The July Revolution of 1830 arose as a civilian response to French King Charles X’s July Ordinances, which were issued on July 25, 1830 and overturned freedom of the press, dissolved the newly elected Chamber of Deputies, and limited voting rights. Moderates and liberals opposed the July Ordinances and revolted, creating barricades and engaging in street fights in Paris from July 27th to July 29th, eventually forcing the abdication of Charles X and replacing him with Louis-Philippe, Duc d’Oréans who reigned until 1848. The July Revolution directly preceded a host of European revolutions in the early 1830s, including those in Belgium, the German Federation, Poland, and Italy.
The July Revolution inspired some of Mill’s political engagement and writing in the 1830s and he writes in his autobiography that the Revolution “roused [his] utmost enthusiasm, and gave [him], as it were, a new existence” (Mill ch. V). Mill traveled to Paris and met Lafayette amidst the revolutionary activities of France in 1830, which provided him with experience and inspiration to write articles on French politics. Mill wrote on French subjects of interest in newspapers and The Examiner, a nineteenth-century radical journal, throughout the early 1830s, continuing the interest in French revolutionary activity that he had developed in the early 1820s while learning about the French Revolution’s relationship with democracy.
Sources
Brown, Bradford C. “France, 1830 Revolution.” Wiley Online Library, 20 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0573. Accessed 20 May 2024.
“Overview: July Revolution.” Oxford Reference, https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100026859#:~:text=A%20revolt%20in%20France.,him%20to%20rule%20by%20decree. Accessed 20 May 2024.
“Revolutions in France: 1789, 1830, 1848.” Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/women-in-the-french-revolution/revolutions-rebellions/1789-1830-1848. Accessed 20 May 2024.
“The Examiner.” The British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/the-examiner. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Schmidt-Funke, Julia A. “The Revolution of 1830 as a European Media Event.” European History Online, Aug. 16 2017, https://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-media/european-media-events/revolution-of-1830. Accessed 20 May 2024.