Last modified: 2007-02-04 by ivan sache
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![[France]](../images/f/fr.gif)
French national flag - Image by Željko Heimer, 22 September 2001
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On 24 February 1848, following a week of riots in Paris, the Roi-Citoyen ("King-Citizen") Louis-Philippe abdicated. A provisional government was immediatly constituted and the (Second) Republic was proclaimed in the city Hall as follows:
Le gouvernement provisoire déclare que le gouvernement actuel de la France est le gouvernement républicain et que la nation sera immédiatement appelée à ratifier la résolution du gouvernment du peuplede Paris.
(The provisional government states that the current government of France is the government of the Republic, and that the nation shall immediately be asked to ratify the resolution of the government of the people of Paris.)
On 23-24 April 1848, an Assemblée Constituante was
elected, made of c. 300 Monarchists, 500 moderate Republicans and
100 Radicals and Socialists, and was therefore dominated by the
conservatives.
On 4 May 1848, during the first session of the Assembly, the Republic
was proclaimed again au nom du peuple français et à
la face du monde ("in the name of the French people and to the
whole world"). An "Executive Commission" of five members (Arago,
Garnier-Pagès, Marie, Lamartine and Ledru-Rollin) and a
government, with General Cavaignac as the Minister of War, replaced the
provisional government.
On 4 November 1848, the Constitution, on which the Assembly had
been working for months, was adopted.
The executive power should be exercised by a President of
the Republic, elected for four years by direct universal suffrage,
and non re-eligible. The President should appoint and dismiss the
Ministers and the high-ranking civil servants.
The legislative power should be exercised by a single
Assembly of 750 members, elected for three years by direct universal
suffrage according to list system.
The judicial power should be exercised by independent,
irremovable judges.
The election of the President of the Republic took place on 10 December 1848. Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoléon I's nephew, who had just came back from exile in England and had been considered as unsignificant by his rivals, triumphally won with 5,454,000 votes (c. 75%) against General Cavaignac (1,448,000 votes), Ledru-Rollin (371,000 votes), Raspail (36,000 votes) and Lamartine (17,000 votes). On 20 December 1848, the newly elected President took the oath to respect the Constitution in the Assembly.
On 20 July 1851, a proposal of revision of the Constitution which would have
allowed the President to compete for a second mandate, was rejected.
On 2 December 1851 (the anniversary of both the battle of Austerlitz
and Napoléon I's coronation), the President proclaimed the
dissolution of the Assembly.
On 14 January 1852, a new Constitution was proclaimed, which
claimed to preserve the Republican institutions but in fact prepared
the establishment of the Second Empire.
The President should be elected for ten years, propose the laws,
appoint the Ministers and could canvass the people's opinion by
holding a plebiscite. A Legislative Corps, elected by universal
suffrage, should vote the laws. A Senate, constituted of admirals,
marshals, cardinals and other members appointed by the President,
should check if the laws were in agreement with the Constitution and
could amend them by senatus-consultum. A State Council of 40-50
members appointed by the President should elaborate the laws.
xzOn 7 November 1852, a senatus-consultum reestablished the title of
Emperor (Napoléon III) for Louis-Napoléon. On 21-22
November 1852, a plebiscite (7,824,000 / 253,000) approved the
senatus-consultum.
Napoleon III was crowned on 2 December 1852, one year after his
constitutional coup.
Source: B. Melchior-Bonnet. Restauration et révolutions, 1815-1851. Histoire de France Illustrée, Larousse, 1988
Ivan Sache, 9 July 2001
It is well-known that the
French Tricolore flag was challenged by the red flag after the fall of
King Louis-Philippe in 1848 and the proclamation of the Second
Republic. Most history books say that the Tricolore flag was "saved" by
Lamartine.
Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) was a poet and politician known for
his Romantic works and his complicated love life. His poems
(especially the famous Lac) are today perceived as old-fashioned if
not boring. However, Lamartine has to be considered as the inventor of
the modern French poetry, which he completely revamped. He was the
first to consider poetry as a specific meditation independent of any
rhetorical or esthetic background.
The political career of Lamartine was less successful. After the July
Revolution of 1830, Lamartine ran for the post of Deputy in July 1831
but was not elected; he was accused of using his writer's fame to push
his own ambitions instead of really defending liberal ideas. In the
next election, he was elected Deputy for Bergues (north of France) and significantly contributed to the political debate, promoting moderation
and virtue. He had a premonition of the fall of Louis-Philippe and
coined the expression révolution du mépris (contempt revolution) in
July 1847. On 24 February 1848, King Louis-Philippe left and Lamartine,
member of the Provisory Government, proclaimed the Republic at the town
hall of Paris and spoke at the Chamber. The next day, he convinced the
mob to support the Tricolore flag. He was appointed Minister
of Foreign Affairs in March, and was elected in April Deputy for 10
departments (it was possible at that time to be elected for more than
one place). On 10 December, he ran for the presidential elections but
got only a few thousands votes, probably because of his very ambiguous
political stances. He remained member of the Chamber until the coup of
1852 but his political career was over.
The flag event is related by Lamartine in Histoire de la Révolution de
1848, published in Paris in 1849. The relevant chapter is entitled Quel
drapeau pour la République ? (Which flag for the Republic?). Like
Julius Caesar, Lamartine uses "He" (Il) when speaking of himself.
Most historians admit that Lamartine deliberately embellished his
contribution to the event and wrote his own legend. It is hard to
believe that Lamartine, even if an excellent poet and orator, could
have improvized such a brilliant but tortuous speech facing an angry
mob.
After explaining how he calmed down the infuriated mob, Lamartine
relates the flag dispute as follows (the original French text is
appended below my translation):
[Lamartine speaking]
"And what would the sun see today?" "It would see another people [...] ordering its government to hoist, as an emblem of concord, the standard of the fight to death among the citizens of the same homeland! This red flag that has been sometimes raised when blood flowed, as a scarecrow against enemies, this flag that has to be put down immediatly after the fighting as a symbol of reconciliation and peace! I would prefer the black flag sometimes hoisted over a besieged city like a shroud, in order to present to the bombs neutral buildings dedicated to humanity and from which the cannonball and even the bomb of the enemies must move away; do you really want the flag of your republic to be more scaring and sinister than the flag of a bombed city?"
"No, no, exclaimed some of the onlookers. Lamartine is right, my friends, don't keep this flag scaring the citizens!"
- Oh, but we must keep it, exclaimed others "this is ours, this is the people's, this is the one we have won with, why should not we keep after the victory the emblem we have shed with our blood?"
"Citizens", resumed Lamartine, after having fought the change of the flag with the reasons the most striking for the people's imagination and as relying on his conscience for the ultimate reason, therefore intimidating the people who loved him by the threat of his withdrawal:
"Citizens, you can do violence to the government. You can order it to change the flag of the nation and the name of France, if you are so ill inspired and stubborn in your mistake to impose to it a party's republic and a terror's flag. I know that the government is as determined as myself to die rather than to dishonor itself by obeying you; as far as I am concerned, my hand will never sign this Decree! I will push away until death this blood flag, and you should repudiate it even more than I will! Because the red flag that you have brought back here has done nothing but being trailed around the Champ-de-Mars in the people's blood in [17]91 and [17]93, whereas the Tricolore flag went round the world along with the name, the glory and the liberty of the homeland!"
After having said these last words, Lamartine, stopped by nearly unanimuous enthusiastic cries, fell from the chair he had used as a stand into the arms stretched out to him from all sides! The cause of the new republic won over the bloody memories some had wanted to substitute for it. A general shaking, assisted by Lamartine and by the impulse of good citizens, caused the surge of the mob that had filled the room until the landing of the great stairs to cries of "Long live Lamartine! Long live the Tricolore flag!"
"Et que verrait le soleil aujourd'hui ? - II verrait un autre peuple [...] commander à son gouvernement d'arborer en signe de concorde, l'étendard de combat à mort, entre les citoyens d'une même patrie ! Ce drapeau rouge qu'on a pu élever quelquefois quand le sang coulait comme un épouvantail contre des ennemis qu'on doit abattre aussitôt après le combat en signification de réconciliation et de paix ! J'aimerais mieux le drapeau noir qu'on fait flotter quelquefois dans une ville assiégée, comme un linceul, pour désigner à la bombe des édifices neutres consacrés à l'humanité et dont le boulet et la bombe même des ennemis doivent s'écarter; voulez-vous donc que le drapeau de votre république soit plus menaçant et plus sinistre que celui d'une ville bombardée ?"
"Non, non, s'écrièrent quelques-uns des spectateurs. Lamartine a raison, mes amis, ne gardons-pas ce drapeau d'effroi pour les citoyens !"
- Si, si, s'écriaient les autres "c'est le nôtre, c'est celui du peuple, c'est celui avec lequel nous avons vaincu, pourquoi donc ne garderions-nous pas après la victoire le signe que nous avons teint de notre sang ?"
"Citoyens", reprit Lamartine aprés avoir combattu par toutes les raisons les plus frappantes pour l'imagination du peuple le changement de drapeau et comme se repliant sur sa conscience personnelle pour dernière raison, intimidant ainsi le peuple qui l'aimait par la menace de sa retraite :
"Citoyens, vous pouvez faire violence au gouvernement. Vous pouvez lui commander de changer le drapeau de la nation et le nom de la France si vous êtes assez mal inspirés et assez obstinés dans votre erreur pour lui imposer une république de parti et un pavillon de terreur. Le gouvernement, je le sais, est aussi décidé que moi-même à mourir plutôt que de se déshonorer en vous obéissant, quant à moi jamais ma main ne signera ce décret ! Je repousserai jusqu'à la mort ce drapeau de sang, et vous devriez le répudier plus que moi ! Car le drapeau rouge que vous nous rapportez n'a jamais fait que le tour du Champ-de-Mars traîné dans le sang du peuple en 91 et en 93, et le drapeau tricolore a fait le tour du monde avec le nom, la gloire, et la liberté de la patrie !"
A ces derniers mots Lamartine interrompu par des cris d'enthousiasme presque unanimes tomba de la chaise qui lui servait de tribune dans les bras tendus de tous côtés vers lui! La cause de la république nouvelle l'emportait sur les sanglants souvenirs qu'on voulait lui substituer. Un ébranlement général secondé par les gestes de Lamartine et par l'impulsion des bons citoyens fit refluer l'attroupement qui remplissait la salle jusque sur le palier du grand escalier aux cris de "Vive Lamartine ! Vive le drapeau tricolore !"
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2006
A short-lived blue-red-white tricolore flag is documented by Whitney Smith in Flags Through The Ages And Across The World [smi75c] (pages 137-138 and image on page 135). According to his evidence the blue-red-white arrangement was decreed by the government on Feb. 26, 1848, and rescinded by another Decree on March 5, which restored the more familiar blue-white-red arrangement. The Feb. 26 Decree also provided that a red rosette was to be added to the tops of poles bearing the national flag. The blue-red-white tricolor is also shown in Banderas y Escudos del Mundo [a8m86] on page 216.
It is not clearly stated why the order was changed. The Feb. Decree
said it was because "the form of the flag should be fixed in an
invariable manner", but that obviously doesn't answer why that
particular manner was chosen.
It was known that the more radical revolutionaries in 1848 were
demanding that the flag be changed to solid red. The red rosette was
added to placate them. My own personal conjecture is that the blue-red-white
ordering was a further compromise, so that the flag of the Republic
would not be identical with the flag of the recently overthrown
Orleanist monarchy. But then the new authorities quickly switched
back to the blue-white-red as soon as they realized that popular sentiment was
still attached to that flag, and regarded it as the flag of the
Nation, not just the flag of the former regime.
I didn't see any evidence offered on whether the variant flag ever
actually flew or not, but given how rapidly new flags can appear in
revolutionary situations I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
Ned Smith, 29 February 2004
Pierre Charrié (Drapeaux et Etendards du XIXe siecle [chr92]) says:Sous la IIe République, après la circulaire erronée du ministre de la Marine Arago prescrivant "le bleu à la gaine, le rouge au milieu, le blanc au battant" du 5 mai 1848, rectifiée deux jours après, le pavillon tricolore est maintenu.
According to Charrié, the weird arrangement of the colours was simply a
mistake in the Decree, which was corrected two days later. It can be
assumed that no erroneous flag was ever manufactured.
There are therefore some discrepancies between Smith and Charrié's accounts of the flag error. Smith mentions a government Decree from February whereas Charrié refers to an Order by the Minister of the Navy from May.
The onset of the IInd Republic was a kind of enthusiastic improvisation.
Therefore, it is possible that the Minister of the Navy released an Order
without really knowing that there was already a government Decree on the same
topic. Concerning the arrangement of the colours, we must remember that
the French Tricolore was less than a century old, had been legally prescribed in
1814 only, and had suffered a severe ban during the Bourbon restoration. There are examples of paintings showing Tricolore flags with the colours
erroneously arranged. The definitive adoption of the Tricolore flag took
place only with the Third Republic and Count of Chambord's renunciation. The flag became then the patriotic symbol and was one of the most important elements of the Union Sacrée that united all political forces against Germany during the First World War.
Ivan Sache, 2 March 2004
![[1852 Colours, reverse]](../images/f/fr^52reg.gif)
![[1852 Army Colours, obverse]](../images/f/fr^52rz.gif)
Army colour, model 1852; left, reverse; right, obverse - Images by Tom Gregg, 9 February 2002
This flag is an exemple of the army colours called Drapeaux et
Etendards Modèle 1852.
By Decree dated 31 December 1851, Prince-President
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte reestablished the French eagle
(aigle) and all flags which had been prescribed in 1848 were
suppressed. The new flags were manufactured by Ets. Marion, 13, rue
de Grammont, Paris. The flags were solemnly given to the units by the
Prince-President on Champ-de-Mars in Paris on 10 May 1852.
After the proclamation of the Second
Empire, a Decision dated 10 November 1853 prescribed new flags
for the Army units. A Decree dated 24 April 1854 prescribed the
incineration of the former flags.
Those flags and the distribution ceremony are described in detail
by P. Charrié (op. cit.).
Ivan Sache, 9 February 2002