Does dieting work?

Another reason why Louis XVIII was unsuccessful in stabilising France was because of Press Censorship. Between 1814 and 1822 the government had tried to control the press through the Charter by insisting that no political news or comment could be published until the censor had passed it. This was because in France the political press was regarded as a potentially and submissive group which must be kept under strict supervision. For example in 1815 the White Terror authors were punished in special courts for sedition and in 1816 the Ecole Polytechnique was closed as a way of silencing critics. However despite previous attempts, during 1817 and 1818 the emergency laws against sedition were relaxed and a lively combative Press began to emerge. The Ultra Press produced the Quotidienne, the Gazette and the Drapeau Blanc and the leading liberalists produced the Constitutional, which had 20 000 subscribers in 1820, demonstrating that this newspaper was widely read. The most distinguished liberal and ultra paper was the Courrier, which despite its subscription list of 6000 names was edited by the liberal thinker, Benjamin Constant. For an annual subscription it was 60-70 francs; therefore wealthy notables who became known as the Pays legal mainly bought national daily papers. Local newspapers were cheaper although they avoided controversial political issues. Café’s bought newspapers and they were read out loud in the streets; therefore 1 copy of a newspaper could reach about 100 readers. The issue of Press Freedom created an unlikely alliance of Ultras and Liberals who together formed the Society for the Freedom of the Press in 1818. This resulted in the relaxation of the Serre laws of 1819 and this legislation narrowed the scope of censorship. The test became that a paper could only be prosecuted if they actually provoked an illegal act and this itself was a hard case to prove. The de Serre laws of 1819 were the most liberal of the Press Laws. These laws said that Newspaper proprietors would have to pay a fixed deposit of about 10 000 francs, meaning that only the wealthy men could afford to start a paper. Also the retention of stamp duty meant that papers continued to be expensive to buy and the caution money was reinstated post 1820. It can be seen that Louis XVIII did not stabilise France in this sense because even though he did introduce Press Control, there was no proper implementation therefore the laws did not last long and so France was less stable after 1818.  

Politically Louis XVIII was unsuccessful in stabilising France because of the different political groups that existed during the restoration which were left, centre left; centre right, and right, which could also be called, ultras, royalists and liberals. The balance of forces in the chamber had been shifting due to the annual renewal of the Chamber by fifths, which meant that laws could be passed but are renewed often. Each year there was an increase in the strength of the Bonapartist Liberals, because they rose to forty-five in 1818 and to ninety in 1819. This rising tide of liberalism alarmed Richelieu because he did not like liberals in parliament and so to prevent liberals entering the Chamber of Deputies as much he reconsidered annual renewal. In 1818 it was clear that the things were becoming unstable because Decasez was subject to ardent criticism from both left and right and the stability of the existing regime was doubted. Louis was put under increasing pressure from his mistress the Comtesse de Cayla and the rest of the Royal Family to become more ultra but at first he resisted. However after the Duc de Berry, Charles X younger son was assassinated and the various European Pressures i.e. the revolt in St. Petersburg he gives into the pressure. Therefore from 1820 onwards Louis adopts ultra policies and becomes more reactionary. The assassination was the final proof of liberal conspiracy to undermine the monarchy and the ministers were denounced for their weakness; therefore Louis XVIII was oblige to get rid of Decasez and his other colleagues. Richelieu returned to power and openly proclaimed the intention of causing war upon the Liberals. Louis XVIII also becomes more right wing in terms of Religion, because he rejects the proposal for the restoration of national property to the church as he feared opposition by parliament. The change in politics rocked the regime and there was a pays legal uproar. The Clergy supervised education and 19 bishops became peers in 1821. The Ultras at this time had more power now and so they set about modifying the work of the previous governments. They tightened Press Control, by reintroducing Censorship, the electoral law was modified to suit the Ultras in power and introduced a new system of double voting, the total number of deputies increased to 430 by the system that gave the double vote to the 16 000 wealthiest citizens, the compromise Richelieu ministry gave way to one led by Vielle and the triumph of the right was completed when Duc de Berry had a son and ensured the continuance of the male succession of the leader branch. In general Louis XVIII politically was not successful in stabilising France because even though he became right wing after 1818 due to increased pressure, if there hadn’t been pressure on him then he would not have made the correct decision. Therefore the Ultras such as Richelieu will not have had the opportunity to stabilise the situation in France.

Despite Louis XVIII many failures in stabilising France he did manage to stabilise France in terms of the economic policy to some extent.  This was because since France had been at war Napoleon had run up a lot of debts. Louis managed to secure France again, by introducing the Law Gouvion St. Cyr of 1818. Since the abolition of conscription by the Charter in 1814 and the disbandment of Napoleons men after Waterloo the Army had been recruited by voluntary enlistment. The Law Gouvion St. Cyr, who was the liberal minister of War, supplemented this by the annual conscription of a levy not exceeding 40 000 men. The conscripts were chosen by lot but who ever did not want to do it could pay a substitute to take their place and priest and teachers were exempt. As a result many of the French Army was recruited mainly from the peasantry as many of the upper classes paid substitutes. The recruits would serve for six years. The Law Gouvion St. Cyr laid the basis for the army of the future both conscript and professional, but it was unfair because not everybody was happy and it created fierce divisions in parliament.  Another way in which Louis stabilised the economy was by adopting a new system of accounting, which meant that ministers had to present annual reports. This was significant because the war indemnity was paid off in 1818 and demonstrated Louis had a good sense of judgement in stabilising France.  

In conclusion it can be seen that Louis XVIII was not wholly successful in stabilising France, because of his unpopularity from the start and the fact that some of his attempts to improve the situation in France were unsuccessful, for example the Press Laws which he introduced in the Charter but let implementation lapse over the years.  His most successful achievements were in creating a better economic policy by working out how to pay off the war indemnity and by turning right wing he allowed the Ultras the power to make significant changes that would stabilise France for the future.