of inducing +Bonaparte, by means of politic words and considerations, to drop the +removal of Changarnier. Him whom we must convince we recognize as the +master of the situation. Bonaparte, made to feel secure by this step, +appoints on January 12 a new Ministry, in which the leaders of the old, +Fould and Baroche, are retained. St Jean d’Angley becomes Minister of +War; the “Moniteur” announces the decree cashiering Changarnier; his +command is divided up between Baraguay d’Hilliers, who receives the +First Division, and Perrot, who is placed over the National Guard. The +“Bulwark of Society” is turned down; and, although no dog barks over +the event, in the Bourses the stock quotations rise. + +By repelling the Army, that, in Changarnier’s person, put itself at its +disposal, and thus irrevocably stood up against the President, the +party of Order declares that the bourgeoisie has lost its vocation to +reign. Already there was no parliamentary Ministry. By losing, +furthermore, the handle to the Army and to the National Guard, what +instrument of force was there left to the National Assembly in order to +maintain both the usurped power of the parliament over the people, and +its constitutional power over the President? None. All that was left to +it was the appeal to peaceful principles, that itself had always +explained as “general rules” merely, to be prescribed to third parties, +and only in order to enable itself to move all the more freely. With +the removal of Changarnier, with the transfer of the military power to +Bonaparte, closes the first part of the period that we are considering, +the period of the struggle between the party of Order and the Executive +power. The war between the two powers is now openly declared; it is +conducted openly; but only after the party of Order has lost both arms +and soldier. With-out a Ministry, without any army, without a people, +without the support of public opinion; since its election law of May +31, no longer the representative of the sovereign nation sans eyes, +sans ears, sans teeth, sans everything, the National Assembly had +gradually converted itself into a French Parliament of olden days, that +must leave all action to the Government, and content itself with +growling remonstrances “post festum.” [#4 After the act is done; after +the fact.] + +The party of Order receives the new Ministry with a storm of +indignation. General Bedeau calls to mind the mildness of the Permanent +Committee during the vacation, and the excessive prudence with which it +had renounced the privilege of disclosing its minutes. Now, the +Minister of the Interior himself insists upon the disclosure of these +minutes, that have now, of course, become dull as stagnant waters, +reveal no new facts, and fall without making the slightest effect upon +the blase public. Upon Remusat’s proposition, the National Assembly +retreats into its Committees, and appoints a “Committee on +Extraordinary Measures.” Paris steps all the less out of the ruts of +its daily routine, seeing that business is prosperous at the time, the +manufactories busy, the prices of cereals low, provisions abundant, the +savings banks receiving daily new deposits. The “extraordinary +measures,” that the parliament so noisily announced fizzle out on +January 18 in a vote of lack of confidence against the Ministry, +without General Changarnier’s name being even mentioned. The party of +Order was forced to frame its motion in that way so as to secure the +votes of the republicans, because, of all the acts of the Ministry, +Changarnier’s dismissal only was the very one they approved, while the +party of Order cannot in fact, condemn the other Ministerial acts which +it had itself dictated. The January 18 vote of lack of confidence was +decided by 415 ayes against 286 nays. It was, accordingly put through +by a coalition of the uncompromising Legitimists and Orleanists with +the pure republicans and the Mountain. Thus it revealed the fact that, +in its conflicts with Bonaparte, not only the Ministry, not only the +Army, but also its independent parliamentary majority; that a troop of +Representatives had deserted its camp out of a fanatic zeal for +harmony, out of fear of fight, out of lassitude, out of family +considerations for the salaries of relatives in office, out of +speculations on vacancies in the Ministry (Odillon Barrot), or out of +that unmitigated selfishness that causes the average bourgeois to be +ever inclined to sacrifice the interests of his class to this or that +private motive. The Bonapartist Representatives belonged from the start +to the party of Order only in the struggle against the revolution. The +leader of the Catholic party, Montalembert, already then threw his +influence in the scale of Bonaparte, since he despaired of the vitality +of the parliamentary party. Finally, the leaders of this party itself, +Thiers and Berryer—the Orleanist and the Legitimist—were compelled to +proclaim themselves openly as republicans; to admit that their heart +favored royalty, but their head the republic; that their parliamentary +republic was the only possible form for the rule of the bourgeoisie +Thus were they compelled to brand, before the eyes of the bourgeois +class itself, as an intrigue—as dangerous as it was senseless—the +restoration plans, which they continued to pursue indefatigably behind +the back of the parliament. + +The January 18 vote of lack of confidence struck the Ministers, not the +President. But it was not the Ministry, it was the President who had +deposed Changarnier. Should the party of Order place Bonaparte himself +under charges? On account of his restoration hankerings? These only +supplemented their own. On account of his conspiracy at the military +reviews and of the “Society of December 10”? They had long since buried +these subjects under simple orders of business. On account of the +discharge of the hero of January 29 and June 13, of the man who, in +May, 1850, threatened, in case of riot, to set Paris on fire at all its +four corners? Their allies of the Mountain and Cavaignac did not even +allow them to console the fallen “Bulwark of Society” with an official +testimony of their sympathy. They themselves could not deny the +constitutional right of the President to remove a General. They stormed +only because he made an unparliamentary use of his constitutional +right. Had they not themselves constantly made an unconstitutional use +of their parliamentary prerogative, notably by the abolition of +universal suffrage? Consequently they were reminded to move exclusively +within parliamentary bounds. Indeed, it required that peculiar disease, +a disease that, since 1848, has raged over the whole continent, +“Parliamentary Idiocy,”—that fetters those whom it infects to an +imaginary world, and robs them of all sense, all remembrance, all +understanding of the rude outside world;—it required this +“Parliamentary Idiocy” in order that the party of Order, which had, +with its own hands, destroyed all the conditions for parliamentary +power, and, in its struggle with the other classes, was obliged to +destroy them, still should consider its parliamentary victories as +victories, and imagine it hit the President by striking his Ministers. +They only afforded him an opportunity to humble the National Assembly +anew in the eyes of the nation. On January 20, the “Moniteur” announced +that the whole the dismissal of the whole Ministry was accepted. Under +the pretext that none of the parliamentary parties had any longer the +majority—as proved by the January 18 vote, that fruit of the coalition +between mountain and royalists—, and, in order to await the +re-formation of a majority, Bonaparte appointed a so-called transition +Ministry, of whom no member belonged to the parliament-altogether +wholly unknown and insignificant individuals; a Ministry of mere clerks +and secretaries. The party of Order could now wear itself out in the +game with these puppets; the Executive power no longer considered it +worth the while to be seriously represented in the National Assembly. +By this act Bonaparte concentrated the whole executive power all the +more securely in his own person; he had all the freer elbow-room to +exploit the same to his own ends, the more his Ministers became mere +supernumeraries. + +The party of Order, now allied with the Mountain, revenged itself by +rejecting the Presidential endowment project of 1,800.000 francs, which +the chief of the “Society of December 10” had compelled his Ministerial +clerks to present to the Assembly. This time a majority of only 102 +votes carried the day accordingly since January 18, 27 more votes had +fallen off: the dissolution of the party of Order was making progress. +Lest any one might for a moment be deceived touching the meaning of its +coalition with the Mountain, the party of Order simultaneously scorned +even to consider a motion, signed by 189 members of the Mountain, for a +general amnesty to political criminals. It was enough that the Minister +of the Interior, one Baisse, declared that the national tranquility was +only in appearance, in secret there reigned deep agitation, in secret, +ubiquitous societies were organized, the democratic papers were +preparing to reappear, the reports from the Departments were +unfavorable, the fugitives of Geneva conducted a conspiracy via Lyons +through the whole of southern France, France stood on the verge of an +industrial and commercial crisis, the manufacturers of Roubaix were +working shorter hours, the prisoners of Belle Isle had mutinied;—it was +enough that even a mere Baisse should conjure up the “Red Spectre” for +the party of Order to reject without discussion a motion that would +have gained for the National Assembly a tremendous popularity, and +thrown Bonaparte back into its arms. Instead of allowing itself to be +intimidated by the Executive power with the perspective of fresh +disturbances, the party of Order should rather have allowed a little +elbow-room to the class struggle, in order to secure the dependence of +the Executive upon itself. But it did not feel itself equal to the task +of playing with fire. + +Meanwhile, the so-called transition Ministry vegetated along until the +middle of April. Bonaparte tired out and fooled the National Assembly +with constantly new Ministerial combinations. Now he seemed to intend +constructing a republican Ministry with Lamartine and Billault; then, a +parliamentary one with the inevitable Odillon Barrot, whose name must +never be absent when a dupe is needed; then again, a Legitimist, with +Batismenil and Lenoist d’Azy; and yet again, an Orleansist, with +Malleville. While thus throwing the several factions of the party of +Order into strained relations with one another, and alarming them all +with the prospect of a republican Ministry, together with the +there-upon inevitable restoration of universal suffrage, Bonaparte +simultaneously raises in the bourgeoisie the conviction that his +sincere efforts for a parliamentary Ministry are wrecked upon the +irreconcilable antagonism of the royalist factions. All the while the +bourgeoisie was clamoring louder and louder for a “strong Government,” +and was finding it less and less pardonable to leave France “without an +administration,” in proportion as a general commercial crisis seemed to +be under way and making recruits for Socialism in the cities, as did +the ruinously low price of grain in the rural districts. Trade became +daily duller; the unemployed hands increased perceptibly; in Paris, at +least 10,000 workingmen were without bread; in Rouen, Muehlhausen, +Lyons, Roubaix, Tourcoign, St. Etienue, Elbeuf, etc., numerous +factories stood idle. Under these circumstances Bonaparte could venture +to restore, on April 11, the Ministry of January 18; Messieurs Rouher, +Fould, Baroche, etc., reinforced by Mr. Leon Faucher, whom the +constitutive assembly had, during its last days, unanimously, with the +exception of five Ministerial votes, branded with a vote of censure for +circulating false telegraphic dispatches. Accordingly, the National +Assembly had won a victory on January 18 over the Ministry, it had, for +the period of three months, been battling with Bonaparte, and all this +merely to the end that, on April 11, Fould and Baroche should be able +to take up the Puritan Faucher as third in their ministerial league. + +In November, 1849, Bonaparte had satisfied himself with an +Unparliamentary, in January, 1851, with an Extra-Parliamentary, on +April 11, he felt strong enough to form an Anti-Parliamentary Ministry, +that harmoniously combined within itself the votes of lack of +confidence of both assemblies-the constitutive and the legislative, the +republican and the royalist. This ministerial progression was a +thermometer by which the parliament could measure the ebbing +temperature of its own life. This had sunk so low by the end of April +that, at a personal interview, Persigny could invite Changarnier to go +over to the camp of the President. Bonaparte, he assured Changarnier, +considered the influence of the National Assembly to be wholly +annihilated, and already the proclamation was ready, that was to be +published after the steadily contemplated, but again accidentally +postponed “coup d’etat.” Changarnier communicated this announcement of +its death to the leaders of the party of Order; but who was there to +believe a bed-bug bite could kill? The parliament, however beaten, +however dissolved, however death-tainted it was, could not persuade +itself to see, in the duel with the grotesque chief of the “Society of +December 10,” anything but a duel with a bed-bug. But Bonaparte +answered the party of Order as Agesilaus did King Agis: “I seem to you +an ant; but shall one day be a lion.” + + + + +VI. + + +The coalition with the Mountain and the pure republicans, to which the +party of Order found itself condemned in its fruitless efforts to keep +possession of the military and to reconquer supreme control over the +Executive power, proved conclusively that it had forfeited its +independent parliamentary majority. The calendar and clock merely gave, +on May 29, the signal for its complete dissolution. With May 29 +commenced the last year of the life of the National Assembly. It now +had to decide for the unchanged continuance or the revision of the +Constitution. But a revision of the Constitution meant not only the +definitive supremacy of either the bourgeoisie of the small traders’ +democracy, of either democracy or proletarian anarchy, of either a +parliamentary republic or Bonaparte, it meant also either Orleans or +Bourbon! Thus fell into the very midst of the parliament the apple of +discord, around which the conflict of interests, that cut up the party +of Order into hostile factions, was to kindle into an open +conflagration. The party of Order was a combination of heterogeneous +social substances. The question of revision raised a political +temperature, in which the product was reduced to its original +components. + +The interest of the Bonapartists in the revision was simple: they were +above all concerned in the abolition of Article 45, which forbade +Bonaparte’s reelection and the prolongation of his term. Not less +simple seemed to be the position of the republicans; they rejected all +revision, seeing in that only a general conspiracy against the +republic; as they disposed over more than one-fourth of the votes in +the National Assembly, and, according to the Constitution, a +three-fourths majority was requisite to revise and to call a revisory +convention, they needed only to count their own votes to be certain of +victory. Indeed, they were certain of it. + +Over and against these clear-cut positions, the party of Order found +itself tangled in inextricable contradictions. If it voted against the +revision, it endangered the “status quo,” by leaving to Bonaparte only +one expedient—that of violence and handing France over, on May 2, 1852, +at the very time of election, a prey to revolutionary anarchy, with a +President whose authority was at an end; with a parliament that the +party had long ceased to own, and with a people that it meant to +re-conquer. If it voted constitutionally for a revision, it knew that +it voted in vain and would constitutionally have to go under before the +veto of the republicans. If, unconstitutionally, it pronounced a simple +majority binding, it could hope to control the revolution only in case +it surrendered unconditionally to the domination of the Executive +power: it then made Bonaparte master of the Constitution, of the +revision and of itself. A merely partial revision, prolonging the term +of the President, opened the way to imperial usurpation; a general +revision, shortening the existence of the republic, threw the dynastic +claims into an inevitable conflict: the conditions for a Bourbon and +those for an Orleanist restoration were not only different, they +mutually excluded each other. + +The parliamentary republic was more than a neutral ground on which the +two factions of the French bourgeoisie—Legitimists and Orleanists, +large landed property and manufacture—could lodge together with equal +rights. It was the indispensable condition for their common reign, the +only form of government in which their common class interest could +dominate both the claims of their separate factions and all the other +classes of society. As royalists, they relapsed into their old +antagonism into the struggle for the overlordship of either landed +property or of money; and the highest expression of this antagonism, +its personification, were the two kings themselves, their dynasties. +Hence the resistance of the party of Order to the recall of the +Bourbons. + +The Orleanist Representative Creton moved periodically in 1849, 1850 +and 1851 the repeal of the decree of banishment against the royal +families; as periodically did the parliament present the spectacle of +an Assembly of royalists who stubbornly shut to their banished kings +the door through which they could return home. Richard III murdered +Henry VI, with the remark that he was too good for this world, and +belonged in heaven. They declared France too bad to have her kings back +again. Forced by the power of circumstances, they had become +republicans, and repeatedly sanctioned the popular mandate that exiled +their kings from France. + +The revision of the Constitution, and circumstances compelled its +consideration, at once made uncertain not only the republic itself, but +also the joint reign of the two bourgeois factions; and it revived, +with the possibility of the monarchy, both the rivalry of interests +which these two factions had alternately allowed to preponderate, and +the struggle for the supremacy of the one over the other. The diplomats +of the party of Order believed they could allay the struggle by a +combination of the two dynasties through a so-called fusion of the +royalist parties and their respective royal houses. The true fusion of +the restoration and the July monarchy was, however, the parliamentary +republic, in which the Orleanist and Legitimist colors were dissolved, +and the bourgeois species vanished in the plain bourgeois, in the +bourgeois genus. Now however, the plan was to turn the Orleanist +Legitimist and the Legitimist Orleanist. The kingship, in which their +antagonism was personified, was to incarnate their unity, the +expression of their exclusive faction interests was to become the +expression of their common class interest; the monarchy was to +accomplish what only the abolition of two monarchies—the republic could +and did accomplish. This was the philosopher’s stone, for the finding +of which the doctors of the party of Order were breaking their heads. +As though the Legitimate monarchy ever could be the monarchy of the +industrial bourgeoisie, or the bourgeois monarchy the monarchy of the +hereditary landed aristocracy! As though landed property and industry +could fraternize under one crown, where the crown could fall only upon +one head, the head of the older or the younger brother! As though +industry could at all deal upon a footing of equality with landed +property, so long as landed property did not decide itself to become +industrial. If Henry V were to die tomorrow, the Count of Paris would +not, therefore, become the king of the Legitimists, unless he ceased to +be the King of the Orleanists. Nevertheless, the fusion philosophers, +who became louder in the measure that the question of revision stepped +to the fore, who had provided themselves with a daily organ in the +“Assemblee Nationale,” who, even at this very moment (February, 1852) +are again at work, explained the whole difficulty by the opposition and +rivalries of the two dynasties. The attempts to reconcile the family of +Orleans with Henry V., begun since the death of Louis Philippe, but, as +all these dynastic intrigues carried on only during the vacation of the +National Assembly, between acts, behind the scenes, more as a +sentimental coquetry with the old superstition than as a serious +affair, were now raised by the party of Order to the dignity of a great +State question, and were conducted upon the public stage, instead of, +as heretofore in the amateurs’ theater. Couriers flew from Paris to +Venice, from Venice to Claremont, from Claremont to Paris. The Duke of +Chambord issues a manifesto in which he announces not his own, but the +“national” restoration, “with the aid of all the members of his +family.” The Oleanist Salvandy throws himself at the feet of Henry V. +The Legitimist leaders Berryer, Benoit d’Azy, St. Priest travel to +Claremont, to persuade the Orleans; but in vain. The fusionists learn +too late that the interests of the two bourgeois factions neither lose +in exclusiveness nor gain in pliancy where they sharpen to a point in +the form of family interests, of the interests of the two royal houses. +When Henry V. recognized the Count of Paris as his successor—the only +success that the fusion could at best score—the house of Orleans +acquired no claim that the childlessness of Henry V. had not already +secured to it; but, on the other hand, it lost all the claims that it +had conquered by the July revolution. It renounced its original claims, +all the title, that, during a struggle nearly one hundred years long, +it had wrested from the older branch of the Bourbons; it bartered away +its historic prerogative, the prerogative of its family-tree. Fusion, +accordingly, amounted to nothing else than the resignation of the house +of Orleans, its Legitimist resignation, a repentful return from the +Protestant State Church into the Catholic;—a return, at that, that did +not even place it on the throne that it had lost, but on the steps of +the throne on which it was born. The old Orleanist Ministers Guizot, +Duchatel, etc., who likewise hastened to Claremont, to advocate the +fusion, represented in fact only the nervous reaction of the July +monarchy; despair, both in the citizen kingdom and the kingdom of +citizens; the superstitious belief in legitimacy as the last amulet +against anarchy. Mediators, in their imagination, between Orleans and +Bourbon, they were in reality but apostate Orleanists, and as such were +they received by the Prince of Joinville. The virile, bellicose part of +the Orleanists, on the contrary—Thiers, Baze, etc.—, persuaded the +family of Louis Philippe all the easier that, seeing every plan for the +immediate restoration of the monarchy presupposed the fusion of the two +dynasties, and every plan for fusion the resignation of the house of +Orleans, it corresponded, on the contrary, wholly with the tradition of +its ancestors to recognize the republic for the time being, and to wait +until circumstances permitted I the conversion of the Presidential +chair into a throne. Joinville’s candidacy was set afloat as a rumor, +public curiosity was held in suspense, and a few months later, after +the revision was rejected, openly proclaimed in September. + +Accordingly, the essay of a royalist fusion between Orleanists and +Legitimists did not miscarry only, it broke up their parliamentary +fusion, the republican form that they had adopted in common, and it +decomposed the party of Order into its original components. But the +wider the breach became between Venice and Claremont, the further they +drifted away from each I other, and the greater the progress made by +the Joinville agitation, all the more active and earnest became the +negotiations between Faucher, the Minister of Bonaparte, and the +Legitimists. + +The dissolution of the party of Order went beyond its original +elements. Each of the two large factions fell in turn into new +fragments. It was as if all the old political shades, that formerly +fought and crowded one another within each of the two circles—be it +that of the Legitimists or that of the Orleanists—, had been thawed out +like dried infusoria by contact with water; as if they had recovered +enough vitality to build their own groups and assert their own +antagonisms. The Legitimists dreamed they were back amidst the quarrels +between the Tuileries and the pavilion Marsan, between Villele and +Polignac; the Orleanists lived anew through the golden period of the +tourneys between Guizot, Mole, Broglie, Thiers, and Odillon Barrot. + +That portion of the party of Order—eager for a revision of the +Constitution but disagreed upon the extent of revision—made up of the +Legitimists under Berryer and Falloux and of those under Laroche +Jacquelein, together with the tired-out Orleanists under Mole, Broglie, +Montalembert and Odillon Barrot, united with the Bonapartist +Representatives in the following indefinite and loosely drawn motion: + +“The undersigned Representatives, with the end in view of restoring to +the nation the full exercise of her sovereignty, move that the +Constitution be revised.” + +At the same time, however, they unanimously declared through their +spokesman, Tocqueville, that the National Assembly had not the right to +move the abolition of the republic, that right being vested only in a +Constitutional Convention. For the rest, the Constitution could be +revised only in a “legal” way, that is to say, only in case a +three-fourths majority decided in favor of revision, as prescribed by +the Constitution. After a six days’ stormy debate, the revision was +rejected on July 19, as was to be foreseen. In its favor 446 votes were +cast, against it 278. The resolute Oleanists, Thiers, Changarnier, +etc., voted with the republicans and the Mountain. + +Thus the majority of the parliament pronounced itself against the +Constitution, while the Constitution itself pronounced itself for the +minority, and its decision binding. But had not the party of Order on +May 31, 1850, had it not on June 13, 1849, subordinated the +Constitution to the parliamentary majority? Did not the whole republic +they had been hitherto having rest upon the subordination of the +Constitutional clauses to the majority decisions of the parliament? Had +they not left to the democrats the Old Testament superstitious belief +in the letter of the law, and had they not chastised the democrats +therefor? At this moment, however, revision meant nothing else than the +continuance of the Presidential power, as the continuance of the +Constitution meant nothing else than the deposition of Bonaparte. The +parliament had pronounced itself for him, but the Constitution +pronounced itself against the parliament. Accordingly, he acted both in +the sense of the parliament when he tore up the Constitution, and in +the sense of the Constitution when he chased away the parliament. + +The parliament pronounced the Constitution, and, thereby, also, its own +reign, “outside of the pale of the majority”; by its decision, it +repealed the Constitution, and continued the Presidential power, and it +at once declared that neither could the one live nor the other die so +long as itself existed. The feet of those who were to bury it stood at +the door. While it was debating the subject of revision, Bonaparte +removed General Baraguay d’Hilliers, who showed himself irresolute, +from the command of the First Military Division, and appointed in his +place General Magnan, the conqueror of Lyon; the hero of the December +days, one of his own creatures, who already under Louis Philippe, on +the occasion of the Boulogne expedition, had somewhat compromised +himself in his favor. + +By its decision on the revision, the party of Order proved that it knew +neither how to rule nor how to obey; neither how to live nor how to +die; neither how to bear with the republic nor how to overthrow it; +neither how to maintain the Constitution nor how to throw it overboard; +neither how to co-operate with the President nor how to break with him. +From what quarter did it then, look to for the solution of all the +existing perplexities? From the calendar, from the course of events. It +ceased to assume the control of events. It, accordingly, invited events +to don its authority and also the power to which in its struggle with +the people, it had yielded one attribute after another until it finally +stood powerless before the same. To the end that the Executive be able +all the more freely to formulate his plan of campaign against it, +strengthen his means of attack, choose his tools, fortify his +positions, the party of Order decided, in the very midst of this +critical moment, to step off the stage, and adjourn for three months, +from August 10 to November 4. + +Not only was the parliamentary party dissolved into its two great +factions, not only was each of these dissolved within itself, but the +party of Order, inside of the parliament, was at odds with the party of +Order, outside of the parliament. The learned speakers and writers of +the bourgeoisie, their tribunes and their press, in short, the +ideologists of the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie itself, the +representatives and the represented, stood estranged from, and no +longer understood one another. + +The Legitimists in the provinces, with their cramped horizon and their +boundless enthusiasm, charged their parliamentary leaders Berryer and +Falloux with desertion to the Bonapartist camp, and with apostacy from +Henry V. Their lilymind [#1 An allusion to the lilies of the Bourbon +coat-of-arms] believed in the fall of man, but not in diplomacy. + +More fatal and completer, though different, was the breach between the +commercial bourgeoisie and its politicians. It twitted them, not as the +Legitimists did theirs, with having apostatized from their principle, +but, on the contrary, with adhering to principles that had become +useless. + +I have already indicated that, since the entry of Fould in the +Ministry, that portion of the commercial bourgeoisie that had enjoyed +the lion’s share in Louis Philippe’s reign, to-wit, the aristocracy of +finance, had become Bonapartist. Fould not only represented Bonaparte’s +interests at the Bourse, he represented also the interests of the +Bourse with Bonaparte. A passage from the London “Economist,” the +European organ of the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly +the attitude of this class. In its issue of February 1, 1851, its Paris +correspondent writes: “Now we have it stated from numerous quarters +that France wishes above all things for repose. The President declares +it in his message to the Legislative Assembly; it is echoed from the +tribune; it is asserted in the journals; it is announced from the +pulpit; it is demonstrated by the sensitiveness of the public funds at +the least prospect of disturbance, and their firmness the instant it is +made manifest that the Executive is far superior in wisdom and power to +the factious ex-officials of all former governments.” + +In its issue of November 29, 1851, the “Economist” declares +editorially: “The President is now recognized as the guardian of order +on every Stock Exchange of Europe.” Accordingly, the Aristocracy of +Finance condemned the parliamentary strife of the party of Order with +the Executive as a “disturbance of order,” and hailed every victory of +the President over its reputed representatives as a “victory of order.” +Under “aristocracy of finance” must not, however, be understood merely +the large bond negotiators and speculators in government securities, of +whom it may be readily understood that their interests and the +interests of the Government coincide. The whole modern money trade, the +whole banking industry, is most intimately interwoven with the public +credit. Part of their business capital requires to be invested in +interest-bearing government securities that are promptly convertible +into money; their deposits, i. e., the capital placed at their disposal +and by them distributed among merchants and industrial establishments, +flow partly out of the dividends on government securities. The whole +money market, together with the priests of this market, is part and +parcel of this “aristocracy of finance” at every epoch when the +stability of the government is to them synonymous with “Moses and his +prophets.” This is so even before things have reached the present stage +when every deluge threatens to carry away the old governments +themselves. + +But the industrial Bourgeoisie also, in its fanaticism for order, was +annoyed at the quarrels of the Parliamentary party of Order with the +Executive. Thiers, Anglas, Sainte Beuve, etc., received, after their +vote of January 18, on the occasion of the discharge of Changarnier, +public reprimands from their constituencies, located in the industrial +districts, branding their coalition with the Mountain as an act of high +treason to the cause of order. Although, true enough, the boastful, +vexatious and petty intrigues, through which the struggle of the party +of Order with the President manifested itself, deserved no better +reception, yet notwithstanding, this bourgeois party, that expects of +its representatives to allow the military power to pass without +resistance out of the hands of their own Parliament into those of an +adventurous Pretender, is not worth even the intrigues that were wasted +in its behalf. It showed that the struggle for the maintenance of their +public interests, of their class interests, of their political power +only incommoded and displeased them, as a disturbance of their private +business. + +The bourgeois dignitaries of the provincial towns, the magistrates, +commercial judges, etc., with hardly any exception, received Bonaparte +everywhere on his excursions in the most servile manner, even when, as +in Dijon, he attacked the National Assembly and especially the party of +Order without reserve. + +Business being brisk, as still at the beginning of 1851, the commercial +bourgeoisie stormed against every Parliamentary strife, lest business +be put out of temper. Business being dull, as from the end of February, +1851, on, the bourgeoisie accused the Parliamentary strifes as the +cause of the stand-still, and clamored for quiet in order that business +may revive. The debates on revision fell just in the bad times. Seeing +the question now was the to be or not to be of the existing form of +government, the bourgeoisie felt itself all the more justified in +demanding of its Representatives that they put an end to this +tormenting provisional status, and preserve the “status quo.” This was +no contradiction. By putting an end to the provisional status, it +understood its continuance, the indefinite putting off of the moment +when a final decision had to be arrived at. The “status quo” could be +preserved in only one of two ways: either by the prolongation of +Bonaparte’s term of office or by his constitutional withdrawal and the +election of Cavaignac. A part of the bourgeoisie preferred the latter +solution, and knew no better advice to give their Representatives than +to be silent, to avoid the burning point. If their Representatives did +not speak, so argued they, Bonaparte would not act. They desired an +ostrich Parliament that would hide its head, in order not to be seen. +Another part of the bourgeoisie preferred that Bonaparte, being once in +the Presidential chair, be left in the Presidential chair, in order +that everything might continue to run in the old ruts. They felt +indignant that their Parliament did not openly break the Constitution +and resign without further ado. The General Councils of the +Departments, these provisional representative bodies of the large +bourgeoisie, who had adjourned during the vacation of the National +Assembly since August 25, pronounced almost unanimously for revision, +that is to say, against the Parliament and for Bonaparte. + +Still more unequivocally than in its falling out with its Parliamentary +Representatives, did the bourgeoisie exhibit its wrath at its literary +Representatives, its own press. The verdicts of the bourgeois juries, +inflicting excessive fines and shameless sentences of imprisonment for +every attack of the bourgeois press upon the usurping aspirations of +Bonaparte, for every attempt of the press to defend the political +rights of the bourgeoisie against the Executive power, threw, not +France alone, but all Europe into amazement. + +While on the one hand, as I have indicated, the Parliamentary party of +Order ordered itself to keep the peace by screaming for peace; and +while it pronounced the political rule of the bourgeoisie +irreconcilable with the safety and the existence of the bourgeoisie, by +destroying with its own hands in its struggle with the other classes of +society all the conditions for its own, the Parliamentary regime; on +the other hand, the mass of the bourgeoisie, outside of the Parliament, +urged Bonaparte—by its servility towards the President, by its insults +to the Parliament, by the brutal treatment of its own press—to suppress +and annihilate its speaking and writing organs, its politicians and its +literati, its orators’ tribune and its press, to the end that, under +the protection of a strong and unhampered Government, it might ply its +own private pursuits in safety. It declared unmistakably that it longed +to be rid of its own political rule, in order to escape the troubles +and dangers of ruling. + +And this bourgeoisie, that had rebelled against even the Parliamentary +and literary contest for the supremacy of its own class, that had +betrayed its leaders in this contest, it now has the effrontery to +blame the proletariat for not having risen in its defence in a bloody +struggle, in a struggle for life! Those bourgeois, who at every turn +sacrificed their common class interests to narrow and dirty private +interests, and who demanded a similar sacrifice from their own +Representatives, now whine that the proletariat has sacrificed their +idea-political to its own material interests! This bourgeois class now +strikes the attitude of a pure soul, misunderstood and abandoned, at a +critical moment, by the proletariat, that has been misled by the +Socialists. And its cry finds a general echo in the bourgeois world. Of +course, I do not refer to German crossroad politicians and kindred +blockheads. I refer, for instance, to the “Economist,” which, as late +as November 29, 1851, that is to say, four days before the “coup +d’etat” pronounced Bonaparte the “Guardian of Order” and Thiers and +Berryer “Anarchists,” and as early as December 27, 1851, after +Bonaparte had silenced those very Anarchists, cries out about the +treason committed by “the ignorant, untrained and stupid proletaires +against the skill, knowledge, discipline, mental influence, +intellectual resources an moral weight of the middle and upper ranks.” +The stupid, ignorant and contemptible mass was none other than the +bourgeoisie itself. + +France had, indeed; experienced a sort of commercial crisis in 1851. At +the end of February, there was a falling off of exports as compared +with 1850; in March, business languished and factories shut down; in +April, the condition of the industrial departments seemed as desperate +as after the February days; in May, business did not yet pick up; as +late as June 28, the reports of the Bank of France revealed through a +tremendous increase of deposits and an equal decrease of loans on +exchange notes, the standstill of production; not until the middle of +October did a steady improvement of business set in. The French +bourgeoisie accounted for this stagnation of business with purely +political reasons; it imputed the dull times to the strife between the +Parliament and the Executive power, to the uncertainty of a provisional +form of government, to the alarming prospects of May 2, 1852. I shall +not deny that all these causes did depress some branches of industry in +Paris and in the Departments. At any rate, this effect of political +circumstances was only local and trifling. Is there any other proof +needed than that the improvement in business set in at the very time +when the political situation was growing worse, when the political +horizon was growing darker, and when at every moment a stroke of +lightning was expected out of the Elysee—in the middle of October? The +French bourgeois, whose “skill, knowledge, mental influence and +intellectual resources,” reach no further than his nose, could, +moreover, during the whole period of the Industrial Exposition in +London, have struck with his nose the cause of his own business misery. +At the same time that, in France, the factories were being closed, +commercial failures broke out in England. While the industrial panic +reached its height during April and May in France, in England the +commercial panic reached its height in April and May. The same as the +French, the English woolen industries suffered, and, as the French, so +did the English silk manufacture. Though the English cotton factories +went on working, it, nevertheless, was not with the same old profit of +1849 and 1850. The only difference was this: that in France, the crisis +was an industrial, in England it was a commercial one; that while in +France the factories stood still, they spread themselves in England, +but under less favorable circumstances than they had done the years +just previous; that, in France, the export, in England, the import +trade suffered the heaviest blows. The common cause, which, as a matter +of fact, is not to be looked for with-in the bounds of the French +political horizon, was obvious. The years 1849 and 1850 were years of +the greatest material prosperity, and of an overproduction that did not +manifest itself until 1851. This was especially promoted at the +beginning of 1851 by the prospect of the Industrial Exposition; and, as +special causes, there were added, first, the failure of the cotton crop +of 1850 and 1851; second, the certainty of a larger cotton crop than +was expected: first, the rise, then the sudden drop; in short, the +oscillations of the cotton market. The crop of raw silk in France had +been below the average. Finally, the manufacture of woolen goods had +received such an increment since 1849, that the production of wool +could not keep step with it, and the price of the raw material rose +greatly out of proportion to the price of the manufactured goods. +Accordingly, we have here in the raw material of three staple articles +a threefold material for a commercial crisis. Apart from these special +circumstances, the seeming crisis of the year 1851 was, after all, +nothing but the halt that overproduction and overspeculation make +regularly in the course of the industrial cycle, before pulling all +their forces together in order to rush feverishly over the last +stretch, and arrive again at their point of departure—the General +Commercial Crisis. At such intervals in the history of trade, +commercial failures break out in England, while, in France, industry +itself is stopped, partly because it is compelled to retreat through +the competition of the English, that, at such times becomes resistless +in all markets, and partly because, as an industry of luxuries, it is +affected with preference by every stoppage of trade. Thus, besides the +general crisis, France experiences her own national crises, which, +how-ever, are determined by and conditioned upon the general state of +the world’s market much more than by local French influences. It will +not be devoid of interest to contrast the prejudgment of the French +bourgeois with the judgment of the English bourgeois. One of the +largest Liverpool firms writes in its yearly report of trade for 1851: +“Few years have more completely disappointed the expectations +entertained at their beginning than the year that has just passed; +instead of the great prosperity, that was unanimously looked forward +to, it proved itself one of the most discouraging years during the last +quarter of a century. This applies, of course, only to the mercantile, +not to the industrial classes. And yet, surely there were grounds at +the beginning of the year from which to draw a contrary conclusion; the +stock of products was scanty, capital was abundant, provisions cheap, a +rich autumn was assured, there was uninterrupted peace on the continent +and no political and financial disturbances at home; indeed, never were +the wings of trade more unshackled. . . . What is this unfavorable +result to be ascribed to? We believe to excessive trade in imports as +well as exports. If our merchants do not themselves rein in their +activity, nothing can keep us going, except a panic every three years.” + +Imagine now the French bourgeois, in the midst of this business panic, +having his trade-sick brain tortured, buzzed at and deafened with +rumors of a “coup d’etat” and the restoration of universal suffrage; +with the struggle between the Legislature and the Executive; with the +Fronde warfare between Orleanists and Legitimists; with communistic +conspiracies in southern France; with alleged Jacqueries [#2 Peasant +revolts] in the Departments of Nievre and Cher; with the advertisements +of the several candidates for President; with “social solutions” +huckstered about by the journals; with the threats of the republicans +to uphold, arms in hand, the Constitution and universal suffrage; with +the gospels, according to the emigrant heroes “in partibus,” who +announced the destruction of the world for May 2,—imagine that, and one +can understand how the bourgeois, in this unspeakable and noisy +confusion of fusion, revision, prorogation, constitution, conspiracy, +coalition, emigration, usurpation and revolution, blurts out at his +parliamentary republic: “Rather an End With Fright, Than a Fright +Without End.” + +Bonaparte understood this cry. His perspicacity was sharpened by the +growing anxiety of the creditors’ class, who, with every sunset, that +brought nearer the day of payment, the 2d of May, 1852, saw in the +motion of the stars a protest against their earthly drafts. They had +become regular astrologers The National Assembly had cut off +Bonaparte’s hope of a constitutional prolongation of his term; the +candidature of the Prince of Joinville tolerated no further +vacillation. + +If ever an event cast its shadow before it long before its occurrence, +it was Bonaparte’s “coup d’etat.” Already on January 29, 1849, barely a +month after his election, he had made to Changarnier a proposition to +that effect. His own Prime Minister. Odillon Barrot, had covertly, in +1849, and Thiers openly in the winter of 1850, revealed the scheme of +the “coup d’etat.” In May, 1851, Persigny had again sought to win +Changarnier over to the “coup,” and the “Miessager de l’Assemblee” +newspaper had published this conversation. At every parliamentary +storm, the Bonapartist papers threatened a “coup,” and the nearer the +crisis approached, all the louder grew their tone. At the orgies, that +Bonaparte celebrated every night with a swell mob of males and females, +every time the hour of midnight drew nigh and plenteous libations had +loosened the tongues and heated the minds of the revelers, the “coup” +was resolved upon for the next morning. Swords were then drawn, glasses +clinked, the Representatives were thrown out at the windows, the +imperial mantle fell upon the shoulders of Bonaparte, until the next +morning again drove away the spook, and astonished Paris learned, from +not very reserved Vestals and indiscreet Paladins, the danger it had +once more escaped. During the months of September and October, the +rumors of a “coup d’etat” tumbled close upon one another’s heels. At +the same time the shadow gathered color, like a confused daguerreotype. +Follow the issues of the European daily press for the months of +September and October, and items like this will be found literally: + +“Rumors of a ‘coup’ fill Paris. The capital, it is said, is to be +filled with troops by night and the next morning decrees are to be +issued dissolving the National Assembly, placing the Department of the +Seine in state of siege restoring universal suffrage, and appealing to +the people. Bonaparte is rumored to be looking for Ministers to execute +these illegal decrees.” + +The newspaper correspondence that brought this news always close +ominously with “postponed.” The “coup” was ever the fixed idea of +Bonaparte. With this idea he had stepped again upon French soil. It had +such full possession of him that he was constantly betraying and +blabbing it out. He was so weak that he was as constantly giving it up +again. The shadow of the “coup” had become so familiar a spectre to the +Parisians, that they refused to believe it when it finally did appear +in flesh and blood. Consequently, it was neither the reticent +backwardness of the chief of the “Society of December 10,” nor an +unthought of surprise of the National Assembly that caused the success +of the “coup.” When it succeeded, it did so despite his indiscretion +and with its anticipation—a necessary, unavoidable result of the +development that had preceded. + +On October 10, Bonaparte announced to his Ministers his decision to +restore universal suffrage; on the 16th day they handed in their +resignations; on the 26th Paris learned of the formation of the +Thorigny Ministry. The Prefect of Police, Carlier, was simultaneously +replaced by Maupas; and the chief of the First Military Division +Magnan, concentrated the most reliable regiments in the capital. On +November 4, the National Assembly re-opened its sessions. There was +nothing left for it to do but to repeat, in short recapitulation, the +course it had traversed, and to prove that it had been buried only +after it had expired. The first post that it had forfeited in the +struggle with the Executive was the Ministry. It had solemnly to admit +this loss by accepting as genuine the Thorigny Ministry, which was but +a pretence. The permanent Committee had received Mr. Giraud with +laughter when he introduced himself in the name of the new Ministers. +So weak a Ministry for so strong a measure as the restoration of +universal suffrage! The question, however, then was to do nothing in, +everything against the parliament. + +On the very day of its re-opening, the National Assembly received the +message from Bonaparte demanding the restoration of universal suffrage +and the repeal of the law of May 31, 1850. On the same day, his +Ministers introduced a decree to that effect. The Assembly promptly +rejected the motion of urgency made by the Ministers, but repealed the +law itself, on November 13, by a vote of 355 against 348. Thus it once +more tore to pieces its own mandate, once more certified to the fact +that it had transformed itself from a freely chosen representative body +of the nation into the usurpatory parliament of a class; it once more +admitted that it had itself severed the muscles that connected the +parliamentary head with the body of the nation. + +While the Executive power appealed from the National Assembly to the +people by its motion for the restoration of universal suffrage, the +Legislative power appealed from the people to the Army by its +“Questors’ Bill.” This bill was to establish its right to immediate +requisitions for troops, to build up a parliamentary army. By thus +appointing the Army umpire between itself and the people, between +itself and Bonaparte; by thus recognizing the Army as the decisive +power in the State, the National Assembly was constrained to admit that +it had long given up all claim to supremacy. By debating the right to +make requisitions for troops, instead of forthwith collecting them, it +betrayed its own doubts touching its own power. By thus subsequently +rejecting the “Questors’ Bill,” it publicly confessed it impotence. The +bill fell through with a minority of 108 votes; the Mountain had, +accordingly, thrown the casting vote It now found itself in the +predicament of Buridan’s donkey, not, indeed, between two sacks of hay, +forced to decide which of the two was the more attractive, but between +two showers of blows, forced to decide which of the two was the harder; +fear of Changarnier, on one side, fear of Bonaparte, on the other. It +must be admitted the position was not a heroic one. + +On November 18, an amendment was moved to the Act, passed by the party +of Order, on municipal elections to the effect that, instead of three +years, a domicile of one year should suffice. The amendment was lost by +a single vote—but this vote, it soon transpired, was a mistake. Owing +to the divisions within its own hostile factions, the party of Order +had long since forfeited its independent parliamentary majority. It was +now plain that there was no longer any majority in the parliament. The +National Assembly had become impotent even to decide. Its atomic parts +were no longer held together by any cohesive power; it had expended its +last breath, it was dead. + +Finally, the mass of the bourgeoisie outside of the parliament was once +more solemnly to confirm its rupture with the bourgeoisie inside of the +parliament a few days before the catastrophe. Thiers, as a +parliamentary hero conspicuously smitten by that incurable +disease—Parliamentary Idiocy—, had hatched out jointly with the Council +of State, after the death of the parliament, a new parliamentary +intrigue in the shape of a “Responsibility Law,” that was intended to +lock up the President within the walls of the Constitution. The same +as, on September 15, Bonaparte bewitched the fishwives, like a second +Massaniello, on the occasion of laying the corner-stone for the Market +of Paris,—though, it must be admitted, one fishwife was equal to +seventeen Burgraves in real power—; the same as, after the introduction +of the “Questors’ Bill,” he enthused the lieutenants, who were being +treated at the Elysee;—so, likewise, did he now, on November 25, carry +away with him the industrial bourgeoisie, assembled at the Circus, to +receive from his hands the prize-medals that had been awarded at the +London Industrial Exposition. I here reproduce the typical part of his +speech, from the “Journal des Debats”: + +“With such unhoped for successes, I am justified to repeat how great +the French republic would be if she were only allowed to pursue her +real interests, and reform her institutions, instead of being +constantly disturbed in this by demagogues, on one side, and, on the +other, by monarchic hallucinations. (Loud, stormy and continued +applause from all parts of the amphitheater). The monarchic +hallucinations hamper all progress and all serious departments of +industry. Instead of progress, we have struggle only. Men, formerly the +most zealous supporters of royal authority and prerogative, become the +partisans of a convention that has no purpose other than to weaken an +authority that is born of universal suffrage. (Loud and prolonged +applause). We see men, who have suffered most from the revolution and +complained bitterest of it, provoking a new one for the sole purpose of +putting fetters on the will of the nation. . . . I promise you peace +for the future.” (Bravo! Bravo! Stormy bravos.) + +Thus the industrial bourgeoisie shouts its servile “Bravo!” to the +“coup d’etat” of December 2, to the destruction of the parliament, to +the downfall of their own reign, to the dictatorship of Bonaparte. The +rear of the applause of November 25 was responded to by the roar of +cannon on December 4, and the house of Mr. Sallandrouze, who had been +loudest in applauding, was the one demolished by most of the bombs. + +Cromwell, when he dissolved the Long Parliament, walked alone into its +midst, pulled out his watch in order that the body should not continue +to exist one minute beyond the term fixed for it by him, and drove out +each individual member with gay and humorous invectives. Napoleon, +smaller than his prototype, at least went on the 18th Brumaire into the +legislative body, and, though in a tremulous voice, read to it its +sentence of death. The second Bonaparte, who, moreover, found himself +in possession of an executive power very different from that of either +Cromwell or Napoleon, did not look for his model in the annals of +universal history, but in the annals of the “Society of December 10,” +in the annals of criminal jurisprudence. He robs the Bank of France of +twenty-five million francs; buys General Magnan with one million and +the soldiers with fifteen francs and a drink to each; comes secretly +together with his accomplices like a thief by night; has the houses of +the most dangerous leaders in the parliament broken into; Cavalignac, +Lamorciere, Leflo, Changarnier, Charras, Thiers, Baze, etc., taken out +of their beds; the principal places of Paris, the building of the +parliament included, occupied with troops; and, early the next morning, +loud-sounding placards posted on all the walls proclaiming the +dissolution of the National Assembly and of the Council of State, the +restoration of universal suffrage, and the placing of the Department of +the Seine under the state of siege. In the same way he shortly after +sneaked into the “Moniteur” a false document, according to which +influential parliamentary names had grouped themselves round him in a +Committee of the Nation. + +Amidst cries of “Long live the Republic!”, the rump-parliament, +assembled at the Mayor’s building of the Tenth Arrondissement, and +composed mainly of Legitimists and Orleanists, resolves to depose +Bonaparte; it harangues in vain the gaping mass gathered before the +building, and is finally dragged first, under the escort of African +sharpshooters, to the barracks of Orsay, and then bundled into +convicts’ wagons and transported to the prisons of Mazas, Ham and +Vincennes. Thus ended the party of Order, the Legislative Assembly and +the February revolution. + +Before hastening to the end, let us sum up shortly the plan of its +history: + +I.—First Period. From February 24 to May 4, 1848. February period. +Prologue. Universal fraternity swindle. + +II.—Second Period. Period in which the republic is constituted, and of +the Constitutive National Assembly. + +1. May 4 to June 25, 1848. Struggle of all the classes against the +house of Mr. proletariat. Defeat of the proletariat in the June days. + +2. June 25 to December 10, 1848. Dictatorship of the pure bourgeois +republicans. Drafting of the Constitution. The state of siege hangs +over Paris. The Bourgeois dictatorship set aside on December 10 by the +election of Bonaparte as President. + +3. December 20, 1848, to May 20, 1849. Struggle of the Constitutive +Assembly with Bonaparte and with the united party of Order. Death of +the Constitutive Assembly. Downfall of the republican bourgeoisie. + +III.—Third Period. Period of the constitutional republic and of the +Legislative National Assembly. + +1. May 29 to June 13, 1849. Struggle of the small traders’, middle +class with the bourgeoisie and with Bonaparte. Defeat of the small +traders’ democracy. + +2. June 13, 1849, to May, 1850. Parliamentary dictatorship of the party +of Order. Completes its reign by the abolition of universal suffrage, +but loses the parliamentary Ministry. + +3. May 31, 1850, to December 2, 1851. Struggle between the +parliamentary bourgeoisie and Bonaparte. + +a. May 31, 1850, to January 12, 1851. The parliament loses the supreme +command over the Army. + +b. January 12 to April 11, 1851. The parliament succumbs in the +attempts to regain possession of the administrative power. The party of +Order loses its independent parliamentary majority. Its coalition with +the republicans and the Mountain. + +c. April 11 to October 9, 1851. Attempts at revision, fusion and +prorogation. The party of Order dissolves into its component parts. The +breach between the bourgeois parliament and the bourgeois press, on the +one hand, and the bourgeois mass, on the other, becomes permanent. + +d. October 9 to December 2, 1851. Open breach between the parliament +and the executive power. It draws up its own decree of death, and goes +under, left in the lurch by its own class, by the Army, and by all the +other classes. Downfall of the parliamentary regime and of the reign of +the bourgeoisie. Bonaparte’s triumph. Parody of the imperialist +restoration. + + + + +VII. + + +The Social Republic appeared as a mere phrase, as a prophecy on the +threshold of the February Revolution; it was smothered in the blood of +the Parisian proletariat during the days of 1848 but it stalks about as +a spectre throughout the following acts of the drama. The Democratic +Republic next makes its bow; it goes out in a fizzle on June 13, 1849, +with its runaway small traders; but, on fleeing, it scatters behind it +all the more bragging announcements of what it means do to. The +Parliamentary Republic, together with the bourgeoisie, then +appropriates the whole stage; it lives its life to the full extent of +its being; but the 2d of December, 1851, buries it under the +terror-stricken cry of the allied royalists: “Long live the Republic!” + +The French bourgeoisie reared up against the reign of the working +proletariat;—it brought to power the slum-proletariat, with the chief +of the “Society of December 10” at its head. It kept France in +breathless fear over the prospective terror of “red anarchy;”—Bonaparte +discounted the prospect when, on December 4, he had the leading +citizens of the Boulevard Montmartre and the Boulevard des Italiens +shot down from their windows by the grog-inspired “Army of Order.” It +made the apotheosis of the sabre; now the sabre rules it. It destroyed +the revolutionary press;—now its own press is annihilated. It placed +public meetings under police surveillance;—now its own salons are +subject to police inspection. It disbanded the democratic National +Guards;—now its own National Guard is disbanded. It instituted the +state of siege;—now itself is made subject thereto. It supplanted the +jury by military commissions;—now military commissions supplant its own +juries. It subjected the education of the people to the parsons’ +interests;—the parsons’ interests now subject it to their own systems. +It ordered transportations without trial;—now itself is transported +without trial. It suppressed every movement of society with physical +force;—now every movement of its own class is suppressed by physical +force. Out of enthusiasm for the gold bag, it rebelled against its own +political leaders and writers;—now, its political leaders and writers +are set aside, but the gold hag is plundered, after the mouth of the +bourgeoisie has been gagged and its pen broken. The bourgeoisie +tirelessly shouted to the revolution, in the language of St. Orsenius +to the Christians: “Fuge, Tace, Quiesce!”—flee, be silent, submit!—; +Bonaparte shouts to the bourgeoisie: “Fuge, Tace, Oniesce!”—flee, be +silent, submit! + +The French bourgeoisie had long since solved Napoleon’s dilemma: “Dans +cinquante ans l’Europe sera republicaine ou cosaque.” [#1 Within fifty +years Europe will be either republican or Cossack.] It found the +solution in the “republique cosaque.” [#2 Cossack republic.] No Circe +distorted with wicked charms the work of art of the bourgeois republic +into a monstrosity. That republic lost nothing but the appearance of +decency. The France of to-day was ready-made within the womb of the +Parliamentary republic. All that was wanted was a bayonet thrust, in +order that the bubble burst, and the monster leap forth to sight. + +Why did not the Parisian proletariat rise after the 2d of December? + +The downfall of the bourgeoisie was as yet merely decreed; the decree +was not yet executed. Any earnest uprising of the proletariat would +have forthwith revived this bourgeoisie, would have brought on its +reconciliation with the army, and would have insured a second June rout +to the workingmen. + +On December 4, the proletariat was incited to fight by Messrs. +Bourgeois & Small-Trader. On the evening of that day, several legions +of the National Guard promised to appear armed and uniformed on the +place of battle. This arose from the circumstance that Messrs. +Bourgeois & Small-Trader had got wind that, in one of his decrees of +December 2, Bonaparte abolished the secret ballot, and ordered them to +enter the words “Yes” and “No” after their names in the official +register. Bonaparte took alarm at the stand taken on December 4. During +the night he caused placards to be posted on all the street corners of +Paris, announcing the restoration of the secret ballot. Messrs. +Bourgeois & Small-Trader believed they had gained their point. The +absentees, the next morning, were Messieurs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader. + +During the night of December 1 and 2, the Parisian proletariat was +robbed of its leaders and chiefs of barricades by a raid of +Bonaparte’s. An army without officers, disinclined by the recollections +of June, 1848 and 1849, and May, 1850, to fight under the banner of the +Montagnards, it left to its vanguard, the secret societies, the work of +saving the insurrectionary honor of Paris, which the bourgeoisie had +yielded to the soldiery so submissively that Bonaparte was later +justified in disarming the National Guard upon the scornful ground that +he feared their arms would be used against themselves by the +Anarchists! + +“C’est Ic triomphe complet et definitif du Socialism!” Thus did Guizot +characterize the 2d of December. But, although the downfall of the +parliamentary republic carries with it the germ of the triumph of the +proletarian revolution, its immediate and tangible result was the +triumph of Bonaparte over parliament, of the Executive over the +Legislative power, of force without phrases over the force of phrases. +In the parliament, the nation raised its collective will to the dignity +of law, i.e., it raised the law of the ruling class to the dignity of +its collective will. Before the Executive power, the nation abdicates +all will of its own, and submits to the orders of an outsider of +Authority. In contrast with the Legislative, the Executive power +expresses the heteronomy of the nation in contrast with its autonomy. +Accordingly, France seems to have escaped the despotism of a class only +in order to fall under the despotism of an individual, under the +authority, at that of an individual without authority The struggle +seems to settle down to the point where all classes drop down on their +knees, equally impotent and equally dumb. + +All the same, the revolution is thoroughgoing. It still is on its +passage through purgatory. It does its work methodically: Down to +December 2, 1851, it had fulfilled one-half of its programme, it now +fulfils the other half. It first ripens the power of the Legislature +into fullest maturity in order to be able to overthrow it. Now that it +has accomplished that, the revolution proceeds to ripen the power of +the Executive into equal maturity; it reduces this power to its purest +expression; isolates it; places it before itself as the sole subject +for reproof in order to concentrate against it all the revolutionary +forces of destruction. When the revolution shall have accomplished this +second part of its preliminary programme, Europe will jump up from her +seat to exclaim: “Well hast thou grubbed, old mole!” + +The Executive power, with its tremendous bureaucratic and military +organization; with its wide-spreading and artificial machinery of +government—an army of office-holders, half a million strong, together +with a military force of another million men—; this fearful body of +parasites, that coils itself like a snake around French society, +stopping all its pores, originated at the time of the absolute +monarchy, along with the decline of feudalism, which it helped to +hasten. The princely privileges of the landed proprietors and cities +were transformed into so many at-tributes of the Executive power; the +feudal dignitaries into paid office-holders; and the confusing design +of conflicting medieval seigniories, into the well regulated plan of a +government, work is subdivided and centralized as in the factory. The +first French revolution, having as a mission to sweep away all local, +territorial, urban and provincial special privileges, with the object +of establishing the civic unity of the nation, was hound to develop +what the absolute monarchy had begun—the work of centralization, +together with the range, the attributes and the menials of government. +Napoleon completed this governmental machinery. The Legitimist and the +July Monarchy contribute nothing thereto, except a greater subdivision +of labor, that grew in the same measure as the division and subdivision +of labor within bourgeois society raised new groups and interests, +i.e., new material for the administration of government. Each Common +interest was in turn forthwith removed from society, set up against it +as a higher Collective interest, wrested from the individual activity +of the members of society, and turned into a subject for governmental +administration, from the bridges, the school house and the communal +property of a village community, up to the railroads, the national +wealth and the national University of France. Finally, the +parliamentary republic found itself, in its struggle against the +revolution, compelled, with its repressive measures, to strengthen the +means and the centralization of the government. Each overturn, instead +of breaking up, carried this machine to higher perfection. The parties, +that alternately wrestled for supremacy, looked upon the possession of +this tremendous governmental structure as the principal spoils of their +victory. + +Nevertheless, under the absolute monarchy, was only the means whereby +the first revolution, and under Napoleon, to prepare the class rule of +the bourgeoisie; under the restoration, under Louis Philippe, and under +the parliamentary republic, it was the instrument of the ruling class, +however eagerly this class strained after autocracy. Not before the +advent of the second Bonaparte does the government seem to have made +itself fully independent. The machinery of government has by this time +so thoroughly fortified itself against society, that the chief of the +“Society of December 10” is thought good enough to be at its head; a +fortune-hunter, run in from abroad, is raised on its shield by a +drunken soldiery, bought by himself with liquor and sausages, and whom +he is forced ever again to throw sops to. Hence the timid despair, the +sense of crushing humiliation and degradation that oppresses the breast +of France and makes her to choke. She feels dishonored. + +And yet the French Government does not float in the air. Bonaparte +represents an economic class, and that the most numerous in the +commonweal of France—the Allotment Farmer. [#4 The first French +Revolution distributed the bulk of the territory of France, held at the +time by the feudal lords, in small patches among the cultivators of the +soil. This allotment of lands created the French farmer class.] + +As the Bourbons are the dynasty of large landed property, as the +Orleans are the dynasty of money, so are the Bonapartes the dynasty of +the farmer, i.e. of the French masses. Not the Bonaparte, who threw +himself at the feet of the bourgeois parliament, but the Bonaparte, who +swept away the bourgeois parliament, is the elect of this farmer class. +For three years the cities had succeeded in falsifying the meaning of +the election of December 10, and in cheating the farmer out of the +restoration of the Empire. The election of December 10, 1848, is not +carried out until the “coup d’etat” of December 2, 1851. + +The allotment farmers are an immense mass, whose individual members +live in identical conditions, without, however, entering into manifold +relations with one another. Their method of production isolates them +from one another, instead of drawing them into mutual intercourse. This +isolation is promoted by the poor means of communication in France, +together with the poverty of the farmers themselves. Their field of +production, the small allotment of land that each cultivates, allows no +room for a division of labor, and no opportunity for the application of +science; in other words, it shuts out manifoldness of development, +diversity of talent, and the luxury of social relations. Every single +farmer family is almost self-sufficient; itself produces directly the +greater part of what it consumes; and it earns its livelihood more by +means of an interchange with nature than by intercourse with society. +We have the allotted patch of land, the farmer and his family; +alongside of that another allotted patch of land, another farmer and +another family. A bunch of these makes up a village; a bunch of +villages makes up a Department. Thus the large mass of the French +nation is constituted by the simple addition of equal magnitudes—much +as a bag with potatoes constitutes a potato-bag. In so far as millions +of families live under economic conditions that separate their mode of +life, their interests and their culture from those of the other +classes, and that place them in an attitude hostile toward the latter, +they constitute a class; in so far as there exists only a local +connection among these farmers, a connection which the individuality +and exclusiveness of their interests prevent from generating among them +any unity of interest, national connections, and political +organization, they do not constitute a class. Consequently, they are +unable to assert their class interests in their own name, be it by a +parliament or by convention. They can not represent one another, they +must themselves be represented. Their representative must at the same +time appear as their master, as an authority over them, as an unlimited +governmental power, that protects them from above, bestows rain and +sunshine upon them. Accordingly, the political influence of the +allotment farmer finds its ultimate expression in an Executive power +that subjugates the commonweal to its own autocratic will. + +Historic tradition has given birth to the superstition among the French +farmers that a man named Napoleon would restore to them all manner of +glory. Now, then, an individual turns I up, who gives himself out as +that man because, obedient to the “Code Napoleon,” which provides that +“La recherche de la paternite est interdite,” [#5 The inquiry into +paternity is forbidden.] he carries the name of Napoleon. [#6 L. N. +Bonaparte is said to have been an illegitimate son.] After a +vagabondage of twenty years, and a series of grotesque adventures, the +myth is verified, and that man becomes the Emperor of the French. The +rooted thought of the Nephew becomes a reality because it coincided +with the rooted thought of the most numerous class among the French. + +“But,” I shall be objected to, “what about the farmers’ uprisings over +half France, the raids of the Army upon the farmers, the wholesale +imprisonment and transportation of farmers?” + +Indeed, since Louis XIV., France has not experienced such persecutions +of the farmer on the ground of his demagogic machinations. + +But this should be well understood: The Bonaparte dynasty does not +represent the revolutionary, it represents the conservative farmer; it +does not represent the farmer, who presses beyond his own economic +conditions, his little allotment of land it represents him rather who +would confirm these conditions; it does not represent the rural +population, that, thanks to its own inherent energy, wishes, jointly +with the cities to overthrow the old order, it represents, on the +contrary, the rural population that, hide-bound in the old order, seeks +to see itself, together with its allotments, saved and favored by the +ghost of the Empire; it represents, not the intelligence, but the +superstition of the farmer; not his judgment, but his bias; not his +future, but his past; not his modern Cevennes; [#7 The Cevennes were +the theater of the most numerous revolutionary uprisings of the farmer +class.] but his modern Vendee. [#8 La Vendee was the theater of +protracted reactionary uprisings of the farmer class under the first +Revolution.] + +The three years’ severe rule of the parliamentary republic had freed a +part of the French farmers from the Napoleonic illusion, and, though +even only superficially; had revolutionized them The bourgeoisie threw +them, however, violently back every time that they set themselves in +motion. Under the parliamentary republic, the modern wrestled with the +traditional consciousness of the French farmer. The process went on in +the form of a continuous struggle between the school teachers and the +parsons;—the bourgeoisie knocked the school teachers down. For the +first time, the farmer made an effort to take an independent stand in +the government of the country; this manifested itself in the prolonged +conflicts of the Mayors with the Prefects;—the bourgeoisie deposed the +Mayors. Finally, during period of the parliamentary republic, the +farmers of several localities rose against their own product, the +Army;—the bourgeoisie punished them with states of siege and +executions. And this is the identical bourgeoisie, that now howls over +the “stupidity of the masses,” over the “vile multitude,” which, it +claims, betrayed it to Bonaparte. Itself has violently fortified the +imperialism of the farmer class; it firmly maintained the conditions +that Constitute the birth-place of this farmer-religion. Indeed, the +bourgeoisie has every reason to fear the stupidity of the masses—so +long as they remain conservative; and their intelligence—so soon as +they become revolutionary. + +In the revolts that took place after the “coup d’etat” a part of the +French farmers protested, arms in hand, against their own vote of +December 10, 1848. The school house had, since 1848, sharpened their +wits. But they had bound themselves over to the nether world of +history, and history kept them to their word. Moreover, the majority of +this population was still so full of prejudices that, just in the +“reddest” Departments, it voted openly for Bonaparte. The National +Assembly prevented, as it thought, this population from walking; the +farmers now snapped the fetters which the cities had struck upon the +will of the country districts. In some places they even indulged the +grotesque hallucination of a “Convention together with a Napoleon.” + +After the first revolution had converted the serf farmers into +freeholders, Napoleon fixed and regulated the conditions under which, +unmolested, they could exploit the soil of France, that had just fallen +into their hands, and expiate the youthful passion for property. But +that which now bears the French farmer down is that very allotment of +land, it is the partition of the soil, the form of ownership, which +Napoleon had consolidated. These are the material condition that turned +French feudal peasant into a small or allotment farmer, and Napoleon +into an Emperor. Two generations have sufficed to produce the +inevitable result the progressive deterioration of agriculture, and the +progressive encumbering of the agriculturist The “Napoleonic” form of +ownership, which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the +condition for the emancipation and enrichment of the French rural +population, has, in the course of the century, developed into the law +of their enslavement and pauperism. Now, then, this very law is the +first of the “idees Napoleoniennes,” which the second Bonaparte must +uphold. If he still shares with the farmers the illusion of seeking, +not in the system of the small allotment itself, but outside of that +system, in the influence of secondary conditions, the cause of their +ruin, his experiments are bound to burst like soap-bubbles against the +modern system of production. + +The economic development of the allotment system has turned bottom +upward the relation of the farmer to the other classes of society. +Under Napoleon, the parceling out of the agricultural lands into small +allotments supplemented in the country the free competition and the +incipient large production of the cities. The farmer class was the +ubiquitous protest against the aristocracy of land, just then +overthrown. The roots that the system of small allotments cast into the +soil of France, deprived feudalism of all nutriment. Its boundary-posts +constituted the natural buttress of the bourgeoisie against every +stroke of the old overlords. But in the course of the nineteenth +century, the City Usurer stepped into the shoes of the Feudal Lord, the +Mortgage substituted the Feudal Duties formerly yielded by the soil, +bourgeois Capital took the place of the aristocracy of Landed Property. +The former allotments are now only a pretext that allows the capitalist +class to draw profit, interest and rent from agricultural lands, and to +leave to the farmer himself the task of seeing to it that he knock out +his wages. The mortgage indebtedness that burdens the soil of France +imposes upon the French farmer class they payment of an interest as +great as the annual interest on the whole British national debt. In +this slavery of capital, whither its development drives it +irresistibly, the allotment system has transformed the mass of the +French nation into troglodytes. Sixteen million farmers (women and +children included), house in hovels most of which have only one +opening, some two, and the few most favored ones three. Windows are to +a house what the five senses are to the head. The bourgeois social +order, which, at the beginning of the century, placed the State as a +sentinel before the newly instituted allotment, and that manured this +with laurels, has become a vampire that sucks out its heart-blood and +its very brain, and throws it into the alchemist’s pot of capital. The +“Code Napoleon” is now but the codex of execution, of sheriff’s sales +and of intensified taxation. To the four million (children, etc., +included) official paupers, vagabonds, criminals and prostitutes, that +France numbers, must be added five million souls who hover over the +precipice of life, and either sojourn in the country itself, or float +with their rags and their children from the country to the cities, and +from the cities back to the country. Accordingly, the interests of the +farmers are no longer, as under Napoleon, in harmony but in conflict +with the interests of the bourgeoisie, i.e., with capital; they find +their natural allies and leaders among the urban proletariat, whose +mission is the overthrow of the bourgeois social order. But the “strong +and unlimited government”—and this is the second of the “idees +Napoleoniennes,” which the second Napoleon has to carried out—, has for +its mission the forcible defence of this very “material” social order, +a “material order” that furnishes the slogan in Bonaparte’s +proclamations against the farmers in revolt. + +Along with the mortgage, imposed by capital upon the farmer’s +allotment, this is burdened by taxation. Taxation is the fountain of +life to the bureaucracy, the Army, the parsons and the court, in short +to the whole apparatus of the Executive power. A strong government, and +heavy taxes are identical. The system of ownership, involved in the +system of allotments lends itself by nature for the groundwork of a +powerful and numerous bureaucracy: it produces an even level of +conditions and of persons over the whole surface of the country; it, +therefore, allows the exercise of an even influence upon all parts of +this even mass from a high central point downwards: it annihilates the +aristocratic gradations between the popular masses and the Government; +it, consequently, calls from all sides for the direct intervention of +the Government and for the intervention of the latter’s immediate +organs; and, finally, it produces an unemployed excess of population, +that finds no room either in the country or in the cities, that, +consequently, snatches after public office as a sort of dignified alms, +and provokes the creation of further offices. With the new markets, +which he opened at the point of the bayonet, and with the plunder of +the continent, Napoleon returned to the farmer class with interest the +taxes wrung from them. These taxes were then a goad to the industry of +the farmer, while now, on the contrary, they rob his industry of its +last source of support, and completely sap his power to resist poverty. +Indeed, an enormous bureaucracy, richly gallooned and well fed is that +“idee Napoleonienne” that above all others suits the requirements of +the second Bonaparte. How else should it be, seeing he is forced to +raise alongside of the actual classes of society, an artificial class, +to which the maintenance of his own regime must be a knife-and-fork +question? One of his first financial operations was, accordingly, the +raising of the salaries of the government employees to their former +standard and the creation of new sinecures. + +Another “idee Napoleonienne” is the rule of the parsons as an +instrument of government. But while the new-born allotment, in harmony +with society, in its dependence upon the powers of nature, and in its +subordination to the authority that protected it from above, was +naturally religious, the debt-broken allotment, on the contrary, at +odds with society and authority, and driven beyond its own narrow +bounds, becomes as naturally irreligious. Heaven was quite a pretty +gift thrown in with the narrow strip of land that had just been won, +all the more as it makes the weather; it, however, becomes an insult +from the moment it is forced upon the farmer as a substitute for his +allotment. Then the parson appears merely as the anointed blood-hound +of the earthly police,—yet another “idee Napoleonienne.” The expedition +against Rome will next time take place in France, but in a reverse +sense from that of M. de Montalembert. + +Finally, the culminating point of the “idees Napoleoniennes” is the +preponderance of the Army. The Army was the “point of honor” with the +allotment farmers: it was themselves turned into masters, defending +abroad their newly established property, glorifying their recently +conquered nationality, plundering and revolutionizing the world. The +uniform was their State costume; war was their poetry; the allotment, +expanded and rounded up in their phantasy, was the fatherland; and +patriotism became the ideal form of property. But the foe, against whom +the French farmer must now defend his property, are not the Cossacks, +they are the sheriffs and the tax collectors. The allotment no longer +lies in the so-called fatherland, but in the register of mortgages. The +Army itself no longer is the flower of the youth of the farmers, it is +the swamp-blossom of the slum-proletariat of the farmer class. It +consists of “remplacants,” substitutes, just as the second Bonaparte +himself is but a “remplacant,” a substitute, for Napoleon. Its feats of +heroism are now performed in raids instituted against farmers and in +the service of the police;—and when the internal contradictions of his +own system shall drive the chief of the “Society of December 10” across +the French frontier, that Army will, after a few bandit-raids, gather +no laurels but only hard knocks. + +It is evident that all the “idees Napoleoniennes” are the ideas of the +undeveloped and youthfully fresh allotment; they are an absurdity for +the allotment that now survives. They are only the hallucinations of +its death struggle; words turned to hollow phrases, spirits turned to +spooks. But this parody of the Empire was requisite in order to free +the mass of the French nation from the weight of tradition, and to +elaborate sharply the contrast between Government and Society. Along +with the progressive decay of the allotment, the governmental +structure, reared upon it, breaks down. The centralization of +Government, required by modern society, rises only upon the ruins of +the military and bureaucratic governmental machinery that was forged in +contrast to feudalism. + +The conditions of the French farmers’ class solve to us the riddle of +the general elections of December 20 and 21, that led the second +Bonaparte to the top of Sinai, not to receive, but to decree laws. + +The bourgeoisie had now, manifestly, no choice but to elect Bonaparte. +When at the Council of Constance, the puritans complained of the sinful +life of the Popes, and moaned about the need of a reform in morals, +Cardinal d’Ailly thundered into their faces: “Only the devil in his Own +person can now save the Catholic Church, and you demand angels.” So, +likewise, did the French bourgeoisie cry out after the “coup d’etat”: +“Only the chief of the ‘Society of December 10’ can now save bourgeois +society, only theft can save property, only perjury religion, only +bastardy the family, only disorder order!” + +Bonaparte, as autocratic Executive power, fulfills his mission to +secure “bourgeois order.” But the strength of this bourgeois order lies +in the middle class. He feels himself the representative of the middle +class, and issues his decrees in that sense. Nevertheless, he is +something only because he has broken the political power of this class, +and daily breaks it anew. Hence he feels himself the adversary of the +political and the literary power of the middle class. But, by +protecting their material, he nourishes anew their political power. +Consequently, the cause must be kept alive, but the result, wherever it +manifests itself, swept out of existence. But this procedure is +impossible without slight mistakings of causes and effects, seeing that +both, in their mutual action and reaction, lose their distinctive +marks. Thereupon, new decrees, that blur the line of distinction. +Bonaparte, furthermore, feels himself, as against the bourgeoisie, the +representative of the farmer and the people in general, who, within +bourgeois society, is to render the lower classes of society happy. To +this end, new decrees, intended to exploit the “true Socialists,” +together with their governmental wisdom. But, above all, Bonaparte +feels himself the chief of the “Society of December 10,” the +representative of the slum-proletariat, to which he himself, his +immediate surroundings, his Government, and his army alike belong, the +main object with all of whom is to be good to themselves, and draw +Californian tickets out of the national treasury. An he affirms his +chieftainship of the “Society of December 10” with decrees, without +decrees, and despite decrees. + +This contradictory mission of the man explains the contradictions of +his own Government, and that confused groping about, that now seeks to +win, then to humiliate now this class and then that, and finishes by +arraying against itself all the classes; whose actual insecurity +constitutes a highly comical contrast with the imperious, categoric +style of the Government acts, copied closely from the Uncle. + +Industry and commerce, i.e., the business of the middle class, are to +be made to blossom in hot-house style under the “strong Government.” +Loans for a number of railroad grants. But the Bonapartist +slum-proletariat is to enrich itself. Peculation is carried on with +railroad concessions on the Bourse by the initiated; but no capital is +forthcoming for the railroads. The bank then pledges itself to make +advances upon railroad stock; but the bank is itself to be exploited; +hence, it must be cajoled; it is released of the obligation to publish +its reports weekly. Then follows a leonine treaty between the bank and +the Government. The people are to be occupied: public works are +ordered; but the public works raise the tax rates upon the people; +thereupon the taxes are reduced by an attack upon the national +bond-holders through the conversion of the five per cent “rentes” [#9 +The name of the French national bonds.] into four-and-halves. Yet the +middle class must again be tipped: to this end, the tax on wine is +doubled for the people, who buy it at retail, and is reduced to +one-half for the middle class, that drink it at wholesale. Genuine +labor organizations are dissolved, but promises are made of future +wonders to accrue from organization. The farmers are to be helped: +mortgage-banks are set up that must promote the indebtedness; of the +farmer and the concentration of property but again, these banks are to +be utilized especially to the end of squeezing money out of the +confiscated estates of the House of Orleans; no capitalist will listen +to this scheme, which, moreover, is not mentioned in the decree; the +mortgage bank remains a mere decree, etc., etc. + +Bonaparte would like to appear as the patriarchal benefactor of all +classes; but he can give to none without taking from the others. As was +said of the Duke of Guise, at the time of the Fronde, that he was the +most obliging man in France because he had converted all his estates +into bonds upon himself for his Parisians, so would Napoleon like to be +the most obliging man in France and convert all property and all labor +of France into a personal bond upon himself. He would like to steal the +whole of France to make a present thereof to France, or rather to be +able to purchase France back again with French money;—as chief of the +“Society of December 10,” he must purchase that which is to be his. All +the State institutions, the Senate, the Council of State, the +Legislature, the Legion of Honor, the Soldiers’ decorations, the public +baths, the public buildings, the railroads, the General Staff of the +National Guard, exclusive of the rank and file, the confiscated estates +of the House of Orleans,—all are converted into institutions for +purchase and sale. Every place in the Army and the machinery of +Government becomes a purchasing power. The most important thing, +however, in this process, whereby France is taken to be given back to +herself, are the percentages that, in the transfer, drop into the hands +of the chief and the members of the “Society of December 10.” The +witticisms with which the Countess of L., the mistress of de Morny, +characterized the confiscations of the Orleanist estates: “C’est le +premier vol de l’aigle,” [#10 “It is the first flight of the eagle” The +French word “vol” means theft as well as flight.] fits every fight of +the eagle that is rather a crow. He himself and his followers daily +call out to themselves, like the Italian Carthusian monk in the legend +does to the miser, who displayfully counted the goods on which he could +live for many years to come: “Tu fai conto sopra i beni, bisogna prima +far il conto sopra gli anni.” [#11 “You count your property you should +rather count the years left to you.”] In order not to make a mistake in +the years, they count by minutes. A crowd of fellows, of the best among +whom all that can be said is that one knows not whence he comes—a +noisy, restless “Boheme,” greedy after plunder, that crawls about in +gallooned frocks with the same grotesque dignity as Soulonque’s [#12 +Soulonque was the negro Emperor of the short-lived negro Empire of +Hayti.] Imperial dignitaries—, thronged the court crowded the +ministries, and pressed upon the head of the Government and of the +Army. One can picture to himself this upper crust of the “Society of +December 10” by considering that Veron Crevel [#13 Crevel is a +character of Balzac, drawn after Dr. Veron, the proprietor of the +“Constitutional” newspaper, as a type of the dissolute Parisian +Philistine.] is their preacher of morality, and Granier de Cassagnac +their thinker. When Guizot, at the time he was Minister, employed this +Granier on an obscure sheet against the dynastic opposition, he used to +praise him with the term: “C’est le roi des droles.” [#14 “He Is the +king of the clowns.”] It were a mistake to recall the days of the +Regency or of Louis XV. by the court and the kit of Louis Bonaparte’s: +“Often did France have a mistress-administration, but never yet an +administration of kept men.” [#15 Madame de Girardin.] + +Harassed by the contradictory demands of his situation, and compelled, +like a sleight-of-hands performer, to keep, by means of constant +surprises, the eyes of the public riveted upon himself as the +substitute of Napoleon, compelled, consequently, everyday to accomplish +a sort of “coup” on a small scale, Bonaparte throws the whole bourgeois +social system into disorder; he broaches everything that seemed +unbroachable by the revolution of 1848; he makes one set people patient +under the revolution and another anxious for it; he produces anarchy +itself in the name of order by rubbing off from the whole machinery of +Government the veneer of sanctity, by profaning it, by rendering it at +once nauseating and laughable. He rehearses in Paris the cult of the +sacred coat of Trier with the cult of the Napoleonic Imperial mantle. +But when the Imperial Mantle shall have finally fallen upon the +shoulders of Louis Bonaparte, then will also the iron statue of +Napoleon drop down from the top of the Vendome column. [#16 A prophecy +that a few years later, after Bonaparte’s coronation as Emperor, was +literally fulfilled. By order of Emperor Louis Napoleon, the military +statue of the Napoleon that originally surmounted the Vendome was taken +down and replaced by one of first Napoleon in imperial robes.] + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE *** + +***** This file should be named 1346-0.txt or 1346-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/1346/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no + restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + diff --git a/old/1346-0.zip b/old/1346-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8fe66b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1346-0.zip diff --git a/old/1346-h.zip b/old/1346-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e71f9a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1346-h.zip diff --git a/old/1346-h/1346-h.htm b/old/1346-h/1346-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0171bad --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1346-h/1346-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4704 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, by Karl Marx</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, by Karl Marx</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Karl Marx</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Daniel de Leon</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June, 1998 [eBook #1346]<br /> +[Most recently updated: April 19, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE ***</div> + +<h1>The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Karl Marx</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">Translator’s Preface</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">I.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">II.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">III.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">IV.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">V.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">VI.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">VII.</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>Translator’s Preface</h2> + +<p> +“The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte” is one of Karl +Marx’ most profound and most brilliant monographs. It may be considered +the best work extant on the philosophy of history, with an eye especially upon +the history of the Movement of the Proletariat, together with the bourgeois and +other manifestations that accompany the same, and the tactics that such +conditions dictate. +</p> + +<p> +The recent populist uprising; the more recent “Debs Movement”; the +thousand and one utopian and chimerical notions that are flaring up; the +capitalist maneuvers; the hopeless, helpless grasping after straws, that +characterize the conduct of the bulk of the working class; all of these, +together with the empty-headed, ominous figures that are springing into +notoriety for a time and have their day, mark the present period of the Labor +Movement in the nation a critical one. The best information acquirable, the +best mental training obtainable are requisite to steer through the existing +chaos that the death-tainted social system of today creates all around us. To +aid in this needed information and mental training, this instructive work is +now made accessible to English readers, and is commended to the serious study +of the serious. +</p> + +<p> +The teachings contained in this work are hung on an episode in recent French +history. With some this fact may detract of its value. A pedantic, supercilious +notion is extensively abroad among us that we are an “Anglo Saxon” +nation; and an equally pedantic, supercilious habit causes many to look to +England for inspiration, as from a racial birthplace. Nevertheless, for weal or +for woe, there is no such thing extant as “Anglo-Saxon”—of +all nations, said to be “Anglo-Saxon,” in the United States least. +What we still have from England, much as appearances may seem to point the +other way, is not of our bone-and-marrow, so to speak, but rather partakes of +the nature of “importations.” We are no more English on account of +them than we are Chinese because we all drink tea. +</p> + +<p> +Of all European nations, France is the on to which we come nearest. Besides its +republican form of government—the directness of its history, the unity of +its actions, the sharpness that marks its internal development, are all +characteristics that find their parallel her best, and vice versa. In all +essentials the study of modern French history, particularly when sketched by +such a master hand as Marx’, is the most valuable one for the acquisition +of that historic, social and biologic insight that our country stands +particularly in need of, and that will be inestimable during the approaching +critical days. +</p> + +<p> +For the assistance of those who, unfamiliar with the history of France, may be +confused by some of the terms used by Marx, the following explanations may +prove aidful: +</p> + +<p> +On the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9th), the post-revolutionary development of affairs +in France enabled the first Napoleon to take a step that led with inevitable +certainty to the imperial throne. The circumstance that fifty and odd years +later similar events aided his nephew, Louis Bonaparte, to take a similar step +with a similar result, gives the name to this work—“The Eighteenth +Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.” +</p> + +<p> +As to the other terms and allusions that occur, the following sketch will +suffice: +</p> + +<p> +Upon the overthrow of the first Napoleon came the restoration of the Bourbon +throne (Louis XVIII, succeeded by Charles X). In July, 1830, an uprising of the +upper tier of the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class—the aristocracy of +finance—overthrew the Bourbon throne, or landed aristocracy, and set up +the throne of Orleans, a younger branch of the house of Bourbon, with Louis +Philippe as king. From the month in which this revolution occurred, Louis +Philippe’s monarchy is called the “July Monarchy.” In +February, 1848, a revolt of a lower tier of the capitalist class—the +industrial bourgeoisie—against the aristocracy of finance, in turn +dethroned Louis Philippe. The affair, also named from the month in which it +took place, is the “February Revolution”. “The Eighteenth +Brumaire” starts with that event. +</p> + +<p> +Despite the inapplicableness to our affairs of the political names and +political leadership herein described, both these names and leaderships are to +such an extent the products of an economic-social development that has here too +taken place with even greater sharpens, and they have their present or +threatened counterparts here so completely, that, by the light of this work of +Marx’, we are best enabled to understand our own history, to know whence +we came, and whither we are going and how to conduct ourselves. +</p> + +<p> +D.D.L. New York, Sept. 12, 1897 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>I.</h2> + +<p> +Hegel says somewhere that that great historic facts and personages recur twice. +He forgot to add: “Once as tragedy, and again as farce.” +Caussidiere for Danton, Louis Blanc for Robespierre, the “Mountain” +of 1848-51 for the “Mountain” of 1793-05, the Nephew for the Uncle. +The identical caricature marks also the conditions under which the second +edition of the eighteenth Brumaire is issued. +</p> + +<p> +Man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of the whole cloth; he +does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself, but out of such as he +finds close at hand. The tradition of all past generations weighs like an alp +upon the brain of the living. At the very time when men appear engaged in +revolutionizing things and themselves, in bringing about what never was before, +at such very epochs of revolutionary crisis do they anxiously conjure up into +their service the spirits of the past, assume their names, their battle cries, +their costumes to enact a new historic scene in such time-honored disguise and +with such borrowed language Thus did Luther masquerade as the Apostle Paul; +thus did the revolution of 1789-1814 drape itself alternately as Roman Republic +and as Roman Empire; nor did the revolution of 1818 know what better to do than +to parody at one time the year 1789, at another the revolutionary traditions of +1793-95. Thus does the beginner, who has acquired a new language, keep on +translating it back into his own mother tongue; only then has he grasped the +spirit of the new language and is able freely to express himself therewith when +he moves in it without recollections of the old, and has forgotten in its use +his own hereditary tongue. +</p> + +<p> +When these historic configurations of the dead past are closely observed a +striking difference is forthwith noticeable. Camille Desmoulins, Danton, +Robespierre, St. Juste, Napoleon, the heroes as well as the parties and the +masses of the old French revolution, achieved in Roman costumes and with Roman +phrases the task of their time: the emancipation and the establishment of +modern bourgeois society. One set knocked to pieces the old feudal groundwork +and mowed down the feudal heads that had grown upon it; Napoleon brought about, +within France, the conditions under which alone free competition could develop, +the partitioned lands be exploited, the nation’s unshackled powers of +industrial production be utilized; while, beyond the French frontier, he swept +away everywhere the establishments of feudality, so far as requisite, to +furnish the bourgeois social system of France with fit surroundings of the +European continent, and such as were in keeping with the times. Once the new +social establishment was set on foot, the antediluvian giants vanished, and, +along with them, the resuscitated Roman world—the Brutuses, Gracchi, +Publicolas, the Tribunes, the Senators, and Caesar himself. In its sober +reality, bourgeois society had produced its own true interpretation in the +Says, Cousins, Royer-Collards, Benjamin Constants and Guizots; its real +generals sat behind the office desks; and the mutton-head of Louis XVIII was +its political lead. Wholly absorbed in the production of wealth and in the +peaceful fight of competition, this society could no longer understand that the +ghosts of the days of Rome had watched over its cradle. And yet, lacking in +heroism as bourgeois society is, it nevertheless had stood in need of heroism, +of self-sacrifice, of terror, of civil war, and of bloody battle fields to +bring it into the world. Its gladiators found in the stern classic traditions +of the Roman republic the ideals and the form, the self-deceptions, that they +needed in order to conceal from themselves the narrow bourgeois substance of +their own struggles, and to keep their passion up to the height of a great +historic tragedy. Thus, at another stage of development a century before, did +Cromwell and the English people draw from the Old Testament the language, +passions and illusions for their own bourgeois revolution. When the real goal +was reached, when the remodeling of English society was accomplished, Locke +supplanted Habakuk. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, the reviving of the dead in those revolutions served the purpose +of glorifying the new struggles, not of parodying the old; it served the +purpose of exaggerating to the imagination the given task, not to recoil before +its practical solution; it served the purpose of rekindling the revolutionary +spirit, not to trot out its ghost. +</p> + +<p> +In 1848-51 only the ghost of the old revolution wandered about, from Marrast +the “Republicain en gaunts jaunes,” [#1 Silk-stocking republican] +who disguised himself in old Bailly, down to the adventurer, who hid his +repulsively trivial features under the iron death mask of Napoleon. A whole +people, that imagines it has imparted to itself accelerated powers of motion +through a revolution, suddenly finds itself transferred back to a dead epoch, +and, lest there be any mistake possible on this head, the old dates turn up +again; the old calendars; the old names; the old edicts, which long since had +sunk to the level of the antiquarian’s learning; even the old bailiffs, +who had long seemed mouldering with decay. The nation takes on the appearance +of that crazy Englishman in Bedlam, who imagines he is living in the days of +the Pharaohs, and daily laments the hard work that he must do in the Ethiopian +mines as gold digger, immured in a subterranean prison, with a dim lamp +fastened on his head, behind him the slave overseer with a long whip, and, at +the mouths of the mine a mob of barbarous camp servants who understand neither +the convicts in the mines nor one another, because they do not speak a common +language. “And all this,” cries the crazy Englishman, “is +demanded of me, the free-born Englishman, in order to make gold for old +Pharaoh.” “In order to pay off the debts of the Bonaparte +family”—sobs the French nation. The Englishman, so long as he was +in his senses, could not rid himself of the rooted thought making gold. The +Frenchmen, so long as they were busy with a revolution, could not rid then +selves of the Napoleonic memory, as the election of December 10th proved. They +longed to escape from the dangers of revolution back to the flesh pots of +Egypt; the 2d of December, 1851 was the answer. They have not merely the +character of the old Napoleon, but the old Napoleon himself—caricatured +as he needs must appear in the middle of the nineteenth century. +</p> + +<p> +The social revolution of the nineteenth century can not draw its poetry from +the past, it can draw that only from the future. It cannot start upon its work +before it has stricken off all superstition concerning the past. Former +revolutions require historic reminiscences in order to intoxicate themselves +with their own issues. The revolution of the nineteenth century must let the +dead bury their dead in order to reach its issue. With the former, the phrase +surpasses the substance; with this one, the substance surpasses the phrase. +</p> + +<p> +The February revolution was a surprisal; old society was taken unawares; and +the people proclaimed this political stroke a great historic act whereby the +new era was opened. On the 2d of December, the February revolution is jockeyed +by the trick of a false player, and what seems to be overthrown is no longer +the monarchy, but the liberal concessions which had been wrung from it by +centuries of struggles. Instead of society itself having conquered a new point, +only the State appears to have returned to its oldest form, to the simply +brazen rule of the sword and the club. Thus, upon the “coup de +main” of February, 1848, comes the response of the “coup de +tete” December, 1851. So won, so lost. Meanwhile, the interval did not go +by unutilized. During the years 1848-1851, French society retrieved in +abbreviated, because revolutionary, method the lessons and teachings, +which—if it was to be more than a disturbance of the surface—should +have preceded the February revolution, had it developed in regular order, by +rule, so to say. Now French society seems to have receded behind its point of +departure; in fact, however, it was compelled to first produce its own +revolutionary point of departure, the situation, circumstances, conditions, +under which alone the modern revolution is in earnest. +</p> + +<p> +Bourgeois revolutions, like those of the eighteenth century, rush onward +rapidly from success to success, their stage effects outbid one another, men +and things seem to be set in flaming brilliants, ecstasy is the prevailing +spirit; but they are short-lived, they reach their climax speedily, then +society relapses into a long fit of nervous reaction before it learns how to +appropriate the fruits of its period of feverish excitement. Proletarian +revolutions, on the contrary, such as those of the nineteenth century, +criticize themselves constantly; constantly interrupt themselves in their own +course; come back to what seems to have been accomplished, in order to start +over anew; scorn with cruel thoroughness the half measures, weaknesses and +meannesses of their first attempts; seem to throw down their adversary only in +order to enable him to draw fresh strength from the earth, and again, to rise +up against them in more gigantic stature; constantly recoil in fear before the +undefined monster magnitude of their own objects—until finally that +situation is created which renders all retreat impossible, and the conditions +themselves cry out: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“Hic Rhodus, hic salta!”<br /> +[#2 Here is Rhodes, leap here! An allusion to Aesop’s Fables.] +</p> + +<p> +Every observer of average intelligence; even if he failed to follow step by +step the course of French development, must have anticipated that an unheard of +fiasco was in store for the revolution. It was enough to hear the +self-satisfied yelpings of victory wherewith the Messieurs Democrats mutually +congratulated one another upon the pardons of May 2d, 1852. Indeed, May 2d had +become a fixed idea in their heads; it had become a dogma with +them—something like the day on which Christ was to reappear and the +Millennium to begin had formed in the heads of the Chiliasts. Weakness had, as +it ever does, taken refuge in the wonderful; it believed the enemy was overcome +if, in its imagination, it hocus-pocused him away; and it lost all sense of the +present in the imaginary apotheosis of the future, that was at hand, and of the +deeds, that it had “in petto,” but which it did not yet want to +bring to the scratch. The heroes, who ever seek to refute their established +incompetence by mutually bestowing their sympathy upon one another and by +pulling together, had packed their satchels, taken their laurels in advance +payments and were just engaged in the work of getting discounted “in +partibus,” on the stock exchange, the republics for which, in the silence +of their unassuming dispositions, they had carefully organized the government +personnel. The 2d of December struck them like a bolt from a clear sky; and the +peoples, who, in periods of timid despondency, gladly allow their hidden fears +to be drowned by the loudest screamers, will perhaps have become convinced that +the days are gone by when the cackling of geese could save the Capitol. +</p> + +<p> +The constitution, the national assembly, the dynastic parties, the blue and the +red republicans, the heroes from Africa, the thunder from the tribune, the +flash-lightnings from the daily press, the whole literature, the political +names and the intellectual celebrities, the civil and the criminal law, the +“liberte’, egalite’, fraternite’,” together with +the 2d of May 1852—all vanished like a phantasmagoria before the ban of +one man, whom his enemies themselves do not pronounce an adept at witchcraft. +Universal suffrage seems to have survived only for a moment, to the end that, +before the eyes of the whole world, it should make its own testament with its +own hands, and, in the name of the people, declare: “All that exists +deserves to perish.” +</p> + +<p> +It is not enough to say, as the Frenchmen do, that their nation was taken by +surprise. A nation, no more than a woman, is excused for the unguarded hour +when the first adventurer who comes along can do violence to her. The riddle is +not solved by such shifts, it is only formulated in other words. There remains +to be explained how a nation of thirty-six millions can be surprised by three +swindlers, and taken to prison without resistance. +</p> + +<p> +Let us recapitulate in general outlines the phases which the French revolution +of February 24th, 1848, to December, 1851, ran through. +</p> + +<p> +Three main periods are unmistakable: +</p> + +<p> +First—The February period; +</p> + +<p> +Second—The period of constituting the republic, or of the constitutive +national assembly (May 4, 1848, to May 29th, 1849); +</p> + +<p> +Third—The period of the constitutional republic, or of the legislative +national assembly (May 29, 1849, to December 2, 1851). +</p> + +<p> +The first period, from February 24, or the downfall of Louis Philippe, to May +4, 1848, the date of the assembling of the constitutive assembly—the +February period proper—may be designated as the prologue of the +revolution. It officially expressed its own character in this, that the +government which it improvised declared itself “provisional;” and, +like the government, everything that was broached, attempted, or uttered, +pronounced itself provisional. Nobody and nothing dared to assume the right of +permanent existence and of an actual fact. All the elements that had prepared +or determined the revolution—dynastic opposition, republican bourgeoisie, +democratic-republican small traders’ class, social-democratic labor +element—all found “provisionally” their place in the February +government. +</p> + +<p> +It could not be otherwise. The February days contemplated originally a reform +of the suffrage laws, whereby the area of the politically privileged among the +property-holding class was to be extended, while the exclusive rule of the +aristocracy of finance was to be overthrown. When however, it came to a real +conflict, when the people mounted the barricades, when the National Guard stood +passive, when the army offered no serious resistance, and the kingdom ran away, +then the republic seemed self-understood. Each party interpreted it in its own +sense. Won, arms in hand, by the proletariat, they put upon it the stamp of +their own class, and proclaimed the social republic. Thus the general purpose +of modern revolutions was indicated, a purpose, however, that stood in most +singular contradiction to every thing that, with the material at hand, with the +stage of enlightenment that the masses had reached, and under existing +circumstances and conditions, could be immediately used. On the other hand, the +claims of all the other elements, that had cooperated in the revolution of +February, were recognized by the lion’s share that they received in the +government. Hence, in no period do we find a more motley mixture of +high-sounding phrases together with actual doubt and helplessness; of more +enthusiastic reform aspirations, together with a more slavish adherence to the +old routine; more seeming harmony permeating the whole of society together with +a deeper alienation of its several elements. While the Parisian proletariat was +still gloating over the sight of the great perspective that had disclosed +itself to their view, and was indulging in seriously meant discussions over the +social problems, the old powers of society had groomed themselves, had gathered +together, had deliberated and found an unexpected support in the mass of the +nation—the peasants and small traders—all of whom threw themselves +on a sudden upon the political stage, after the barriers of the July monarchy +had fallen down. +</p> + +<p> +The second period, from May 4, 1848, to the end of May, 1849, is the period of +the constitution, of the founding of the bourgeois republic immediately after +the February days, not only was the dynastic opposition surprised by the +republicans, and the republicans by the Socialists, but all France was +surprised by Paris. The national assembly, that met on May 4, 1848, to frame a +constitution, was the outcome of the national elections; it represented the +nation. It was a living protest against the assumption of the February days, +and it was intended to bring the results of the revolution back to the +bourgeois measure. In vain did the proletariat of Paris, which forthwith +understood the character of this national assembly, endeavor, a few days after +its meeting; on May 15, to deny its existence by force, to dissolve it, to +disperse the organic apparition, in which the reacting spirit of the nation was +threatening them, and thus reduce it back to its separate component parts. As +is known, the 15th of May had no other result than that of removing Blanqui and +his associates, i.e. the real leaders of the proletarian party, from the public +scene for the whole period of the cycle which we are here considering. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe, only the bourgeois republic +could follow; that is to say, a limited portion of the bourgeoisie having ruled +under the name of the king, now the whole bourgeoisie was to rule under the +name of the people. The demands of the Parisian proletariat are utopian +tom-fooleries that have to be done away with. To this declaration of the +constitutional national assembly, the Paris proletariat answers with the June +insurrection, the most colossal event in the history of European civil wars. +The bourgeois republic won. On its side stood the aristocracy of finance, the +industrial bourgeoisie; the middle class; the small traders’ class; the +army; the slums, organized as Guarde Mobile; the intellectual celebrities, the +parsons’ class, and the rural population. On the side of the Parisian +proletariat stood none but itself. Over 3,000 insurgents were massacred, after +the victory 15,000 were transported without trial. With this defeat, the +proletariat steps to the background on the revolutionary stage. It always seeks +to crowd forward, so soon as the movement seems to acquire new impetus, but +with ever weaker effort and ever smaller results; So soon as any of the above +lying layers of society gets into revolutionary fermentation, it enters into +alliance therewith and thus shares all the defeats which the several parties +successively suffer. But these succeeding blows become ever weaker the more +generally they are distributed over the whole surface of society. The more +important leaders of the Proletariat, in its councils, and the press, fall one +after another victims of the courts, and ever more questionable figures step to +the front. It partly throws itself it upon doctrinaire experiments, +“co-operative banking” and “labor exchange” schemes; in +other words, movements, in which it goes into movements in which it gives up +the task of revolutionizing the old world with its own large collective weapons +and on the contrary, seeks to bring about its emancipation, behind the back of +society, in private ways, within the narrow bounds of its own class conditions, +and, consequently, inevitably fails. The proletariat seems to be able neither +to find again the revolutionary magnitude within itself nor to draw new energy +from the newly formed alliances until all the classes, with whom it contended +in June, shall lie prostrate along with itself. But in all these defeats, the +proletariat succumbs at least with the honor that attaches to great historic +struggles; not France alone, all Europe trembles before the June earthquake, +while the successive defeats inflicted upon the higher classes are bought so +easily that they need the brazen exaggeration of the victorious party itself to +be at all able to pass muster as an event; and these defeats become more +disgraceful the further removed the defeated party stands from the proletariat. +</p> + +<p> +True enough, the defeat of the June insurgents prepared, leveled the ground, +upon which the bourgeois republic could be founded and erected; but it, at the +same time, showed that there are in Europe other issues besides that of +“Republic or Monarchy.” It revealed the fact that here the +Bourgeois Republic meant the unbridled despotism of one class over another. It +proved that, with nations enjoying an older civilization, having developed +class distinctions, modern conditions of production, an intellectual +consciousness, wherein all traditions of old have been dissolved through the +work of centuries, that with such countries the republic means only the +political revolutionary form of bourgeois society, not its conservative form of +existence, as is the case in the United States of America, where, true enough, +the classes already exist, but have not yet acquired permanent character, are +in constant flux and reflux, constantly changing their elements and yielding +them up to one another where the modern means of production, instead of +coinciding with a stagnant population, rather compensate for the relative +scarcity of heads and hands; and, finally, where the feverishly youthful life +of material production, which has to appropriate a new world to itself, has so +far left neither time nor opportunity to abolish the illusions of old. [#3 This +was written at the beginning of 1852.] +</p> + +<p> +All classes and parties joined hands in the June days in a “Party of +Order” against the class of the proletariat, which was designated as the +“Party of Anarchy,” of Socialism, of Communism. They claimed to +have “saved” society against the “enemies of society.” +They gave out the slogans of the old social order—“Property, +Family, Religion, Order”—as the passwords for their army, and cried +out to the counter-revolutionary crusaders: “In this sign thou wilt +conquer!” From that moment on, so soon as any of the numerous parties, +which had marshaled themselves under this sign against the June insurgents, +tries, in turn, to take the revolutionary field in the interest of its own +class, it goes down in its turn before the cry: “Property, Family, +Religion, Order.” Thus it happens that “society is saved” as +often as the circle of its ruling class is narrowed, as often as a more +exclusive interest asserts itself over the general. Every demand for the most +simple bourgeois financial reform, for the most ordinary liberalism, for the +most commonplace republicanism, for the flattest democracy, is forthwith +punished as an “assault upon society,” and is branded as +“Socialism.” Finally the High Priests of “Religion and +Order” themselves are kicked off their tripods; are fetched out of their +beds in the dark; hurried into patrol wagons, thrust into jail or sent into +exile; their temple is razed to the ground, their mouths are sealed, their pen +is broken, their law torn to pieces in the name of Religion, of Family, of +Property, and of Order. Bourgeois, fanatic on the point of “Order,” +are shot down on their own balconies by drunken soldiers, forfeit their family +property, and their houses are bombarded for pastime—all in the name of +Property, of Family, of Religion, and of Order. Finally, the refuse of +bourgeois society constitutes the “holy phalanx of Order,” and the +hero Crapulinsky makes his entry into the Tuileries as the “Savior of +Society.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>II.</h2> + +<p> +Let us resume the thread of events. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the Constitutional National Assembly from the June days on, is +the history of the supremacy and dissolution of the republican bourgeois party, +the party which is known under several names of “Tricolor +Republican,” “True Republican,” “Political +Republican,” “Formal Republican,” etc., etc. Under the +bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe, this party had constituted the Official +Republican Opposition, and consequently had been a recognized element in the +then political world. It had its representatives in the Chambers, and commanded +considerable influence in the press. Its Parisian organ, the +“National,” passed, in its way, for as respectable a paper as the +“Journal des Debats.” This position in the constitutional monarchy +corresponded to its character. The party was not a fraction of the bourgeoisie, +held together by great and common interests, and marked by special business +requirements. It was a coterie of bourgeois with republican +ideas—writers, lawyers, officers and civil employees, whose influence +rested upon the personal antipathies of the country for Louis Philippe, upon +reminiscences of the old Republic, upon the republican faith of a number of +enthusiasts, and, above all, upon the spirit of French patriotism, whose hatred +of the treaties of Vienna and of the alliance with England kept them +perpetually on the alert. The “National” owed a large portion of +its following under Louis Philippe to this covert imperialism, that, later +under the republic, could stand up against it as a deadly competitor in the +person of Louis Bonaparte. The paper fought the aristocracy of finance just the +same as did the rest of the bourgeois opposition. The polemic against the +budget, which in France, was closely connected with the opposition to the +aristocracy of finance, furnished too cheap a popularity and too rich a +material for Puritanical leading articles, not to be exploited. The industrial +bourgeoisie was thankful to it for its servile defense of the French tariff +system, which, however, the paper had taken up, more out of patriotic than +economic reasons; the whole bourgeois class was thankful to it for its vicious +denunciations of Communism and Socialism. For the rest, the party of the +“National” was purely republican, i.e. it demanded a republican +instead of a monarchic form of bourgeois government; above all, it demanded for +the bourgeoisie the lion’s share of the government. As to how this +transformation was to be accomplished, the party was far from being clear. +What, however, was clear as day to it and was openly declared at the reform +banquets during the last days of Louis Philippe’s reign, was its +unpopularity with the democratic middle class, especially with the +revolutionary proletariat. These pure republicans, as pure republicans go, were +at first on the very point of contenting themselves with the regency of the +Duchess of Orleans, when the February revolution broke out, and when it gave +their best known representatives a place in the provisional government. Of +course, they enjoyed from the start the confidence of the bourgeoisie and of +the majority of the Constitutional National Assembly. The Socialist elements of +the Provisional Government were promptly excluded from the Executive Committee +which the Assembly had elected upon its convening, and the party of the +“National” subsequently utilized the outbreak of the June +insurrection to dismiss this Executive Committee also, and thus rid itself of +its nearest rivals—the small traders’ class or democratic +republicans (Ledru-Rollin, etc.). Cavaignac, the General of the bourgeois +republican party, who commanded at the battle of June, stepped into the place +of the Executive Committee with a sort of dictatorial power. Marrast, former +editor-in-chief of the “National”, became permanent President of +the Constitutional National Assembly, and the Secretaryship of State, together +with all the other important posts, devolved upon the pure republicans. +</p> + +<p> +The republican bourgeois party, which since long had looked upon itself as the +legitimate heir of the July monarchy, thus found itself surpassed in its own +ideal; but it came to power, not as it had dreamed under Louis Philippe, +through a liberal revolt of the bourgeoisie against the throne, but through a +grape-shot-and-canistered mutiny of the proletariat against Capital. That which +it imagined to be the most revolutionary, came about as the most +counter-revolutionary event. The fruit fell into its lap, but it fell from the +Tree of Knowledge, not from the Tree of Life. +</p> + +<p> +The exclusive power of the bourgeois republic lasted only from June 24 to the +10th of December, 1848. It is summed up in the framing of a republican +constitution and in the state of siege of Paris. +</p> + +<p> +The new Constitution was in substance only a republicanized edition of the +constitutional charter of 1830. The limited suffrage of the July monarchy, +which excluded even a large portion of the bourgeoisie from political power, +was irreconcilable with the existence of the bourgeois republic. The February +revolution had forthwith proclaimed direct and universal suffrage in place of +the old law. The bourgeois republic could not annul this act. They had to +content themselves with tacking to it the limitation a six months’ +residence. The old organization of the administrative law, of municipal +government, of court procedures of the army, etc., remained untouched, or, +where the constitution did change them, the change affected their index, not +their subject; their name, not their substance. +</p> + +<p> +The inevitable “General Staff” of the “freedoms” of +1848—personal freedom, freedom of the press, of speech, of association +and of assemblage, freedom of instruction, of religion, etc.—received a +constitutional uniform that rendered them invulnerable. Each of these freedoms +is proclaimed the absolute right of the French citizen, but always with the +gloss that it is unlimited in so far only as it be not curtailed by the +“equal rights of others,” and by the “public safety,” +or by the “laws,” which are intended to effect this harmony. For +instance: +</p> + +<p> +“Citizens have the right of association, of peaceful and unarmed +assemblage, of petitioning, and of expressing their opinions through the press +or otherwise. The enjoyment of these rights has no limitation other than the +equal rights of others and the public safety.” (Chap. II. of the French +Constitution, Section 8.) +</p> + +<p> +“Education is free. The freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the +conditions provided by law, and under the supervision of the State.” +(Section 9.) +</p> + +<p> +“The domicile of the citizen is inviolable, except under the forms +prescribed by law.” (Chap. I., Section 3), etc., etc. +</p> + +<p> +The Constitution, it will be noticed, constantly alludes to future organic +laws, that are to carry out the glosses, and are intended to regulate the +enjoyment of these unabridged freedoms, to the end that they collide neither +with one another nor with the public safety. Later on, the organic laws are +called into existence by the “Friends of Order,” and all the above +named freedoms are so regulated that, in their enjoyment, the bourgeoisie +encounter no opposition from the like rights of the other classes. Wherever the +bourgeoisie wholly interdicted these rights to “others,” or allowed +them their enjoyment under conditions that were but so many police snares, it +was always done only in the interest of the “public safety,” i. e., +of the bourgeoisie, as required by the Constitution. +</p> + +<p> +Hence it comes that both sides—the “Friends of Order,” who +abolished all those freedoms, as, well as the democrats, who had demanded them +all—appeal with full right to the Constitution: Each paragraph of the +Constitution contains its own antithesis, its own Upper and Lower +House—freedom as a generalization, the abolition of freedom as a +specification. Accordingly, so long as the name of freedom was respected, and +only its real enforcement was prevented in a legal way, of course the +constitutional existence of freedom remained uninjured, untouched, however +completely its common existence might be extinguished. +</p> + +<p> +This Constitution, so ingeniously made invulnerable, was, however, like +Achilles, vulnerable at one point: not in its heel, but in its head, or rather, +in the two heads into which it ran out—the Legislative Assembly, on the +one hand, and the President on the other. Run through the Constitution and it +will be found that only those paragraphs wherein the relation of the President +to the Legislative Assembly is defined, are absolute, positive, +uncontradictory, undistortable. +</p> + +<p> +Here the bourgeois republicans were concerned in securing their own position. +Articles 45-70 of the Constitution are so framed that the National Assembly can +constitutionally remove the President, but the President can set aside the +National Assembly only unconstitutionally, he can set it aside only by setting +aside the Constitution itself. Accordingly, by these provisions, the National +Assembly challenges its own violent destruction. It not only consecrates, like +the character of 1830, the division of powers, but it extends this feature to +an unbearably contradictory extreme. The “play of constitutional +powers,” as Guizot styled the clapper-clawings between the legislative +and the executive powers, plays permanent “vabanque” in the +Constitution of 1848. On the one side, 750 representatives of the people, +elected and qualified for re-election by universal suffrage, who constitute an +uncontrollable, indissoluble, indivisible National Assembly, a National +Assembly that enjoys legislative omnipotence, that decides in the last instance +over war, peace and commercial treaties, that alone has the power to grant +amnesties, and that, through its perpetuity, continually maintains the +foreground on the stage; on the other, a President, clad with all the +attributes of royalty, with the right to appoint and remove his ministers +independently from the national assembly, holding in his hands all the means of +executive power, the dispenser of all posts, and thereby the arbiter of at +least one and a half million existences in France, so many being dependent upon +the 500,000 civil employees and upon the officers of all grades. He has the +whole armed power behind him. He enjoys the privilege of granting pardons to +individual criminals; suspending the National Guards; of removing with the +consent of the Council of State the general, cantonal and municipal Councilmen, +elected by the citizens themselves. The initiative and direction of all +negotiations with foreign countries are reserved to him. While the Assembly +itself is constantly acting upon the stage, and is exposed to the critically +vulgar light of day, he leads a hidden life in the Elysian fields, only with +Article 45 of the Constitution before his eyes and in his heart daily calling +out to him, “Frere, il faut mourir!” [#1 Brother, you must die!] +Your power expires on the second Sunday of the beautiful month of May, in the +fourth year after your election! The glory is then at an end; the play is not +performed twice; and, if you have any debts, see to it betimes that you pay +them off with the 600,000 francs that the Constitution has set aside for you, +unless, perchance, you should prefer traveling to Clichy [#2 The debtors’ +prison.] on the second Monday of the beautiful month of May. +</p> + +<p> +While the Constitution thus clothes the President with actual power, it seeks +to secure the moral power to the National Assembly. Apart from the circumstance +that it is impossible to create a moral power through legislative paragraphs, +the Constitution again neutralizes itself in that it causes the President to be +chosen by all the Frenchmen through direct suffrage. While the votes of France +are splintered to pieces upon the 750 members of the National Assembly they are +here, on the contrary, concentrated upon one individual. While each separate +Representative represents only this or that party, this or that city, this or +that dunghill, or possibly only the necessity of electing some one +Seven-hundred-and-fiftieth or other, with whom neither the issue nor the man is +closely considered, that one, the President, on the contrary, is the elect of +the nation, and the act of his election is the trump card, that, the sovereign +people plays out once every four years. The elected National Assembly stands in +a metaphysical, but the elected President in a personal, relation to the +nation. True enough, the National Assembly presents in its several +Representatives the various sides of the national spirit, but, in the +President, this spirit is incarnated. As against the National Assembly, the +President possesses a sort of divine right, he is by the grace of the people. +</p> + +<p> +Thetis, the sea-goddess, had prophesied to Achilles that he would die in the +bloom of youth. The Constitution, which had its weak spot, like Achilles, had +also, like Achilles, the presentiment that it would depart by premature death. +It was enough for the pure republicans, engaged at the work of framing a +constitution, to cast a glance from the misty heights of their ideal republic +down upon the profane world in order to realize how the arrogance of the +royalists, of the Bonapartists, of the democrats, of the Communists, rose +daily, together with their own discredit, and in the same measure as they +approached the completion of their legislative work of art, without Thetis +having for this purpose to leave the sea and impart the secret to them. They +ought to outwit fate by means of constitutional artifice, through Section 111 +of the Constitution, according to which every motion to revise the Constitution +had to be discussed three successive times between each of which a full month +was to elapse and required at least a three-fourths majority, with the +additional proviso that not less than 500 members of the National Assembly +voted. They thereby only made the impotent attempt, still to exercise as a +parliamentary minority, to which in their mind’s eye they prophetically +saw themselves reduced, a power, that, at this very time, when they still +disposed over the parliamentary majority and over all the machinery of +government, was daily slipping from their weak hands. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, the Constitution entrusts itself for safe keeping, in a melodramatic +paragraph, “to the watchfulness and patriotism of the whole French +people, and of each individual Frenchman,” after having just before, in +another paragraph entrusted the “watchful” and the +“patriotic” themselves to the tender, inquisitorial attention of +the High Court, instituted by itself. +</p> + +<p> +That was the Constitution of 1848, which on, the 2d of December, 1851, was not +overthrown by one head, but tumbled down at the touch of a mere hat; though, +true enough, that hat was a three-cornered Napoleon hat. +</p> + +<p> +While the bourgeois’ republicans were engaged in the Assembly with the +work of splicing this Constitution, of discussing and voting, Cavaignac, on the +outside, maintained the state of siege of Paris. The state of siege of Paris +was the midwife of the constitutional assembly, during its republican pains of +travail. When the Constitution is later on swept off the earth by the bayonet, +it should not be forgotten that it was by the bayonet, likewise—and the +bayonet turned against the people, at that—that it had to be protected in +its mother’s womb, and that by the bayonet it had to be planted on earth. +The ancestors of these “honest republicans” had caused their +symbol, the tricolor, to make the tour of Europe. These, in their turn also +made a discovery, which all of itself, found its way over the whole continent, +but, with ever renewed love, came back to France, until, by this time, if had +acquired the right of citizenship in one-half of her Departments—the +state of siege. A wondrous discovery this was, periodically applied at each +succeeding crisis in the course of the French revolution. But the barrack and +the bivouac, thus periodically laid on the head of French society, to compress +her brain and reduce her to quiet; the sabre and the musket, periodically made +to perform the functions of judges and of administrators, of guardians and of +censors, of police officers and of watchmen; the military moustache and the +soldier’s jacket, periodically heralded as the highest wisdom and guiding +stars of society;—were not all of these, the barrack and the bivouac, the +sabre and the musket, the moustache and the soldier’s jacket bound, in +the end, to hit upon the idea that they might as well save society once for +all, by proclaiming their own regime as supreme, and relieve bourgeois society +wholly of the care of ruling itself? The barrack and the bivouac, the sabre and +the musket, the moustache and the soldier’s jacket were all the more +bound to hit upon this idea, seeing that they could then also expect better +cash payment for their increased deserts, while at the merely periodic states +of siege and the transitory savings of society at the behest of this or that +bourgeois faction, very little solid matter fell to them except some dead and +wounded, besides some friendly bourgeois grimaces. Should not the military, +finally, in and for its own interest, play the game of “state of +siege,” and simultaneously besiege the bourgeois exchanges? Moreover, it +must not be forgotten, and be it observed in passing, that Col. Bernard, the +same President of the Military Committee, who, under Cavaignac, helped to +deport 15,000 insurgents without trial, moves at this period again at the head +of the Military Committees now active in Paris. +</p> + +<p> +Although the honest, the pure republicans built with the state of siege the +nursery in which the Praetorian guards of December 2, 1851, were to be reared, +they, on the other hand, deserve praise in that, instead of exaggerating the +feeling of patriotism, as under Louis Philippe, now; they themselves are in +command of the national power, they crawl before foreign powers; instead of +making Italy free, they allow her to be reconquered by Austrians and +Neapolitans. The election of Louis Bonaparte for President on December 10, +1848, put an end to the dictatorship of Cavaignac and to the constitutional +assembly. +</p> + +<p> +In Article 44 of the Constitution it is said “The President of the French +Republic must never have lost his status as a French citizen.” The first +President of the French Republic, L. N. Bonaparte, had not only lost his status +as a French citizen, had not only been an English special constable, but was +even a naturalized Swiss citizen. +</p> + +<p> +In the previous chapter I have explained the meaning of the election of +December 10. I shall not here return to it. Suffice it here to say that it was +a reaction of the farmers’ class, who had been expected to pay the costs +of the February revolution, against the other classes of the nation: it was a +reaction of the country against the city. It met with great favor among the +soldiers, to whom the republicans of the “National” had brought +neither fame nor funds; among the great bourgeoisie, who hailed Bonaparte as a +bridge to the monarchy; and among the proletarians and small traders, who +hailed him as a scourge to Cavaignac. I shall later have occasion to enter +closer into the relation of the farmers to the French revolution. +</p> + +<p> +The epoch between December 20, 1848, and the dissolution of the constitutional +assembly in May, 1849, embraces the history of the downfall of the bourgeois +republicans. After they had founded a republic for the bourgeoisie, had driven +the revolutionary proletariat from the field and had meanwhile silenced the +democratic middle class, they are themselves shoved aside by the mass of the +bourgeoisie who justly appropriate this republic as their property. This +bourgeois mass was Royalist, however. A part thereof, the large landed +proprietors, had ruled under the restoration, hence, was Legitimist; the other +part, the aristocrats of finance and the large industrial capitalists, had +ruled under the July monarchy, hence, was Orleanist. The high functionaries of +the Army, of the University, of the Church, in the civil service, of the +Academy and of the press, divided themselves on both sides, although in unequal +parts. Here, in the bourgeois republic, that bore neither the name of Bourbon, +nor of Orleans, but the name of Capital, they had found the form of government +under which they could all rule in common. Already the June insurrection had +united them all into a “Party of Order.” The next thing to do was +to remove the bourgeois republicans who still held the seats in the National +Assembly. As brutally as these pure republicans had abused their own physical +power against the people, so cowardly, low-spirited, disheartened, broken, +powerless did they yield, now when the issue was the maintenance of their own +republicanism and their own legislative rights against the Executive power and +the royalists I need not here narrate the shameful history of their +dissolution. It was not a downfall, it was extinction. Their history is at an +end for all time. In the period that follows, they figure, whether within or +without the Assembly, only as memories—memories that seem again to come +to life so soon as the question is again only the word “Republic,” +and as often as the revolutionary conflict threatens to sink down to the lowest +level. In passing, I might observe that the journal which gave to this party +its name, the “National,” goes over to Socialism during the +following period. +</p> + +<p> +Before we close this period, we must look back upon the two powers, one of +destroys the other on December 2, 1851, while, from December 20, 1848, down to +the departure of the constitutional assembly, they live marital relations. We +mean Louis Bonaparte, on the-one hand, on the other, the party of the allied +royalists; of Order, and of the large bourgeoisie. +</p> + +<p> +At the inauguration of his presidency, Bonaparte forthwith framed a ministry +out of the party of Order, at whose head he placed Odillon Barrot, be it noted, +the old leader of the liberal wing of the parliamentary bourgeoisie. Mr. Barrot +had finally hunted down a seat in the ministry, the spook of which had been +pursuing him since 1830; and what is more, he had the chairmanship in this +ministry, although not, as he had imagined under Louis Philippe, the promoted +leader of the parliamentary opposition, but with the commission to kill a +parliament, and, moreover, as an ally of all his arch enemies, the Jesuits and +the Legitimists. Finally he leads the bride home, but only after she has been +prostituted. As to Bonaparte, he seemed to eclipse himself completely. The +party of Order acted for him. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately at the first session of the ministry the expedition to Rome was +decided upon, which it was there agreed, was to be carried out behind I the +back of the National Assembly, and the funds for which, it was equally agreed, +were to be wrung from the Assembly under false pretences. Thus the start was +made with a swindle on the National Assembly, together with a secret conspiracy +with the absolute foreign powers against the revolutionary Roman republic. In +the same way, and with a similar maneuver, did Bonaparte prepare his stroke of +December 2 against the royalist legislature and its constitutional republic. +Let it not be forgotten that the same party, which, on December 20, 1848, +constituted Bonaparte’s ministry, constituted also, on December 2, 1851, +the majority of the legislative National Assembly. +</p> + +<p> +In August the constitutive assembly decided not to dissolve until it had +prepared and promulgated a whole series of organic laws, intended to supplement +the Constitution. The party of Order proposed to the assembly, through +Representative Rateau, on January 6, 1849, to let the Organic laws go, and +rather to order its own dissolution. Not the ministry alone, with Mr. Odillon +Barrot at its head, but all the royalist members of the National Assembly were +also at this time hectoring to it that its dissolution was necessary for the +restoration of the public credit, for the consolidation of order, to put an end +to the existing uncertain and provisional, and establish a definite state of +things; they claimed that its continued existence hindered the effectiveness of +the new Government, that it sought to prolong its life out of pure malice, and +that the country was tired of it. Bonaparte took notice of all these invectives +hurled at the legislative power, he learned them by heart, and, on December 21, +1851, he showed the parliamentary royalists that he had learned from them. He +repeated their own slogans against themselves. +</p> + +<p> +The Barrot ministry and the party of Order went further. They called all over +France for petitions to the National Assembly in which that body was politely +requested to disappear. Thus they led the people’s unorganic masses to +the fray against the National Assembly, i.e., the constitutionally organized +expression of people itself. They taught Bonaparte, to appeal from the +parliamentary body to the people. Finally, on January 29, 1849, the day arrived +when the constitutional assembly was to decide about its own dissolution. On +that day the body found its building occupied by the military; Changarnier, the +General of the party of Order, in whose hands was joined the supreme command of +both the National Guards and the regulars, held that day a great military +review, as though a battle were imminent; and the coalized royalists declared +threateningly to the constitutional assembly that force would be applied if it +did not act willingly. It was willing, and chaffered only for a very short +respite. What else was the 29th of January, 1849, than the “coup +d’etat” of December 2, 1851, only executed by the royalists with +Napoleon’s aid against the republican National Assembly? These gentlemen +did not notice, or did not want to notice, that Napoleon utilized the 29th of +January, 1849, to cause a part of the troops to file before him in front of the +Tuileries, and that he seized with avidity this very first open exercise of the +military against the parliamentary power in order to hint at Caligula. The +allied royalists saw only their own Changarnier. +</p> + +<p> +Another reason that particularly moved the party of Order forcibly to shorten +the term of the constitutional assembly were the organic laws, the laws that +were to supplement the Constitution, as, for instance, the laws on education, +on religion, etc. The allied royalists had every interest in framing these laws +themselves, and not allowing them to be framed by the already suspicious +republicans. Among these organic laws, there was, however, one on the +responsibility of the President of the republic. In 1851 the Legislature was +just engaged in framing such a law when Bonaparte forestalled that political +stroke by his own of December 2. What all would not the coalized royalists have +given in their winter parliamentary campaign of 1851, had they but found this +“Responsibility law” ready made, and framed at that, by the +suspicious, the vicious republican Assembly! +</p> + +<p> +After, on January 29, 1849, the constitutive assembly had itself broken its +last weapon, the Barrot ministry and the “Friends of Order” +harassed it to death, left nothing undone to humiliate it, and wrung from its +weakness, despairing of itself, laws that cost it the last vestige of respect +with the public. Bonaparte, occupied with his own fixed Napoleonic idea, was +audacious enough openly to exploit this degradation of the parliamentary power: +When the National Assembly, on May 8, 1849, passed a vote of censure upon the +Ministry on account of the occupation of Civita-Vecchia by Oudinot, and ordered +that the Roman expedition be brought back to its alleged purpose, Bonaparte +published that same evening in the “Moniteur” a letter to Oudinot, +in which he congratulated him on his heroic feats, and already, in contrast +with the quill-pushing parliamentarians, posed as the generous protector of the +Army. The royalists smiled at this. They took him simply for their dupe. +Finally, as Marrast, the President of the constitutional assembly, believed on +a certain occasion the safety of the body to be in danger, and, resting on the +Constitution, made a requisition upon a Colonel, together with his regiment, +the Colonel refused obedience, took refuge behind the “discipline,” +and referred Marrast to Changarnier, who scornfully sent him off with the +remark that he did not like “bayonettes intelligentes.” [#1 +Intelligent bayonets] In November, 1851, as the coalized royalists wanted to +begin the decisive struggle with Bonaparte, they sought, by means of their +notorious “Questors Bill,” to enforce the principle of the right of +the President of the National Assembly to issue direct requisitions for troops. +One of their Generals, Leflo, supported the motion. In vain did Changarnier +vote for it, or did Thiers render homage to the cautious wisdom of the late +constitutional assembly. The Minister of War, St. Arnaud, answered him as +Changarnier had answered Marrast—and he did so amidst the plaudits of the +Mountain. +</p> + +<p> +Thus did the party of Order itself, when as yet it was not the National +Assembly, when as yet it was only a Ministry, brand the parliamentary regime. +And yet this party objects vociferously when the 2d of December, 1851, banishes +that regime from France! +</p> + +<p> +We wish it a happy journey. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>III.</h2> + +<p> +On May 29, 1849, the legislative National Assembly convened. On December 2, +1851, it was broken up. This period embraces the term of the Constitutional or +Parliamentary public. +</p> + +<p> +In the first French revolution, upon the reign of the Constitutionalists +succeeds that of the Girondins; and upon the reign of the Girondins follows +that of the Jacobins. Each of these parties in succession rests upon its more +advanced element. So soon as it has carried the revolution far enough not to be +able to keep pace with, much less march ahead of it, it is shoved aside by its +more daring allies, who stand behind it, and it is sent to the guillotine. Thus +the revolution moves along an upward line. +</p> + +<p> +Just the reverse in 1848. The proletarian party appears as an appendage to the +small traders’ or democratic party; it is betrayed by the latter and +allowed to fall on April 16, May 15, and in the June days. In its turn, the +democratic party leans upon the shoulders of the bourgeois republicans; barely +do the bourgeois republicans believe themselves firmly in power, than they +shake off these troublesome associates for the purpose of themselves leaning +upon the shoulders of the party of Order. The party of Order draws in its +shoulders, lets the bourgeois republicans tumble down heels over head, and +throws itself upon the shoulders of the armed power. Finally, still of the mind +that it is sustained by the shoulders of the armed power, the party of Order +notices one fine morning that these shoulders have turned into bayonets. Each +party kicks backward at those that are pushing forward, and leans forward upon +those that are crowding backward; no wonder that, in this ludicrous posture, +each loses its balance, and, after having cut the unavoidable grimaces, breaks +down amid singular somersaults. Accordingly, the revolution moves along a +downward line. It finds itself in this retreating motion before the last +February-barricade is cleared away, and the first governmental authority of the +revolution has been constituted. +</p> + +<p> +The period we now have before us embraces the motliest jumble of crying +contradictions: constitutionalists, who openly conspire against the +Constitution; revolutionists, who admittedly are constitutional; a National +Assembly that wishes to be omnipotent yet remains parliamentary; a Mountain, +that finds its occupation in submission, that parries its present defeats with +prophecies of future victories; royalists, who constitute the “patres +conscripti” of the republic, and are compelled by the situation to uphold +abroad the hostile monarchic houses, whose adherents they are, while in France +they support the republic that they hate; an Executive power that finds its +strength in its very weakness, and its dignity in the contempt that it +inspires; a republic, that is nothing else than the combined infamy of two +monarchies—the Restoration and the July Monarchy—with an imperial +label; unions, whose first clause is disunion; struggles, whose first law is +in-decision; in the name of peace, barren and hollow agitation; in the name of +the revolution, solemn sermonizings on peace; passions without truth; truths +without passion; heroes without heroism; history without events; development, +whose only moving force seems to be the calendar, and tiresome by the constant +reiteration of the same tensions and relaxes; contrasts, that seem to intensify +themselves periodically, only in order to wear themselves off and collapse +without a solution; pretentious efforts made for show, and bourgeois frights at +the danger of the destruction of the world, simultaneous with the carrying on +of the pettiest intrigues and the performance of court comedies by the +world’s saviours, who, in their “laisser aller,” recall the +Day of Judgment not so much as the days of the Fronde; the official collective +genius of France brought to shame by the artful stupidity of a single +individual; the collective will of the nation, as often as it speaks through +the general suffrage, seeking its true expression in the prescriptive enemies +of the public interests until it finally finds it in the arbitrary will of a +filibuster. If ever a slice from history is drawn black upon black, it is this. +Men and events appear as reversed “Schlemihls,” [#1 The hero In +Chamisso’s “Peter Schiemihi,” who loses his own shadow.] as +shadows, the bodies of which have been lost. The revolution itself paralyzes +its own apostles, and equips only its adversaries with passionate violence. +When the “Red Spectre,” constantly conjured up and exorcised by the +counter-revolutionists finally does appear, it does not appear with the +Anarchist Phrygian cap on its head, but in the uniform of Order, in the Red +Breeches of the French Soldier. +</p> + +<p> +We saw that the Ministry, which Bonaparte installed on December 20, 1849, the +day of his “Ascension,” was a ministry of the party of Order, of +the Legitimist and Orleanist coalition. The Barrot-Falloux ministry had +weathered the republican constitutive convention, whose term of life it had +shortened with more or less violence, and found itself still at the helm. +Changamier, the General of the allied royalists continued to unite in his +person the command-in-chief of the First Military Division and of the Parisian +National Guard. Finally, the general elections had secured the large majority +in the National Assembly to the party of Order. Here the Deputies and Peers of +Louis Phillipe met a saintly crowd of Legitimists, for whose benefit numerous +ballots of the nation had been converted into admission tickets to the +political stage. The Bonapartist representatives were too thinly sowed to be +able to build an independent parliamentary party. They appeared only as +“mauvaise queue” [#2 Practical joke] played upon the party of +Order. Thus the party of Order was in possession of the Government, of the +Army, and of the legislative body, in short, of the total power of the State, +morally strengthened by the general elections, that caused their sovereignty to +appear as the will of the people, and by the simultaneous victory of the +counter-revolution on the whole continent of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Never did party open its campaign with larger means at its disposal and under +more favorable auspices. +</p> + +<p> +The shipwrecked pure republicans found themselves in the legislative National +Assembly melted down to a clique of fifty men, with the African Generals +Cavaignac, Lamorciere and Bedeau at its head. The great Opposition party was, +however, formed by the Mountain. This parliamentary baptismal name was given to +itself by the Social Democratic party. It disposed of more than two hundred +votes out of the seven hundred and fifty in the National Assembly, and, hence, +was at least just as powerful as any one of the three factions of the party of +Order. Its relative minority to the total royalist coalition seemed +counterbalanced by special circumstances. Not only did the Departmental +election returns show that it had gained a considerable following among the +rural population, but, furthermore, it numbered almost all the Paris Deputies +in its camp; the Army had, by the election of three under-officers, made a +confession of democratic faith; and the leader of the Mountain, Ledru-Rollin +had in contrast to all the representatives of the party of Order, been raised +to the rank of the “parliamentary nobility” by five Departments, +who combined their suffrages upon him. Accordingly, in view of the inevitable +collisions of the royalists among themselves, on the one hand, and of the whole +party of Order with Bonaparte, on the other, the Mountain seemed on May +29,1849, to have before it all the elements of success. A fortnight later, it +had lost everything, its honor included. +</p> + +<p> +Before we follow this parliamentary history any further, a few observations are +necessary, in order to avoid certain common deceptions concerning the whole +character of the epoch that lies before us. According to the view of the +democrats, the issue, during the period of the legislative National Assembly, +was, the same as during the period of the constitutive assembly, simply the +struggle between republicans and royalists; the movement itself was summed up +by them in the catch-word Reaction—night, in which all cats are grey, and +allows them to drawl out their drowsy commonplaces. Indeed, at first sight, the +party of Order presents the appearance of a tangle of royalist factions, that, +not only intrigue against each other, each aiming to raise its own Pretender to +the throne, and exclude the Pretender of the Opposite party, but also are all +united in a common hatred for and common attacks against the +“Republic.” On its side, the Mountain appears, in +counter-distinction to the royalist conspiracy, as the representative of the +“Republic.” The party of Order seems constantly engaged in a +“Reaction,” which, neither more nor less than in Prussia, is +directed against the press, the right of association and the like, and is +enforced by brutal police interventions on the part of the bureaucracy, the +police and the public prosecutor—just as in Prussia; the Mountain on the +contrary, is engaged with equal assiduity in parrying these attacks, and thus +in defending the “eternal rights of man”—as every so-called +people’s party has more or less done for the last hundred and fifty +years. At a closer inspection, however, of the situation and of the parties, +this superficial appearance, which veils the Class Struggle, together with the +peculiar physiognomy of this period, vanishes wholly. +</p> + +<p> +Legitimists and Orleanists constituted, as said before, the two large factions +of the party of Order. What held these two factions to their respective +Pretenders, and inversely kept them apart from each other, what else was it but +the lily and the tricolor, the House of Bourbon and the house of Orleans, +different shades of royalty? Under the Bourbons, Large Landed Property ruled +together with its parsons and lackeys; under the Orleanist, it was the high +finance, large industry, large commerce, i.e., Capital, with its retinue of +lawyers, professors and orators. The Legitimate kingdom was but the political +expression for the hereditary rule of the landlords, as the July monarchy was +bur the political expression for the usurped rule of the bourgeois upstarts. +What, accordingly, kept these two factions apart was no so-called set of +principles, it was their material conditions for life—two different sorts +of property—; it was the old antagonism of the City and the Country, the +rivalry between Capital and Landed property. That simultaneously old +recollections; personal animosities, fears and hopes; prejudices and illusions; +sympathies and antipathies; convictions, faith and principles bound these +factions to one House or the other, who denies it? Upon the several forms of +property, upon the social conditions of existence, a whole superstructure is +reared of various and peculiarly shaped feelings, illusions, habits of thought +and conceptions of life. The whole class produces and shapes these out of its +material foundation and out of the corresponding social conditions. The +individual unit to whom they flow through tradition and education, may fancy +that they constitute the true reasons for and premises of his conduct. Although +Orleanists and Legitimists, each of these factions, sought to make itself and +the other believe that what kept the two apart was the attachment of each to +its respective royal House; nevertheless, facts proved later that it rather was +their divided interest that forbade the union of the two royal Houses. As, in +private life, the distinction is made between what a man thinks of himself and +says, and that which he really is and does, so, all the more, must the phrases +and notions of parties in historic struggles be distinguished from the real +organism, and their real interests, their notions and their reality. Orleanists +and Legitimists found themselves in the republic beside each other with equal +claims. Each side wishing, in opposition to the other, to carry out the +restoration of its own royal House, meant nothing else than that each of the +two great Interests into which the bourgeoisie is divided—Land and +Capital—sought to restore its own supremacy and the subordinacy of the +other. We speak of two bourgeois interests because large landed property, +despite its feudal coquetry and pride of race, has become completely bourgeois +through the development of modern society. Thus did the Tories of England long +fancy that they were enthusiastic for the Kingdom, the Church and the beauties +of the old English Constitution, until the day of danger wrung from them the +admission that their enthusiasm was only for Ground Rent. +</p> + +<p> +The coalized royalists carried on their intrigues against each other in the +press, in Ems, in Clarmont—outside of the parliament. Behind the scenes, +they don again their old Orleanist and Legitimist liveries, and conduct their +old tourneys; on the public stage, however, in their public acts, as a great +parliamentary party, they dispose of their respective royal houses with mere +courtesies, adjourn “in infinitum” the restoration of the monarchy. +Their real business is transacted as Party of Order, i. e., under a Social, not +a Political title; as representatives of the bourgeois social system; not as +knights of traveling princesses, but as the bourgeois class against the other +classes; not as royalists against republicans. Indeed, as party of Order they +exercised a more unlimited and harder dominion over the other classes of +society than ever before either under the restoration or the July monarchy-a +thing possible only under the form of a parliamentary republic, because under +this form alone could the two large divisions of the French bourgeoisie be +united; in other words, only under this form could they place on the order of +business the sovereignty of their class, in lieu of the regime of a privileged +faction of the same. If, this notwithstanding, they are seen as the party of +Order to insult the republic and express their antipathy for it, it happened +not out of royalist traditions only: Instinct taught them that while, indeed, +the republic completes their authority, it at the same time undermined their +social foundation, in that, without intermediary, without the mask of the +crown, without being able to turn aside the national interest by means of its +subordinate struggles among its own conflicting elements and with the crown, +the republic is compelled to stand up sharp against the subjugated classes, and +wrestle with them. It was a sense of weakness that caused them to recoil before +the unqualified demands of their own class rule, and to retreat to the less +complete, less developed, and, for that very reason, less dangerous forms of +the same. As often, on the contrary, as the allied royalists come into conflict +with the Pretender who stands before them—with Bonaparte—, as often +as they believe their parliamentary omnipotence to be endangered by the +Executive, in other words, as often as they must trot out the political title +of their authority, they step up as Republicans, not as Royalists—and +this is done from the Orleanist Thiers, who warns the National Assembly that +the republic divides them least, down to Legitimist Berryer, who, on December +2, 1851, the scarf of the tricolor around him, harangues the people assembled +before the Mayor’s building of the Tenth Arrondissement, as a tribune in +the name of the Republic; the echo, however, derisively answering back to him: +“Henry V.! Henry V!” [#3 The candidate of the Bourbons, or +Legitimists, for the throne.] +</p> + +<p> +However, against the allied bourgeois, a coalition was made between the small +traders and the workingmen—the so-called Social Democratic party. The +small traders found themselves ill rewarded after the June days of 1848; they +saw their material interests endangered, and the democratic guarantees, that +were to uphold their interests, made doubtful. Hence, they drew closer to the +workingmen. On the other hand, their parliamentary representatives—the +Mountain—, after being shoved aside during the dictatorship of the +bourgeois republicans, had, during the last half of the term of the +constitutive convention, regained their lost popularity through the struggle +with Bonaparte and the royalist ministers. They had made an alliance with the +Socialist leaders. During February, 1849, reconciliation banquets were held. A +common program was drafted, joint election committees were empanelled, and +fusion candidates were set up. The revolutionary point was thereby broken off +from the social demands of the proletariat and a democratic turn given to them; +while, from the democratic claims of the small traders’ class, the mere +political form was rubbed off and the Socialist point was pushed forward. Thus +came the Social Democracy about. The new Mountain, the result of this +combination, contained, with the exception of some figures from the working +class and some Socialist sectarians, the identical elements of the old +Mountain, only numerically stronger. In the course of events it had, however, +changed, together with the class that it represented. The peculiar character of +the Social Democracy is summed up in this that democratic-republican +institutions are demanded as the means, not to remove the two +extremes—Capital and Wage-slavery—, but in order to weaken their +antagonism and transform them into a harmonious whole. However different the +methods may be that are proposed for the accomplishment of this object, however +much the object itself may be festooned with more or less revolutionary +fancies, the substance remains the same. This substance is the transformation +of society upon democratic lines, but a transformation within the boundaries of +the small traders’ class. No one must run away with the narrow notion +that the small traders’ class means on principle to enforce a selfish +class interest. It believes rather that the special conditions for its own +emancipation are the general conditions under which alone modern society can be +saved and the class struggle avoided. Likewise must we avoid running away with +the notion that the Democratic Representatives are all +“shopkeepers,” or enthuse for these. They may—by education +and individual standing—be as distant from them as heaven is from earth. +That which makes them representatives of the small traders’ class is that +they do not intellectually leap the bounds which that class itself does not +leap in practical life; that, consequently, they are theoretically driven to +the same problems and solutions, to which material interests and social +standing practically drive the latter. Such, in fact, is at all times the +relation of the “political” and the “literary” +representatives of a class to the class they represent. +</p> + +<p> +After the foregoing explanations, it goes with-out saying that, while the +Mountain is constantly wrestling for the republic and the so-called +“rights of man,” neither the republic nor the “rights of +man” is its real goal, as little as an army, whose weapons it is sought +to deprive it of and that defends itself, steps on the field of battle simply +in order to remain in possession of implements of warfare. +</p> + +<p> +The party of Order provoked the Mountain immediately upon the convening of the +assembly. The bourgeoisie now felt the necessity of disposing of the democratic +small traders’ class, just as a year before it had understood the +necessity of putting an end to the revolutionary proletariat. +</p> + +<p> +But the position of the foe had changed. The strength of the proletarian party +was on the streets; that of the small traders’ class was in the National +Assembly itself. The point was, accordingly, to wheedle them out of the +National Assembly into the street, and to have them break their parliamentary +power themselves, before time and opportunity could consolidate them. The +Mountain jumped with loose reins into the trap. +</p> + +<p> +The bombardment of Rome by the French troops was the bait thrown at the +Mountain. It violated Article V. of the Constitution, which forbade the French +republic to use its forces against the liberties of other nations; besides, +Article IV. forbade all declaration of war by the Executive without the consent +of the National Assembly; furthermore, the constitutive assembly had censured +the Roman expedition by its resolution of May 8. Upon these grounds, +Ledru-Rollin submitted on June 11, 1849, a motion impeaching Bonaparte and his +Ministers. Instigated by the wasp-stings of Thiers, he even allowed himself to +be carried away to the point of threatening to defend the Constitution by all +means, even arms in hand. The Mountain rose as one man, and repeated the +challenge. On June 12, the National Assembly rejected the notion to impeach, +and the Mountain left the parliament. The events of June 13 are known: the +proclamation by a part of the Mountain pronouncing Napoleon and his Ministers +“outside the pale of the Constitution”; the street parades of the +democratic National Guards, who, unarmed as they were, flew apart at contact +with the troops of Changarnier; etc., etc. Part of the Mountain fled abroad, +another part was assigned to the High Court of Bourges, and a parliamentary +regulation placed the rest under the school-master supervision of the President +of the National Assembly. Paris was again put under a state of siege; and the +democratic portion of the National Guards was disbanded. Thus the influence of +the Mountain in parliament was broken, together with the power; of the small +traders’ class in Paris. +</p> + +<p> +Lyons, where the 13th of June had given the signal to a bloody labor uprising, +was, together with the five surrounding Departments, likewise pronounced in +state of siege, a condition that continues down to this moment. [#4 January, +1852] +</p> + +<p> +The bulk of the Mountain had left its vanguard in the lurch by refusing their +signatures to the proclamation; the press had deserted: only two papers dared +to publish the pronunciamento; the small traders had betrayed their +Representatives: the National Guards stayed away, or, where they did turn up, +hindered the raising of barricades; the Representatives had duped the small +traders: nowhere were the alleged affiliated members from the Army to be seen; +finally, instead of gathering strength from them, the democratic party had +infected the proletariat with its own weakness, and, as usual with democratic +feats, the leaders had the satisfaction of charging “their people” +with desertion, and the people had the satisfaction of charging their leaders +with fraud. +</p> + +<p> +Seldom was an act announced with greater noise than the campaign contemplated +by the Mountain; seldom was an event trumpeted ahead with more certainty and +longer beforehand than the “inevitable victory of the democracy.” +This is evident: the democrats believe in the trombones before whose blasts the +walls of Jericho fall together; as often as they stand before the walls of +despotism, they seek to imitate the miracle. If the Mountain wished to win in +parliament, it should not appeal to arms; if it called to arms in parliament, +it should not conduct itself parliamentarily on the street; if the friendly +demonstration was meant seriously, it was silly not to foresee that it would +meet with a warlike reception; if it was intended for actual war, it was rather +original to lay aside the weapons with which war had to be conducted. But the +revolutionary threats of the middle class and of their democratic +representatives are mere attempts to frighten an adversary; when they have run +themselves into a blind alley, when they have sufficiently compromised +themselves and are compelled to execute their threats, the thing is done in a +hesitating manner that avoids nothing so much as the means to the end, and +catches at pretexts to succumb. The bray of the overture, that announces the +fray, is lost in a timid growl so soon as this is to start; the actors cease to +take themselves seriously, and the performance falls flat like an inflated +balloon that is pricked with a needle. +</p> + +<p> +No party exaggerates to itself the means at its disposal more than the +democratic, none deceives itself with greater heedlessness on the situation. A +part of the Army voted for it, thereupon the Mountain is of the opinion that +the Army would revolt in its favor. And by what occasion? By an occasion, that, +from the standpoint of the troops, meant nothing else than that the +revolutionary soldiers should take the part of the soldiers of Rome against +French soldiers. On the other hand, the memory of June, 1848, was still too +fresh not to keep alive a deep aversion on the part of the proletariat towards +the National Guard, and a strong feeling of mistrust on the part of the leaders +of the secret societies for the democratic leaders. In order to balance these +differences, great common interests at stake were needed. The violation of an +abstract constitutional paragraph could not supply such interests. Had not the +constitution been repeatedly violated, according to the assurances of the +democrats themselves? Had not the most popular papers branded them as a +counter-revolutionary artifice? But the democrat—by reason of his +representing the middle class, that is to say, a Transition Class, in which the +interests of two other classes are mutually dulled—, imagines himself +above all class contrast. The democrats grant that opposed to them stands a +privileged class, but they, together with the whole remaining mass of the +nation, constitute the “PEOPLE.” What they represent is the +“people’s rights”; their interests are the +“people’s interests.” Hence, they do not consider that, at an +impending struggle, they need to examine the interests and attitude of the +different classes. They need not too seriously weigh their own means. All they +have to do is to give the signal in order to have the “people” fall +upon the “oppressors” with all its inexhaustible resources. If, +thereupon, in the execution, their interests turn out to be uninteresting, and +their power to be impotence, it is ascribed either to depraved sophists, who +split up the “undivisible people” into several hostile camps; or to +the army being too far brutalized and blinded to appreciate the pure aims of +the democracy as its own best; or to some detail in the execution that wrecks +the whole plan; or, finally, to an unforeseen accident that spoiled the game +this time. At all events, the democrat comes out of the disgraceful defeat as +immaculate as he went innocently into it, and with the refreshed conviction +that he must win; not that he himself and his party must give up their old +standpoint, but that, on the contrary, conditions must come to his aid. +</p> + +<p> +For all this, one must not picture to himself the decimated, broken, and, by +the new parliamentary regulation, humbled Mountain altogether too unhappy. If +June 13 removed its leaders, it, on the other hand, made room for new ones of +inferior capacity, who are flattered by their new position. If their impotence +in parliament could no longer be doubted, they were now justified to limit +their activity to outbursts of moral indignation. If the party of Order +pretended to see in them, as the last official representatives of the +revolution, all the horrors of anarchy incarnated, they were free to appear all +the more flat and modest in reality. Over June 13 they consoled themselves with +the profound expression: “If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . +. . then . . . then we will show who we are!” Nous verrons. [#5 We shall +see.] +</p> + +<p> +As to the “Mountaineers,” who had fled abroad, it suffices here to +say that Ledru-Rollin—he having accomplished the feat of hopelessly +ruining, in barely a fortnight, the powerful party at whose head he +stood—, found himself called upon to build up a French government +“in partibus;” that his figure, at a distance, removed from the +field of action, seemed to gain in size in the measure that the level of the +revolution sank and the official prominences of official France became more and +more dwarfish; that he could figure as republican Pretender for 1852, and +periodically issued to the Wallachians and other peoples circulars in which +“despot of the continent” is threatened with the feats that he and +his allies had in contemplation. Was Proudhon wholly wrong when he cried out to +these gentlemen: “Vous n’êtes que des blaqueurs”? [#6 You are +nothing but fakirs.] +</p> + +<p> +The party of Order had, on June 13, not only broken up the Mountain, it had +also established the Subordination of the Constitution to the Majority +Decisions of the National Assembly. So, indeed, did the republic understand it, +to—wit, that the bourgeois ruled here in parliamentary form, without, as +in the monarchy, finding a check in the veto of the Executive power, or the +liability of parliament to dissolution. It was a “parliamentary +republic,” as Thiers styled it. But if, on June 13, the bourgeoisie +secured its omnipotence within the parliament building, did it not also strike +the parliament itself, as against the Executive and the people, with incurable +weakness by excluding its most popular part? By giving up numerous Deputies, +without further ceremony to the mercies of the public prosecutor, it abolished +its own parliamentary inviolability. The humiliating regulation, that it +subjected the Mountain to, raised the President of the republic in the same +measure that it lowered the individual Representatives of the people. By +branding an insurrection in defense of the Constitution as anarchy, and as a +deed looking to the overthrow of society, it interdicted to itself all appeal +to insurrection whenever the Executive should violate the Constitution against +it. And, indeed, the irony of history wills it that the very General, who by +order of Bonaparte bombarded Rome, and thus gave the immediate occasion to the +constitutional riot of June 13, that Oudinot, on December 22, 1851, is the one +imploringly and vainly to be offered to the people by the party of Order as the +General of the Constitution. Another hero of June 13, Vieyra, who earned praise +from the tribune of the National Assembly for the brutalities that he had +committed in the democratic newspaper offices at the head of a gang of National +Guards in the hire of the high finance—this identical Vieyra was +initiated in the conspiracy of Bonaparte, and contributed materially in cutting +off all protection that could come to the National Assembly, in the hour of its +agony, from the side of the National Guard. +</p> + +<p> +June 13 had still another meaning. The Mountain had wanted to place Bonaparte +under charges. Their defeat was, accordingly, a direct victory of Bonaparte; it +was his personal triumph over his democratic enemies. The party of Order fought +for the victory, Bonaparte needed only to pocket it. He did so. On June 14, a +proclamation was to be read on the walls of Paris wherein the President, as it +were, without his connivance, against his will, driven by the mere force of +circumstances, steps forward from his cloisterly seclusion like misjudged +virtue, complains of the calumnies of his antagonists, and, while seeming to +identify his own person with the cause of order, rather identifies the cause of +order with his own person. Besides this, the National Assembly had subsequently +approved the expedition against Rome; Bonaparte, however, had taken the +initiative in the affair. After he had led the High Priest Samuel back into the +Vatican, he could hope as King David to occupy the Tuileries. He had won the +parson-interests over to himself. +</p> + +<p> +The riot of June 13 limited itself, as we have seen, to a peaceful street +procession. There were, consequently, no laurels to be won from it. +Nevertheless, in these days, poor in heroes and events, the party of Order +converted this bloodless battle into a second Austerlitz. Tribune and press +lauded the army as the power of order against the popular multitude, and the +impotence of anarchy; and Changarnier as the “bulwark of +society”—a mystification that he finally believed in himself. +Underhand, however, the corps that seemed doubtful were removed from Paris; the +regiments whose suffrage had turned out most democratic were banished from +France to Algiers the restless heads among the troops were consigned to penal +quarters; finally, the shutting out of the press from the barracks, and of the +barracks from contact with the citizens was systematically carried out. +</p> + +<p> +We stand here at the critical turning point in the history of the French +National Guard. In 1830, it had decided the downfall of the restoration. Under +Louis Philippe, every riot failed, at which the National Guard stood on the +side of the troops. When, in the February days of 1848, it showed itself +passive against the uprising and doubtful toward Louis Philippe himself, he +gave himself up for lost. Thus the conviction cast root that a revolution could +not win without, nor the Army against the National Guard. This was the +superstitious faith of the Army in bourgeois omnipotence. The June days of +1548, when the whole National Guard, jointly with the regular troops, threw +down the insurrection, had confirmed the superstition. After the inauguration +of Bonaparte’s administration, the position of the National Guard sank +somewhat through the unconstitutional joining of their command with the command +of the First Military Division in the person of Changarnier. +</p> + +<p> +As the command of the National Guard appeared here merely an attribute of the +military commander-in-chief, so did the Guard itself appear only as an +appendage of the regular troops. Finally, on June 13, the National Guard was +broken up, not through its partial dissolution only, that from that date +forward was periodically repeated at all points of France, leaving only wrecks +of its former self behind. The demonstration of June 13 was, above all, a +demonstration of the National Guards. True, they had not carried their arms, +but they had carried their uniforms against the Army—and the talisman lay +just in these uniforms. The Army then learned that this uniform was but a +woolen rag, like any other. The spell was broken. In the June days of 1848, +bourgeoisie and small traders were united as National Guard with the Army +against the proletariat; on June 13, 1849, the bourgeoisie had the small +traders’ National Guard broken up; on December 2, 1851, the National +Guard of the bourgeoisie itself vanished, and Bonaparte attested the fact when +he subsequently signed the decree for its disbandment. Thus the bourgeoisie had +itself broken its last weapon against the army, from the moment when the small +traders’ class no longer stood as a vassal behind, but as a rebel before +it; indeed, it was bound to do so, as it was bound to destroy with its own hand +all its means of defence against absolutism, so soon as itself was absolute. +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime, the party of Order celebrated the recovery of a power that +seemed lost in 1848 only in order that, freed from its trammels in 1849, it be +found again through invectives against the republic and the Constitution; +through the malediction of all future, present and past revolutions, that one +included which its own leaders had made; and, finally, in laws by which the +press was gagged, the right of association destroyed, and the stage of siege +regulated as an organic institution. The National Assembly then adjourned from +the middle of August to the middle of October, after it had appointed a +Permanent Committee for the period of its absence. During these vacations, the +Legitimists intrigued with Ems; the Orleanists with Claremont; Bonaparte +through princely excursions; the Departmental Councilmen in conferences over +the revision of the Constitution;—occurrences, all of which recurred +regularly at the periodical vacations of the National Assembly, and upon which +I shall not enter until they have matured into events. Be it here only observed +that the National Assembly was impolitic in vanishing from the stage for long +intervals, and leaving in view, at the head of the republic, only one, however +sorry, figure—Louis Bonaparte’s—, while, to the public +scandal, the party of Order broke up into its own royalist component parts, +that pursued their conflicting aspirations after the restoration. As often as, +during these vacations the confusing noise of the parliament was hushed, and +its body was dissolved in the nation, it was unmistakably shown that only one +thing was still wanting to complete the true figure of the republic: to make +the vacation of the National Assembly permanent, and substitute its +inscription—“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”—by the +unequivocal words, “Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery”. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>IV.</h2> + +<p> +The National Assembly reconvened in the middle of October. On November 1, +Bonaparte surprised it with a message, in which he announced the dismissal of +the Barrot-Falloux Ministry, and the framing of a new. Never have lackeys been +chased from service with less ceremony than Bonaparte did his ministers. The +kicks, that were eventually destined for the National Assembly, Barrot & +Company received in the meantime. +</p> + +<p> +The Barrot Ministry was, as we have seen, composed of Legitimists and +Orleanists; it was a Ministry of the party of Order. Bonaparte needed that +Ministry in order to dissolve the republican constituent assembly, to effect +the expedition against Rome, and to break up the democratic party. He had +seemingly eclipsed himself behind this Ministry, yielded the reins to the hands +of the party of Order, and assumed the modest mask, which, under Louis +Philippe, had been worn by the responsible overseer of the newspapers—the +mask of “homme de paille.” [#1 Man of straw] Now he threw off the +mask, it being no longer the light curtain behind which he could conceal, but +the Iron Mask, which prevented him from revealing his own physiognomy. He had +instituted the Barrot Ministry in order to break up the republican National +Assembly in the name of the party of Order; he now dismissed it in order to +declare his own name independent of the parliament of the party of Order. +</p> + +<p> +There was no want of plausible pretexts for this dismissal. The Barrot Ministry +had neglected even the forms of decency that would have allowed the president +of the republic to appear as a power along with the National Assembly. For +instance, during the vacation of the National Assembly, Bonaparte published a +letter to Edgar Ney, in which he seemed to disapprove the liberal attitude of +the Pope, just as, in opposition to the constitutive assembly, he had published +a letter, in which he praised Oudinot for his attack upon the Roman republic; +when the National Assembly came to vote on the budget for the Roman expedition, +Victor Hugo, out of pretended liberalism, brought up that letter for +discussion; the party of Order drowned this notion of Bonaparte’s under +exclamations of contempt and incredulity as though notions of Bonaparte could +not possibly have any political weight;—and none of the Ministers took up +the gauntlet for him. On another occasion, Barrot, with his well-known hollow +pathos, dropped, from the speakers’ tribune in the Assembly, words of +indignation upon the “abominable machinations,” which, according to +him, went on in the immediate vicinity of the President. Finally, while the +Ministry obtained from the National Assembly a widow’s pension for the +Duchess of Orleans, it denied every motion to raise the Presidential civil +list;—and, in Bonaparte, be it always remembered, the Imperial Pretender +was so closely blended with the impecunious adventurer, that the great idea of +his being destined to restore the Empire was ever supplemented by that other, +to-wit, that the French people was destined to pay his debts. +</p> + +<p> +The Barrot-Falloux Ministry was the first and last parliamentary Ministry that +Bonaparte called into life. Its dismissal marks, accordingly, a decisive +period. With the Ministry, the party of Order lost, never to regain, an +indispensable post to the maintenance of the parliamentary regime,—the +handle to the Executive power. It is readily understood that, in a country like +France, where the Executive disposes over an army of more than half a million +office-holders, and, consequently, keeps permanently a large mass of interests +and existences in the completest dependence upon itself; where the Government +surrounds, controls, regulates, supervises and guards society, from its +mightiest acts of national life, down to its most insignificant motions; from +its common life, down to the private life of each individual; where, due to +such extraordinary centralization, this body of parasites acquires a ubiquity +and omniscience, a quickened capacity for motion and rapidity that finds an +analogue only in the helpless lack of self-reliance, in the unstrung weakness +of the body social itself;—that in such a country the National Assembly +lost, with the control of the ministerial posts, all real influence; unless it +simultaneously simplified the administration; if possible, reduced the army of +office-holders; and, finally, allowed society and public opinion to establish +its own organs, independent of government censorship. But the Material Interest +of the French bourgeoisie is most intimately bound up in maintenance of just +such a large and extensively ramified governmental machine. There the +bourgeoisie provides for its own superfluous membership; and supplies, in the +shape of government salaries, what it can not pocket in the form of profit, +interest, rent and fees. On the other hand, its Political Interests daily +compel it to increase the power of repression, i.e., the means and the +personnel of the government; it is at the same time forced to conduct an +uninterrupted warfare against public opinion, and, full of suspicion, to +hamstring and lame the independent organs of society—whenever it does not +succeed in amputating them wholly. Thus the bourgeoisie of France was forced by +its own class attitude, on the one hand, to destroy the conditions for all +parliamentary power, its own included, and, on the other, to render +irresistible the Executive power that stood hostile to it. +</p> + +<p> +The new Ministry was called the d’Hautpoul Ministry. Not that General +d’Hautpoul had gained the rank of Ministerial President. Along with +Barrot, Bonaparte abolished this dignity, which, it must be granted, condemned +the President of the republic to the legal nothingness of a constitutional +kind, of a constitutional king at that, without throne and crown, without +sceptre and without sword, without irresponsibility, without the imperishable +possession of the highest dignity in the State, and, what was most untoward of +all—without a civil list. The d’Hautpoul Ministry numbered only one +man of parliamentary reputation, the Jew Fould, one of the most notorious +members of the high finance. To him fell the portfolio of finance. Turn to the +Paris stock quotations, and it will be found that from November 1, 1849, French +stocks fall and rise with the falling and rising of the Bonapartist shares. +While Bonaparte had thus found his ally in the Bourse, he at the same time took +possession of the Police through the appointment of Carlier as Prefect of +Police. +</p> + +<p> +But the consequences of the change of Ministry could reveal themselves only in +the course of events. So far, Bonaparte had taken only one step forward, to be +all the more glaringly driven back. Upon his harsh message, followed the most +servile declarations of submissiveness to the National Assembly. As often as +the Ministers made timid attempts to introduce his own personal hobbies as +bills, they themselves seemed unwilling and compelled only by their position to +run the comic errands, of whose futility they were convinced in advance. As +often as Bonaparte blabbed out his plans behind the backs of his Ministers, and +sported his “idees napoleoniennes,” [#2 Napoleonic ideas.] his own +Ministers disavowed him from the speakers’ tribune in the National +Assembly. His aspirations after usurpation seemed to become audible only to the +end that the ironical laughter of his adversaries should not die out. He +deported himself like an unappreciated genius, whom the world takes for a +simpleton. Never did lie enjoy in fuller measure the contempt of all classes +than at this period. Never did the bourgeoisie rule more absolutely; never did +it more boastfully display the insignia of sovereignty. +</p> + +<p> +It is not here my purpose to write the history of its legislative activity, +which is summed up in two laws passed during this period: the law +reestablishing the duty on wine, and the laws on education, to suppress +infidelity. While the drinking of wine was made difficult to the Frenchmen, all +the more bounteously was the water of pure life poured out to them. Although in +the law on the duty on wine the bourgeoisie declares the old hated French +tariff system to be inviolable, it sought, by means of the laws on education, +to secure the old good will of the masses that made the former bearable. One +wonders to see the Orleanists, the liberal bourgeois, these old apostles of +Voltarianism and of eclectic philosophy, entrusting the supervision of the +French intellect to their hereditary enemies, the Jesuits. But, while +Orleanists and Legitimists could part company on the question of the Pretender +to the crown, they understood full well that their joint reign dictated the +joining of the means of oppression of two distinct epochs; that the means of +subjugation of the July monarchy had to be supplemented with and strengthened +by the means of subjugation of the restoration. +</p> + +<p> +The farmers, deceived in all their expectations, more than ever ground down by +the law scale of the price of corn, on the one hand, and, on the other, by the +growing load of taxation and mortgages, began to stir in the Departments. They +were answered by the systematic baiting of the school masters, whom the +Government subjected to the clergy; by the systematic baiting of the Mayors, +whom it subjected to the Prefects; and by a system of espionage to which all +were subjected. In Paris and the large towns, the reaction itself carries the +physiognomy of its own epoch; it irritates more than it cows; in the country, +it becomes low, moan, petty, tiresome, vexatious,—in a word, it becomes +“gensdarme.” It is easily understood how three years of the +gensdarme regime, sanctified by the regime of the clergyman, was bound to +demoralize unripe masses. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever the mass of passion and declamation, that the party of Order expended +from the speakers’ tribune in the National Assembly against the minority, +its speech remained monosyllabic, like that of the Christian, whose speech was +to be “Aye, aye; nay, nay.” It was monosyllabic, whether from the +tribune or the press; dull as a conundrum, whose solution is known beforehand. +Whether the question was the right of petition or the duty on wine, the liberty +of the press or free trade, clubs or municipal laws, protection of individual +freedom or the regulation of national economy, the slogan returns ever again, +the theme is monotonously the same, the verdict is ever ready and unchanged: +Socialism! Even bourgeois liberalism is pronounced socialistic; socialistic, +alike, is pronounced popular education; and, likewise, socialistic national +financial reform. It was socialistic to build a railroad where already a canal +was; and it was socialistic to defend oneself with a stick when attacked with a +sword. +</p> + +<p> +This was not a mere form of speech, a fashion, nor yet party tactics. The +bourgeoisie perceives correctly that all the weapons, which it forged against +feudalism, turn their edges against itself; that all the means of education, +which it brought forth, rebel against its own civilization; that all the gods, +which it made, have fallen away from it. It understands that all its so-called +citizens’ rights and progressive organs assail and menace its class rule, +both in its social foundation and its political +superstructure—consequently, have become “socialistic.” It +justly scents in this menace and assault the secret of Socialism, whose meaning +and tendency it estimates more correctly than the spurious, so-called +Socialism, is capable of estimating itself, and which, consequently, is unable +to understand how it is that the bourgeoisie obdurately shuts up its ears to +it, alike whether it sentimentally whines about the sufferings of humanity; or +announces in Christian style the millennium and universal brotherhood; or +twaddles humanistically about the soul, culture and freedom; or doctrinally +matches out a system of harmony and wellbeing for all classes. What, however, +the bourgeoisie does not understand is the consequence that its own +parliamentary regime, its own political reign, is also of necessity bound to +fall under the general ban of “socialistic.” So long as the rule of +the bourgeoisie is not fully organized, has not acquired its purely political +character, the contrast with the other classes cannot come into view in all its +sharpness; and, where it does come into view, it cannot take that dangerous +turn that converts every conflict with the Government into a conflict with +Capital. When, however, the French bourgeoisie began to realize in every +pulsation of society a menace to “peace,” how could it, at the head +of society, pretend to uphold the regime of unrest, its own regime, the +parliamentary regime, which, according to the expression of one of its own +orators, lives in struggle, and through struggle? The parliamentary regime +lives on discussion,—how can it forbid discussion? Every single interest, +every single social institution is there converted into general thoughts, is +treated as a thought,—how could any interest or institution claim to be +above thought, and impose itself as an article of faith? The orators’ +conflict in the tribune calls forth the conflict of the rowdies in the press +the debating club in parliament is necessarily supplemented by debating clubs +in the salons and the barrooms; the representatives, who are constantly +appealing to popular opinion, justify popular opinion in expressing its real +opinion in petitions. The parliamentary regime leaves everything to the +decision of majorities,—how can the large majorities beyond parliament be +expected not to wish to decide? If, from above, they hear the fiddle +screeching, what else is to be expected than that those below should dance? +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, by now persecuting as Socialist what formerly it had celebrated as +Liberal, the bourgeoisie admits that its own interest orders it to raise itself +above the danger of self government; that, in order to restore rest to the +land, its own bourgeois parliament must, before all, be brought to rest; that, +in order to preserve its social power unhurt, its political power must be +broken; that the private bourgeois can continue to exploit the other classes +and rejoice in “property,” “family,” +“religion” and “order” only under the condition that +his own class be condemned to the same political nullity of the other classes, +that, in order to save their purse, the crown must be knocked off their heads, +and the sword that was to shield them, must at the same time be hung over their +heads as a sword of Damocles. +</p> + +<p> +In the domain of general bourgeois interests, the National Assembly proved +itself so barren, that, for instance, the discussion over the Paris-Avignon +railroad, opened in the winter of 1850, was not yet ripe for a vote on December +2, 1851. Wherever it did not oppress or was reactionary, the bourgeoisie was +smitten with incurable barrenness. +</p> + +<p> +While Bonaparte’s Ministry either sought to take the initiative of laws +in the spirit of the party of Order, or even exaggerated their severity in +their enforcement and administration, he, on his part, sought to win popularity +by means of childishly silly propositions, to exhibit the contrast between +himself and the National Assembly, and to hint at a secret plan, held in +reserve and only through circumstances temporarily prevented from disclosing +its hidden treasures to the French people. Of this nature was the proposition +to decree a daily extra pay of four sous to the under-officers; so, likewise, +the proposition for a “word of honor” loan bank for working-men. To +have money given and money borrowed—that was the perspective that he +hoped to cajole the masses with. Presents and loans—to that was limited +the financial wisdom of the slums, the high as well as the low; to that were +limited the springs which Bonaparte knew how to set in motion. Never did +Pretender speculate more dully upon the dullness of the masses. +</p> + +<p> +Again and again did the National Assembly fly into a passion at these +unmistakable attempts to win popularity at its expense, and at the growing +danger that this adventurer, lashed on by debts and unrestrained by reputation, +might venture upon some desperate act. The strained relations between the party +of Order and the President had taken on a threatening aspect, when an +unforeseen event threw him back, rueful into its arms. We mean the +supplementary elections of March, 1850. These elections took place to fill the +vacancies created in the National Assembly, after June 13, by imprisonment and +exile. Paris elected only Social-Democratic candidates; it even united the +largest vote upon one of the insurgents of June, 1848,—Deflotte. In this +way the small traders’ world of Paris, now allied with the proletariat, +revenged itself for the defeat of June 13, 1849. It seemed to have disappeared +from the field of battle at the hour of danger only to step on it again at a +more favorable opportunity, with increased forces for the fray, and with a +bolder war cry. A circumstance seemed to heighten the danger of this electoral +victory. The Army voted in Paris for a June insurgent against Lahitte, a +Minister of Bonaparte’s, and, in the Departments, mostly for the +candidates of the Mountain, who, there also, although not as decisively as in +Paris, maintained the upper hand over their adversaries. +</p> + +<p> +Bonaparte suddenly saw himself again face to face with the revolution. As on +January 29, 1849, as on June 13, 1849, on May 10, 1850, he vanished again +behind the party of Order. He bent low; he timidly apologized; he offered to +appoint any Ministry whatever at the behest of the parliamentary majority; he +even implored the Orleanist and Legitimist party leaders—the Thiers, +Berryers, Broglies, Moles, in short, the so-called burgraves—to take hold +of the helm of State in person. The party of Order did not know how to utilize +this opportunity, that was never to return. Instead of boldly taking possession +of the proffered power, it did not even force Bonaparte to restore the Ministry +dismissed on November 1; it contented itself with humiliating him with its +pardon, and with affiliating Mr. Baroche to the d’Hautpoul Ministry. This +Baroche had, as Public Prosecutor, stormed before the High Court at Bourges, +once against the revolutionists of May 15, another time against the Democrats +of June 13, both times on the charge of “attentats” against the +National Assembly. None of Bonaparte’s Ministers contributed later more +towards the degradation of the National Assembly; and, after December 2, 1851, +we meet him again as the comfortably stalled and dearly paid Vice-President of +the Senate. He had spat into the soup of the revolutionists for Bonaparte to +eat it. +</p> + +<p> +On its part, the Social Democratic party seemed only to look for pretexts in +order to make its own victory doubtful, and to dull its edge. Vidal, one of the +newly elected Paris representatives, was returned for Strassburg also. He was +induced to decline the seat for Paris and accept the one for Strassburg. Thus, +instead of giving a definite character to their victory at the hustings, and +thereby compelling the party of Order forthwith to contest it in parliament; +instead of thus driving the foe to battle at the season of popular enthusiasm +and of a favorable temper in the Army, the democratic party tired out Paris +with a new campaign during the months of March and April; it allowed the +excited popular passions to wear themselves out in this second provisional +electoral play it allowed the revolutionary vigor to satiate itself with +constitutional successes, and lose its breath in petty intrigues, hollow +declamation and sham moves; it gave the bourgeoisie time to collect itself and +make its preparations finally, it allowed the significance of the March +elections to find a sentimentally weakening commentary at the subsequent April +election in the victory of Eugene Sue. In one word, it turned the 10th of March +into an April Fool. +</p> + +<p> +The parliamentary majority perceived the weakness of its adversary. Its +seventeen burgraves—Bonaparte had left to it the direction of and +responsibility for the attack—, framed a new election law, the moving of +which was entrusted to Mr. Faucher, who had applied for the honor. On May 8, he +introduced the new law whereby universal suffrage was abolished; a three years +residence in the election district imposed as a condition for voting; and, +finally, the proof of this residence made dependent, for the working-man, upon +the testimony of his employer. +</p> + +<p> +As revolutionarily as the democrats had agitated and stormed during the +constitutional struggles, so constitutionally did they, now, when it was +imperative to attest, arms in hand, the earnestness of their late electoral +victories, preach order, “majestic calmness,” lawful conduct, i. +e., blind submission to the will of the counter-revolution, which revealed +itself as law. During the debate, the Mountain put the party of Order to shame +by maintaining the passionless attitude of the law-abiding burger, who upholds +the principle of law against revolutionary passions; and by twitting the party +of Order with the fearful reproach of proceeding in a revolutionary manner. +Even the newly elected deputies took pains to prove by their decent and +thoughtful deportment what an act of misjudgment it was to decry them as +anarchists, or explain their election as a victory of the revolution. The new +election law was passed on May 31. The Mountain contented itself with smuggling +a protest into the pockets of the President of the Assembly. To the election +law followed a new press law, whereby the revolutionary press was completely +done away with. It had deserved its fate. The “National” and the +“Presse,” two bourgeois organs, remained after this deluge the +extreme outposts of the revolution. +</p> + +<p> +We have seen how, during March and April, the democratic leaders did everything +to involve the people of Paris in a sham battle, and how, after May 8, they did +everything to keep it away from a real battle. We may not here forget that the +year 1850 was one of the most brilliant years of industrial and commercial +prosperity; consequently, that the Parisian proletariat was completely +employed. But the election law of May 31, 1850 excluded them from all +participation in political power; it cut the field of battle itself from under +them; it threw the workingmen back into the state of pariahs, which they had +occupied before the February revolution. In allowing themselves, in sight of +such an occurrence, to be led by the democrats, and in forgetting the +revolutionary interests of their class through temporary comfort, the +workingmen abdicated the honor of being a conquering power; they submitted to +their fate; they proved that the defeat of June, 1848, had incapacitated them +from resistance for many a year to come finally, that the historic process must +again, for the time being, proceed over their heads. As to the small +traders’ democracy, which, on June 13, had cried out: “If they but +dare to assail universal suffrage . . . then . . . then we will show who we +are!”—they now consoled themselves with the thought that the +counter-revolutionary blow, which had struck them, was no blow at all, and that +the law of May 31 was no law. On May 2, 1852, according to them, every +Frenchman would appear at the hustings, in one hand the ballot, in the other +the sword. With this prophecy they set their hearts at ease. Finally, the Army +was punished by its superiors for the elections of May and April, 1850, as it +was punished for the election of May 29, 1849. This time, however, it said to +itself determinately: “The revolution shall not cheat us a third +time.” +</p> + +<p> +The law of May 31, 1850, was the “coup d’etat” of the +bourgeoisie. All its previous conquests over the revolution had only a +temporary character: they became uncertain the moment the National Assembly +stepped off the stage; they depended upon the accident of general elections, +and the history of the elections since 1848 proved irrefutably that, in the +same measure as the actual reign of the bourgeoisie gathered strength, its +moral reign over the masses wore off. Universal suffrage pronounced itself on +May 10 pointedly against the reign of the bourgeoisie; the bourgeoisie answered +with the banishment of universal suffrage. The law of May 31 was, accordingly, +one of the necessities of the class struggle. On the other hand, the +constitution required a minimum of two million votes for the valid ejection of +the President of the republic. If none of the Presidential candidates polled +this minimum, then the National Assembly was to elect the President out of the +three candidates polling the highest votes. At the time that the constitutive +body made this law, ten million voters were registered on the election rolls. +In its opinion, accordingly, one-fifth of the qualified voters sufficed to make +a choice for President valid. The law of May 31 struck at least three million +voters off the rolls, reduced the number of qualified voters to seven millions, +and yet, not withstanding, it kept the lawful minimum at two millions for the +election of a President. Accordingly, it raised the lawful minimum from a fifth +to almost a third of the qualified voters, i.e., it did all it could to smuggle +the Presidential election out of the hands of the people into those of the +National Assembly. Thus, by the election law of May 31, the party of Order +seemed to have doubly secured its empire, in that it placed the election of +both the National Assembly and the President of the republic in the keeping of +the stable portion of society. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>V.</h2> + +<p> +The strife immediately broke out again between the National Assembly and +Bonaparte, so soon as the revolutionary crisis was weathered, and universal +suffrage was abolished. +</p> + +<p> +The Constitution had fixed the salary of Bonaparte at 600,000 francs. Barely +half a year after his installation, he succeeded in raising this sum to its +double: Odillon Barrot had wrung from the constitutive assembly a yearly +allowance of 600,000 francs for so-called representation expenses. After June +13, Bonaparte hinted at similar solicitations, to which, however, Barrot then +turned a deaf ear. Now, after May 31, he forthwith utilized the favorable +moment, and caused his ministers to move a civil list of three millions in the +National Assembly. A long adventurous, vagabond career had gifted him with the +best developed antennae for feeling out the weak moments when he could venture +upon squeezing money from his bourgeois. He carried on regular blackmail. The +National Assembly had maimed the sovereignty of the people with his aid and his +knowledge: he now threatened to denounce its crime to the tribunal of the +people, if it did not pull out its purse and buy his silence with three +millions annually. It had robbed three million Frenchmen of the suffrage: for +every Frenchman thrown “out of circulation,” he demanded a franc +“in circulation.” He, the elect of six million, demanded indemnity +for the votes he had been subsequently cheated of. The Committee of the +National Assembly turned the importunate fellow away. The Bonapartist press +threatened: Could the National Assembly break with the President of the +republic at a time when it had broken definitely and on principle with the mass +of the nation? It rejected the annual civil list, but granted, for this once, +an allowance of 2,160,000 francs. Thus it made itself guilty of the double +weakness of granting the money, and, at the same time, showing by its anger +that it did so only unwillingly. We shall presently see to what use Bonaparte +put the money. After this aggravating after-play, that followed upon the heels +of the abolition of universal suffrage, and in which Bonaparte exchanged his +humble attitude of the days of the crisis of March and April for one of defiant +impudence towards the usurping parliament, the National Assembly adjourned for +three months, from August 11, to November 11. It left behind in its place a +Permanent Committee of 18 members that contained no Bonapartist, but did +contain a few moderate republicans. The Permanent Committee of the year 1849 +had numbered only men of order and Bonapartists. At that time, however, the +party of Order declared itself in permanence against the revolution; now the +parliamentary republic declared itself in permanence against the President. +After the law of May 31, only this rival still confronted the party of Order. +</p> + +<p> +When the National Assembly reconvened in November, 1850, instead of its former +petty skirmishes with the President, a great headlong struggle, a struggle for +life between the two powers, seemed to have become inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +As in the year 1849, the party of Order had during this year’s vacation, +dissolved into its two separate factions, each occupied with its own +restoration intrigues, which had received new impetus from the death of Louis +Philippe. The Legitimist King, Henry V, had even appointed a regular Ministry, +that resided in Paris, and in which sat members of the Permanent Committee. +Hence, Bonaparte was, on his part, justified in making tours through the French +Departments, and—according to the disposition of the towns that he +happened to be gladdening with his presence—some times covertly, other +times more openly blabbing out his own restoration plans, and gaining votes for +himself On these excursions, which the large official “Moniteur” +and the small private “Moniteurs” of Bonaparte were, of course, +bound to celebrate as triumphal marches, he was constantly accompanied by +affiliated members of the “Society of December 10” This society +dated from the year 1849. Under the pretext of founding a benevolent +association, the slum-proletariat of Paris was organized into secret sections, +each section led by Bonapartist agents, with a Bonapartist General at the head +of all. Along with ruined roues of questionable means of support and +questionable antecedents, along with the foul and adventures-seeking dregs of +the bourgeoisie, there were vagabonds, dismissed soldiers, discharged convicts, +runaway galley slaves, sharpers, jugglers, lazzaroni, pickpockets, +sleight-of-hand performers, gamblers, procurers, keepers of disorderly houses, +porters, literati, organ grinders, rag pickers, scissors grinders, tinkers, +beggars—in short, that whole undefined, dissolute, kicked-about mass that +the Frenchmen style “la Boheme” With this kindred element, +Bonaparte formed the stock of the “Society of December 10,” a +“benevolent association” in so far as, like Bonaparte himself, all +its members felt the need of being benevolent to themselves at the expense of +the toiling nation. The Bonaparte, who here constitutes himself Chief of the +Slum-Proletariat; who only here finds again in plenteous form the interests +which he personally pursues; who, in this refuse, offal and wreck of all +classes, recognizes the only class upon which he can depend +unconditionally;—this is the real Bonaparte, the Bonaparte without +qualification. An old and crafty roue, he looks upon the historic life of +nations, upon their great and public acts, as comedies in the ordinary sense, +as a carnival, where the great costumes, words and postures serve only as masks +for the pettiest chicaneries. So, on the occasion of his expedition against +Strassburg when a trained Swiss vulture impersonated the Napoleonic eagle; so, +again, on the occasion of his raid upon Boulogne, when he struck a few London +lackeys into French uniform: they impersonated the army; [#1 Under the reign of +Louis Philippe, Bonaparte made two attempts to restore the throne of Napoleon: +one in October, 1836, in an expedition from Switzerland upon Strassburg and one +in August, 1840, in an expedition from England upon Boulogne.] and so now, in +his “Society of December 10,” he collects 10,000 loafers who are to +impersonate the people as Snug the Joiner does the lion. At a period when the +bourgeoisie itself is playing the sheerest comedy, but in the most solemn +manner in the world, without doing violence to any of the pedantic requirements +of French dramatic etiquette, and is itself partly deceived by, partly +convinced of, the solemnity of its own public acts, the adventurer, who took +the comedy for simple comedy, was bound to win. Only after he has removed his +solemn opponent, when he himself takes seriously his own role of emperor, and, +with the Napoleonic mask on, imagines he impersonates the real Napoleon, only +then does he become the victim of his own peculiar conception of +history—the serious clown, who no longer takes history for a comedy, but +a comedy for history. What the national work-shops were to the socialist +workingmen, what the “Gardes mobiles” were to the bourgeois +republicans, that was to Bonaparte the “Society of December +10,”—a force for partisan warfare peculiar to himself. On his +journeys, the divisions of the Society, packed away on the railroads, +improvised an audience for him, performed public enthusiasm, shouted +“vive l’Empereur,” insulted and clubbed the +republicans,—all, of course, under the protection of the police. On his +return stages to Paris, this rabble constituted his vanguard, it forestalled or +dispersed counter-demonstrations. The “Society of December 10” +belonged to him, it was his own handiwork, his own thought. Whatever else he +appropriates, the power of circumstances places in his hands; whatever else he +does, either circumstances do for him, or he is content to copy from the deeds +of others, but he posing before the citizens with the official phrases about +“Order,” “Religion,” “Family,” +“Property,” and, behind him, the secret society of skipjacks and +picaroons, the society of disorder, of prostitution, and of theft,—that +is Bonaparte himself as the original author; and the history of the +“Society of December 10” is his own history. Now, then, it happened +that Representatives belonging to the party of order occasionally got under the +clubs of the Decembrists. Nay, more. Police Commissioner Yon, who had been +assigned to the National Assembly, and was charged with the guardianship of its +safety, reported to the Permanent Committee upon the testimony of one Alais, +that a Section of the Decembrists had decided on the murder of General +Changarnier and of Dupin, the President of the National Assembly, and had +already settled upon the men to execute the decree. One can imagine the fright +of Mr. Dupin. A parliamentary inquest over the “Society of December +10,” i. e., the profanation of the Bonapartist secret world now seemed +inevitable. Just before the reconvening of the National Assembly, Bonaparte +circumspectly dissolved his Society, of course, on paper only. As late as the +end of 1851, Police Prefect Carlier vainly sought, in an exhaustive memorial, +to move him to the real dissolution of the Decembrists. +</p> + +<p> +The “Society of December 10” was to remain the private army of +Bonaparte until he should have succeeded in converting the public Army into a +“Society of December 10.” Bonaparte made the first attempt in this +direction shortly after the adjournment of the National Assembly, and he did so +with the money which he had just wrung from it. As a fatalist, he lives devoted +to the conviction that there are certain Higher Powers, whom man, particularly +the soldier, cannot resist. First among these Powers he numbers cigars and +champagne, cold poultry and garlic-sausage. Accordingly, in the apartments of +the Elysee, he treated first the officers and under-officers to cigars and +champagne, to cold poultry and garlic-sausage. On October 3, he repeats this +manoeuvre with the rank and file of the troops by the review of St. Maur; and, +on October 10, the same manoeuvre again, upon a larger scale, at the army +parade of Satory. The Uncle bore in remembrance the campaigns of Alexander in +Asia: the Nephew bore in remembrance the triumphal marches of Bacchus in the +same country. Alexander was, indeed, a demigod; but Bacchus was a full-fledged +god, and the patron deity, at that, of the “Society of December +10.” +</p> + +<p> +After the review of October 3, the Permanent Committee summoned the Minister of +War, d’Hautpoul, before it. He promised that such breaches of discipline +should not recur. We have seen how, on October 10th, Bonaparte kept +d’Hautpoul’s word. At both reviews Changarnier had commanded as +Commander-in-chief of the Army of Paris. He, at once member of the Permanent +Committee, Chief of the National Guard, the “Savior” of January 29, +and June 13, the “Bulwark of Society,” candidate of the Party of +Order for the office of President, the suspected Monk of two +monarchies,—he had never acknowledged his subordination to the Minister +of War, had ever openly scoffed at the republican Constitution, and had pursued +Bonaparte with a protection that was ambiguously distinguished. Now he became +zealous for the discipline in opposition to Bonaparte. While, on October 10, a +part of the cavalry cried: “Vive Napoleon! Vivent les saucissons;” +[#2 Long live Napoleon! Long live the sausages!] Changarnier saw to it that at +least the infantry, which filed by under the command of his friend Neumeyer, +should observe an icy silence. In punishment, the Minister of War, at the +instigation of Bonaparte, deposed General Neumeyer from his post in Paris, +under the pretext of providing for him as Commander-in-chief of the Fourteenth +and Fifteenth Military Divisions. Neumeyer declined the exchange, and had, in +consequence, to give his resignation. On his part, Changarnier published on +November 2, an order, wherein he forbade the troops to indulge, while under +arms, in any sort of political cries or demonstrations. The papers devoted to +the Elysee interests attacked Changarnier; the papers of the party of Order +attacked Bonaparte; the Permanent Committee held frequent secret sessions, at +which it was repeatedly proposed to declare the fatherland in danger; the Army +seemed divided into two hostile camps, with two hostile staffs; one at the +Elysee, where Bonaparte, the other at the Tuileries, where Changarnier resided. +All that seemed wanting for the signal of battle to sound was the convening of +the National Assembly. The French public looked upon the friction between +Bonaparte and Changarnier in the light of the English journalist, who +characterized it in these words: “The political servant girls of France +are mopping away the glowing lava of the revolution with old mops, and they +scold each other while doing their work.” +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Bonaparte hastened to depose the Minister of War, d’Hautpoul; +to expedite him heels over head to Algiers; and to appoint in his place General +Schramm as Minister of War. On November 12, he sent to the National Assembly a +message of American excursiveness, overloaded with details, redolent of order, +athirst for conciliation, resignful to the Constitution, dealing with all and +everything, only not with the burning questions of the moment. As if in passing +he dropped the words that according to the express provisions of the +Constitution, the President alone disposes over the Army. The message closed +with the following high-sounding protestations: +</p> + +<p> +“France demands, above all things, peace . . . Alone bound by an oath, I +shall keep myself within the narrow bounds marked out by it to me . . . As to +me, elected by the people, and owing my power to it alone, I shall always +submit to its lawfully expressed will. Should you at this session decide upon +the revision of the Constitution, a Constitutional Convention will regulate the +position of the Executive power. If you do not, then, the people will, in 1852, +solemnly announce its decision. But, whatever the solution may be that the +future has in store, let us arrive at an understanding to the end that never +may passion, surprise or violence decide over the fate of a great nation. . . . +That which, above all, bespeaks my attention is, not who will, in 1852, rule +over France, but to so devote the time at my disposal that the interval may +pass by with-out agitation and disturbance. I have straightforwardly opened my +heart to you, you will answer my frankness with your confidence, my good +efforts with your co-operation. God will do the rest.” +</p> + +<p> +The honnete, hypocritically temperate, commonplace-virtuous language of the +bourgeoisie reveals its deep meaning in the mouth of the self-appointed ruler +of the “Society of December 10,” and of the picnic-hero of St. Maur +and Satory. +</p> + +<p> +The burgraves of the party of Order did not for a moment deceive themselves on +the confidence that this unbosoming deserved. They were long blase on oaths; +they numbered among themselves veterans and virtuosi of perjury. The passage +about the army did not, however, escape them. They observed with annoyance that +the message, despite its prolix enumeration of the lately enacted laws, passed, +with affected silence, over the most important of all, the election law, and, +moreover, in case no revision of the Constitution was held, left the choice of +the President, in 1852, with the people. The election law was the +ball-and-chain to the feet of the party of Order, that hindered them from +walking, and now assuredly from storming. Furthermore, by the official +disbandment of the “Society of December 10,” and the dismissal of +the Minister of War, d’Hautpoul, Bonaparte had, with his own hands, +sacrificed the scapegoats on the altar of the fatherland. He had turned off the +expected collision. Finally, the party of Order itself anxiously sought to +avoid every decisive conflict with the Executive, to weaken and to blur it +over. Fearing to lose its conquests over the revolution, it let its rival +gather the fruits thereof. “France demands, above all things, +peace,” with this language had the party of Order been apostrophizing the +revolution, since February; with this language did Bonaparte’s message +now apostrophize the party of Order: “France demands, above all things, +peace.” Bonaparte committed acts that aimed at usurpation, but the party +of Order committed a “disturbance of the peace,” if it raised the +hue and cry, and explained them hypochrondriacally. The sausages of Satory were +mouse-still when nobody talked about them;—France demands, above all +things, “peace.” Accordingly, Bonaparte demanded that he be let +alone; and the parliamentary party was lamed with a double fear: the fear of +re-conjuring up the revolutionary disturbance of the peace, and the fear of +itself appearing as the disturber of the peace in the eyes of its own class, of +the bourgeosie. Seeing that, above all things, France demanded peace, the party +of Order did not dare, after Bonaparte had said “peace” in his +message, to answer “war.” The public, who had promised to itself +the pleasure of seeing great scenes of scandal at the opening of the National +Assembly, was cheated out of its expectations. The opposition deputies, who +demanded the submission of the minutes of the Permanent Committee over the +October occurrences, were outvoted. All debate that might excite was fled from +on principle. The labors of the National Assembly during November and December, +1850, were without interest. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, toward the end of December, began a guerilla warfare about certain +prerogatives of the parliament. The movement sank into the mire of petty +chicaneries on the prerogative of the two powers, since, with the abolition of +universal suffrage, the bourgeoisie had done away with the class struggle. +</p> + +<p> +A judgment for debt had been secured against Mauguin, one of the +Representatives. Upon inquiry by the President of the Court, the Minister of +Justice, Rouher, declared that an order of arrest should be made out without +delay. Manguin was, accordingly, cast into the debtors’ prison. The +National Assembly bristled up when it heard of the “attentat.” It +not only ordered his immediate release, but had him forcibly taken out of +Clichy the same evening by its own greffier. In order, nevertheless, to shield +its belief in the “sacredness of private property,” and also with +the ulterior thought of opening, in case of need, an asylum for troublesome +Mountainers, it declared the imprisonment of a Representative for debt to be +permissible upon its previous consent. It forgot to decree that the President +also could be locked up for debt. By its act, it wiped out the last semblance +of inviolability that surrounded the members of its own body. +</p> + +<p> +It will be remembered that, upon the testimony of one Allais, Police +Commissioner Yon had charged a Section of Decembrists with a plan to murder +Dupin and Changarnier. With an eye upon that, the questors proposed at the very +first session, that the parliament organize a police force of its own, paid for +out of the private budget of the National Assembly itself, and wholly +independent of the Police Prefects. The Minister of the Interior, Baroche, +protested against this trespass on his preserves. A miserable compromise +followed, according to which the Police Commissioner of the Assembly was to be +paid out of its own private budget and was to be subject to the appointment and +dismissal of its own questors, but only upon previous agreement with the +Minister of the Interior. In the meantime Allais had been prosecuted by the +Government. It was an easy thing in Court, to present his testimony in the +light of a mystification, and, through the mouth of the Public Prosecutor, to +throw Dupin, Changarnier, Yon, together with the whole National Assembly, into +a ridiculous light. Thereupon, on December 29, Minister Baroche writes a letter +to Dupin, in which he demands the dismissal of Yon. The Committee of the +National Assembly decides to keep Yon in office; nevertheless, the National +Assembly, frightened by its own violence in the affair of Mauguin, and +accustomed, every time it has shied a blow at the Executive, to receive back +from it two in exchange, does not sanction this decision. It dismisses Yon in +reward for his zeal in office, and robs itself of a parliamentary prerogative, +indispensable against a person who does not decide by night to execute by day, +but decides by day and executes by night. +</p> + +<p> +We have seen how, during the months of November and December, under great and +severe provocations, the National Assembly evaded and refused the combat with +the Executive power. Now we see it compelled to accept it on the smallest +occasions. In the affair of Mauguin, it confirms in principle the liability of +a Representative to imprisonment for debt, but to itself reserves the power of +allowing the principle to be applied only to the Representatives whom it +dislikes,-and for this infamous privilege we see it wrangling with the Minister +of Justice. Instead of utilizing the alleged murder plan to the end of +fastening an inquest upon the “Society of December 10,” and of +exposing Bonaparte beyond redemption before France and his true figure, as the +head of the slum-proletariat of Paris, it allows the collision to sink to a +point where the only issue between itself and the Minister of the Interior is. +Who has jurisdiction over the appointment and dismissal of a Police +Commissioner? Thus we see the party of Order, during this whole period, +compelled by its ambiguous position to wear out and fritter away its conflict +with the Executive power in small quarrels about jurisdiction, in chicaneries, +in pettifogging, in boundary disputes, and to turn the stalest questions of +form into the very substance of its activity. It dares not accept the collision +at the moment when it involves a principle, when the Executive power has really +given itself a blank, and when the cause of the National Assembly would be the +cause of the nation. It would thereby have issued to the nation an order of +march; and it feared nothing so much as that the nation should move. Hence, on +these occasions, it rejects the motions of the Mountain, and proceeds to the +order of the day. After the issue has in this way lost all magnitude, the +Executive power quietly awaits the moment when it can take it up again upon +small and insignificant occasions; when, so to say, the issue offers only a +parliamentary local interest. Then does the repressed valor of the party of +Order break forth, then it tears away the curtain from the scene, then it +denounces the President, then it declares the republic to be in +danger,—but then all its pathos appears stale, and the occasion for the +quarrel a hypocritical pretext, or not at all worth the effort. The +parliamentary tempest becomes a tempest in a tea-pot, the struggle an intrigue, +the collision a scandal. While the revolutionary classes gloat with sardonic +laughter over the humiliation of the National Assembly—they, of course, +being as enthusiastic for the prerogatives of the parliament as that body is +for public freedom—the bourgeoisie, outside of the parliament, does not +understand how the bourgeoisie, inside of the parliament, can squander its time +with such petty bickerings, and can endanger peace by such wretched rivalries +with the President. It is puzzled at a strategy that makes peace the very +moment when everybody expects battles, and that attacks the very moment +everybody believes peace has been concluded. +</p> + +<p> +On December 20, Pascal Duprat interpellated the Minister of the Interior on the +“Goldbar Lottery.” This lottery was a “Daughter from +Elysium”; Bonaparte, together with his faithful, had given her birth; and +Police Prefect Carlier had placed her under his official protection, although +the French law forbade all lotteries, with the exception of games for +benevolent purposes. Seven million tickets, a franc a piece, and the profit +ostensibly destined to the shipping of Parisian vagabonds to California. Golden +dreams were to displace the Socialist dreams of the Parisian proletariat; the +tempting prospect of a prize was to displace the doctrinal right to labor. Of +course, the workingmen of Paris did not recognize in the lustre of the +California gold bars the lack-lustre francs that had been wheedled out of their +pockets. In the main, however, the scheme was an unmitigated swindle. The +vagabonds, who meant to open California gold mines without taking the pains to +leave Paris, were Bonaparte himself and his Round Table of desperate +insolvents. The three millions granted by the National Assembly were rioted +away; the Treasury had to be refilled somehow or another. In vain did Bonaparte +open a national subscription, at the head of which he himself figured with a +large sum, for the establishment of so-called “cites ouvrieres.” +[#3 Work cities.] The hard-hearted bourgeois waited, distrustful, for the +payment of his own shares; and, as this, of course, never took place, the +speculation in Socialist castles in the air fell flat. The gold bars drew +better. Bonaparte and his associates did not content themselves with putting +into their own pockets part of the surplus of the seven millions over and above +the bars that were to be drawn; they manufactured false tickets; they sold, of +Number 10 alone, fifteen to twenty lots—a financial operation fully in +the spirit of the “Society of December 10”! The National Assembly +did not here have before it the fictitious President of the Republic, but +Bonaparte himself in flesh and blood. Here it could catch him in the act, not +in conflict with the Constitution, but with the penal code. When, upon +Duprat’s interpellation, the National Assembly went over to the order of +the day, this did not happen simply because Girardin’s motion to declare +itself “satisfied” reminded the party of Order of its own +systematic corruption: the bourgeois, above all the bourgeois who has been +inflated into a statesman, supplements his practical meanness with theoretical +pompousness. As statesman, he becomes, like the Government facing him, a +superior being, who can be fought only in a higher, more exalted manner. +</p> + +<p> +Bonaparte-who, for the very reason of his being a “bohemian,” a +princely slum-proletarian, had over the scampish bourgeois the advantage that +he could carry on the fight after the Assembly itself had carried him with its +own hands over the slippery ground of the military banquets, of the reviews, of +the “Society of December 10,” and, finally, of the penal code-now +saw that the moment had arrived when he could move from the seemingly defensive +to the offensive. He was but little troubled by the intermediate and trifling +defeats of the Minister of Justice, of the Minister of War, of the Minister of +the Navy, of the Minister of Finance, whereby the National Assembly indicated +its growling displeasure. Not only did he prevent the Ministers from resigning, +and thus recognizing the subordination of the executive power to the +Parliament; he could now accomplish what during the vacation of the National +Assembly he had commenced, the separation of the military power from the +Assembly—the deposition of Changarnier. +</p> + +<p> +An Elysee paper published an order, issued during the month of May, ostensibly +to the First Military Division, and, hence, proceeding from Changarnier, +wherein the officers were recommended, in case of an uprising, to give no +quarter to the traitors in their own ranks, to shoot them down on the spot, and +to refuse troops to the National Assembly, should it make a requisition for +such. On January 3, 1851, the Cabinet was interpellated on this order. The +Cabinet demands for the examination of the affair at first three months, then +one week, finally only twenty-four hours’ time. The Assembly orders an +immediate explanation Changarnier rises and declares that this order never +existed; he adds that he would ever hasten to respond to the calls of the +National Assembly, and that, in case of a collision, they could count upon him. +The Assembly receives his utterances with inexpressible applause, and decrees a +vote of confidence to him. It thereby resign its own powers; it decrees its own +impotence and the omnipotence of the Army by committing itself to the private +protection of a general. But the general, in turn, deceives himself when he +places at the Assembly’s disposal and against Bonaparte a power that he +holds only as a fief from that same Bonaparte, and when, on his part, he +expects protection from this Parliament, from his protege’, itself +needful of protection. But Changarnier has faith in the mysterious power with +which since January, 1849, he had been clad by the bourgeoisie. He takes +himself for the Third Power, standing beside the other Powers of Government. He +shares the faith of all the other heroes, or rather saints, of this epoch, +whose greatness consists but in the interested good opinion that their own +party holds of them, and who shrink into every-day figures so soon as +circumstances invite them to perform miracles. Infidelity is, indeed, the +deadly enemy of these supposed heroes and real saints. Hence their virtuously +proud indignation at the unenthusiastic wits and scoffers. +</p> + +<p> +That same evening the Ministers were summoned to the Elysee; Bonaparte presses +the removal of Changarnier; five Ministers refuse to sign the order; the +“Moniteur” announces a Ministerial crisis; and the party of Order +threatens the formation of a Parliamentary army under the command of +Changarnier. The party of Order had the constitutional power hereto. It needed +only to elect Changarnier President of the National Assembly in order to make a +requisition for whatever military forces it needed for its own safety. It could +do this all the more safely, seeing that Changarnier still stood at the head of +the Army and of the Parisian National Guard, and only lay in wait to be +summoned, together with the Army. The Bonapartist press did not even dare to +question the right of the National Assembly to issue a direct requisition for +troops;—a legal scruple, that, under the given circumstances, did not +promise success. That the Army would have obeyed the orders of the National +Assembly is probable, when it is considered that Bonaparte had to look eight +days all over Paris to find two generals—Baraguay d’Hilliers and +St. Jean d’Angley—who declared themselves ready to countersign the +order cashiering Changamier. That, however, the party of Order would have found +in its own ranks and in the parliament the requisite vote for such a decision +is more than doubtful, when it is considered that, eight days later, 286 votes +pulled away from it, and that, as late as December, 1851, at the last decisive +hour, the Mountain rejected a similar proposition. Nevertheless, the burgraves +might still have succeeded in driving the mass of their party to an act of +heroism, consisting in feeling safe behind a forest of bayonets, and in +accepting the services of the Army, which found itself deserted in its camp. +Instead of this, the Messieurs Burgraves betook themselves to the Elysee on the +evening of January 6, with the view of inducing Bonaparte, by means of politic +words and considerations, to drop the removal of Changarnier. Him whom we must +convince we recognize as the master of the situation. Bonaparte, made to feel +secure by this step, appoints on January 12 a new Ministry, in which the +leaders of the old, Fould and Baroche, are retained. St Jean d’Angley +becomes Minister of War; the “Moniteur” announces the decree +cashiering Changarnier; his command is divided up between Baraguay +d’Hilliers, who receives the First Division, and Perrot, who is placed +over the National Guard. The “Bulwark of Society” is turned down; +and, although no dog barks over the event, in the Bourses the stock quotations +rise. +</p> + +<p> +By repelling the Army, that, in Changarnier’s person, put itself at its +disposal, and thus irrevocably stood up against the President, the party of +Order declares that the bourgeoisie has lost its vocation to reign. Already +there was no parliamentary Ministry. By losing, furthermore, the handle to the +Army and to the National Guard, what instrument of force was there left to the +National Assembly in order to maintain both the usurped power of the parliament +over the people, and its constitutional power over the President? None. All +that was left to it was the appeal to peaceful principles, that itself had +always explained as “general rules” merely, to be prescribed to +third parties, and only in order to enable itself to move all the more freely. +With the removal of Changarnier, with the transfer of the military power to +Bonaparte, closes the first part of the period that we are considering, the +period of the struggle between the party of Order and the Executive power. The +war between the two powers is now openly declared; it is conducted openly; but +only after the party of Order has lost both arms and soldier. With-out a +Ministry, without any army, without a people, without the support of public +opinion; since its election law of May 31, no longer the representative of the +sovereign nation sans eyes, sans ears, sans teeth, sans everything, the +National Assembly had gradually converted itself into a French Parliament of +olden days, that must leave all action to the Government, and content itself +with growling remonstrances “post festum.” [#4 After the act is +done; after the fact.] +</p> + +<p> +The party of Order receives the new Ministry with a storm of indignation. +General Bedeau calls to mind the mildness of the Permanent Committee during the +vacation, and the excessive prudence with which it had renounced the privilege +of disclosing its minutes. Now, the Minister of the Interior himself insists +upon the disclosure of these minutes, that have now, of course, become dull as +stagnant waters, reveal no new facts, and fall without making the slightest +effect upon the blase public. Upon Remusat’s proposition, the National +Assembly retreats into its Committees, and appoints a “Committee on +Extraordinary Measures.” Paris steps all the less out of the ruts of its +daily routine, seeing that business is prosperous at the time, the +manufactories busy, the prices of cereals low, provisions abundant, the savings +banks receiving daily new deposits. The “extraordinary measures,” +that the parliament so noisily announced fizzle out on January 18 in a vote of +lack of confidence against the Ministry, without General Changarnier’s +name being even mentioned. The party of Order was forced to frame its motion in +that way so as to secure the votes of the republicans, because, of all the acts +of the Ministry, Changarnier’s dismissal only was the very one they +approved, while the party of Order cannot in fact, condemn the other +Ministerial acts which it had itself dictated. The January 18 vote of lack of +confidence was decided by 415 ayes against 286 nays. It was, accordingly put +through by a coalition of the uncompromising Legitimists and Orleanists with +the pure republicans and the Mountain. Thus it revealed the fact that, in its +conflicts with Bonaparte, not only the Ministry, not only the Army, but also +its independent parliamentary majority; that a troop of Representatives had +deserted its camp out of a fanatic zeal for harmony, out of fear of fight, out +of lassitude, out of family considerations for the salaries of relatives in +office, out of speculations on vacancies in the Ministry (Odillon Barrot), or +out of that unmitigated selfishness that causes the average bourgeois to be +ever inclined to sacrifice the interests of his class to this or that private +motive. The Bonapartist Representatives belonged from the start to the party of +Order only in the struggle against the revolution. The leader of the Catholic +party, Montalembert, already then threw his influence in the scale of +Bonaparte, since he despaired of the vitality of the parliamentary party. +Finally, the leaders of this party itself, Thiers and Berryer—the +Orleanist and the Legitimist—were compelled to proclaim themselves openly +as republicans; to admit that their heart favored royalty, but their head the +republic; that their parliamentary republic was the only possible form for the +rule of the bourgeoisie Thus were they compelled to brand, before the eyes of +the bourgeois class itself, as an intrigue—as dangerous as it was +senseless—the restoration plans, which they continued to pursue +indefatigably behind the back of the parliament. +</p> + +<p> +The January 18 vote of lack of confidence struck the Ministers, not the +President. But it was not the Ministry, it was the President who had deposed +Changarnier. Should the party of Order place Bonaparte himself under charges? +On account of his restoration hankerings? These only supplemented their own. On +account of his conspiracy at the military reviews and of the “Society of +December 10”? They had long since buried these subjects under simple +orders of business. On account of the discharge of the hero of January 29 and +June 13, of the man who, in May, 1850, threatened, in case of riot, to set +Paris on fire at all its four corners? Their allies of the Mountain and +Cavaignac did not even allow them to console the fallen “Bulwark of +Society” with an official testimony of their sympathy. They themselves +could not deny the constitutional right of the President to remove a General. +They stormed only because he made an unparliamentary use of his constitutional +right. Had they not themselves constantly made an unconstitutional use of their +parliamentary prerogative, notably by the abolition of universal suffrage? +Consequently they were reminded to move exclusively within parliamentary +bounds. Indeed, it required that peculiar disease, a disease that, since 1848, +has raged over the whole continent, “Parliamentary +Idiocy,”—that fetters those whom it infects to an imaginary world, +and robs them of all sense, all remembrance, all understanding of the rude +outside world;—it required this “Parliamentary Idiocy” in +order that the party of Order, which had, with its own hands, destroyed all the +conditions for parliamentary power, and, in its struggle with the other +classes, was obliged to destroy them, still should consider its parliamentary +victories as victories, and imagine it hit the President by striking his +Ministers. They only afforded him an opportunity to humble the National +Assembly anew in the eyes of the nation. On January 20, the +“Moniteur” announced that the whole the dismissal of the whole +Ministry was accepted. Under the pretext that none of the parliamentary parties +had any longer the majority—as proved by the January 18 vote, that fruit +of the coalition between mountain and royalists—, and, in order to await +the re-formation of a majority, Bonaparte appointed a so-called transition +Ministry, of whom no member belonged to the parliament-altogether wholly +unknown and insignificant individuals; a Ministry of mere clerks and +secretaries. The party of Order could now wear itself out in the game with +these puppets; the Executive power no longer considered it worth the while to +be seriously represented in the National Assembly. By this act Bonaparte +concentrated the whole executive power all the more securely in his own person; +he had all the freer elbow-room to exploit the same to his own ends, the more +his Ministers became mere supernumeraries. +</p> + +<p> +The party of Order, now allied with the Mountain, revenged itself by rejecting +the Presidential endowment project of 1,800.000 francs, which the chief of the +“Society of December 10” had compelled his Ministerial clerks to +present to the Assembly. This time a majority of only 102 votes carried the day +accordingly since January 18, 27 more votes had fallen off: the dissolution of +the party of Order was making progress. Lest any one might for a moment be +deceived touching the meaning of its coalition with the Mountain, the party of +Order simultaneously scorned even to consider a motion, signed by 189 members +of the Mountain, for a general amnesty to political criminals. It was enough +that the Minister of the Interior, one Baisse, declared that the national +tranquility was only in appearance, in secret there reigned deep agitation, in +secret, ubiquitous societies were organized, the democratic papers were +preparing to reappear, the reports from the Departments were unfavorable, the +fugitives of Geneva conducted a conspiracy via Lyons through the whole of +southern France, France stood on the verge of an industrial and commercial +crisis, the manufacturers of Roubaix were working shorter hours, the prisoners +of Belle Isle had mutinied;—it was enough that even a mere Baisse should +conjure up the “Red Spectre” for the party of Order to reject +without discussion a motion that would have gained for the National Assembly a +tremendous popularity, and thrown Bonaparte back into its arms. Instead of +allowing itself to be intimidated by the Executive power with the perspective +of fresh disturbances, the party of Order should rather have allowed a little +elbow-room to the class struggle, in order to secure the dependence of the +Executive upon itself. But it did not feel itself equal to the task of playing +with fire. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, the so-called transition Ministry vegetated along until the middle +of April. Bonaparte tired out and fooled the National Assembly with constantly +new Ministerial combinations. Now he seemed to intend constructing a republican +Ministry with Lamartine and Billault; then, a parliamentary one with the +inevitable Odillon Barrot, whose name must never be absent when a dupe is +needed; then again, a Legitimist, with Batismenil and Lenoist d’Azy; and +yet again, an Orleansist, with Malleville. While thus throwing the several +factions of the party of Order into strained relations with one another, and +alarming them all with the prospect of a republican Ministry, together with the +there-upon inevitable restoration of universal suffrage, Bonaparte +simultaneously raises in the bourgeoisie the conviction that his sincere +efforts for a parliamentary Ministry are wrecked upon the irreconcilable +antagonism of the royalist factions. All the while the bourgeoisie was +clamoring louder and louder for a “strong Government,” and was +finding it less and less pardonable to leave France “without an +administration,” in proportion as a general commercial crisis seemed to +be under way and making recruits for Socialism in the cities, as did the +ruinously low price of grain in the rural districts. Trade became daily duller; +the unemployed hands increased perceptibly; in Paris, at least 10,000 +workingmen were without bread; in Rouen, Muehlhausen, Lyons, Roubaix, +Tourcoign, St. Etienue, Elbeuf, etc., numerous factories stood idle. Under +these circumstances Bonaparte could venture to restore, on April 11, the +Ministry of January 18; Messieurs Rouher, Fould, Baroche, etc., reinforced by +Mr. Leon Faucher, whom the constitutive assembly had, during its last days, +unanimously, with the exception of five Ministerial votes, branded with a vote +of censure for circulating false telegraphic dispatches. Accordingly, the +National Assembly had won a victory on January 18 over the Ministry, it had, +for the period of three months, been battling with Bonaparte, and all this +merely to the end that, on April 11, Fould and Baroche should be able to take +up the Puritan Faucher as third in their ministerial league. +</p> + +<p> +In November, 1849, Bonaparte had satisfied himself with an Unparliamentary, in +January, 1851, with an Extra-Parliamentary, on April 11, he felt strong enough +to form an Anti-Parliamentary Ministry, that harmoniously combined within +itself the votes of lack of confidence of both assemblies-the constitutive and +the legislative, the republican and the royalist. This ministerial progression +was a thermometer by which the parliament could measure the ebbing temperature +of its own life. This had sunk so low by the end of April that, at a personal +interview, Persigny could invite Changarnier to go over to the camp of the +President. Bonaparte, he assured Changarnier, considered the influence of the +National Assembly to be wholly annihilated, and already the proclamation was +ready, that was to be published after the steadily contemplated, but again +accidentally postponed “coup d’etat.” Changarnier +communicated this announcement of its death to the leaders of the party of +Order; but who was there to believe a bed-bug bite could kill? The parliament, +however beaten, however dissolved, however death-tainted it was, could not +persuade itself to see, in the duel with the grotesque chief of the +“Society of December 10,” anything but a duel with a bed-bug. But +Bonaparte answered the party of Order as Agesilaus did King Agis: “I seem +to you an ant; but shall one day be a lion.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>VI.</h2> + +<p> +The coalition with the Mountain and the pure republicans, to which the party of +Order found itself condemned in its fruitless efforts to keep possession of the +military and to reconquer supreme control over the Executive power, proved +conclusively that it had forfeited its independent parliamentary majority. The +calendar and clock merely gave, on May 29, the signal for its complete +dissolution. With May 29 commenced the last year of the life of the National +Assembly. It now had to decide for the unchanged continuance or the revision of +the Constitution. But a revision of the Constitution meant not only the +definitive supremacy of either the bourgeoisie of the small traders’ +democracy, of either democracy or proletarian anarchy, of either a +parliamentary republic or Bonaparte, it meant also either Orleans or Bourbon! +Thus fell into the very midst of the parliament the apple of discord, around +which the conflict of interests, that cut up the party of Order into hostile +factions, was to kindle into an open conflagration. The party of Order was a +combination of heterogeneous social substances. The question of revision raised +a political temperature, in which the product was reduced to its original +components. +</p> + +<p> +The interest of the Bonapartists in the revision was simple: they were above +all concerned in the abolition of Article 45, which forbade Bonaparte’s +reelection and the prolongation of his term. Not less simple seemed to be the +position of the republicans; they rejected all revision, seeing in that only a +general conspiracy against the republic; as they disposed over more than +one-fourth of the votes in the National Assembly, and, according to the +Constitution, a three-fourths majority was requisite to revise and to call a +revisory convention, they needed only to count their own votes to be certain of +victory. Indeed, they were certain of it. +</p> + +<p> +Over and against these clear-cut positions, the party of Order found itself +tangled in inextricable contradictions. If it voted against the revision, it +endangered the “status quo,” by leaving to Bonaparte only one +expedient—that of violence and handing France over, on May 2, 1852, at +the very time of election, a prey to revolutionary anarchy, with a President +whose authority was at an end; with a parliament that the party had long ceased +to own, and with a people that it meant to re-conquer. If it voted +constitutionally for a revision, it knew that it voted in vain and would +constitutionally have to go under before the veto of the republicans. If, +unconstitutionally, it pronounced a simple majority binding, it could hope to +control the revolution only in case it surrendered unconditionally to the +domination of the Executive power: it then made Bonaparte master of the +Constitution, of the revision and of itself. A merely partial revision, +prolonging the term of the President, opened the way to imperial usurpation; a +general revision, shortening the existence of the republic, threw the dynastic +claims into an inevitable conflict: the conditions for a Bourbon and those for +an Orleanist restoration were not only different, they mutually excluded each +other. +</p> + +<p> +The parliamentary republic was more than a neutral ground on which the two +factions of the French bourgeoisie—Legitimists and Orleanists, large +landed property and manufacture—could lodge together with equal rights. +It was the indispensable condition for their common reign, the only form of +government in which their common class interest could dominate both the claims +of their separate factions and all the other classes of society. As royalists, +they relapsed into their old antagonism into the struggle for the overlordship +of either landed property or of money; and the highest expression of this +antagonism, its personification, were the two kings themselves, their +dynasties. Hence the resistance of the party of Order to the recall of the +Bourbons. +</p> + +<p> +The Orleanist Representative Creton moved periodically in 1849, 1850 and 1851 +the repeal of the decree of banishment against the royal families; as +periodically did the parliament present the spectacle of an Assembly of +royalists who stubbornly shut to their banished kings the door through which +they could return home. Richard III murdered Henry VI, with the remark that he +was too good for this world, and belonged in heaven. They declared France too +bad to have her kings back again. Forced by the power of circumstances, they +had become republicans, and repeatedly sanctioned the popular mandate that +exiled their kings from France. +</p> + +<p> +The revision of the Constitution, and circumstances compelled its +consideration, at once made uncertain not only the republic itself, but also +the joint reign of the two bourgeois factions; and it revived, with the +possibility of the monarchy, both the rivalry of interests which these two +factions had alternately allowed to preponderate, and the struggle for the +supremacy of the one over the other. The diplomats of the party of Order +believed they could allay the struggle by a combination of the two dynasties +through a so-called fusion of the royalist parties and their respective royal +houses. The true fusion of the restoration and the July monarchy was, however, +the parliamentary republic, in which the Orleanist and Legitimist colors were +dissolved, and the bourgeois species vanished in the plain bourgeois, in the +bourgeois genus. Now however, the plan was to turn the Orleanist Legitimist and +the Legitimist Orleanist. The kingship, in which their antagonism was +personified, was to incarnate their unity, the expression of their exclusive +faction interests was to become the expression of their common class interest; +the monarchy was to accomplish what only the abolition of two +monarchies—the republic could and did accomplish. This was the +philosopher’s stone, for the finding of which the doctors of the party of +Order were breaking their heads. As though the Legitimate monarchy ever could +be the monarchy of the industrial bourgeoisie, or the bourgeois monarchy the +monarchy of the hereditary landed aristocracy! As though landed property and +industry could fraternize under one crown, where the crown could fall only upon +one head, the head of the older or the younger brother! As though industry +could at all deal upon a footing of equality with landed property, so long as +landed property did not decide itself to become industrial. If Henry V were to +die tomorrow, the Count of Paris would not, therefore, become the king of the +Legitimists, unless he ceased to be the King of the Orleanists. Nevertheless, +the fusion philosophers, who became louder in the measure that the question of +revision stepped to the fore, who had provided themselves with a daily organ in +the “Assemblee Nationale,” who, even at this very moment (February, +1852) are again at work, explained the whole difficulty by the opposition and +rivalries of the two dynasties. The attempts to reconcile the family of Orleans +with Henry V., begun since the death of Louis Philippe, but, as all these +dynastic intrigues carried on only during the vacation of the National +Assembly, between acts, behind the scenes, more as a sentimental coquetry with +the old superstition than as a serious affair, were now raised by the party of +Order to the dignity of a great State question, and were conducted upon the +public stage, instead of, as heretofore in the amateurs’ theater. +Couriers flew from Paris to Venice, from Venice to Claremont, from Claremont to +Paris. The Duke of Chambord issues a manifesto in which he announces not his +own, but the “national” restoration, “with the aid of all the +members of his family.” The Oleanist Salvandy throws himself at the feet +of Henry V. The Legitimist leaders Berryer, Benoit d’Azy, St. Priest +travel to Claremont, to persuade the Orleans; but in vain. The fusionists learn +too late that the interests of the two bourgeois factions neither lose in +exclusiveness nor gain in pliancy where they sharpen to a point in the form of +family interests, of the interests of the two royal houses. When Henry V. +recognized the Count of Paris as his successor—the only success that the +fusion could at best score—the house of Orleans acquired no claim that +the childlessness of Henry V. had not already secured to it; but, on the other +hand, it lost all the claims that it had conquered by the July revolution. It +renounced its original claims, all the title, that, during a struggle nearly +one hundred years long, it had wrested from the older branch of the Bourbons; +it bartered away its historic prerogative, the prerogative of its family-tree. +Fusion, accordingly, amounted to nothing else than the resignation of the house +of Orleans, its Legitimist resignation, a repentful return from the Protestant +State Church into the Catholic;—a return, at that, that did not even +place it on the throne that it had lost, but on the steps of the throne on +which it was born. The old Orleanist Ministers Guizot, Duchatel, etc., who +likewise hastened to Claremont, to advocate the fusion, represented in fact +only the nervous reaction of the July monarchy; despair, both in the citizen +kingdom and the kingdom of citizens; the superstitious belief in legitimacy as +the last amulet against anarchy. Mediators, in their imagination, between +Orleans and Bourbon, they were in reality but apostate Orleanists, and as such +were they received by the Prince of Joinville. The virile, bellicose part of +the Orleanists, on the contrary—Thiers, Baze, etc.—, persuaded the +family of Louis Philippe all the easier that, seeing every plan for the +immediate restoration of the monarchy presupposed the fusion of the two +dynasties, and every plan for fusion the resignation of the house of Orleans, +it corresponded, on the contrary, wholly with the tradition of its ancestors to +recognize the republic for the time being, and to wait until circumstances +permitted I the conversion of the Presidential chair into a throne. +Joinville’s candidacy was set afloat as a rumor, public curiosity was +held in suspense, and a few months later, after the revision was rejected, +openly proclaimed in September. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, the essay of a royalist fusion between Orleanists and Legitimists +did not miscarry only, it broke up their parliamentary fusion, the republican +form that they had adopted in common, and it decomposed the party of Order into +its original components. But the wider the breach became between Venice and +Claremont, the further they drifted away from each I other, and the greater the +progress made by the Joinville agitation, all the more active and earnest +became the negotiations between Faucher, the Minister of Bonaparte, and the +Legitimists. +</p> + +<p> +The dissolution of the party of Order went beyond its original elements. Each +of the two large factions fell in turn into new fragments. It was as if all the +old political shades, that formerly fought and crowded one another within each +of the two circles—be it that of the Legitimists or that of the +Orleanists—, had been thawed out like dried infusoria by contact with +water; as if they had recovered enough vitality to build their own groups and +assert their own antagonisms. The Legitimists dreamed they were back amidst the +quarrels between the Tuileries and the pavilion Marsan, between Villele and +Polignac; the Orleanists lived anew through the golden period of the tourneys +between Guizot, Mole, Broglie, Thiers, and Odillon Barrot. +</p> + +<p> +That portion of the party of Order—eager for a revision of the +Constitution but disagreed upon the extent of revision—made up of the +Legitimists under Berryer and Falloux and of those under Laroche Jacquelein, +together with the tired-out Orleanists under Mole, Broglie, Montalembert and +Odillon Barrot, united with the Bonapartist Representatives in the following +indefinite and loosely drawn motion: +</p> + +<p> +“The undersigned Representatives, with the end in view of restoring to +the nation the full exercise of her sovereignty, move that the Constitution be +revised.” +</p> + +<p> +At the same time, however, they unanimously declared through their spokesman, +Tocqueville, that the National Assembly had not the right to move the abolition +of the republic, that right being vested only in a Constitutional Convention. +For the rest, the Constitution could be revised only in a “legal” +way, that is to say, only in case a three-fourths majority decided in favor of +revision, as prescribed by the Constitution. After a six days’ stormy +debate, the revision was rejected on July 19, as was to be foreseen. In its +favor 446 votes were cast, against it 278. The resolute Oleanists, Thiers, +Changarnier, etc., voted with the republicans and the Mountain. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the majority of the parliament pronounced itself against the Constitution, +while the Constitution itself pronounced itself for the minority, and its +decision binding. But had not the party of Order on May 31, 1850, had it not on +June 13, 1849, subordinated the Constitution to the parliamentary majority? Did +not the whole republic they had been hitherto having rest upon the +subordination of the Constitutional clauses to the majority decisions of the +parliament? Had they not left to the democrats the Old Testament superstitious +belief in the letter of the law, and had they not chastised the democrats +therefor? At this moment, however, revision meant nothing else than the +continuance of the Presidential power, as the continuance of the Constitution +meant nothing else than the deposition of Bonaparte. The parliament had +pronounced itself for him, but the Constitution pronounced itself against the +parliament. Accordingly, he acted both in the sense of the parliament when he +tore up the Constitution, and in the sense of the Constitution when he chased +away the parliament. +</p> + +<p> +The parliament pronounced the Constitution, and, thereby, also, its own reign, +“outside of the pale of the majority”; by its decision, it repealed +the Constitution, and continued the Presidential power, and it at once declared +that neither could the one live nor the other die so long as itself existed. +The feet of those who were to bury it stood at the door. While it was debating +the subject of revision, Bonaparte removed General Baraguay d’Hilliers, +who showed himself irresolute, from the command of the First Military Division, +and appointed in his place General Magnan, the conqueror of Lyon; the hero of +the December days, one of his own creatures, who already under Louis Philippe, +on the occasion of the Boulogne expedition, had somewhat compromised himself in +his favor. +</p> + +<p> +By its decision on the revision, the party of Order proved that it knew neither +how to rule nor how to obey; neither how to live nor how to die; neither how to +bear with the republic nor how to overthrow it; neither how to maintain the +Constitution nor how to throw it overboard; neither how to co-operate with the +President nor how to break with him. From what quarter did it then, look to for +the solution of all the existing perplexities? From the calendar, from the +course of events. It ceased to assume the control of events. It, accordingly, +invited events to don its authority and also the power to which in its struggle +with the people, it had yielded one attribute after another until it finally +stood powerless before the same. To the end that the Executive be able all the +more freely to formulate his plan of campaign against it, strengthen his means +of attack, choose his tools, fortify his positions, the party of Order decided, +in the very midst of this critical moment, to step off the stage, and adjourn +for three months, from August 10 to November 4. +</p> + +<p> +Not only was the parliamentary party dissolved into its two great factions, not +only was each of these dissolved within itself, but the party of Order, inside +of the parliament, was at odds with the party of Order, outside of the +parliament. The learned speakers and writers of the bourgeoisie, their tribunes +and their press, in short, the ideologists of the bourgeoisie and the +bourgeoisie itself, the representatives and the represented, stood estranged +from, and no longer understood one another. +</p> + +<p> +The Legitimists in the provinces, with their cramped horizon and their +boundless enthusiasm, charged their parliamentary leaders Berryer and Falloux +with desertion to the Bonapartist camp, and with apostacy from Henry V. Their +lilymind [#1 An allusion to the lilies of the Bourbon coat-of-arms] believed in +the fall of man, but not in diplomacy. +</p> + +<p> +More fatal and completer, though different, was the breach between the +commercial bourgeoisie and its politicians. It twitted them, not as the +Legitimists did theirs, with having apostatized from their principle, but, on +the contrary, with adhering to principles that had become useless. +</p> + +<p> +I have already indicated that, since the entry of Fould in the Ministry, that +portion of the commercial bourgeoisie that had enjoyed the lion’s share +in Louis Philippe’s reign, to-wit, the aristocracy of finance, had become +Bonapartist. Fould not only represented Bonaparte’s interests at the +Bourse, he represented also the interests of the Bourse with Bonaparte. A +passage from the London “Economist,” the European organ of the +aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of this class. +In its issue of February 1, 1851, its Paris correspondent writes: “Now we +have it stated from numerous quarters that France wishes above all things for +repose. The President declares it in his message to the Legislative Assembly; +it is echoed from the tribune; it is asserted in the journals; it is announced +from the pulpit; it is demonstrated by the sensitiveness of the public funds at +the least prospect of disturbance, and their firmness the instant it is made +manifest that the Executive is far superior in wisdom and power to the factious +ex-officials of all former governments.” +</p> + +<p> +In its issue of November 29, 1851, the “Economist” declares +editorially: “The President is now recognized as the guardian of order on +every Stock Exchange of Europe.” Accordingly, the Aristocracy of Finance +condemned the parliamentary strife of the party of Order with the Executive as +a “disturbance of order,” and hailed every victory of the President +over its reputed representatives as a “victory of order.” Under +“aristocracy of finance” must not, however, be understood merely +the large bond negotiators and speculators in government securities, of whom it +may be readily understood that their interests and the interests of the +Government coincide. The whole modern money trade, the whole banking industry, +is most intimately interwoven with the public credit. Part of their business +capital requires to be invested in interest-bearing government securities that +are promptly convertible into money; their deposits, i. e., the capital placed +at their disposal and by them distributed among merchants and industrial +establishments, flow partly out of the dividends on government securities. The +whole money market, together with the priests of this market, is part and +parcel of this “aristocracy of finance” at every epoch when the +stability of the government is to them synonymous with “Moses and his +prophets.” This is so even before things have reached the present stage +when every deluge threatens to carry away the old governments themselves. +</p> + +<p> +But the industrial Bourgeoisie also, in its fanaticism for order, was annoyed +at the quarrels of the Parliamentary party of Order with the Executive. Thiers, +Anglas, Sainte Beuve, etc., received, after their vote of January 18, on the +occasion of the discharge of Changarnier, public reprimands from their +constituencies, located in the industrial districts, branding their coalition +with the Mountain as an act of high treason to the cause of order. Although, +true enough, the boastful, vexatious and petty intrigues, through which the +struggle of the party of Order with the President manifested itself, deserved +no better reception, yet notwithstanding, this bourgeois party, that expects of +its representatives to allow the military power to pass without resistance out +of the hands of their own Parliament into those of an adventurous Pretender, is +not worth even the intrigues that were wasted in its behalf. It showed that the +struggle for the maintenance of their public interests, of their class +interests, of their political power only incommoded and displeased them, as a +disturbance of their private business. +</p> + +<p> +The bourgeois dignitaries of the provincial towns, the magistrates, commercial +judges, etc., with hardly any exception, received Bonaparte everywhere on his +excursions in the most servile manner, even when, as in Dijon, he attacked the +National Assembly and especially the party of Order without reserve. +</p> + +<p> +Business being brisk, as still at the beginning of 1851, the commercial +bourgeoisie stormed against every Parliamentary strife, lest business be put +out of temper. Business being dull, as from the end of February, 1851, on, the +bourgeoisie accused the Parliamentary strifes as the cause of the stand-still, +and clamored for quiet in order that business may revive. The debates on +revision fell just in the bad times. Seeing the question now was the to be or +not to be of the existing form of government, the bourgeoisie felt itself all +the more justified in demanding of its Representatives that they put an end to +this tormenting provisional status, and preserve the “status quo.” +This was no contradiction. By putting an end to the provisional status, it +understood its continuance, the indefinite putting off of the moment when a +final decision had to be arrived at. The “status quo” could be +preserved in only one of two ways: either by the prolongation of +Bonaparte’s term of office or by his constitutional withdrawal and the +election of Cavaignac. A part of the bourgeoisie preferred the latter solution, +and knew no better advice to give their Representatives than to be silent, to +avoid the burning point. If their Representatives did not speak, so argued +they, Bonaparte would not act. They desired an ostrich Parliament that would +hide its head, in order not to be seen. Another part of the bourgeoisie +preferred that Bonaparte, being once in the Presidential chair, be left in the +Presidential chair, in order that everything might continue to run in the old +ruts. They felt indignant that their Parliament did not openly break the +Constitution and resign without further ado. The General Councils of the +Departments, these provisional representative bodies of the large bourgeoisie, +who had adjourned during the vacation of the National Assembly since August 25, +pronounced almost unanimously for revision, that is to say, against the +Parliament and for Bonaparte. +</p> + +<p> +Still more unequivocally than in its falling out with its Parliamentary +Representatives, did the bourgeoisie exhibit its wrath at its literary +Representatives, its own press. The verdicts of the bourgeois juries, +inflicting excessive fines and shameless sentences of imprisonment for every +attack of the bourgeois press upon the usurping aspirations of Bonaparte, for +every attempt of the press to defend the political rights of the bourgeoisie +against the Executive power, threw, not France alone, but all Europe into +amazement. +</p> + +<p> +While on the one hand, as I have indicated, the Parliamentary party of Order +ordered itself to keep the peace by screaming for peace; and while it +pronounced the political rule of the bourgeoisie irreconcilable with the safety +and the existence of the bourgeoisie, by destroying with its own hands in its +struggle with the other classes of society all the conditions for its own, the +Parliamentary regime; on the other hand, the mass of the bourgeoisie, outside +of the Parliament, urged Bonaparte—by its servility towards the +President, by its insults to the Parliament, by the brutal treatment of its own +press—to suppress and annihilate its speaking and writing organs, its +politicians and its literati, its orators’ tribune and its press, to the +end that, under the protection of a strong and unhampered Government, it might +ply its own private pursuits in safety. It declared unmistakably that it longed +to be rid of its own political rule, in order to escape the troubles and +dangers of ruling. +</p> + +<p> +And this bourgeoisie, that had rebelled against even the Parliamentary and +literary contest for the supremacy of its own class, that had betrayed its +leaders in this contest, it now has the effrontery to blame the proletariat for +not having risen in its defence in a bloody struggle, in a struggle for life! +Those bourgeois, who at every turn sacrificed their common class interests to +narrow and dirty private interests, and who demanded a similar sacrifice from +their own Representatives, now whine that the proletariat has sacrificed their +idea-political to its own material interests! This bourgeois class now strikes +the attitude of a pure soul, misunderstood and abandoned, at a critical moment, +by the proletariat, that has been misled by the Socialists. And its cry finds a +general echo in the bourgeois world. Of course, I do not refer to German +crossroad politicians and kindred blockheads. I refer, for instance, to the +“Economist,” which, as late as November 29, 1851, that is to say, +four days before the “coup d’etat” pronounced Bonaparte the +“Guardian of Order” and Thiers and Berryer +“Anarchists,” and as early as December 27, 1851, after Bonaparte +had silenced those very Anarchists, cries out about the treason committed by +“the ignorant, untrained and stupid proletaires against the skill, +knowledge, discipline, mental influence, intellectual resources an moral weight +of the middle and upper ranks.” The stupid, ignorant and contemptible +mass was none other than the bourgeoisie itself. +</p> + +<p> +France had, indeed; experienced a sort of commercial crisis in 1851. At the end +of February, there was a falling off of exports as compared with 1850; in +March, business languished and factories shut down; in April, the condition of +the industrial departments seemed as desperate as after the February days; in +May, business did not yet pick up; as late as June 28, the reports of the Bank +of France revealed through a tremendous increase of deposits and an equal +decrease of loans on exchange notes, the standstill of production; not until +the middle of October did a steady improvement of business set in. The French +bourgeoisie accounted for this stagnation of business with purely political +reasons; it imputed the dull times to the strife between the Parliament and the +Executive power, to the uncertainty of a provisional form of government, to the +alarming prospects of May 2, 1852. I shall not deny that all these causes did +depress some branches of industry in Paris and in the Departments. At any rate, +this effect of political circumstances was only local and trifling. Is there +any other proof needed than that the improvement in business set in at the very +time when the political situation was growing worse, when the political horizon +was growing darker, and when at every moment a stroke of lightning was expected +out of the Elysee—in the middle of October? The French bourgeois, whose +“skill, knowledge, mental influence and intellectual resources,” +reach no further than his nose, could, moreover, during the whole period of the +Industrial Exposition in London, have struck with his nose the cause of his own +business misery. At the same time that, in France, the factories were being +closed, commercial failures broke out in England. While the industrial panic +reached its height during April and May in France, in England the commercial +panic reached its height in April and May. The same as the French, the English +woolen industries suffered, and, as the French, so did the English silk +manufacture. Though the English cotton factories went on working, it, +nevertheless, was not with the same old profit of 1849 and 1850. The only +difference was this: that in France, the crisis was an industrial, in England +it was a commercial one; that while in France the factories stood still, they +spread themselves in England, but under less favorable circumstances than they +had done the years just previous; that, in France, the export, in England, the +import trade suffered the heaviest blows. The common cause, which, as a matter +of fact, is not to be looked for with-in the bounds of the French political +horizon, was obvious. The years 1849 and 1850 were years of the greatest +material prosperity, and of an overproduction that did not manifest itself +until 1851. This was especially promoted at the beginning of 1851 by the +prospect of the Industrial Exposition; and, as special causes, there were +added, first, the failure of the cotton crop of 1850 and 1851; second, the +certainty of a larger cotton crop than was expected: first, the rise, then the +sudden drop; in short, the oscillations of the cotton market. The crop of raw +silk in France had been below the average. Finally, the manufacture of woolen +goods had received such an increment since 1849, that the production of wool +could not keep step with it, and the price of the raw material rose greatly out +of proportion to the price of the manufactured goods. Accordingly, we have here +in the raw material of three staple articles a threefold material for a +commercial crisis. Apart from these special circumstances, the seeming crisis +of the year 1851 was, after all, nothing but the halt that overproduction and +overspeculation make regularly in the course of the industrial cycle, before +pulling all their forces together in order to rush feverishly over the last +stretch, and arrive again at their point of departure—the General +Commercial Crisis. At such intervals in the history of trade, commercial +failures break out in England, while, in France, industry itself is stopped, +partly because it is compelled to retreat through the competition of the +English, that, at such times becomes resistless in all markets, and partly +because, as an industry of luxuries, it is affected with preference by every +stoppage of trade. Thus, besides the general crisis, France experiences her own +national crises, which, how-ever, are determined by and conditioned upon the +general state of the world’s market much more than by local French +influences. It will not be devoid of interest to contrast the prejudgment of +the French bourgeois with the judgment of the English bourgeois. One of the +largest Liverpool firms writes in its yearly report of trade for 1851: +“Few years have more completely disappointed the expectations entertained +at their beginning than the year that has just passed; instead of the great +prosperity, that was unanimously looked forward to, it proved itself one of the +most discouraging years during the last quarter of a century. This applies, of +course, only to the mercantile, not to the industrial classes. And yet, surely +there were grounds at the beginning of the year from which to draw a contrary +conclusion; the stock of products was scanty, capital was abundant, provisions +cheap, a rich autumn was assured, there was uninterrupted peace on the +continent and no political and financial disturbances at home; indeed, never +were the wings of trade more unshackled. . . . What is this unfavorable result +to be ascribed to? We believe to excessive trade in imports as well as exports. +If our merchants do not themselves rein in their activity, nothing can keep us +going, except a panic every three years.” +</p> + +<p> +Imagine now the French bourgeois, in the midst of this business panic, having +his trade-sick brain tortured, buzzed at and deafened with rumors of a +“coup d’etat” and the restoration of universal suffrage; with +the struggle between the Legislature and the Executive; with the Fronde warfare +between Orleanists and Legitimists; with communistic conspiracies in southern +France; with alleged Jacqueries [#2 Peasant revolts] in the Departments of +Nievre and Cher; with the advertisements of the several candidates for +President; with “social solutions” huckstered about by the +journals; with the threats of the republicans to uphold, arms in hand, the +Constitution and universal suffrage; with the gospels, according to the +emigrant heroes “in partibus,” who announced the destruction of the +world for May 2,—imagine that, and one can understand how the bourgeois, +in this unspeakable and noisy confusion of fusion, revision, prorogation, +constitution, conspiracy, coalition, emigration, usurpation and revolution, +blurts out at his parliamentary republic: “Rather an End With Fright, +Than a Fright Without End.” +</p> + +<p> +Bonaparte understood this cry. His perspicacity was sharpened by the growing +anxiety of the creditors’ class, who, with every sunset, that brought +nearer the day of payment, the 2d of May, 1852, saw in the motion of the stars +a protest against their earthly drafts. They had become regular astrologers The +National Assembly had cut off Bonaparte’s hope of a constitutional +prolongation of his term; the candidature of the Prince of Joinville tolerated +no further vacillation. +</p> + +<p> +If ever an event cast its shadow before it long before its occurrence, it was +Bonaparte’s “coup d’etat.” Already on January 29, 1849, +barely a month after his election, he had made to Changarnier a proposition to +that effect. His own Prime Minister. Odillon Barrot, had covertly, in 1849, and +Thiers openly in the winter of 1850, revealed the scheme of the “coup +d’etat.” In May, 1851, Persigny had again sought to win Changarnier +over to the “coup,” and the “Miessager de +l’Assemblee” newspaper had published this conversation. At every +parliamentary storm, the Bonapartist papers threatened a “coup,” +and the nearer the crisis approached, all the louder grew their tone. At the +orgies, that Bonaparte celebrated every night with a swell mob of males and +females, every time the hour of midnight drew nigh and plenteous libations had +loosened the tongues and heated the minds of the revelers, the +“coup” was resolved upon for the next morning. Swords were then +drawn, glasses clinked, the Representatives were thrown out at the windows, the +imperial mantle fell upon the shoulders of Bonaparte, until the next morning +again drove away the spook, and astonished Paris learned, from not very +reserved Vestals and indiscreet Paladins, the danger it had once more escaped. +During the months of September and October, the rumors of a “coup +d’etat” tumbled close upon one another’s heels. At the same +time the shadow gathered color, like a confused daguerreotype. Follow the +issues of the European daily press for the months of September and October, and +items like this will be found literally: +</p> + +<p> +“Rumors of a ‘coup’ fill Paris. The capital, it is said, is +to be filled with troops by night and the next morning decrees are to be issued +dissolving the National Assembly, placing the Department of the Seine in state +of siege restoring universal suffrage, and appealing to the people. Bonaparte +is rumored to be looking for Ministers to execute these illegal decrees.” +</p> + +<p> +The newspaper correspondence that brought this news always close ominously with +“postponed.” The “coup” was ever the fixed idea of +Bonaparte. With this idea he had stepped again upon French soil. It had such +full possession of him that he was constantly betraying and blabbing it out. He +was so weak that he was as constantly giving it up again. The shadow of the +“coup” had become so familiar a spectre to the Parisians, that they +refused to believe it when it finally did appear in flesh and blood. +Consequently, it was neither the reticent backwardness of the chief of the +“Society of December 10,” nor an unthought of surprise of the +National Assembly that caused the success of the “coup.” When it +succeeded, it did so despite his indiscretion and with its anticipation—a +necessary, unavoidable result of the development that had preceded. +</p> + +<p> +On October 10, Bonaparte announced to his Ministers his decision to restore +universal suffrage; on the 16th day they handed in their resignations; on the +26th Paris learned of the formation of the Thorigny Ministry. The Prefect of +Police, Carlier, was simultaneously replaced by Maupas; and the chief of the +First Military Division Magnan, concentrated the most reliable regiments in the +capital. On November 4, the National Assembly re-opened its sessions. There was +nothing left for it to do but to repeat, in short recapitulation, the course it +had traversed, and to prove that it had been buried only after it had expired. +The first post that it had forfeited in the struggle with the Executive was the +Ministry. It had solemnly to admit this loss by accepting as genuine the +Thorigny Ministry, which was but a pretence. The permanent Committee had +received Mr. Giraud with laughter when he introduced himself in the name of the +new Ministers. So weak a Ministry for so strong a measure as the restoration of +universal suffrage! The question, however, then was to do nothing in, +everything against the parliament. +</p> + +<p> +On the very day of its re-opening, the National Assembly received the message +from Bonaparte demanding the restoration of universal suffrage and the repeal +of the law of May 31, 1850. On the same day, his Ministers introduced a decree +to that effect. The Assembly promptly rejected the motion of urgency made by +the Ministers, but repealed the law itself, on November 13, by a vote of 355 +against 348. Thus it once more tore to pieces its own mandate, once more +certified to the fact that it had transformed itself from a freely chosen +representative body of the nation into the usurpatory parliament of a class; it +once more admitted that it had itself severed the muscles that connected the +parliamentary head with the body of the nation. +</p> + +<p> +While the Executive power appealed from the National Assembly to the people by +its motion for the restoration of universal suffrage, the Legislative power +appealed from the people to the Army by its “Questors’ Bill.” +This bill was to establish its right to immediate requisitions for troops, to +build up a parliamentary army. By thus appointing the Army umpire between +itself and the people, between itself and Bonaparte; by thus recognizing the +Army as the decisive power in the State, the National Assembly was constrained +to admit that it had long given up all claim to supremacy. By debating the +right to make requisitions for troops, instead of forthwith collecting them, it +betrayed its own doubts touching its own power. By thus subsequently rejecting +the “Questors’ Bill,” it publicly confessed it impotence. The +bill fell through with a minority of 108 votes; the Mountain had, accordingly, +thrown the casting vote It now found itself in the predicament of +Buridan’s donkey, not, indeed, between two sacks of hay, forced to decide +which of the two was the more attractive, but between two showers of blows, +forced to decide which of the two was the harder; fear of Changarnier, on one +side, fear of Bonaparte, on the other. It must be admitted the position was not +a heroic one. +</p> + +<p> +On November 18, an amendment was moved to the Act, passed by the party of +Order, on municipal elections to the effect that, instead of three years, a +domicile of one year should suffice. The amendment was lost by a single +vote—but this vote, it soon transpired, was a mistake. Owing to the +divisions within its own hostile factions, the party of Order had long since +forfeited its independent parliamentary majority. It was now plain that there +was no longer any majority in the parliament. The National Assembly had become +impotent even to decide. Its atomic parts were no longer held together by any +cohesive power; it had expended its last breath, it was dead. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, the mass of the bourgeoisie outside of the parliament was once more +solemnly to confirm its rupture with the bourgeoisie inside of the parliament a +few days before the catastrophe. Thiers, as a parliamentary hero conspicuously +smitten by that incurable disease—Parliamentary Idiocy—, had +hatched out jointly with the Council of State, after the death of the +parliament, a new parliamentary intrigue in the shape of a +“Responsibility Law,” that was intended to lock up the President +within the walls of the Constitution. The same as, on September 15, Bonaparte +bewitched the fishwives, like a second Massaniello, on the occasion of laying +the corner-stone for the Market of Paris,—though, it must be admitted, +one fishwife was equal to seventeen Burgraves in real power—; the same +as, after the introduction of the “Questors’ Bill,” he +enthused the lieutenants, who were being treated at the Elysee;—so, +likewise, did he now, on November 25, carry away with him the industrial +bourgeoisie, assembled at the Circus, to receive from his hands the +prize-medals that had been awarded at the London Industrial Exposition. I here +reproduce the typical part of his speech, from the “Journal des +Debats”: +</p> + +<p> +“With such unhoped for successes, I am justified to repeat how great the +French republic would be if she were only allowed to pursue her real interests, +and reform her institutions, instead of being constantly disturbed in this by +demagogues, on one side, and, on the other, by monarchic hallucinations. (Loud, +stormy and continued applause from all parts of the amphitheater). The +monarchic hallucinations hamper all progress and all serious departments of +industry. Instead of progress, we have struggle only. Men, formerly the most +zealous supporters of royal authority and prerogative, become the partisans of +a convention that has no purpose other than to weaken an authority that is born +of universal suffrage. (Loud and prolonged applause). We see men, who have +suffered most from the revolution and complained bitterest of it, provoking a +new one for the sole purpose of putting fetters on the will of the nation. . . +. I promise you peace for the future.” (Bravo! Bravo! Stormy bravos.) +</p> + +<p> +Thus the industrial bourgeoisie shouts its servile “Bravo!” to the +“coup d’etat” of December 2, to the destruction of the +parliament, to the downfall of their own reign, to the dictatorship of +Bonaparte. The rear of the applause of November 25 was responded to by the roar +of cannon on December 4, and the house of Mr. Sallandrouze, who had been +loudest in applauding, was the one demolished by most of the bombs. +</p> + +<p> +Cromwell, when he dissolved the Long Parliament, walked alone into its midst, +pulled out his watch in order that the body should not continue to exist one +minute beyond the term fixed for it by him, and drove out each individual +member with gay and humorous invectives. Napoleon, smaller than his prototype, +at least went on the 18th Brumaire into the legislative body, and, though in a +tremulous voice, read to it its sentence of death. The second Bonaparte, who, +moreover, found himself in possession of an executive power very different from +that of either Cromwell or Napoleon, did not look for his model in the annals +of universal history, but in the annals of the “Society of December +10,” in the annals of criminal jurisprudence. He robs the Bank of France +of twenty-five million francs; buys General Magnan with one million and the +soldiers with fifteen francs and a drink to each; comes secretly together with +his accomplices like a thief by night; has the houses of the most dangerous +leaders in the parliament broken into; Cavalignac, Lamorciere, Leflo, +Changarnier, Charras, Thiers, Baze, etc., taken out of their beds; the +principal places of Paris, the building of the parliament included, occupied +with troops; and, early the next morning, loud-sounding placards posted on all +the walls proclaiming the dissolution of the National Assembly and of the +Council of State, the restoration of universal suffrage, and the placing of the +Department of the Seine under the state of siege. In the same way he shortly +after sneaked into the “Moniteur” a false document, according to +which influential parliamentary names had grouped themselves round him in a +Committee of the Nation. +</p> + +<p> +Amidst cries of “Long live the Republic!”, the rump-parliament, +assembled at the Mayor’s building of the Tenth Arrondissement, and +composed mainly of Legitimists and Orleanists, resolves to depose Bonaparte; it +harangues in vain the gaping mass gathered before the building, and is finally +dragged first, under the escort of African sharpshooters, to the barracks of +Orsay, and then bundled into convicts’ wagons and transported to the +prisons of Mazas, Ham and Vincennes. Thus ended the party of Order, the +Legislative Assembly and the February revolution. +</p> + +<p> +Before hastening to the end, let us sum up shortly the plan of its history: +</p> + +<p> +I.—First Period. From February 24 to May 4, 1848. February period. +Prologue. Universal fraternity swindle. +</p> + +<p> +II.—Second Period. Period in which the republic is constituted, and of +the Constitutive National Assembly. +</p> + +<p> +1. May 4 to June 25, 1848. Struggle of all the classes against the house of Mr. +proletariat. Defeat of the proletariat in the June days. +</p> + +<p> +2. June 25 to December 10, 1848. Dictatorship of the pure bourgeois +republicans. Drafting of the Constitution. The state of siege hangs over Paris. +The Bourgeois dictatorship set aside on December 10 by the election of +Bonaparte as President. +</p> + +<p> +3. December 20, 1848, to May 20, 1849. Struggle of the Constitutive Assembly +with Bonaparte and with the united party of Order. Death of the Constitutive +Assembly. Downfall of the republican bourgeoisie. +</p> + +<p> +III.—Third Period. Period of the constitutional republic and of the +Legislative National Assembly. +</p> + +<p> +1. May 29 to June 13, 1849. Struggle of the small traders’, middle class +with the bourgeoisie and with Bonaparte. Defeat of the small traders’ +democracy. +</p> + +<p> +2. June 13, 1849, to May, 1850. Parliamentary dictatorship of the party of +Order. Completes its reign by the abolition of universal suffrage, but loses +the parliamentary Ministry. +</p> + +<p> +3. May 31, 1850, to December 2, 1851. Struggle between the parliamentary +bourgeoisie and Bonaparte. +</p> + +<p> +a. May 31, 1850, to January 12, 1851. The parliament loses the supreme command +over the Army. +</p> + +<p> +b. January 12 to April 11, 1851. The parliament succumbs in the attempts to +regain possession of the administrative power. The party of Order loses its +independent parliamentary majority. Its coalition with the republicans and the +Mountain. +</p> + +<p> +c. April 11 to October 9, 1851. Attempts at revision, fusion and prorogation. +The party of Order dissolves into its component parts. The breach between the +bourgeois parliament and the bourgeois press, on the one hand, and the +bourgeois mass, on the other, becomes permanent. +</p> + +<p> +d. October 9 to December 2, 1851. Open breach between the parliament and the +executive power. It draws up its own decree of death, and goes under, left in +the lurch by its own class, by the Army, and by all the other classes. Downfall +of the parliamentary regime and of the reign of the bourgeoisie. +Bonaparte’s triumph. Parody of the imperialist restoration. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>VII.</h2> + +<p> +The Social Republic appeared as a mere phrase, as a prophecy on the threshold +of the February Revolution; it was smothered in the blood of the Parisian +proletariat during the days of 1848 but it stalks about as a spectre throughout +the following acts of the drama. The Democratic Republic next makes its bow; it +goes out in a fizzle on June 13, 1849, with its runaway small traders; but, on +fleeing, it scatters behind it all the more bragging announcements of what it +means do to. The Parliamentary Republic, together with the bourgeoisie, then +appropriates the whole stage; it lives its life to the full extent of its +being; but the 2d of December, 1851, buries it under the terror-stricken cry of +the allied royalists: “Long live the Republic!” +</p> + +<p> +The French bourgeoisie reared up against the reign of the working +proletariat;—it brought to power the slum-proletariat, with the chief of +the “Society of December 10” at its head. It kept France in +breathless fear over the prospective terror of “red +anarchy;”—Bonaparte discounted the prospect when, on December 4, he +had the leading citizens of the Boulevard Montmartre and the Boulevard des +Italiens shot down from their windows by the grog-inspired “Army of +Order.” It made the apotheosis of the sabre; now the sabre rules it. It +destroyed the revolutionary press;—now its own press is annihilated. It +placed public meetings under police surveillance;—now its own salons are +subject to police inspection. It disbanded the democratic National +Guards;—now its own National Guard is disbanded. It instituted the state +of siege;—now itself is made subject thereto. It supplanted the jury by +military commissions;—now military commissions supplant its own juries. +It subjected the education of the people to the parsons’ +interests;—the parsons’ interests now subject it to their own +systems. It ordered transportations without trial;—now itself is +transported without trial. It suppressed every movement of society with +physical force;—now every movement of its own class is suppressed by +physical force. Out of enthusiasm for the gold bag, it rebelled against its own +political leaders and writers;—now, its political leaders and writers are +set aside, but the gold hag is plundered, after the mouth of the bourgeoisie +has been gagged and its pen broken. The bourgeoisie tirelessly shouted to the +revolution, in the language of St. Orsenius to the Christians: “Fuge, +Tace, Quiesce!”—flee, be silent, submit!—; Bonaparte shouts +to the bourgeoisie: “Fuge, Tace, Oniesce!”—flee, be silent, +submit! +</p> + +<p> +The French bourgeoisie had long since solved Napoleon’s dilemma: +“Dans cinquante ans l’Europe sera republicaine ou cosaque.” +[#1 Within fifty years Europe will be either republican or Cossack.] It found +the solution in the “republique cosaque.” [#2 Cossack republic.] No +Circe distorted with wicked charms the work of art of the bourgeois republic +into a monstrosity. That republic lost nothing but the appearance of decency. +The France of to-day was ready-made within the womb of the Parliamentary +republic. All that was wanted was a bayonet thrust, in order that the bubble +burst, and the monster leap forth to sight. +</p> + +<p> +Why did not the Parisian proletariat rise after the 2d of December? +</p> + +<p> +The downfall of the bourgeoisie was as yet merely decreed; the decree was not +yet executed. Any earnest uprising of the proletariat would have forthwith +revived this bourgeoisie, would have brought on its reconciliation with the +army, and would have insured a second June rout to the workingmen. +</p> + +<p> +On December 4, the proletariat was incited to fight by Messrs. Bourgeois & +Small-Trader. On the evening of that day, several legions of the National Guard +promised to appear armed and uniformed on the place of battle. This arose from +the circumstance that Messrs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader had got wind that, +in one of his decrees of December 2, Bonaparte abolished the secret ballot, and +ordered them to enter the words “Yes” and “No” after +their names in the official register. Bonaparte took alarm at the stand taken +on December 4. During the night he caused placards to be posted on all the +street corners of Paris, announcing the restoration of the secret ballot. +Messrs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader believed they had gained their point. The +absentees, the next morning, were Messieurs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader. +</p> + +<p> +During the night of December 1 and 2, the Parisian proletariat was robbed of +its leaders and chiefs of barricades by a raid of Bonaparte’s. An army +without officers, disinclined by the recollections of June, 1848 and 1849, and +May, 1850, to fight under the banner of the Montagnards, it left to its +vanguard, the secret societies, the work of saving the insurrectionary honor of +Paris, which the bourgeoisie had yielded to the soldiery so submissively that +Bonaparte was later justified in disarming the National Guard upon the scornful +ground that he feared their arms would be used against themselves by the +Anarchists! +</p> + +<p> +“C’est Ic triomphe complet et definitif du Socialism!” Thus +did Guizot characterize the 2d of December. But, although the downfall of the +parliamentary republic carries with it the germ of the triumph of the +proletarian revolution, its immediate and tangible result was the triumph of +Bonaparte over parliament, of the Executive over the Legislative power, of +force without phrases over the force of phrases. In the parliament, the nation +raised its collective will to the dignity of law, i.e., it raised the law of +the ruling class to the dignity of its collective will. Before the Executive +power, the nation abdicates all will of its own, and submits to the orders of +an outsider of Authority. In contrast with the Legislative, the Executive power +expresses the heteronomy of the nation in contrast with its autonomy. +Accordingly, France seems to have escaped the despotism of a class only in +order to fall under the despotism of an individual, under the authority, at +that of an individual without authority The struggle seems to settle down to +the point where all classes drop down on their knees, equally impotent and +equally dumb. +</p> + +<p> +All the same, the revolution is thoroughgoing. It still is on its passage +through purgatory. It does its work methodically: Down to December 2, 1851, it +had fulfilled one-half of its programme, it now fulfils the other half. It +first ripens the power of the Legislature into fullest maturity in order to be +able to overthrow it. Now that it has accomplished that, the revolution +proceeds to ripen the power of the Executive into equal maturity; it reduces +this power to its purest expression; isolates it; places it before itself as +the sole subject for reproof in order to concentrate against it all the +revolutionary forces of destruction. When the revolution shall have +accomplished this second part of its preliminary programme, Europe will jump up +from her seat to exclaim: “Well hast thou grubbed, old mole!” +</p> + +<p> +The Executive power, with its tremendous bureaucratic and military +organization; with its wide-spreading and artificial machinery of +government—an army of office-holders, half a million strong, together +with a military force of another million men—; this fearful body of +parasites, that coils itself like a snake around French society, stopping all +its pores, originated at the time of the absolute monarchy, along with the +decline of feudalism, which it helped to hasten. The princely privileges of the +landed proprietors and cities were transformed into so many at-tributes of the +Executive power; the feudal dignitaries into paid office-holders; and the +confusing design of conflicting medieval seigniories, into the well regulated +plan of a government, work is subdivided and centralized as in the factory. The +first French revolution, having as a mission to sweep away all local, +territorial, urban and provincial special privileges, with the object of +establishing the civic unity of the nation, was hound to develop what the +absolute monarchy had begun—the work of centralization, together with the +range, the attributes and the menials of government. Napoleon completed this +governmental machinery. The Legitimist and the July Monarchy contribute nothing +thereto, except a greater subdivision of labor, that grew in the same measure +as the division and subdivision of labor within bourgeois society raised new +groups and interests, i.e., new material for the administration of government. +Each Common interest was in turn forthwith removed from society, set up against +it as a higher Collective interest, wrested from the individual activity of the +members of society, and turned into a subject for governmental administration, +from the bridges, the school house and the communal property of a village +community, up to the railroads, the national wealth and the national University +of France. Finally, the parliamentary republic found itself, in its struggle +against the revolution, compelled, with its repressive measures, to strengthen +the means and the centralization of the government. Each overturn, instead of +breaking up, carried this machine to higher perfection. The parties, that +alternately wrestled for supremacy, looked upon the possession of this +tremendous governmental structure as the principal spoils of their victory. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, under the absolute monarchy, was only the means whereby the first +revolution, and under Napoleon, to prepare the class rule of the bourgeoisie; +under the restoration, under Louis Philippe, and under the parliamentary +republic, it was the instrument of the ruling class, however eagerly this class +strained after autocracy. Not before the advent of the second Bonaparte does +the government seem to have made itself fully independent. The machinery of +government has by this time so thoroughly fortified itself against society, +that the chief of the “Society of December 10” is thought good +enough to be at its head; a fortune-hunter, run in from abroad, is raised on +its shield by a drunken soldiery, bought by himself with liquor and sausages, +and whom he is forced ever again to throw sops to. Hence the timid despair, the +sense of crushing humiliation and degradation that oppresses the breast of +France and makes her to choke. She feels dishonored. +</p> + +<p> +And yet the French Government does not float in the air. Bonaparte represents +an economic class, and that the most numerous in the commonweal of +France—the Allotment Farmer. [#4 The first French Revolution distributed +the bulk of the territory of France, held at the time by the feudal lords, in +small patches among the cultivators of the soil. This allotment of lands +created the French farmer class.] +</p> + +<p> +As the Bourbons are the dynasty of large landed property, as the Orleans are +the dynasty of money, so are the Bonapartes the dynasty of the farmer, i.e. of +the French masses. Not the Bonaparte, who threw himself at the feet of the +bourgeois parliament, but the Bonaparte, who swept away the bourgeois +parliament, is the elect of this farmer class. For three years the cities had +succeeded in falsifying the meaning of the election of December 10, and in +cheating the farmer out of the restoration of the Empire. The election of +December 10, 1848, is not carried out until the “coup d’etat” +of December 2, 1851. +</p> + +<p> +The allotment farmers are an immense mass, whose individual members live in +identical conditions, without, however, entering into manifold relations with +one another. Their method of production isolates them from one another, instead +of drawing them into mutual intercourse. This isolation is promoted by the poor +means of communication in France, together with the poverty of the farmers +themselves. Their field of production, the small allotment of land that each +cultivates, allows no room for a division of labor, and no opportunity for the +application of science; in other words, it shuts out manifoldness of +development, diversity of talent, and the luxury of social relations. Every +single farmer family is almost self-sufficient; itself produces directly the +greater part of what it consumes; and it earns its livelihood more by means of +an interchange with nature than by intercourse with society. We have the +allotted patch of land, the farmer and his family; alongside of that another +allotted patch of land, another farmer and another family. A bunch of these +makes up a village; a bunch of villages makes up a Department. Thus the large +mass of the French nation is constituted by the simple addition of equal +magnitudes—much as a bag with potatoes constitutes a potato-bag. In so +far as millions of families live under economic conditions that separate their +mode of life, their interests and their culture from those of the other +classes, and that place them in an attitude hostile toward the latter, they +constitute a class; in so far as there exists only a local connection among +these farmers, a connection which the individuality and exclusiveness of their +interests prevent from generating among them any unity of interest, national +connections, and political organization, they do not constitute a class. +Consequently, they are unable to assert their class interests in their own +name, be it by a parliament or by convention. They can not represent one +another, they must themselves be represented. Their representative must at the +same time appear as their master, as an authority over them, as an unlimited +governmental power, that protects them from above, bestows rain and sunshine +upon them. Accordingly, the political influence of the allotment farmer finds +its ultimate expression in an Executive power that subjugates the commonweal to +its own autocratic will. +</p> + +<p> +Historic tradition has given birth to the superstition among the French farmers +that a man named Napoleon would restore to them all manner of glory. Now, then, +an individual turns I up, who gives himself out as that man because, obedient +to the “Code Napoleon,” which provides that “La recherche de +la paternite est interdite,” [#5 The inquiry into paternity is +forbidden.] he carries the name of Napoleon. [#6 L. N. Bonaparte is said to +have been an illegitimate son.] After a vagabondage of twenty years, and a +series of grotesque adventures, the myth is verified, and that man becomes the +Emperor of the French. The rooted thought of the Nephew becomes a reality +because it coincided with the rooted thought of the most numerous class among +the French. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” I shall be objected to, “what about the farmers’ +uprisings over half France, the raids of the Army upon the farmers, the +wholesale imprisonment and transportation of farmers?” +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, since Louis XIV., France has not experienced such persecutions of the +farmer on the ground of his demagogic machinations. +</p> + +<p> +But this should be well understood: The Bonaparte dynasty does not represent +the revolutionary, it represents the conservative farmer; it does not represent +the farmer, who presses beyond his own economic conditions, his little +allotment of land it represents him rather who would confirm these conditions; +it does not represent the rural population, that, thanks to its own inherent +energy, wishes, jointly with the cities to overthrow the old order, it +represents, on the contrary, the rural population that, hide-bound in the old +order, seeks to see itself, together with its allotments, saved and favored by +the ghost of the Empire; it represents, not the intelligence, but the +superstition of the farmer; not his judgment, but his bias; not his future, but +his past; not his modern Cevennes; [#7 The Cevennes were the theater of the +most numerous revolutionary uprisings of the farmer class.] but his modern +Vendee. [#8 La Vendee was the theater of protracted reactionary uprisings of +the farmer class under the first Revolution.] +</p> + +<p> +The three years’ severe rule of the parliamentary republic had freed a +part of the French farmers from the Napoleonic illusion, and, though even only +superficially; had revolutionized them The bourgeoisie threw them, however, +violently back every time that they set themselves in motion. Under the +parliamentary republic, the modern wrestled with the traditional consciousness +of the French farmer. The process went on in the form of a continuous struggle +between the school teachers and the parsons;—the bourgeoisie knocked the +school teachers down. For the first time, the farmer made an effort to take an +independent stand in the government of the country; this manifested itself in +the prolonged conflicts of the Mayors with the Prefects;—the bourgeoisie +deposed the Mayors. Finally, during period of the parliamentary republic, the +farmers of several localities rose against their own product, the +Army;—the bourgeoisie punished them with states of siege and executions. +And this is the identical bourgeoisie, that now howls over the “stupidity +of the masses,” over the “vile multitude,” which, it claims, +betrayed it to Bonaparte. Itself has violently fortified the imperialism of the +farmer class; it firmly maintained the conditions that Constitute the +birth-place of this farmer-religion. Indeed, the bourgeoisie has every reason +to fear the stupidity of the masses—so long as they remain conservative; +and their intelligence—so soon as they become revolutionary. +</p> + +<p> +In the revolts that took place after the “coup d’etat” a part +of the French farmers protested, arms in hand, against their own vote of +December 10, 1848. The school house had, since 1848, sharpened their wits. But +they had bound themselves over to the nether world of history, and history kept +them to their word. Moreover, the majority of this population was still so full +of prejudices that, just in the “reddest” Departments, it voted +openly for Bonaparte. The National Assembly prevented, as it thought, this +population from walking; the farmers now snapped the fetters which the cities +had struck upon the will of the country districts. In some places they even +indulged the grotesque hallucination of a “Convention together with a +Napoleon.” +</p> + +<p> +After the first revolution had converted the serf farmers into freeholders, +Napoleon fixed and regulated the conditions under which, unmolested, they could +exploit the soil of France, that had just fallen into their hands, and expiate +the youthful passion for property. But that which now bears the French farmer +down is that very allotment of land, it is the partition of the soil, the form +of ownership, which Napoleon had consolidated. These are the material condition +that turned French feudal peasant into a small or allotment farmer, and +Napoleon into an Emperor. Two generations have sufficed to produce the +inevitable result the progressive deterioration of agriculture, and the +progressive encumbering of the agriculturist The “Napoleonic” form +of ownership, which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the +condition for the emancipation and enrichment of the French rural population, +has, in the course of the century, developed into the law of their enslavement +and pauperism. Now, then, this very law is the first of the “idees +Napoleoniennes,” which the second Bonaparte must uphold. If he still +shares with the farmers the illusion of seeking, not in the system of the small +allotment itself, but outside of that system, in the influence of secondary +conditions, the cause of their ruin, his experiments are bound to burst like +soap-bubbles against the modern system of production. +</p> + +<p> +The economic development of the allotment system has turned bottom upward the +relation of the farmer to the other classes of society. Under Napoleon, the +parceling out of the agricultural lands into small allotments supplemented in +the country the free competition and the incipient large production of the +cities. The farmer class was the ubiquitous protest against the aristocracy of +land, just then overthrown. The roots that the system of small allotments cast +into the soil of France, deprived feudalism of all nutriment. Its +boundary-posts constituted the natural buttress of the bourgeoisie against +every stroke of the old overlords. But in the course of the nineteenth century, +the City Usurer stepped into the shoes of the Feudal Lord, the Mortgage +substituted the Feudal Duties formerly yielded by the soil, bourgeois Capital +took the place of the aristocracy of Landed Property. The former allotments are +now only a pretext that allows the capitalist class to draw profit, interest +and rent from agricultural lands, and to leave to the farmer himself the task +of seeing to it that he knock out his wages. The mortgage indebtedness that +burdens the soil of France imposes upon the French farmer class they payment of +an interest as great as the annual interest on the whole British national debt. +In this slavery of capital, whither its development drives it irresistibly, the +allotment system has transformed the mass of the French nation into +troglodytes. Sixteen million farmers (women and children included), house in +hovels most of which have only one opening, some two, and the few most favored +ones three. Windows are to a house what the five senses are to the head. The +bourgeois social order, which, at the beginning of the century, placed the +State as a sentinel before the newly instituted allotment, and that manured +this with laurels, has become a vampire that sucks out its heart-blood and its +very brain, and throws it into the alchemist’s pot of capital. The +“Code Napoleon” is now but the codex of execution, of +sheriff’s sales and of intensified taxation. To the four million +(children, etc., included) official paupers, vagabonds, criminals and +prostitutes, that France numbers, must be added five million souls who hover +over the precipice of life, and either sojourn in the country itself, or float +with their rags and their children from the country to the cities, and from the +cities back to the country. Accordingly, the interests of the farmers are no +longer, as under Napoleon, in harmony but in conflict with the interests of the +bourgeoisie, i.e., with capital; they find their natural allies and leaders +among the urban proletariat, whose mission is the overthrow of the bourgeois +social order. But the “strong and unlimited government”—and +this is the second of the “idees Napoleoniennes,” which the second +Napoleon has to carried out—, has for its mission the forcible defence of +this very “material” social order, a “material order” +that furnishes the slogan in Bonaparte’s proclamations against the +farmers in revolt. +</p> + +<p> +Along with the mortgage, imposed by capital upon the farmer’s allotment, +this is burdened by taxation. Taxation is the fountain of life to the +bureaucracy, the Army, the parsons and the court, in short to the whole +apparatus of the Executive power. A strong government, and heavy taxes are +identical. The system of ownership, involved in the system of allotments lends +itself by nature for the groundwork of a powerful and numerous bureaucracy: it +produces an even level of conditions and of persons over the whole surface of +the country; it, therefore, allows the exercise of an even influence upon all +parts of this even mass from a high central point downwards: it annihilates the +aristocratic gradations between the popular masses and the Government; it, +consequently, calls from all sides for the direct intervention of the +Government and for the intervention of the latter’s immediate organs; +and, finally, it produces an unemployed excess of population, that finds no +room either in the country or in the cities, that, consequently, snatches after +public office as a sort of dignified alms, and provokes the creation of further +offices. With the new markets, which he opened at the point of the bayonet, and +with the plunder of the continent, Napoleon returned to the farmer class with +interest the taxes wrung from them. These taxes were then a goad to the +industry of the farmer, while now, on the contrary, they rob his industry of +its last source of support, and completely sap his power to resist poverty. +Indeed, an enormous bureaucracy, richly gallooned and well fed is that +“idee Napoleonienne” that above all others suits the requirements +of the second Bonaparte. How else should it be, seeing he is forced to raise +alongside of the actual classes of society, an artificial class, to which the +maintenance of his own regime must be a knife-and-fork question? One of his +first financial operations was, accordingly, the raising of the salaries of the +government employees to their former standard and the creation of new +sinecures. +</p> + +<p> +Another “idee Napoleonienne” is the rule of the parsons as an +instrument of government. But while the new-born allotment, in harmony with +society, in its dependence upon the powers of nature, and in its subordination +to the authority that protected it from above, was naturally religious, the +debt-broken allotment, on the contrary, at odds with society and authority, and +driven beyond its own narrow bounds, becomes as naturally irreligious. Heaven +was quite a pretty gift thrown in with the narrow strip of land that had just +been won, all the more as it makes the weather; it, however, becomes an insult +from the moment it is forced upon the farmer as a substitute for his allotment. +Then the parson appears merely as the anointed blood-hound of the earthly +police,—yet another “idee Napoleonienne.” The expedition +against Rome will next time take place in France, but in a reverse sense from +that of M. de Montalembert. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, the culminating point of the “idees Napoleoniennes” is the +preponderance of the Army. The Army was the “point of honor” with +the allotment farmers: it was themselves turned into masters, defending abroad +their newly established property, glorifying their recently conquered +nationality, plundering and revolutionizing the world. The uniform was their +State costume; war was their poetry; the allotment, expanded and rounded up in +their phantasy, was the fatherland; and patriotism became the ideal form of +property. But the foe, against whom the French farmer must now defend his +property, are not the Cossacks, they are the sheriffs and the tax collectors. +The allotment no longer lies in the so-called fatherland, but in the register +of mortgages. The Army itself no longer is the flower of the youth of the +farmers, it is the swamp-blossom of the slum-proletariat of the farmer class. +It consists of “remplacants,” substitutes, just as the second +Bonaparte himself is but a “remplacant,” a substitute, for +Napoleon. Its feats of heroism are now performed in raids instituted against +farmers and in the service of the police;—and when the internal +contradictions of his own system shall drive the chief of the “Society of +December 10” across the French frontier, that Army will, after a few +bandit-raids, gather no laurels but only hard knocks. +</p> + +<p> +It is evident that all the “idees Napoleoniennes” are the ideas of +the undeveloped and youthfully fresh allotment; they are an absurdity for the +allotment that now survives. They are only the hallucinations of its death +struggle; words turned to hollow phrases, spirits turned to spooks. But this +parody of the Empire was requisite in order to free the mass of the French +nation from the weight of tradition, and to elaborate sharply the contrast +between Government and Society. Along with the progressive decay of the +allotment, the governmental structure, reared upon it, breaks down. The +centralization of Government, required by modern society, rises only upon the +ruins of the military and bureaucratic governmental machinery that was forged +in contrast to feudalism. +</p> + +<p> +The conditions of the French farmers’ class solve to us the riddle of the +general elections of December 20 and 21, that led the second Bonaparte to the +top of Sinai, not to receive, but to decree laws. +</p> + +<p> +The bourgeoisie had now, manifestly, no choice but to elect Bonaparte. When at +the Council of Constance, the puritans complained of the sinful life of the +Popes, and moaned about the need of a reform in morals, Cardinal d’Ailly +thundered into their faces: “Only the devil in his Own person can now +save the Catholic Church, and you demand angels.” So, likewise, did the +French bourgeoisie cry out after the “coup d’etat”: +“Only the chief of the ‘Society of December 10’ can now save +bourgeois society, only theft can save property, only perjury religion, only +bastardy the family, only disorder order!” +</p> + +<p> +Bonaparte, as autocratic Executive power, fulfills his mission to secure +“bourgeois order.” But the strength of this bourgeois order lies in +the middle class. He feels himself the representative of the middle class, and +issues his decrees in that sense. Nevertheless, he is something only because he +has broken the political power of this class, and daily breaks it anew. Hence +he feels himself the adversary of the political and the literary power of the +middle class. But, by protecting their material, he nourishes anew their +political power. Consequently, the cause must be kept alive, but the result, +wherever it manifests itself, swept out of existence. But this procedure is +impossible without slight mistakings of causes and effects, seeing that both, +in their mutual action and reaction, lose their distinctive marks. Thereupon, +new decrees, that blur the line of distinction. Bonaparte, furthermore, feels +himself, as against the bourgeoisie, the representative of the farmer and the +people in general, who, within bourgeois society, is to render the lower +classes of society happy. To this end, new decrees, intended to exploit the +“true Socialists,” together with their governmental wisdom. But, +above all, Bonaparte feels himself the chief of the “Society of December +10,” the representative of the slum-proletariat, to which he himself, his +immediate surroundings, his Government, and his army alike belong, the main +object with all of whom is to be good to themselves, and draw Californian +tickets out of the national treasury. An he affirms his chieftainship of the +“Society of December 10” with decrees, without decrees, and despite +decrees. +</p> + +<p> +This contradictory mission of the man explains the contradictions of his own +Government, and that confused groping about, that now seeks to win, then to +humiliate now this class and then that, and finishes by arraying against itself +all the classes; whose actual insecurity constitutes a highly comical contrast +with the imperious, categoric style of the Government acts, copied closely from +the Uncle. +</p> + +<p> +Industry and commerce, i.e., the business of the middle class, are to be made +to blossom in hot-house style under the “strong Government.” Loans +for a number of railroad grants. But the Bonapartist slum-proletariat is to +enrich itself. Peculation is carried on with railroad concessions on the Bourse +by the initiated; but no capital is forthcoming for the railroads. The bank +then pledges itself to make advances upon railroad stock; but the bank is +itself to be exploited; hence, it must be cajoled; it is released of the +obligation to publish its reports weekly. Then follows a leonine treaty between +the bank and the Government. The people are to be occupied: public works are +ordered; but the public works raise the tax rates upon the people; thereupon +the taxes are reduced by an attack upon the national bond-holders through the +conversion of the five per cent “rentes” [#9 The name of the French +national bonds.] into four-and-halves. Yet the middle class must again be +tipped: to this end, the tax on wine is doubled for the people, who buy it at +retail, and is reduced to one-half for the middle class, that drink it at +wholesale. Genuine labor organizations are dissolved, but promises are made of +future wonders to accrue from organization. The farmers are to be helped: +mortgage-banks are set up that must promote the indebtedness; of the farmer and +the concentration of property but again, these banks are to be utilized +especially to the end of squeezing money out of the confiscated estates of the +House of Orleans; no capitalist will listen to this scheme, which, moreover, is +not mentioned in the decree; the mortgage bank remains a mere decree, etc., +etc. +</p> + +<p> +Bonaparte would like to appear as the patriarchal benefactor of all classes; +but he can give to none without taking from the others. As was said of the Duke +of Guise, at the time of the Fronde, that he was the most obliging man in +France because he had converted all his estates into bonds upon himself for his +Parisians, so would Napoleon like to be the most obliging man in France and +convert all property and all labor of France into a personal bond upon himself. +He would like to steal the whole of France to make a present thereof to France, +or rather to be able to purchase France back again with French money;—as +chief of the “Society of December 10,” he must purchase that which +is to be his. All the State institutions, the Senate, the Council of State, the +Legislature, the Legion of Honor, the Soldiers’ decorations, the public +baths, the public buildings, the railroads, the General Staff of the National +Guard, exclusive of the rank and file, the confiscated estates of the House of +Orleans,—all are converted into institutions for purchase and sale. Every +place in the Army and the machinery of Government becomes a purchasing power. +The most important thing, however, in this process, whereby France is taken to +be given back to herself, are the percentages that, in the transfer, drop into +the hands of the chief and the members of the “Society of December +10.” The witticisms with which the Countess of L., the mistress of de +Morny, characterized the confiscations of the Orleanist estates: +“C’est le premier vol de l’aigle,” [#10 “It is +the first flight of the eagle” The French word “vol” means +theft as well as flight.] fits every fight of the eagle that is rather a crow. +He himself and his followers daily call out to themselves, like the Italian +Carthusian monk in the legend does to the miser, who displayfully counted the +goods on which he could live for many years to come: “Tu fai conto sopra +i beni, bisogna prima far il conto sopra gli anni.” [#11 “You count +your property you should rather count the years left to you.”] In order +not to make a mistake in the years, they count by minutes. A crowd of fellows, +of the best among whom all that can be said is that one knows not whence he +comes—a noisy, restless “Boheme,” greedy after plunder, that +crawls about in gallooned frocks with the same grotesque dignity as +Soulonque’s [#12 Soulonque was the negro Emperor of the short-lived negro +Empire of Hayti.] Imperial dignitaries—, thronged the court crowded the +ministries, and pressed upon the head of the Government and of the Army. One +can picture to himself this upper crust of the “Society of December +10” by considering that Veron Crevel [#13 Crevel is a character of +Balzac, drawn after Dr. Veron, the proprietor of the +“Constitutional” newspaper, as a type of the dissolute Parisian +Philistine.] is their preacher of morality, and Granier de Cassagnac their +thinker. When Guizot, at the time he was Minister, employed this Granier on an +obscure sheet against the dynastic opposition, he used to praise him with the +term: “C’est le roi des droles.” [#14 “He Is the king +of the clowns.”] It were a mistake to recall the days of the Regency or +of Louis XV. by the court and the kit of Louis Bonaparte’s: “Often +did France have a mistress-administration, but never yet an administration of +kept men.” [#15 Madame de Girardin.] +</p> + +<p> +Harassed by the contradictory demands of his situation, and compelled, like a +sleight-of-hands performer, to keep, by means of constant surprises, the eyes +of the public riveted upon himself as the substitute of Napoleon, compelled, +consequently, everyday to accomplish a sort of “coup” on a small +scale, Bonaparte throws the whole bourgeois social system into disorder; he +broaches everything that seemed unbroachable by the revolution of 1848; he +makes one set people patient under the revolution and another anxious for it; +he produces anarchy itself in the name of order by rubbing off from the whole +machinery of Government the veneer of sanctity, by profaning it, by rendering +it at once nauseating and laughable. He rehearses in Paris the cult of the +sacred coat of Trier with the cult of the Napoleonic Imperial mantle. But when +the Imperial Mantle shall have finally fallen upon the shoulders of Louis +Bonaparte, then will also the iron statue of Napoleon drop down from the top of +the Vendome column. [#16 A prophecy that a few years later, after +Bonaparte’s coronation as Emperor, was literally fulfilled. By order of +Emperor Louis Napoleon, the military statue of the Napoleon that originally +surmounted the Vendome was taken down and replaced by one of first Napoleon in +imperial robes.] +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 1346-h.htm or 1346-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/1346/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/old/old/1346.txt b/old/old/1346.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8ce2b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1346.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4337 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, by Karl Marx + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + +Author: Karl Marx + +Release Date: February 18, 2006 [EBook #1346] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOUIS BONAPARTE *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger + + + + + +THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE + +by Karl Marx + + + + +Translator's Preface + + +"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" is one of Karl Marx' most +profound and most brilliant monographs. It may be considered the best +work extant on the philosophy of history, with an eye especially upon +the history of the Movement of the Proletariat, together with the +bourgeois and other manifestations that accompany the same, and the +tactics that such conditions dictate. + +The recent populist uprising; the more recent "Debs Movement"; the +thousand and one utopian and chimerical notions that are flaring up; the +capitalist maneuvers; the hopeless, helpless grasping after straws, that +characterize the conduct of the bulk of the working class; all of these, +together with the empty-headed, ominous figures that are springing into +notoriety for a time and have their day, mark the present period of +the Labor Movement in the nation a critical one. The best information +acquirable, the best mental training obtainable are requisite to steer +through the existing chaos that the death-tainted social system of today +creates all around us. To aid in this needed information and mental +training, this instructive work is now made accessible to English +readers, and is commended to the serious study of the serious. + +The teachings contained in this work are hung on an episode in recent +French history. With some this fact may detract of its value. A +pedantic, supercilious notion is extensively abroad among us that we +are an "Anglo Saxon" nation; and an equally pedantic, supercilious +habit causes many to look to England for inspiration, as from a racial +birthplace Nevertheless, for weal or for woe, there is no such thing +extant as "Anglo-Saxon"--of all nations, said to be "Anglo-Saxon," +in the United States least. What we still have from England, much +as appearances may seem to point the other way, is not of our +bone-and-marrow, so to speak, but rather partakes of the nature of +"importations." We are no more English on account of them than we are +Chinese because we all drink tea. + +Of all European nations, France is the on to which we come nearest. +Besides its republican form of government--the directness of its +history, the unity of its actions, the sharpness that marks its internal +development, are all characteristics that find their parallel her best, +and vice versa. In all essentials the study of modern French history, +particularly when sketched by such a master hand as Marx', is the most +valuable one for the acquisition of that historic, social and biologic +insight that our country stands particularly in need of, and that will +be inestimable during the approaching critical days. + +For the assistance of those who, unfamiliar with the history of France, +may be confused by some of the terms used by Marx, the following +explanations may prove aidful: + +On the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9th), the post-revolutionary development of +affairs in France enabled the first Napoleon to take a step that led +with inevitable certainty to the imperial throne. The circumstance +that fifty and odd years later similar events aided his nephew, Louis +Bonaparte, to take a similar step with a similar result, gives the name +to this work--"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." + +As to the other terms and allusions that occur, the following sketch +will suffice: + +Upon the overthrow of the first Napoleon came the restoration of the +Bourbon throne (Louis XVIII, succeeded by Charles X). In July, 1830, an +uprising of the upper tier of the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class--the +aristocracy of finance--overthrew the Bourbon throne, or landed +aristocracy, and set up the throne of Orleans, a younger branch of the +house of Bourbon, with Louis Philippe as king. From the month in which +this revolution occurred, Louis Philippe's monarchy is called the "July +Monarchy." In February, 1848, a revolt of a lower tier of the capitalist +class--the industrial bourgeoisie--against the aristocracy of finance, +in turn dethroned Louis Philippe. The affair, also named from the month +in which it took place, is the "February Revolution". "The Eighteenth +Brumaire" starts with that event. + +Despite the inapplicableness to our affairs of the political names and +political leadership herein described, both these names and leaderships +are to such an extent the products of an economic-social development +that has here too taken place with even greater sharpens, and they have +their present or threatened counterparts here so completely, that, by +the light of this work of Marx', we are best enabled to understand our +own history, to know whence we came, and whither we are going and how to +conduct ourselves. + +D.D.L. New York, Sept. 12, 1897 + + + + + +THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE + + + + +I + + + +Hegel says somewhere that that great historic facts and personages +recur twice. He forgot to add: "Once as tragedy, and again as farce." +Caussidiere for Danton, Louis Blanc for Robespierre, the "Mountain" of +1848-51 for the "Mountain" of 1793-05, the Nephew for the Uncle. The +identical caricature marks also the conditions under which the second +edition of the eighteenth Brumaire is issued. + +Man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of the whole +cloth; he does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself, but out +of such as he finds close at hand. The tradition of all past generations +weighs like an alp upon the brain of the living. At the very time when +men appear engaged in revolutionizing things and themselves, in bringing +about what never was before, at such very epochs of revolutionary crisis +do they anxiously conjure up into their service the spirits of the past, +assume their names, their battle cries, their costumes to enact a new +historic scene in such time-honored disguise and with such borrowed +language Thus did Luther masquerade as the Apostle Paul; thus did the +revolution of 1789-1814 drape itself alternately as Roman Republic and +as Roman Empire; nor did the revolution of 1818 know what better to do +than to parody at one time the year 1789, at another the revolutionary +traditions of 1793-95 Thus does the beginner, who has acquired a new +language, keep on translating it back into his own mother tongue; only +then has he grasped the spirit of the new language and is able freely to +express himself therewith when he moves in it without recollections of +the old, and has forgotten in its use his own hereditary tongue. + +When these historic configurations of the dead past are closely observed +a striking difference is forthwith noticeable. Camille Desmoulins, +Danton, Robespierre, St. Juste, Napoleon, the heroes as well as the +parties and the masses of the old French revolution, achieved in Roman +costumes and with Roman phrases the task of their time: the emancipation +and the establishment of modern bourgeois society. One set knocked to +pieces the old feudal groundwork and mowed down the feudal heads that +had grown upon it; Napoleon brought about, within France, the conditions +under which alone free competition could develop, the partitioned lands +be exploited the nation's unshackled powers of industrial production be +utilized; while, beyond the French frontier, he swept away everywhere +the establishments of feudality, so far as requisite, to furnish the +bourgeois social system of France with fit surroundings of the European +continent, and such as were in keeping with the times. Once the new +social establishment was set on foot, the antediluvian giants vanished, +and, along with them, the resuscitated Roman world--the Brutuses, +Gracchi, Publicolas, the Tribunes, the Senators, and Caesar himself. +In its sober reality, bourgeois society had produced its own true +interpretation in the Says, Cousins, Royer-Collards, Benjamin Constants +and Guizots; its real generals sat behind the office desks; and the +mutton-head of Louis XVIII was its political lead. Wholly absorbed in +the production of wealth and in the peaceful fight of competition, this +society could no longer understand that the ghosts of the days of Rome +had watched over its cradle. And yet, lacking in heroism as bourgeois +society is, it nevertheless had stood in need of heroism, of +self-sacrifice, of terror, of civil war, and of bloody battle fields +to bring it into the world. Its gladiators found in the stern +classic traditions of the Roman republic the ideals and the form, the +self-deceptions, that they needed in order to conceal from themselves +the narrow bourgeois substance of their own struggles, and to keep their +passion up to the height of a great historic tragedy. Thus, at another +stage of development a century before, did Cromwell and the English +people draw from the Old Testament the language, passions and illusions +for their own bourgeois revolution. When the real goal was reached, when +the remodeling of English society was accomplished, Locke supplanted +Habakuk. + +Accordingly, the reviving of the dead in those revolutions served the +purpose of glorifying the new struggles, not of parodying the old; it +served the purpose of exaggerating to the imagination the given task, +not to recoil before its practical solution; it served the purpose of +rekindling the revolutionary spirit, not to trot out its ghost. + +In 1848-51 only the ghost of the old revolution wandered about, +from Marrast the "Republicain en gaunts jaunes," [#1 Silk-stocking +republican] who disguised himself in old Bailly, down to the adventurer, +who hid his repulsively trivial features under the iron death mask +of Napoleon. A whole people, that imagines it has imparted to itself +accelerated powers of motion through a revolution, suddenly finds +itself transferred back to a dead epoch, and, lest there be any mistake +possible on this head, the old dates turn up again; the old calendars; +the old names; the old edicts, which long since had sunk to the level of +the antiquarian's learning; even the old bailiffs, who had long seemed +mouldering with decay. The nation takes on the appearance of that crazy +Englishman in Bedlam, who imagines he is living in the days of the +Pharaohs, and daily laments the hard work that he must do in the +Ethiopian mines as gold digger, immured in a subterranean prison, with a +dim lamp fastened on his head, behind him the slave overseer with a long +whip, and, at the mouths of the mine a mob of barbarous camp servants +who understand neither the convicts in the mines nor one another, +because they do not speak a common language. "And all this," cries the +crazy Englishman, "is demanded of me, the free-born Englishman, in order +to make gold for old Pharaoh." "In order to pay off the debts of the +Bonaparte family"--sobs the French nation. The Englishman, so long as +he was in his senses, could not rid himself of the rooted thought making +gold. The Frenchmen, so long as they were busy with a revolution, +could not rid then selves of the Napoleonic memory, as the election +of December 10th proved. They longed to escape from the dangers of +revolution back to the flesh pots of Egypt; the 2d of December, 1851 was +the answer. They have not merely the character of the old Napoleon, +but the old Napoleon himself-caricatured as he needs must appear in the +middle of the nineteenth century. + +The social revolution of the nineteenth century can not draw its poetry +from the past, it can draw that only from the future. It cannot start +upon its work before it has stricken off all superstition concerning +the past. Former revolutions require historic reminiscences in order +to intoxicate themselves with their own issues. The revolution of the +nineteenth century must let the dead bury their dead in order to reach +its issue. With the former, the phrase surpasses the substance; with +this one, the substance surpasses the phrase. + +The February revolution was a surprisal; old society was taken unawares; +and the people proclaimed this political stroke a great historic act +whereby the new era was opened. On the 2d of December, the February +revolution is jockeyed by the trick of a false player, and what is seer +to be overthrown is no longer the monarchy, but the liberal concessions +which had been wrung from it by centuries of struggles. Instead of +society itself having conquered a new point, only the State appears to +have returned to its oldest form, to the simply brazen rule of the sword +and the club. Thus, upon the "coup de main" of February, 1848, comes +the response of the "coup de tete" December, 1851. So won, so lost. +Meanwhile, the interval did not go by unutilized. During the +years 1848-1851, French society retrieved in abbreviated, because +revolutionary, method the lessons and teachings, which--if it was to be +more than a disturbance of the surface-should have preceded the February +revolution, had it developed in regular order, by rule, so to say. Now +French society seems to have receded behind its point of departure; in +fact, however, it was compelled to first produce its own revolutionary +point of departure, the situation, circumstances, conditions, under +which alone the modern revolution is in earnest. + +Bourgeois revolutions, like those of the eighteenth century, rush onward +rapidly from success to success, their stage effects outbid one another, +men and things seem to be set in flaming brilliants, ecstasy is the +prevailing spirit; but they are short-lived, they reach their climax +speedily, then society relapses into a long fit of nervous reaction +before it learns how to appropriate the fruits of its period of feverish +excitement. Proletarian revolutions, on the contrary, such as those +of the nineteenth century, criticize themselves constantly; constantly +interrupt themselves in their own course; come back to what seems to +have been accomplished, in order to start over anew; scorn with cruel +thoroughness the half measures, weaknesses and meannesses of their first +attempts; seem to throw down their adversary only in order to enable +him to draw fresh strength from the earth, and again, to rise up against +them in more gigantic stature; constantly recoil in fear before the +undefined monster magnitude of their own objects--until finally that +situation is created which renders all retreat impossible, and the +conditions themselves cry out: + +"Hic Rhodus, hic salta!" [#2 Here is Rhodes, leap here! An allusion to +Aesop's Fables.] + +Every observer of average intelligence; even if he failed to follow step +by step the course of French development, must have anticipated that an +unheard of fiasco was in store for the revolution. It was enough to hear +the self-satisfied yelpings of victory wherewith the Messieurs Democrats +mutually congratulated one another upon the pardons of May 2d, 1852. +Indeed, May 2d had become a fixed idea in their heads; it had become a +dogma with them--something like the day on which Christ was to reappear +and the Millennium to begin had formed in the heads of the Chiliasts. +Weakness had, as it ever does, taken refuge in the wonderful; it +believed the enemy was overcome if, in its imagination, it hocus-pocused +him away; and it lost all sense of the present in the imaginary +apotheosis of the future, that was at hand, and of the deeds, that it +had "in petto," but which it did not yet want to bring to the scratch. +The heroes, who ever seek to refute their established incompetence +by mutually bestowing their sympathy upon one another and by pulling +together, had packed their satchels, taken their laurels in advance +payments and were just engaged in the work of getting discounted "in +partibus," on the stock exchange, the republics for which, in the +silence of their unassuming dispositions, they had carefully organized +the government personnel. The 2d of December struck them like a +bolt from a clear sky; and the 'peoples, who, in periods of timid +despondency, gladly allow their hidden fears to be drowned by the +loudest screamers, will perhaps have become convinced that the days are +gone by when the cackling of geese could save the Capitol. + +The constitution, the national assembly, the dynastic parties, the blue +and the red republicans, the heroes from Africa, the thunder from +the tribune, the flash-lightnings from the daily press, the whole +literature, the political names and the intellectual celebrities, the +civil and the criminal law, the "liberte', egalite', fraternite'," +together with the 2d of May 1852--all vanished like a phantasmagoria +before the ban of one man, whom his enemies themselves do not pronounce +an adept at witchcraft. Universal suffrage seems to have survived only +for a moment, to the end that, before the eyes of the whole world, it +should make its own testament with its own hands, and, in the name of +the people, declare: "All that exists deserves to perish." + +It is not enough to say, as the Frenchmen do, that their nation was +taken by surprise. A nation, no more than a woman, is excused for the +unguarded hour when the first adventurer who comes along can do violence +to her. The riddle is not solved by such shifts, it is only formulated +in other words. There remains to be explained how a nation of thirty-six +millions can be surprised by three swindlers, and taken to prison +without resistance. + +Let us recapitulate in general outlines the phases which the French +revolution of' February 24th, 1848, to December, 1851, ran through. + +Three main periods are unmistakable: + +First--The February period; + +Second--The period of constituting the republic, or of the constitutive +national assembly (May 4, 1848, to May 29th, 1849); + +Third--The period of the constitutional republic, or of the legislative +national assembly (May 29, 1849, to December 2, 1851). + +The first period, from February 24, or the downfall of Louis Philippe, +to May 4, 1848, the date of the assembling of the constitutive +assembly--the February period proper--may be designated as the prologue +of the revolution. It officially expressed its' own character in this, +that the government which it improvised declared itself "provisional;" +and, like the government, everything that was broached, attempted, or +uttered, pronounced itself provisional. Nobody and nothing dared to +assume the right of permanent existence and of an actual fact. All +the elements that had prepared or determined the revolution--dynastic +opposition, republican bourgeoisie, democratic-republican small traders' +class, social-democratic labor element-all found "provisionally" their +place in the February government. + +It could not be otherwise. The February days contemplated originally +a reform of the suffrage laws, whereby the area of the politically +privileged among the property-holding class was to be extended, while +the exclusive rule of the aristocracy of finance was to be overthrown. +When however, it came to a real conflict, when the people mounted the +barricades, when the National Guard stood passive, when the army offered +no serious resistance, and the kingdom ran away, then the republic +seemed self-understood. Each party interpreted it in its own sense. Won, +arms in hand, by the proletariat, they put upon it the stamp of their +own class, and proclaimed the social republic. Thus the general purpose +of modern revolutions was indicated, a purpose, however, that stood in +most singular contradiction to every thing that, with the material at +hand, with the stage of enlightenment that the masses had reached, and +under existing circumstances and conditions, could be immediately +used. On the other hand, the claims of all the other elements, that had +cooperated in the revolution of February, were recognized by the lion's +share that they received in the government. Hence, in no period do we +find a more motley mixture of high-sounding phrases together with +actual doubt and helplessness; of more enthusiastic reform aspirations, +together with a more slavish adherence to the old routine; more +seeming harmony permeating the whole of society together with a deeper +alienation of its several elements. While the Parisian proletariat +was still gloating over the sight of the great perspective that had +disclosed itself to their view, and was indulging in seriously meant +discussions over the social problems, the old powers of society had +groomed themselves, had gathered together, had deliberated and found +an unexpected support in the mass of the nation--the peasants and small +traders--all of whom threw themselves on a sudden upon the political +stage, after the barriers of the July monarchy had fallen down. + +The second period, from May 4, 1848, to the end of May, 1849, is the +period of the constitution, of the founding of the bourgeois republic +immediately after the February days, not only was the dynastic +opposition surprised by the republicans, and the republicans by +the Socialists, but all France was surprised by Paris. The national +assembly, that met on May 4, 1848, to frame a constitution, was the +outcome of the national elections; it represented the nation. It was a +living protest against the assumption of the February days, and it was +intended to bring the results of the revolution back to the bourgeois +measure. In vain did the proletariat of Paris, which forthwith +understood the character of this national assembly, endeavor, a few +days after its meeting; on May 15, to deny its existence by force, to +dissolve it, to disperse the organic apparition, in which the reacting +spirit of the nation was threatening them, and thus reduce it back to +its separate component parts. As is known, the 15th of May had no other +result than that of removing Blanqui and his associates, i.e. the real +leaders of the proletarian party, from the public scene for the whole +period of the cycle which we are here considering. + +Upon the bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe, only the bourgeois +republic could follow; that is to say, a limited portion of the +bourgeoisie having ruled under the name of the king, now the whole +bourgeoisie was to rule under the name of the people. The demands of the +Parisian proletariat are utopian tom-fooleries that have to be done away +with. To this declaration of the constitutional national assembly, the +Paris proletariat answers with the June insurrection, the most colossal +event in the history of European civil wars. The bourgeois republic +won. On its side stood the aristocracy of finance, the industrial +bourgeoisie; the middle class; the small traders' class; the army; the +slums, organized as Guarde Mobile; the intellectual celebrities, the +parsons' class, and the rural population. On the side of the Parisian +proletariat stood none but itself. Over 3,000 insurgents were massacred, +after the victory 15,000 were transported without trial. With this +defeat, the proletariat steps to the background on the revolutionary +stage. It always seeks to crowd forward, so soon as the movement seems +to acquire new impetus, but with ever weaker effort and ever smaller +results; So soon as any of the above lying layers of society gets into +revolutionary fermentation, it enters into alliance therewith and thus +shares all the defeats which the several parties successively suffer. +But these succeeding blows become ever weaker the more generally they +are distributed over the whole surface of society. The more important +leaders of the Proletariat, in its councils, and the press, fall one +after another victims of the courts, and ever more questionable +figures step to the front. It partly throws itself it upon doctrinaire +experiments, "co-operative banking" and "labor exchange" schemes; in +other words, movements, in which it goes into movements in which it +gives up the task of revolutionizing the old world with its own large +collective weapons and on the contrary, seeks to bring about its +emancipation, behind the back of society, in private ways, within the +narrow bounds of its own class conditions, and, consequently, inevitably +fails. The proletariat seems to be able neither to find again the +revolutionary magnitude within itself nor to draw new energy from the +newly formed alliances until all the classes, with whom it contended in +June, shall lie prostrate along with itself. But in all these defeats, +the proletariat succumbs at least with the honor that attaches to great +historic struggles; not France alone, all Europe trembles before the +June earthquake, while the successive defeats inflicted upon the higher +classes are bought so easily that they need the brazen exaggeration +of the victorious party itself to be at all able to pass muster as an +event; and these defeats become more disgraceful the further removed the +defeated party stands from the proletariat. + +True enough, the defeat of the June insurgents prepared, leveled the +ground, upon which the bourgeois republic could be founded and erected; +but it, at the same time, showed that there are in Europe other issues +besides that of "Republic or Monarchy." It revealed the fact that here +the Bourgeois Republic meant the unbridled despotism of one class over +another. It proved that, with nations enjoying an older civilization, +having developed class distinctions, modern conditions of production, +an intellectual consciousness, wherein all traditions of old have been +dissolved through the work of centuries, that with such countries +the republic means only the political revolutionary form of bourgeois +society, not its conservative form of existence, as is the case in the +United States of America, where, true enough, the classes already exist, +but have not yet acquired permanent character, are in constant flux and +reflux, constantly changing their elements and yielding them up to one +another where the modern means of production, instead of coinciding with +a stagnant population, rather compensate for the relative scarcity of +heads and hands; and, finally, where the feverishly youthful life of +material production, which has to appropriate a new world to itself, +has so far left neither time nor opportunity to abolish the illusions of +old. [#3 This was written at the beginning of 1852.] + +All classes and parties joined hands in the June days in a "Party of +Order" against the class of the proletariat, which was designated as +the "Party of Anarchy," of Socialism, of Communism. They claimed to +have "saved" society against the "enemies of society." They gave out the +slogans of the old social order--"Property, Family, Religion, Order"--as +the passwords for their army, and cried out to the counter-revolutionary +crusaders: "In this sign thou wilt conquer!" From that moment on, so +soon as any of the numerous parties, which had marshaled themselves +under this sign against the June insurgents, tries, in turn, to take the +revolutionary field in the interest of its own class, it goes down in +its turn before the cry: "Property, Family, Religion, Order." Thus it +happens that "society is saved" as often as the circle of its ruling +class is narrowed, as often as a more exclusive interest asserts itself +over the general. Every demand for the most simple bourgeois financial +reform, for the most ordinary liberalism, for the most commonplace +republicanism, for the flattest democracy, is forthwith punished as an +"assault upon society," and is branded as "Socialism." Finally the High +Priests of "Religion and Order" themselves are kicked off their tripods; +are fetched out of their beds in the dark; hurried into patrol wagons, +thrust into jail or sent into exile; their temple is razed to the +ground, their mouths are sealed, their pen is broken, their law torn to +pieces in the name of Religion, of Family, of Property, and of Order. +Bourgeois, fanatic on the point of "Order," are shot down on their own +balconies by drunken soldiers, forfeit their family property, and +their houses are bombarded for pastime--all in the name of Property, +of Family, of Religion, and of Order. Finally, the refuse of bourgeois +society constitutes the "holy phalanx of Order," and the hero +Crapulinsky makes his entry into the Tuileries as the "Savior of +Society." + + + + + +II + + + +Let us resume the thread of events. + +The history of the Constitutional National Assembly from the June days +on, is the history of the supremacy and dissolution of the republican +bourgeois party, the party which is known under several names of +"Tricolor Republican," "True Republican," "Political Republican," +"Formal Republican," etc., etc. Under the bourgeois monarchy of Louis +Philippe, this party had constituted the Official Republican Opposition, +and consequently had been a recognized element in the then political +world. It had its representatives in the Chambers, and commanded +considerable influence in the press. Its Parisian organ, the "National," +passed, in its way, for as respectable a paper as the "Journal des +Debats." This position in the constitutional monarchy corresponded to +its character. The party was not a fraction of the bourgeoisie, held +together by great and common interests, and marked by special +business requirements. It was a coterie of bourgeois with republican +ideas-writers, lawyers, officers and civil employees, whose influence +rested upon the personal antipathies of the country for Louis Philippe, +upon reminiscences of the old Republic, upon the republican faith of +a number of enthusiasts, and, above all, upon the spirit of French +patriotism, whose hatred of the treaties of Vienna and of the alliance +with England kept them perpetually on the alert. The "National" owed +a large portion of its following under Louis Philippe to this covert +imperialism, that, later under the republic, could stand up against it +as a deadly competitor in the person of Louis Bonaparte. The fought the +aristocracy of finance just the same as did the rest of the bourgeois +opposition. The polemic against the budget, which in France, was closely +connected with the opposition to the aristocracy of finance, furnished +too cheap a popularity and too rich a material for Puritanical leading +articles, not to be exploited. The industrial bourgeoisie was thankful +to it for its servile defense of the French tariff system, which, +however, the paper had taken up, more out of patriotic than economic +reasons the whole bourgeois class was thankful to it for its vicious +denunciations of Communism and Socialism For the rest, the party of the +"National" was purely republican, i.e. it demanded a republican instead +of a monarchic form of bourgeois government; above all, it demanded +for the bourgeoisie the lion's share of the government. As to how this +transformation was to be accomplished, the party was far from being +clear. What, however, was clear as day to it and was openly declared at +the reform banquets during the last days of Louis Philippe's reign, was +its unpopularity with the democratic middle class, especially with the +revolutionary proletariat. These pure republicans, as pure republicans +go, were at first on the very point of contenting themselves with the +regency of the Duchess of Orleans, when the February revolution broke +out, and when it gave their best known representatives a place in the +provisional government. Of course, they enjoyed from the start the +confidence of the bourgeoisie and of the majority of the Constitutional +National Assembly. The Socialist elements of the Provisional Government +were promptly excluded from the Executive Committee which the Assembly +had elected upon its convening, and the party of the "National" +subsequently utilized the outbreak of the June insurrection to dismiss +this Executive Committee also, and thus rid itself of its nearest +rivals--the small traders' class or democratic republicans +(Ledru-Rollin, etc.). Cavaignac, the General of the bourgeois republican +party, who command at the battle of June, stepped into the place of the +Executive Committee with a sort of dictatorial power. Marrast, former +editor-in-chief of the "National", became permanent President of the +Constitutional National Assembly, and the Secretaryship of State, +together with all the other important posts, devolved upon the pure +republicans. + +The republican bourgeois party, which since long had looked upon itself +as the legitimate heir of the July monarchy, thus found itself surpassed +in its own ideal; but it cam to power, not as it had dreamed under +Louis Philippe, through a liberal revolt of the bourgeoisie against +the throne, but through a grape-shot-and-canistered mutiny of the +proletariat against Capital. That which it imagined to be the most +revolutionary, came about as the most counter-revolutionary event. The +fruit fell into its lap, but it fell from the Tree of Knowledge, not +from the Tree of life. + +The exclusive power of the bourgeois republic lasted only from June +24 to the 10th of December, 1848. It is summed up in the framing of a +republican constitution and in the state of siege of Paris. + +The new Constitution was in substance only a republicanized edition of +the constitutional charter of 1830. The limited suffrage of the July +monarchy, which excluded even a large portion of the bourgeoisie from +political power, was irreconcilable with the existence of the bourgeois +republic. The February revolution had forthwith proclaimed direct and +universal suffrage in place of the old law. The bourgeois republic could +not annul this act. They had to content themselves with tacking to it +the limitation a six months' residence. The old organization of the +administrative law, of municipal government, of court procedures of the +army, etc., remained untouched, or, where the constitution did change +them, the change affected their index, not their subject; their name, +not their substance. + +The inevitable "General Staff" of the "freedoms" of 1848--personal +freedom, freedom of the press, of speech, of association and of +assemblage, freedom of instruction, of religion, etc.--received a +constitutional uniform that rendered them invulnerable. Each of these +freedoms is proclaimed the absolute right of the French citizen, but +always with the gloss that it is unlimited in so far only as it be not +curtailed by the "equal rights of others," and by the "public safety," +or by the "laws," which are intended to effect this harmony. For +instance: + +"Citizens have the right of association, of peaceful and unarmed +assemblage, of petitioning, and of expressing their opinions through +the press or otherwise. The enjoyment of these rights has no limitation +other than the equal rights of others and the public safety." (Chap. II. +of the French Constitution, Section 8.) + +"Education is free. The freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the +conditions provided by law, and under the supervision of the State." +(Section 9.) + +"The domicile of the citizen is inviolable, except under the forms +prescribed by law." (Chap. I., Section 3), etc., etc. + +The Constitution, it will be noticed, constantly alludes to future +organic laws, that are to carry out the glosses, and are intended to +regulate the enjoyment of these unabridged freedoms, to the end that +they collide neither with one another nor with the public safety. +Later on, the organic laws are called into existence by the "Friends of +Order," and all the above named freedoms are so regulated that, in their +enjoyment, the bourgeoisie encounter no opposition from the like rights +of the other classes. Wherever the bourgeoisie wholly interdicted these +rights to "others," or allowed them their enjoyment under conditions +that were but so many police snares, it was always done only in the +interest of the "public safety," i. e., of the bourgeoisie, as required +by the Constitution. + +Hence it comes that both sides-the "Friends of Order," who abolished +all those freedoms, as, well as the democrats, who had demanded them +all--appeal with full right to the Constitution: Each paragraph of +the Constitution contains its own antithesis, its own Upper and Lower +House-freedom as a generalization, the abolition of freedom as +a specification. Accordingly, so long as the name of freedom was +respected, and only its real enforcement was prevented in a legal way, +of course the constitutional existence of freedom remained uninjured, +untouched, however completely its common existence might be +extinguished. + +This Constitution, so ingeniously made invulnerable, was, however, like +Achilles, vulnerable at one point: not in its heel, but in its head, or +rather, in the two heads into which it ran out-the Legislative Assembly, +on the one hand, and the President on the other. Run through the +Constitution and it will be found that only those paragraphs wherein the +relation of the President to the Legislative Assembly is defined, are +absolute, positive, uncontradictory, undistortable. + +Here the bourgeois republicans were concerned in securing their own +position. Articles 45-70 of the Constitution are so framed that the +National Assembly can constitutionally remove the President, but the +President can set aside the National Assembly only unconstitutionally, +he can set it aside only by setting aside the Constitution itself. +Accordingly, by these provisions, the National Assembly challenges its +own violent destruction. It not only consecrates, like the character +of 1830, the division of powers, but it extends this feature to an +unbearably contradictory extreme. The "play of constitutional powers," +as Guizot styled the clapper-clawings between the legislative and the +executive powers, plays permanent "vabanque" in the Constitution of +1848. On the one side, 750 representatives of the people, elected and +qualified for re-election by universal suffrage, who constitute an +uncontrollable, indissoluble, indivisible National Assembly, a National +Assembly that enjoys legislative omnipotence, that decides in the last +instance over war, peace and commercial treaties, that alone has the +power to grant amnesties, and that, through its perpetuity, continually +maintains the foreground on the stage; on the other, a President, clad +with all the attributes of royalty, with the right to appoint and remove +his ministers independently from the national assembly, holding in his +hands all the means of executive power, the dispenser of all posts, and +thereby the arbiter of at least one and a half million existences in +France, so many being dependent upon the 500,000 civil employees and +upon the officers of all grades. He has the whole armed power behind +him. He enjoys the privilege of granting pardons to individual +criminals; suspending the National Guards; of removing with the consent +of the Council of State the general, cantonal and municipal Councilmen, +elected by the citizens themselves. The initiative and direction of +all negotiations with foreign countries are reserved to him. While the +Assembly itself is constantly acting upon the stage, and is exposed +to the critically vulgar light of day, he leads a hidden life in the +Elysian fields, only with Article 45 of the Constitution before his eyes +and in his heart daily calling out to him, "Frere, il faut mourir!" [#1 +Brother, you must die!] Your power expires on the second Sunday of the +beautiful month of May, in the fourth year after your election! The +glory is then at an end; the play is not performed twice; and, if you +have any debts, see to it betimes that you pay them off with the 600,000 +francs that the Constitution has set aside for you, unless, perchance, +you should prefer traveling to Clichy [#2 The debtors' prison.] on the +second Monday of the beautiful month of May. + +While the Constitution thus clothes the President with actual power, it +seeks to secure the moral power to the National Assembly. Apart from +the circumstance that it is impossible to create a moral power through +legislative paragraphs, the Constitution again neutralizes itself in +that it causes the President to be chosen by all the Frenchmen through +direct suffrage. While the votes of France are splintered to pieces upon +the 750 members of the National Assembly they are here, on the contrary, +concentrated upon one individual. While each separate Representative +represents only this or that party, this or that city, this or +that dunghill, or possibly only the necessity of electing some one +Seven-hundred-and-fiftieth or other, with whom neither the issue nor the +man is closely considered, that one, the President, on the contrary, is +the elect of the nation, and the act of his election is the trump card, +that, the sovereign people plays out once every four years. The elected +National Assembly stands in a metaphysical, but the elected President in +a personal, relation to the nation. True enough, the National Assembly +presents in its several Representatives the various sides of the +national spirit, but, in the President, this spirit is incarnated. As +against the National Assembly, the President possesses a sort of divine +right, he is by the grace of the people. + +Thetis, the sea-goddess, had prophesied to Achilles that he would die +in the bloom of youth. The Constitution, which had its weak spot, like +Achilles, had also, like Achilles, the presentiment that it would depart +by premature death. It was enough for the pure republicans, engaged +at the work of framing a constitution, to cast a glance from the misty +heights of their ideal republic down upon the profane world in order to +realize how the arrogance of the royalists, of the Bonapartists, of +the democrats, of the Communists, rose daily, together with their own +discredit, and in the same measure as they approached the completion of +their legislative work of art, without Thetis having for this purpose to +leave the sea and impart the secret to them. They ought to outwit +fate by means of constitutional artifice, through Section 111 of the +Constitution, according to which every motion to revise the Constitution +had to be discussed three successive times between each of which a full +month was to elapse and required at least a three-fourths majority, with +the additional proviso that not less than 500 members of the National +Assembly voted. They thereby only made the impotent attempt, still to +exercise as a parliamentary minority, to which in their mind's eye they +prophetically saw themselves reduced, a power, that, at this very time, +when they still disposed over the parliamentary majority and over all +the machinery of government, was daily slipping from their weak hands. + +Finally, the Constitution entrusts itself for safe keeping, in a +melodramatic paragraph, "to the watchfulness and patriotism of the whole +French people, and of each individual Frenchman," after having +just before, in another paragraph entrusted the "watchful" and the +"patriotic" themselves to the tender, inquisitorial attention of the +High Court, instituted by itself. + +That was the Constitution of 1848, which on, the 2d of December, 1851, +was not overthrown by one head, but tumbled down at the touch of a mere +hat; though, true enough, that hat was a three-cornered Napoleon hat. + +While the bourgeois' republicans were engaged in the Assembly with the +work of splicing this Constitution, of discussing and voting, Cavaignac, +on the outside, maintained the state of siege of Paris. The state of +siege of Paris was the midwife of the constitutional assembly, during +its republican pains of travail. When the Constitution is later on swept +off the earth by the bayonet, it should not be forgotten that it was +by the bayonet, likewise--and the bayonet turned against the people, at +that--that it had to be protected in its mother's womb, and that by the +bayonet it had to be planted on earth. The ancestors of these "honest +republicans" had caused their symbol, the tricolor, to make the tour of +Europe. These, in their turn also made a discovery, which all of itself, +found its way over the whole continent, but, with ever renewed love, +came back to France, until, by this time, if had acquired the right +of citizenship in one-half of her Departments--the state of siege. A +wondrous discovery this was, periodically applied at each succeeding +crisis in the course of the French revolution. But the barrack and +the bivouac, thus periodically laid on the head of French society, to +compress her brain and reduce her to quiet; the sabre and the +musket, periodically made to perform the functions of judges and of +administrators, of guardians and of censors, of police officers and of +watchmen; the military moustache and the soldier's jacket, periodically +heralded as the highest wisdom and guiding stars of society;--were not +all of these, the barrack and the bivouac, the sabre and the musket, the +moustache and the soldier's jacket bound, in the end, to hit upon the +idea that they might as well save, society once for all, by proclaiming +their own regime as supreme, and relieve bourgeois society wholly of the +care of ruling itself? The barrack and the bivouac, the sabre and the +musket, the moustache and the soldier's jacket were all the more bound +to hit upon this idea, seeing that they could then also expect better +cash payment for their increased deserts, while at the merely periodic +states of siege and the transitory savings of society at the behest of +this or that bourgeois faction, very little solid matter fell to them +except some dead and wounded, besides some friendly bourgeois grimaces. +Should not the military, finally, in and for its own interest, play +the game of "state of siege," and simultaneously besiege the bourgeois +exchanges? Moreover, it must not be forgotten, and be it observed +in passing, that Col. Bernard, the same President of the Military +Committee, who, under Cavaignac, helped to deport 15,000 insurgents +without trial, moves at this period again at the head of the Military +Committees now active in Paris. + +Although the honest, the pure republicans built with the state of siege +the nursery in which the Praetorian guards of December 2, 1851, were to +be reared, they, on the other hand, deserve praise in that, instead of +exaggerating the feeling of patriotism, as under Louis Philippe, now; +they themselves are in command of the national power, they crawl before +foreign powers; instead of making Italy free, they allow her to +be reconquered by Austrians and Neapolitans. The election of Louis +Bonaparte for President on December 10, 1848, put an end to the +dictatorship of Cavaignac and to the constitutional assembly. + +In Article 44 of the Constitution it is said "The President of the +French Republic must never have lost his status as a French citizen." +The first President of the French Republic, L. N. Bonaparte, had not +only lost his status as a French citizen, had not only been an English +special constable, but was even a naturalized Swiss citizen. + +In the previous chapter I have explained the meaning of the election of +December 10. I shall not here return to it. Suffice it here to say that +it was a reaction of the farmers' class, who had been expected to pay +the costs of the February revolution, against the other classes of the +nation: it was a reaction of the country against the city. It met +with great favor among the soldiers, to whom the republicans of +the "National" had brought neither fame nor funds; among the great +bourgeoisie, who hailed Bonaparte as a bridge to the monarchy; and +among the proletarians and small traders, who hailed him as a scourge to +Cavaignac. I shall later have occasion to enter closer into the relation +of the farmers to the French revolution. + +The epoch between December 20, 1848, and the dissolution of the +constitutional assembly in May, 1849, embraces the history of the +downfall of the bourgeois republicans. After they had founded a republic +for the bourgeoisie, had driven the revolutionary proletariat from the +field and had meanwhile silenced the democratic middle class, they +are themselves shoved aside by the mass of the bourgeoisie who justly +appropriate this republic as their property. This bourgeois mass was +Royalist, however. A part thereof, the large landed proprietors, had +ruled under the restoration, hence, was Legitimist; the other part, the +aristocrats of finance and the large industrial capitalists, had ruled +under the July monarchy, hence, was Orleanist. The high functionaries of +the Army, of the University, of the Church, in the civil service, of the +Academy and of the press, divided themselves on both sides, although in +unequal parts. Here, in the bourgeois republic, that bore neither the +name of Bourbon, nor of Orleans, but the name of Capital, they had +found the form of government under which they could all rule in common. +Already the June insurrection had united them all into a "Party of +Order." The next thing to do was to remove the bourgeois republicans who +still held the seats in the National Assembly. As brutally as these pure +republicans had abused their own physical power against the people, so +cowardly, low-spirited, disheartened, broken, powerless did they yield, +now when the issue was the maintenance of their own republicanism +and their own legislative rights against the Executive power and +the royalists I need not here narrate the shameful history of their +dissolution. It was not a downfall, it was extinction. Their history is +at an end for all time. In the period that follows, they figure, whether +within or without the Assembly, only as memories--memories that seem +again to come to life so soon as the question is again only the word +"Republic," and as often as the revolutionary conflict threatens to sink +down to the lowest level. In passing, I might observe that the journal +which gave to this party its name, the "National," goes over to +Socialism during the following period. + +Before we close this period, we must look back upon the two powers, +one of destroys the other on December 2, 1851, while, from December 20, +1848, down to the departure of the constitutional assembly, they live +marital relations. We mean Louis Bonaparte, on the-one hand, on the +other, the party of the allied royalists; of Order, and of the large +bourgeoisie. + +At the inauguration of his presidency, Bonaparte forthwith framed a +ministry out of the party of Order, at whose head he placed Odillon +Barrot, be it noted, the old leader of the liberal wing of the +parliamentary bourgeoisie. Mr. Barrot had finally hunted down a seat in +the ministry, the spook of which had been pursuing him since 1830; and +what is more, he had the chairmanship in this ministry, although not, +as he had imagined under Louis Philippe, the promoted leader of the +parliamentary opposition, but with the commission to kill a parliament, +and, moreover, as an ally of all his arch enemies, the Jesuits and the +Legitimists. Finally he leads the bride home, but only after she +has been prostituted. As to Bonaparte, he seemed to eclipse himself +completely. The party of Order acted for him. + +Immediately at the first session of the ministry the expedition to +Rome was decided upon, which it was there agreed, was to be carried out +behind I the back of the National Assembly, and the funds for which, +it was equally agreed, were to be wrung from the Assembly under false +pretences. Thus the start was made with a swindle on the National +Assembly, together with a secret conspiracy with the absolute foreign +powers against the revolutionary Roman republic. In the same way, and +with a similar maneuver, did Bonaparte prepare his stroke of December 2 +against the royalist legislature and its constitutional republic. Let +it not be forgotten that the same party, which, on December 20, 1848, +constituted Bonaparte's ministry, constituted also, on December 2, 1851, +the majority of the legislative National Assembly. + +In August the constitutive assembly decided not to dissolve until it +had prepared and promulgated a whole series of organic laws, intended +to supplement the Constitution. The party of Order proposed to the +assembly, through Representative Rateau, on January 6, 1849, to let +the Organic laws go, and rather to order its own dissolution. Not +the ministry alone, with Mr. Odillon Barrot at its head, but all +the royalist members of the National Assembly were also at this time +hectoring to it that its dissolution was necessary for the restoration +of the public credit, for the consolidation of order, to put an end to +the existing uncertain and provisional, and establish a definite state +of things; they claimed that its continued existence hindered the +effectiveness of the new Government, that it sought to prolong its life +out of pure malice, and that the country was tired of it. Bonaparte +took notice of all these invectives hurled at the legislative power, +he learned them by heart, and, on December 21, 1851, he showed the +parliamentary royalists that he had learned from them. He repeated their +own slogans against themselves. + +The Barrot ministry and the party of Order went further. They called all +over France for petitions to the National Assembly in which that +body was politely requested to disappear. Thus they led the people's +unorganic masses to the fray against the National Assembly, i.e., the +constitutionally organized expression of people itself. They taught +Bonaparte, to appeal from the parliamentary body to the people. Finally, +on January 29, 1849, the day arrived when the constitutional assembly +was to decide about its own dissolution. On that day the body found its +building occupied by the military; Changarnier, the General of the party +of Order, in whose hands was joined the supreme command of both the +National Guards and the regulars, held that day a great military review, +as though a battle were imminent; and the coalized royalists declared +threateningly to the constitutional assembly that force would be applied +if it did not act willingly. It was willing, and chaffered only for a +very short respite. What else was the 29th of January, 1849, than the +"coup d'etat" of December 2, 1851, only executed by the royalists with +Napoleon's aid against the republican National Assembly? These gentlemen +did not notice, or did not want to notice, that Napoleon utilized the +29th of January, 1849, to cause a part of the troops to file before him +in front of the Tuileries, and that he seized with avidity this very +first open exercise of the military against the parliamentary power +in order to hint at Caligula. The allied royalists saw only their own +Changarnier. + +Another reason that particularly moved the party of Order forcibly to +shorten the term of the constitutional assembly were the organic laws, +the laws that were to supplement the Constitution, as, for instance, +the laws on education, on religion, etc. The allied royalists had every +interest in framing these laws themselves, and not allowing them to be +framed by the already suspicious republicans. Among these organic laws, +there was, however, one on the responsibility of the President of the +republic. In 1851 the Legislature was just engaged in framing such a law +when Bonaparte forestalled that political stroke by his own of December +2. What all would not the coalized royalists have given in their winter +parliamentary campaign of 1851, had they but found this "Responsibility +law" ready made, and framed at that, by the suspicious, the vicious +republican Assembly! + +After, on January 29, 1849, the constitutive assembly had itself broken +its last weapon, the Barrot ministry and the "Friends of Order" harassed +it to death, left nothing undone to humiliate it, and wrung from its +weakness, despairing of itself, laws that cost it the last vestige +of respect with the public. Bonaparte, occupied with his own fixed +Napoleonic idea, was audacious enough openly to exploit this degradation +of the parliamentary power: When the National Assembly, on May 8, 1849, +passed a vote of censure upon the Ministry on account of the occupation +of Civita-Vecchia by Oudinot, and ordered that the Roman expedition +be brought back to its alleged purpose, Bonaparte published that same +evening in the "Moniteur" a letter to Oudinot, in which he congratulated +him on his heroic feats, and already, in contrast with the quill-pushing +parliamentarians, posed as the generous protector of the Army. The +royalists smiled at this. They took him simply for their dupe. Finally, +as Marrast, the President of the constitutional assembly, believed on a +certain occasion the safety of the body to be in danger, and, resting on +the Constitution, made a requisition upon a Colonel, together with +his regiment, the Colonel refused obedience, took refuge behind the +"discipline," and referred Marrast to Changarnier, who scornfully sent +him off with the remark that he did not like "bayonettes intelligentes." +[#1 Intelligent bayonets] In November, 1851, as the coalized royalists +wanted to begin the decisive struggle with Bonaparte, they sought, by +means of their notorious "Questors Bill," to enforce the principle of +the right of the President of the National Assembly to issue direct +requisitions for troops. One of their Generals, Leflo, supported the +motion. In vain did Changarnier vote for it, or did Thiers render homage +to the cautious wisdom of the late constitutional assembly. The +Minister of War, St. Arnaud, answered him as Changarnier had answered +Marrast--and he did so amidst the plaudits of the Mountain. + +Thus did the party of Order itself, when as yet it was not the National +Assembly, when as yet it was only a Ministry, brand the parliamentary +regime. And yet this party objects vociferously when the 2d of December, +1851, banishes that regime from France! + +We wish it a happy journey. + + + + + +III + + + +On May 29, 1849, the legislative National Assembly convened. On +December 2, 1851, it was broken up. This period embraces the term of the +Constitutional or Parliamentary public. + +In the first French revolution, upon the reign of the Constitutionalists +succeeds that of the Girondins; and upon the reign of the Girondins +follows that of the Jacobins. Each of these parties in succession rests +upon its more advanced element. So soon as it has carried the revolution +far enough not to be able to keep pace with, much less march ahead of +it, it is shoved aside by its more daring allies, who stand behind it, +and it is sent to the guillotine. Thus the revolution moves along an +upward line. + +Just the reverse in 1848. The proletarian party appears as an appendage +to the small traders' or democratic party; it is betrayed by the latter +and allowed to fall on April 16, May 15, and in the June days. In its +turn, the democratic party leans upon the shoulders of the bourgeois +republicans; barely do the bourgeois republicans believe themselves +firmly in power, than they shake off these troublesome associates for +the purpose of themselves leaning upon the shoulders of the party of +Order. The party of Order draws in its shoulders, lets the bourgeois +republicans tumble down heels over head, and throws itself upon the +shoulders of the armed power. Finally, still of the mind that it is +sustained by the shoulders of the armed power, the party of Order +notices one fine morning that these shoulders have turned into bayonets. +Each party kicks backward at those that are pushing forward, and leans +forward upon those that are crowding backward; no wonder that, in this +ludicrous posture, each loses its balance, and, after having cut +the unavoidable grimaces, breaks down amid singular somersaults. +Accordingly, the revolution moves along a downward line. It finds itself +in this retreating motion before the last February-barricade is cleared +away, and the first governmental authority of the revolution has been +constituted. + +The period we now have before us embraces the motliest jumble of crying +contradictions: constitutionalists, who openly conspire against the +Constitution; revolutionists, who admittedly are constitutional; +a National Assembly that wishes to be omnipotent yet remains +parliamentary; a Mountain, that finds its occupation in submission, +that parries its present defeats with prophecies of future victories; +royalists, who constitute the "patres conscripti" of the republic, and +are compelled by the situation to uphold abroad the hostile monarchic +houses, whose adherents they are, while in France they support the +republic that they hate; an Executive power that finds its strength in +its very weakness, and its dignity in the contempt that it inspires; +a republic, that is nothing else than the combined infamy of two +monarchies--the Restoration and the July Monarchy--with an imperial +label; unions, whose first clause is disunion; struggles, whose first +law is in-decision; in the name of peace, barren and hollow agitation; +in the name of the revolution, solemn sermonizings on peace; passions +without truth; truths without passion; heroes without heroism; history +without events; development, whose only moving force seems to be the +calendar, and tiresome by the constant reiteration of the same tensions +and relaxes; contrasts, that seem to intensify themselves periodically, +only in order to wear themselves off and collapse without a solution; +pretentious efforts made for show, and bourgeois frights at the danger +of the destruction of the world, simultaneous with the carrying on of +the pettiest intrigues and the performance of court comedies by the +world's saviours, who, in their "laisser aller," recall the Day of +Judgment not so much as the days of the Fronde; the official collective +genius of France brought to shame by the artful stupidity of a single +individual; the collective will of the nation, as often as it speaks +through the general suffrage, seeking its true expression in the +prescriptive enemies of the public interests until it finally finds it +in the arbitrary will of a filibuster. If ever a slice from history is +drawn black upon black, it is this. Men and events appear as reversed +"Schlemihls," [#1 The hero In Chamisso's "Peter Schiemihi," who loses +his own shadow.] as shadows, the bodies of which have been lost. The +revolution itself paralyzes its own apostles, and equips only its +adversaries with passionate violence. When the "Red Spectre," constantly +conjured up and exorcised by the counter-revolutionists finally does +appear, it does not appear with the Anarchist Phrygian cap on its head, +but in the uniform of Order, in the Red Breeches of the French Soldier. + +We saw that the Ministry, which Bonaparte installed on December 20, +1849, the day of his "Ascension," was a ministry of the party of Order, +of the Legitimist and Orleanist coalition. The Barrot-Falloux ministry +had weathered the republican constitutive convention, whose term of life +it had shortened with more or less violence, and found itself still at +the helm. Changamier, the General of the allied royalists continued to +unite in his person the command-in-chief of the First Military Division +and of the Parisian National Guard. Finally, the general elections had +secured the large majority in the National Assembly to the party of +Order. Here the Deputies and Peers of Louis Phillipe met a saintly crowd +of Legitimists, for whose benefit numerous ballots of the nation had +been converted into admission tickets to the political stage. The +Bonapartist representatives were too thinly sowed to be able to build an +independent parliamentary party. They appeared only as "mauvaise queue" +[#2 Practical joke] played upon the party of Order. Thus the party +of Order was in possession of the Government, of the Army, and of the +legislative body, in short, of the total power of the State, morally +strengthened by the general elections, that caused their sovereignty to +appear as the will of the people, and by the simultaneous victory of the +counter-revolution on the whole continent of Europe. + +Never did party open its campaign with larger means at its disposal and +under more favorable auspices. + +The shipwrecked pure republicans found themselves in the legislative +National Assembly melted down to a clique of fifty men, with the +African Generals Cavaignac, Lamorciere and Bedeau at its head. The +great Opposition party was, however, formed by the Mountain. This +parliamentary baptismal name was given to itself by the Social +Democratic party. It disposed of more than two hundred votes out of the +seven hundred and fifty in the National Assembly, and, hence, was at +least just as powerful as any one of the three factions of the party +of Order. Its relative minority to the total royalist coalition seemed +counterbalanced by special circumstances. Not only did the Departmental +election returns show that it had gained a considerable following among +the rural population, but, furthermore, it numbered almost all the +Paris Deputies in its camp; the Army had, by the election of three +under-officers, made a confession of democratic faith; and the leader of +the Mountain, Ledru-Rollin had in contrast to all the representatives +of the party of Order, been raised to the rank of the "parliamentary +nobility" by five Departments, who combined their suffrages upon him. +Accordingly, in view of the inevitable collisions of the royalists +among themselves, on the one hand, and of the whole party of Order with +Bonaparte, on the other, the Mountain seemed on May 29,1849, to have +before it all the elements of success. A fortnight later, it had lost +everything, its honor included. + +Before we follow this parliamentary history any further, a few +observations are necessary, in order to avoid certain common deceptions +concerning the whole character of the epoch that lies before us. +According to the view of the democrats, the issue, during the period of +the legislative National Assembly, was, the same as during the period of +the constitutive assembly, simply the struggle between republicans and +royalists; the movement itself was summed up by them in the catch-word +Reaction--night, in which all cats are grey, and allows them to drawl +out their drowsy commonplaces. Indeed, at first sight, the party of +Order presents the appearance of a tangle of royalist factions, that, +not only intrigue against each other, each aiming to raise its own +Pretender to the throne, and exclude the Pretender of the Opposite +party, but also are all united in a common hatred for and common +attacks against the "Republic." On its side, the Mountain appears, in +counter-distinction to the royalist conspiracy, as the representative +of the "Republic." The party of Order seems constantly engaged in a +"Reaction," which, neither more nor less than in Prussia, is directed +against the press, the right of association and the like, and is +enforced by brutal police interventions on the part of the bureaucracy, +the police and the public prosecutor--just as in Prussia; the Mountain +on the contrary, is engaged with equal assiduity in parrying these +attacks, and thus in defending the "eternal rights of man"--as every +so-called people's party has more or less done for the last hundred and +fifty years. At a closer inspection, however, of the situation and +of the parties, this superficial appearance, which veils the Class +Struggle, together with the peculiar physiognomy of this period, +vanishes wholly. + +Legitimists and Orleanists constituted, as said before, the two large +factions of the party of Order. What held these two factions to their +respective Pretenders, and inversely kept them apart from each other, +what else was it but the lily and the tricolor, the House of Bourbon and +the house of Orleans, different shades of royalty? Under the Bourbons, +Large Landed Property ruled together with its parsons and lackeys; under +the Orleanist, it was the high finance, large industry, large commerce, +i.e., Capital, with its retinue of lawyers, professors and orators. The +Legitimate kingdom was but the political expression for the hereditary +rule of the landlords, as the July monarchy was bur the political +expression for the usurped rule of the bourgeois upstarts. What, +accordingly, kept these two factions apart was no so-called set of +principles, it was their material conditions for life--two different +sorts of property--; it was the old antagonism of the City and +the Country, the rivalry between Capital and Landed property. That +simultaneously old recollections; personal animosities, fears and hopes; +prejudices and illusions; sympathies and antipathies; convictions, +faith and principles bound these factions to one House or the other, +who denies it? Upon the several forms of property, upon the social +conditions of existence, a whole superstructure is reared of various and +peculiarly shaped feelings, illusions, habits of thought and conceptions +of life. The whole class produces and shapes these out of its material +foundation and out of the corresponding social conditions. The +individual unit to whom they flow through tradition and education, may +fancy that they constitute the true reasons for and premises of his +conduct. Although Orleanists and Legitimists, each of these factions, +sought to make itself and the other believe that what kept the two apart +was the attachment of each to its respective royal House; nevertheless, +facts proved later that it rather was their divided interest that +forbade the union of the two royal Houses. As, in private life, the +distinction is made between what a man thinks of himself and says, and +that which he really is and does, so, all the more, must the phrases and +notions of parties in historic struggles be distinguished from the real +organism, and their real interests, their notions and their reality. +Orleanists and Legitimists found themselves in the republic beside each +other with equal claims. Each side wishing, in opposition to the other, +to carry out the restoration of its own royal House, meant nothing else +than that each of the two great Interests into which the bourgeoisie is +divided--Land and Capital--sought to restore its own supremacy and the +subordinacy of the other. We speak of two bourgeois interests because +large landed property, despite its feudal coquetry and pride of race, +has become completely bourgeois through the development of modern +society. Thus did the Tories of England long fancy that they were +enthusiastic for the Kingdom, the Church and the beauties of the old +English Constitution, until the day of danger wrung from them the +admission that their enthusiasm was only for Ground Rent. + +The coalized royalists carried on their intrigues against each other in +the press, in Ems, in Clarmont--outside of the parliament. Behind the +scenes, they don again their old Orleanist and Legitimist liveries, +and conduct their old tourneys; on the public stage, however, in their +public acts, as a great parliamentary party, they dispose of their +respective royal houses with mere courtesies, adjourn "in infinitum" the +restoration of the monarchy. Their real business is transacted as +Party of Order, i. e., under a Social, not a Political title; as +representatives of the bourgeois social system; not as knights of +traveling princesses, but as the bourgeois class against the other +classes; not as royalists against republicans. Indeed, as party of +Order they exercised a more unlimited and harder dominion over the other +classes of society than ever before either under the restoration or the +July monarchy-a thing possible only under the form of a parliamentary +republic, because under this form alone could the two large divisions of +the French bourgeoisie be united; in other words, only under this form +could they place on the order of business the sovereignty of their +class, in lieu of the regime of a privileged faction of the same. If, +this notwithstanding, they are seen as the party of Order to insult +the republic and express their antipathy for it, it happened not out of +royalist traditions only: Instinct taught them that while, indeed, the +republic completes their authority, it at the same time undermined their +social foundation, in that, without intermediary, without the mask of +the crown, without being able to turn aside the national interest by +means of its subordinate struggles among its own conflicting elements +and with the crown, the republic is compelled to stand up sharp against +the subjugated classes, and wrestle with them. It was a sense of +weakness that caused them to recoil before the unqualified demands +of their own class rule, and to retreat to the less complete, less +developed, and, for that very reason, less dangerous forms of the same. +As often, on the contrary, as the allied royalists come into conflict +with the Pretender who stands before them--with Bonaparte--, as often +as they believe their parliamentary omnipotence to be endangered by the +Executive, in other words, as often as they must trot out the +political title of their authority, they step up as Republicans, not +as Royalists--and this is done from the Orleanist Thiers, who warns +the National Assembly that the republic divides them least, down to +Legitimist Berryer, who, on December 2, 1851, the scarf of the tricolor +around him, harangues the people assembled before the Mayor's building +of the Tenth Arrondissement, as a tribune in the name of the Republic; +the echo, however, derisively answering back to him: "Henry V.! Henry +V!" [#3 The candidate of the Bourbons, or Legitimists, for the throne.] + +However, against the allied bourgeois, a coalition was made between the +small traders and the workingmen--the so-called Social Democratic party. +The small traders found themselves ill rewarded after the June days of +1848; they saw their material interests endangered, and the democratic +guarantees, that were to uphold their interests, made doubtful. +Hence, they drew closer to the workingmen. On the other hand, their +parliamentary representatives--the Mountain--, after being shoved aside +during the dictatorship of the bourgeois republicans, had, during the +last half of the term of the constitutive convention, regained their +lost popularity through the struggle with Bonaparte and the royalist +ministers. They had made an alliance with the Socialist leaders. During +February, 1849, reconciliation banquets were held. A common program +was drafted, joint election committees were empanelled, and fusion +candidates were set up. The revolutionary point was thereby broken off +from the social demands of the proletariat and a democratic turn given +to them; while, from the democratic claims of the small traders' class, +the mere political form was rubbed off and the Socialist point was +pushed forward. Thus came the Social Democracy about. The new Mountain, +the result of this combination, contained, with the exception of some +figures from the working class and some Socialist sectarians, the +identical elements of the old Mountain, only numerically stronger. In +the course of events it had, however, changed, together with the class +that it represented. The peculiar character of the Social Democracy is +summed up in this that democratic-republican institutions are +demanded as the means, not to remove the two extremes--Capital and +Wage-slavery--, but in order to weaken their antagonism and transform +them into a harmonious whole. However different the methods may be that +are proposed for the accomplishment of this object, however much the +object itself may be festooned with more or less revolutionary fancies, +the substance remains the same. This substance is the transformation +of society upon democratic lines, but a transformation within the +boundaries of the small traders' class. No one must run away with +the narrow notion that the small traders' class means on principle to +enforce a selfish class interest. It believes rather that the special +conditions for its own emancipation are the general conditions under +which alone modern society can be saved and the class struggle avoided. +Likewise must we avoid running away with the notion that the Democratic +Representatives are all "shopkeepers," or enthuse for these. They +may--by education and individual standing--be as distant from them as +heaven is from earth. That which makes them representatives of the small +traders' class is that they do not intellectually leap the bounds which +that class itself does not leap in practical life; that, consequently, +they are theoretically driven to the same problems and solutions, to +which material interests and social standing practically drive the +latter. Such, in fact, is at all times the relation of the "political" +and the "literary" representatives of a class to the class they +represent. + +After the foregoing explanations, it goes with-out saying that, while +the Mountain is constantly wrestling for the republic and the so-called +"rights of man," neither the republic nor the "rights of man" is its +real goal, as little as an army, whose weapons it is sought to deprive +it of and that defends itself, steps on the field of battle simply in +order to remain in possession of implements of warfare. + +The party of Order provoked the Mountain immediately upon the convening +of the assembly. The bourgeoisie now felt the necessity of disposing +of the democratic small traders' class, just as a year before it +had understood the necessity of putting an end to the revolutionary +proletariat. + +But the position of the foe had changed. The strength of the proletarian +party was on the streets; that of the small traders' class was in the +National Assembly itself. The point was, accordingly, to wheedle them +out of the National Assembly into the street, and to have them break +their parliamentary power themselves, before time and opportunity could +consolidate them. The Mountain jumped with loose reins into the trap. + +The bombardment of Rome by the French troops was the bait thrown at the +Mountain. It violated Article V. of the Constitution, which forbade +the French republic to use its forces against the liberties of other +nations; besides, Article IV. forbade all declaration of war by the +Executive without the consent of the National Assembly; furthermore, +the constitutive assembly had censured the Roman expedition by its +resolution of May 8. Upon these grounds, Ledru-Rollin submitted on June +11, 1849, a motion impeaching Bonaparte and his Ministers. Instigated by +the wasp-stings of Thiers, he even allowed himself to be carried away to +the point of threatening to defend the Constitution by all means, even +arms in hand. The Mountain rose as one man, and repeated the challenge. +On June 12, the National Assembly rejected the notion to impeach, and +the Mountain left the parliament. The events of June 13 are known: the +proclamation by a part of the Mountain pronouncing Napoleon and his +Ministers "outside the pale of the Constitution"; the street parades of +the democratic National Guards, who, unarmed as they were, flew apart at +contact with the troops of Changarnier; etc., etc. Part of the Mountain +fled abroad, another part was assigned to the High Court of Bourges, +and a parliamentary regulation placed the rest under the school-master +supervision of the President of the National Assembly. Paris was again +put under a state of siege; and the democratic portion of the National +Guards was disbanded. Thus the influence of the Mountain in parliament +was broken, together with the power; of the small traders' class in +Paris. + +Lyons, where the 13th of June had given the signal to a bloody labor +uprising, was, together with the five surrounding Departments, likewise +pronounced in state of siege, a condition that continues down to this +moment. [#4 January, 1852] + +The bulk of the Mountain had left its vanguard in the lurch by refusing +their signatures to the proclamation; the press had deserted: only +two papers dared to publish the pronunciamento; the small traders had +betrayed their Representatives: the National Guards stayed away, +or, where they did turn up, hindered the raising of barricades; the +Representatives had duped the small traders: nowhere were the alleged +affiliated members from the Army to be seen; finally, instead of +gathering strength from them, the democratic party had infected the +proletariat with its own weakness, and, as usual with democratic +feats, the leaders had the satisfaction of charging "their people" with +desertion, and the people had the satisfaction of charging their leaders +with fraud. + +Seldom was an act announced with greater noise than the campaign +contemplated by the Mountain; seldom was an event trumpeted ahead with +more certainty and longer beforehand than the "inevitable victory of +the democracy." This is evident: the democrats believe in the trombones +before whose blasts the walls of Jericho fall together; as often as they +stand before the walls of despotism, they seek to imitate the miracle. +If the Mountain wished to win in parliament, it should not appeal to +arms; if it called to arms in parliament, it should not conduct itself +parliamentarily on the street; if the friendly demonstration was meant +seriously, it was silly not to foresee that it would meet with a warlike +reception; if it was intended for actual war, it was rather original +to lay aside the weapons with which war had to be conducted. But the +revolutionary threats of the middle class and of their democratic +representatives are mere attempts to frighten an adversary; when they +have run themselves into a blind alley, when they have sufficiently +compromised themselves and are compelled to execute their threats, the +thing is done in a hesitating manner that avoids nothing so much as the +means to the end, and catches at pretexts to succumb. The bray of the +overture, that announces the fray, is lost in a timid growl so soon as +this is to start; the actors cease to take themselves seriously, and the +performance falls flat like an inflated balloon that is pricked with a +needle. + +No party exaggerates to itself the means at its disposal more than +the democratic, none deceives itself with greater heedlessness on the +situation. A part of the Army voted for it, thereupon the Mountain is +of the opinion that the Army would revolt in its favor. And by what +occasion? By an occasion, that, from the standpoint of the troops, meant +nothing else than that the revolutionary soldiers should take the part +of the soldiers of Rome against French soldiers. On the other hand, +the memory of June, 1848, was still too fresh not to keep alive a deep +aversion on the part of the proletariat towards the National Guard, and +a strong feeling of mistrust on the part of the leaders of the secret +societies for the democratic leaders. In order to balance these +differences, great common interests at stake were needed. The violation +of an abstract constitutional paragraph could not supply such interests. +Had not the constitution been repeatedly violated, according to the +assurances of the democrats themselves? Had not the most popular papers +branded them as a counter-revolutionary artifice? But the democrat--by +reason of his representing the middle class, that is to say, a +Transition Class, in which the interests of two other classes are +mutually dulled--, imagines himself above all class contrast. The +democrats grant that opposed to them stands a privileged class, but +they, together with the whole remaining mass of the nation, constitute +the "PEOPLE." What they represent is the "people's rights"; their +interests are the "people's interests." Hence, they do not consider +that, at an impending struggle, they need to examine the interests and +attitude of the different classes. They need not too seriously weigh +their own means. All they have to do is to give the signal in order to +have the "people" fall upon the "oppressors" with all its inexhaustible +resources. If, thereupon, in the execution, their interests turn out to +be uninteresting, and their power to be impotence, it is ascribed either +to depraved sophists, who split up the "undivisible people" into several +hostile camps; or to the army being too far brutalized and blinded to +appreciate the pure aims of the democracy as its own best; or to some +detail in the execution that wrecks the whole plan; or, finally, to an +unforeseen accident that spoiled the game this time. At all events, the +democrat comes out of the disgraceful defeat as immaculate as he went +innocently into it, and with the refreshed conviction that he must win; +not that he himself and his party must give up their old standpoint, but +that, on the contrary, conditions must come to his aid. + +For all this, one must not picture to himself the decimated, broken, +and, by the new parliamentary regulation, humbled Mountain altogether +too unhappy. If June 13 removed its leaders, it, on the other hand, made +room for new ones of inferior capacity, who are flattered by their new +position. If their impotence in parliament could no longer be doubted, +they were now justified to limit their activity to outbursts of moral +indignation. If the party of Order pretended to see in them, as the last +official representatives of the revolution, all the horrors of anarchy +incarnated, they were free to appear all the more flat and modest +in reality. Over June 13 they consoled themselves with the profound +expression: "If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . . . then +. . . then we will show who we are!" Nous verrons. [#5 We shall see.] + +As to the "Mountaineers," who had fled abroad, it suffices here to +say that Ledru-Rollin--he having accomplished the feat of hopelessly +ruining, in barely a fortnight, the powerful party at whose head he +stood--, found himself called upon to build up a French government "in +partibus;" that his figure, at a distance, removed from the field of +action, seemed to gain in size in the measure that the level of the +revolution sank and the official prominences of official France became +more and more dwarfish; that he could figure as republican Pretender +for 1852, and periodically issued to the Wallachians and other peoples +circulars in which "despot of the continent" is threatened with the +feats that he and his allies had in contemplation. Was Proudhon wholly +wrong when he cried out to these gentlemen: "Vous n'etes que des +blaqueurs"? [#6 You are nothing but fakirs.] + +The party of Order had, on June 13, not only broken up the Mountain, +it had also established the Subordination of the Constitution to +the Majority Decisions of the National Assembly. So, indeed, did the +republic understand it, to--wit, that the bourgeois ruled here in +parliamentary form, without, as in the monarchy, finding a check in +the veto of the Executive power, or the liability of parliament to +dissolution. It was a "parliamentary republic," as Thiers styled it. +But if, on June 13, the bourgeoisie secured its omnipotence within the +parliament building, did it not also strike the parliament itself, +as against the Executive and the people, with incurable weakness by +excluding its most popular part? By giving up numerous Deputies, without +further ceremony to the mercies of the public prosecutor, it abolished +its own parliamentary inviolability. The humiliating regulation, that it +subjected the Mountain to, raised the President of the republic in +the same measure that it lowered the individual Representatives of the +people. By branding an insurrection in defense of the Constitution +as anarchy, and as a deed looking to the overthrow of society, it +interdicted to itself all appeal to insurrection whenever the Executive +should violate the Constitution against it. And, indeed, the irony +of history wills it that the very General, who by order of Bonaparte +bombarded Rome, and thus gave the immediate occasion to the +constitutional riot of June 13, that Oudinot, on December 22, 1851, is +the one imploringly and vainly to be offered to the people by the party +of Order as the General of the Constitution. Another hero of June 13, +Vieyra, who earned praise from the tribune of the National Assembly +for the brutalities that he had committed in the democratic newspaper +offices at the head of a gang of National Guards in the hire of the +high finance--this identical Vieyra was initiated in the conspiracy of +Bonaparte, and contributed materially in cutting off all protection that +could come to the National Assembly, in the hour of its agony, from the +side of the National Guard. + +June 13 had still another meaning. The Mountain had wanted to place +Bonaparte under charges. Their defeat was, accordingly, a direct victory +of Bonaparte; it was his personal triumph over his democratic enemies. +The party of Order fought for the victory, Bonaparte needed only to +pocket it. He did so. On June 14, a proclamation was to be read on +the walls of Paris wherein the President, as it were, without his +connivance, against his will, driven by the mere force of circumstances, +steps forward from his cloisterly seclusion like misjudged virtue, +complains of the calumnies of his antagonists, and, while seeming to +identify his own person with the cause of order, rather identifies the +cause of order with his own person. Besides this, the National Assembly +had subsequently approved the expedition against Rome; Bonaparte, +however, had taken the initiative in the affair. After he had led the +High Priest Samuel back into the Vatican, he could hope as King David to +occupy the Tuileries. He had won the parson-interests over to himself. + +The riot of June 13 limited itself, as we have seen, to a peaceful +street procession. There were, consequently, no laurels to be won from +it. Nevertheless, in these days, poor in heroes and events, the party of +Order converted this bloodless battle into a second Austerlitz. Tribune +and press lauded the army as the power of order against the popular +multitude, and the impotence of anarchy; and Changarnier as the "bulwark +of society"--a mystification that he finally believed in himself. +Underhand, however, the corps that seemed doubtful were removed from +Paris; the regiments whose suffrage had turned out most democratic were +banished from France to Algiers the restless heads among the troops were +consigned to penal quarters; finally, the shutting out of the press +from the barracks, and of the barracks from contact with the citizens +was systematically carried out. + +We stand here at the critical turning point in the history of the French +National Guard. In 1830, it had decided the downfall of the restoration. +Under Louis Philippe, every riot failed, at which the National Guard +stood on the side of the troops. When, in the February days of 1848, +it showed itself passive against the uprising and doubtful toward Louis +Philippe himself, he gave himself up for lost. Thus the conviction cast +root that a revolution could not win without, nor the Army against +the National Guard. This was the superstitious faith of the Army in +bourgeois omnipotence. The June days of 1548, when the whole National +Guard, jointly with the regular troops, threw down the insurrection, +had confirmed the superstition. After the inauguration of Bonaparte's +administration, the position of the National Guard sank somewhat through +the unconstitutional joining of their command with the command of the +First Military Division in the person of Changarnier. + +As the command of the National Guard appeared here merely an attribute +of the military commander-in-chief, so did the Guard itself appear only +as an appendage of the regular troops. Finally, on June 13, the National +Guard was broken up, not through its partial dissolution only, that from +that date forward was periodically repeated at all points of France, +leaving only wrecks of its former self behind. The demonstration of June +13 was, above all, a demonstration of the National Guards. True, they +had not carried their arms, but they had carried their uniforms against +the Army--and the talisman lay just in these uniforms. The Army then +learned that this uniform was but a woolen rag, like any other. The +spell was broken. In the June days of 1848, bourgeoisie and small +traders were united as National Guard with the Army against the +proletariat; on June 13, 1849, the bourgeoisie had the small traders' +National Guard broken up; on December 2, 1851, the National Guard of +the bourgeoisie itself vanished, and Bonaparte attested the fact when he +subsequently signed the decree for its disbandment. Thus the bourgeoisie +had itself broken its last weapon against the army, from the moment when +the small traders' class no longer stood as a vassal behind, but as +a rebel before it; indeed, it was bound to do so, as it was bound to +destroy with its own hand all its means of defence against absolutism, +so soon as itself was absolute. + +In the meantime, the party of Order celebrated the recovery of a power +that seemed lost in 1848 only in order that, freed from its trammels in +1849, it be found again through invectives against the republic and the +Constitution; through the malediction of all future, present and past +revolutions, that one included which its own leaders had made; and, +finally, in laws by which the press was gagged, the right of association +destroyed, and the stage of siege regulated as an organic institution. +The National Assembly then adjourned from the middle of August to the +middle of October, after it had appointed a Permanent Committee for the +period of its absence. During these vacations, the Legitimists intrigued +with Ems; the Orleanists with Claremont; Bonaparte through princely +excursions; the Departmental Councilmen in conferences over the revision +of the Constitution;--occurrences, all of which recurred regularly at +the periodical vacations of the National Assembly, and upon which I +shall not enter until they have matured into events. Be it here only +observed that the National Assembly was impolitic in vanishing from +the stage for long intervals, and leaving in view, at the head of the +republic, only one, however sorry, figure--Louis Bonaparte's--, while, +to the public scandal, the party of Order broke up into its own royalist +component parts, that pursued their conflicting aspirations after the +restoration. As often as, during these vacations the confusing noise of +the parliament was hushed, and its body was dissolved in the nation, it +was unmistakably shown that only one thing was still wanting to complete +the true figure of the republic: to make the vacation of the National +Assembly permanent, and substitute its inscription--"Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity"--by the unequivocal words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery". + + + + + +IV + + +The National Assembly reconvened in the middle of October. On November +1, Bonaparte surprised it with a message, in which he announced the +dismissal of the Barrot-Falloux Ministry, and the framing of a new. +Never have lackeys been chased from service with less ceremony than +Bonaparte did his ministers. The kicks, that were eventually destined +for the National Assembly, Barrot & Company received in the meantime. + +The Barrot Ministry was, as we have seen, composed of Legitimists and +Orleanists; it was a Ministry of the party of Order. Bonaparte needed +that Ministry in order to dissolve the republican constituent assembly, +to effect the expedition against Rome, and to break up the democratic +party. He had seemingly eclipsed himself behind this Ministry, yielded +the reins to the hands of the party of Order, and assumed the modest +mask, which, under Louis Philippe, had been worn by the responsible +overseer of the newspapers--the mask of "homme de paille." [#1 Man of +straw] Now he threw off the mask, it being no longer the light curtain +behind which he could conceal, but the Iron Mask, which prevented +him from revealing his own physiognomy. He had instituted the Barrot +Ministry in order to break up the republican National Assembly in the +name of the party of Order; he now dismissed it in order to declare his +own name independent of the parliament of the party of Order. + +There was no want of plausible pretexts for this dismissal. The Barrot +Ministry had neglected even the forms of decency that would have allowed +the president of the republic to appear as a power along with the +National Assembly. For instance, during the vacation of the National +Assembly, Bonaparte published a letter to Edgar Ney, in which he seemed +to disapprove the liberal attitude of the Pope, just as, in opposition +to the constitutive assembly, he had published a letter, in which +he praised Oudinot for his attack upon the Roman republic; when the +National Assembly came to vote on the budget for the Roman expedition, +Victor Hugo, out of pretended liberalism, brought up that letter for +discussion; the party of Order drowned this notion of Bonaparte's under +exclamations of contempt and incredulity as though notions of Bonaparte +could not possibly have any political weight;--and none of the Ministers +took up the gauntlet for him. On another occasion, Barrot, with his +well-known hollow pathos, dropped, from the speakers' tribune in the +Assembly, words of indignation upon the "abominable machinations," +which, according to him, went on in the immediate vicinity of the +President. Finally, while the Ministry obtained from the National +Assembly a widow's pension for the Duchess of Orleans, it denied every +motion to raise the Presidential civil list;--and, in Bonaparte, be it +always remembered, the Imperial Pretender was so closely blended with +the impecunious adventurer, that the great idea of his being destined to +restore the Empire was ever supplemented by that other, to-wit, that the +French people was destined to pay his debts. + +The Barrot-Falloux Ministry was the first and last parliamentary +Ministry that Bonaparte called into life. Its dismissal marks, +accordingly, a decisive period. With the Ministry, the party of Order +lost, never to regain, an indispensable post to the maintenance of the +parliamentary regime,--the handle to the Executive power. It is readily +understood that, in a country like France, where the Executive +disposes over an army of more than half a million office-holders, and, +consequently, keeps permanently a large mass of interests and existences +in the completest dependence upon itself; where the Government +surrounds, controls, regulates, supervises and guards society, from its +mightiest acts of national life, down to its most insignificant motions; +from its common life, down to the private life of each individual; +where, due to such extraordinary centralization, this body of parasites +acquires a ubiquity and omniscience, a quickened capacity for motion +and rapidity that finds an analogue only in the helpless lack of +self-reliance, in the unstrung weakness of the body social itself;--that +in such a country the National Assembly lost, with the control of +the ministerial posts, all real influence; unless it simultaneously +simplified the administration; if possible, reduced the army of +office-holders; and, finally, allowed society and public opinion to +establish its own organs, independent of government censorship. But the +Material Interest of the French bourgeoisie is most intimately bound +up in maintenance of just such a large and extensively ramified +governmental machine. There the bourgeoisie provides for its own +superfluous membership; and supplies, in the shape of government +salaries, what it can not pocket in the form of profit, interest, rent +and fees. On the other hand, its Political Interests daily compel it to +increase the power of repression, i.e., the means and the personnel +of the government; it is at the same time forced to conduct an +uninterrupted warfare against public opinion, and, full of suspicion, to +hamstring and lame the independent organs of society--whenever it does +not succeed in amputating them wholly. Thus the bourgeoisie of France +was forced by its own class attitude, on the one hand, to destroy the +conditions for all parliamentary power, its own included, and, on the +other, to render irresistible the Executive power that stood hostile to +it. + +The new Ministry was called the d'Hautpoul Ministry. Not that General +d'Hautpoul had gained the rank of Ministerial President. Along with +Barrot, Bonaparte abolished this dignity, which, it must be granted, +condemned the President of the republic to the legal nothingness of a +constitutional kind, of a constitutional king at that, without throne +and crown, without sceptre and without sword, without irresponsibility, +without the imperishable possession of the highest dignity in the State, +and, what was most untoward of all--without a civil list. The d'Hautpoul +Ministry numbered only one man of parliamentary reputation, the Jew +Fould, one of the most notorious members of the high finance. To him +fell the portfolio of finance. Turn to the Paris stock quotations, and +it will be found that from November 1, 1849, French stocks fall and rise +with the falling and rising of the Bonapartist shares. While Bonaparte +had thus found his ally in the Bourse, he at the same time took +possession of the Police through the appointment of Carlier as Prefect +of Police. + +But the consequences of the change of Ministry could reveal themselves +only in the course of events. So far, Bonaparte had taken only one +step forward, to be all the more glaringly driven back. Upon his harsh +message, followed the most servile declarations of submissiveness to +the National Assembly. As often as the Ministers made timid attempts +to introduce his own personal hobbies as bills, they themselves seemed +unwilling and compelled only by their position to run the comic errands, +of whose futility they were convinced in advance. As often as Bonaparte +blabbed out his plans behind the backs of his Ministers, and sported +his "idees napoleoniennes," [#2 Napoleonic ideas.] his own Ministers +disavowed him from the speakers' tribune in the National Assembly. His +aspirations after usurpation seemed to become audible only to the end +that the ironical laughter of his adversaries should not die out. He +deported himself like an unappreciated genius, whom the world takes for +a simpleton. Never did lie enjoy in fuller measure the contempt of +all classes than at this period. Never did the bourgeoisie rule more +absolutely; never did it more boastfully display the insignia of +sovereignty. + +It is not here my purpose to write the history of its legislative +activity, which is summed up in two laws passed during this period: +the law reestablishing the duty on wine, and the laws on education, to +suppress infidelity. While the drinking of wine was made difficult +to the Frenchmen, all the more bounteously was the water of pure +life poured out to them. Although in the law on the duty on wine +the bourgeoisie declares the old hated French tariff system to be +inviolable, it sought, by means of the laws on education, to secure the +old good will of the masses that made the former bearable. One wonders +to see the Orleanists, the liberal bourgeois, these old apostles of +Voltarianism and of eclectic philosophy, entrusting the supervision +of the French intellect to their hereditary enemies, the Jesuits. But, +while Orleanists and Legitimists could part company on the question of +the Pretender to the crown, they understood full well that their joint +reign dictated the joining of the means of oppression of two distinct +epochs; that the means of subjugation of the July monarchy had to be +supplemented with and strengthened by the means of subjugation of the +restoration. + +The farmers, deceived in all their expectations, more than ever ground +down by the law scale of the price of corn, on the one hand, and, on the +other, by the growing load of taxation and mortgages, began to stir in +the Departments. They were answered by the systematic baiting of the +school masters, whom the Government subjected to the clergy; by the +systematic baiting of the Mayors, whom it subjected to the Prefects; and +by a system of espionage to which all were subjected. In Paris and the +large towns, the reaction itself carries the physiognomy of its own +epoch; it irritates more than it cows; in the country, it becomes low, +moan, petty, tiresome, vexatious,--in a word, it becomes "gensdarme." It +is easily understood how three years of the gensdarme regime, sanctified +by the regime of the clergyman, was bound to demoralize unripe masses. + +Whatever the mass of passion and declamation, that the party of Order +expended from the speakers' tribune in the National Assembly against the +minority, its speech remained monosyllabic, like that of the Christian, +whose speech was to be "Aye, aye; nay, nay." It was monosyllabic, +whether from the tribune or the press; dull as a conundrum, whose +solution is known beforehand. Whether the question was the right of +petition or the duty on wine, the liberty of the press or free trade, +clubs or municipal laws, protection of individual freedom or the +regulation of national economy, the slogan returns ever again, the +theme is monotonously the same, the verdict is ever ready and unchanged: +Socialism! Even bourgeois liberalism is pronounced socialistic; +socialistic, alike, is pronounced popular education; and, likewise, +socialistic national financial reform. It was socialistic to build a +railroad where already a canal was; and it was socialistic to defend +oneself with a stick when attacked with a sword. + +This was not a mere form of speech, a fashion, nor yet party tactics. +The bourgeoisie perceives correctly that all the weapons, which it +forged against feudalism, turn their edges against itself; that all +the means of education, which it brought forth, rebel against its own +civilization; that all the gods, which it made, have fallen away +from it. It understands that all its so-called citizens' rights and +progressive organs assail and menace its class rule, both in its social +foundation and its political superstructure--consequently, have become +"socialistic." It justly scents in this menace and assault the secret of +Socialism, whose meaning and tendency it estimates more correctly than +the spurious, so-called Socialism, is capable of estimating itself, +and which, consequently, is unable to understand how it is that the +bourgeoisie obdurately shuts up its ears to it, alike whether it +sentimentally whines about the sufferings of humanity; or announces in +Christian style the millennium and universal brotherhood; or twaddles +humanistically about the soul, culture and freedom; or doctrinally +matches out a system of harmony and wellbeing for all classes. What, +however, the bourgeoisie does not understand is the consequence that its +own parliamentary regime, its own political reign, is also of necessity +bound to fall under the general ban of "socialistic." So long as the +rule of the bourgeoisie is not fully organized, has not acquired its +purely political character, the contrast with the other classes cannot +come into view in all its sharpness; and, where it does come into view, +it cannot take that dangerous turn that converts every conflict with +the Government into a conflict with Capital. When, however, the French +bourgeoisie began to realize in every pulsation of society a menace to +"peace," how could it, at the head of society, pretend to uphold the +regime of unrest, its own regime, the parliamentary regime, which, +according to the expression of one of its own orators, lives in +struggle, and through struggle? The parliamentary regime lives on +discussion,--how can it forbid discussion? Every single interest, every +single social institution is there converted into general thoughts, is +treated as a thought,--how could any interest or institution claim to +be above thought, and impose itself as an article of faith? The orators' +conflict in the tribune calls forth the conflict of the rowdies in the +press the debating club in parliament is necessarily supplemented by +debating clubs in the salons and the barrooms; the representatives, who +are constantly appealing to popular opinion, justify popular opinion +in expressing its real opinion in petitions. The parliamentary regime +leaves everything to the decision of majorities,--how can the large +majorities beyond parliament be expected not to wish to decide? If, from +above, they hear the fiddle screeching, what else is to be expected than +that those below should dance? + +Accordingly, by now persecuting as Socialist what formerly it had +celebrated as Liberal, the bourgeoisie admits that its own interest +orders it to raise itself above the danger of self government; that, +in order to restore rest to the land, its own bourgeois parliament must, +before all, be brought to rest; that, in order to preserve its social +power unhurt, its political power must be broken; that the private +bourgeois can continue to exploit the other classes and rejoice in +"property," "family," "religion" and "order" only under the condition +that his own class be condemned to the same political nullity of the +other classes, that, in order to save their purse, the crown must be +knocked off their heads, and the sword that was to shield them, must at +the same time be hung over their heads as a sword of Damocles. + +In the domain of general bourgeois interests, the National Assembly +proved itself so barren, that, for instance, the discussion over the +Paris-Avignon railroad, opened in the winter of 1850, was not yet ripe +for a vote on December 2, 1851. Wherever it did not oppress or was +reactionary, the bourgeoisie was smitten with incurable barrenness. + +While Bonaparte's Ministry either sought to take the initiative of laws +in the spirit of the party of Order, or even exaggerated their severity +in their enforcement and administration, he, on his part, sought to win +popularity by means of childishly silly propositions, to exhibit the +contrast between himself and the National Assembly, and to hint at a +secret plan, held in reserve and only through circumstances temporarily +prevented from disclosing its hidden treasures to the French people. Of +this nature was the proposition to decree a daily extra pay of four +sous to the under-officers; so, likewise, the proposition for a "word +of honor" loan bank for working-men. To have money given and money +borrowed--that was the perspective that he hoped to cajole the masses +with. Presents and loans--to that was limited the financial wisdom of +the slums, the high as well as the low; to that were limited the springs +which Bonaparte knew how to set in motion. Never did Pretender speculate +more dully upon the dullness of the masses. + +Again and again did the National Assembly fly into a passion at these +unmistakable attempts to win popularity at its expense, and at the +growing danger that this adventurer, lashed on by debts and unrestrained +by reputation, might venture upon some desperate act. The strained +relations between the party of Order and the President had taken on a +threatening aspect, when an unforeseen event threw him back, rueful +into its arms. We mean the supplementary elections of March, 1850. +These elections took place to fill the vacancies created in the National +Assembly, after June 13, by imprisonment and exile. Paris elected only +Social-Democratic candidates; it even united the largest vote upon +one of the insurgents of June, 1848,--Deflotte. In this way the small +traders' world of Paris, now allied with the proletariat, revenged +itself for the defeat of June 13, 1849. It seemed to have disappeared +from the field of battle at the hour of danger only to step on it again +at a more favorable opportunity, with increased forces for the fray, and +with a bolder war cry. A circumstance seemed to heighten the danger of +this electoral victory. The Army voted in Paris for a June insurgent +against Lahitte, a Minister of Bonaparte's, and, in the Departments, +mostly for the candidates of the Mountain, who, there also, although +not as decisively as in Paris, maintained the upper hand over their +adversaries. + +Bonaparte suddenly saw himself again face to face with the revolution. +As on January 29, 1849, as on June 13, 1849, on May 10, 1850, he +vanished again behind the party of Order. He bent low; he timidly +apologized; he offered to appoint any Ministry whatever at the behest +of the parliamentary majority; he even implored the Orleanist and +Legitimist party leaders--the Thiers, Berryers, Broglies, Moles, in +short, the so-called burgraves--to take hold of the helm of State in +person. The party of Order did not know how to utilize this opportunity, +that was never to return. Instead of boldly taking possession of the +proffered power, it did not even force Bonaparte to restore the Ministry +dismissed on November 1; it contented itself with humiliating him with +its pardon, and with affiliating Mr. Baroche to the d'Hautpoul Ministry. +This Baroche had, as Public Prosecutor, stormed before the High Court at +Bourges, once against the revolutionists of May 15, another time against +the Democrats of June 13, both times on the charge of "attentats" +against the National Assembly. None of Bonaparte's Ministers contributed +later more towards the degradation of the National Assembly; and, after +December 2, 1851, we meet him again as the comfortably stalled and +dearly paid Vice-President of the Senate. He had spat into the soup of +the revolutionists for Bonaparte to eat it. + +On its part, the Social Democratic party seemed only to look for +pretexts in order to make its own victory doubtful, and to dull its +edge. Vidal, one of the newly elected Paris representatives, was +returned for Strassburg also. He was induced to decline the seat for +Paris and accept the one for Strassburg. Thus, instead of giving +a definite character to their victory at the hustings, and thereby +compelling the party of Order forthwith to contest it in parliament; +instead of thus driving the foe to battle at the season of popular +enthusiasm and of a favorable temper in the Army, the democratic party +tired out Paris with a new campaign during the months of March and +April; it allowed the excited popular passions to wear themselves out +in this second provisional electoral play it allowed the revolutionary +vigor to satiate itself with constitutional successes, and lose its +breath in petty intrigues, hollow declamation and sham moves; it +gave the bourgeoisie time to collect itself and make its preparations +finally, it allowed the significance of the March elections to find a +sentimentally weakening commentary at the subsequent April election in +the victory of Eugene Sue. In one word, it turned the 10th of March into +an April Fool. + +The parliamentary majority perceived the weakness of its adversary. +Its seventeen burgraves--Bonaparte had left to it the direction of and +responsibility for the attack--, framed a new election law, the moving +of which was entrusted to Mr. Faucher, who had applied for the honor. +On May 8, he introduced the new law whereby universal suffrage was +abolished; a three years residence in the election district imposed as +a condition for voting; and, finally, the proof of this residence made +dependent, for the working-man, upon the testimony of his employer. + +As revolutionarily as the democrats had agitated and stormed during the +constitutional struggles, so constitutionally did they, now, when it +was imperative to attest, arms in hand, the earnestness of their late +electoral victories, preach order, "majestic calmness," lawful conduct, +i. e., blind submission to the will of the counter-revolution, which +revealed itself as law. During the debate, the Mountain put the party +of Order to shame by maintaining the passionless attitude of +the law-abiding burger, who upholds the principle of law against +revolutionary passions; and by twitting the party of Order with the +fearful reproach of proceeding in a revolutionary manner. Even the newly +elected deputies took pains to prove by their decent and thoughtful +deportment what an act of misjudgment it was to decry them as +anarchists, or explain their election as a victory of the revolution. +The new election law was passed on May 31. The Mountain contented +itself with smuggling a protest into the pockets of the President of +the Assembly. To the election law followed a new press law, whereby the +revolutionary press was completely done away with. It had deserved its +fate. The "National" and the "Presse," two bourgeois organs, remained +after this deluge the extreme outposts of the revolution. + +We have seen how, during March and April, the democratic leaders did +everything to involve the people of Paris in a sham battle, and how, +after May 8, they did everything to keep it away from a real battle. +We may not here forget that the year 1850 was one of the most brilliant +years of industrial and commercial prosperity; consequently, that the +Parisian proletariat was completely employed. But the election law of +May 31, 1850 excluded them from all participation in political power; it +cut the field of battle itself from under them; it threw the workingmen +back into the state of pariahs, which they had occupied before the +February revolution. In allowing themselves, in sight of such +an occurrence, to be led by the democrats, and in forgetting the +revolutionary interests of their class through temporary comfort, +the workingmen abdicated the honor of being a conquering power; they +submitted to their fate; they proved that the defeat of June, 1848, had +incapacitated them from resistance for many a year to come finally, that +the historic process must again, for the time being, proceed over their +heads. As to the small traders' democracy, which, on June 13, had cried +out: "If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . . . then . . . +then we will show who we are!"--they now consoled themselves with the +thought that the counter-revolutionary blow, which had struck them, was +no blow at all, and that the law of May 31 was no law. On May 2, 1852, +according to them, every Frenchman would appear at the hustings, in one +hand the ballot, in the other the sword. With this prophecy they set +their hearts at ease. Finally, the Army was punished by its superiors +for the elections of May and April, 1850, as it was punished for +the election of May 29, 1849. This time, however, it said to itself +determinately: "The revolution shall not cheat us a third time." + +The law of May 31, 1850, was the "coup d'etat" of the bourgeoisie. +All its previous conquests over the revolution had only a temporary +character: they became uncertain the moment the National Assembly +stepped off the stage; they depended upon the accident of general +elections, and the history of the elections since 1848 proved +irrefutably that, in the same measure as the actual reign of the +bourgeoisie gathered strength, its moral reign over the masses wore off. +Universal suffrage pronounced itself on May 10 pointedly against the +reign of the bourgeoisie; the bourgeoisie answered with the banishment +of universal suffrage. The law of May 31 was, accordingly, one of the +necessities of the class struggle. On the other hand, the constitution +required a minimum of two million votes for the valid ejection of the +President of the republic. If none of the Presidential candidates polled +this minimum, then the National Assembly was to elect the President out +of the three candidates polling the highest votes. At the time that the +constitutive body made this law, ten million voters were registered +on the election rolls. In its opinion, accordingly, one-fifth of the +qualified voters sufficed to make a choice for President valid. The law +of May 31 struck at least three million voters off the rolls, reduced +the number of qualified voters to seven millions, and yet, not +withstanding, it kept the lawful minimum at two millions for the +election of a President. Accordingly, it raised the lawful minimum from +a fifth to almost a third of the qualified voters, i.e., it did all +it could to smuggle the Presidential election out of the hands of the +people into those of the National Assembly. Thus, by the election law of +May 31, the party of Order seemed to have doubly secured its empire, +in that it placed the election of both the National Assembly and the +President of the republic in the keeping of the stable portion of +society. + + + + +V + + +The strife immediately broke out again between the National Assembly +and Bonaparte, so soon as the revolutionary crisis was weathered, and +universal suffrage was abolished. + +The Constitution had fixed the salary of Bonaparte at 600,000 francs. +Barely half a year after his installation, he succeeded in raising +this sum to its double: Odillon Barrot had wrung from the constitutive +assembly a yearly allowance of 600,000 francs for so-called +representation expenses. After June 13, Bonaparte hinted at similar +solicitations, to which, however, Barrot then turned a deaf ear. Now, +after May 31, he forthwith utilized the favorable moment, and caused +his ministers to move a civil list of three millions in the National +Assembly. A long adventurous, vagabond career had gifted him with the +best developed antennae for feeling out the weak moments when he could +venture upon squeezing money from his bourgeois. He carried on regular +blackmail. The National Assembly had maimed the sovereignty of the +people with his aid and his knowledge: he now threatened to denounce its +crime to the tribunal of the people, if it did not pull out its purse +and buy his silence with three millions annually. It had robbed three +million Frenchmen of the suffrage: for every Frenchman thrown "out of +circulation," he demanded a franc "in circulation." He, the elect of +six million, demanded indemnity for the votes he had been subsequently +cheated of. The Committee of the National Assembly turned the +importunate fellow away. The Bonapartist press threatened: Could the +National Assembly break with the President of the republic at a time +when it had broken definitely and on principle with the mass of the +nation? It rejected the annual civil list, but granted, for this once, +an allowance of 2,160,000 francs. Thus it made itself guilty of the +double weakness of granting the money, and, at the same time, showing +by its anger that it did so only unwillingly. We shall presently see +to what use Bonaparte put the money. After this aggravating after-play, +that followed upon the heels of the abolition of universal suffrage, +and in which Bonaparte exchanged his humble attitude of the days of +the crisis of March and April for one of defiant impudence towards the +usurping parliament, the National Assembly adjourned for three months, +from August 11, to November 11. It left behind in its place a Permanent +Committee of 18 members that contained no Bonapartist, but did contain +a few moderate republicans. The Permanent Committee of the year 1849 had +numbered only men of order and Bonapartists. At that time, however, the +party of Order declared itself in permanence against the revolution; +now the parliamentary republic declared itself in permanence against the +President. After the law of May 31, only this rival still confronted the +party of Order. + +When the National Assembly reconvened in November, 1850, instead of its +former petty skirmishes with the President, a great headlong struggle, +a struggle for life between the two powers, seemed to have become +inevitable. + +As in the year 1849, the party of Order had during this year's vacation, +dissolved into its two separate factions, each occupied with its own +restoration intrigues, which had received new impetus from the death +of Louis Philippe. The Legitimist King, Henry V, had even appointed a +regular Ministry, that resided in Paris, and in which sat members of +the Permanent Committee. Hence, Bonaparte was, on his part, justified +in making tours through the French Departments, and--according to the +disposition of the towns that he happened to be gladdening with his +presence--some times covertly, other times more openly blabbing out +his own restoration plans, and gaining votes for himself On these +excursions, which the large official "Moniteur" and the small private +"Moniteurs" of Bonaparte were, of course, bound to celebrate as +triumphal marches, he was constantly accompanied by affiliated members +of the "Society of December 10" This society dated from the year +1849. Under the pretext of founding a benevolent association, the +slum-proletariat of Paris was organized into secret sections, each +section led by Bonapartist agents, with a Bonapartist General at the +head of all. Along with ruined roues of questionable means of support +and questionable antecedents, along with the foul and adventures-seeking +dregs of the bourgeoisie, there were vagabonds, dismissed soldiers, +discharged convicts, runaway galley slaves, sharpers, jugglers, +lazzaroni, pickpockets, sleight-of-hand performers, gamblers, procurers, +keepers of disorderly houses, porters, literati, organ grinders, rag +pickers, scissors grinders, tinkers, beggars--in short, that whole +undefined, dissolute, kicked-about mass that the Frenchmen style "la +Boheme" With this kindred element, Bonaparte formed the stock of the +"Society of December 10," a "benevolent association" in so far as, like +Bonaparte himself, all its members felt the need of being benevolent to +themselves at the expense of the toiling nation. The Bonaparte, who here +constitutes himself Chief of the Slum-Proletariat; who only here finds +again in plenteous form the interests which he personally pursues; who, +in this refuse, offal and wreck of all classes, recognizes the only +class upon which he can depend unconditionally;--this is the real +Bonaparte, the Bonaparte without qualification. An old and crafty roue, +he looks upon the historic life of nations, upon their great and public +acts, as comedies in the ordinary sense, as a carnival, where the +great costumes, words and postures serve only as masks for the pettiest +chicaneries. So, on the occasion of his expedition against Strassburg +when a trained Swiss vulture impersonated the Napoleonic eagle; so, +again, on the occasion of his raid upon Boulogne, when he struck a few +London lackeys into French uniform: they impersonated the army; [#1 +Under the reign of Louis Philippe, Bonaparte made two attempts to +restore the throne of Napoleon: one in October, 1836, in an expedition +from Switzerland upon Strassburg and one in August, 1840, in an +expedition from England upon Boulogne.] and so now, in his "Society +of December 10," he collects 10,000 loafers who are to impersonate +the people as Snug the Joiner does the lion. At a period when the +bourgeoisie itself is playing the sheerest comedy, but in the most +solemn manner in the world, without doing violence to any of the +pedantic requirements of French dramatic etiquette, and is itself partly +deceived by, partly convinced of, the solemnity of its own public acts, +the adventurer, who took the comedy for simple comedy, was bound to win. +Only after he has removed his solemn opponent, when he himself takes +seriously his own role of emperor, and, with the Napoleonic mask on, +imagines he impersonates the real Napoleon, only then does he become the +victim of his own peculiar conception of history--the serious clown, who +no longer takes history for a comedy, but a comedy for history. What the +national work-shops were to the socialist workingmen, what the "Gardes +mobiles" were to the bourgeois republicans, that was to Bonaparte the +"Society of December 10,"--a force for partisan warfare peculiar to +himself. On his journeys, the divisions of the Society, packed away +on the railroads, improvised an audience for him, performed public +enthusiasm, shouted "vive l'Empereur," insulted and clubbed the +republicans,--all, of course, under the protection of the police. On +his return stages to Paris, this rabble constituted his vanguard, +it forestalled or dispersed counter-demonstrations. The "Society of +December 10" belonged to him, it was his own handiwork, his own thought. +Whatever else he appropriates, the power of circumstances places in his +hands; whatever else he does, either circumstances do for him, or he +is content to copy from the deeds of others, but he posing before the +citizens with the official phrases about "Order," "Religion," "Family," +"Property," and, behind him, the secret society of skipjacks and +picaroons, the society of disorder, of prostitution, and of theft,--that +is Bonaparte himself as the original author; and the history of the +"Society of December 10" is his own history. Now, then, it happened that +Representatives belonging to the party of order occasionally got under +the clubs of the Decembrists. Nay, more. Police Commissioner Yon, who +had been assigned to the National Assembly, and was charged with the +guardianship of its safety, reported to the Permanent Committee upon the +testimony of one Alais, that a Section of the Decembrists had decided +on the murder of General Changarnier and of Dupin, the President of the +National Assembly, and had already settled upon the men to execute the +decree. One can imagine the fright of Mr. Dupin. A parliamentary +inquest over the "Society of December 10," i. e., the profanation of +the Bonapartist secret world now seemed inevitable. Just before the +reconvening of the National Assembly, Bonaparte circumspectly dissolved +his Society, of course, on paper only. As late as the end of 1851, +Police Prefect Carlier vainly sought, in an exhaustive memorial, to move +him to the real dissolution of the Decembrists. + +The "Society of December 10" was to remain the private army of Bonaparte +until he should have succeeded in converting the public Army into a +"Society of December 10." Bonaparte made the first attempt in this +direction shortly after the adjournment of the National Assembly, and he +did so with the money which he had just wrung from it. As a fatalist, +he lives devoted to the conviction that there are certain Higher Powers, +whom man, particularly the soldier, cannot resist. First among these +Powers he numbers cigars and champagne, cold poultry and garlic-sausage. +Accordingly, in the apartments of the Elysee, he treated first the +officers and under-officers to cigars and champagne, to cold poultry and +garlic-sausage. On October 3, he repeats this manoeuvre with the rank +and file of the troops by the review of St. Maur; and, on October 10, +the same manoeuvre again, upon a larger scale, at the army parade of +Satory. The Uncle bore in remembrance the campaigns of Alexander in +Asia: the Nephew bore in remembrance the triumphal marches of Bacchus +in the same country. Alexander was, indeed, a demigod; but Bacchus was +a full-fledged god, and the patron deity, at that, of the "Society of +December 10." + +After the review of October 3, the Permanent Committee summoned the +Minister of War, d'Hautpoul, before it. He promised that such breaches +of discipline should not recur. We have seen how, on October 10th, +Bonaparte kept d'Hautpoul's word. At both reviews Changarnier had +commanded as Commander-in-chief of the Army of Paris. He, at once member +of the Permanent Committee, Chief of the National Guard, the "Savior" +of January 29, and June 13, the "Bulwark of Society," candidate of the +Party of Order for the office of President, the suspected Monk of two +monarchies,--he had never acknowledged his subordination to the Minister +of War, had ever openly scoffed at the republican Constitution, and had +pursued Bonaparte with a protection that was ambiguously distinguished. +Now he became zealous for the discipline in opposition to Bonaparte. +While, on October 10, a part of the cavalry cried: "Vive Napoleon! +Vivent les saucissons;" [#2 Long live Napoleon! Long live the sausages!] +Changarnier saw to it that at least the infantry, which filed by under +the command of his friend Neumeyer, should observe an icy silence. +In punishment, the Minister of War, at the instigation of Bonaparte, +deposed General Neumeyer from his post in Paris, under the pretext of +providing for him as Commander-in-chief of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth +Military Divisions. Neumeyer declined the exchange, and had, in +consequence, to give his resignation. On his part, Changarnier published +on November 2, an order, wherein he forbade the troops to indulge, while +under arms, in any sort of political cries or demonstrations. The papers +devoted to the Elysee interests attacked Changarnier; the papers of the +party of Order attacked Bonaparte; the Permanent Committee held frequent +secret sessions, at which it was repeatedly proposed to declare the +fatherland in danger; the Army seemed divided into two hostile camps, +with two hostile staffs; one at the Elysee, where Bonaparte, the other +at the Tuileries, where Changarnier resided. All that seemed wanting +for the signal of battle to sound was the convening of the National +Assembly. The French public looked upon the friction between +Bonaparte and Changarnier in the light of the English journalist, who +characterized it in these words: "The political servant girls of France +are mopping away the glowing lava of the revolution with old mops, and +they scold each other while doing their work." + +Meanwhile, Bonaparte hastened to depose the Minister of War, d'Hautpoul; +to expedite him heels over head to Algiers; and to appoint in his place +General Schramm as Minister of War. On November 12, he sent to the +National Assembly a message of American excursiveness, overloaded with +details, redolent of order, athirst for conciliation, resignful to the +Constitution, dealing with all and everything, only not with the burning +questions of the moment. As if in passing he dropped the words that +according to the express provisions of the Constitution, the President +alone disposes over the Army. The message closed with the following +high-sounding protestations: + +"France demands, above all things, peace . . . Alone bound by an oath, I +shall keep myself within the narrow bounds marked out by it to me . . . +As to me, elected by the people, and owing my power to it alone, I shall +always submit to its lawfully expressed will. Should you at this +session decide upon the revision of the Constitution, a Constitutional +Convention will regulate the position of the Executive power. If you +do not, then, the people will, in 1852, solemnly announce its decision. +But, whatever the solution may be that the future has in store, let us +arrive at an understanding to the end that never may passion, surprise +or violence decide over the fate of a great nation. . . . That which, +above all, bespeaks my attention is, not who will, in 1852, rule over +France, but to so devote the time at my disposal that the interval may +pass by with-out agitation and disturbance. I have straightforwardly +opened my heart to you, you will answer my frankness with your +confidence, my good efforts with your co-operation. God will do the +rest." + +The honnete, hypocritically temperate, commonplace-virtuous language +of the bourgeoisie reveals its deep meaning in the mouth of the +self-appointed ruler of the "Society of December 10," and of the +picnic-hero of St. Maur and Satory. + +The burgraves of the party of Order did not for a moment deceive +themselves on the confidence that this unbosoming deserved. They +were long blase on oaths; they numbered among themselves veterans and +virtuosi of perjury. The passage about the army did not, however, escape +them. They observed with annoyance that the message, despite its prolix +enumeration of the lately enacted laws, passed, with affected silence, +over the most important of all, the election law, and, moreover, in +case no revision of the Constitution was held, left the choice of +the President, in 1852, with the people. The election law was the +ball-and-chain to the feet of the party of Order, that hindered them +from walking, and now assuredly from storming. Furthermore, by the +official disbandment of the "Society of December 10," and the dismissal +of the Minister of War, d'Hautpoul, Bonaparte had, with his own hands, +sacrificed the scapegoats on the altar of the fatherland. He had turned +off the expected collision. Finally, the party of Order itself anxiously +sought to avoid every decisive conflict with the Executive, to weaken +and to blur it over. Fearing to lose its conquests over the revolution, +it let its rival gather the fruits thereof. "France demands, above +all things, peace," with this language had the party of Order been +apostrophizing the revolution, since February; with this language +did Bonaparte's message now apostrophize the party of Order: "France +demands, above all things, peace." Bonaparte committed acts that aimed +at usurpation, but the party of Order committed a "disturbance of +the peace," if it raised the hue and cry, and explained them +hypochrondriacally. The sausages of Satory were mouse-still when +nobody talked about them;--France demands, above all things, "peace." +Accordingly, Bonaparte demanded that he be let alone; and the +parliamentary party was lamed with a double fear: the fear of +re-conjuring up the revolutionary disturbance of the peace, and the fear +of itself appearing as the disturber of the peace in the eyes of its own +class, of the bourgeosie. Seeing that, above all things, France demanded +peace, the party of Order did not dare, after Bonaparte had said "peace" +in his message, to answer "war." The public, who had promised to itself +the pleasure of seeing great scenes of scandal at the opening of the +National Assembly, was cheated out of its expectations. The opposition +deputies, who demanded the submission of the minutes of the Permanent +Committee over the October occurrences, were outvoted. All debate that +might excite was fled from on principle. The labors of the National +Assembly during November and December, 1850, were without interest. + +Finally, toward the end of December, began a guerilla warfare about +certain prerogatives of the parliament. The movement sank into the mire +of petty chicaneries on the prerogative of the two powers, since, with +the abolition of universal suffrage, the bourgeoisie had done away with +the class struggle. + +A judgment for debt had been secured against Mauguin, one of the +Representatives. Upon inquiry by the President of the Court, the +Minister of Justice, Rouher, declared that an order of arrest should be +made out without delay. Manguin was, accordingly, cast into the +debtors' prison. The National Assembly bristled up when it heard of +the "attentat." It not only ordered his immediate release, but had him +forcibly taken out of Clichy the same evening by its own greffier. In +order, nevertheless, to shield its belief in the "sacredness of private +property," and also with the ulterior thought of opening, in case +of need, an asylum for troublesome Mountainers, it declared the +imprisonment of a Representative for debt to be permissible upon its +previous consent. It forgot to decree that the President also could +be locked up for debt. By its act, it wiped out the last semblance of +inviolability that surrounded the members of its own body. + +It will be remembered that, upon the testimony of one Allais, Police +Commissioner Yon had charged a Section of Decembrists with a plan +to murder Dupin and Changarnier. With an eye upon that, the questors +proposed at the very first session, that the parliament organize a +police force of its own, paid for out of the private budget of the +National Assembly itself, and wholly independent of the Police Prefects. +The Minister of the Interior, Baroche, protested against this trespass +on his preserves. A miserable compromise followed, according to which +the Police Commissioner of the Assembly was to be paid out of its own +private budget and was to be subject to the appointment and dismissal of +its own questors, but only upon previous agreement with the Minister +of the Interior. In the meantime Allais had been prosecuted by the +Government. It was an easy thing in Court, to present his testimony +in the light of a mystification, and, through the mouth of the Public +Prosecutor, to throw Dupin, Changarnier, Yon, together with the whole +National Assembly, into a ridiculous light. Thereupon, on December +29, Minister Baroche writes a letter to Dupin, in which he demands the +dismissal of Yon. The Committee of the National Assembly decides to keep +Yon in office; nevertheless, the National Assembly, frightened by its +own violence in the affair of Mauguin, and accustomed, every time it has +shied a blow at the Executive, to receive back from it two in exchange, +does not sanction this decision. It dismisses Yon in reward for his zeal +in office, and robs itself of a parliamentary prerogative, indispensable +against a person who does not decide by night to execute by day, but +decides by day and executes by night. + +We have seen how, during the months of November and December, under +great and severe provocations, the National Assembly evaded and refused +the combat with the Executive power. Now we see it compelled to accept +it on the smallest occasions. In the affair of Mauguin, it confirms in +principle the liability of a Representative to imprisonment for debt, +but to itself reserves the power of allowing the principle to be applied +only to the Representatives whom it dislikes,-and for this infamous +privilege we see it wrangling with the Minister of Justice. Instead of +utilizing the alleged murder plan to the end of fastening an inquest +upon the "Society of December 10," and of exposing Bonaparte beyond +redemption before France and his true figure, as the head of the +slum-proletariat of Paris, it allows the collision to sink to a point +where the only issue between itself and the Minister of the Interior +is. Who has jurisdiction over the appointment and dismissal of a Police +Commissioner? Thus we see the party of Order, during this whole period, +compelled by its ambiguous position to wear out and fritter away its +conflict with the Executive power in small quarrels about jurisdiction, +in chicaneries, in pettifogging, in boundary disputes, and to turn the +stalest questions of form into the very substance of its activity. +It dares not accept the collision at the moment when it involves a +principle, when the Executive power has really given itself a blank, +and when the cause of the National Assembly would be the cause of the +nation. It would thereby have issued to the nation an order of march; +and it feared nothing so much as that the nation should move. Hence, on +these occasions, it rejects the motions of the Mountain, and proceeds +to the order of the day. After the issue has in this way lost all +magnitude, the Executive power quietly awaits the moment when it can +take it up again upon small and insignificant occasions; when, so to +say, the issue offers only a parliamentary local interest. Then does the +repressed valor of the party of Order break forth, then it tears away +the curtain from the scene, then it denounces the President, then it +declares the republic to be in danger,--but then all its pathos appears +stale, and the occasion for the quarrel a hypocritical pretext, or not +at all worth the effort. The parliamentary tempest becomes a tempest in +a tea-pot, the struggle an intrigue, the collision a scandal. While the +revolutionary classes gloat with sardonic laughter over the humiliation +of the National Assembly--they, of course, being as enthusiastic for the +prerogatives of the parliament as that body is for public freedom--the +bourgeoisie, outside of the parliament, does not understand how the +bourgeoisie, inside of the parliament, can squander its time with such +petty bickerings, and can endanger peace by such wretched rivalries with +the President. It is puzzled at a strategy that makes peace the very +moment when everybody expects battles, and that attacks the very moment +everybody believes peace has been concluded. + +On December 20, Pascal Duprat interpellated the Minister of the Interior +on the "Goldbar Lottery." This lottery was a "Daughter from Elysium"; +Bonaparte, together with his faithful, had given her birth; and Police +Prefect Carlier had placed her under his official protection, although +the French law forbade all lotteries, with the exception of games for +benevolent purposes. Seven million tickets, a franc a piece, and the +profit ostensibly destined to the shipping of Parisian vagabonds to +California. Golden dreams were to displace the Socialist dreams of the +Parisian proletariat; the tempting prospect of a prize was to displace +the doctrinal right to labor. Of course, the workingmen of Paris did +not recognize in the lustre of the California gold bars the lack-lustre +francs that had been wheedled out of their pockets. In the main, +however, the scheme was an unmitigated swindle. The vagabonds, who meant +to open California gold mines without taking the pains to leave Paris, +were Bonaparte himself and his Round Table of desperate insolvents. The +three millions granted by the National Assembly were rioted away; the +Treasury had to be refilled somehow or another. In vain did Bonaparte +open a national subscription, at the head of which he himself figured +with a large sum, for the establishment of so-called "cites ouvrieres." +[#3 Work cities.] The hard-hearted bourgeois waited, distrustful, for +the payment of his own shares; and, as this, of course, never took +place, the speculation in Socialist castles in the air fell flat. The +gold bars drew better. Bonaparte and his associates did not content +themselves with putting into their own pockets part of the surplus of +the seven millions over and above the bars that were to be drawn; they +manufactured false tickets; they sold, of Number 10 alone, fifteen to +twenty lots--a financial operation fully in the spirit of the "Society +of December 10"! The National Assembly did not here have before it the +fictitious President of the Republic, but Bonaparte himself in flesh +and blood. Here it could catch him in the act, not in conflict with +the Constitution, but with the penal code. When, upon Duprat's +interpellation, the National Assembly went over to the order of the day, +this did not happen simply because Girardin's motion to declare +itself "satisfied" reminded the party of Order of its own systematic +corruption: the bourgeois, above all the bourgeois who has been inflated +into a statesman, supplements his practical meanness with theoretical +pompousness. As statesman, he becomes, like the Government facing him, a +superior being, who can be fought only in a higher, more exalted manner. + +Bonaparte-who, for the very reason of his being a "bohemian," a princely +slum-proletarian, had over the scampish bourgeois the advantage that he +could carry on the fight after the Assembly itself had carried him with +its own hands over the slippery ground of the military banquets, of the +reviews, of the "Society of December 10," and, finally, of the penal +code-now saw that the moment had arrived when he could move from the +seemingly defensive to the offensive. He was but little troubled by the +intermediate and trifling defeats of the Minister of Justice, of +the Minister of War, of the Minister of the Navy, of the Minister +of Finance, whereby the National Assembly indicated its growling +displeasure. Not only did he prevent the Ministers from resigning, +and thus recognizing the subordination of the executive power to the +Parliament; he could now accomplish what during the vacation of the +National Assembly he had commenced, the separation of the military power +from the Assembly--the deposition of Changarnier. + +An Elysee paper published an order, issued during the month of May, +ostensibly to the First Military Division, and, hence, proceeding +from Changarnier, wherein the officers were recommended, in case of +an uprising, to give no quarter to the traitors in their own ranks, +to shoot them down on the spot, and to refuse troops to the National +Assembly, should it make a requisition for such. On January 3, 1851, +the Cabinet was interpellated on this order. The Cabinet demands for the +examination of the affair at first three months, then one week, +finally only twenty-four hours' time. The Assembly orders an immediate +explanation Changarnier rises and declares that this order never +existed; he adds that he would ever hasten to respond to the calls of +the National Assembly, and that, in case of a collision, they could +count upon him. The Assembly receives his utterances with inexpressible +applause, and decrees a vote of confidence to him. It thereby resign its +own powers; it decrees its own impotence and the omnipotence of the Army +by committing itself to the private protection of a general. But the +general, in turn, deceives himself when he places at the Assembly's +disposal and against Bonaparte a power that he holds only as a fief from +that same Bonaparte, and when, on his part, he expects protection from +this Parliament, from his protege', itself needful of protection. But +Changarnier has faith in the mysterious power with which since January, +1849, he had been clad by the bourgeoisie. He takes himself for the +Third Power, standing beside the other Powers of Government. He shares +the faith of all the other heroes, or rather saints, of this epoch, +whose greatness consists but in the interested good opinion that their +own party holds of them, and who shrink into every-day figures so soon +as circumstances invite them to perform miracles. Infidelity is, indeed, +the deadly enemy of these supposed heroes and real saints. Hence their +virtuously proud indignation at the unenthusiastic wits and scoffers. + +That same evening the Ministers were summoned to the Elysee; Bonaparte +presses the removal of Changarnier; five Ministers refuse to sign the +order; the "Moniteur" announces a Ministerial crisis; and the party of +Order threatens the formation of a Parliamentary army under the command +of Changarnier. The party of Order had the constitutional power hereto. +It needed only to elect Changarnier President of the National Assembly +in order to make a requisition for whatever military forces it needed +for its own safety. It could do this all the more safely, seeing that +Changarnier still stood at the head of the Army and of the Parisian +National Guard, and only lay in wait to be summoned, together with the +Army. The Bonapartist press did not even dare to question the right of +the National Assembly to issue a direct requisition for troops;--a legal +scruple, that, under the given circumstances, did not promise success. +That the Army would have obeyed the orders of the National Assembly is +probable, when it is considered that Bonaparte had to look eight days +all over Paris to find two generals--Baraguay d'Hilliers and St. +Jean d'Angley--who declared themselves ready to countersign the order +cashiering Changamier. That, however, the party of Order would have +found in its own ranks and in the parliament the requisite vote for such +a decision is more than doubtful, when it is considered that, eight days +later, 286 votes pulled away from it, and that, as late as December, +1851, at the last decisive hour, the Mountain rejected a similar +proposition. Nevertheless, the burgraves might still have succeeded +in driving the mass of their party to an act of heroism, consisting in +feeling safe behind a forest of bayonets, and in accepting the services +of the Army, which found itself deserted in its camp. Instead of this, +the Messieurs Burgraves betook themselves to the Elysee on the evening +of January 6, with the view of inducing Bonaparte, by means of politic +words and considerations, to drop the removal of Changarnier. Him whom +we must convince we recognize as the master of the situation. Bonaparte, +made to feel secure by this step, appoints on January 12 a new Ministry, +in which the leaders of the old, Fould and Baroche, are retained. St +Jean d'Angley becomes Minister of War; the "Moniteur" announces the +decree cashiering Changarnier; his command is divided up between +Baraguay d'Hilliers, who receives the First Division, and Perrot, who is +placed over the National Guard. The "Bulwark of Society" is turned down; +and, although no dog barks over the event, in the Bourses the stock +quotations rise. + +By repelling the Army, that, in Changarnier's person, put itself at its +disposal, and thus irrevocably stood up against the President, the party +of Order declares that the bourgeoisie has lost its vocation to reign. +Already there was no parliamentary Ministry. By losing, furthermore, the +handle to the Army and to the National Guard, what instrument of force +was there left to the National Assembly in order to maintain both the +usurped power of the parliament over the people, and its constitutional +power over the President? None. All that was left to it was the appeal +to peaceful principles, that itself had always explained as "general +rules" merely, to be prescribed to third parties, and only in order +to enable itself to move all the more freely. With the removal of +Changarnier, with the transfer of the military power to Bonaparte, +closes the first part of the period that we are considering, the period +of the struggle between the party of Order and the Executive power. +The war between the two powers is now openly declared; it is conducted +openly; but only after the party of Order has lost both arms and +soldier. With-out a Ministry, without any army, without a people, +without the support of public opinion; since its election law of May +31, no longer the representative of the sovereign nation sans eyes, sans +ears, sans teeth, sans everything, the National Assembly had gradually +converted itself into a French Parliament of olden days, that must +leave all action to the Government, and content itself with growling +remonstrances "post festum." [#4 After the act is done; after the fact.] + +The party of Order receives the new Ministry with a storm of +indignation. General Bedeau calls to mind the mildness of the Permanent +Committee during the vacation, and the excessive prudence with which it +had renounced the privilege of disclosing its minutes. Now, the Minister +of the Interior himself insists upon the disclosure of these minutes, +that have now, of course, become dull as stagnant waters, reveal no +new facts, and fall without making the slightest effect upon the blase +public. Upon Remusat's proposition, the National Assembly retreats into +its Committees, and appoints a "Committee on Extraordinary Measures." +Paris steps all the less out of the ruts of its daily routine, seeing +that business is prosperous at the time, the manufactories busy, the +prices of cereals low, provisions abundant, the savings banks receiving +daily new deposits. The "extraordinary measures," that the parliament +so noisily announced fizzle out on January 18 in a vote of lack of +confidence against the Ministry, without General Changarnier's name +being even mentioned. The party of Order was forced to frame its motion +in that way so as to secure the votes of the republicans, because, of +all the acts of the Ministry, Changarnier's dismissal only was the very +one they approved, while the party of Order cannot in fact, condemn the +other Ministerial acts which it had itself dictated. The January 18 vote +of lack of confidence was decided by 415 ayes against 286 nays. It was, +accordingly put through by a coalition of the uncompromising Legitimists +and Orleanists with the pure republicans and the Mountain. Thus it +revealed the fact that, in its conflicts with Bonaparte, not only the +Ministry, not only the Army, but also its independent parliamentary +majority; that a troop of Representatives had deserted its camp out of a +fanatic zeal for harmony, out of fear of fight, out of lassitude, out +of family considerations for the salaries of relatives in office, out +of speculations on vacancies in the Ministry (Odillon Barrot), or out +of that unmitigated selfishness that causes the average bourgeois to be +ever inclined to sacrifice the interests of his class to this or that +private motive. The Bonapartist Representatives belonged from the start +to the party of Order only in the struggle against the revolution. +The leader of the Catholic party, Montalembert, already then threw his +influence in the scale of Bonaparte, since he despaired of the vitality +of the parliamentary party. Finally, the leaders of this party itself, +Thiers and Berryer--the Orleanist and the Legitimist--were compelled +to proclaim themselves openly as republicans; to admit that their heart +favored royalty, but their head the republic; that their parliamentary +republic was the only possible form for the rule of the bourgeoisie Thus +were they compelled to brand, before the eyes of the bourgeois +class itself, as an intrigue--as dangerous as it was senseless--the +restoration plans, which they continued to pursue indefatigably behind +the back of the parliament. + +The January 18 vote of lack of confidence struck the Ministers, not the +President. But it was not the Ministry, it was the President who had +deposed Changarnier. Should the party of Order place Bonaparte himself +under charges? On account of his restoration hankerings? These only +supplemented their own. On account of his conspiracy at the military +reviews and of the "Society of December 10"? They had long since buried +these subjects under simple orders of business. On account of the +discharge of the hero of January 29 and June 13, of the man who, in May, +1850, threatened, in case of riot, to set Paris on fire at all its four +corners? Their allies of the Mountain and Cavaignac did not even +allow them to console the fallen "Bulwark of Society" with an official +testimony of their sympathy. They themselves could not deny the +constitutional right of the President to remove a General. They stormed +only because he made an unparliamentary use of his constitutional right. +Had they not themselves constantly made an unconstitutional use of +their parliamentary prerogative, notably by the abolition of universal +suffrage? Consequently they were reminded to move exclusively within +parliamentary bounds. Indeed, it required that peculiar disease, +a disease that, since 1848, has raged over the whole continent, +"Parliamentary Idiocy,"--that fetters those whom it infects to an +imaginary world, and robs them of all sense, all remembrance, +all understanding of the rude outside world;--it required this +"Parliamentary Idiocy" in order that the party of Order, which had, with +its own hands, destroyed all the conditions for parliamentary power, +and, in its struggle with the other classes, was obliged to destroy +them, still should consider its parliamentary victories as victories, +and imagine it hit the President by striking his Ministers. They only +afforded him an opportunity to humble the National Assembly anew in the +eyes of the nation. On January 20, the "Moniteur" announced that the +whole the dismissal of the whole Ministry was accepted. Under the +pretext that none of the parliamentary parties had any longer the +majority--as proved by the January 18 vote, that fruit of the +coalition between mountain and royalists--, and, in order to await the +re-formation of a majority, Bonaparte appointed a so-called transition +Ministry, of whom no member belonged to the parliament-altogether wholly +unknown and insignificant individuals; a Ministry of mere clerks and +secretaries. The party of Order could now wear itself out in the game +with these puppets; the Executive power no longer considered it worth +the while to be seriously represented in the National Assembly. By +this act Bonaparte concentrated the whole executive power all the more +securely in his own person; he had all the freer elbow-room to +exploit the same to his own ends, the more his Ministers became mere +supernumeraries. + +The party of Order, now allied with the Mountain, revenged itself by +rejecting the Presidential endowment project of 1,800.000 francs, which +the chief of the "Society of December 10" had compelled his Ministerial +clerks to present to the Assembly. This time a majority of only 102 +votes carried the day accordingly since January 18, 27 more votes had +fallen off: the dissolution of the party of Order was making progress. +Lest any one might for a moment be deceived touching the meaning of its +coalition with the Mountain, the party of Order simultaneously scorned +even to consider a motion, signed by 189 members of the Mountain, for a +general amnesty to political criminals. It was enough that the Minister +of the Interior, one Baisse, declared that the national tranquility was +only in appearance, in secret there reigned deep agitation, in secret, +ubiquitous societies were organized, the democratic papers were +preparing to reappear, the reports from the Departments were +unfavorable, the fugitives of Geneva conducted a conspiracy via Lyons +through the whole of southern France, France stood on the verge of an +industrial and commercial crisis, the manufacturers of Roubaix were +working shorter hours, the prisoners of Belle Isle had mutinied;--it was +enough that even a mere Baisse should conjure up the "Red Spectre" for +the party of Order to reject without discussion a motion that would have +gained for the National Assembly a tremendous popularity, and thrown +Bonaparte back into its arms. Instead of allowing itself to be +intimidated by the Executive power with the perspective of fresh +disturbances, the party of Order should rather have allowed a little +elbow-room to the class struggle, in order to secure the dependence of +the Executive upon itself. But it did not feel itself equal to the task +of playing with fire. + +Meanwhile, the so-called transition Ministry vegetated along until the +middle of April. Bonaparte tired out and fooled the National Assembly +with constantly new Ministerial combinations. Now he seemed to intend +constructing a republican Ministry with Lamartine and Billault; then, +a parliamentary one with the inevitable Odillon Barrot, whose name must +never be absent when a dupe is needed; then again, a Legitimist, +with Batismenil and Lenoist d'Azy; and yet again, an Orleansist, with +Malleville. While thus throwing the several factions of the party of +Order into strained relations with one another, and alarming them all +with the prospect of a republican Ministry, together with the there-upon +inevitable restoration of universal suffrage, Bonaparte simultaneously +raises in the bourgeoisie the conviction that his sincere efforts for a +parliamentary Ministry are wrecked upon the irreconcilable antagonism +of the royalist factions. All the while the bourgeoisie was clamoring +louder and louder for a "strong Government," and was finding it less +and less pardonable to leave France "without an administration," in +proportion as a general commercial crisis seemed to be under way and +making recruits for Socialism in the cities, as did the ruinously low +price of grain in the rural districts. Trade became daily duller; +the unemployed hands increased perceptibly; in Paris, at least 10,000 +workingmen were without bread; in Rouen, Muehlhausen, Lyons, Roubaix, +Tourcoign, St. Etienue, Elbeuf, etc., numerous factories stood idle. +Under these circumstances Bonaparte could venture to restore, on April +11, the Ministry of January 18; Messieurs Rouher, Fould, Baroche, etc., +reinforced by Mr. Leon Faucher, whom the constitutive assembly +had, during its last days, unanimously, with the exception of five +Ministerial votes, branded with a vote of censure for circulating false +telegraphic dispatches. Accordingly, the National Assembly had won a +victory on January 18 over the Ministry, it had, for the period of three +months, been battling with Bonaparte, and all this merely to the end +that, on April 11, Fould and Baroche should be able to take up the +Puritan Faucher as third in their ministerial league. + +In November, 1849, Bonaparte had satisfied himself with an +Unparliamentary, in January, 1851, with an Extra-Parliamentary, on April +11, he felt strong enough to form an Anti-Parliamentary Ministry, that +harmoniously combined within itself the votes of lack of confidence of +both assemblies-the constitutive and the legislative, the republican and +the royalist. This ministerial progression was a thermometer by which +the parliament could measure the ebbing temperature of its own life. +This had sunk so low by the end of April that, at a personal interview, +Persigny could invite Changarnier to go over to the camp of the +President. Bonaparte, he assured Changarnier, considered the influence +of the National Assembly to be wholly annihilated, and already the +proclamation was ready, that was to be published after the steadily +contemplated, but again accidentally postponed "coup d'etat." +Changarnier communicated this announcement of its death to the leaders +of the party of Order; but who was there to believe a bed-bug bite +could kill? The parliament, however beaten, however dissolved, however +death-tainted it was, could not persuade itself to see, in the duel with +the grotesque chief of the "Society of December 10," anything but a duel +with a bed-bug. But Bonaparte answered the party of Order as Agesilaus +did King Agis: "I seem to you an ant; but shall one day be a lion." + + + + + +VI + + +The coalition with the Mountain and the pure republicans, to which the +party of Order found itself condemned in its fruitless efforts to keep +possession of the military and to reconquer supreme control over +the Executive power, proved conclusively that it had forfeited its +independent parliamentary majority. The calendar and clock merely +gave, on May 29, the signal for its complete dissolution. With May 29 +commenced the last year of the life of the National Assembly. It now +had to decide for the unchanged continuance or the revision of the +Constitution. But a revision of the Constitution meant not only the +definitive supremacy of either the bourgeoisie of the small traders' +democracy, of either democracy or proletarian anarchy, of either a +parliamentary republic or Bonaparte, it meant also either Orleans or +Bourbon! Thus fell into the very midst of the parliament the apple of +discord, around which the conflict of interests, that cut up the +party of Order into hostile factions, was to kindle into an open +conflagration. The party of Order was a combination of heterogeneous +social substances. The question of revision raised a political +temperature, in which the product was reduced to its original +components. + +The interest of the Bonapartists in the revision was simple: they +were above all concerned in the abolition of Article 45, which forbade +Bonaparte's reelection and the prolongation of his term. Not less +simple seemed to be the position of the republicans; they rejected all +revision, seeing in that only a general conspiracy against the republic; +as they disposed over more than one-fourth of the votes in the National +Assembly, and, according to the Constitution, a three-fourths majority +was requisite to revise and to call a revisory convention, they needed +only to count their own votes to be certain of victory. Indeed, they +were certain of it. + +Over and against these clear-cut positions, the party of Order found +itself tangled in inextricable contradictions. If it voted against the +revision, it endangered the "status quo," by leaving to Bonaparte only +one expedient--that of violence and handing France over, on May 2, 1852, +at the very time of election, a prey to revolutionary anarchy, with +a President whose authority was at an end; with a parliament that +the party had long ceased to own, and with a people that it meant to +re-conquer. If it voted constitutionally for a revision, it knew that +it voted in vain and would constitutionally have to go under before the +veto of the republicans. If, unconstitutionally, it pronounced a simple +majority binding, it could hope to control the revolution only in case +it surrendered unconditionally to the domination of the Executive power: +it then made Bonaparte master of the Constitution, of the revision +and of itself. A merely partial revision, prolonging the term of the +President, opened the way to imperial usurpation; a general revision, +shortening the existence of the republic, threw the dynastic claims into +an inevitable conflict: the conditions for a Bourbon and those for an +Orleanist restoration were not only different, they mutually excluded +each other. + +The parliamentary republic was more than a neutral ground on which the +two factions of the French bourgeoisie--Legitimists and Orleanists, +large landed property and manufacture--could lodge together with equal +rights. It was the indispensable condition for their common reign, +the only form of government in which their common class interest could +dominate both the claims of their separate factions and all the +other classes of society. As royalists, they relapsed into their old +antagonism into the struggle for the overlordship of either landed +property or of money; and the highest expression of this antagonism, its +personification, were the two kings themselves, their dynasties. Hence +the resistance of the party of Order to the recall of the Bourbons. + +The Orleanist Representative Creton moved periodically in 1849, 1850 and +1851 the repeal of the decree of banishment against the royal families; +as periodically did the parliament present the spectacle of an Assembly +of royalists who stubbornly shut to their banished kings the door +through which they could return home. Richard III murdered Henry VI, +with the remark that he was too good for this world, and belonged in +heaven. They declared France too bad to have her kings back again. +Forced by the power of circumstances, they had become republicans, and +repeatedly sanctioned the popular mandate that exiled their kings from +France. + +The revision of the Constitution, and circumstances compelled its +consideration, at once made uncertain not only the republic itself, but +also the joint reign of the two bourgeois factions; and it revived, with +the possibility of the monarchy, both the rivalry of interests which +these two factions had alternately allowed to preponderate, and the +struggle for the supremacy of the one over the other. The diplomats +of the party of Order believed they could allay the struggle by a +combination of the two dynasties through a so-called fusion of the +royalist parties and their respective royal houses. The true fusion of +the restoration and the July monarchy was, however, the parliamentary +republic, in which the Orleanist and Legitimist colors were dissolved, +and the bourgeois species vanished in the plain bourgeois, in the +bourgeois genus. Now however, the plan was to turn the Orleanist +Legitimist and the Legitimist Orleanist. The kingship, in which their +antagonism was personified, was to incarnate their unity, the expression +of their exclusive faction interests was to become the expression of +their common class interest; the monarchy was to accomplish what only +the abolition of two monarchies--the republic could and did accomplish. +This was the philosopher's stone, for the finding of which the +doctors of the party of Order were breaking their heads. As though +the Legitimate monarchy ever could be the monarchy of the industrial +bourgeoisie, or the bourgeois monarchy the monarchy of the hereditary +landed aristocracy! As though landed property and industry could +fraternize under one crown, where the crown could fall only upon one +head, the head of the older or the younger brother! As though industry +could at all deal upon a footing of equality with landed property, so +long as landed property did not decide itself to become industrial. If +Henry V were to die tomorrow, the Count of Paris would not, therefore, +become the king of the Legitimists, unless he ceased to be the King of +the Orleanists. Nevertheless, the fusion philosophers, who became louder +in the measure that the question of revision stepped to the fore, who +had provided themselves with a daily organ in the "Assemblee Nationale," +who, even at this very moment (February, 1852) are again at work, +explained the whole difficulty by the opposition and rivalries of the +two dynasties. The attempts to reconcile the family of Orleans with +Henry V., begun since the death of Louis Philippe, but, as all these +dynastic intrigues carried on only during the vacation of the National +Assembly, between acts, behind the scenes, more as a sentimental +coquetry with the old superstition than as a serious affair, were now +raised by the party of Order to the dignity of a great State question, +and were conducted upon the public stage, instead of, as heretofore in +the amateurs' theater. Couriers flew from Paris to Venice, from Venice +to Claremont, from Claremont to Paris. The Duke of Chambord issues +a manifesto in which he announces not his own, but the "national" +restoration, "with the aid of all the members of his family." The +Oleanist Salvandy throws himself at the feet of Henry V. The Legitimist +leaders Berryer, Benoit d'Azy, St. Priest travel to Claremont, to +persuade the Orleans; but in vain. The fusionists learn too late +that the interests of the two bourgeois factions neither lose in +exclusiveness nor gain in pliancy where they sharpen to a point in the +form of family interests, of the interests of the two royal houses. +When Henry V. recognized the Count of Paris as his successor--the +only success that the fusion could at best score--the house of Orleans +acquired no claim that the childlessness of Henry V. had not already +secured to it; but, on the other hand, it lost all the claims that it +had conquered by the July revolution. It renounced its original claims, +all the title, that, during a struggle nearly one hundred years long, it +had wrested from the older branch of the Bourbons; it bartered away +its historic prerogative, the prerogative of its family-tree. Fusion, +accordingly, amounted to nothing else than the resignation of the house +of Orleans, its Legitimist resignation, a repentful return from the +Protestant State Church into the Catholic;--a return, at that, that did +not even place it on the throne that it had lost, but on the steps of +the throne on which it was born. The old Orleanist Ministers Guizot, +Duchatel, etc., who likewise hastened to Claremont, to advocate the +fusion, represented in fact only the nervous reaction of the July +monarchy; despair, both in the citizen kingdom and the kingdom of +citizens; the superstitious belief in legitimacy as the last amulet +against anarchy. Mediators, in their imagination, between Orleans and +Bourbon, they were in reality but apostate Orleanists, and as such were +they received by the Prince of Joinville. The virile, bellicose part +of the Orleanists, on the contrary--Thiers, Baze, etc.--, persuaded the +family of Louis Philippe all the easier that, seeing every plan for the +immediate restoration of the monarchy presupposed the fusion of the two +dynasties, and every plan for fusion the resignation of the house of +Orleans, it corresponded, on the contrary, wholly with the tradition of +its ancestors to recognize the republic for the time being, and to wait +until circumstances permitted I the conversion of the Presidential chair +into a throne. Joinville's candidacy was set afloat as a rumor, public +curiosity was held in suspense, and a few months later, after the +revision was rejected, openly proclaimed in September. + +Accordingly, the essay of a royalist fusion between Orleanists and +Legitimists did not miscarry only, it broke up their parliamentary +fusion, the republican form that they had adopted in common, and it +decomposed the party of Order into its original components. But the +wider the breach became between Venice and Claremont, the further they +drifted away from each I other, and the greater the progress made by +the Joinville agitation, all the more active and earnest became the +negotiations between Faucher, the Minister of Bonaparte, and the +Legitimists. + +The dissolution of the party of Order went beyond its original elements. +Each of the two large factions fell in turn into new fragments. It was +as if all the old political shades, that formerly fought and crowded one +another within each of the two circles--be it that of the Legitimists +or that of the Orleanists--, had been thawed out like dried infusoria +by contact with water; as if they had recovered enough vitality to +build their own groups and assert their own antagonisms. The Legitimists +dreamed they were back amidst the quarrels between the Tuileries and the +pavilion Marsan, between Villele and Polignac; the Orleanists lived anew +through the golden period of the tourneys between Guizot, Mole, Broglie, +Thiers, and Odillon Barrot. + +That portion of the party of Order--eager for a revision of the +Constitution but disagreed upon the extent of revision--made up of +the Legitimists under Berryer and Falloux and of those under Laroche +Jacquelein, together with the tired-out Orleanists under Mole, +Broglie, Montalembert and Odillon Barrot, united with the Bonapartist +Representatives in the following indefinite and loosely drawn motion: + +"The undersigned Representatives, with the end in view of restoring +to the nation the full exercise of her sovereignty, move that the +Constitution be revised." + +At the same time, however, they unanimously declared through their +spokesman, Tocqueville, that the National Assembly had not the right to +move the abolition of the republic, that right being vested only in +a Constitutional Convention. For the rest, the Constitution could +be revised only in a "legal" way, that is to say, only in case a +three-fourths majority decided in favor of revision, as prescribed by +the Constitution. After a six days' stormy debate, the revision was +rejected on July 19, as was to be foreseen. In its favor 446 votes were +cast, against it 278. The resolute Oleanists, Thiers, Changarnier, etc., +voted with the republicans and the Mountain. + +Thus the majority of the parliament pronounced itself against the +Constitution, while the Constitution itself pronounced itself for the +minority, and its decision binding. But had not the party of Order on +May 31, 1850, had it not on June 13, 1849, subordinated the Constitution +to the parliamentary majority? Did not the whole republic they had +been hitherto having rest upon the subordination of the Constitutional +clauses to the majority decisions of the parliament? Had they not left +to the democrats the Old Testament superstitious belief in the letter +of the law, and had they not chastised the democrats therefor? At this +moment, however, revision meant nothing else than the continuance of the +Presidential power, as the continuance of the Constitution meant nothing +else than the deposition of Bonaparte. The parliament had pronounced +itself for him, but the Constitution pronounced itself against the +parliament. Accordingly, he acted both in the sense of the parliament +when he tore up the Constitution, and in the sense of the Constitution +when he chased away the parliament. + +The parliament pronounced the Constitution, and, thereby, also, its +own reign, "outside of the pale of the majority"; by its decision, it +repealed the Constitution, and continued the Presidential power, and it +at once declared that neither could the one live nor the other die so +long as itself existed. The feet of those who were to bury it stood +at the door. While it was debating the subject of revision, Bonaparte +removed General Baraguay d'Hilliers, who showed himself irresolute, from +the command of the First Military Division, and appointed in his place +General Magnan, the conqueror of Lyon; the hero of the December days, +one of his own creatures, who already under Louis Philippe, on the +occasion of the Boulogne expedition, had somewhat compromised himself in +his favor. + +By its decision on the revision, the party of Order proved that it knew +neither how to rule nor how to obey; neither how to live nor how to die; +neither how to bear with the republic nor how to overthrow it; neither +how to maintain the Constitution nor how to throw it overboard; neither +how to co-operate with the President nor how to break with him. From +what quarter did it then, look to for the solution of all the existing +perplexities? From the calendar, from the course of events. It ceased to +assume the control of events. It, accordingly, invited events to don its +authority and also the power to which in its struggle with the people, +it had yielded one attribute after another until it finally stood +powerless before the same. To the end that the Executive be able all the +more freely to formulate his plan of campaign against it, strengthen his +means of attack, choose his tools, fortify his positions, the party of +Order decided, in the very midst of this critical moment, to step off +the stage, and adjourn for three months, from August 10 to November 4. + +Not only was the parliamentary party dissolved into its two great +factions, not only was each of these dissolved within itself, but the +party of Order, inside of the parliament, was at odds with the party of +Order, outside of the parliament. The learned speakers and writers +of the bourgeoisie, their tribunes and their press, in short, the +ideologists of the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie itself, the +representatives and the represented, stood estranged from, and no longer +understood one another. + +The Legitimists in the provinces, with their cramped horizon and their +boundless enthusiasm, charged their parliamentary leaders Berryer and +Falloux with desertion to the Bonapartist camp, and with apostacy from +Henry V. Their lilymind [#1 An allusion to the lilies of the Bourbon +coat-of-arms] believed in the fall of man, but not in diplomacy. + +More fatal and completer, though different, was the breach between the +commercial bourgeoisie and its politicians. It twitted them, not as the +Legitimists did theirs, with having apostatized from their principle, +but, on the contrary, with adhering to principles that had become +useless. + +I have already indicated that, since the entry of Fould in the Ministry, +that portion of the commercial bourgeoisie that had enjoyed the lion's +share in Louis Philippe's reign, to-wit, the aristocracy of finance, had +become Bonapartist. Fould not only represented Bonaparte's interests +at the Bourse, he represented also the interests of the Bourse with +Bonaparte. A passage from the London "Economist," the European organ of +the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of +this class. In its issue of February 1, 1851, its Paris correspondent +writes: "Now we have it stated from numerous quarters that France wishes +above all things for repose. The President declares it in his message to +the Legislative Assembly; it is echoed from the tribune; it is asserted +in the journals; it is announced from the pulpit; it is demonstrated +by the sensitiveness of the public funds at the least prospect of +disturbance, and their firmness the instant it is made manifest that +the Executive is far superior in wisdom and power to the factious +ex-officials of all former governments." + +In its issue of November 29, 1851, the "Economist" declares editorially: +"The President is now recognized as the guardian of order on every Stock +Exchange of Europe." Accordingly, the Aristocracy of Finance condemned +the parliamentary strife of the party of Order with the Executive as a +"disturbance of order," and hailed every victory of the President over +its reputed representatives as a "victory of order." Under "aristocracy +of finance" must not, however, be understood merely the large bond +negotiators and speculators in government securities, of whom it may +be readily understood that their interests and the interests of the +Government coincide. The whole modern money trade, the whole banking +industry, is most intimately interwoven with the public credit. Part +of their business capital requires to be invested in interest-bearing +government securities that are promptly convertible into money; their +deposits, i. e., the capital placed at their disposal and by them +distributed among merchants and industrial establishments, flow partly +out of the dividends on government securities. The whole money market, +together with the priests of this market, is part and parcel of this +"aristocracy of finance" at every epoch when the stability of the +government is to them synonymous with "Moses and his prophets." This is +so even before things have reached the present stage when every deluge +threatens to carry away the old governments themselves. + +But the industrial Bourgeoisie also, in its fanaticism for order, was +annoyed at the quarrels of the Parliamentary party of Order with the +Executive. Thiers, Anglas, Sainte Beuve, etc., received, after their +vote of January 18, on the occasion of the discharge of Changarnier, +public reprimands from their constituencies, located in the industrial +districts, branding their coalition with the Mountain as an act of high +treason to the cause of order. Although, true enough, the boastful, +vexatious and petty intrigues, through which the struggle of the party +of Order with the President manifested itself, deserved no better +reception, yet notwithstanding, this bourgeois party, that expects +of its representatives to allow the military power to pass without +resistance out of the hands of their own Parliament into those of an +adventurous Pretender, is not worth even the intrigues that were wasted +in its behalf. It showed that the struggle for the maintenance of their +public interests, of their class interests, of their political power +only incommoded and displeased them, as a disturbance of their private +business. + +The bourgeois dignitaries of the provincial towns, the magistrates, +commercial judges, etc., with hardly any exception, received Bonaparte +everywhere on his excursions in the most servile manner, even when, as +in Dijon, he attacked the National Assembly and especially the party of +Order without reserve. + +Business being brisk, as still at the beginning of 1851, the commercial +bourgeoisie stormed against every Parliamentary strife, lest business +be put out of temper. Business being dull, as from the end of February, +1851, on, the bourgeoisie accused the Parliamentary strifes as the cause +of the stand-still, and clamored for quiet in order that business may +revive. The debates on revision fell just in the bad times. Seeing +the question now was the to be or not to be of the existing form of +government, the bourgeoisie felt itself all the more justified in +demanding of its Representatives that they put an end to this tormenting +provisional status, and preserve the "status quo." This was no +contradiction. By putting an end to the provisional status, it +understood its continuance, the indefinite putting off of the moment +when a final decision had to be arrived at. The "status quo" could +be preserved in only one of two ways: either by the prolongation of +Bonaparte's term of office or by his constitutional withdrawal and the +election of Cavaignac. A part of the bourgeoisie preferred the latter +solution, and knew no better advice to give their Representatives than +to be silent, to avoid the burning point. If their Representatives did +not speak, so argued they, Bonaparte would not act. They desired an +ostrich Parliament that would hide its head, in order not to be seen. +Another part of the bourgeoisie preferred that Bonaparte, being once in +the Presidential chair, be left in the Presidential chair, in order that +everything might continue to run in the old ruts. They felt indignant +that their Parliament did not openly break the Constitution and resign +without further ado. The General Councils of the Departments, these +provisional representative bodies of the large bourgeoisie, who had +adjourned during the vacation of the National Assembly since August 25, +pronounced almost unanimously for revision, that is to say, against the +Parliament and for Bonaparte. + +Still more unequivocally than in its falling out with its Parliamentary +Representatives, did the bourgeoisie exhibit its wrath at its literary +Representatives, its own press. The verdicts of the bourgeois juries, +inflicting excessive fines and shameless sentences of imprisonment for +every attack of the bourgeois press upon the usurping aspirations of +Bonaparte, for every attempt of the press to defend the political rights +of the bourgeoisie against the Executive power, threw, not France alone, +but all Europe into amazement. + +While on the one hand, as I have indicated, the Parliamentary party of +Order ordered itself to keep the peace by screaming for peace; and while +it pronounced the political rule of the bourgeoisie irreconcilable with +the safety and the existence of the bourgeoisie, by destroying with +its own hands in its struggle with the other classes of society all the +conditions for its own, the Parliamentary regime; on the other hand, the +mass of the bourgeoisie, outside of the Parliament, urged Bonaparte--by +its servility towards the President, by its insults to the Parliament, +by the brutal treatment of its own press--to suppress and annihilate +its speaking and writing organs, its politicians and its literati, its +orators' tribune and its press, to the end that, under the protection +of a strong and unhampered Government, it might ply its own private +pursuits in safety. It declared unmistakably that it longed to be rid of +its own political rule, in order to escape the troubles and dangers of +ruling. + +And this bourgeoisie, that had rebelled against even the Parliamentary +and literary contest for the supremacy of its own class, that had +betrayed its leaders in this contest, it now has the effrontery to +blame the proletariat for not having risen in its defence in a bloody +struggle, in a struggle for life! Those bourgeois, who at every turn +sacrificed their common class interests to narrow and dirty private +interests, and who demanded a similar sacrifice from their own +Representatives, now whine that the proletariat has sacrificed their +idea-political to its own material interests! This bourgeois class now +strikes the attitude of a pure soul, misunderstood and abandoned, at +a critical moment, by the proletariat, that has been misled by the +Socialists. And its cry finds a general echo in the bourgeois world. +Of course, I do not refer to German crossroad politicians and kindred +blockheads. I refer, for instance, to the "Economist," which, as late +as November 29, 1851, that is to say, four days before the "coup d'etat" +pronounced Bonaparte the "Guardian of Order" and Thiers and Berryer +"Anarchists," and as early as December 27, 1851, after Bonaparte had +silenced those very Anarchists, cries out about the treason committed +by "the ignorant, untrained and stupid proletaires against the skill, +knowledge, discipline, mental influence, intellectual resources an +moral weight of the middle and upper ranks." The stupid, ignorant and +contemptible mass was none other than the bourgeoisie itself. + +France had, indeed; experienced a sort of commercial crisis in 1851. At +the end of February, there was a falling off of exports as compared with +1850; in March, business languished and factories shut down; in April, +the condition of the industrial departments seemed as desperate as after +the February days; in May, business did not yet pick up; as late as +June 28, the reports of the Bank of France revealed through a tremendous +increase of deposits and an equal decrease of loans on exchange notes, +the standstill of production; not until the middle of October did a +steady improvement of business set in. The French bourgeoisie accounted +for this stagnation of business with purely political reasons; it +imputed the dull times to the strife between the Parliament and the +Executive power, to the uncertainty of a provisional form of government, +to the alarming prospects of May 2, 1852. I shall not deny that all +these causes did depress some branches of industry in Paris and in the +Departments. At any rate, this effect of political circumstances was +only local and trifling. Is there any other proof needed than that +the improvement in business set in at the very time when the political +situation was growing worse, when the political horizon was growing +darker, and when at every moment a stroke of lightning was expected out +of the Elysee--in the middle of October? The French bourgeois, whose +"skill, knowledge, mental influence and intellectual resources," reach +no further than his nose, could, moreover, during the whole period of +the Industrial Exposition in London, have struck with his nose the +cause of his own business misery. At the same time that, in France, the +factories were being closed, commercial failures broke out in England. +While the industrial panic reached its height during April and May in +France, in England the commercial panic reached its height in April and +May. The same as the French, the English woolen industries suffered, +and, as the French, so did the English silk manufacture. Though the +English cotton factories went on working, it, nevertheless, was not with +the same old profit of 1849 and 1850. The only difference was this: that +in France, the crisis was an industrial, in England it was a commercial +one; that while in France the factories stood still, they spread +themselves in England, but under less favorable circumstances than +they had done the years just previous; that, in France, the export, in +England, the import trade suffered the heaviest blows. The common cause, +which, as a matter of fact, is not to be looked for with-in the bounds +of the French political horizon, was obvious. The years 1849 and 1850 +were years of the greatest material prosperity, and of an overproduction +that did not manifest itself until 1851. This was especially promoted at +the beginning of 1851 by the prospect of the Industrial Exposition; and, +as special causes, there were added, first, the failure of the cotton +crop of 1850 and 1851; second, the certainty of a larger cotton crop +than was expected: first, the rise, then the sudden drop; in short, the +oscillations of the cotton market. The crop of raw silk in France had +been below the average. Finally, the manufacture of woolen goods had +received such an increment since 1849, that the production of wool could +not keep step with it, and the price of the raw material rose greatly +out of proportion to the price of the manufactured goods. Accordingly, +we have here in the raw material of three staple articles a +threefold material for a commercial crisis. Apart from these special +circumstances, the seeming crisis of the year 1851 was, after all, +nothing but the halt that overproduction and overspeculation make +regularly in the course of the industrial cycle, before pulling all +their forces together in order to rush feverishly over the last stretch, +and arrive again at their point of departure--the General Commercial +Crisis. At such intervals in the history of trade, commercial failures +break out in England, while, in France, industry itself is stopped, +partly because it is compelled to retreat through the competition of +the English, that, at such times becomes resistless in all markets, +and partly because, as an industry of luxuries, it is affected with +preference by every stoppage of trade. Thus, besides the general +crisis, France experiences her own national crises, which, how-ever, +are determined by and conditioned upon the general state of the world's +market much more than by local French influences. It will not be devoid +of interest to contrast the prejudgment of the French bourgeois with the +judgment of the English bourgeois. One of the largest Liverpool firms +writes in its yearly report of trade for 1851: "Few years have more +completely disappointed the expectations entertained at their beginning +than the year that has just passed; instead of the great prosperity, +that was unanimously looked forward to, it proved itself one of the most +discouraging years during the last quarter of a century. This applies, +of course, only to the mercantile, not to the industrial classes. And +yet, surely there were grounds at the beginning of the year from which +to draw a contrary conclusion; the stock of products was scanty, capital +was abundant, provisions cheap, a rich autumn was assured, there was +uninterrupted peace on the continent and no political and financial +disturbances at home; indeed, never were the wings of trade more +unshackled. . . . What is this unfavorable result to be ascribed to? +We believe to excessive trade in imports as well as exports. If our +merchants do not themselves rein in their activity, nothing can keep us +going, except a panic every three years." + +Imagine now the French bourgeois, in the midst of this business panic, +having his trade-sick brain tortured, buzzed at and deafened with rumors +of a "coup d'etat" and the restoration of universal suffrage; with the +struggle between the Legislature and the Executive; with the +Fronde warfare between Orleanists and Legitimists; with communistic +conspiracies in southern France; with alleged Jacqueries [#2 Peasant +revolts] in the Departments of Nievre and Cher; with the advertisements +of the several candidates for President; with "social solutions" +huckstered about by the journals; with the threats of the republicans to +uphold, arms in hand, the Constitution and universal suffrage; with the +gospels, according to the emigrant heroes "in partibus," who announced +the destruction of the world for May 2,--imagine that, and one can +understand how the bourgeois, in this unspeakable and noisy confusion +of fusion, revision, prorogation, constitution, conspiracy, coalition, +emigration, usurpation and revolution, blurts out at his parliamentary +republic: "Rather an End With Fright, Than a Fright Without End." + +Bonaparte understood this cry. His perspicacity was sharpened by the +growing anxiety of the creditors' class, who, with every sunset, that +brought nearer the day of payment, the 2d of May, 1852, saw in the +motion of the stars a protest against their earthly drafts. They had +become regular astrologers The National Assembly had cut off Bonaparte's +hope of a constitutional prolongation of his term; the candidature of +the Prince of Joinville tolerated no further vacillation. + +If ever an event cast its shadow before it long before its occurrence, +it was Bonaparte's "coup d'etat." Already on January 29, 1849, barely +a month after his election, he had made to Changarnier a proposition to +that effect. His own Prime Minister. Odillon Barrot, had covertly, in +1849, and Thiers openly in the winter of 1850, revealed the scheme +of the "coup d'etat." In May, 1851, Persigny had again sought to win +Changarnier over to the "coup," and the "Miessager de l'Assemblee" +newspaper had published this conversation. At every parliamentary storm, +the Bonapartist papers threatened a "coup," and the nearer the crisis +approached, all the louder grew their tone. At the orgies, that +Bonaparte celebrated every night with a swell mob of males and females, +every time the hour of midnight drew nigh and plenteous libations had +loosened the tongues and heated the minds of the revelers, the "coup" +was resolved upon for the next morning. Swords were then drawn, glasses +clinked, the Representatives were thrown out at the windows, the +imperial mantle fell upon the shoulders of Bonaparte, until the next +morning again drove away the spook, and astonished Paris learned, from +not very reserved Vestals and indiscreet Paladins, the danger it had +once more escaped. During the months of September and October, the +rumors of a "coup d'etat" tumbled close upon one another's heels. At +the same time the shadow gathered color, like a confused daguerreotype. +Follow the issues of the European daily press for the months of +September and October, and items like this will be found literally: + +"Rumors of a 'coup' fill Paris. The capital, it is said, is to be filled +with troops by night and the next morning decrees are to be issued +dissolving the National Assembly, placing the Department of the Seine +in state of siege restoring universal suffrage, and appealing to the +people. Bonaparte is rumored to be looking for Ministers to execute +these illegal decrees." + +The newspaper correspondence that brought this news always close +ominously with "postponed." The "coup" was ever the fixed idea of +Bonaparte. With this idea he had stepped again upon French soil. It +had such full possession of him that he was constantly betraying and +blabbing it out. He was so weak that he was as constantly giving it up +again. The shadow of the "coup" had become so familiar a spectre to the +Parisians, that they refused to believe it when it finally did appear in +flesh and blood. Consequently, it was neither the reticent backwardness +of the chief of the "Society of December 10," nor an unthought of +surprise of the National Assembly that caused the success of the "coup." +When it succeeded, it did so despite his indiscretion and with its +anticipation--a necessary, unavoidable result of the development that +had preceded. + +On October 10, Bonaparte announced to his Ministers his decision +to restore universal suffrage; on the 16th day they handed in their +resignations; on the 26th Paris learned of the formation of the Thorigny +Ministry. The Prefect of Police, Carlier, was simultaneously replaced +by Maupas; and the chief of the First Military Division Magnan, +concentrated the most reliable regiments in the capital. On November 4, +the National Assembly re-opened its sessions. There was nothing left +for it to do but to repeat, in short recapitulation, the course it +had traversed, and to prove that it had been buried only after it had +expired. The first post that it had forfeited in the struggle with +the Executive was the Ministry. It had solemnly to admit this loss by +accepting as genuine the Thorigny Ministry, which was but a pretence. +The permanent Committee had received Mr. Giraud with laughter when he +introduced himself in the name of the new Ministers. So weak a Ministry +for so strong a measure as the restoration of universal suffrage! The +question, however, then was to do nothing in, everything against the +parliament. + +On the very day of its re-opening, the National Assembly received the +message from Bonaparte demanding the restoration of universal suffrage +and the repeal of the law of May 31, 1850. On the same day, his +Ministers introduced a decree to that effect. The Assembly promptly +rejected the motion of urgency made by the Ministers, but repealed the +law itself, on November 13, by a vote of 355 against 348. Thus it once +more tore to pieces its own mandate, once more certified to the fact +that it had transformed itself from a freely chosen representative body +of the nation into the usurpatory parliament of a class; it once more +admitted that it had itself severed the muscles that connected the +parliamentary head with the body of the nation. + +While the Executive power appealed from the National Assembly to the +people by its motion for the restoration of universal suffrage, the +Legislative power appealed from the people to the Army by its "Questors' +Bill." This bill was to establish its right to immediate requisitions +for troops, to build up a parliamentary army. By thus appointing the +Army umpire between itself and the people, between itself and Bonaparte; +by thus recognizing the Army as the decisive power in the State, the +National Assembly was constrained to admit that it had long given up +all claim to supremacy. By debating the right to make requisitions for +troops, instead of forthwith collecting them, it betrayed its own doubts +touching its own power. By thus subsequently rejecting the "Questors' +Bill," it publicly confessed it impotence. The bill fell through with a +minority of 108 votes; the Mountain had, accordingly, thrown the casting +vote It now found itself in the predicament of Buridan's donkey, not, +indeed, between two sacks of hay, forced to decide which of the two was +the more attractive, but between two showers of blows, forced to decide +which of the two was the harder; fear of Changarnier, on one side, fear +of Bonaparte, on the other. It must be admitted the position was not a +heroic one. + +On November 18, an amendment was moved to the Act, passed by the party +of Order, on municipal elections to the effect that, instead of three +years, a domicile of one year should suffice. The amendment was lost by +a single vote--but this vote, it soon transpired, was a mistake. Owing +to the divisions within its own hostile factions, the party of Order had +long since forfeited its independent parliamentary majority. It was +now plain that there was no longer any majority in the parliament. The +National Assembly had become impotent even to decide. Its atomic parts +were no longer held together by any cohesive power; it had expended its +last breath, it was dead. + +Finally, the mass of the bourgeoisie outside of the parliament was once +more solemnly to confirm its rupture with the bourgeoisie inside of the +parliament a few days before the catastrophe. Thiers, as a parliamentary +hero conspicuously smitten by that incurable disease--Parliamentary +Idiocy--, had hatched out jointly with the Council of State, after the +death of the parliament, a new parliamentary intrigue in the shape of a +"Responsibility Law," that was intended to lock up the President within +the walls of the Constitution. The same as, on September 15, Bonaparte +bewitched the fishwives, like a second Massaniello, on the occasion of +laying the corner-stone for the Market of Paris,--though, it must be +admitted, one fishwife was equal to seventeen Burgraves in real power--; +the same as, after the introduction of the "Questors' Bill," he enthused +the lieutenants, who were being treated at the Elysee;--so, likewise, +did he now, on November 25, carry away with him the industrial +bourgeoisie, assembled at the Circus, to receive from his hands the +prize-medals that had been awarded at the London Industrial Exposition. +I here reproduce the typical part of his speech, from the "Journal des +Debats": + +"With such unhoped for successes, I am justified to repeat how great +the French republic would be if she were only allowed to pursue her +real interests, and reform her institutions, instead of being constantly +disturbed in this by demagogues, on one side, and, on the other, by +monarchic hallucinations. (Loud, stormy and continued applause from +all parts of the amphitheater). The monarchic hallucinations hamper all +progress and all serious departments of industry. Instead of progress, +we have struggle only. Men, formerly the most zealous supporters of +royal authority and prerogative, become the partisans of a convention +that has no purpose other than to weaken an authority that is born of +universal suffrage. (Loud and prolonged applause). We see men, who +have suffered most from the revolution and complained bitterest of it, +provoking a new one for the sole purpose of putting fetters on the will +of the nation. . . . I promise you peace for the future." (Bravo! Bravo! +Stormy bravos.) + +Thus the industrial bourgeoisie shouts its servile "Bravo!" to the "coup +d'etat" of December 2, to the destruction of the parliament, to the +downfall of their own reign, to the dictatorship of Bonaparte. The rear +of the applause of November 25 was responded to by the roar of cannon on +December 4, and the house of Mr. Sallandrouze, who had been loudest in +applauding, was the one demolished by most of the bombs. + +Cromwell, when he dissolved the Long Parliament, walked alone into its +midst, pulled out his watch in order that the body should not continue +to exist one minute beyond the term fixed for it by him, and drove +out each individual member with gay and humorous invectives. Napoleon, +smaller than his prototype, at least went on the 18th Brumaire into +the legislative body, and, though in a tremulous voice, read to it its +sentence of death. The second Bonaparte, who, moreover, found himself +in possession of an executive power very different from that of either +Cromwell or Napoleon, did not look for his model in the annals of +universal history, but in the annals of the "Society of December 10," +in the annals of criminal jurisprudence. He robs the Bank of France of +twenty-five million francs; buys General Magnan with one million and +the soldiers with fifteen francs and a drink to each; comes secretly +together with his accomplices like a thief by night; has the houses of +the most dangerous leaders in the parliament broken into; Cavalignac, +Lamorciere, Leflo, Changarnier, Charras, Thiers, Baze, etc., taken +out of their beds; the principal places of Paris, the building of the +parliament included, occupied with troops; and, early the next +morning, loud-sounding placards posted on all the walls proclaiming the +dissolution of the National Assembly and of the Council of State, the +restoration of universal suffrage, and the placing of the Department +of the Seine under the state of siege. In the same way he shortly +after sneaked into the "Moniateur" a false document, according to which +influential parliamentary names had grouped themselves round him in a +Committee of the Nation. + +Amidst cries of "Long live the Republic!", the rump-parliament, +assembled at the Mayor's building of the Tenth Arrondissement, and +composed mainly of Legitimists and Orleanists, resolves to depose +Bonaparte; it harangues in vain the gaping mass gathered before the +building, and is finally dragged first, under the escort of African +sharpshooters, to the barracks of Orsay, and then bundled into convicts' +wagons and transported to the prisons of Mazas, Ham and Vincennes. Thus +ended the party of Order, the Legislative Assembly and the February +revolution. + +Before hastening to the end, let us sum up shortly the plan of its +history: + +I.--First Period. From February 24 to May 4, 1848. February period. +Prologue. Universal fraternity swindle. + +II.--Second Period. Period in which the republic is constituted, and of +the Constitutive National Assembly. + +1. May 4 to June 25, 1848. Struggle of all the classes against the house +of Mr. proletariat. Defeat of the proletariat in the June days. + +2. June 25 to December 10, 1848. Dictatorship of the pure bourgeois +republicans. Drafting of the Constitution. The state of siege hangs +over Paris. The Bourgeois dictatorship set aside on December 10 by the +election of Bonaparte as President. + +3. December 20, 1848, to May 20, 1849. Struggle of the Constitutive +Assembly with Bonaparte and with the united party of Order. Death of the +Constitutive Assembly. Downfall of the republican bourgeoisie. + +III.--Third Period. Period of the constitutional republic and of the +Legislative National Assembly. + +1. May 29 to June 13, 1849. Struggle of the small traders', middle class +with the bourgeoisie and with Bonaparte. Defeat of the small traders' +democracy. + +2. June 13, 1849, to May, 1850. Parliamentary dictatorship of the party +of Order. Completes its reign by the abolition of universal suffrage, +but loses the parliamentary Ministry. + +3. May 31, 1850, to December 2, 1851. Struggle between the parliamentary +bourgeoisie and Bonaparte. + +a. May 31, 1850, to January 12, 1851. The parliament loses the supreme +command over the Army. + +b. January 12 to April 11, 1851. The parliament succumbs in the attempts +to regain possession of the administrative power. The party of Order +loses its independent parliamentary majority. Its coalition with the +republicans and the Mountain. + +c. April 11 to October 9, 1851. Attempts at revision, fusion and +prorogation. The party of Order dissolves into its component parts. The +breach between the bourgeois parliament and the bourgeois press, on the +one hand, and the bourgeois mass, on the other, becomes permanent. + +d. October 9 to December 2, 1851. Open breach between the parliament +and the executive power. It draws up its own decree of death, and goes +under, left in the lurch by its own class, by the Army, and by all the +other classes. Downfall of the parliamentary regime and of the reign +of the bourgeoisie. Bonaparte's triumph. Parody of the imperialist +restoration. + + + + + +VII + + +The Social Republic appeared as a mere phrase, as a prophecy on the +threshold of the February Revolution; it was smothered in the blood of +the Parisian proletariat during the days of 1848 but it stalks about +as a spectre throughout the following acts of the drama. The Democratic +Republic next makes its bow; it goes out in a fizzle on June 13, 1849, +with its runaway small traders; but, on fleeing, it scatters behind +it all the more bragging announcements of what it means do to. The +Parliamentary Republic, together with the bourgeoisie, then appropriates +the whole stage; it lives its life to the full extent of its being; but +the 2d of December, 1851, buries it under the terror-stricken cry of the +allied royalists: "Long live the Republic!" + +The French bourgeoisie reared up against the reign of the working +proletariat;--it brought to power the slum-proletariat, with the +chief of the "Society of December 10" at its head. It kept France in +breathless fear over the prospective terror of "red anarchy;"--Bonaparte +discounted the prospect when, on December 4, he had the leading citizens +of the Boulevard Montmartre and the Boulevard des Italiens shot down +from their windows by the grog-inspired "Army of Order." It made the +apotheosis of the sabre; now the sabre rules it. It destroyed the +revolutionary press;--now its own press is annihilated. It placed public +meetings under police surveillance;--now its own salons are subject to +police inspection. It disbanded the democratic National Guards;--now its +own National Guard is disbanded. It instituted the state of siege;--now +itself is made subject thereto. It supplanted the jury by military +commissions;--now military commissions supplant its own juries. It +subjected the education of the people to the parsons' interests;--the +parsons' interests now subject it to their own systems. It ordered +transportations without trial;--now itself is transported without trial. +It suppressed every movement of society with physical force;--now +every movement of its own class is suppressed by physical force. Out +of enthusiasm for the gold bag, it rebelled against its own political +leaders and writers;--now, its political leaders and writers are set +aside, but the gold hag is plundered, after the mouth of the bourgeoisie +has been gagged and its pen broken. The bourgeoisie tirelessly shouted +to the revolution, in the language of St. Orsenius to the Christians: +"Fuge, Tace, Quiesce!"--flee, be silent, submit!--; Bonaparte shouts to +the bourgeoisie: "Fuge, Tace, Oniesce!"--flee, be silent, submit! + +The French bourgeoisie had long since solved Napoleon's dilemma: "Dans +cinquante ans l'Europe sera republicaine ou cosaque." [#1 Within +fifty years Europe will be either republican or Cossack.] It found the +solution in the "republique cosaque." [#2 Cossack republic.] No Circe +distorted with wicked charms the work of art of the bourgeois republic +into a monstrosity. That republic lost nothing but the appearance of +decency. The France of to-day was ready-made within the womb of the +Parliamentary republic. All that was wanted was a bayonet thrust, in +order that the bubble burst, and the monster leap forth to sight. + +Why did not the Parisian proletariat rise after the 2d of December? + +The downfall of the bourgeoisie was as yet merely decreed; the decree +was not yet executed. Any earnest uprising of the proletariat would +have forthwith revived this bourgeoisie, would have brought on its +reconciliation with the army, and would have insured a second June rout +to the workingmen. + +On December 4, the proletariat was incited to fight by Messrs. Bourgeois +& Small-Trader. On the evening of that day, several legions of the +National Guard promised to appear armed and uniformed on the place +of battle. This arose from the circumstance that Messrs. Bourgeois & +Small-Trader had got wind that, in one of his decrees of December 2, +Bonaparte abolished the secret ballot, and ordered them to enter +the words "Yes" and "No" after their names in the official register. +Bonaparte took alarm at the stand taken on December 4. During the night +he caused placards to be posted on all the street corners of Paris, +announcing the restoration of the secret ballot. Messrs. Bourgeois & +Small-Trader believed they had gained their point. The absentees, the +next morning, were Messieurs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader. + +During the night of December 1 and 2, the Parisian proletariat was +robbed of its leaders and chiefs of barricades by a raid of Bonaparte's. +An army without officers, disinclined by the recollections of June, 1848 +and 1849, and May, 1850, to fight under the banner of the Montagnards, +it left to its vanguard, the secret societies, the work of saving the +insurrectionary honor of Paris, which the bourgeoisie had yielded to the +soldiery so submissively that Bonaparte was later justified in disarming +the National Guard upon the scornful ground that he feared their arms +would be used against themselves by the Anarchists! + +"C'est Ic triomphe complet et definitif du Socialism!"' Thus did Guizot +characterize the 2d of December. But, although the downfall of the +parliamentary republic carries with it the germ of the triumph of +the proletarian revolution, its immediate and tangible result was +the triumph of Bonaparte over parliament, of the Executive over the +Legislative power, of force without phrases over the force of phrases. +In the parliament, the nation raised its collective will to the dignity +of law, i.e., it raised the law of the ruling class to the dignity of +its collective will. Before the Executive power, the nation abdicates +all will of its own, and submits to the orders of an outsider of +Authority. In contrast with the Legislative, the Executive power +expresses the heteronomy of the nation in contrast with its autonomy. +Accordingly, France seems to have escaped the despotism of a class +only in order to fall under the despotism of an individual, under the +authority, at that of an individual without authority The struggle seems +to settle down to the point where all classes drop down on their knees, +equally impotent and equally dumb. + +All the same, the revolution is thoroughgoing. It still is on its +passage through purgatory. It does its work methodically: Down to +December 2, 1851, it had fulfilled one-half of its programme, it now +fulfils the other half. It first ripens the power of the Legislature +into fullest maturity in order to be able to overthrow it. Now that it +has accomplished that, the revolution proceeds to ripen the power of +the Executive into equal maturity; it reduces this power to its purest +expression; isolates it; places it before itself as the sole subject for +reproof in order to concentrate against it all the revolutionary forces +of destruction. When the revolution shall have accomplished this second +part of its preliminary programme, Europe will jump up from her seat to +exclaim: "Well hast thou grubbed, old mole!" + +The Executive power, with its tremendous bureaucratic and military +organization; with its wide-spreading and artificial machinery of +government--an army of office-holders, half a million strong, together +with a military force of another million men--; this fearful body +of parasites, that coils itself like a snake around French society, +stopping all its pores, originated at the time of the absolute monarchy, +along with the decline of feudalism, which it helped to hasten. +The princely privileges of the landed proprietors and cities were +transformed into so many at-tributes of the Executive power; the feudal +dignitaries into paid office-holders; and the confusing design of +conflicting medieval seigniories, into the well regulated plan of a +government, work is subdivided and centralized as in the factory. The +first French revolution, having as a mission to sweep away all local, +territorial, urban and provincial special privileges, with the object +of establishing the civic unity of the nation, was hound to develop what +the absolute monarchy had begun--the work of centralization, together +with the range, the attributes and the menials of government. Napoleon +completed this governmental machinery. The Legitimist and the July +Monarchy contribute nothing thereto, except a greater subdivision of +labor, that grew in the same measure as the division and subdivision of +labor within bourgeois society raised new groups and interests, i.e., +new material for the administration of government. Each Common interest +was in turn forthwith removed from society, set up against it as a +higher Collective interest, wrested from the individual activity of +the members of society, and turned into a subject for governmental +administration, from the bridges, the school house and the communal +property of a village community, up to the railroads, the national +wealth and the national University of France. Finally, the parliamentary +republic found itself, in its struggle against the revolution, +compelled, with its repressive measures, to strengthen the means and the +centralization of the government. Each overturn, instead of breaking up, +carried this machine to higher perfection. The parties, that alternately +wrestled for supremacy, looked upon the possession of this tremendous +governmental structure as the principal spoils of their victory. + +Nevertheless, under the absolute monarchy, was only the means whereby +the first revolution, and under Napoleon, to prepare the class rule of +the bourgeoisie; under the restoration, under Louis Philippe, and under +the parliamentary republic, it was the instrument of the ruling class, +however eagerly this class strained after autocracy. Not before the +advent of the second Bonaparte does the government seem to have made +itself fully independent. The machinery of government has by this time +so thoroughly fortified itself against society, that the chief of the +"Society of December 10" is thought good enough to be at its head; a +fortune-hunter, run in from abroad, is raised on its shield by a drunken +soldiery, bought by himself with liquor and sausages, and whom he is +forced ever again to throw sops to. Hence the timid despair, the sense +of crushing humiliation and degradation that oppresses the breast of +France and makes her to choke. She feels dishonored. + +And yet the French Government does not float in the air. Bonaparte +represents an economic class, and that the most numerous in the +commonweal of France--the Allotment Farmer. [#4 The first French +Revolution distributed the bulk of the territory of France, held at the +time by the feudal lords, in small patches among the cultivators of the +soil. This allotment of lands created the French farmer class.] + +As the Bourbons are the dynasty of large landed property, as the Orleans +are the dynasty of money, so are the Bonapartes the dynasty of the +farmer, i.e. of the French masses. Not the Bonaparte, who threw himself +at the feet of the bourgeois parliament, but the Bonaparte, who swept +away the bourgeois parliament, is the elect of this farmer class. For +three years the cities had succeeded in falsifying the meaning of +the election of December 10, and in cheating the farmer out of the +restoration of the Empire. The election of December 10, 1848, is not +carried out until the "coup d'etat" of December 2, 1851. + +The allotment farmers are an immense mass, whose individual members +live in identical conditions, without, however, entering into manifold +relations with one another. Their method of production isolates them +from one another, instead of drawing them into mutual intercourse. This +isolation is promoted by the poor means of communication in France, +together with the poverty of the farmers themselves. Their field of +production, the small allotment of land that each cultivates, allows no +room for a division of labor, and no opportunity for the application +of science; in other words, it shuts out manifoldness of development, +diversity of talent, and the luxury of social relations. Every single +farmer family is almost self-sufficient; itself produces directly the +greater part of what it consumes; and it earns its livelihood more by +means of an interchange with nature than by intercourse with society. We +have the allotted patch of land, the farmer and his family; alongside of +that another allotted patch of land, another farmer and another family. +A bunch of these makes up a village; a bunch of villages makes up a +Department. Thus the large mass of the French nation is constituted by +the simple addition of equal magnitudes--much as a bag with potatoes +constitutes a potato-bag. In so far as millions of families live under +economic conditions that separate their mode of life, their interests +and their culture from those of the other classes, and that place them +in an attitude hostile toward the latter, they constitute a class; in +so far as there exists only a local connection among these farmers, a +connection which the individuality and exclusiveness of their interests +prevent from generating among them any unity of interest, national +connections, and political organization, they do not constitute a class. +Consequently, they are unable to assert their class interests in their +own name, be it by a parliament or by convention. They can not represent +one another, they must themselves be represented. Their representative +must at the same time appear as their master, as an authority over +them, as an unlimited governmental power, that protects them from +above, bestows rain and sunshine upon them. Accordingly, the political +influence of the allotment farmer finds its ultimate expression in an +Executive power that subjugates the commonweal to its own autocratic +will. + +Historic tradition has given birth to the superstition among the French +farmers that a man named Napoleon would restore to them all manner of +glory. Now, then, an individual turns I up, who gives himself out as +that man because, obedient to the "Code Napoleon," which provides that +"La recherche de la paternite est interdite," [#5 The inquiry into +paternity is forbidden.] he carries the name of Napoleon. [#6 L. N. +Bonaparte is said to have been an illegitimate son.] After a vagabondage +of twenty years, and a series of grotesque adventures, the myth is +verified, and that man becomes the Emperor of the French. The rooted +thought of the Nephew becomes a reality because it coincided with the +rooted thought of the most numerous class among the French. + +"But," I shall be objected to, "what about the farmers' uprisings over +half France, the raids of the Army upon the farmers, the wholesale +imprisonment and transportation of farmers?" + +Indeed, since Louis XIV., France has not experienced such persecutions +of the farmer on the ground of his demagogic machinations. + +But this should be well understood: The Bonaparte dynasty does not +represent the revolutionary, it represents the conservative farmer; +it does not represent the farmer, who presses beyond his own economic +conditions, his little allotment of land it represents him rather +who would confirm these conditions; it does not represent the rural +population, that, thanks to its own inherent energy, wishes, jointly +with the cities to overthrow the old order, it represents, on the +contrary, the rural population that, hide-bound in the old order, seeks +to see itself, together with its allotments, saved and favored by +the ghost of the Empire; it represents, not the intelligence, but the +superstition of the farmer; not his judgment, but his bias; not his +future, but his past; not his modern Cevennes; [#7 The Cevennes were +the theater of the most numerous revolutionary uprisings of the +farmer class.] but his modern Vendee. [#8 La Vendee was the theater of +protracted reactionary uprisings of the farmer class under the first +Revolution.] + +The three years' severe rule of the parliamentary republic had freed +a part of the French farmers from the Napoleonic illusion, and, though +even only superficially; had revolutionized them The bourgeoisie threw +them, however, violently back every time that they set themselves in +motion. Under the parliamentary republic, the modern wrestled with the +traditional consciousness of the French farmer. The process went on in +the form of a continuous struggle between the school teachers and the +parsons;--the bourgeoisie knocked the school teachers down. For the +first time, the farmer made an effort to take an independent stand in +the government of the country; this manifested itself in the prolonged +conflicts of the Mayors with the Prefects;--the bourgeoisie deposed +the Mayors. Finally, during period of the parliamentary republic, +the farmers of several localities rose against their own product, +the Army;--the bourgeoisie punished them with states of siege and +executions. And this is the identical bourgeoisie, that now howls over +the "stupidity of the masses," over the "vile multitude," which, it +claims, betrayed it to Bonaparte. Itself has violently fortified the +imperialism of the farmer class; it firmly maintained the conditions +that Constitute the birth-place of this farmer-religion. Indeed, the +bourgeoisie has every reason to fear the stupidity of the masses--so +long as they remain conservative; and their intelligence--so soon as +they become revolutionary. + +In the revolts that took place after the "coup d'etat" a part of the +French farmers protested, arms in hand, against their own vote of +December 10, 1848. The school house had, since 1848, sharpened their +wits. But they had bound themselves over to the nether world of history, +and history kept them to their word. Moreover, the majority of this +population was still so full of prejudices that, just in the "reddest" +Departments, it voted openly for Bonaparte. The National Assembly +prevented, as it thought, this population from walking; the farmers now +snapped the fetters which the cities had struck upon the will of the +country districts. In some places they even indulged the grotesque +hallucination of a "Convention together with a Napoleon." + +After the first revolution had converted the serf farmers into +freeholders, Napoleon fixed and regulated the conditions under which, +unmolested, they could exploit the soil of France, that had just fallen +into their hands, and expiate the youthful passion for property. But +that which now bears the French farmer down is that very allotment of +land, it is the partition of the soil, the form of ownership, which +Napoleon had consolidated. These are the material condition that turned +French feudal peasant into a small or allotment farmer, and Napoleon +into an Emperor. Two generations have sufficed to produce the inevitable +result the progressive deterioration of agriculture, and the progressive +encumbering of the agriculturist The "Napoleonic" form of ownership, +which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the condition for +the emancipation and enrichment of the French rural population, has, in +the course of the century, developed into the law of their enslavement +and pauperism. Now, then, this very law is the first of the "idees +Napoleoniennes," which the second Bonaparte must uphold. If he still +shares with the farmers the illusion of seeking, not in the system of +the small allotment itself, but outside of that system, in the influence +of secondary conditions, the cause of their ruin, his experiments +are bound to burst like soap-bubbles against the modern system of +production. + +The economic development of the allotment system has turned bottom +upward the relation of the farmer to the other classes of society. +Under Napoleon, the parceling out of the agricultural lands into small +allotments supplemented in the country the free competition and the +incipient large production of the cities. The farmer class was +the ubiquitous protest against the aristocracy of land, just then +overthrown. The roots that the system of small allotments cast into the +soil of France, deprived feudalism of all nutriment. Its boundary-posts +constituted the natural buttress of the bourgeoisie against every stroke +of the old overlords. But in the course of the nineteenth century, the +City Usurer stepped into the shoes of the Feudal Lord, the Mortgage +substituted the Feudal Duties formerly yielded by the soil, bourgeois +Capital took the place of the aristocracy of Landed Property. The former +allotments are now only a pretext that allows the capitalist class to +draw profit, interest and rent from agricultural lands, and to leave to +the farmer himself the task of seeing to it that he knock out his wages. +The mortgage indebtedness that burdens the soil of France imposes upon +the French farmer class they payment of an interest as great as the +annual interest on the whole British national debt. In this slavery of +capital, whither its development drives it irresistibly, the allotment +system has transformed the mass of the French nation into troglodytes. +Sixteen million farmers (women and children included), house in hovels +most of which have only one opening, some two, and the few most favored +ones three. Windows are to a house what the five senses are to the head. +The bourgeois social order, which, at the beginning of the century, +placed the State as a sentinel before the newly instituted allotment, +and that manured this with laurels, has become a vampire that sucks out +its heart-blood and its very brain, and throws it into the alchemist's +pot of capital. The "Code Napoleon" is now but the codex of execution, +of sheriff's sales and of intensified taxation. To the four million +(children, etc., included) official paupers, vagabonds, criminals and +prostitutes, that France numbers, must be added five million souls who +hover over the precipice of life, and either sojourn in the country +itself, or float with their rags and their children from the country to +the cities, and from the cities back to the country. Accordingly, the +interests of the farmers are no longer, as under Napoleon, in harmony +but in conflict with the interests of the bourgeoisie, i.e., with +capital; they find their natural allies and leaders among the urban +proletariat, whose mission is the overthrow of the bourgeois social +order. But the "strong and unlimited government"--and this is the second +of the "idees Napoleoniennes," which the second Napoleon has to carried +out--, has for its mission the forcible defence of this very "material" +social order, a "material order" that furnishes the slogan in +Bonaparte's proclamations against the farmers in revolt. + +Along with the mortgage, imposed by capital upon the farmer's allotment, +this is burdened by taxation. Taxation is the fountain of life to the +bureaucracy, the Army, the parsons and the court, in short to the whole +apparatus of the Executive power. A strong government, and heavy taxes +are identical. The system of ownership, involved in the system of +allotments lends itself by nature for the groundwork of a powerful and +numerous bureaucracy: it produces an even level of conditions and of +persons over the whole surface of the country; it, therefore, allows the +exercise of an even influence upon all parts of this even mass from a +high central point downwards: it annihilates the aristocratic gradations +between the popular masses and the Government; it, consequently, calls +from all sides for the direct intervention of the Government and for the +intervention of the latter's immediate organs; and, finally, it produces +an unemployed excess of population, that finds no room either in the +country or in the cities, that, consequently, snatches after public +office as a sort of dignified alms, and provokes the creation of further +offices. With the new markets, which he opened at the point of the +bayonet, and with the plunder of the continent, Napoleon returned to the +farmer class with interest the taxes wrung from them. These taxes were +then a goad to the industry of the farmer, while now, on the contrary, +they rob his industry of its last source of support, and completely sap +his power to resist poverty. Indeed, an enormous bureaucracy, richly +gallooned and well fed is that "idee Napoleonienne" that above all +others suits the requirements of the second Bonaparte. How else should +it be, seeing he is forced to raise alongside of the actual classes of +society, an artificial class, to which the maintenance of his own regime +must be a knife-and-fork question? One of his first financial operations +was, accordingly, the raising of the salaries of the government +employees to their former standard and the creation of new sinecures. + +Another "idee Napoleonienne" is the rule of the parsons as an instrument +of government. But while the new-born allotment, in harmony with +society, in its dependence upon the powers of nature, and in its +subordination to the authority that protected it from above, was +naturally religious, the debt-broken allotment, on the contrary, at odds +with society and authority, and driven beyond its own narrow bounds, +becomes as naturally irreligious. Heaven was quite a pretty gift thrown +in with the narrow strip of land that had just been won, all the more as +it makes the weather; it, however, becomes an insult from the moment it +is forced upon the farmer as a substitute for his allotment. Then +the parson appears merely as the anointed blood-hound of the earthly +police,--yet another "idee Napoleonienne." The expedition against Rome +will next time take place in France, but in a reverse sense from that of +M. de Montalembert. + +Finally, the culminating point of the "idees Napoleoniennes" is the +preponderance of the Army. The Army was the "point of honor" with the +allotment farmers: it was themselves turned into masters, defending +abroad their newly established property, glorifying their recently +conquered nationality, plundering and revolutionizing the world. The +uniform was their State costume; war was their poetry; the allotment, +expanded and rounded up in their phantasy, was the fatherland; and +patriotism became the ideal form of property. But the foe, against whom +the French farmer must now defend his property, are not the Cossacks, +they are the sheriffs and the tax collectors. The allotment no longer +lies in the so-called fatherland, but in the register of mortgages. The +Army itself no longer is the flower of the youth of the farmers, it +is the swamp-blossom of the slum-proletariat of the farmer class. It +consists of "remplacants," substitutes, just as the second Bonaparte +himself is but a "remplacant," a substitute, for Napoleon. Its feats of +heroism are now performed in raids instituted against farmers and in the +service of the police;--and when the internal contradictions of his own +system shall drive the chief of the "Society of December 10" across the +French frontier, that Army will, after a few bandit-raids, gather no +laurels but only hard knocks. + +It is evident that all the "idees Napoleoniennes" are the ideas of the +undeveloped and youthfully fresh allotment; they are an absurdity for +the allotment that now survives. They are only the hallucinations of +its death struggle; words turned to hollow phrases, spirits turned to +spooks. But this parody of the Empire was requisite in order to free the +mass of the French nation from the weight of tradition, and to elaborate +sharply the contrast between Government and Society. Along with the +progressive decay of the allotment, the governmental structure, reared +upon it, breaks down. The centralization of Government, required +by modern society, rises only upon the ruins of the military and +bureaucratic governmental machinery that was forged in contrast to +feudalism. + +The conditions of the French farmers' class solve to us the riddle +of the general elections of December 20 and 21, that led the second +Bonaparte to the top of Sinai, not to receive, but to decree laws. + +The bourgeoisie had now, manifestly, no choice but to elect Bonaparte. +When at the Council of Constance, the puritans complained of the sinful +life of the Popes, and moaned about the need of a reform in morals, +Cardinal d'Ailly thundered into their faces: "Only the devil in his Own +person can now save the Catholic Church, and you demand angels." So, +likewise, did the French bourgeoisie cry out after the "coup d'etat": +"Only the chief of the 'Society of December 10' can now save bourgeois +society, only theft can save property, only perjury religion, only +bastardy the family, only disorder order!" + +Bonaparte, as autocratic Executive power, fulfills his mission to secure +"bourgeois order." But the strength of this bourgeois order lies in the +middle class. He feels himself the representative of the middle class, +and issues his decrees in that sense. Nevertheless, he is something +only because he has broken the political power of this class, and daily +breaks it anew. Hence he feels himself the adversary of the political +and the literary power of the middle class. But, by protecting their +material, he nourishes anew their political power. Consequently, the +cause must be kept alive, but the result, wherever it manifests itself, +swept out of existence. But this procedure is impossible without slight +mistakings of causes and effects, seeing that both, in their mutual +action and reaction, lose their distinctive marks. Thereupon, new +decrees, that blur the line of distinction. Bonaparte, furthermore, +feels himself, as against the bourgeoisie, the representative of the +farmer and the people in general, who, within bourgeois society, is to +render the lower classes of society happy. To this end, new decrees, +intended to exploit the "true Socialists," together with their +governmental wisdom. But, above all, Bonaparte feels himself the +chief of the "Society of December 10," the representative of the +slum-proletariat, to which he himself, his immediate surroundings, his +Government, and his army alike belong, the main object with all of whom +is to be good to themselves, and draw Californian tickets out of the +national treasury. An he affirms his chieftainship of the "Society of +December 10" with decrees, without decrees, and despite decrees. + +This contradictory mission of the man explains the contradictions of his +own Government, and that confused groping about, that now seeks to win, +then to humiliate now this class and then that, and finishes by arraying +against itself all the classes; whose actual insecurity constitutes +a highly comical contrast with the imperious, categoric style of the +Government acts, copied closely from the Uncle. + +Industry and commerce, i.e., the business of the middle class, are to be +made to blossom in hot-house style under the "strong Government." Loans +for a number of railroad grants. But the Bonapartist slum-proletariat is +to enrich itself. Peculation is carried on with railroad concessions +on the Bourse by the initiated; but no capital is forthcoming for the +railroads. The bank then pledges itself to make advances upon railroad +stock; but the bank is itself to be exploited; hence, it must be +cajoled; it is released of the obligation to publish its reports weekly. +Then follows a leonine treaty between the bank and the Government. The +people are to be occupied: public works are ordered; but the public +works raise the tax rates upon the people; thereupon the taxes are +reduced by an attack upon the national bond-holders through the +conversion of the five per cent "rentes" [#9 The name of the French +national bonds.] into four-and-halves. Yet the middle class must again +be tipped: to this end, the tax on wine is doubled for the people, who +buy it at retail, and is reduced to one-half for the middle class, that +drink it at wholesale. Genuine labor organizations are dissolved, but +promises are made of future wonders to accrue from organization. The +farmers are to be helped: mortgage-banks are set up that must promote +the indebtedness; of the farmer and the concentration of property but +again, these banks are to be utilized especially to the end of squeezing +money out of the confiscated estates of the House of Orleans; no +capitalist will listen to this scheme, which, moreover, is not mentioned +in the decree; the mortgage bank remains a mere decree, etc., etc. + +Bonaparte would like to appear as the patriarchal benefactor of all +classes; but he can give to none without taking from the others. As was +said of the Duke of Guise, at the time of the Fronde, that he was the +most obliging man in France because he had converted all his estates +into bonds upon himself for his Parisians, so would Napoleon like to be +the most obliging man in France and convert all property and all labor +of France into a personal bond upon himself. He would like to steal the +whole of France to make a present thereof to France, or rather to be +able to purchase France back again with French money;--as chief of the +"Society of December 10," he must purchase that which is to be his. +All the State institutions, the Senate, the Council of State, the +Legislature, the Legion of Honor, the Soldiers' decorations, the public +baths, the public buildings, the railroads, the General Staff of the +National Guard, exclusive of the rank and file, the confiscated estates +of the House of Orleans,--all are converted into institutions for +purchase and sale. Every place in the Army and the machinery of +Government becomes a purchasing power. The most important thing, +however, in this process, whereby France is taken to be given back to +herself, are the percentages that, in the transfer, drop into the +hands of the chief and the members of the "Society of December 10." +The witticisms with which the Countess of L., the mistress of de Morny, +characterized the confiscations of the Orleanist estates: "C'est le +premier vol de l'aigle," [#10 "It is the first flight of the eagle" The +French word "vol" means theft as well as flight.] fits every fight of +the eagle that is rather a crow. He himself and his followers daily call +out to themselves, like the Italian Carthusian monk in the legend does +to the miser, who displayfully counted the goods on which he could live +for many years to come: "Tu fai conto sopra i beni, bisogna prima far il +conto sopra gli anni." [#11 "You count your property you should rather +count the years left to you."] In order not to make a mistake in the +years, they count by minutes. A crowd of fellows, of the best among whom +all that can be said is that one knows not whence he comes--a noisy, +restless "Boheme," greedy after plunder, that crawls about in gallooned +frocks with the same grotesque dignity as Soulonque's [#12 Soulonque was +the negro Emperor of the short-lived negro Empire of Hayti.] Imperial +dignitaries--, thronged the court crowded the ministries, and pressed +upon the head of the Government and of the Army. One can picture to +himself this upper crust of the "Society of December 10" by considering +that Veron Crevel [#13 Crevel is a character of Balzac, drawn after Dr. +Veron, the proprietor of the "Constitutional" newspaper, as a type of +the dissolute Parisian Philistine.] is their preacher of morality, and +Granier de Cassagnac their thinker. When Guizot, at the time he was +Minister, employed this Granier on an obscure sheet against the dynastic +opposition, he used to praise him with the term: "C'est le roi des +droles." [#14 "He Is the king of the clowns."] It were a mistake to +recall the days of the Regency or of Louis XV. by the court and the kit +of Louis Bonaparte's: "Often did France have a mistress-administration, +but never yet an administration of kept men." [#15 Madame de Girardin.] + +Harassed by the contradictory demands of his situation, and compelled, +like a sleight-of-hands performer, to keep, by means of constant +surprises, the eyes of the public riveted upon himself as the substitute +of Napoleon, compelled, consequently, everyday to accomplish a sort of +"coup" on a small scale, Bonaparte throws the whole bourgeois social +system into disorder; he broaches everything that seemed unbroachable +by the revolution of 1848; he makes one set people patient under the +revolution and another anxious for it; he produces anarchy itself in the +name of order by rubbing off from the whole machinery of Government the +veneer of sanctity, by profaning it, by rendering it at once nauseating +and laughable. He rehearses in Paris the cult of the sacred coat of +Trier with the cult of the Napoleonic Imperial mantle. But when the +Imperial Mantle shall have finally fallen upon the shoulders of Louis +Bonaparte, then will also the iron statue of Napoleon drop down from the +top of the Vendome column. [#16 A prophecy that a few years later, after +Bonaparte's coronation as Emperor, was literally fulfilled. By order +of Emperor Louis Napoleon, the military statue of the Napoleon that +originally surmounted the Vendome was taken down and replaced by one of +first Napoleon in imperial robes.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis +Bonaparte, by Karl Marx + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOUIS BONAPARTE *** + +***** This file should be named 1346.txt or 1346.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/1346/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/old/1346.zip b/old/old/1346.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40becd4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1346.zip diff --git a/old/old/mar1810.txt b/old/old/mar1810.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eab1fef --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/mar1810.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4232 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext of Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte +#2 in our series by Karl Marx + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + +by Karl Marx + +June, 1998 [Etext #1346] + + +Project Gutenberg Etext of Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte +*******This file should be named mar1810.txt or mar1810.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, mar1811.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, mar1810a.txt + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we do NOT keep these books +in compliance with any particular paper edition, usually otherwise. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text +files per month, or 384 more Etexts in 1998 for a total of 1500+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 150 billion Etexts given away. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only 10% of the present number of computer users. 2001 +should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it +will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001. + + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +We would prefer to send you this information by email +(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail). + +****** +If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please +FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives: +[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type] + +ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd etext/etext90 through /etext96 +or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information] +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET INDEX?00.GUT +for a list of books +and +GET NEW GUT for general information +and +MGET GUT* for newsletters. + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + +by Karl Marx + + + + +Translator's Preface + + + + +"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" is one of Karl Marx' most +profound and most brilliant monographs. It may be considered the best +work extant on the philosophy of history, with an eye especially upon +the history of the Movement of the Proletariat, together with the +bourgeois and other manifestations that accompany the same, and the +tactics that such conditions dictate. + +The recent populist uprising; the more recent "Debs Movement"; the +thousand and one utopian and chimerical notions that are flaring up; the +capitalist maneuvers; the hopeless, helpless grasping after straws, that +characterize the conduct of the bulk of the working class; all of these, +together with the empty-headed, ominous figures that are springing into +notoriety for a time and have their day, mark the present period of the +Labor Movement in the nation a critical one. The best information +acquirable, the best mental training obtainable are requisite to steer +through the existing chaos that the death-tainted social system of today +creates all around us. To aid in this needed information and mental +training, this instructive work is now made accessible to English +readers, and is commended to the serious study of the serious. + +The teachings contained in this work are hung on an episode in recent +French history. With some this fact may detract of its value. A +pedantic, supercilious notion is extensively abroad among us that we are +an "Anglo Saxon" nation; and an equally pedantic, supercilious habit +causes many to look to England for inspiration, as from a racial +birthplace Nevertheless, for weal or for woe, there is no such thing +extant as "Anglo-Saxon"--of al nations, said to be "Anglo-Saxon," in the +United States least. What we still have from England, much as +appearances may seem to point the other way, is not of our +bone-and-marrow, so to speak, but rather partakes of the nature of +"importations. "We are no more English on account of them than we are +Chinese because we all drink tea. + +Of all European nations, France is the on to which we come nearest. +Besides its republican form of government--the directness of its +history, the unity of its actions, the sharpness that marks its internal +development, are all characteristics that find their parallel her best, +and vice versa. In all essentials the study of modern French history, +particularly when sketched by such a master hand as Marx', is the most +valuable one for the acquisition of that historic, social and biologic +insight that our country stands particularly in need of, and that will +be inestimable during the approaching critical days. + +For the assistance of those who, unfamiliar with the history of France, +may be confused by some of the terms used by Marx, the following +explanations may prove aidful: + +On the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9th), the post-revolutionary development of +affairs in France enabled the first Napoleon to take a step that led +with inevitable certainty to the imperial throne. The circumstance that +fifty and odd years later similar events aided his nephew, Louis +Bonaparte, to take a similar step with a similar result, gives the name +to this work--"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." + +As to the other terms and allusions that occur, the following sketch +will suffice: + +Upon the overthrow of the first Napoleon came the restoration of the +Bourbon throne (Louis XVIII, succeeded by Charles X). In July, 1830, an +uprising of the upper tier of the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class--the +aristocracy of finance-- overthrew the Bourbon throne, or landed +aristocracy, and set up the throne of Orleans, a younger branch of the +house of Bourbon, with Louis Philippe as king. From the month in which +this revolution occurred, Louis Philippe's monarchy is called the "July +Monarchy. "In February, 1848, a revolt of a lower tier of the +capitalist class-the industrial bourgeoisie--, against the aristocracy +of finance, in turn dethroned Louis Philippe. The affair, also named +from the month in which it took place, is the "February Revolution. +"The "Eighteenth Brumaire" starts with that event + +Despite the inapplicableness to our affairs of the political names and +political leadership herein described, both these names and leaderships +are to such an extent the products of an economic-social development +that has here too taken place with even greater sharpens, and they have +their present or threatened counterparts here so completely, that, by +the light of this work of Marx', we are best enabled to understand our +own history, to know whence we came, and whither we are going and how to +conduct ourselves. + + + +D.D.L. New York, Sept. 12, 1897 + + + +The Eighteenth Brumaire Of Louis Bonaparte + + + +I + + + +Hegel says somewhere that that great historic facts and personages recur +twice. He forgot to add: "Once as tragedy, and again as farce. +"Caussidiere for Danton, Louis Blanc for Robespierre, the "Mountain" of +1848-51 for the "Mountain" of 1793-05, the Nephew for the Uncle. The +identical caricature marks also the conditions under which the second +edition of the eighteenth Brumaire is issued. + +Man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of the whole +cloth; he does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself, but out +of such as he finds close at hand. The tradition of all past +generations weighs like an alp upon the brain of the living. At the +very time when men appear engaged in revolutionizing things and +themselves, in bringing about what never was before, at such very epochs +of revolutionary crisis do they anxiously conjure up into their service +the spirits of the past, assume their names, their battle cries, their +costumes to enact a new historic scene in such time-honored disguise and +with such borrowed language Thus did Luther masquerade as the Apostle +Paul; thus did the revolution of 1789-1814 drape itself alternately as +Roman Republic and as Roman Empire; nor did the revolution of 1818 know +what better to do than to parody at one time the year 1789, at another +the revolutionary traditions of 1793-95 Thus does the beginner, who has +acquired a new language, keep on translating it back into his own mother +tongue; only then has he grasped the spirit of the new language and is +able freely to express himself therewith when he moves in it without +recollections of the old, and has forgotten in its use his own +hereditary tongue. + +When these historic configurations of the dead past are closely observed +a striking difference is forthwith noticeable. Camille Desmoulins, +Danton, Robespierre, St. Juste, Napoleon, the heroes as well as the +parties and the masses of the old French revolution, achieved in Roman +costumes and with Roman phrases the task of their time: the emancipation +and the establishment of modern bourgeois society. One set knocked to +pieces the old feudal groundwork and mowed down the feudal heads that +had grown upon it; Napoleon brought about, within France, the conditions +under which alone free competition could develop, the partitioned lands +be exploited the nation's unshackled powers of industrial production be +utilized; while, beyond the French frontier, he swept away everywhere +the establishments of feudality, so far as requisite, to furnish the +bourgeois social system of France with fit surroundings of the European +continent, and such as were in keeping with the times. Once the new +social establishment was set on foot, the antediluvian giants vanished, +and, along with them, the resuscitated Roman world--the Brutuses, +Gracchi, Publicolas, the Tribunes, the Senators, and Caesar himself. In +its sober reality, bourgeois society had produced its own true +interpretation in the Says, Cousins, Royer-Collards, Benjamin Constants +and Guizots; its real generals sat behind the office desks; and the +mutton-head of Louis XVIII was its political lead. Wholly absorbed in +the production of wealth and in the peaceful fight of competition, this +society could no longer understand that the ghosts of the days of Rome +had watched over its cradle. And yet, lacking in heroism as bourgeois +society is, it nevertheless had stood in need of heroism, of +self-sacrifice, of terror, of civil war, and of bloody battle fields to +bring it into the world. Its gladiators found in the stern classic +traditions of the Roman republic the ideals and the form, the +self-deceptions, that they needed in order to conceal from themselves +the narrow bourgeois substance of their own struggles, and to keep their +passion up to the height of a great historic tragedy. Thus, at another +stage of development a century before, did Cromwell and the English +people draw from the Old Testament the language, passions and illusions +for their own bourgeois revolution. When the real goal was reached, +when the remodeling of English society was accomplished, Locke +supplanted Habakuk. + +Accordingly, the reviving of the dead in those revolutions served the +purpose of glorifying the new struggles, not of parodying the old; it +served the purpose of exaggerating to the imagination the given task, +not to recoil before its practical solution; it served the purpose of +rekindling the revolutionary spirit, not to trot out its ghost. + +In 1848-51 only the ghost of the old revolution wandered about, from +Marrast the "Relpublicain en gaunts jaunes," [#1 Silk-stocking +republican] who disguised himself in old Bailly, down to the adventurer, +who hid his repulsively trivial features under the iron death mask of +Napoleon. A whole people, that imagines it has imparted to itself +accelerated powers of motion through a revolution, suddenly finds itself +transferred back to a dead epoch, and, lest there be any mistake +possible on this head, the old dates turn up again; the old calendars; +the old names; the old edicts, which long since had sunk to the level of +the antiquarian's learning; even the old bailiffs, who had long seemed +mouldering with decay. The nation takes on the appearance of that crazy +Englishman in Bedlam, who imagines he is living in the days of the +Pharaohs, and daily laments the hard work that he must do in the +Ethiopian mines as gold digger, immured in a subterranean prison, with a +dim lamp fastened on his head, behind him the slave overseer with a long +whip, and, at the mouths of the mine a mob of barbarous camp servants +who understand neither the convicts in the mines nor one another, +because they do not speak a common language. "And all this," cries the +crazy Englishman, "is demanded of me, the free-born Englishman, in order +to make gold for old Pharaoh." "In order to pay off the debts of the +Bonaparte family"--sobs the French nation. The Englishman, so long as +he was in his senses, could not rid himself of the rooted thought making +gold. The Frenchmen, so long as they were busy with a revolution, could +not rid then selves of the Napoleonic memory, as the election of +December 10th proved. They longed to escape from the dangers of +revolution back to the flesh pots of Egypt; the 2d of December, 1851 was +the answer. They have not merely the character of the old Napoleon, but +the old Napoleon himself-caricatured as he needs must appear in the +middle of the nineteenth century. + +The social revolution of the nineteenth century can not draw its poetry +from the past, it can draw that only from the future. It cannot start +upon its work before it has stricken off all superstition concerning the +past. Former revolutions require historic reminiscences in order to +intoxicate themselves with their own issues. The revolution of the +nineteenth century must let the dead bury their dead in order to reach +its issue. With the former, the phrase surpasses the substance; with +this one, the substance surpasses the phrase. + +The February revolution was a surprisal; old society was taken unawares; +and the people proclaimed this political stroke a great historic act +whereby the new era was opened. On the 2d of December, the February +revolution is jockeyed by the trick of a false player, and what is seer +to be overthrown is no longer the monarchy, but the liberal concessions +which had been wrung from it by centuries of struggles. Instead of +society itself having conquered a new point, only the State appears to +have returned to its oldest form, to the simply brazen rule of the sword +and the club. Thus, upon the "coup de main" of February, 1848, comes +the response of the "coup de tete" December, 1851. So won, so lost. +Meanwhile, the interval did not go by unutilized. During the years +1848-1851, French society retrieved in abbreviated, because +revolutionary, method the lessons and teachings, which--if it was to be +more than a disturbance of the surface-should have preceded the February +revolution, had it developed in regular order, by rule, so to say. Now +French society seems to have receded behind its point of departure; in +fact, however, it was compelled to first produce its own revolutionary +point of departure, the situation, circumstances, conditions, under +which alone the modern revolution is in earnest. + +Bourgeois revolutions, like those of the eighteenth century, rush onward +rapidly from success to success, their stage effects outbid one another, +men and things seem to be set in flaming brilliants, ecstasy is the +prevailing spirit; but they are short-lived, they reach their climax +speedily, then society relapses into a long fit of nervous reaction +before it learns how to appropriate the fruits of its period of feverish +excitement. Proletarian revolutions, on the contrary, such as those of +the nineteenth century, criticize themselves constantly; constantly +interrupt themselves in their own course; come back to what seems to +have been accomplished, in order to start over anew; scorn with cruel +thoroughness the half measures, weaknesses and meannesses of their first +attempts; seem to throw down their adversary only in order to enable him +to draw fresh strength from the earth, and again, to rise up against +them in more gigantic stature; constantly recoil in fear before the +undefined monster magnitude of their own objects--until finally that +situation is created which renders all retreat impossible, and the +conditions themselves cry out: + +"Hic Rhodus, hic salta !" [#2 Here is Rhodes, leap here! An allusion to +Aesop's Fables.] + +Every observer of average intelligence; even if he failed to follow step +by step the course of French development, must have anticipated that an +unheard of fiasco was in store for the revolution. It was enough to +hear the self-satisfied yelpings of victory wherewith the Messieurs +Democrats mutually congratulated one another upon the pardons of May 2d, +1852. Indeed, May 2d had become a fixed idea in their heads; it had +become a dogma with them--something like the day on which Christ was to +reappear and the Millennium to begin had formed in the heads of the +Chiliasts. Weakness had, as it ever does, taken refuge in the +wonderful; it believed the enemy was overcome if, in its imagination, it +hocus-pocused him away; and it lost all sense of the present in the +imaginary apotheosis of the future, that was at hand, and of the deeds, +that it had "in petto," but which it did not yet want to bring to the +scratch. The heroes, who ever seek to refute their established +incompetence by mutually bestowing their sympathy upon one another and +by pulling together, had packed their satchels, taken their laurels in +advance payments and were just engaged in the work of getting discounted +"in partibus," on the stock exchange, the republics for which, in the +silence of their unassuming dispositions, they had carefully organized +the government personnel. The 2d of December struck them like a bolt +from a clear sky; and the 'peoples, who, in periods of timid +despondency, gladly allow their hidden fears to be drowned by the +loudest screamers, will perhaps have become convinced that the days are +gone by when the cackling of geese could save the Capitol. + +The constitution, the national assembly, the dynastic parties, the blue +and the red republicans, the heroes from Africa, the thunder from the +tribune, the flash-lightnings from the daily press, the whole +literature, the political names and the intellectual celebrities, the +civil and the criminal law, the "liberte', egalite', fraternite'," +together with the 2d of May 1852--all vanished like a phantasmagoria +before the ban of one man, whom his enemies themselves do not pronounce +an adept at witchcraft. Universal suffrage seems to have survived only +for a moment, to the end that, before the eyes of the whole world, it +should make its own testament with its own hands, and, in the name of +the people, declare: "All that exists deserves to perish." + +It is not enough to say, as the Frenchmen do, that their nation was +taken by surprise. A nation, no more than a woman, is excused for the +unguarded hour when the first adventurer who comes along can do violence +to her. The riddle is not solved by such shifts, it is only formulated +in other words. There remains to be explained how a nation of +thirty-six millions can be surprised by three swindlers, and taken to +prison without resistance. + +Let us recapitulate in general outlines the phases which the French +revolution of' February 24th, 1848, to December, 1851, ran through. + +Three main periods are unmistakable: + +First--The February period; + +Second--The period of constituting the republic, or of the constitutive +national assembly (May 4, 1848, to May 29th, 1849); + +Third--The period of the constitutional republic, or of the legislative +national assembly (May 29, 1849, to December 2, 1851). + +The first period, from February 24, or the downfall of Louis Philippe, +to May 4, 1848, the date of the assembling of the constitutive +assembly--the February period proper--may be designated as the prologue +of the revolution. It officially expressed its' own character in this, +that the government which it improvised declared itself "provisional;" +and, like the government, everything that was broached, attempted, or +uttered, pronounced itself provisional. Nobody and nothing dared to +assume the right of permanent existence and of an actual fact. All the +elements that had prepared or determined the revolution--dynastic +opposition, republican bourgeoisie, democratic-republican small traders' +class, social-democratic labor element-all found "provisionally" their +place in the February government. + +It could not be otherwise. The February days contemplated originally a +reform of the suffrage laws, whereby the area of the politically +privileged among the property-holding class was to be extended, while +the exclusive rule of the aristocracy of finance was to be overthrown. +When however, it came to a real conflict, when the people mounted the +barricades, when the National Guard stood passive, when the army offered +no serious resistance, and the kingdom ran away, then the republic +seemed self-understood. Each party interpreted it in its own sense. +Won, arms in hand, by the proletariat, they put upon it the stamp of +their own class, and proclaimed the social republic. Thus the general +purpose of modern revolutions was indicated, a purpose, however, that +stood in most singular contradiction to every thing that, with the +material at hand, with the stage of enlightenment that the masses had +reached, and under existing circumstances and conditions, could be +immediately used. On the other hand, the claims of all the other +elements, that had cooperated in the revolution of February, were +recognized by the lion's share that they received in the government. +Hence, in no period do we find a more motley mixture of high-sounding +phrases together with actual doubt and helplessness; of more +enthusiastic reform aspirations, together with a more slavish adherence +to the old routine; more seeming harmony permeating the whole of society +together with a deeper alienation of its several elements. While the +Parisian proletariat was still gloating over the sight of the great +perspective that had disclosed itself to their view, and was indulging +in seriously meant discussions over the social problems, the old powers +of society had groomed themselves, had gathered together, had +deliberated and found an unexpected support in the mass of the +nation--the peasants and small traders--all of whom threw themselves on +a sudden upon the political stage, after the barriers of the July +monarchy had fallen down. + +The second period, from May 4, 1848, to the end of May, 1849, is the +period of the constitution, of the founding of the bourgeois republic +immediately after the February days, not only was the dynastic +opposition surprised by the republicans, and the republicans by the +Socialists, but all France was surprised by Paris. The national +assembly, that met on May 4, 1848, to frame a constitution, was the +outcome of the national elections; it represented the nation. It was a +living protest against the assumption of the February days, and it was +intended to bring the results of the revolution back to the bourgeois +measure. In vain did the proletariat of Paris, which forthwith +understood the character of this national assembly, endeavor, a few days +after its meeting; on May 15, to deny its existence by force, to +dissolve it, to disperse the organic apparition, in which the reacting +spirit of the nation was threatening them, and thus reduce it back to +its separate component parts. As is known, the 15th of May had no other +result than that of removing Blanqui and his associates, i.e. the real +leaders of the proletarian party, from the public scene for the whole +period of the cycle which we are here considering. + +Upon the bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe, only the bourgeois +republic could follow; that is to say, a limited portion of the +bourgeoisie having ruled under the name of the king, now the whole +bourgeoisie was to rule under the name of the people. The demands of +the Parisian proletariat are utopian tom-fooleries that have to be done +away with. To this declaration of the constitutional national assembly, +the Paris proletariat answers with the June insurrection, the most +colossal event in the history of European civil wars. The bourgeois +republic won. On its side stood the aristocracy of finance, the +industrial bourgeoisie; the middle class; the small traders' class; the +army; the slums, organized as Guarde Mobile; the intellectual +celebrities, the parsons' class, and the rural population. On the side +of the Parisian proletariat stood none but itself. Over 3,000 +insurgents were massacred, after the victory 15,000 were transported +without trial. With this defeat, the proletariat steps to the +background on the revolutionary stage. It always seeks to crowd +forward, so soon as the movement seems to acquire new impetus, but with +ever weaker effort and ever smaller results; So soon as any of the above +lying layers of society gets into revolutionary fermentation, it enters +into alliance therewith and thus shares all the defeats which the +several parties successively suffer. But these succeeding blows become +ever weaker the more generally they are distributed over the whole +surface of society. The more important leaders of the Proletariat, in +its councils, and the press, fall one after another victims of the +courts, and ever more questionable figures step to the front. It partly +throws itself it upon doctrinaire experiments, "co-operative banking" +and "labor exchange" schemes; in other words, movements, in which it +goes into movements in which it gives up the task of revolutionizing the +old world with its own large collective weapons and on the contrary, +seeks to bring about its emancipation, behind the back of society, in +private ways, within the narrow bounds of its own class conditions, and, +consequently, inevitably fails. The proletariat seems to be able +neither to find again the revolutionary magnitude within itself nor to +draw new energy from the newly formed alliances until all the classes, +with whom it contended in June, shall lie prostrate along with itself. +But in all these defeats, the proletariat succumbs at least with the +honor that attaches to great historic struggles; not France alone, all +Europe trembles before the June earthquake, while the successive defeats +inflicted upon the higher classes are bought so easily that they need +the brazen exaggeration of the victorious party itself to be at all able +to pass muster as an event; and these defeats become more disgraceful +the further removed the defeated party stands from the proletariat. + +True enough, the defeat of the June insurgents prepared, leveled the +ground, upon which the bourgeois republic could be founded and erected; +but it, at the same time, showed that there are in Europe other issues +besides that of "Republic or Monarchy." It revealed the fact that here +the Bourgeois Republic meant the unbridled despotism of one class over +another. It proved that, with nations enjoying an older civilization, +having developed class distinctions, modern conditions of production, an +intellectual consciousness, wherein all traditions of old have been +dissolved through the work of centuries, that with such countries the +republic means only the political revolutionary form of bourgeois +society, not its conservative form of existence, as is the case in the +United States of America, where, true enough, the classes already exist, +but have not yet acquired permanent character, are in constant flux and +reflux, constantly changing their elements and yielding them up to one +another where the modern means of production, instead of coinciding with +a stagnant population, rather compensate for the relative scarcity of +heads and hands; and, finally, where the feverishly youthful life of +material production, which has to appropriate a new world to itself, has +so far left neither time nor opportunity to abolish the illusions of +old. [#3 This was written at the beginning of 1852.] + +All classes and parties joined hands in the June days in a "Party of +Order" against the class of the proletariat, which was designated as the +"Party of Anarchy," of Socialism, of Communism. They claimed to have +"saved" society against the "enemies of society." They gave out the +slogans of the old social order--"Property, Family, Religion, Order"--as +the pass-words for their army, and cried out to the +counter-revolutionary crusaders: "In this sign thou wilt conquer!" From +that moment on, so soon as any of the numerous parties, which had +marshaled themselves under this sign against the June insurgents, tries, +in turn, to take the revolutionary field in the interest of its own +class, it goes down in its turn before the cry: "Property, Family, +Religion, Order." Thus it happens that "society is saved" as often as +the circle of its ruling class is narrowed, as often as a more exclusive +interest asserts itself over the general. Every demand for the most +simple bourgeois financial reform, for the most ordinary liberalism, for +the most commonplace republicanism, for the flattest democracy, is +forthwith punished as an "assault upon society," and is branded as +"Socialism." Finally the High Priests of "Religion and Order" +themselves are kicked off their tripods; are fetched out of their beds +in the dark; hurried into patrol wagons, thrust into jail or sent into +exile; their temple is razed to the ground, their mouths are sealed, +their pen is broken, their law torn to pieces in the name of Religion, +of Family, of Property, and of Order. Bourgeois, fanatic on the point +of "Order," are shot down on their own balconies by drunken soldiers, +forfeit their family property, and their houses are bombarded for +pastime--all in the name of Property, of Family, of Religion, and of +Order. Finally, the refuse of bourgeois society constitutes the "holy +phalanx of Order," and the hero Crapulinsky makes his entry into the +Tuileries as the "Savior of Society." + + + + + +II + + + +Let us resume the thread of events. + +The history of the Constitutional National Assembly from the June days +on, is the history of the supremacy and dissolution of the republican +bourgeois party, the party which is known under several names of +"Tricolor Republican," "True Republican," "Political Republican," +"Formal Republican," etc., etc. Under the bourgeois monarchy of Louis +Philippe, this party had constituted the Official Republican Opposition, +and consequently had been a recognized element in the then political +world. It had its representatives in the Chambers, and commanded +considerable influence in the press. Its Parisian organ, the +"National," passed, in its way, for as respectable a paper as the +"Journal des Debats." This position in the constitutional monarchy +corresponded to its character. The party was not a fraction of the +bourgeoisie, held together by great and common interests, and marked by +special business requirements. It was a coterie of bourgeois with +republican ideas-writers, lawyers, officers and civil employees, whose +influence rested upon the personal antipathies of the country for Louis +Philippe, upon reminiscences of the old Republic, upon the republican +faith of a number of enthusiasts, and, above all, upon the spirit of +French patriotism, whose hatred of the treaties of Vienna and of the +alliance with England kept them perpetually on the alert. The +"National" owed a large portion of its following under Louis Philippe to +this covert imperialism, that, later under the republic, could stand up +against it as a deadly competitor in the person of Louis Bonaparte. The +fought the aristocracy of finance just the same as did the rest of the +bourgeois opposition. The polemic against the budget, which in France, +was closely connected with the opposition to the aristocracy of finance, +furnished too cheap a popularity and too rich a material for Puritanical +leading articles, not to be exploited. The industrial bourgeoisie was +thankful to it for its servile defense of the French tariff system, +which, however, the paper had taken up , more out of patriotic than +economic reasons the whole bourgeois class was thankful to it for its +vicious denunciations of Communism and Socialism For the rest, the party +of the "National" was purely republican, i.e. it demanded a republican +instead of a monarchic form of bourgeois government; above all, it +demanded for the bourgeoisie the lion's share of the government. As to +how this transformation was to be accomplished, the party was far from +being clear. What, however, was clear as day to it and was openly +declared at the reform banquets during the last days of Louis Philippe's +reign, was its unpopularity with the democratic middle class, especially +with the revolutionary proletariat. These pure republicans, as pure +republicans go, were at first on the very point of contenting themselves +with the regency of the Duchess of Orleans, when the February revolution +broke out, and when it gave their best known representatives a place in +the provisional government. Of course, they enjoyed from the start the +confidence of the bourgeoisie and of the majority of the Constitutional +National Assembly. The Socialist elements of the Provisional Government +were promptly excluded from the Executive Committee which the Assembly +had elected upon its convening, and the party of the "National" +subsequently utilized the outbreak of the June insurrection to dismiss +this Executive Committee also, and thus rid itself of its nearest +rivals--the small traders' class or democratic republicans +(Ledru-Rollin, etc.). Cavaignac, the General of the bourgeois +republican party, who command at the battle of June, stepped into the +place of the Executive Committee with a sort of dictatorial power. +Marrast, former editor-in-chief of the "National", became permanent +President of the Constitutional National Assembly, and the Secretaryship +of State, together with all the other important posts, devolved upon the +pure republicans. + +The republican bourgeois party, which since long had looked upon itself +as the legitimate heir of the July monarchy, thus found itself surpassed +in its own ideal; but it cam to power, not as it had dreamed under Louis +Philippe, through a liberal revolt of the bourgeoisie against the +throne, but through a grape-shot-and-canistered mutiny of the +proletariat against Capital. That which it imagined to be the most +revolutionary, came about as the most counter-revolutionary event. The +fruit fell into its lap, but it fell from the Tree of Knowledge, not +from the Tree of life. + +The exclusive power of the bourgeois republic lasted only from June 24 +to the 10th of December, 1848. It is summed up in the framing of a +republican constitution and in the state of siege of Paris. + +The new Constitution was in substance only a republicanized edition of +the constitutional charter of 1830. The limited suffrage of the July +monarchy, which excluded even a large portion of the bourgeoisie from +political power, was irreconcilable with the existence of the bourgeois +republic. The February revolution had forthwith proclaimed direct and +universal suffrage in place of the old law. The bourgeois republic +could not annul this act. They had to content themselves with tacking +to it the limitation a six months' residence. The old organization of +the administrative law, of municipal government, of court procedures of +the army, etc., remained untouched, or, where the constitution did +change them, the change affected their index, not their subject; their +name, not their substance. + +The inevitable "General Staff" of the "freedoms" of 1848--personal +freedom, freedom of the press, of speech, of association and of +assemblage, freedom of instruction, of religion, etc.--received a +constitutional uniform that rendered them invulnerable. Each of these +freedoms is proclaimed the absolute right of the French citizen, but +always with the gloss that it is unlimited in so far only as it be not +curtailed by the "equal rights of others," and by the "public safety," +or by the "laws," which are intended to effect this harmony. For +instance: + +"Citizens have the right of association, of peaceful and unarmed +assemblage, of petitioning, and of expressing their opinions through the +press or otherwise. The enjoyment of these rights has no limitation +other than the equal rights of others and the public safety." +(Chap. II. of the French Constitution, Section 8.) + +"Education is free. The freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the +conditions provided by law, and under the supervision of the State." +(Section 9.) + +"The domicile of the citizen is inviolable, except under the forms +prescribed by law." (Chap. I., Section 3), etc., etc. + +The Constitution, it will be noticed, constantly alludes to future +organic laws, that are to carry out the glosses, and are intended to +regulate the enjoyment of these unabridged freedoms, to the end that +they collide neither with one another nor with the public safety. Later +on, the organic laws are called into existence by the "Friends of +Order," and all the above named freedoms are so regulated that, in their +enjoyment, the bourgeoisie encounter no opposition from the like rights +of the other classes. Wherever the bourgeoisie wholly interdicted these +rights to "others," or allowed them their enjoyment under conditions +that were but so many police snares, it was always done only in the +interest of the "public safety," i. e., of the bourgeoisie, as required +by the Constitution. + +Hence it comes that both sides-the "Friends of Order," who abolished all +those freedoms, as, well as the democrats, who had demanded them +all--appeal with full right to the Constitution: Each paragraph of the +Constitution contains its own antithesis, its own Upper and Lower +House-freedom as a generalization, the abolition of freedom as a +specification. Accordingly, so long as the name of freedom was +respected, and only its real enforcement was prevented in a legal way, +of course the constitutional existence of freedom remained uninjured, +untouched, however completely its common existence might be +extinguished. + +This Constitution, so ingeniously made invulnerable, was, however, like +Achilles, vulnerable at one point: not in its heel, but in its head, or +rather, in the two heads into which it ran out-the Legislative Assembly, +on the one hand, and the President on the other. Run through the +Constitution and it will be found that only those paragraphs wherein the +relation of the President to the Legislative Assembly is defined, are +absolute, positive, uncontradictory, undistortable. + +Here the bourgeois republicans were concerned in securing their own +position. Articles 45-70 of the Constitution are so framed that the +National Assembly can constitutionally remove the President, but the +President can set aside the National Assembly only unconstitutionally, +he can set it aside only by setting aside the Constitution itself. +Accordingly, by these provisions, the National Assembly challenges its +own violent destruction. It not only consecrates, like the character of +1830, the division of powers, but it extends this feature to an +unbearably contradictory extreme. The "play of constitutional powers," +as Guizot styled the clapper-clawings between the legislative and the +executive powers, plays permanent "vabanque" in the Constitution of +1848. On the one side, 750 representatives of the people, elected and +qualified for re-election by universal suffrage, who constitute an +uncontrollable, indissoluble, indivisible National Assembly, a National +Assembly that enjoys legislative omnipotence, that decides in the last +instance over war, peace and commercial treaties, that alone has the +power to grant amnesties, and that, through its perpetuity, continually +maintains the foreground on the stage; on the other, a President, clad +with all the attributes of royalty, with the right to appoint and remove +his ministers independently from the national assembly, holding in his +hands all the means of executive power, the dispenser of all posts, and +thereby the arbiter of at least one and a half million existences in +France, so many being dependent upon the 500,000 civil employees and +upon the officers of all grades. He has the whole armed power behind +him. He enjoys the privilege of granting pardons to individual +criminals; suspending the National Guards; of removing with the consent +of the Council of State the general, cantonal and municipal Councilmen, +elected by the citizens themselves. The initiative and direction of all +negotiations with foreign countries are reserved to him. While the +Assembly itself is constantly acting upon the stage, and is exposed to +the critically vulgar light of day, he leads a hidden life in the +Elysian fields, only with Article 45 of the Constitution before his eyes +and in his heart daily calling out to him, "Frere, il faut mourir!" [#1 +Brother, you must die!] Your power expires on the second Sunday of the +beautiful month of May, in the fourth year after your election! The +glory is then at an end; the play is not performed twice; and, if you +have any debts, see to it betimes that you pay them off with the 600,000 +francs that the Constitution has set aside for you, unless, perchance, +you should prefer traveling to Clichy [#2 The debtors' prison.] on the +second Monday of the beautiful month of May." + +While the Constitution thus clothes the President with actual power, it +seeks to secure the moral power to the National Assembly. Apart from +the circumstance that it is impossible to create a moral power through +legislative paragraphs, the Constitution again neutralizes itself in +that it causes the President to be chosen by all the Frenchmen through +direct suffrage. While the votes of France are splintered to pieces +upon the 750 members of the National Assembly they are here, on the +contrary, concentrated upon one individual. While each separate +Representative represents only this or that party, this or that city, +this or that dunghill, or possibly only the necessity of electing some +one Seven-hundred-and-fiftieth or other, with whom neither the issue nor +the man is closely considered, that one, the President, on the contrary, +is the elect of the nation, and the act of his election is the trump +card, that, the sovereign people plays out once every four years. The +elected National Assembly stands in a metaphysical, but the elected +President in a personal, relation to the nation. True enough, the +National Assembly presents in its several Representatives the various +sides of the national spirit, but, in the President, this spirit is +incarnated. As against the National Assembly, the President possesses a +sort of divine right, he is by the grace of the people. + +Thetis, the sea-goddess, had prophesied to Achilles that he would die in +the bloom of youth. The Constitution, which had its weak spot, like +Achilles, had also, like Achilles, the presentiment that it would depart +by premature death. It was enough for the pure republicans, engaged at +the work of framing a constitution, to cast a glance from the misty +heights of their ideal republic down upon the profane world in order to +realize how the arrogance of the royalists, of the Bonapartists, of the +democrats, of the Communists, rose daily, together with their own +discredit, and in the same measure as they approached the completion of +their legislative work of art, without Thetis having for this purpose to +leave the sea and impart the secret to them. They ought to outwit fate +by means of constitutional artifice, through Section 111 of the +Constitution, according to which every motion to revise the Constitution +had to be discussed three successive times between each of which a full +month was to elapse and required at least a three-fourths majority, with +the additional proviso that not less than 500 members of the National +Assembly voted. They thereby only made the impotent attempt, still to +exercise as a parliamentary minority, to which in their mind's eye they +prophetically saw themselves reduced, a power, that, at this very time, +when they still disposed over the parliamentary majority and over all +the machinery of government, was daily slipping from their weak hands. + +Finally, the Constitution entrusts itself for safe keeping, in a +melodramatic paragraph, "to the watchfulness and patriotism of the whole +French people, and of each individual Frenchman," after having just +before, in another paragraph entrusted the "watchful" and the +"patriotic" themselves to the tender, inquisitorial attention of the +High Court, instituted by itself. + +That was the Constitution of 1848, which on, the 2d of December, 1851, +was not overthrown by one head, but tumbled down at the touch of a mere +hat; though, true enough, that hat was a three-cornered Napoleon hat. + +While the bourgeois' republicans were engaged in the Assembly with the +work of splicing this Constitution, of discussing and voting, Cavaignac, +on the outside, maintained the state of siege of Paris. The state of +siege of Paris was the midwife of the constitutional assembly, during +its republican pains of travail. When the Constitution is later on +swept off the earth by the bayonet, + +it should not be forgotten that it was by the bayonet, likewise--and the +bayonet turned against the people, at that--that it had to be protected +in its mother's womb, and that by the bayonet it had to be planted on +earth. The ancestors of these "honest republicans" had caused their +symbol, the tricolor, to make the tour of Europe. These, in their turn +also made a discovery, which all of itself, found its way over the whole +continent, but, with ever renewed love, came back to France, until, by +this time, if had acquired the right of citizenship in one-half of her +Departments--the state of siege. A wondrous discovery this was, +periodically applied at each succeeding crisis in the course of the +French revolution. But the barrack and the bivouac, thus periodically +laid on the head of French society, to compress her brain and reduce her +to quiet; the sabre and the musket, periodically made to perform the +functions of judges and of administrators, of guardians and of censors, +of police officers and of watchmen; the military moustache and the +soldier's jacket, periodically heralded as the highest wisdom and +guiding stars of society;--were not all of these, the barrack and the +bivouac, the sabre and the musket, the moustache and the soldier's +jacket bound, in the end, to hit upon the idea that they might as well +save, society once for all, by proclaiming their own regime as supreme, +and relieve bourgeois society wholly of the care of ruling itself? The +barrack and the bivouac, the sabre and the musket, the moustache and the +soldier's jacket were all the more bound to hit upon this idea, seeing +that they could then also expect better cash payment for their increased +deserts, while at the merely periodic states of siege and the transitory +savings of society at the behest of this or that bourgeois faction, very +little solid matter fell to them except some dead and wounded, besides +some friendly bourgeois grimaces. Should not the military, finally, in +and for its own interest, play the game of "state of siege," and +simultaneously besiege the bourgeois exchanges? Moreover, it must not +be forgotten, and be it observed in passing, that Col. Bernard, the same +President of the Military Committee, who, under Cavaignac, helped to +deport 15,000 insurgents without trial, moves at this period again at +the head of the Military Committees now active in Paris. + +Although the honest, the pure republicans built with the state of siege +the nursery in which the Praetorian guards of December 2, 1851, were to +be reared, they, on the other hand, deserve praise in that, instead of +exaggerating the feeling of patriotism, as under Louis Philippe, now; +they themselves are in command of the national power, they crawl before +foreign powers; instead of making Italy free, they allow her to be +reconquered by Austrians and Neapolitans. The election of Louis +Bonaparte for President on December 10, 1848, put an end to the +dictatorship of Cavaignac and to the constitutional assembly. + +In Article 44 of the Constitution it is said "The President of the +French Republic must never have lost his status as a French citizen." +The first President of the French Republic, L. N. Bonaparte, had not +only lost his status as a French citizen, had not only been an English +special constable, but was even a naturalized Swiss citizen. + +In the previous chapter I have explained the meaning of the election of +December 10. I shall not here return to it. Suffice it here to say +that it was a reaction of the farmers' class, who had been expected to +pay the costs of the February revolution, against the other classes of +the nation: it was a reaction of the country against the city. It met +with great favor among the soldiers, to whom the republicans of the +"National" had brought neither fame nor funds; among the great +bourgeoisie, who hailed Bonaparte as a bridge to the monarchy; and among +the proletarians and small traders, who hailed him as a scourge to +Cavaignac. I shall later have occasion to enter closer into the +relation of the farmers to the French revolution. + +The epoch between December 20, 1848, and the dissolution of the +constitutional assembly in May, 1849, embraces the history of the +downfall of the bourgeois republicans. After they had founded a +republic for the bourgeoisie, had driven the revolutionary proletariat +from the field and had meanwhile silenced the democratic middle class, +they are themselves shoved aside by the mass of the bourgeoisie who +justly appropriate this republic as their property. This bourgeois mass +was Royalist, however. A part thereof, the large landed proprietors, +had ruled under the restoration, hence, was Legitimist; the other part, +the aristocrats of finance and the large industrial capitalists, had +ruled under the July monarchy, hence, was Orleanist. The high +functionaries of the Army, of the University, of the Church, in the +civil service, of the Academy and of the press, divided themselves on +both sides, although in unequal parts. Here, in the bourgeois republic, +that bore neither the name of Bourbon, nor of Orleans, but the name of +Capital, they had found the form of government under which they could +all rule in common. Already the June insurrection had united them all +into a "Party of Order." The next thing to do was to remove the +bourgeois republicans who still held the seats in the National Assembly. +As brutally as these pure republicans had abused their own physical +power against the people, so cowardly, low-spirited, disheartened, +broken, powerless did they yield, now when the issue was the maintenance +of their own republicanism and their own legislative rights against the +Executive power and the royalists I need not here narrate the shameful +history of their dissolution. It was not a downfall, it was extinction. +Their history is at an end for all time. In the period that follows, +they figure, whether within or without the Assembly, only as +memories--memories that seem again to come to life so soon as the +question is again only the word "Republic," and as often as the +revolutionary conflict threatens to sink down to the lowest level. In +passing, I might observe that the journal which gave to this party its +name, the "National," goes over to Socialism during the following +period. + +Before we close this period, we must look back upon the two powers, one +of destroys the other on December 2, 1851, while, from December 20, +1848, down to the departure of the constitutional assembly, they live +marital relations. We mean Louis Bonaparte, on the-one hand, on the +other, the party of the allied royalists; of Order, and of the large +bourgeoisie. + +At the inauguration of his presidency, Bonaparte forthwith framed a +ministry out of the party of Order, at whose head he placed Odillon +Barrot, be it noted, the old leader of the liberal wing of the +parliamentary bourgeoisie. Mr. Barrot had finally hunted down a seat in +the ministry, the spook of which had been pursuing him since 1830; and +what is more, he had the chairmanship in this ministry, although not, as +he had imagined under Louis Philippe, the promoted leader of the +parliamentary opposition, but with the commission to kill a parliament, +and, moreover, as an ally of all his arch enemies, the Jesuits and the +Legitimists. Finally he leads the bride home, but only after she has +been prostituted. As to Bonaparte, he seemed to eclipse himself +completely. The party of Order acted for him. + +Immediately at the first session of the ministry the expedition to Rome +was decided upon, which it was there agreed, was to be carried out +behind I the back of the National Assembly, and the funds for which, it +was equally agreed, were to be wrung from the Assembly under false +pretences. Thus the start was made with a swindle on the National +Assembly, together with a secret conspiracy with the absolute foreign +powers against the revolutionary Roman republic. In the same way, and +with a similar maneuver, did Bonaparte prepare his stroke of December 2 +against the royalist legislature and its constitutional republic. Let +it not be forgotten that the same party, which, on December 20, 1848, +constituted Bonaparte's ministry, constituted also, on December 2, 1851, +the majority of the legislative National Assembly. + +In August the constitutive assembly decided not to dissolve until it had +prepared and promulgated a whole series of organic laws, intended to +supplement the Constitution. The party of Order proposed to the +assembly, through Representative Rateau, on January 6, 1849, to let the +Organic laws go, and rather to order its own dissolution. Not the +ministry alone, with Mr. Odillon Barrot at its head, but all the +royalist members of the National Assembly were also at this time +hectoring to it that its dissolution was necessary for the restoration +of the public credit, for the consolidation of order, to put an end to +the existing uncertain and provisional, and establish a definite state +of things; they claimed that its continued existence hindered the +effectiveness of the new Government, that it sought to prolong its life +out of pure malice, and that the country was tired of it. Bonaparte +took notice of all these invectives hurled at the legislative power, he +learned them by heart, and, on December 21, 1851, he showed the +parliamentary royalists that he had learned from them. He repeated +their own slogans against themselves. + +The Barrot ministry and the party of Order went further. They called +all over France for petitions to the National Assembly in which that +body was politely requested to disappear. Thus they led the people's +unorganic masses to the fray against the National Assembly, i.e., the +constitutionally organized expression of people itself. They taught +Bonaparte, to appeal from the parliamentary body to the people. +Finally, on January 29, 1849, the day arrived when the constitutional +assembly was to decide about its own dissolution. On that day the body +found its building occupied by the military; Changarnier, the General of +the party of Order, in whose hands was joined the supreme command of +both the National Guards and the regulars, held that day a great +military review, as though a battle were imminent; and the coalized +royalists declared threateningly to the constitutional assembly that +force would be applied if it did not act willingly. It was willing, and +chaffered only for a very short respite. What else was the 29th of +January, 1849, than the "coup d'etat" of December 2, 1851, only executed +by the royalists with Napoleon's aid against the republican National +Assembly? These gentlemen did not notice, or did not want to notice, +that Napoleon utilized the 29th of January, 1849, to cause a part of the +troops to file before him in front of the Tuileries, and that he seized +with avidity this very first open exercise of the military against the +parliamentary power in order to hint at Caligula. The allied royalists +saw only their own Changarnier. + +Another reason that particularly moved the party of Order forcibly to +shorten the term of the constitutional assembly were the organic laws, +the laws that were to supplement the Constitution, as, for instance, the +laws on education, on religion, etc. The allied royalists had every +interest in framing these laws themselves, and not allowing them to be +framed by the already suspicious republicans. Among these organic laws, +there was, however, one on the responsibility of the President of the +republic. In 1851 the Legislature was just engaged in framing such a +law when Bonaparte forestalled that political stroke by his own of +December 2. What all would not the coalized royalists have given in +their winter parliamentary campaign of 1851, had they but found this +"Responsibility law" ready made, and framed at that, by the suspicious, +the vicious republican Assembly! + +After, on January 29, 1849, the constitutive assembly had itself broken +its last weapon, the Barrot ministry and the "Friends of Order" harassed +it to death, left nothing undone to humiliate it, and wrung from its +weakness, despairing of itself, laws that cost it the last vestige of +respect with the public. Bonaparte, occupied with his own fixed +Napoleonic idea, was audacious enough openly to exploit this degradation +of the parliamentary power: When the National Assembly, on May 8, 1849, +passed a vote of censure upon the Ministry on account of the occupation +of Civita-Vecchia by Oudinot, and ordered that the Roman expedition be +brought back to its alleged purpose, Bonaparte published that same +evening in the "Moniteur" a letter to Oudinot, in which he congratulated +him on his heroic feats, and already, in contrast with the quill-pushing +parliamentarians, posed as the generous protector of the Army. The +royalists smiled at this. They took him simply for their dupe. +Finally, as Marrast, the President of the constitutional assembly, +believed on a certain occasion the safety of the body to be in danger, +and, resting on the Constitution, made a requisition upon a Colonel, +together with his regiment, the Colonel refused obedience, took refuge +behind the "discipline," and referred Marrast to Changarnier, who +scornfully sent him off with the remark that he did not like "bayonettes +intelligentes." [#1 Intelligent bayonets] In November, 1851, as the +coalized royalists wanted to begin the decisive struggle with Bonaparte, +they sought, by means of their notorious "Questors Bill," to enforce the +principle of the right of the President of the National Assembly to +issue direct requisitions for troops. One of their Generals, Leflo, +supported the motion. In vain did Changarnier vote for it, or did +Thiers render homage to the cautious wisdom of the late constitutional +assembly. The Minister of War, St. Arnaud, answered him as Changarnier +had answered Marrast--and he did so amidst the plaudits of the Mountain. + +Thus did the party of Order itself, when as yet it was not the National +Assembly, when as yet it was only a Ministry, brand the parliamentary +regime. And yet this party objects vociferously when the 2d of +December, 1851, banishes that regime from France! + +We wish it a happy journey. + + + + + +III + + + +On May 29, 1849, the legislative National Assembly convened. On +December 2, 1851, it was broken up. This period embraces the term of +the Constitutional or Parliamentary public. + +In the first French revolution, upon the reign of the Constitutionalists +succeeds that of the Girondins; and upon the reign of the Girondins +follows that of the Jacobins. Each of these parties in succession rests +upon its more advanced element. So soon as it has carried the +revolution far enough not to be able to keep pace with, much less march +ahead of it, it is shoved aside by its more daring allies, who stand +behind it, and it is sent to the guillotine. Thus the revolution moves +along an upward line. + +Just the reverse in 1848. The proletarian party appears as an appendage +to the small traders' or democratic party; it is betrayed by the latter +and allowed to fall on April 16, May 15, and in the June days. In its +turn, the democratic party leans upon the shoulders of the bourgeois +republicans; barely do the bourgeois republicans believe themselves +firmly in power, than they shake off these troublesome associates for +the purpose of themselves leaning upon the shoulders of the party of +Order. The party of Order draws in its shoulders, lets the bourgeois +republicans tumble down heels over head, and throws itself upon the +shoulders of the armed power. Finally, still of the mind that it is +sustained by the shoulders of the armed power, the party of Order +notices one fine morning that these shoulders have turned into bayonets. +Each party kicks backward at those that are pushing forward, and leans +forward upon those that are crowding backward; no wonder that, in this +ludicrous posture, each loses its balance, and, after having cut the +unavoidable grimaces, breaks down amid singular somersaults. +Accordingly, the revolution moves along a downward line. It finds +itself in this retreating motion before the last February-barricade is +cleared away, and the first governmental authority of the revolution has +been constituted. + +The period we now have before us embraces the motliest jumble of crying +contradictions: constitutionalists, who openly conspire against the +Constitution; revolutionists, who admittedly are constitutional; a +National Assembly that wishes to be omnipotent yet remains +parliamentary; a Mountain, that finds its occupation in submission, that +parries its present defeats with prophecies of future victories; +royalists, who constitute the "patres conscripti" of the republic, and +are compelled by the situation to uphold abroad the hostile monarchic +houses, whose adherents they are, while in France they support the +republic that they hate; an Executive power that finds its strength in +its very weakness, and its dignity in the contempt that it inspires; a +republic, that is nothing else than the combined infamy of two +monarchies--the Restoration and the July Monarchy--with an imperial +label; unions, whose first clause is disunion; struggles, whose first +law is in-decision; in the name of peace, barren and hollow agitation; +in the name of the revolution, solemn sermonizings on peace; passions +without truth; truths without passion; heroes without heroism; history +without events; development, whose only moving force seems to be the +calendar, and tiresome by the constant reiteration of the same tensions +and relaxes; contrasts, that seem to intensify themselves periodically, +only in order to wear themselves off and collapse without a solution; +pretentious efforts made for show, and bourgeois frights at the danger +of the destruction of the world, simultaneous with the carrying on of +the pettiest intrigues and the performance of court comedies by the +world's saviours, who, in their "laisser aller," recall the Day of +Judgment not so much as the days of the Fronde; the official collective +genius of France brought to shame by the artful stupidity of a single +individual; the collective will of the nation, as often as it speaks +through the general suffrage, seeking its true expression in the +prescriptive enemies of the public interests until it finally finds it +in the arbitrary will of a filibuster. If ever a slice from history is +drawn black upon black, it is this. Men and events appear as reversed +"Schlemihls," [#1 The hero In Chamisso's "Peter Schiemihi," who loses +his own shadow.] as shadows, the bodies of which have been lost. The +revolution itself paralyzes its own apostles, and equips only its +adversaries with passionate violence. When the "Red Spectre," +constantly conjured up and exorcised by the counter-revolutionists +finally does appear, it does not appear with the Anarchist Phrygian cap +on its head, but in the uniform of Order, in the Red Breeches of the +French Soldier. + +We saw that the Ministry, which Bonaparte installed on December 20, +1849, the day of his "Ascension," was a ministry of the party of Order, +of the Legitimist and Orleanist coalition. The Barrot-Falloux ministry +had weathered the republican constitutive convention, whose term of life +it had shortened with more or less violence, and found itself still at +the helm. Changamier, the General of the allied royalists continued to +unite in his person the command-in-chief of the First Military Division +and of the Parisian National Guard. Finally, the general elections had +secured the large majority in the National Assembly to the party of +Order. Here the Deputies and Peers of Louis Phillipe met a saintly +crowd of Legitimists, for whose benefit numerous ballots of the nation +had been converted into admission tickets to the political stage. The +Bonapartist representatives were too thinly sowed to be able to build an +independent parliamentary party. They appeared only as "mauvaise queue" +[#2 Practical joke] played upon the party of Order. Thus the party of +Order was in possession of the Government, of the Army, and of the +legislative body, in short, of the total power of the State, morally +strengthened by the general elections, that caused their sovereignty to +appear as the will of the people, and by the simultaneous victory of the +counter-revolution on the whole continent of Europe. + +Never did party open its campaign with larger means at its disposal and +under more favorable auspices. + +The shipwrecked pure republicans found themselves in the legislative +National Assembly melted down to a clique of fifty men, with the African +Generals Cavaignac, Lamorciere and Bedeau at its head. The great +Opposition party was, however, formed by the Mountain. This +parliamentary baptismal name was given to itself by the Social +Democratic party. It disposed of more than two hundred votes out of the +seven hundred and fifty in the National Assembly, and, hence, was at +least just as powerful as any one of the three factions of the party of +Order. Its relative minority to the total royalist coalition seemed +counterbalanced by special circumstances. Not only did the Departmental +election returns show that it had gained a considerable following among +the rural population, but, furthermore, it numbered almost all the Paris +Deputies in its camp; the Army had, by the election of three +under-officers, made a confession of democratic faith; and the leader of +the Mountain, Ledru-Rollin had in contrast to all the representatives of +the party of Order, been raised to the rank of the "parliamentary +nobility" by five Departments, who combined their suffrages upon him. +Accordingly, in view of the inevitable collisions of the royalists among +themselves, on the one hand, and of the whole party of Order with +Bonaparte, on the other, the Mountain seemed on May 29,1849, to have +before it all the elements of success. A fortnight later, it had lost +everything, its honor included. + +Before we follow this parliamentary history any further, a few +observations are necessary, in order to avoid certain common deceptions +concerning the whole character of the epoch that lies before us. +According to the view of the democrats, the issue, during the period of +the legislative National Assembly, was, the same as during the period of +the constitutive assembly, simply the struggle between republicans and +royalists; the movement itself was summed up by them in the catch-word +Reaction--night, in which all cats are grey, and allows them to drawl +out their drowsy commonplaces. Indeed, at first sight, the party of +Order presents the appearance of a tangle of royalist factions, that, +not only intrigue against each other, each aiming to raise its own +Pretender to the throne, and exclude the Pretender of the Opposite +party, but also are all united in a common hatred for and common attacks +against the "Republic." On its side, the Mountain appears, in +counter-distinction to the royalist conspiracy, as the representative of +the "Republic." The party of Order seems constantly engaged in a +"Reaction," which, neither more nor less than in Prussia, is directed +against the press, the right of association and the like, and is +enforced by brutal police interventions on the part of the bureaucracy, +the police and the public prosecutor--just as in Prussia; the Mountain +on the contrary, is engaged with equal assiduity in parrying these +attacks, and thus in defending the "eternal rights of man"--as every +so-called people's party has more or less done for the last hundred and +fifty years. At a closer inspection, however, of the situation and of +the parties, this superficial appearance, which veils the Class +Struggle, together with the peculiar physiognomy of this period, +vanishes wholly. + +Legitimists and Orleanists constituted, as said before, the two large +factions of the party of Order. What held these two factions to their +respective Pretenders, and inversely kept them apart from each other, +what else was it but the lily and the tricolor, the House of Bourbon and +the house of Orleans, different shades of royalty? Under the Bourbons, +Large Landed Property ruled together with its parsons and lackeys; under +the Orleanist, it was the high finance, large industry, large commerce, +i.e., Capital, with its retinue of lawyers, professors and orators. The +Legitimate kingdom was but the political expression for the hereditary +rule of the landlords, as the July monarchy was bur the political +expression for the usurped rule of the bourgeois upstarts. What, +accordingly, kept these two factions apart was no so-called set of +principles, it was their material conditions for life--two different +sorts of property--; it was the old antagonism of the City and the +Country, the rivalry between Capital and Landed property. That +simultaneously old recollections; personal animosities, fears and hopes; +prejudices and illusions; sympathies and antipathies; convictions, faith +and principles bound these factions to one House or the other, who +denies it? Upon the several forms of property, upon the social +conditions of existence, a whole superstructure is reared of various and +peculiarly shaped feelings, illusions, habits of thought and conceptions +of life. The whole class produces and shapes these out of its material +foundation and out of the corresponding social conditions. The +individual unit to whom they flow through tradition and education, may +fancy that they constitute the true reasons for and premises of his +conduct. Although Orleanists and Legitimists, each of these factions, +sought to make itself and the other believe that what kept the two apart +was the attachment of each to its respective royal House; nevertheless, +facts proved later that it rather was their divided interest that +forbade the union of the two royal Houses. As, in private life, the +distinction is made between what a man thinks of himself and says, and +that which he really is and does, so, all the more, must the phrases and +notions of parties in historic struggles be distinguished from the real +organism, and their real interests, their notions and their reality. +Orleanists and Legitimists found themselves in the republic beside each +other with equal claims. Each side wishing, in opposition to the other, +to carry out the restoration of its own royal House, meant nothing else +than that each of the two great Interests into which the bourgeoisie is +divided--Land and Capital--sought to restore its own supremacy and the +subordinacy of the other. We speak of two bourgeois interests because +large landed property, despite its feudal coquetry and pride of race, +has become completely bourgeois through the development of modern +society. Thus did the Tories of England long fancy that they were +enthusiastic for the Kingdom, the Church and the beauties of the old +English Constitution, until the day of danger wrung from them the +admission that their enthusiasm was only for Ground Rent. + +The coalized royalists carried on their intrigues against each other in +the press, in Ems, in Clarmont--outside of the parliament. Behind the +scenes, they don again their old Orleanist and Legitimist liveries, and +conduct their old tourneys; on the public stage, however, in their +public acts, as a great parliamentary party, they dispose of their +respective royal houses with mere courtesies, adjourn "in infinitum" the +restoration of the monarchy. Their real business is transacted as Party +of Order, i. e., under a Social, not a Political title; as +representatives of the bourgeois social system; not as knights of +traveling princesses, but as the bourgeois class against the other +classes; not as royalists against republicans. Indeed, as party of +Order they exercised a more unlimited and harder dominion over the other +classes of society than ever before either under the restoration or the +July monarchy-a thing possible only under the form of a parliamentary +republic, because under this form alone could the two large divisions of +the French bourgeoisie be united; in other words, only under this form +could they place on the order of business the sovereignty of their +class, in lieu of the regime of a privileged faction of the same. If, +this notwithstanding, they are seen as the party of Order to insult the +republic and express their antipathy for it, it happened not out of +royalist traditions only: Instinct taught them that while, indeed, the +republic completes their authority, it at the same time undermined their +social foundation, in that, without intermediary, without the mask of +the crown, without being able to turn aside the national interest by +means of its subordinate struggles among its own conflicting elements +and with the crown, the republic is compelled to stand up sharp against +the subjugated classes, and wrestle with them. It was a sense of +weakness that caused them to recoil before the unqualified demands of +their own class rule, and to retreat to the less complete, less +developed, and, for that very reason, less dangerous forms of the same. +As often, on the contrary, as the allied royalists come into conflict +with the Pretender who stands before them--with Bonaparte--, as often as +they believe their parliamentary omnipotence to be endangered by the +Executive, in other words, as often as they must trot out the political +title of their authority, they step up as Republicans, not as +Royalists--and this is done from the Orleanist Thiers, who warns the +National Assembly that the republic divides them least, down to +Legitimist Berryer, who, on December 2, 1851, the scarf of the tricolor +around him, harangues the people assembled before the Mayor's building +of the Tenth Arrondissement, as a tribune in the name of the Republic; +the echo, however, derisively answering back to him: "Henry V.! Henry +V!" [#3 The candidate of the Bourbons, or Legitimists, for the throne.] + +However, against the allied bourgeois, a coalition was made between the +small traders and the workingmen--the so-called Social Democratic party. +The small traders found themselves ill rewarded after the June days of +1848; they saw their material interests endangered, and the democratic +guarantees, that were to uphold their interests, made doubtful. Hence, +they drew closer to the workingmen. On the other hand, their +parliamentary representatives--the Mountain--, after being shoved aside +during the dictatorship of the bourgeois republicans, had, during the +last half of the term of the constitutive convention, regained their +lost popularity through the struggle with Bonaparte and the royalist +ministers. They had made an alliance with the Socialist leaders. +During February, 1849, reconciliation banquets were held. A common +program was drafted, joint election committees were empanelled, and +fusion candidates were set up. The revolutionary point was thereby +broken off from the social demands of the proletariat and a democratic +turn given to them; while, from the democratic claims of the small +traders' class, the mere political form was rubbed off and the Socialist +point was pushed forward. Thus came the Social Democracy about. The +new Mountain, the result of this combination, contained, with the +exception of some figures from the working class and some Socialist +sectarians, the identical elements of the old Mountain, only numerically +stronger. In the course of events it had, however, changed, together +with the class that it represented. The peculiar character of the +Social Democracy is summed up in this that democratic-republican +institutions are demanded as the means, not to remove the two +extremes--Capital and Wage-slavery--, but in order to weaken their +antagonism and transform them into a harmonious whole. However +different the methods may be that are proposed for the accomplishment of +this object, however much the object itself may be festooned with more +or less revolutionary fancies, the substance remains the same. This +substance is the transformation of society upon democratic lines, but a +transformation within the boundaries of the small traders' class. No +one must run away with the narrow notion that the small traders' class +means on principle to enforce a selfish class interest. It believes +rather that the special conditions for its own emancipation are the +general conditions under which alone modern society can be saved and the +class struggle avoided. Likewise must we avoid running away with the +notion that the Democratic Representatives are all "shopkeepers," or +enthuse for these. They may--by education and individual standing--be +as distant from them as heaven is from earth. That which makes them +representatives of the small traders' class is that they do not +intellectually leap the bounds which that class itself does not leap in +practical life; that, consequently, they are theoretically driven to the +same problems and solutions, to which material interests and social +standing practically drive the latter. Such, in fact, is at all times +the relation of the "political" and the "literary" representatives of a +class to the class they represent. + +After the foregoing explanations, it goes with-out saying that, while +the Mountain is constantly wrestling for the republic and the so-called +"rights of man," neither the republic nor the "rights of man" is its +real goal, as little as an army, whose weapons it is sought to deprive +it of and that defends itself, steps on the field of battle simply in +order to remain in possession of implements of warfare. + +The party of Order provoked the Mountain immediately upon the convening +of the assembly. The bourgeoisie now felt the necessity of disposing of +the democratic small traders' class, just as a year before it had +understood the necessity of putting an end to the revolutionary +proletariat. + +But the position of the foe had changed. The strength of the +proletarian party was on the streets ; that of the small traders' class +was in the National Assembly itself. The point was, accordingly, to +wheedle them out of the National Assembly into the street, and to have +them break their parliamentary power themselves, before I time and +opportunity could consolidate them. The Mountain jumped with loose +reins into the trap. + +The bombardment of Rome by the French troops was the bait thrown at the +Mountain. It violated Article V. of the Constitution, which forbade the +French republic to use its forces against the liberties of other +nations; besides, Article IV. forbade all declaration of war by the +Executive without the consent of the National Assembly; furthermore, the +constitutive assembly had censured the Roman expedition by its +resolution of May 8. Upon these grounds, Ledru-Rollin submitted on June +11, 1849, a motion impeaching Bonaparte and his Ministers. Instigated +by the wasp-stings of Thiers, he even allowed himself to be carried away +to the point of threatening to defend the Constitution by all means, +even arms in hand. The Mountain rose as one man, and repeated the +challenge. On June 12, the National Assembly rejected the notion to +impeach, and the Mountain left the parliament. The events of June 13 +are known: the proclamation by a part of the Mountain pronouncing +Napoleon and his Ministers "outside the pale of the Constitution"; the +street parades of the democratic National Guards, who, unarmed as they +were, flew apart at contact with the troops of Changarnier; etc., etc. +Part of the Mountain fled abroad, another part was assigned to the High +Court of Bourges, and a parliamentary regulation placed the rest under +the school-master supervision of the President of the National Assembly. +Paris was again put under a state of siege; and the democratic portion +of the National Guards was disbanded. Thus the influence of the +Mountain in parliament was broken, together with the power; of the small +traders' class in Paris. + +Lyons, where the 13th of June had given the signal to a bloody labor +uprising, was, together with the five surrounding Departments, likewise +pronounced in state of siege, a condition that continues down to this +moment. [#4 January, 1852] + +The bulk of the Mountain had left its vanguard in the lurch by refusing +their signatures to the proclamation; the press had deserted: only two +papers dared to publish the pronunciamento; the small traders had +betrayed their Representatives: the National Guards stayed away, or, +where they did turn up, hindered the raising of barricades; the +Representatives had duped the small traders: nowhere were the alleged +affiliated members from the Army to be seen; finally, instead of +gathering strength from them, the democratic party had infected the +proletariat with its own weakness, and, as usual with democratic feats, +the leaders had the satisfaction of charging "their people" with +desertion, and the people had the satisfaction of charging their leaders +with fraud. + +Seldom was an act announced with greater noise than the campaign +contemplated by the Mountain; seldom was an event trumpeted ahead with +more certainty and longer beforehand than tile "inevitable victory of +the democracy." This is evident: the democrats believe in the trombones +before whose blasts the walls of Jericho fall together; as often as they +stand before the walls of despotism, they seek to imitate the miracle. +If the Mountain wished to win in parliament, it should not appeal to +arms; if it called to arms in parliament, it should not conduct itself +parliamentarily on the street; if the friendly demonstration was meant +seriously, it was silly not to foresee that it would meet with a warlike +reception; if it was intended for actual war, it was rather original to +lay aside the weapons with which war had to be conducted. But the +revolutionary threats of the middle class and of their democratic +representatives are mere attempts to frighten an adversary; when they +have run themselves into a blind alley, when they have sufficiently +compromised themselves and are compelled to execute their threats, the +thing is done in a hesitating manner that avoids nothing so much as the +means to the end, and catches at pretexts to succumb. The bray of the +overture, that announces the fray, is lost in a timid growl so soon as +this is to start; the actors cease to take themselves seriously, and the +performance falls flat like an inflated balloon that is pricked with a +needle. + +No party exaggerates to itself the means at its disposal more than the +democratic, none deceives itself with greater heedlessness on the +situation. A part of the Army voted for it, thereupon the Mountain is +of the opinion that the Army would revolt in its favor. And by what +occasion? By an occasion, that, from the standpoint of the troops, +meant nothing else than that the revolutionary soldiers should take the +part of the soldiers of Rome against French soldiers. On the other +hand, the memory of June, 1848, was still too fresh not to keep alive a +deep aversion on the part of the proletariat towards the National Guard, +and a strong feeling of mistrust on the part of the leaders of the +secret societies for the democratic leaders. In order to balance these +differences, great common interests at stake were needed. The violation +of an abstract constitutional paragraph could not supply such interests. +Had not the constitution been repeatedly violated, according to the +assurances of the democrats themselves? Had not the most popular papers +branded them as a counter-revolutionary artifice? But the democrat--by +reason of his representing the middle class, that is to say, a +Transition Class, in which the interests of two other classes are +mutually dulled--, imagines himself above all class contrast. The +democrats grant that opposed to them stands a privileged class, but +they, together with the whole remaining mass of the nation, constitute +the "PEOPLE." What they represent is the "people's rights"; their +interests are the "people's interests." Hence, they do not consider +that, at an impending struggle, they need to examine the interests and +attitude of the different classes. They need not too seriously weigh +their own means. All they have to do is to give the signal in order to +have the "people" fall upon the "oppressors with all its inexhaustible +resources. If, thereupon, in the execution, their interests turn out to +be uninteresting, and their power to be impotence, it is ascribed either +to depraved sophists, who split up the "undivisible people" into several +hostile camps; or to the army being too far brutalized and blinded to +appreciate the pure aims of the democracy as its own best; or to some +detail in the execution that wrecks the whole plan; or, finally, to an +unforeseen accident that spoiled the game this time. At all events, the +democrat comes out of the disgraceful defeat as immaculate as he went +innocently into it, and with the refreshed conviction that he must win; +not that he himself and his party must give up their old standpoint, but +that, on the contrary, conditions must come to his aid. + +For all this, one must not picture to himself the decimated, broken, +and, by the new parliamentary regulation, humbled Mountain altogether +too unhappy. If June 13 removed its leaders, it, on the other hand, +made room for new ones of inferior capacity, who are flattered by their +new position. If their impotence in parliament could no longer be +doubted, they were now justified to limit their activity to outbursts of +moral indignation. If the party of Order pretended to see in them, as +the last official representatives of the revolution, all the horrors of +anarchy incarnated, they were free to appear all the more flat and +modest in reality. Over June 13 they consoled themselves with the +profound expression: "If they but dare to assail universal suffrage +. . . then . . . then we will show who we are!" Nous verrons. [#5 We +shall see.] + +As to the "Mountaineers," who had fled abroad, it suffices here to say +that Ledru-Rollin--he having accomplished the feat of hopelessly +ruining, in barely a fortnight, the powerful party at whose head he +stood--, found himself called upon to build up a French government "in +partibus;" that his figure, at a distance, removed from the field of +action, seemed to gain in size in the measure that the level of the +revolution sank and the official prominences of official France became +more and more dwarfish; that he could figure as republican Pretender for +1852, and periodically issued to the Wallachians and other peoples +circulars in which "despot of the continent" is threatened with the +feats that he and his allies had in contemplation. Was Proudhon wholly +wrong when he cried out to these gentlemen: "Vous n'etes que des +blaqueurs"? [#6 You are nothing but fakirs.] + +The party of Order had, on June 13, not only broken up the Mountain, it +had also established the Subordination of the Constitution to the +Majority Decisions of the National Assembly. So, indeed, did the +republic understand it, to--wit, that the bourgeois ruled here in +parliamentary form, without, as in the monarchy, finding a check in the +veto of the Executive power, or the liability of parliament to +dissolution. It was a "parliamentary republic," as Thiers styled it. +But if, on June 13, the bourgeoisie secured its omnipotence within the +parliament building, did it not also strike the parliament itself, as +against the Executive and the people, with incurable weakness by +excluding its most popular part? By giving up numerous Deputies, +without further ceremony to the mercies of the public prosecutor, it +abolished its own parliamentary inviolability. The humiliating +regulation, that it subjected the Mountain to, raised the President of +the republic in the same measure that it lowered the individual +Representatives of the people. By branding an insurrection in defense +of the Constitution as anarchy, and as a deed looking to the overthrow +of society, it interdicted to itself all appeal to insurrection whenever +the Executive should violate the Constitution against it. And, indeed, +the irony of history wills it that the very General, who by order of +Bonaparte bombarded Rome, and thus gave the immediate occasion to the +constitutional riot of June 13, that Oudinot, on December 22, 1851, is +the one imploringly and vainly to be offered to the people by the party +of Order as the General of the Constitution. Another hero of June 13, +Vieyra, who earned praise from the tribune of the National Assembly for +the brutalities that he had committed in the democratic newspaper +offices at the head of a gang of National Guards in the hire of the high +finance--this identical Vieyra was initiated in the conspiracy of +Bonaparte, and contributed materially in cutting off all protection that +could come to the National Assembly, in the hour of its agony, from the +side of the National Guard. + +June 13 had still another meaning. The Mountain had wanted to place +Bonaparte under charges. Their defeat was, accordingly, a direct +victory of Bonaparte; it was his personal triumph over his democratic +enemies. The party of Order fought for the victory, Bonaparte needed +only to pocket it. He did so. On June 14, a proclamation was to be +read on the walls of Paris wherein the President, as it were, without +his connivance, against his will, driven by the mere force of +circumstances, steps forward from his cloisterly seclusion like +misjudged virtue, complains of the calumnies of his antagonists, and, +while seeming to identify his own person with the cause of order, rather +identifies the cause of order with his own person. Besides this, the +National Assembly had subsequently approved the expedition against Rome; +Bonaparte, however, had taken the initiative in the affair. After he +had led the High Priest Samuel back into the Vatican, he could hope as +King David to occupy the Tuileries. He had won the parson-interests +over to himself. + +The riot of June 13 limited itself, as we have seen, to a peaceful +street procession. There were, consequently, no laurels to be won from +it. Nevertheless, in these days, poor in heroes and events, the party +of Order converted this bloodless battle into a second Austerlitz. +Tribune and press lauded the army as the power of order against the +popular multitude, and the impotence of anarchy; and Changarnier as the +"bulwark of society"--a mystification that he finally believed in +himself. Underhand, however, the corps that seemed doubtful were +removed from Paris; the regiments whose suffrage had turned out most +democratic were banished from France to Algiers the restless heads among +the troops were consigned to pennal quarters; finally, the shutting out +of the press from the barracks, and of the barracks from contact with +the citizens was systematically carried out. + +We stand here at the critical turning point in the history of the French +National Guard. In 1830, it had decided the downfall of the +restoration. Under Louis Philippe, every riot failed, at + +which the National Guard stood on the side of the troops. When, in the +February days of 1848, it showed itself passive against the uprising and +doubtful toward Louis Philippe himself, he gave himself up for lost. +Thus the conviction cast root that a revolution could not win without, +nor the Army against the National Guard. This was the superstitious +faith of the Army in bourgeois omnipotence. The June days of 1548, when +the whole National Guard, jointly with the regular troops, threw down +the insurrection, had confirmed the superstition. After the +inauguration of Bonaparte's administration, the position of the National +Guard sank somewhat through the unconstitutional joining of their +command with the command of the First Military Division in the person of +Changarnier. + +As the command of the National Guard appeared here merely an attribute +of the military commander-in-chief, so did the Guard itself appear only +as an appendage of the regular troops. Finally, on June 13, the +National Guard was broken up, not through its partial dissolution only, +that from that date forward was periodically repeated at all points of +France, leaving only wrecks of its former self behind. The +demonstration of June 13 was, above all, a demonstration of the National +Guards. True, they had not carried their arms, but they had carried +their uniforms against the Army--and the talisman lay just in these +uniforms. The Army then learned that this uniform was but a woolen rag, +like any other. The spell was broken. In the June days of 1848, +bourgeoisie and small traders were united as National Guard with the +Army against the proletariat; on June 13, 1849, the bourgeoisie had the +small traders' National Guard broken up; on December 2, 1851, the +National Guard of the bourgeoisie itself vanished, and Bonaparte +attested the fact when he subsequently signed the decree for its +disbandment. Thus the bourgeoisie had itself broken its last weapon +against the army, from the moment when the small traders' class no +longer stood as a vassal behind, but as a rebel before it; indeed, it +was bound to do so, as it was bound to destroy with its own hand all its +means of defence against absolutism, so soon as itself was absolute. + +In the meantime, the party of Order celebrated the recovery of a power +that seemed lost in 1848 only in order that, freed from its trammels in +1849, it be found again through invectives against the republic and the +Constitution; through the malediction of all future, present and past +revolutions, that one included which its own leaders had made; and, +finally, in laws by which the press was gagged, the right of association +destroyed, and the stage of siege regulated as an organic institution. +The National Assembly then adjourned from the middle of August to the +middle of October, after it had appointed a Permanent Committee for the +period of its absence. During these vacations, the Legitimists +intrigued with Ems; the Orleanists with Claremont; Bonaparte through +princely excursions; the Departmental Councilmen in conferences over the +revision of the Constitution;--occurrences, all of which recurred +regularly at the periodical vacations of the National Assembly, and upon +which I shall not enter until they have matured into events. Be it here +only observed that the National Assembly was impolitic in vanishing from +the stage for long intervals, and leaving in view, at the head of the +republic, only one, however sorry, figure--Louis Bonaparte's--, while, +to the public scandal, the party of Order broke up into its own royalist +component parts, that pursued their conflicting aspirations after the +restoration. As often as, during these vacations the confusing noise of +the parliament was hushed, and its body was dissolved in the nation, it +was unmistakably shown that only one thing was still wanting to complete +the true figure of the republic: to make the vacation of the National +Assembly permanent, and substitute its inscription--="Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity"--by the unequivocal words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery + + + + + +IV + + +The National Assembly reconvened in the middle of October. On November +1, Bonaparte surprised it with a message, in which he announced the +dismissal of the Barrot-Falloux Ministry, and the framing of a new. +Never have lackeys been chased from service with less ceremony than +Bonaparte did his ministers. The kicks, that were eventually destined +for the National Assembly, Barrot & Company received in the meantime. + +The Barrot Ministry was, as we have seen, composed of Legitimists and +Orleanists; it was a Ministry of the party of Order. Bonaparte needed +that Ministry in order to dissolve the republican constituent assembly, +to effect the expedition against Rome, and to break up the democratic +party. He had seemingly eclipsed himself behind this Ministry, yielded +the reins to the hands of the party of Order, and assumed the modest +mask, which, under Louis Philippe, had been worn by the responsible +overseer of the newspapers--the mask of "homme de paille." [#1 Man of +straw] Now he threw off the mask, it being no longer the light curtain +behind which he could conceal, but the Iron Mask, which prevented him +from revealing his own physiognomy. He had instituted the Barrot +Ministry in order to break up the republican National Assembly in the +name of the party of Order; he now dismissed it in order to declare his +own name independent of the parliament of the party of Order. + +There was no want of plausible pretexts for this dismissal. The Barrot +Ministry had neglected even the forms of decency that would have allowed +the president of the republic to appear as a power along with the +National Assembly. For instance, during the vacation of the National +Assembly, Bonaparte published a letter to Edgar Ney, in which he seemed +to disapprove the liberal attitude of the Pope, just as, in opposition +to the constitutive assembly, he had published a letter, in which he +praised Oudinot for his attack upon the Roman republic; when the +National Assembly came to vote on the budget for the Roman expedition, +Victor Hugo, out of pretended liberalism, brought up that letter for +discussion; the party of Order drowned this notion of Bonaparte's under +exclamations of contempt and incredulity as though notions of Bonaparte +could not possibly have any political weight;--and none of the Ministers +took up the gauntlet for him. On another occasion, Barrot, with his +well-known hollow pathos, dropped, from the speakers' tribune in the +Assembly, words of indignation upon the "abominable machinations," +which, according to him, went on in the immediate vicinity of the +President. Finally, while the Ministry obtained from the National +Assembly a widow's pension for the Duchess of Orleans, it denied every +motion to raise the Presidential civil list;--and, in Bonaparte, be it +always remembered, the Imperial Pretender was so closely blended with +the impecunious adventurer, that the great idea of his being destined to +restore the Empire was ever supplemented by that other, to-wit, that the +French people was destined to pay his debts. + +The Barrot-Falloux Ministry was the first and last parliamentary +Ministry that Bonaparte called into life. Its dismissal marks, +accordingly, a decisive period. With the Ministry, the party of Order +lost, never to regain, an indispensable post to the maintenance of the +parliamentary regime,--the handle to the Executive power. It is readily +understood that, in a country like France, where the Executive disposes +over an army of more than half a million office-holders, and, +consequently, keeps permanently a large mass of interests and existences +in the completest dependence upon itself; where the Government +surrounds, controls, regulates, supervises and guards society, from its +mightiest acts of national life, down to its most insignificant motions; +from its common life, down to the private life of each individual; +where, due to such extraordinary centralization, this body of parasites +acquires a ubiquity and omniscience, a quickened capacity for motion and +rapidity that finds an analogue only in the helpless lack of +self-reliance, in the unstrung weakness of the body social itself;--that +in such a country the National Assembly lost, with the control of the +ministerial posts, all real influence; unless it simultaneously +simplified the administration; if possible, reduced the army of +office-holders; and, finally, allowed society and public opinion to +establish its own organs, independent of government censorship. But the +Material Interest of the French bourgeoisie is most intimately bound up +in maintenance of just such a large and extensively ramified +governmental machine. There the bourgeoisie provides for its own +superfluous membership; and supplies, in the shape of government +salaries, what it can not pocket in the form of profit, interest, rent +and fees. On the other hand, its Political Interests daily compel it to +increase the power of repression, i.e., the means and the personnel of +the government; it is at the same time forced to conduct an +uninterrupted warfare against public opinion, and, full of suspicion, to +hamstring and lame the independent organs of society--whenever it does +not succeed in amputating them wholly. Thus the bourgeoisie of France +was forced by its own class attitude, on the one hand, to destroy the +conditions for all parliamentary power, its own included, and, on the +other, to render irresistible the Executive power that stood hostile to +it. + +The new Ministry was called the d'Hautpoul Ministry. Not that General +d'Hautpoul had gained the rank of Ministerial President. Along with +Barrot, Bonaparte abolished this dignity, which, it must be granted, +condemned the President of the republic to the legal nothingness of a +constitutional kind, of a constitutional king at that, without throne +and crown, without sceptre and without sword, without irresponsibility, +without the imperishable possession of the highest dignity in the State, +and, what was most untoward of all--without a civil list. The +d'Hautpoul Ministry numbered only one man of parliamentary reputation, +the Jew Fould, one of the most notorious members of the high finance. +To him fell the portfolio of finance. Turn to the Paris stock +quotations, and it will he found that from November 1, 1849, French +stocks fall and rise with the falling and rising of the Bonapartist +shares. While Bonaparte had thus found his ally in the Bourse, he at +the same time took possession of the Police through the appointment of +Carlier as Prefect of Police. + +But the consequences of the change of Ministry could reveal themselves +only in the course of events. So far, Bonaparte had taken only one step +forward, to be all the more glaringly driven back. Upon his harsh +message, followed the most servile declarations of submissiveness to the +National Assembly. As often as the Ministers made timid attempts to +introduce his own personal hobbies as bills, they themselves seemed +unwilling and compelled only by their position to run the comic errands, +of whose futility they were convinced in advance. As often as Bonaparte +blabbed out his plans behind the backs of his Ministers, and sported his +"idees napoleoniennes," [#2 Napoleonic ideas.] his own Ministers +disavowed him from the speakers' tribune in the National Assembly. His +aspirations after usurpation seemed to become audible only to the end +that the ironical laughter of his adversaries should not die out. He +deported himself like an unappreciated genius, whom the world takes for +a simpleton. Never did lie enjoy in fuller measure the contempt of all +classes than at this period. Never did the bourgeoisie rule more +absolutely; never did it more boastfully display the insignia of +sovereignty. + +It is not here my purpose to write the history of its legislative +activity, which is summed up in two laws passed during this period: the +law reestablishing the duty on wine, and the laws on education, to +suppress infidelity. While the drinking of wine was made difficult to +the Frenchmen, all the more bounteously was the water of pure life +poured out to them. Although in the law on the duty on wine the +bourgeoisie declares the old hated French tariff system to be +inviolable, it sought, by means of the laws on education, to secure the +old good will of the masses that made the former bearable. One wonders +to see the Orleanists, the liberal bourgeois, these old apostles of +Voltarianism and of eclectic philosophy, entrusting the supervision of +the French intellect to their hereditary enemies, the Jesuits. But, +while Orleanists and Legitimists could part company on the question of +the Pretender to the crown, they understood full well that their joint +reign dictated the joining of the means of oppression of two distinct +epochs; that the means of subjugation of the July monarchy had to be +supplemented with and strengthened by the means of subjugation of the +restoration. + +The farmers, deceived in all their expectations, more than ever ground +down by the law scale of the price of corn, on the one hand, and, on the +other, by the growing load of taxation and mortgages, began to stir in +the Departments. They were answered by the systematic baiting of the +school masters, whom the Government subjected to the clergy; by the +systematic baiting of the Mayors, whom it subjected to the Prefects; and +by a system of espionage to which all were subjected. In Paris and the +large towns, the reaction itself carries the physiognomy of its own +epoch ; it irritates more than it cows ; in the country, it becomes low, +moan, petty, tiresome, vexatious,--in a word, it becomes "gensdarme." +It is easily understood how three years of the gensdarme regime, +sanctified by the regime of the clergyman, was bound to demoralize +unripe masses. + +Whatever the mass of passion and declamation, that the party of Order +expended from the speakers' tribune in the National Assembly against the +minority, its speech remained monosyllabic, like that of the Christian, +whose speech was to be "Aye, aye; nay, nay." It was monosyllabic, +whether from the tribune or the press ; dull as a conundrum, whose +solution is known beforehand. Whether the question was the right of +petition or the duty on wine, the liberty of the press or free trade, +clubs or municipal laws, protection of individual freedom or the +regulation of national economy, the slogan returns ever again, the theme +is monotonously the same, the verdict is ever ready and unchanged: +Socialism! Even bourgeois liberalism is pronounced socialistic; +socialistic, alike, is pronounced popular education; and, likewise, +socialistic national financial reform. It was socialistic to build a +railroad where already a canal was; and it was socialistic to defend +oneself with a stick when attacked with a sword. + +This was not a mere form of speech, a fashion, nor yet party tactics. +The bourgeoisie perceives correctly that all the weapons, which it +forged against feudalism, turn their edges against itself; that all the +means of education, which it brought forth, rebel against its own +civilization; that all the gods, which it made, have fallen away from +it. It understands that all its so-called citizens' rights and +progressive organs assail and menace its class rule, both in its social +foundation and its political superstructure--consequently, have become +"socialistic." It justly scents in this menace and assault the secret +of Socialism, whose meaning and tendency it estimates more correctly +than the spurious, so-called Socialism, is capable of estimating itself, +and which, consequently, is unable to understand how it is that the +bourgeoisie obdurately shuts up its ears to it, alike whether it +sentimentally whines about the sufferings of humanity; or announces in +Christian style the millennium and universal brotherhood; or twaddles +humanistically about the soul, culture and freedom; or doctrinally +matches out a system of harmony and wellbeing for all classes. What, +however, the bourgeoisie does not understand is the consequence that its +own parliamentary regime, its own political reign, is also of necessity +bound to fall under the general ban of "socialistic." So long as the +rule of the bourgeoisie is not fully organized, has not acquired its +purely political character, the contrast with the other classes cannot +come into view in all its sharpness; and, where it does come into view, +it cannot take that dangerous turn that converts every conflict with the +Government into a conflict with Capital. When, however, the French +bourgeoisie began to realize in every pulsation of society a menace to +"peace," how could it, at the head of society, pretend to uphold the +regime of unrest, its own regime, the parliamentary regime, which, +according to the expression of one of its own orators, lives in +struggle, and through struggle? The parliamentary regime lives on +discussion,--how can it forbid discussion? Every single interest, every +single social institution is there converted into general thoughts, is +treated as a thought,--how could any interest or institution claim to be +above thought, and impose itself as an article of faith? The orators' +conflict in the tribune calls forth the conflict of the rowdies in the +press the debating club in parliament is necessarily supplemented by +debating clubs in the salons and the barrooms; the representatives, who +are constantly appealing to popular opinion, justify popular opinion in +expressing its real opinion in petitions. The parliamentary regime +leaves everything to the decision of majorities,--how can the large +majorities beyond parliament be expected not to wish to decide? If, +from above, they hear the fiddle screeching, what else is to be expected +than that those below should dance? + +Accordingly, by now persecuting as Socialist what formerly it had +celebrated as Liberal, the bourgeoisie admits that its own interest +orders it to raise itself above the danger of self government; that, in +order to restore rest to the land, it own bourgeois parliament must, +before all, be brought to rest; that, in order to preserve its social +power unhurt, its political power must be broken; that the private +bourgeois can continue to exploit the other classes and rejoice in +"property," "family," "religion" and "order" only under the condition +that his own class be condemned to the same political nullity of the +other classes, that, in order to save their purse, the crown must be +knocked off their heads, and the sword that was to shield them, must at +the same time be hung over their heads as a sword of Damocles. + +In the domain of general bourgeois interests, the National Assembly +proved itself so barren, that, for instance, the discussion over the +Paris-Avignon railroad, opened in the winter of 1850, was not yet ripe +for a vote on December 2, 1851. Wherever it did not oppress or was +reactionary, the bourgeoisie was smitten with incurable barrenness. + +While Bonaparte's Ministry either sought to take the initiative of laws +in the spirit of the party of Order, or even exaggerated their severity +in their enforcement and administration, he, on his part, sought to win +popularity by means of childishly silly propositions, to exhibit the +contrast between himself and the National Assembly, and to hint at a +secret plan, held in reserve and only through circumstances temporarily +prevented from disclosing its hidden treasures to the French people. Of +this nature was the proposition to decree a daily extra pay of four sous +to the under-officers; so, likewise, the proposition for a "word of +honor" loan bank for working-men. To have money given and money +borrowed--that was the perspective that he hoped to cajole the masses +with. Presents and loans--to that was limited the financial wisdom of +the slums, the high as well as the low; to that were limited the springs +which Bonaparte knew how to set in motion. Never did Pretender +speculate more dully upon the dullness of the masses. + +Again and again did the National Assembly fly into a passion at these +unmistakable attempts to win popularity at its expense, and at the +growing danger that this adventurer, lashed on by debts and unrestrained +by reputation, might venture upon some desperate act. The strained +relations between the party of Order and the President had taken on a +threatening aspect, when an unforeseen event threw him back, rueful into +its arms. We mean the supplementary elections of March, 1850. These +elections took place to fill the vacancies created in the National +Assembly, after June 13, by imprisonment and exile. Paris elected only +Social-Democratic candidates; it even united the largest vote upon one +of the insurgents of June, 1848,--Deflotte. In this way the small +traders' world of Paris, now allied with the proletariat, revenged +itself for the defeat of June 13, 1849. It seemed to have disappeared +from the field of battle at the hour of danger only to step on it again +at a more favorable opportunity, with increased forces for the fray, and +with a bolder war cry. A circumstance seemed to heighten the danger of +this electoral victory. The Army voted in Paris for a June insurgent +against Lahitte, a Minister of Bonaparte's, and, in the Departments, +mostly for the candidates of the Mountain, who, there also, although not +as decisively as in Paris, maintained the upper hand over their +adversaries. + +Bonaparte suddenly saw himself again face to face with the revolution. +As on January 29, 1849, as on June 13, 1849, on May 10, 1850, he +vanished again behind the party of Order. He bent low; he timidly +apologized; he offered to appoint any Ministry whatever at the behest of +the parliamentary majority ; he even implored the Orleanist and +Legitimist party leaders--the Thiers, Berryers, Broglies, Moles, in +short, the so-called burgraves--to take hold of the helm of State in +person. The party of Order did not know how to utilize this +opportunity, that was never to return. Instead of boldly taking +possession of the proffered power, it did not even force Bonaparte to +restore the Ministry dismissed on November 1; it contented itself with +humiliating him with its pardon, and with affiliating Mr. Baroche to the +d'Hautpoul Ministry. This Baroche had, as Public Prosecutor, stormed +before the High Court at Bourges, once against the revolutionists of May +15, another time against the Democrats of June 13, both times on the +charge of "attentats" against the National Assembly. None of +Bonaparte's Ministers contributed later more towards the degradation of +the National Assembly; and, after December 2, 1851, we meet him again as +the comfortably stalled and dearly paid Vice-President of the Senate. +He had spat into the soup of the revolutionists for Bonaparte to eat it. + +On its part, the Social Democratic party seemed only to look for +pretexts in order to make its own victory doubtful, and to dull its +edge. Vidal, one of the newly elected Paris representatives, was +returned for Strassburg also. He was induced to decline the seat for +Paris and accept the one for Strassburg. Thus, instead of giving a +definite character to their victory at the hustings, and thereby +compelling the party of Order forthwith to contest it in parliament; +instead of thus driving the foe to battle at the season of popular +enthusiasm and of a favorable temper in the Army, the democratic party +tired out Paris with a new campaign during the months of March and +April; it allowed the excited popular passions to wear themselves out in +this second provisional electoral play it allowed the revolutionary +vigor to satiate itself with constitutional successes, and lose its +breath in petty intrigues, hollow declamation and sham moves; it gave +the bourgeoisie time to collect itself and make its preparations +finally, it allowed the significance of the March elections to find a +sentimentally weakening commentary at the subsequent April election in +the victory of Eugene Sue. In one word, it turned the 10th of March +into an April Fool. + +The parliamentary majority perceived the weakness of its adversary. Its +seventeen burgraves--Bonaparte had left to it the direction of and +responsibility for the attack--, framed a new election law, the moving +of which was entrusted to Mr. Faucher, who had applied for the honor. +On May 8, he introduced the new law whereby universal suffrage was +abolished; a three years residence in the election district imposed as a +condition for voting; and, finally, the proof of this residence made +dependent, for the working-man, upon the testimony of his employer. + +As revolutionarily as the democrats had agitated and stormed during the +constitutional struggles, so constitutionally did they, now, when it was +imperative to attest, arms in hand, the earnestness of their late +electoral victories, preach order, "majestic calmness," lawful conduct, +i. e., blind submission to the will of the counter-revolution, which +revealed itself as law. During the debate, the Mountain put the party +of Order to shame by maintaining the passionless attitude of the +law-abiding burger, who upholds the principle of law against +revolutionary passions; and by twitting the party of Order with the +fearful reproach of proceeding in a revolutionary manner. Even the +newly elected deputies took pains to prove by their decent and +thoughtful deportment what an act of misjudgment it was to decry them as +anarchists, or explain their election as a victory of the revolution. +The new election law was passed on May 31. The Mountain contented +itself with smuggling a protest into the pockets of tile President of +the Assembly. To the election law followed a new press law, whereby the +revolutionary press was completely done away with. It had deserved its +fate. The "National" and the "Presse," two bourgeois organs, remained +after this deluge the extreme outposts of the revolution. + +We have seen how, during March and April, the democratic leaders did +everything to involve the people of Paris in a sham battle, and how, +after May 8, they did everything to keep it away from a real battle. We +may not here forget that the year 1850 was one of the most brilliant +years of industrial and commercial prosperity; consequently, that the +Parisian proletariat was completely employed. But the election law of +May 31, 1850 excluded them from all participation in political power; it +cut the field of battle itself from under them; it threw the workingmen +back into the state of pariahs, which they had occupied before the +February revolution. In allowing themselves, in sight of such an +occurrence, to be led by the democrats, and in forgetting the +revolutionary interests of their class through temporary comfort, the +workingmen abdicated the honor of being a conquering power; they +submitted to their fate; they proved that the defeat of June, 1848, had +incapacitated them from resistance for many a year to come finally, that +the historic process must again, for the time being, proceed over their +heads. As to the small traders' democracy, which, on June 13, had cried +out: "If they but dare to assail universal suffrage . . . then +. . . then we will show who we are!"--they now consoled themselves with +the thought that the counter-revolutionary blow, which had struck them, +was no blow at all, and that the law of May 31 was no law. On May 2, +1852, according to them, every Frenchman would appear at the hustings, +in one hand the ballot, in the other the sword. With this prophecy they +set their hearts at ease. Finally, the Army was punished by its +superiors for the elections of May and April, 1850, as it was punished +for the election of May 29, 1849. This time, however, it said to itself +determinately: "The revolution shall not cheat us a third time." + +The law of May 31, 1850, was the "coup d'etat" of the bourgeoisie. All +its previous conquests over the revolution had only a temporary +character: they became uncertain the moment the National Assembly +stepped off the stage; they depended upon the accident of general +elections, and the history of the elections since 1848 proved +irrefutably that, in the same measure as the actual reign of the +bourgeoisie gathered strength, its moral reign over the masses wore off. +Universal suffrage pronounced itself on May 10 pointedly against the +reign of the bourgeoisie; the bourgeoisie answered with the banishment +of universal suffrage. The law of May 31 was, accordingly, one of the +necessities of the class struggle. On the other hand, the constitution +required a minimum of two million votes for the valid ejection of the +President of the republic. If none of the Presidential candidates +polled this minimum, then the National Assembly was to elect the +President out of the three candidates polling the highest votes. At the +time that the constitutive body made this law, ten million voters were +registered on the election rolls. In its opinion, accordingly, +one-fifth of the qualified voters sufficed to make a choice for +President valid. The law of May 31 struck at least three million voters +off the rolls, reduced the number of qualified voters to seven millions, +and yet, not withstanding, it kept the lawful minimum at two millions +for the election of a President. Accordingly, it raised the lawful +minimum from a fifth to almost a third of the qualified voters, i.e., it +did all it could to smuggle the Presidential election out of the hands +of the people into those of the National Assembly. Thus, by the +election law of May 31, the party of Order seemed to have doubly secured +its empire, in that it placed the election of both the National Assembly +and the President of the republic in the keeping of the stable portion +of society. + + + + +V + + +The strife immediately broke out again between the National Assembly and +Bonaparte, so soon as the revolutionary crisis was weathered, and +universal suffrage was abolished. + +The Constitution had fixed the salary of Bonaparte at 600,000 francs. +Barely half a year after his installation, he succeeded in raising this +sum to its double: Odillon Barrot had wrung from the constitutive +assembly a yearly allowance of 600,000 francs for so-called +representation expenses. After June 13, Bonaparte hinted at similar +solicitations, to which, however, Barrot then turned a deaf ear. Now, +after May 31, he forthwith utilized the favorable moment, and caused his +ministers to move a civil list of three millions in the National +Assembly. A long adventurous, vagabond career had gifted him with the +best developed antennae for feeling out the weak moments when he could +venture upon squeezing money from his bourgeois. He carried on regular +blackmail. The National Assembly had maimed the sovereignty of the +people with his aid and his knowledge: he now threatened to denounce its +crime to the tribunal of the people, if it did not pull out its purse +and buy his silence with three millions annually. It had robbed three +million Frenchmen of the suffrage: for every Frenchman thrown "out of +circulation," he demanded a franc "in circulation." He, the elect of +six million, demanded indemnity for the votes he had been subsequently +cheated of. The Committee of the National Assembly turned the +importunate fellow away. The Bonapartist press threatened: Could the +National Assembly break with the President of the republic at a time +when it had broken definitely and on principle with the mass of the +nation? It rejected the annual civil list, but granted, for this once, +an allowance of 2,160,000 francs. Thus it made itself guilty of the +double weakness of granting the money, and, at the same time, showing by +its anger that it did so only unwillingly. We shall presently see to +what use Bonaparte put the money. After this aggravating after-play, +that followed upon the heels of the abolition of universal suffrage, and +in which Bonaparte exchanged his humble attitude of the days of the +crisis of March and April for one of defiant impudence towards the +usurping parliament, the National Assembly adjourned for three months, +from August 11, to November 11. It left behind in its place a Permanent +Committee of 18 members that contained no Bonapartist, but did contain a +few moderate republicans. The Permanent Committee of the year 1849 had +numbered only men of order and Bonapartists. At that time, however, the +party of Order declared itself in permanence against the revolution; now +the parliamentary republic declared itself in permanence against the +President. After the law of May 31, only this rival still confronted +the party of Order. + +When the National Assembly reconvened in November, 1850, instead of its +former petty skirmishes with the President, a great headlong struggle, a +struggle for life between the two powers, seemed to have become +inevitable. + +As in the year 1849, the party of Order had during this year's vacation, +dissolved into its two separate factions, each occupied with its own +restoration intrigues, which had received new impetus from the death of +Louis Philippe. The Legitimist King, Henry V, had even appointed a +regular Ministry, that resided in Paris, and in which sat members of the +Permanent Committee. Hence, Bonaparte was, on his part, justified in +making tours through the French Departments, and--according to the +disposition of the towns that he happened to be gladdening with his +presence--some times covertly, other times more openly blabbing out his +own restoration plans, and gaining votes for himself On these +excursions, which the large official "Moniteur" and the small private +"Moniteurs" of Bonaparte were, of course, bound to celebrate as +triumphal marches, he was constantly accompanied by affiliated members +of the "Society of December 10" This society dated from the year 1849. +Under the pretext of founding a benevolent association, the +slum-proletariat of Paris was organized into secret sections, each +section led by Bonapartist agents, with a Bonapartist General at the +head of all. Along with ruined roues of questionable means of support +and questionable antecedents, along with the foul and adventures-seeking +dregs of the bourgeoisie, there were vagabonds, dismissed soldiers, +discharged convicts, runaway galley slaves, sharpers, jugglers, +lazzaroni, pickpockets, sleight-of-hand performers, gamblers, procurers, +keepers of disorderly houses, porters, literati, organ grinders, rag +pickers, scissors grinders, tinkers, beggars--in short, that whole +undefined, dissolute, kicked-about mass that the Frenchmen style "la +Boheme" With this kindred element, Bonaparte formed the stock of the +"Society of December 10," a "benevolent association" in so far as, like +Bonaparte himself, all its members felt the need of being benevolent to +themselves at the expense of the toiling nation. The Bonaparte, who +here constitutes himself Chief of the Slum-Proletariat; who only here +finds again in plenteous form the interests which he personally pursues; +who, in this refuse, offal and wreck of all classes, recognizes the only +class upon which he can depend unconditionally;--this is the real +Bonaparte, the Bonaparte without qualification. An old and crafty roue, +he looks upon the historic life of nations, upon their great and public +acts, as comedies in the ordinary sense, as a carnival, where the great +costumes, words and postures serve only as masks for the pettiest +chicaneries. So, on the occasion of his expedition against Strassburg +when a trained Swiss vulture impersonated the Napoleonic eagle; so, +again, on the occasion of his raid upon Boulogne, when he struck a few +London lackeys into French uniform: they impersonated the army; [#1 +Under the reign of Louis Philippe, Bonaparte made two attempts to +restore the throne of Napoleon: one in October, 1836, in an expedition +from Switzerland upon Strassburg and one in August, 1840, in an +expedition from England upon Boulogne.] and so now, in his "Society of +December 10," he collects 10,000 loafers who are to impersonate the +people as Snug the Joiner does the lion. At a period when the +bourgeoisie itself is playing the sheerest comedy, but in the most +solemn manner in the world, without doing violence to any of the +pedantic requirements of French dramatic etiquette, and is itself partly +deceived by, partly convinced of, the solemnity of its own public acts, +the adventurer, who took the comedy for simple comedy, was bound to win. +Only after he has removed his solemn opponent, when he himself takes +seriously his own role of emperor, and, with the Napoleonic mask on, +imagines he impersonates the real Napoleon, only then does he become the +victim of his own peculiar conception of history--the serious clown, who +no longer takes history for a comedy, but a comedy for history. What +the national work-shops were to the socialist workingmen, what the +"Gardes mobiles" were to the bourgeois republicans, that was to +Bonaparte the "Society of December 10,"--a force for partisan warfare +peculiar to himself. On his journeys, the divisions of the Society, +packed away on the railroads, improvised an audience for him, performed +public enthusiasm, shouted "vive l'Empereur," insulted and clubbed the +republicans,--all, of course, under the protection of the police. On +his return stages to Paris, this rabble constituted his vanguard, it +forestalled or dispersed counter-demonstrations. The "Society of +December 10" belonged to him, it was his own handiwork, his own thought. +Whatever else he appropriates, the power of circumstances places in his +hands; whatever else he does, either circumstances do for him, or he is +content to copy from the deeds of others, but he posing before the +citizens with the official phrases about "Order," "Religion," "Family," +"Property," and, behind him, the secret society of skipjacks and +picaroons, the society of disorder, of prostitution, and of theft,--that +is Bonaparte himself as the original author; and the history of the +"Society of December 10" is his own history. Now, then, it happened +that Representatives belonging to the party of order occasionally got +under the clubs of the Decembrists. Nay, more. Police Commissioner +Yon, who bad been assigned to the National Assembly, and was charged +with the guardianship of its safety, reported to the Permanent Committee +upon the testimony of one Alais, that a Section of the Decembrists had +decided on the murder of General Changarnier and of Dupin, the President +of the National Assembly, and had already settled upon the men to +execute the decree. One can imagine the fright of Mr. Dupin. A +parliamentary inquest over the "Society of December 10," i. e., the +profanation of the Bonapartist secret world now seemed inevitable. Just +before the reconvening of the National Assembly, Bonaparte circumspectly +dissolved his Society, of course, on paper only. As late as the end of +1851, Police Prefect Carlier vainly sought, in an exhaustive memorial, +to move him to the real dissolution of the Decembrists. + +The "Society of December 10" was to remain the private army of Bonaparte +until he should have succeeded in converting the public Army into a +"Society of December 10." Bonaparte made the first attempt in this +direction shortly after the adjournment of the National Assembly, and he +did so with the money which he had just wrung from it. As a fatalist, +he lives devoted to the conviction that there are certain Higher Powers, +whom man, particularly the soldier, cannot resist. First among these +Powers he numbers cigars and champagne, cold poultry and garlic-sausage. +Accordingly, in the apartments of the Elysee, he treated first the +officers and under-officers to cigars and champagne, to cold poultry and +garlic-sausage. On October 3, he repeats this manoeuvre with the rank +and file of the troops by the review of St. Maur; and, on October 10, +the same manoeuvre again, upon a larger scale, at the army parade of +Satory. The Uncle bore in remembrance the campaigns of Alexander in +Asia: the Nephew bore in remembrance the triumphal marches of Bacchus in +the same country. Alexander was, indeed, a demigod; but Bacchus was a +full-fledged god, and the patron deity, at that, of the "Society of +December 10." + +After the review of October 3, the Permanent Committee summoned the +Minister of War, d'Hautpoul, before it. He promised that such breaches +of discipline should not recur. We have seen how, on October 10th, +Bonaparte kept d'Hautpoul's word. At both reviews Changarnier had +commanded as Commander-in-chief of the Army of Paris. He, at once +member of the Permanent Committee, Chief of the National Guard, the +"Savior" of January 29, and June 13, the "Bulwark of Society," candidate +of the Party of Order for the office of President, the suspected Monk of +two monarchies,--he had never acknowledged his subordination to the +Minister of War, had ever openly scoffed at the republican Constitution, +and had pursued Bonaparte with a protection that was ambiguously +distinguished. Now he became zealous for the discipline in opposition +to Bonaparte. While, on October 10, a part of the cavalry cried: "Vive +Napoleon! Vivent les saucissons;" [#2 Long live Napoleon! Long live the +sausages!] Changarnier saw to it that at least the infantry, which filed +by under the command of his friend Neumeyer, should observe an icy +silence. In punishment, the Minister of War, at the instigation of +Bonaparte, deposed General Neumeyer from his post in Paris, under the +pretext of providing for him as Commander-in-chief of the Fourteenth and +Fifteenth Military Divisions. Neumeyer declined the exchange, and had, +in consequence, to give his resignation. On his part, Changarnier +published on November 2, an order, wherein he forbade the troops to +indulge, while under arms, in any sort of political cries or +demonstrations. The papers devoted to the Elysee interests attacked +Changarnier; the papers of the party of Order attacked Bonaparte; the +Permanent Committee held frequent secret sessions, at which it was +repeatedly proposed to declare the fatherland in danger; the Army seemed +divided into two hostile camps, with two hostile staffs; one at the +Elysee, where Bonaparte, the other at the Tuileries, where Changarnier +resided. All that seemed wanting for the signal of battle to sound was +the convening of the National Assembly. The French public looked upon +the friction between Bonaparte and Changarnier in the light of the +English journalist, who characterized it in these words: "The political +servant girls of France are mopping away the glowing lava of the +revolution with old mops, and they scold each other while doing their +work. + +Meanwhile, Bonaparte hastened to depose the Minister of War, d'Hautpoul; +to expedite him heels over head to Algiers; and to appoint in his place +General Schramm as Minister of War. On November 12, he sent to the +National Assembly a message of American excursiveness, overloaded with +details, redolent of order, athirst for conciliation, resignful to the +Constitution, dealing with all and everything, only not with the burning +questions of the moment. As if in passing he dropped the words that +according to the express provisions of the Constitution, the President +alone disposes over the Army. The message closed with the following +high-sounding protestations: + +"France demands, above all things, peace . . . Alone bound by an oath, I +shall keep myself within the narrow bounds marked out by it to me +. . . As to me, elected by the people, and owing my power to it alone, I +shall always submit to its lawfully expressed will. Should you at this +session decide upon the revision of the Constitution, a Constitutional +Convention will regulate the position of the Executive power. If you do +not, then, the people will, in 1852, solemnly announce its decision. +But, whatever the solution may be that the future has in store, let us +arrive at an understanding to the end that never may passion, surprise +or violence decide over the fate of a great nation. . . . That which, +above all, bespeaks my attention is, not who will, in 1852, rule over +France, but to so devote the time at my disposal that the interval may +pass by with-out agitation and disturbance. I have straightforwardly +opened my heart to you, you will answer my frankness with your +confidence, my good efforts with your co-operation. God will do the +rest." + +The honnete, hypocritically temperate, commonplace-virtuous language of +the bourgeoisie reveals its deep meaning in the mouth of the +self-appointed ruler of the "Society of December 10," and of the +picnic-hero of St. Maur and Satory. + +The burgraves of the party of Order did not for a moment deceive +themselves on the confidence that this unbosoming deserved. They were +long blase on oaths; they numbered among themselves veterans and +virtuosi of perjury. The passage about the army did not, however, +escape them. They observed with annoyance that the message, despite its +prolix enumeration of the lately enacted laws, passed, with affected +silence, over the most important of all, the election law, and, +moreover, in case no revision of the Constitution was held, left the +choice of the President, in 1852, with the people. The election law was +the ball-and-chain to the feet of the party of Order, that hindered them +from walking, and now assuredly from storming. Furthermore, by the +official disbandment of the "Society of December 10," and the dismissal +of the Minister of War, d'Hautpoul, Bonaparte had, with his own hands, +sacrificed the scapegoats on the altar of the fatherland. He had turned +off the expected collision. Finally, the party of Order itself +anxiously sought to avoid every decisive conflict with the Executive, to +weaken and to blur it over. Fearing to lose its conquests over the +revolution, it let its rival gather the fruits thereof. "France +demands, above all things, peace," with this language had the party of +Order been apostrophizing the revolution, since February; with this +language did Bonaparte's message now apostrophize the party of Order: +"France demands, above all things, peace." Bonaparte committed acts +that aimed at usurpation, but the party of Order committed a +"disturbance of the peace," if it raised the hue and cry, and explained +them hypochrondriacally. The sausages of Satory were mouse-still when +nobody talked about them;--France demands, above all things, peace." +Accordingly, Bonaparte demanded that he be let alone; and the +parliamentary party was lamed with a double fear: the fear of +re-conjuring up the revolutionary disturbance of the peace, and the fear +of itself appearing as the disturber of the peace in the eyes of its own +class, of the bourgeosie. Seeing that, above all things, France +demanded peace, the party of Order did not dare, after Bonaparte had +said "peace" in his message, to answer "war." The public, who had +promised to itself the pleasure of seeing great scenes of scandal at the +opening of the National Assembly, was cheated out of its expectations. +The opposition deputies, who demanded the submission of the minutes of +the Permanent Committee over the October occurrences, were outvoted. +All debate that might excite was fled from on principle. The labors of +the National Assembly during November and December, 1850, were without +interest. + +Finally, toward the end of December, began a guerilla warfare about +certain prerogatives of the parliament. The movement sank into the mire +of petty chicaneries on the prerogative of the two powers, since, with +the abolition of universal suffrage, the bourgeoisie had done away with +the class struggle. + +A judgment for debt had been secured against Mauguin, one of the +Representatives. Upon inquiry by the President of the Court, the +Minister of Justice, Rouher, declared that an order of arrest should be +made out without delay. Manguin was, accordingly, cast into the +debtors' prison. The National Assembly bristled up when it heard of the +"attentat." It not only ordered his immediate release, but had him +forcibly taken out of Clichy the same evening by its own greffier. In +order, nevertheless, to shield its belief in the "sacredness of private +property," and also with the ulterior thought of opening, in case of +need, an asylum for troublesome Mountainers, it declared the +imprisonment of a Representative for debt to be permissible upon its +previous consent. It forgot to decree that the President also could be +locked up for debt. By its act, it wiped out the last semblance of +inviolability that surrounded the members of its own body. + +It will be remembered that, upon the testimony of one Allais, Police +Commissioner Yon had charged a Section of Decembrists with a plan to +murder Dupin and Changarnier. With an eye upon that, the questors +proposed at the very first session, that the parliament organize a +police force of its own, paid for out of the private budget of the +National Assembly itself, and wholly independent of the Police Prefects. +The Minister of the Interior, Baroche, protested against this trespass +on his preserves. A miserable compromise followed, according to which +the Police Commissioner of the Assembly was to be paid out of its own +private budget and was to be subject to the appointment and dismissal of +its own questors, but only upon previous agreement with the Minister of +the Interior. In the meantime Allais had been prosecuted by the +Government. It was an easy thing in Court, to present his testimony in +the light of a mystification, and, through the mouth of the Public +Prosecutor, to throw Dupin, Changarnier, Yon, together with the whole +National Assembly, into a ridiculous light. Thereupon, on December 29, +Minister Baroche writes a letter to Dupin, in which he demands the +dismissal of Yon. The Committee of the National Assembly decides to +keep Yon in office; nevertheless, the National Assembly, frightened by +its own violence in the affair of Mauguin, and accustomed, every time it +has shied a blow at the Executive, to receive back from it two in +exchange, does not sanction this decision. It dismisses Yon in reward +for his zeal in office, and robs itself of a parliamentary prerogative, +indispensable against a person who does not decide by night to execute +by day, but decides by day and executes by night. + +We have seen how, during the months of November and December, under +great and severe provocations, the National Assembly evaded and refused +the combat with the Executive power. Now we see it compelled to accept +it on the smallest occasions. In the affair of Mauguin, it confirms in +principle the liability of a Representative to imprisonment for debt, +but to itself reserves the power of allowing the principle to be applied +only to the Representatives whom it dislikes,-and for this infamous +privilege we see it wrangling with the Minister of Justice. Instead of +utilizing the alleged murder plan to the end of fastening an inquest +upon the "Society of December 10," and of exposing Bonaparte beyond +redemption before France and his true figure, as the head of the +slum-proletariat of Paris, it allows the collision to sink to a point +where the only issue between itself and the Minister of the Interior is. +Who has jurisdiction over the appointment and dismissal of a Police +Commissioner? Thus we see the party of Order, during this whole period, +compelled by its ambiguous position to wear out and fritter away its +conflict with the Executive power in small quarrels about jurisdiction, +in chicaneries, in pettifogging, in boundary disputes, and to turn the +stalest questions of form into the very substance of its activity. It +dares not accept the collision at the moment when it involves a +principle, when the Executive power has really given itself a blank, and +when the cause of the National Assembly would be the cause of the +nation. It would thereby have issued to the nation an order of march; +and it feared nothing so much as that the nation should move. Hence, on +these occasions, it rejects the motions of the Mountain, and proceeds to +the order of the day. After the issue has in this way lost all +magnitude, the Executive power quietly awaits the moment when it can +take it up again upon small and insignificant occasions; when, so to +say, the issue offers only a parliamentary local interest. Then does +the repressed valor of the party of Order break forth, then it tears +away the curtain from the scene, then it denounces the President, then +it declares the republic to be in danger,--but then all its pathos +appears stale, and the occasion for the quarrel a hypocritical pretext, +or not at all worth the effort. The parliamentary tempest becomes a +tempest in a tea-pot, the struggle an intrigue, the collision a scandal. +While the revolutionary classes gloat with sardonic laughter over the +humiliation of the National Assembly--they, of course, being as +enthusiastic for the prerogatives of the parliament as that body is for +public freedom--the bourgeoisie, outside of the parliament, does not +understand how the bourgeoisie, inside of the parliament, can squander +its time with such petty bickerings, and can endanger peace by such +wretched rivalries with the President. It is puzzled at a strategy that +makes peace the very moment when everybody expects battles, and that +attacks the very moment everybody believes peace has been concluded. + +On December 20, Pascal Duprat interpellated the Minister of the Interior +on the "Goldbar Lottery." This lottery was a "Daughter from Elysium"; +Bonaparte, together with his faithful, had given her birth; and Police +Prefect Carlier had placed her under his official protection, although +the French law forbade all lotteries, with the exception of games for +benevolent purposes. Seven million tickets, a franc a piece, and the +profit ostensibly destined to the shipping of Parisian vagabonds to +California. Golden dreams were to displace the Socialist dreams of the +Parisian proletariat; the tempting prospect of a prize was to displace +the doctrinal right to labor. Of course, the workingmen of Paris did +not recognize in the lustre of the California gold bars the lack-lustre +francs that had been wheedled out of their pockets. In the main, +however, the scheme was an unmitigated swindle. The vagabonds, who +meant to open California gold mines without taking the pains to leave +Paris, were Bonaparte himself and his Round Table of desperate +insolvents. The three millions granted by the National Assembly were +rioted away; the Treasury had to be refilled somehow or another. In +vain did Bonaparte open a national subscription, at the head of which he +himself figured with a large sum, for the establishment of so-called +"cites ouvrieres." [#3 Work cities.] The hard-hearted bourgeois waited, +distrustful, for the payment of his own shares; and, as this, of course, +never took place, the speculation in Socialist castles in the air fell +flat. The gold bars drew better. Bonaparte and his associates did not +content themselves with putting into their own pockets part of the +surplus of the seven millions over and above the bars that were to be +drawn; they manufactured false tickets; they sold, of Number 10 alone, +fifteen to twenty lots--a financial operation fully in the spirit of the +"Society of December 10"! The National Assembly did not here have before +it the fictitious President of the Republic, but Bonaparte himself in +flesh and blood. Here it could catch him in the act, not in conflict +with the Constitution, but with the penal code. When, upon Duprat's +interpellation, the National Assembly went over to the order of the day, +this did not happen simply because Girardin's motion to declare itself +"satisfied" reminded the party of Order of its own systematic +corruption: the bourgeois, above all the bourgeois who has been inflated +into a statesman, supplements his practical meanness with theoretical +pompousness. As statesman, he becomes, like the Government facing him, +a superior being, who can be fought only in a higher, more exalted +manner. + +Bonaparte-who, for the very reason of his being a "bohemian," a princely +slum-proletarian, had over the scampish bourgeois the advantage that he +could carry on the fight after the Assembly itself had carried him with +its own hands over the slippery ground of the military banquets, of the +reviews, of the "Society of December 10," and, finally, of the penal +code-now saw that the moment had arrived when he could move from the +seemingly defensive to the offensive. He was but little troubled by the +intermediate and trifling defeats of the Minister of Justice, of the +Minister of War, of the Minister of the Navy, of the Minister of +Finance, whereby the National Assembly indicated its growling +displeasure. Not only did he prevent the Ministers from resigning, and +thus recognizing the subordination of the executive power to the +Parliament; he could now accomplish what during the vacation of the +National Assembly be had commenced, the separation of the military power +from the Assembly--the deposition of Changarnier. + +An Elysee paper published an order, issued during the month of May, +ostensibly to the First Military Division, and, hence, proceeding from +Changarnier, wherein the officers were recommended, in case of an +uprising, to give no quarter to the traitors in their own ranks, to +shoot them down on the spot, and to refuse troops to the National +Assembly, should it make a requisition for such. On January 3, 1851, +the Cabinet was interpellated on this order. The Cabinet demands for +the examination of the affair at first three months, then one week, +finally only twenty-four hours' time. The Assembly orders an immediate +explanation Changarnier rises and declares that this order never +existed; he adds that he would ever hasten to respond to the calls of +the National Assembly, and that, in case of a collision, they could +count upon him. The Assembly receives his utterances with inexpressible +applause, and decrees a vote of confidence to him. It thereby resign +its own powers; it decrees its own impotence and the omnipotence of the +Army by committing itself to the private protection of a general. But +the general, in turn, deceives himself when he places at the Assembly's +disposal and against Bonaparte a power that he holds only as a fief from +that same Bonaparte, and when, on his part, he expects protection from +this Parliament, from his protege', itself needful of protection. But +Changarnier has faith in the mysterious power with which since January, +1849, he had been clad by the bourgeoisie. He takes himself for the +Third Power, standing beside the other Powers of Government. He shares +the faith of all the other heroes, or rather saints, of this epoch, +whose greatness consists but in the interested good opinion that their +own party holds of them, and who shrink into every-day figures so soon +as circumstances invite them to perform miracles. Infidelity is, +indeed, the deadly enemy of these supposed heroes and real saints. +Hence their virtuously proud indignation at the unenthusiastic wits and +scoffers. + +That same evening the Ministers were summoned to the Elysee; Bonaparte +presses the removal of Changarnier; five Ministers refuse to sign the +order; the "Moniteur" announces a Ministerial crisis; and the party of +Order threatens the formation of a Parliamentary army under the command +of Changarnier. The party of Order had the constitutional power hereto. +It needed only to elect Changarnier President of the National Assembly +in order to make a requisition for whatever military forces it needed +for its own safety. It could do this all the more safely, seeing that +Changarnier still stood at the head of the Army and of the Parisian +National Guard, and only lay in wait to be summoned, together with the +Army. The Bonaprtist press did not even dare to question the right of +the National Assembly to issue a direct requisition for troops;--a legal +scruple, that, under the given circumstances, did not promise success. +That the Army would have obeyed the orders of the National Assembly is +probable, when it is considered that Bonaparte had to look eight days +all over Paris to find two generals--Baraguay d'Hilliers and St. Jean +d'Angley--who declared themselves ready to countersign the order +cashiering Changamier. That, however, the party of Order would have +found in its own ranks and in the parliament the requisite vote for such +a decision is more than doubtful, when it is considered that, eight days +later, 286 votes pulled away from it, and that, as late as December, +1851, at the last decisive hour, the Mountain rejected a similar +proposition. Nevertheless, the burgraves might still have succeeded in +driving the mass of their party to an act of heroism, consisting in +feeling safe behind a forest of bayonets, and in accepting the services +of the Army, which found itself deserted in its camp. Instead of this, +the Messieurs Burgraves betook themselves to the Elysee on the evening +of January 6, with the view of inducing Bonaparte, by means of politic +words and considerations, to drop the removal of Changarnier. Him whom +we must convince we recognize as the master of the situation. +Bonaparte, made to feel secure by this step, appoints on January 12 a +new Ministry, in which the leaders of the old, Fould and Baroche, are +retained. St Jean d'Angley becomes Minister of War; the "Moniteur" +announces the decree cashiering Changarnier; his command is divided up +between Baraguay d'Hilliers, who receives the First Division, and +Perrot, who is placed over the National Guard. The "Bulwark of Society" +is turned down; and, although no dog barks over the event, in the +Bourses the stock quotations rise. + +By repelling the Army, that, in Changarnier's person, put itself at its +disposal, and thus irrevocably stood up against the President, the party +of Order declares that the bourgeoisie has lost its vocation to reign. +Already there was no parliamentary Ministry. By losing, furthermore, +the handle to the Army and to the National Guard, what instrument of +force was there left to the National Assembly in order to maintain both +the usurped power of the parliament over the people, and its +constitutional power over the President? None. All that was left to it +was the appeal to peaceful principles, that itself had always explained +as "general rules" merely, to be prescribed to third parties, and only +in order to enable itself to move all the more freely. With the removal +of Changarnier, with the transfer of the military power to Bonaparte, +closes the first part of the period that we are considering, the period +of the struggle between the party of Order and the Executive power. The +war between the two powers is now openly declared; it is conducted +openly; but only after the party of Order has lost both arms and +soldier. With-out a Ministry, without any army, without a people, +without the support of public opinion; since its election law of May 31, +no longer the representative of the sovereign nation sans eyes, sans +ears, sans teeth, sans everything, the National Assembly had gradually +converted itself into a French Parliament of olden days, that must leave +all action to the Government, and content itself with growling +remonstrances "post festum." [#4 After the act is done; after the +fact.] + +The party of Order receives the new Ministry with a storm of +indignation. General Bedeau calls to mind the mildness of the Permanent +Committee during the vacation, and the excessive prudence with which it +had renounced the privilege of disclosing its minutes. Now, the +Minister of the Interior himself insists upon the disclosure of these +minutes, that have now, of course, become dull as stagnant waters, +reveal no new facts, and fall without making the slightest effect upon +the blase public. Upon Remusat's proposition, the National Assembly +retreats into its Committees, and appoints a "Committee on Extraordinary +Measures." Paris steps all the less out of the ruts of its daily +routine, seeing that business is prosperous at the time, the +manufactories busy, the prices of cereals low, provisions abundant, the +savings banks receiving daily new deposits. The "extraordinary +measures," that the parliament so noisily announced fizzle out on +January 18 in a vote of lack of confidence against the Ministry, without +General Changarnier's name being even mentioned. The party of Order was +forced to frame its motion in that way so as to secure the votes of the +republicans, because, of all the acts of the Ministry, Changarnier's +dismissal only was the very one they approved, while the party of Order +cannot in fact, condemn the other Ministerial acts which it had itself +dictated. The January 18 vote of lack of confidence was decided by 415 +ayes against 286 nays. It was, accordingly put through by a coalition +of the uncompromising Legitimists and Orleanists with the pure +republicans and the Mountain. Thus it revealed the fact that, in its +conflicts with Bonaparte, not only the Ministry, not only the Army, but +also its independent parliamentary majority; that a troop of +Representatives had deserted its camp out of a fanatic zeal for harmony, +out of fear of fight, out of lassitude, out of family considerations for +the salaries of relatives in office, out of speculations on vacancies in +the Ministry (Odillon Barrot), or out of that unmitigated selfishness +that causes the average bourgeois to be ever inclined to sacrifice the +interests of his class to this or that private motive. The Bonapartist +Representatives belonged from the start to the party of Order only in +the struggle against the revolution. The leader of the Catholic party, +Montalembert, already then threw his influence in the scale of +Bonaparte, since he despaired of the vitality of the parliamentary +party. Finally, the leaders of this party itself, Thiers and +Berryer--the Orleanist and the Legitimist--were compelled to proclaim +themselves openly as republicans ; to admit that their heart favored +royalty, but their head the republic; that their parliamentary republic +was the only possible form for the rule of the bourgeoisie Thus were +they compelled to brand, before the eyes of the bourgeois class itself, +as an intrigue--as dangerous as it was senseless--the restoration plans, +which they continued to pursue indefatigably behind the back of the +parliament. + +The January 18 vote of lack of confidence struck the Ministers, not the +President. But it was not the Ministry, it was the President who had +deposed Changarnier. Should the party of Order place Bonaparte himself +under charges? On account of his restoration hankerings? These only +supplemented their own. On account of his conspiracy at the military +reviews and of the "Society of December 10"? They had long since buried +these subjects under simple orders of business. On account of the +discharge of the hero of January 29 and June 13, of the man who, in May, +1850, threatened, in case of riot, to set Paris on fire at all its four +corners? Their allies of the Mountain and Cavaignac did not even allow +them to console the fallen "Bulwark of Society" with an official +testimony of their sympathy. They themselves could not deny the +constitutional right of the President to remove a General. They stormed +only because he made an unparliamentary use of his constitutional right. +Had they not themselves constantly made an unconstitutional use of their +parliamentary prerogative, notably by the abolition of universal +suffrage? Consequently they were reminded to move exclusively within +parliamentary bounds. Indeed, it required that peculiar disease, a +disease that, since 1848, has raged over the whole continent, +"Parliamentary Idiocy,"--that fetters those whom it infects to an +imaginary world, and robs them of all sense, all remembrance, all +understanding of the rude outside world;--it required this +"Parliamentary Idiocy" in order that the party of Order, which had, with +its own hands, destroyed all the conditions for parliamentary power, +and, in its struggle with the other classes, was obliged to destroy +them, still should consider its parliamentary victories as victories, +and imagine it hit the President by striking his Ministers. They only +afforded him an opportunity to humble the National Assembly anew in the +eyes of the nation. On January 20, the "Moniteur" announced that the +whole the dismissal of the whole Ministry was accepted. Under the +pretext that none of the parliamentary parties had any longer the +majority--as proved by the January 18 vote, that fruit of the coalition +between mountain and royalists--, and, in order to await the +re-formation of a majority, Bonaparte appointed a so-called transition +Ministry, of whom no member belonged to the parliament-altogether wholly +unknown and insignificant individuals; a Ministry of mere clerks and +secretaries. The party of Order could now wear itself out in the game +with these puppets; the Executive power no longer considered it worth +the while to be seriously represented in the National Assembly. By this +act Bonaparte concentrated the whole executive power all the more +securely in his own person; he had all the freer elbow-room to exploit +the same to his own ends, the more his Ministers became mere +supernumeraries. + +The party of Order, now allied with the Mountain, revenged itself by +rejecting the Presidential endowment project of 1,800.000 francs, which +the chief of the "Society of December 10" had compelled his Ministerial +clerks to present to the Assembly. This time a majority of only 102 +votes carried the day accordingly since January 18, 27 more votes had +fallen off: the dissolution of the party of Order was making progress. +Lest any one might for a moment be deceived touching the meaning of its +coalition with the Mountain, the party of Order simultaneously scorned +even to consider a motion, signed by 189 members of the Mountain, for a +general amnesty to political criminals. It was enough that the Minister +of the Interior, one Baisse, declared that the national tranquility was +only in appearance, in secret there reigned deep agitation, in secret, +ubiquitous societies were organized, the democratic papers were +preparing to reappear, the reports from the Departments were +unfavorable, the fugitives of Geneva conducted a conspiracy via Lyons +through the whole of southern France, France stood on the verge of an +industrial and commercial crisis, the manufacturers of Roubaix were +working shorter hours, the prisoners of Belle Isle had mutinied;--it was +enough that even a mere Baisse should conjure up the "Red Spectre" for +the party of Order to reject without discussion a motion that would have +gained for the National Assembly a tremendous popularity, and thrown +Bonaparte back into its arms. Instead of allowing itself to be +intimidated by the Executive power with the perspective of fresh +disturbances, the party of Order should rather have allowed a little +elbow-room to the class struggle, in order to secure the dependence of +the Executive upon itself. But it did not feel itself equal to the task +of playing with fire. + +Meanwhile, the so-called transition Ministry vegetated along until the +middle of April. Bonaparte tired out and fooled the National Assembly +with constantly new Ministerial combinations. Now he seemed to intend +constructing a republican Ministry with Lamartine and Billault; then, a +parliamentary one with the inevitable Odillon Barrot, whose name must +never be absent when a dupe is needed; then again, a Legitimist, with +Batismenil and Lenoist d'Azy; and yet again, an Orleansist, with +Malleville. While thus throwing the several factions of the party of +Order into strained relations with one another, and alarming them all +with the prospect of a republican Ministry, together with the there-upon +inevitable restoration of universal suffrage, Bonaparte simultaneously +raises in the bourgeoisie the conviction that his sincere efforts for a +parliamentary Ministry are wrecked upon the irreconcilable antagonism of +the royalist factions. All the while the bourgeoisie was clamoring +louder and louder for a "strong Government," and was finding it less and +less pardonable to leave France "without an administration," in +proportion as a general commercial crisis seemed to be under way and +making recruits for Socialism in the cities, as did the ruinously low +price of grain in the rural districts. Trade became daily duller; the +unemployed hands increased perceptibly; in Paris, at least 10,000 +workingmen were without bread ; in Rouen, Muehlhausen, Lyons, Roubaix, +Tourcoign, St. Etienue, Elbeuf, etc., numerous factories stood idle. +Under these circumstances Bonaparte could venture to restore, on April +11, the Ministry of January 18; Messieurs Rouher, Fould, Baroche, etc., +reinforced by Mr. Leon Faucher, whom the constitutive assembly had, +during its last days, unanimously, with the exception of five +Ministerial votes, branded with a vote of censure for circulating false +telegraphic dispatches. Accordingly, the National Assembly had won a +victory on January 18 over the Ministry, it had, for the period of three +months, been battling with Bonaparte, and all this merely to the end +that, on April 11, Fould and Baroche should be able to take up the +Puritan Faucher as third in their ministerial league. + +In November, 1849, Bonaparte had satisfied himself with an +Unparliamentary, in January, 1851, with an Extra-Parliamentary, on April +11, he felt strong enough to form an Anti-Parliamentary Ministry, that +harmoniously combined within itself the votes of lack of confidence of +both assemblies-the constitutive and the legislative, the republican and +the royalist. This ministerial progression was a thermometer by which +the parliament could measure the ebbing temperature of its own life. +This had sunk so low by the end of April that, at a personal interview, +Persigny could invite Changarnier to go over to the camp of the +President. Bonaparte, he assured Changarnier, considered the influence +of the National Assembly to be wholly annihilated, and already the +proclamation was ready, that was to be published after the steadily +contemplated, but again accidentally postponed "coup d'etat." +Changarnier communicated this announcement of its death to the leaders +of the party of Order; but who was there to believe a bed-bug bite could +kill? The parliament, however beaten, however dissolved, however +death-tainted it was, could not persuade itself to see, in the duel with +the grotesque chief of the "Society of December 10," anything but a duel +with a bed-bug. But Bonaparte answered the party of Order as Agesilaus +did King Agis: "I seem to you an ant; but shall one day be a lion." + + + + + +VI + + +The coalition with the Mountain and the pure republicans, to which the +party of Order found itself condemned in its fruitless efforts to keep +possession of the military and to reconquer supreme control over the +Executive power, proved conclusively that it had forfeited its +independent parliamentary majority. The calendar and clock merely gave, +on May 29, the signal for its complete dissolution. With May 29 +commenced the last year of the life of the National Assembly. It now +had to decide for the unchanged continuance or the revision of the +Constitution. But a revision of the Constitution meant not only the +definitive supremacy of either the bourgeoisie of the small traders' +democracy, of either democracy or proletarian anarchy, of either a +parliamentary republic or Bonaparte, it meant also either Orleans or +Bourbon! Thus fell into the very midst of the parliament the apple of +discord, around which the conflict of interests, that cut up the party +of Order into hostile factions, was to kindle into an open +conflagration. The party of Order was a combination of heterogeneous +social substances. The question of revision raised a political +temperature, in which the product was reduced to its original +components. + +The interest of the Bonapartists in the revision was simple: they were +above all concerned in the abolition of Article 45, which forbade +Bonaparte's reelection and the prolongation of his term. Not less +simple seemed to be the position of the republicans; they rejected all +revision, seeing in that only a general conspiracy against the republic; +as they disposed over more than one-fourth of the votes in the National +Assembly, and, according to the Constitution, a three-fourths majority +was requisite to revise and to call a revisory convention, they needed +only to count their own votes to be certain of victory. Indeed, they +were certain of it. + +Over and against these clear-cut positions, the party of Order found +itself tangled in inextricable contradictions. If it voted against the +revision, it endangered the "status quo," by leaving to Bonaparte only +one expedient--that of violence and handing France over, on May 2, 1852, +at the very time of election, a prey to revolutionary anarchy, with a +President whose authority was at an end; with a parliament that the +party had long ceased to own, and with a people that it meant to +re-conquer. If it voted constitutionally for a revision, it knew that +it voted in vain and would constitutionally have to go under before the +veto of the republicans. If, unconstitutionally, it pronounced a simple +majority binding, it could hope to control the revolution only in case +it surrendered unconditionally to the domination of the Executive power: +it then made Bonaparte master of the Constitution, of the revision and +of itself. A merely partial revision, prolonging the term of the +President, opened the way to imperial usurpation; a general revision, +shortening the existence of the republic, threw the dynastic claims into +an inevitable conflict: the conditions for a Bourbon and those for an +Orleanist restoration were not only different, they mutually excluded +each other. + +The parliamentary republic was more than a neutral ground on which the +two factions of the French bourgeoisie--Legitimists and Orleanists, +large landed property and manufacture--could lodge together with equal +rights. It was the indispensable condition for their common reign, the +only form of government in which their common class interest could +dominate both the claims of their separate factions and all the other +classes of society. As royalists, they relapsed into their old +antagonism into the struggle for the overlordship of either landed +property or of money; and the highest expression of this antagonism, its +personification, were the two kings themselves, their dynasties. Hence +the resistance of the party of Order to the recall of the Bourbons. + +The Orleanist Representative Creton moved periodically in 1849, 1850 and +1851 the repeal of the decree of banishment against the royal families; +as periodically did the parliament present the spectacle of an Assembly +of royalists who stubbornly shut to their banished kings the door +through which they could return home. Richard III murdered Henry VI, +with the remark that he was too good for this world, and belonged in +heaven. They declared France too bad to have her kings back again. +Forced by the power of circumstances, they had become republicans, and +repeatedly sanctioned the popular mandate that exiled their kings from +France. + +The revision of the Constitution, and circumstances compelled its +consideration, at once made uncertain not only the republic itself, but +also the joint reign of the two bourgeois factions; and it revived, with +the possibility of the monarchy, both the rivalry of interests which +these two factions had alternately allowed to preponderate, and the +struggle for the supremacy of the one over the other. The diplomats of +the party of Order believed they could allay the struggle by a +combination of the two dynasties through a so-called fusion of the +royalist parties and their respective royal houses. The true fusion of +the restoration and the July monarchy was, however, the parliamentary +republic, in which the Orleanist and Legitimist colors were dissolved, +and the bourgeois species vanished in the plain bourgeois, in the +bourgeois genus. Now however, the plan was to turn the Orleanist +Legitimist and the Legitimist Orleanist. The kingship, in which their +antagonism was personified, was to incarnate their unity, the expression +of their exclusive faction interests was to become the expression of +their common class interest; the monarchy was to accomplish what only +the abolition of two monarchies--the republic could and did accomplish. +This was the philosopher's stone, for the finding of which the doctors +of the party of Order were breaking their heads. As though the +Legitimate monarchy ever could be the monarchy of the industrial +bourgeoisie, or the bourgeois monarchy the monarchy of the hereditary +landed aristocracy! As though landed property and industry could +fraternize under one crown, where the crown could fall only upon one +head, the head of the older or the younger brother! As though industry +could at all deal upon a footing of equality with landed property, so +long as landed property did not decide itself to become industrial. If +Henry V were to die tomorrow, the Count of Paris would not, therefore, +become the king of the Legitimists, unless he ceased to be the King of +the Orleanists. Nevertheless, the fusion philosophers, who became +louder in the measure that the question of revision stepped to the fore, +who had provided themselves with a daily organ in the "Assemblee +Nationale," who, even at this very moment (February, 1852) are again at +work, explained the whole difficulty by the opposition and rivalries of +the two dynasties. The attempts to reconcile the family of Orleans with +Henry V., begun since the death of Louis Philippe, but, as all these +dynastic intrigues carried on only during the vacation of the National +Assembly, between acts, behind the scenes, more as a sentimental +coquetry with the old superstition than as a serious affair, were now +raised by the party of Order to the dignity of a great State question, +and were conducted upon the public stage, instead of, as heretofore in +the amateurs' theater. Couriers flew from Paris to Venice, from Venice +to Claremont, from Claremont to Paris. The Duke of Chambord issues a +manifesto in which he announces not his own, but the "national" +restoration, "with the aid of all the members of his family." The +Oleanist Salvandy throws himself at the feet of Henry V. The Legitimist +leaders Berryer, Benoit d'Azy, St. Priest travel to Claremont, to +persuade the Orleans; but in vain. The fusionists learn too late that +the interests of the two bourgeois factions neither lose in +exclusiveness nor gain in pliancy where they sharpen to a point in the +form of family interests, of the interests of the two royal houses. +When Henry V. recognized the Count of Paris as his successor--the only +success that the fusion could at best score--the house of Orleans +acquired no claim that the childlessness of Henry V. had not already +secured to it; but, on the other hand, it lost all the claims that it +had conquered by the July revolution. It renounced its original claims, +all the title, that, during a struggle nearly one hundred years long, it +had wrested from the older branch of the Bourbons; it bartered away its +historic prerogative, the prerogative of its family-tree. Fusion, +accordingly, amounted to nothing else than the resignation of the house +of Orleans, its Legitimist resignation, a repentful return from the +Protestant State Church into the Catholic;--a return, at that, that did +not even place it on the throne that it had lost, but on the steps of +the throne on which it was born. The old Orleanist Ministers Guizot, +Duchatel, etc., who likewise hastened to Claremont, to advocate the +fusion, represented in fact only the nervous reaction of the July +monarchy; despair, both in the citizen kingdom and the kingdom of +citizens; the superstitious belief in legitimacy as the last amulet +against anarchy. Mediators, in their imagination, between Orleans and +Bourbon, they were in reality but apostate Orleanists, and as such were +they received by the Prince of Joinville. The virile, bellicose part of +the Orleanists, on the contrary--Thiers, Baze, etc.--, persuaded the +family of Louis Philippe all the easier that, seeing every plan for the +immediate restoration of the monarchy presupposed the fusion of the two +dynasties, and every plan for fusion the resignation of the house of +Orleans, it corresponded, on the contrary, wholly with the tradition of +its ancestors to recognize the republic for the time being, and to wait +until circumstances permitted I the conversion of the Presidential chair +into a throne. Joinville's candidacy was set afloat as a rumor, public +curiosity was held in suspense, and a few months later, after the +revision was rejected, openly proclaimed in September. + +Accordingly, the essay of a royalist fusion between Orleanists and +Legitimists did not miscarry only, it broke up their parliamentary +fusion, the republican form that they had adopted in common, and it +decomposed the party of Order into its original components. But the +wider the breach became between Venice and Claremont, the further they +drifted away from each I other, and the greater the progress made by the +Joinville agitation, all the more active and earnest became the +negotiations between Faucher, the Minister of Bonaparte, and the +Legitimists. + +The dissolution of the party of Order went beyond its original elements. +Each of the two large factions fell in turn into new fragments. It was +as if all the old political shades, that formerly fought and crowded one +another within each of the two circles--be it that of the Legitimists or +that of the Orleanists--, had been thawed out like dried infusoria by +contact with water; as if they had recovered enough vitality to build +their own groups and assert their own antagonisms. The Legitimists +dreamed they were back amidst the quarrels between the Tuileries and the +pavilion Marsan, between Villele and Polignac; the Orleanists lived anew +through the golden period of the tourneys between Guizot, Mole, Broglie, +Thiers, and Odillon Barrot. + +That portion of the party of Order--eager for a revision of the +Constitution but disagreed upon the extent of revision--made up of the +Legitimists under Berryer and Falloux and of those under Laroche +Jacquelein, together with the tired-out Orleanists under Mole, Broglie, +Montalembert and Odillon Barrot, united with the Bonapartist +Representatives in the following indefinite and loosely drawn motion: + +"The undersigned Representatives, with the end in view of restoring to +the nation the full exercise of her sovereignty, move that the +Constitution be revised." + +At the same time, however, they unanimously declared through their +spokesman, Tocqueville, that the National Assembly had not the right to +move the abolition of the republic, that right being vested only in a +Constitutional Convention. For the rest, the Constitution could be +revised only in a "legal" way, that is to say, only in case a +three-fourths majority decided in favor of revision, as prescribed by +the Constitution. After a six days' stormy debate, the revision was +rejected on July 19, as was to be foreseen. In its favor 446 votes were +cast, against it 278. The resolute Oleanists, Thiers, Changarnier, +etc., voted with the republicans and the Mountain. + +Thus the majority of the parliament pronounced itself against the +Constitution, while the Constitution itself pronounced itself for the +minority, and its decision binding. But had not the party of Order on +May 31, 1850, had it not on June 13, 1849, subordinated the Constitution +to the parliamentary majority? Did not the whole republic they had been +hitherto having rest upon the subordination of the Constitutional +clauses to the majority decisions of the parliament? Had they not left +to the democrats the Old Testament superstitious belief in the letter of +the law, and had they not chastised the democrats therefor? At this +moment, however, revision meant nothing else than the continuance of the +Presidential power, as the continuance of the Constitution meant nothing +else than the deposition of Bonaparte. The parliament had pronounced +itself for him, but the Constitution pronounced itself against the +parliament. Accordingly, he acted both in the sense of the parliament +when he tore up the Constitution, and in the sense of the Constitution +when he chased away the parliament. + +The parliament pronounced the Constitution, and, thereby, also, its own +reign, "outside of the pale of the majority"; by its decision, it +repealed the Constitution, and continued the Presidential power, and it +at once declared that neither could the one live nor the other die so +long as itself existed. The feet of those who were to bury it stood at +the door. While it was debating the subject of revision, Bonaparte +removed General Baraguay d'Hilliers, who showed himself irresolute, from +the command of the First Military Division, and appointed in his place +General Magnan, the conqueror of Lyon; the hero of the December days, +one of his own creatures, who already under Louis Philippe, on the +occasion of the Boulogne expedition, had somewhat compromised himself in +his favor. + +By its decision on the revision, the party of Order proved that it knew +neither how to rule nor how to obey; neither how to live nor how to die; +neither how to bear with the republic nor how to overthrow it; neither +how to maintain the Constitution nor how to throw it overboard; neither +how to co-operate with the President nor how to break with him. From +what quarter did it then, look to for the solution of all the existing +perplexities? From the calendar, from the course of events. It ceased +to assume the control of events. It, accordingly, invited events to don +its authority and also the power to which in its struggle with the +people, it had yielded one attribute after another until it finally +stood powerless before the same. To the end that the Executive be able +all the more freely to formulate his plan of campaign against it, +strengthen his means of attack, choose his tools, fortify his positions, +the party of Order decided, in the very midst of this critical moment, +to step off the stage, and adjourn for three months, from August 10 to +November 4. + +Not only was the parliamentary party dissolved into its two great +factions, not only was each of these dissolved within itself, but the +party of Order, inside of the parliament, was at odds with the party of +Order, outside of the parliament. The learned speakers and writers of +the bourgeoisie, their tribunes and their press, in short, the +ideologists of the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie itself, the +representatives and the represented, stood estranged from, and no longer +understood one another. + +The Legitimists in the provinces, with their cramped horizon and their +boundless enthusiasm, charged their parliamentary leaders Berryer and +Falloux with desertion to the Bonapartist camp, and with apostacy from +Henry V. Their lilymind [#1 An allusion to the lilies of the Bourbon +coat-of-arms] believed in the fall of man, but not in diplomacy. + +More fatal and completer, though different, was the breach between the +commercial bourgeoisie and its politicians. It twitted them, not as the +Legitimists did theirs, with having apostatized from their principle, +but, on the contrary, with adhering to principles that had become +useless. + +I have already indicated that, since the entry of Fould in the Ministry, +that portion of the commercial bourgeoisie that had enjoyed the lion's +share in Louis Philippe's reign, to-wit, the aristocracy of finance, had +become Bonapartist. Fould not only represented Bonaparte's interests at +the Bourse, he represented also the interests of the Bourse with +Bonaparte. A passage from the London "Economist," the European organ of +the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of +this class. In its issue of February 1, 1851, its Paris correspondent +writes: "Now we have it stated from numerous quarters that France wishes +above all things for repose. The President declares it in his message +to the Legislative Assembly; it is echoed from the tribune; it is +asserted in the journals; it is announced from the pulpit; it is +demonstrated by the sensitiveness of the public funds at the least +prospect of disturbance, and their firmness the instant it is made +manifest that the Executive is far superior in wisdom and power to the +factious ex-officials of all former governments." + +In its issue of November 29, 1851, the "Economist" declares editorially: +"The President is now recognized as the guardian of order on every Stock +Exchange of Europe." Accordingly, the Aristocracy of Finance condemned +the parliamentary strife of the party of Order with the Executive as a +"disturbance of order," and hailed every victory of the President over +its reputed representatives as a "victory of order." Under "aristocracy +of finance" must not, however, be understood merely the large bond +negotiators and speculators in government securities, of whom it may be +readily understood that their interests and the interests of the +Government coincide. The whole modern money trade, the whole banking +industry, is most intimately interwoven with the public credit. Part of +their business capital requires to be invested in interest-bearing +government securities that are promptly convertible into money; their +deposits, i. e., the capital placed at their disposal and by them +distributed among merchants and industrial establishments, flow partly +out of the dividends on government securities. The whole money market, +together with the priests of this market, is part and parcel of this +"aristocracy of finance" at every epoch when the stability of the +government is to them synonymous with "Moses and his prophets." This is +so even before things have reached the present stage when every deluge +threatens to carry away the old governments themselves. + +But the industrial Bourgeoisie also, in its fanaticism for order, was +annoyed at the quarrels of the Parliamentary party of Order with the +Executive. Thiers, Anglas, Sainte Beuve, etc., received, after their +vote of January 18, on the occasion of the discharge of Changarnier, +public reprimands from their constituencies, located in the industrial +districts, branding their coalition with the Mountain as an act of high +treason to the cause of order. Although, true enough, the boastful, +vexatious and petty intrigues, through which the struggle of the party +of Order with the President manifested itself, deserved no better +reception, yet notwithstanding, this bourgeois party, that expects of +its representatives to allow the military power to pass without +resistance out of the hands of their own Parliament into those of an +adventurous Pretender, is not worth even the intrigues that were wasted +in its behalf. It showed that the struggle for the maintenance of their +public interests, of their class interests, of their political power +only incommoded and displeased them, as a disturbance of their private +business. + +The bourgeois dignitaries of the provincial towns, the magistrates, +commercial judges, etc., with hardly any exception, received Bonaparte +everywhere on his excursions in the most servile manner, even when, as +in Dijon, he attacked the National Assembly and especially the party of +Order without reserve. + +Business being brisk, as still at the beginning of 1851, the commercial +bourgeoisie stormed against every Parliamentary strife, lest business be +put out of temper. Business being dull, as from the end of February, +1851, on, the bourgeoisie accused the Parliamentary strifes as the cause +of the stand-still, and clamored for quiet in order that business may +revive. The debates on revision fell just in the bad times. Seeing the +question now was the to be or not to be of the existing form of +government, the bourgeoisie felt itself all the more justified in +demanding of its Representatives that they put an end to this tormenting +provisional status, and preserve the "status quo." This was no +contradiction. By putting an end to the provisional status, it +understood its continuance, the indefinite putting off of the moment +when a final decision had to be arrived at. The "status quo" could be +preserved in only one of two ways: either by the prolongation of +Bonaparte's term of office or by his constitutional withdrawal and the +election of Cavaignac. A part of the bourgeoisie preferred the latter +solution, and knew no better advice to give their Representatives than +to be silent, to avoid the burning point. If their Representatives did +not speak, so argued they, Bonaparte would not act. They desired an +ostrich Parliament that would hide its head, in order not to be seen. +Another part of the bourgeoisie preferred that Bonaparte, being once in +the Presidential chair, be left in the Presidential chair, in order that +everything might continue to run in the old ruts. They felt indignant +that their Parliament did not openly break the Constitution and resign +without further ado. The General Councils of the Departments, these +provisional representative bodies of the large bourgeoisie, who had +adjourned during the vacation of the National Assembly since August 25, +pronounced almost unanimously for revision, that is to say, against the +Parliament and for Bonaparte. + +Still more unequivocally than in its falling out with its Parliamentary +Representatives, did the bourgeoisie exhibit its wrath at its literary +Representatives, its own press. The verdicts of the bourgeois juries, +inflicting excessive fines and shameless sentences of imprisonment for +every attack of the bourgeois press upon the usurping aspirations of +Bonaparte, for every attempt of the press to defend the political rights +of the bourgeoisie against the Executive power, threw, not France alone, +but all Europe into amazement. + +While on the one hand, as I have indicated, the Parliamentary party of +Order ordered itself to keep the peace by screaming for peace; and while +it pronounced the political rule of the bourgeoisie irreconcilable with +the safety and the existence of the bourgeoisie, by destroying with its +own hands in its struggle with the other classes of society all the +conditions for its own, the Parliamentary regime; on the other hand, the +mass of the bourgeoisie, outside of the Parliament, urged Bonaparte--by +its servility towards the President, by its insults to the Parliament, +by the brutal treatment of its own press--to suppress and annihilate its +speaking and writing organs, its politicians and its literati, its +orators' tribune and its press, to the end that, under the protection of +a strong and unhampered Government, it might ply its own private +pursuits in safety. It declared unmistakably that it longed to be rid +of its own political rule, in order to escape the troubles and dangers +of ruling. + +And this bourgeoisie, that had rebelled against even the Parliamentary +and literary contest for the supremacy of its own class, that had +betrayed its leaders in this contest, it now has the effrontery to blame +the proletariat for not having risen in its defence in a bloody +struggle, in a struggle for life! Those bourgeois, who at every turn +sacrificed their, common class interests to narrow and dirty private +interests, and who demanded a similar sacrifice from their own +Representatives, now whine that the proletariat has sacrificed their +idea-political to its own material interests! This bourgeois class now +strikes the attitude of a pure soul, misunderstood and abandoned, at a +critical moment, by the proletariat, that has been misled by the +Socialists. And its cry finds a general echo in the bourgeois world. +Of course, I do not refer to German crossroad politicians and kindred +blockheads. I refer, for instance, to the "Economist," which, as late +as November 29, 1851, that is to say, four days before the "coup d'etat" +pronounced Bonaparte the "Guardian of Order" and Thiers and Berryer +"Anarchists," and as early as December 27, 1851, after Bonaparte had +silenced those very Anarchists, cries out about the treason committed by +"the ignorant, untrained and stupid proletaires against the skill, +knowledge, discipline, mental influence, intellectual resources an moral +weight of the middle and upper ranks." The stupid, ignorant and +contemptible mass was none other than the bourgeoisie itself. + +France had, indeed; experienced a sort of commercial crisis in 1851. At +the end of February, there was a falling off of exports as compared with +1850; in March, business languished and factories shut down; in April, +the condition of the industrial departments seemed as desperate as after +the February days; in May, business did not yet pick up; as late as June +28, the reports of the Bank of France revealed through a tremendous +increase of deposits and an equal decrease of loans on exchange notes, +the standstill of production; not until the middle of October did a +steady improvement of business set in. The French bourgeoisie accounted +for this stagnation of business with purely political reasons; it +imputed the dull times to the strife between the Parliament and the +Executive power, to the uncertainty of a provisional form of government, +to the alarming prospects of May 2, 1852. I shall not deny that all +these causes did depress some branches of industry in Paris and in the +Departments. At any rate, this effect of political circumstances was +only local and trifling. Is there any other proof needed than that the +improvement in business set in at the very time when the political +situation was growing worse, when the political horizon was growing +darker, and when at every moment a stroke of lightning was expected out +of the Elysee--in the middle of October? The French bourgeois, whose +"skill, knowledge, mental influence and intellectual resources," reach +no further than his nose, could, moreover, during the whole period of +the Industrial Exposition in London, have struck with his nose the cause +of his own business misery. At the same time that, in France, the +factories were being closed, commercial failures broke out in England. +While the industrial panic reached its height during April and May in +France, in England the commercial panic reached its height in April and +May. The same as the French, the English woolen industries suffered, +and, as the French, so did the English silk manufacture. Though the +English cotton factories went on working, it, nevertheless, was not with +the same old profit of 1849 and 1850. The only difference was this: +that in France, the crisis was an industrial, in England it was a +commercial one; that while in France the factories stood still, they +spread themselves in England, but under less favorable circumstances +than they had done the years just previous; that, in France, the export, +in England, the import trade suffered the heaviest blows. The common +cause, which, as a matter of fact, is not to be looked for with-in the +bounds of the French political horizon, was obvious. The years 1849 and +1850 were years of the greatest material prosperity, and of an +overproduction that did not manifest itself until 1851. This was +especially promoted at the beginning of 1851 by the prospect of the +Industrial Exposition; and, as special causes, there were added, first, +the failure of the cotton crop of 1850 and 1851; second, the certainty +of a larger cotton crop than was expected: first, the rise, then the +sudden drop; in short, the oscillations of the cotton market. The crop +of raw silk in France had been below the average. Finally, the +manufacture of woolen goods had received such an increment since 1849, +that the production of wool could not keep step with it, and the price +of the raw material rose greatly out of proportion to the price of the +manufactured goods. Accordingly, we have here in the raw material of +three staple articles a threefold material for a commercial crisis. +Apart from these special circumstances, the seeming crisis of the year +1851 was, after all, nothing but the halt that overproduction and +overspeculation make regularly in the course of the industrial cycle, +before pulling all their forces together in order to rush feverishly +over the last stretch, and arrive again at their point of departure--the +General Commercial Crisis. At such intervals in the history of trade, +commercial failures break out in England, while, in France, industry +itself is stopped, partly because it is compelled to retreat through the +competition of the English, that, at such times becomes resistless in +all markets, and partly because, as an industry of luxuries, it is +affected with preference by every stoppage of trade. Thus, besides the +general crisis, France experiences her own national crises, which, +how-ever, are determined by and conditioned upon the general state of +the world's market much more than by local French influences. It will +not be devoid of interest to contrast the prejudgment of the French +bourgeois with the judgment of the English bourgeois. One of the +largest Liverpool firms writes in its yearly report of trade for 1851: +"Few years have more completely disappointed the expectations +entertained at their beginning than the year that has just passed; +instead of the great prosperity, that was unanimously looked forward to, +it proved itself one of the most discouraging years during the last +quarter of a century. This applies, of course, only to the mercantile, +not to the industrial classes. And yet, surely there were grounds at +the beginning of the year from which to draw a contrary conclusion; the +stock of products was scanty, capital was abundant, provisions cheap, a +rich autumn was assured, there was uninterrupted peace on the continent +and no political and financial disturbances at home; indeed, never were +the wings of trade more unshackled. . . . What is this unfavorable +result to be ascribed to? We believe to excessive trade in imports as +well as exports. If our merchants do not themselves rein in their +activity, nothing can keep us going, except a panic every three years." + +Imagine now the French bourgeois, in the midst of this business panic, +having his trade-sick brain tortured, buzzed at and deafened with rumors +of a "coup d'etat" and the restoration of universal suffrage; with the +struggle between the Legislature and the Executive; with the Fronde +warfare between Orleanists and Legitimists; with communistic +conspiracies in southern France; with alleged Jacqueries [#2 Peasant +revolts] in the Departments of Nievre and Cher; with the advertisements +of the several candidates for President; with "social solutions" +huckstered about by the journals; with the threats of the republicans to +uphold, arms in hand, the Constitution and universal suffrage; with the +gospels, according to the emigrant heroes "in partibus," who announced +the destruction of the world for May 2,--imagine that, and one can +understand how the bourgeois, in this unspeakable and noisy confusion of +fusion, revision, prorogation, constitution, conspiracy, coalition, +emigration, usurpation and revolution, blurts out at his parliamentary +republic: "Rather an End With Fright, Than a Fright Without End." + +Bonaparte understood this cry. His perspicacity was sharpened by the +growing anxiety of the creditors' class, who, with every sunset, that +brought nearer the day of payment, the 2d of May, 1852, saw in the +motion of the stars a protest against their earthly drafts. They had +become regular astrologers The National Assembly had cut off Bonaparte's +hope of a constitutional prolongation of his term; the candidature of +the Prince of Joinville tolerated no further vacillation. + +If ever an event cast its shadow before it long before its occurrence, +it was Bonaparte's "coup d'etat." Already on January 29, 1849, barely a +month after his election, he had made to Changarnier a proposition to +that effect. His own Prime Minister. Odillon Barrot, had covertly, in +1849, and Thiers openly in the winter of 1850, revealed the scheme of +the "coup d'etat." In May, 1851, Persigny had again sought to win +Changarnier over to the "coup," and the "Miessager de l'Assemblee" +newspaper had published this conversation. At every parliamentary +storm, the Bonapartist papers threatened a "coup," and the nearer the +crisis approached, all the louder grew their tone. At the orgies, that +Bonaparte celebrated every night with a swell mob of males and females, +every time the hour of midnight drew nigh and plenteous libations had +loosened the tongues and heated the minds of the revelers, the "coup" +was resolved upon for the next morning. Swords were then drawn, glasses +clinked, the Representatives were thrown out at the windows, the +imperial mantle fell upon the shoulders of Bonaparte, until the next +morning again drove away the spook, and astonished Paris learned, from +not very reserved Vestals and indiscreet Paladins, the danger it had +once more escaped. During the months of September and October, the +rumors of a "coup d'etat" tumbled close upon one another's heels. At +the same time the shadow gathered color, like a confused daguerreotype. +Follow the issues of the European daily press for the months of +September and October, and items like this will be found literally: + +"Rumors of a 'coup' fill Paris. The capital, it is said, is to be +filled with troops by night and the next morning decrees are to be +issued dissolving the National Assembly, placing the Department of the +Seine in state of siege restoring universal suffrage, and appealing to +the people. Bonaparte is rumored to be looking for Ministers to execute +these illegal decrees." + +The newspaper correspondence that brought this news always close +ominously with "postponed." The "coup" was ever the fixed idea of +Bonaparte. With this idea he had stepped again upon French soil. It +had such full possession of him that he was constantly betraying and +blabbing it out. He was so weak that he was as constantly giving it up +again. The shadow of the "coup" had become so familiar a spectre to the +Parisians, that they refused to believe it when it finally did appear in +flesh and blood. Consequently, it was neither the reticent backwardness +of the chief of the "Society of December 10," nor an unthought of +surprise of the National Assembly that caused the success of the "coup." +When it succeeded, it did so despite his indiscretion and with its +anticipation--a necessary, unavoidable result of the development that +had preceded. + +On October 10, Bonaparte announced to his Ministers his decision to +restore universal suffrage; on the 16th day they handed in their +resignations; on the 26th Paris learned of the formation of the Thorigny +Ministry. The Prefect of Police, Carlier, was simultaneously replaced +by Maupas; and the chief of the First Military Division Magnan, +concentrated the most reliable regiments in the capital. On November 4, +the National Assembly re-opened its sessions. There was nothing left +for it to do but to repeat, in short recapitulation, the course it had +traversed, and to prove that it had been buried only after it had +expired. The first post that it had forfeited in the struggle with the +Executive was the Ministry. It had solemnly to admit this loss by +accepting as genuine the Thorigny Ministry, which was but a pretence. +The permanent Committee had received Mr. Giraud with laughter when he +introduced himself in the name of the new Ministers. So weak a Ministry +for so strong a measure as the restoration of universal suffrage! The +question, however, then was to do nothing in, everything against the +parliament. + +On the very day of its re-opening, the National Assembly received the +message from Bonaparte demanding the restoration of universal suffrage +and the repeal of the law of May 31, 1850. On the same day, his +Ministers introduced a decree to that effect. The Assembly promptly +rejected the motion of urgency made by the Ministers, but repealed the +law itself, on November 13, by a vote of 355 against 348. Thus it once +more tore to pieces its own mandate, once more certified to the fact +that it had transformed itself from a freely chosen representative body +of the nation into the usurpatory parliament of a class; it once more +admitted that it had itself severed the muscles that connected the +parliamentary head with the body of the nation. + +While the Executive power appealed from the National Assembly to the +people by its motion for the restoration of universal suffrage, the +Legislative power appealed from the people to the Army by its "Questors' +Bill." This bill was to establish its right to immediate requisitions +for troops, to build up a parliamentary army. By thus appointing the +Army umpire between itself and the people, between itself and Bonaparte; +by thus recognizing the Army as the decisive power in the State, the +National Assembly was constrained to admit that it had long given up all +claim to supremacy. By debating the right to make requisitions for +troops, instead of forthwith collecting them, it betrayed its own doubts +touching its own power. By thus subsequently rejecting the "Questors' +Bill," it publicly confessed it impotence. The bill fell through with a +minority of 108 votes; the Mountain had, accordingly, thrown the casting +vote It now found itself in the predicament of Buridan's donkey, not, +indeed, between two sacks of hay, forced to decide which of the two was +the more attractive, but between two showers of blows, forced to decide +which of the two was the harder; fear of Changarnier, on one side, fear +of Bonaparte, on the other. It must be admitted the position was not a +heroic one. + +On November 18, an amendment was moved to the Act, passed by the party +of Order, on municipal elections to the effect that, instead of three +years, a domicile of one year should suffice. The amendment was lost by +a single vote--but this vote, it soon transpired, was a mistake. Owing +to the divisions within its own hostile factions, the party of Order had +long since forfeited its independent parliamentary majority. It was now +plain that there was no longer any majority in the parliament. The +National Assembly had become impotent even to decide. Its atomic parts +were no longer held together by any cohesive power; it had expended its +last breath, it was dead. + +Finally, the mass of the bourgeoisie outside of the parliament was once +more solemnly to confirm its rupture with the bourgeoisie inside of the +parliament a few days before the catastrophe. Thiers, as a +parliamentary hero conspicuously smitten by that incurable +disease--Parliamentary Idiocy--, had hatched out jointly with the +Council of State, after the death of the parliament, a new parliamentary +intrigue in the shape of a "Responsibility Law," that was intended to +lock up the President within the walls of the Constitution. The same +as, on September 15, Bonaparte bewitched the fishwives, like a second +Massaniello, on the occasion of laying the corner-stone for the Market +of Paris,--though, it must be admitted, one fishwife was equal to +seventeen Burgraves in real power--; the same as, after the introduction +of the "Questors' Bill," he enthused the lieutenants, who were being +treated at the Elysee;--so, likewise, did he now, on November 25, carry +away with him the industrial bourgeoisie, assembled at the Circus, to +receive from his hands the prize-medals that had been awarded at the +London Industrial Exposition. I here reproduce the typical part of his +speech, from the "Journal des Debats": + +"With such unhoped for successes, I am justified to repeat how great the +French republic would be if she were only allowed to pursue her real +interests, and reform her institutions, instead of being constantly +disturbed in this by demagogues, on one side, and, on the other, by +monarchic hallucinations. (Loud, stormy and continued applause from all +parts of the amphitheater). The monarchic hallucinations hamper all +progress and all serious departments of industry. Instead of progress, +we have struggle only. Men, formerly the most zealous supporters of +royal authority and prerogative, become the partisans of a convention +that has no purpose other than to weaken an authority that is born of +universal suffrage. (Loud and prolonged applause). We see men, who +have suffered most from the revolution and complained bitterest of it, +provoking a new one for the sole purpose of putting fetters on the will +of the nation. . . . I promise you peace for the future." (Bravo! +Bravo! Stormy bravos.) + +Thus the industrial bourgeoisie shouts its servile "Bravo!" to the "coup +d'etat" of December 2, to the destruction of the parliament, to the +downfall of their own reign, to the dictatorship of Bonaparte. The rear +of the applause of November 25 was responded to by the roar of cannon on +December 4, and the house of Mr. Sallandrouze, who had been loudest in +applauding, was the one demolished by most of the bombs. + +Cromwell, when he dissolved the Long Parliament, walked alone into its +midst, pulled out his watch in order that the body should not continue +to exist one minute beyond the term fixed for it by him, and drove out +each individual member with gay and humorous invectives. Napoleon, +smaller than his prototype, at least went on the 18th Brumaire into the +legislative body, and, though in a tremulous voice, read to it its +sentence of death. The second Bonaparte, who, moreover, found himself +in possession of an executive power very different from that of either +Cromwell or Napoleon, did not look for his model in the annals of +universal history, but in the annals of the "Society of December 10," in +the annals of criminal jurisprudence. He robs the Bank of France of +twenty-five million francs; buys General Magnan with one million and the +soldiers with fifteen francs and a drink to each; comes secretly +together with his accomplices like a thief by night; has the houses of +the most dangerous leaders in the parliament broken into; Cavalignac, +Lamorciere, Leflo, Changarnier, Charras, Thiers, Baze, etc., taken out +of their beds; the principal places of Paris, the building of the +parliament included, occupied with troops; and, early the next morning, +loud-sounding placards posted on all the walls proclaiming the +dissolution of the National Assembly and of the Council of State, the +restoration of universal suffrage, and the placing of the Department of +the Seine under the state of siege. In the same way he shortly after +sneaked into the "Moniateur" a false document, according to which +influential parliamentary names had grouped themselves round him in a +Committee of the Nation. + +Amidst cries of "Long live the Republic!", the rump-parliament, +assembled at the Mayor's building of the Tenth Arrondissement, and +composed mainly of Legitimists and Orleanists, resolves to depose +Bonaparte; it harangues in vain the gaping mass gathered before the +building, and is finally dragged first, under the escort of African +sharpshooters, to the barracks of Orsay, and then bundled into convicts' +wagons and transported to the prisons of Mazas, Ham and Vincennes. Thus +ended the party of Order, the Legislative Assembly and the February +revolution. + +Before hastening to the end, let us sum up shortly the plan of its +history: + +I.--First Period. From February 24 to May 4, 1848. February period. +Prologue. Universal fraternity swindle. + +II.--Second Period. Period in which the republic is constituted, and of +the Constitutive National Assembly. + +1. May 4 to June 25, 1848. Struggle of all the classes against the house +of Mr. proletariat. Defeat of the proletariat in the June days. + +2. June 25 to December 10, 1848. Dictatorship of the pure bourgeois +republicans. Drafting of the Constitution. The state of siege hangs +over Paris. The Bourgeois dictatorship set aside on December 10 by the +election of Bonaparte as President. + +3. December 20, 1848, to May 20, 1849. Struggle of the Constitutive +Assembly with Bonaparte and with the united party of Order. Death of +the Constitutive Assembly. Downfall of the republican bourgeoisie. + +III.--Third Period. Period of the constitutional republic and of the +Legislative National Assembly. + +1. May 29 to June 13, 1849. Struggle of the small traders', middle +class with the bourgeoisie and with Bonaparte. Defeat of the small +traders' democracy. + +2. June 13, 1849, to May, 1850. Parliamentary dictatorship of the party +of Order. Completes its reign by the abolition of universal suffrage, +but loses the parliamentary Ministry. + +3. May 31, 1850, to December 2, 1851. Struggle between the +parliamentary bourgeoisie and Bonaparte. + +a. May 31, 1850, to January 12, 1851. The parliament loses the supreme +command over the Army. + +b. January 12 to April 11, 1851. The parliament succumbs in the +attempts to regain possession of the administrative power. The party of +Order loses its independent parliamentary majority. Its coalition with +the republicans and the Mountain. + +c. April 11 to October 9, 1851. Attempts at revision, fusion and +prorogation. The party of Order dissolves into its component parts. The +breach between the bourgeois parliament and the bourgeois press, on the +one hand, and the bourgeois mass, on the other, becomes permanent. + +d. October 9 to December 2, 1851. Open breach between the parliament and +the executive power. It draws up its own decree of death, and goes +under, left in the lurch by its own class, by the Army, and by all the +other classes. Downfall of the parliamentary regime and of the reign of +the bourgeoisie. Bonaparte's triumph. Parody of the imperialist +restoration. + + + + + +VII + + +The Social Republic appeared as a mere phrase, as a prophecy on the +threshold of the February Revolution; it was smothered in the blood of +the Parisian proletariat during the days of 1848 but it stalks about as +a spectre throughout the following acts of the drama. The Democratic +Republic next makes its bow; it goes out in a fizzle on June 13, 1849, +with its runaway small traders; but, on fleeing, it scatters behind it +all the more bragging announcements of what it means do to. The +Parliamentary Republic, together with the bourgeoisie, then appropriates +the whole stage; it lives its life to the full extent of its being; but +the 2d of December, 1851, buries it under the terror-stricken cry of the +allied royalists: "Long live the Republic!" + +The French bourgeoisie reared up against the reign of the working +proletariat;--it brought to power the slum-proletariat, with the chief +of the "Society of December 10" at its head. It kept France in +breathless fear over the prospective terror of "red anarchy;"--Bonaparte +discounted the prospect when, on December 4, he had the leading citizens +of the Boulevard Montmartre and the Boulevard des Italiens shot down +from their windows by the grog-inspired "Army of Order." It made the +apotheosis of the sabre; now the sabre rules it. It destroyed the +revolutionary press;--now its own press is annihilated. It placed +public meetings under police surveillance;--now its own salons are +subject to police inspection. It disbanded the democratic National +Guards;--now its own National Guard is disbanded. It instituted the +state of siege;--now itself is made subject thereto. It supplanted the +jury by military commissions;--now military commissions supplant its own +juries. It subjected the education of the people to the parsons' +interests;--the parsons' interests now subject it to their own systems. +It ordered transportations without trial;--now itself is transported +without trial. It suppressed every movement of society with physical +force;--now every movement of its own class is suppressed by physical +force. Out of enthusiasm for the gold bag, it rebelled against its own +political leaders and writers;--now, its political leaders and writers +are set aside, but the gold hag is plundered, after the mouth of the +bourgeoisie has been gagged and its pen broken. The bourgeoisie +tirelessly shouted to the revolution, in the language of St. Orsenius to +the Christians: "Fuge, Tace, Quiesce!"--flee, be silent, submit!--; +Bonaparte shouts to the bourgeoisie: "Fuge, Tace, Oniesce!"--flee, be +silent, submit! + +The French bourgeoisie had long since solved Napoleon's dilemma: "Dans +cinquante ans l'Europe sera republicaine ou cosaque." [#1 Within fifty +years Europe will be either republican or Cossack.] It found the +solution in the "republique cosaque." [#2 Cossack republic.] No Circe +distorted with wicked charms the work of art of the bourgeois republic +into a monstrosity. That republic lost nothing but the appearance of +decency. The France of to-day was ready-made within the womb of the +Parliamentary republic. All that was wanted was a bayonet thrust, in +order that the bubble burst, and the monster leap forth to sight. + +Why did not the Parisian proletariat rise after the 2d of December? + +The downfall of the bourgeoisie was as yet merely decreed; the decree +was not yet executed. Any earnest uprising of the proletariat would +have forthwith revived this bourgeoisie, would have brought on its +reconciliation with the army, and would have insured a second June rout +to the workingmen. + +On December 4, the proletariat was incited to fight by Messrs. Bourgeois +& Small-Trader. On the evening of that day, several legions of the +National Guard promised to appear armed and uniformed on the place of +battle. This arose from the circumstance that Messrs. Bourgeois & +Small-Trader had got wind that, in one of his decrees of December 2, +Bonaparte abolished the secret ballot, and ordered them to enter the +words "Yes" and "No" after their names in the official register. +Bonaparte took alarm at the stand taken on December 4. During the night +he caused placards to be posted on all the street corners of Paris, +announcing the restoration of the secret ballot. Messrs. Bourgeois & +Small-Trader believed they had gained their point. The absentees, the +next morning, were Messieurs. Bourgeois & Small-Trader. + +During the night of December 1 and 2, the Parisian proletariat was +robbed of its leaders and chiefs of barricades by a raid of Bonaparte's. +An army without officers, disinclined by the recollections of June, 1848 +and 1849, and May, 1850, to fight under the banner of the Montagnards, +it left to its vanguard, the secret societies, the work of saving the +insurrectionary honor of Paris, which the bourgeoisie had yielded to the +soldiery so submissively that Bonaparte was later justified in disarming +the National Guard upon the scornful ground that he feared their arms +would be used against themselves by the Anarchists! + +"C'est Ic triomphe complet et definitif du Socialism!"' Thus did Guizot +characterize the 2d of December. But, although the downfall of the +parliamentary republic carries with it the germ of the triumph of the +proletarian revolution, its immediate and tangible result was the +triumph of Bonaparte over parliament, of the Executive over the +Legislative power, of force without phrases over the force of phrases. +In the parliament, the nation raised its collective will to the dignity +of law, i.e., it raised the law of the ruling class to the dignity of +its collective will. Before the Executive power, the nation abdicates +all will of its own, and submits to the orders of an outsider of +Authority. In contrast with the Legislative, the Executive power +expresses the heteronomy of the nation in contrast with its autonomy. +Accordingly, France seems to have escaped the despotism of a class only +in order to fall under the despotism of an individual, under the +authority, at that of an individual without authority The struggle seems +to settle down to the point where all classes drop down on their knees, +equally impotent and equally dumb + +All the same, the revolution is thoroughgoing. It still is on its +passage through purgatory. It does its work methodically: Down to +December 2, 1851, it had fulfilled one-half of its programme, it now +fulfils the other half. It first ripens the power of the Legislature +into fullest maturity in order to be able to overthrow it. Now that it +has accomplished that, the revolution proceeds to ripen the power of the +Executive into equal maturity; it reduces this power to its purest +expression; isolates it; places it before itself as the sole subject for +reproof in order to concentrate against it all the revolutionary forces +of destruction. When the revolution shall have accomplished this second +part of its preliminary programme, Europe will jump up from her seat to +exclaim: "Well hast thou grubbed, old mole!" + +The Executive power, with its tremendous bureaucratic and military +organization; with its wide-spreading and artificial machinery of +government--an army of office-holders, half a million strong, together +with a military force of another million men--; this fearful body of +parasites, that coils itself like a snake around French society, +stopping all its pores, originated at the time of the absolute monarchy, +along with the decline of feudalism, which it helped to hasten. The +princely privileges of the landed proprietors and cities were +transformed into so many at-tributes of the Executive power; the feudal +dignitaries into paid office-holders; and the confusing design of +conflicting medieval seigniories, into the well regulated plan of a +government, work is subdivided and centralized as in the factory. The +first French revolution, having as a mission to sweep away all local, +territorial, urban and provincial special privileges, with the object of +establishing the civic unity of the nation, was hound to develop what +the absolute monarchy had begun--the work of centralization, together +with the range, the attributes and the menials of government. Napoleon +completed this governmental machinery. The Legitimist and the July +Monarchy contribute nothing thereto, except a greater subdivision of +labor, that grew in the same measure as the division and subdivision of +labor within bourgeois society raised new groups and interests, i.e., +new material for the administration of government. Each Common interest +was in turn forthwith removed from society, set up against it as a +higher Collective interest, wrested from the individual activity of the +members of society, and turned into a subject for governmental +administration, from the bridges, the school house and the communal +property of a village community, up to the railroads, the national +wealth and the national University of France. Finally, the +parliamentary republic found itself, in its struggle against the +revolution, compelled, with its repressive measures, to strengthen the +means and the centralization of the government. Each overturn, instead +of breaking up, carried this machine to higher perfection. The parties, +that alternately wrestled for supremacy, looked upon the possession of +this tremendous governmental structure as the principal spoils of their +victory. + +Nevertheless, under the absolute monarchy, was only the means whereby +the first revolution, and under Napoleon, to prepare the class rule of +the bourgeoisie; under the restoration, under Louis Philippe, and under +the parliamentary republic, it was the instrument of the ruling class, +however eagerly this class strained after autocracy. Not before the +advent of the second Bonaparte does the government seem to have made +itself fully independent. The machinery of government has by this time +so thoroughly fortified itself against society, that the chief of the +"Society of December 10" is thought good enough to be at its head; a +fortune-hunter, run in from abroad, is raised on its shield by a drunken +soldiery, bought by himself with liquor and sausages, and whom he is +forced ever again to throw sops to. Hence the timid despair, the sense +of crushing humiliation and degradation that oppresses the breast of +France and makes her to choke. She feels dishonored. + +And yet the French Government does not float in the air. Bonaparte +represents an economic class, and that the most numerous in the +commonweal of France--the Allotment Farmer. [#4 The first French +Revolution distributed the bulk of the territory of France, held at the +time by the feudal lords, in small patches among the cultivators of the +soil. This allotment of lands created the French farmer class.] + +As the Bourbons are the dynasty of large landed property, as the Orleans +are the dynasty of money, so are the Bonapartes the dynasty of the +farmer, i.e. of the French masses. Not the Bonaparte, who threw himself +at the feet of the bourgeois parliament, but the Bonaparte, who swept +away the bourgeois parliament, is the elect of this farmer class. For +three years the cities had succeeded in falsifying the meaning of the +election of December 10, and in cheating the farmer out of the +restoration of the Empire. The election of December 10, 1848, is not +carried out until the "coup d'etat" of December 2, 1851. + +The allotment farmers are an immense mass, whose individual members live +in identical conditions, without, however, entering into manifold +relations with one another. Their method of production isolates them +from one another, instead of drawing them into mutual intercourse. This +isolation is promoted by the poor means of communication in France, +together with the poverty of the farmers themselves. Their field of +production, the small allotment of land that each cultivates, allows no +room for a division of labor, and no opportunity for the application of +science; in other words, it shuts out manifoldness of development, +diversity of talent, and the luxury of social relations. Every single +farmer family is almost self-sufficient; itself produces directly the +greater part of what it consumes; and it earns its livelihood more by +means of an interchange with nature than by intercourse with society. +We have the allotted patch of land, the farmer and his family; alongside +of that another allotted patch of land, another farmer and another +family. A bunch of these makes up a village; a bunch of villages makes +up a Department. Thus the large mass of the French nation is +constituted by the simple addition of equal magnitudes--much as a bag +with potatoes constitutes a potato-bag. In so far as millions of +families live under economic conditions that separate their mode of +life, their interests and their culture from those of the other classes, +and that place them in an attitude hostile toward the latter, they +constitute a class ; in so far as there exists only a local connection +among these farmers, a connection which the individuality and +exclusiveness of their interests prevent from generating among them any +unity of interest, national connections, and political organization, +they do not constitute a class. Consequently, they are unable to assert +their class interests in their own name, be it by a parliament or by +convention. They can not represent one another, they must themselves be +represented. Their representative must at the same time appear as their +master, as an authority over them, as an unlimited governmental power, +that protects them from above, bestows rain and sunshine upon them. +Accordingly, the political influence of the allotment farmer finds its +ultimate expression in an Executive power that subjugates the commonweal +to its own autocratic will. + +Historic tradition has given birth to the superstition among the French +farmers that a man named Napoleon would restore to them all manner of +glory. Now, then, an individual turns I up, who gives himself out as +that man because, obedient to the "Code Napoleon," which provides that +"La recherche de la paternite est interdite," [#5 The inquiry into +paternity is forbidden.] he carries the name of Napoleon. [#6 +L. N. Bonaparte is said to have been an illegitimate son.] After a +vagabondage of twenty years, and a series of grotesque adventures, the +myth is verified, and that man becomes the Emperor of the French. The +rooted thought of the Nephew becomes a reality because it coincided with +the rooted thought of the most numerous class among the French. + +"But," I shall be objected to, "what about the farmers' uprisings over +half France, the raids of the Army upon the farmers, the wholesale +imprisonment and transportation of farmers?" + +Indeed, since Louis XIV., France has not experienced such persecutions +of the farmer on the ground of his demagogic machinations. + +But this should be well understood: The Bonaparte dynasty does not +represent the revolutionary, it represents the conservative farmer; it +does not represent the farmer, who presses beyond his own economic +conditions, his little allotment of land it represents him rather who +would confirm these conditions; it does not represent the rural +population, that, thanks to its own inherent energy, wishes, jointly +with the cities to overthrow the old order, it represents, on the +contrary, the rural population that, hide-bound in the old order, seeks +to see itself, together with its allotments, saved and favored by the +ghost of the Empire; it represents, not the intelligence, but the +superstition of the farmer; not his judgment, but his bias; not his +future, but his past; not his modern Cevennes; [#7 The Cevennes were the +theater of the most numerous revolutionary uprisings of the farmer +class.] but his modern Vendee. [#8 La Vendee was the theater of +protracted reactionary uprisings of the farmer class under the first +Revolution.] + +The three years' severe rule of the parliamentary republic had freed a +part of the French farmers from the Napoleonic illusion, and, though +even only superficially; had revolutionized them The bourgeoisie threw +them, however, violently back every time that they set themselves in +motion. Under the parliamentary republic, the modern wrestled with the +traditional consciousness of the French farmer. The process went on in +the form of a continuous struggle between the school teachers and the +parsons;--the bourgeoisie knocked the school teachers down. For the +first time, the farmer made an effort to take an independent stand in +the government of the country; this manifested itself in the prolonged +conflicts of the Mayors with the Prefects;--the bourgeoisie deposed the +Mayors. Finally, during period of the parliamentary republic, the +farmers of several localities rose against their own product, the +Army;--the bourgeoisie punished them with states of siege and +executions. And this is the identical bourgeoisie, that now howls over +the "stupidity of the masses," over the "vile multitude," which, it +claims, betrayed it to Bonaparte. Itself has violently fortified the +imperialism of the farmer class; it firmly maintained the conditions +that Constitute the birth-place of this farmer-religion. Indeed, the +bourgeoisie has every reason to fear the stupidity of the masses--so +long as they remain conservative; and their intelligence--so soon as +they become revolutionary. + +In the revolts that took place after the "coup d'etat" a part of the +French farmers protested, arms in hand, against their own vote of +December 10, 1848. The school house had, since 1848, sharpened their +wits. But they had bound themselves over to the nether world of +history, and history kept them to their word. Moreover, the majority of +this population was still so full of prejudices that, just in the +"reddest" Departments, it voted openly for Bonaparte. The National +Assembly prevented, as it thought, this population from walking; the +farmers now snapped the fetters which the cities had struck upon the +will of the country districts. In some places they even indulged the +grotesque hallucination of a "Convention together with a Napoleon." + +After the first revolution had converted the serf farmers into +freeholders, Napoleon fixed and regulated the conditions under which, +unmolested, they could exploit the soil of France, that had just fallen +into their hands, and expiate the youthful passion for property. But +that which now bears the French farmer down is that very allotment of +land, it is the partition of the soil, the form of ownership, which +Napoleon had consolidated. These are the material condition that turned +French feudal peasant into a small or allotment farmer, and Napoleon +into an Emperor. Two generations have sufficed to produce the +inevitable result the progressive deterioration of agriculture, and the +progressive encumbering of the agriculturist The "Napoleonic" form of +ownership, which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the +condition for the emancipation and enrichment of the French rural +population, has, in the course of the century, developed into the law of +their enslavement and pauperism. Now, then, this very law is the first +of the "idees Napoleoniennes," which the second Bonaparte must uphold. +If he still shares with the farmers the illusion of seeking, not in the +system of the small allotment itself, but outside of that system, in the +influence of secondary conditions, the cause of their ruin, his +experiments are bound to burst like soap-bubbles against the modern +system of production. + +The economic development of the allotment system has turned bottom +upward the relation of the farmer to the other classes of society. +Under Napoleon, the parceling out of the agricultural lands into small +allotments supplemented in the country the free competition and the +incipient large production of the cities. The farmer class was the +ubiquitous protest against the aristocracy of land, just then +overthrown. The roots that the system of small allotments cast into the +soil of France, deprived feudalism of all nutriment. Its boundary-posts +constituted the natural buttress of the bourgeoisie against every stroke +of the old overlords. But in the course of the nineteenth century, the +City Usurer stepped into the shoes of the Feudal Lord, the Mortgage +substituted the Feudal Duties formerly yielded by the soil, bourgeois +Capital took the place of the aristocracy of Landed Property. The +former allotments are now only a pretext that allows the capitalist +class to draw profit, interest and rent from agricultural lands, and to +leave to the farmer himself the task of seeing to it that he knock out +his wages. The mortgage indebtedness that burdens the soil of France +imposes upon the French farmer class they payment of an interest as +great as the annual interest on the whole British national debt. In +this slavery of capital, whither its development drives it irresistibly, +the allotment system has transformed the mass of the French nation into +troglodytes. Sixteen million farmers (women and children included), +house in hovels most of which have only one opening, some two, and the +few most favored ones three. Windows are to a house what the five +senses are to the head. The bourgeois social order, which, at the +beginning of the century, placed the State as a sentinel before the +newly instituted allotment, and that manured this with laurels, has +become a vampire that sucks out its heart-blood and its very brain, and +throws it into the alchemist's pot of capital. The "Code Napoleon" is +now but the codex of execution, of sheriff's sales and of intensified +taxation. To the four million (children, etc., included) official +paupers, vagabonds, criminals and prostitutes, that France numbers, must +be added five million souls who hover over the precipice of life, and +either sojourn in the country itself, or float with their rags and their +children from the country to the cities, and from the cities back to the +country. Accordingly, the interests of the farmers are no longer, as +under Napoleon, in harmony but in conflict with the interests of the +bourgeoisie, i.e., with capital; they find their natural allies and +leaders among the urban proletariat, whose mission is the overthrow of +the bourgeois social order. But the "strong and unlimited +government"--and this is the second of the "idees Napoleoniennes," which +the second Napoleon has to carried out--, has for its mission the +forcible defence of this very "material" social order, a "material +order" that furnishes the slogan in Bonaparte's proclamations against +the farmers in revolt. + +Along with the mortgage, imposed by capital upon the farmer's allotment, +this is burdened by taxation. Taxation is the fountain of life to the +bureaucracy, the Army, the parsons and the court, in short to the whole +apparatus of the Executive power. A strong government, and heavy taxes +are identical. The system of ownership, involved in the system of +allotments lends itself by nature for the groundwork of a powerful and +numerous bureaucracy: it produces an even level of conditions and of +persons over the whole surface of the country; it, therefore, allows the +exercise of an even influence upon all parts of this even mass from a +high central point downwards: it annihilates the aristocratic gradations +between the popular masses and the Government; it, consequently, calls +from all sides for the direct intervention of the Government and for the +intervention of the latter's immediate organs; and, finally, it produces +an unemployed excess of population, that finds no room either in the +country or in the cities, that, consequently, snatches after public +office as a sort of dignified alms, and provokes the creation of further +offices. With the new markets, which he opened at the point of the +bayonet, and with the plunder of the continent, Napoleon returned to the +farmer class with interest the taxes wrung from them. These taxes were +then a goad to the industry of the farmer, while now, on the contrary, +they rob his industry of its last source of support, and completely sap +his power to resist poverty. Indeed, an enormous bureaucracy, richly +gallooned and well fed is that "idee Napoleonienne" that above all +others suits the requirements of the second Bonaparte. How else should +it be, seeing he is forced to raise alongside of the actual classes of +society, an artificial class, to which the maintenance of his own regime +must be a knife-and-fork question? One of his first financial +operations was, accordingly, the raising of the salaries of the +government employees to their former standard and the creation of new +sinecures. + +Another "idee Napoleonienne" is the rule of the parsons as an instrument +of government. But while the new-born allotment, in harmony with +society, in its dependence upon the powers of nature, and in its +subordination to the authority that protected it from above, was +naturally religious, the debt-broken allotment, on the contrary, at odds +with society and authority, and driven beyond its own narrow bounds, +becomes as naturally irreligious. Heaven was quite a pretty gift thrown +in with the narrow strip of land that had just been won, all the more as +it makes the weather; it, however, becomes an insult from the moment it +is forced upon the farmer as a substitute for his allotment. Then the +parson appears merely as the anointed blood-hound of the earthly +police,--yet another "idee Napoleonienne." The expedition against Rome +will next time take place in France, but in a reverse sense from that of +M. de Montalembert. + +Finally, the culminating point of the "idees Napoleoniennes" is the +preponderance of the Army. The Army was the "point of honor" with the +allotment farmers: it was themselves turned into masters, defending +abroad their newly established property, glorifying their recently +conquered nationality, plundering and revolutionizing the world. The +uniform was their State costume; war was their poetry; the allotment, +expanded and rounded up in their phantasy, was the fatherland; and +patriotism became the ideal form of property. But the foe, against whom +the French farmer must now defend his property, are not the Cossacks, +they are the sheriffs and the tax collectors. The allotment no longer +lies in the so-called fatherland, but in the register of mortgages. The +Army itself no longer is the flower of the youth of the farmers, it is +the swamp-blossom of the slum-proletariat of the farmer class. It +consists of "remplacants," substitutes, just as the second Bonaparte +himself is but a remplacant," a substitute, for Napoleon. Its feats of +heroism are now performed in raids instituted against farmers and in the +service of the police;--and when the internal contradictions of his own +system shall drive the chief of the "Society of December 10" across the +French frontier, that Army will, after a few bandit-raids, gather no +laurels but only hard knocks. + +It is evident that all the "idees Napoleoniennes" are the ideas of the +undeveloped and youthfully fresh allotment; they are an absurdity for +the allotment that now survives. They are only the hallucinations of +its death struggle; words turned to hollow phrases, spirits turned to +spooks. But this parody of the Empire was requisite in order to free +the mass of the French nation from the weight of tradition, and to +elaborate sharply the contrast between Government and Society. Along +with the progressive decay of the allotment, the governmental structure, +reared upon it, breaks down. The centralization of Government, required +by modern society, rises only upon the ruins of the military and +bureaucratic governmental machinery that was forged in contrast to +feudalism. + +The conditions of the French farmers' class solve to us the riddle of +the general elections of December 20 and 21, that led the second +Bonaparte to the top of Sinai, not to receive, but to decree laws. + +The bourgeoisie had now, manifestly, no choice but to elect Bonaparte. +When at the Council of Constance, the puritans complained of the sinful +life of the Popes, and moaned about the need of a reform in morals, +Cardinal d'Ailly thundered into their faces: "Only the devil in his Own +person can now save the Catholic Church, and you demand angels." So, +likewise, did the French bourgeoisie cry out after the "coup d'etat": +"Only the chief of the 'Society of December 10' can now save bourgeois +society, only theft can save property, only perjury religion, only +bastardy the family, only disorder order!" + +Bonaparte, as autocratic Executive power, fulfills his mission to secure +"bourgeois order." But the strength of this bourgeois order lies in the +middle class. He feels himself the representative of the middle class, +and issues his decrees in that sense. Nevertheless, he is something +only because he has broken the political power of this class, and daily +breaks it anew. Hence he feels himself the adversary of the political +and the literary power of the middle class. But, by protecting their +material, he nourishes anew their political power. Consequently, the +cause must be kept alive, but the result, wherever it manifests itself, +swept out of existence. But this procedure is impossible without slight +mistakings of causes and effects, seeing that both, in their mutual +action and reaction, lose their distinctive marks. Thereupon, new +decrees, that blur the line of distinction. Bonaparte, furthermore, +feels himself, as against the bourgeoisie, the representative of the +farmer and the people in general, who, within bourgeois society, is to +render the lower classes of society happy. To this end, new decrees, +intended to exploit the "true Socialists," together with their +governmental wisdom. But, above all, Bonaparte feels himself the chief +of the "Society of December 10," the representative of the +slum-proletariat, to which he himself, his immediate surroundings, his +Government, and his army alike belong, the main object with all of whom +is to be good to themselves, and draw Californian tickets out of the +national treasury. An he affirms his chieftainship of the "Society of +December 10" with decrees, without decrees, and despite decrees. + +This contradictory mission of the man explains the contradictions of his +own Government, and that confused groping about, that now seeks to win, +then to humiliate now this class and then that, and finishes by arraying +against itself all the classes; whose actual insecurity constitutes a +highly comical contrast with the imperious, categoric style of the +Government acts, copied closely from the Uncle. + +Industry and commerce, i.e., the business of the middle class, are to be +made to blossom in hot-house style under the "strong Government." Loans +for a number of railroad grants. But the Bonapartist slum-proletariat +is to enrich itself. Peculation is carried on with railroad concessions +on the Bourse by the initiated; but no capital is forthcoming for the +railroads. The bank then pledges itself to make advances upon railroad +stock; but the bank is itself to be exploited; hence, it must be +cajoled; it is released of the obligation to publish its reports weekly. +Then follows a leonine treaty between the bank and the Government. The +people are to be occupied: public works are ordered; but the public +works raise the tax rates upon the people; thereupon the taxes are +reduced by an attack upon the national bond-holders through the +conversion of the five per cent "rentes" [#9 The name of the French +national bonds.] into four-and-halves. Yet the middle class must again +be tipped: to this end, the tax on wine is doubled for the people, who +buy it at retail, and is reduced to one-half for the middle class, that +drink it at wholesale. Genuine labor organizations are dissolved, but +promises are made of future wonders to accrue from organization. The +farmers are to be helped: mortgage-banks are set up that must promote +the indebtedness; of the farmer and the concentration of property but +again, these banks are to be utilized especially to the end of squeezing +money out of the confiscated estates of the House of Orleans; no +capitalist will listen to this scheme, which, moreover, is not mentioned +in the decree; the mortgage bank remains a mere decree, etc., etc. + +Bonaparte would like to appear as the patriarchal benefactor of all +classes; but he can give to none without taking from the others. As was +said of the Duke of Guise, at the time of the Fronde, that he was the +most obliging man in France because he had converted all his estates +into bonds upon himself for his Parisians, so would Napoleon like to be +the most obliging man in France and convert all property and all labor +of France into a personal bond upon himself. He would like to steal the +whole of France to make a present thereof to France, or rather to be +able to purchase France back again with French money;--as chief of the +"Society of December 10," he must purchase that which is to be his. All +the State institutions, the Senate, the Council of State, the +Legislature, the Legion of Honor, the Soldiers' decorations, the public +baths, the public buildings, the railroads, the General Staff of the +National Guard, exclusive of the rank and file, the confiscated estates +of the House of Orleans,--all are converted into institutions for +purchase and sale. Every place in the Army and the machinery of +Government becomes a purchasing power. The most important thing, +however, in this process, whereby France is taken to be given back to +herself, are the percentages that, in the transfer, drop into the hands +of the chief and the members of the "Society of December 10." The +witticisms with which the Countess of L., the mistress of de Morny, +characterized the confiscations of the Orleanist estates: "C'est le +premier vol de l'aigle," [#10 "It is the first flight of the eagle" The +French word "vol" means theft as well as flight.] fits every fight of +the eagle that is rather a crow. He himself and his followers daily +call out to themselves, like the Italian Carthusian monk in the legend +does to the miser, who displayfully counted the goods on which he could +live for many years to come: "Tu fai conto sopra i beni, bisogna prima +far il conto sopra gli anni." [#11 "You count your property you should +rather count the years left to you."] In order not to make a mistake in +the years, they count by minutes. A crowd of fellows, of the best among +whom all that can be said is that one knows not whence he comes--a +noisy, restless "Boheme," greedy after plunder, that crawls about in +gallooned frocks with the same grotesque dignity as Soulonque's [#12 +Soulonque was the negro Emperor of the short-lived negro Empire of +Hayti.] Imperial dignitaries--, thronged the court crowded the +ministries, and pressed upon the head of the Government and of the Army. +One can picture to himself this upper crust of the "Society of December +10" by considering that Veron Crevel [#13 Crevel is a character of +Balzac, drawn after Dr. Veron, the proprietor of the "Constitutional" +newspaper, as a type of the dissolute Parisian Philistine.] is their +preacher of morality, and Granier de Cassagnac their thinker. When +Guizot, at the time he was Minister, employed this Granier on an obscure +sheet against the dynastic opposition, he used to praise him with the +term: "C'est le roi des droles." [#14 "He Is the king of the clowns."] +It were a mistake to recall the days of the Regency or of Louis XV. by +the court and the kit of Louis Bonaparte's: "Often did France have a +mistress-administration, but never yet an administration of kept men." +[#15 Madame de Girardin.] + +Harassed by the contradictory demands of his situation, and compelled, +like a sleight-of-hands performer, to keep, by means of constant +surprises, the eyes of the public riveted upon himself as the substitute +of Napoleon, compelled, consequently, everyday to accomplish a sort of +"coup" on a small scale, Bonaparte throws the whole bourgeois social +system into disorder; he broaches everything that seemed unbroachable by +the revolution of 1848; he makes one set people patient under the +revolution and another anxious for it; he produces anarchy itself in the +name of order by rubbing off from the whole machinery of Government the +veneer of sanctity, by profanting it, by rendering it at once nauseating +and laughable. He rehearses in Paris the cult of the sacred coat of +Trier with the cult of the Napoleonic Imperial mantle. But when the +Imperial Mantle shall have finally fallen upon the shoulders of Louis +Bonaparte, then will also the iron statue of Napoleon drop down from the +top of the Vendome column. [#16 A prophecy that a few years later, +after Bonaparte's coronation as Emperor, was literally fulfilled. By +order of Emperor Louis Napoleon, the military statue of the Napoleon +that originally surmounted the Vendome was taken down and replaced by +one of first Napoleon in imperial robes.] + + + + + +End Project Gutenberg Etext of Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte + diff --git a/old/old/mar1810.zip b/old/old/mar1810.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2cde80b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/mar1810.zip |