Editing Louis XVIII (section)

==Bourbon Restoration==
{{Main|Bourbon Restoration in France}}
[[Image:Louis XVIII relevant la France.jpg|280 px|thumb|''Allegory of the Return of the Bourbons on 24 April 1814: Louis XVIII Lifting France from Its Ruins'' by [[Louis-Philippe Crépin]]]]

===First Restoration (1814–1815)===
The Count of Artois ruled as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom until his brother's arrival in Paris on 3 May. Upon his return, the King displayed himself to his subjects by staging a procession through the city.{{sfn|Fenby|2015|pages=49-54}} He took up residence in the Tuileries Palace the same day. His niece, the Duchess of Angoulême, fainted at the sight of the Tuileries, where she had been imprisoned during the time of the French Revolution.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=113}}

[[Sénat conservateur|Napoleon's senate]] called Louis XVIII to the throne on the condition that he would accept a constitution that entailed recognition of the Republic and the Empire, a bicameral parliament elected every year, and the tri-colour flag of the aforementioned regimes.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=175}} Louis XVIII opposed the senate's constitution and stated that he was "disbanding the current senate in all the crimes of Bonaparte, and appealing to the French people". The senatorial constitution was burned in a theatre in royalist Bordeaux, and the Municipal Council of Lyon voted for a speech that defamed the senate.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=176}}

The Great Powers occupying Paris demanded that Louis XVIII implement a constitution.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=52}} Louis responded with the [[Charter of 1814]], which included many progressive provisions: [[freedom of religion]], a legislature composed of a lower house styled the [[Chamber of Deputies (France)|Chamber of Deputies]]{{efn|Suffrage for the Chamber of Deputies was granted to adult males who paid 300 francs a year in tax.}} and an upper house, styled the [[Chamber of Peers (France)|Chamber of Peers]]. The press would enjoy a degree of freedom, and there would be a provision that the former owners of the ''Biens nationaux'', confiscated during the Revolution, would be compensated.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=53}} The constitution had 76 articles. Taxation was to be voted on by the chambers. Catholicism was to be the official religion of France. To be eligible for membership in the Chamber of Deputies, one had to pay over 1,000 [[francs]] per year in tax, and be over the age of forty. The King would appoint peers to the Chamber of Peers on a hereditary basis, or for life at his discretion. Deputies would be elected every five years, with one fifth of them up for election each year.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=54}} There were 90,000 citizens eligible to vote.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=55}}

[[File:Louis XVIII in 1814.jpg|thumb|Louis XVIII in 1814]]

Louis XVIII signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]] on 30 May 1814. The treaty gave France her 1792 borders, which extended east of the [[Rhine]]. She had to pay no war indemnity, and the occupying armies of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]] withdrew immediately from French soil. These generous terms would be reversed in the next Treaty of Paris after the [[Hundred Days]] (Napoleon's return to France in 1815).{{sfn|Price|2008|p=69}}

It did not take Louis XVIII long to go back on one of his many promises. He and his Comptroller-General of Finance [[Joseph Dominique, baron Louis|Baron Louis]] were determined not to let the exchequer fall into deficit (there was a 75&nbsp;million franc debt inherited from Napoleon I), and took fiscal measures to ensure this. Louis XVIII assured the French that the unpopular taxes on tobacco, wine and salt would be abolished when he was restored, but he failed to do so, which led to rioting in Bordeaux. Expenditure on the army was slashed in the 1815 budget&nbsp;– in 1814, the military had accounted for 55% of government spending.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=190}}

{{Coin image box 1 double
| header = Gold coin of Louis XVIII, struck 1815
| image = Image:LouisXVIIIGoldCoin.jpg
| caption_left = Obverse: (French) ''LOUIS XVIII, ROI DE FRANCE,'' in English: "Louis XVIII, King of France"
|caption_right = Reverse: (French) ''PIECE DE 20 FRANCS, 1815,'' in English: "20 Franc Piece, 1815"
|width = 220
|position = left
|margin = 0
}}
Louis XVIII admitted the Count of Artois and his nephews the Dukes of Angoulême and of Berry to the Royal Council in May 1814, upon its establishment. The council was informally headed by [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Prince Talleyrand]].{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=192}} Louis XVIII took a large interest in the goings-on of the [[Congress of Vienna]] (set up to redraw the map of Europe after Napoleon's demise). Talleyrand represented France at the proceedings. Louis was horrified by Prussia's intention to annex the [[Kingdom of Saxony]], to which he was attached because his mother was born a Saxon princess, and he was also concerned that Prussia would dominate Germany. He also wished the [[Duchy of Parma]] to be restored to the Parma branch of the Bourbons, and not to [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|the former Empress Marie-Louise of France]], as was being suggested by the Allies.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=196}} Louis also protested at the Allies' inaction in Naples, where he wanted the Napoleonic usurper [[Joachim Murat]] removed in favour of the Neapolitan Bourbons.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

On behalf of the Allies, Austria agreed to send a force to the [[Kingdom of Naples]] to depose Murat in February 1815, when it was learned that Murat corresponded with Napoleon, which was explicitly forbidden by a recent treaty. In fact, Murat never did actually write to Napoleon, but Louis, intent on restoring the Neapolitan Bourbons at any cost, had taken care to have such a correspondence forged, and subsidised the Austrian expedition with 25&nbsp;million francs.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=197}}

Louis XVIII succeeded in getting the Neapolitan Bourbons restored immediately. Parma, however, was bestowed upon Empress Marie-Louise for life, and the Parma Bourbons were given the [[Duchy of Lucca]] until the death of Marie-Louise.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

===Hundred Days===
{{Main|Hundred Days}}
[[File:Battle of Waterloo 1815.PNG|thumb|The [[Battle of Waterloo]] put a definite end to Napoleon Bonaparte's attempt to return to France and thus secured the Bourbon restoration.]]

On 26 February 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his island prison of [[Elba]] and embarked for France. He arrived with about 1,000 troops near [[Cannes]] on 1 March. Louis XVIII was not particularly worried by Bonaparte's excursion, as such small numbers of troops could be easily overcome. There was, however, a major underlying problem for the Bourbons: Louis XVIII had failed to purge the military of its [[Bonapartist]] troops. This led to mass desertions from the Bourbon armies to Bonaparte's. Furthermore, Louis XVIII could not join the campaign against Napoleon in [[Southern France]], because he was having another case of gout.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=75}} Minister of War [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult|Marshal Soult]] dispatched [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans]] (later King Louis Philippe I), the Count of Artois, and [[Étienne MacDonald|Marshal MacDonald]] to apprehend Napoleon.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=222}}

Louis XVIII's underestimation of Bonaparte proved disastrous. On 19 March, the army stationed outside Paris defected to Bonaparte, leaving the city vulnerable to attack.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=79}} That same day, Louis XVIII quit the capital with a small escort at midnight, first travelling to [[Lille]], and then crossing the border into the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]], halting in [[Ghent]].{{sfn|Price|2008|p=80}} Other leaders, most prominently Tsar Alexander I, debated whether in the case of a second victory over the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], the Duke of Orleans should be proclaimed king instead of Louis XVIII.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=81}}

However, Napoleon did not rule France again for very long, suffering a decisive defeat at the hands of the armies of the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] and [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Field Marshal Blücher]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] on 18 June. The Allies came to the consensus that Louis XVIII should be restored to the throne of France.{{sfn|Price|2008|pages=82-83}}

===Second Restoration (from 1815)===
[[File:Cruikshank - Old Bumblehead.png|right|thumb|''Old Bumblehead the 18th trying on the Napoleon Boots – or, Preparing for the Spanish Campaign'', by [[George Cruikshank]], mocking the [[Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis|French intervention in Spain]]]]
[[File:La famille royale by Gautier.jpg|right|thumb|The royal family. From left to right: [[Charles X of France|Charles, Count of Artois]], Louis XVIII, [[Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Bourbon-Two Sicilies|Marie Caroline, Duchesse of Berry]], [[Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France|Marie Thérèse, Duchesse of Angoulême]], [[Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême|Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême]] and [[Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry]]]]
Louis returned to France promptly after Napoleon's defeat to ensure his second restoration "in the baggage train of the enemy", i.e. with Wellington's troops.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=83}} The Duke of Wellington used King Louis' person to open up the route to Paris, as some fortresses refused to surrender to the Allies, but agreed to do so for their king. King Louis arrived at [[Cambrai]] on 26 June, where he released [[s:Cambrai Proclamation|a proclamation]] stating that those who served the Emperor in the Hundred Days would not be persecuted, except for the "instigators". It was also acknowledged that Louis's government might have made mistakes during the First Restoration.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=253}} King Louis was worried that the counter-revolutionary element sought revenge. He promised to grant a constitution that would guarantee the public debt, freedom of the press and of religion, and equality before the law. It would guarantee the full property rights of those who had purchased national lands during the revolution.  He kept his promises.{{sfn|Artz|1938|p=127}}

On 29 June, a deputation of five from among the members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers approached Wellington about putting a foreign prince on the throne of France. Wellington rejected their pleas outright, declaring that "[Louis is] the best way to preserve the integrity of France"{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=254}} and ordered the delegation to espouse King Louis' cause.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=255}} The King entered Paris on 8 July to a boisterous reception: the Tuileries Palace gardens were thronged with bystanders, and, according to the Duke of Wellington, the acclamation of the crowds there were so loud during that evening that he could not converse with the King.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=256}}

Although the Ultra faction of returning exiles wanted revenge and were eager to punish the usurpers and restore the old regime, the new king rejected that advice. He instead called for continuity and reconciliation, and a search for peace and prosperity. The exiles were not given back their lands and property, although they eventually received repayment in the form of bonds.  The Catholic Church was favoured.  The electorate was limited to the richest men in France, most of whom had supported Napoleon. In foreign policy he removed Talleyrand, and continued most of Napoleon's policies in peaceful fashion. He kept to the policy of minimizing Austria's role but reversed Napoleon's friendly overtures to Spain and the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite book|first1=John W.  |last1=Rooney, Jr. |first2=Alan J. |last2=Reinerman |chapter= Continuity: French Foreign Policy of The First Restoration|title=Consortium on Revolutionary Europe 1750-1850: Proceedings |year=1986 |volume=16 |pages= 275–288}}</ref>{{Sfn|Frederking|2008|pp=446-468}}{{sfn|Artz|1931|pages=16-21}}

The King's role in politics was voluntarily diminished; he assigned most of his duties to his council. During the summer of 1815, he and his ministry embarked on a series of reforms. The Royal Council, an informal group of ministers that advised Louis, was dissolved and replaced by a tighter knit [[privy council]], the ''"Ministère du Roi"''. Artois, Berry and Angoulême were purged from the new ''"ministère"'', and Talleyrand was appointed as the first ''Président du Conseil'', i.e. Prime Minister of France.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=260}} On 14 July, the ministry dissolved the units of the army deemed "rebellious". Hereditary peerage was re-established  by the ministry at Louis' behest.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=261}}

In August, elections for the Chamber of Deputies returned unfavourable results for Talleyrand. The ministry hoped for moderate deputies, but the electorate voted almost exclusively for [[ultra-royalists]], resulting in what King Louis called the ''[[Chambre introuvable]].'' The Duchess of Angoulême and the Count of Artois pressured King Louis for the dismissal of his obsolete ministry. Talleyrand tendered his resignation on 20 September. Louis chose the [[Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de Richelieu|Duke of Richelieu]] to be his new Prime Minister. Richelieu was chosen because he was acceptable to Louis' family and to the reactionary Chamber of Deputies.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=266}} Louis dissolved the ''[[Chambre introuvable]]'' on 5 September 1816, after a rise in anti-monarchical sentiments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=France - France, 1815–1940 {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/France/France-1815-1940 |access-date=11 May 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=CORCIULO |first=MARIA SOFIA |date=1 January 2000 |title=La dissolution de la 'Chambre Introuvable' (5 septembre 1816): coup d'état de Louis XVIII? |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02606755.2000.9522104 |journal=Parliaments, Estates and Representation |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=167–175 |doi=10.1080/02606755.2000.9522104 |s2cid=144649560 |issn=0260-6755}}</ref>

Anti-Napoleonic sentiment was high in Southern France, and this was prominently displayed in the [[Second White Terror|White Terror]], which saw the purge of all important Napoleonic officials from government, along with the execution or assassination of others. Popular vengeance led to barbarous acts against some of these officials. [[Guillaume Marie Anne Brune]] (a Napoleonic marshal) was savagely assassinated, and his remains thrown into the [[Rhône River]].{{Sfn|Lever|1988|page=417}} Louis publicly deplored such illegal acts, but vehemently supported the prosecution of those marshals of the army who had helped Napoleon in the Hundred Days.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=84}}{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=424}} Louis's government executed Napoleon's [[Michel Ney|Marshal Ney]] in December 1815 for treason. The King's confidants [[Charles François, Marquis de Bonnay]], and the Duke de La Chatre advised him to inflict firm punishments on the "traitors".{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The King was reluctant to shed blood, and this greatly irritated the ultra-reactionary Chamber of Deputies, who felt that Louis was not executing enough.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=425}} The government issued a proclamation of amnesty to the "traitors" in January 1816, but such trials as had already begun took their course. That same declaration also banned any member of the [[House of Bonaparte]] from owning property in, or entering, France.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=426}} It is estimated that between 50,000&nbsp;– 80,000 officials were purged from the government during what was known as the [[Second White Terror]].{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=427}}

In November 1815, Louis's government had to sign another [[Treaty of Paris (1815)|Treaty of Paris]] that formally ended Napoleon's Hundred Days. The previous treaty had been quite favourable to France, but this one took a hard line. France's borders were now less extensive, being drawn back to their 1790 extent. France had to pay for an army to occupy her, for at least five years, at a cost of 150&nbsp;million francs per year. France also had to pay a [[war indemnity]] of 700&nbsp;million francs to the Allies.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=89}}

In 1818, the Chambers passed a military law that increased the size of the army by over 100,000. In October of the same year, Louis's foreign minister, the Duke of Richelieu, succeeded in convincing the Allied Powers to withdraw their armies early in exchange for a sum of over 200&nbsp;million francs.{{sfn|Price|2008|pages=95-96}}

Louis chose many centrist cabinets, as he wanted to appease the populace, much to the dismay of his brother, the [[ultra-royalist]] Count of Artois.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=93}} Louis always dreaded the day he would die, believing that his brother, and heir, Artois, would abandon the centrist government for an ultra-royalist autocracy, which would not bring favourable results.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=94}}

King Louis disliked the [[Prince of the Blood|''premier prince du sang'']], Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, and took every opportunity to snub him,{{sfn|Price|2008|p=98}} denying him the title of "Royal Highness", partly out of resentment for the Duke's father's role in voting for Louis XVI's execution. Louis XVIII's nephew, [[Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry|the Duke of Berry]], was assassinated at the Paris Opera on 14 February 1820. The royal family was grief-stricken{{sfn|Price|2008|pages=106-107}} and Louis broke an ancient tradition by attending his nephew's funeral, whereas  previous kings of France could not have any association with death.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=194}} The death of the Duke of Berry meant that the House of Orleans was more likely to succeed to the throne.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

[[File:Painting, Louis XVIII and the French Royal Family, Louis Ducis.jpg|right|thumb|Louis XVIII on a balcony of the Tuileries Palace receiving the Duke of Angoulême after his successful military campaign in Spain]]

Berry was the only member of the family thought to be able to beget children. His wife gave birth to a posthumous son in September, [[Henri, comte de Chambord|Henry, Duke of Bordeaux]],{{sfn|Price|2008|pages=106-107}} nicknamed ''Dieudonné'' (God-given) by the Bourbons because he was thought to have secured the future of the dynasty. However the Bourbon succession was still in doubt. The Chamber of Deputies proposed amending [[Salic law]] to allow the [[Marie Thérèse of France|Duchess of Angoulême]] to accede to the throne.{{sfn|Nagel|2008|page=287}} On 12 June 1820, the Chambers ratified legislation that increased the number of deputies from 258 to 430. The extra deputies were to be elected by the wealthiest quarter of the population in each [[Departments of France|département]]. These individuals now effectively had two votes.{{sfn|Price|2008|p=108}} Around the same time as the "law of the two votes", Louis began to receive visits every Wednesday from a lady named [[Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla|Zoé Talon]], and ordered that nobody should disturb him while he was with her. It was rumoured that he inhaled [[Snuff (tobacco)|snuff]] from her breasts,{{sfn|Price|2008|p=109}} which earned her the nickname of ''tabatière'' (snuffbox).{{Sfn|Lever|1988|page=537}} In 1823, France embarked on a [[Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis|military intervention in Spain]], where a revolt had occurred against King [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]]. France succeeded in crushing the rebellion,{{sfn|Price|2008|p=110}} in a campaign headed by the Duke of Angoulême.{{sfn|Nagel|2008}}

===Death===
Louis XVIII's health began to fail in the spring of 1824. He was experiencing obesity, [[gout]] and [[gangrene]], both dry and wet, in his legs and spine. Louis died on 16 September 1824 surrounded by the extended royal family and some government officials. He was succeeded by his youngest brother, the [[Charles X of France|Count of Artois, as Charles X]].{{sfn|Nagel|2008|pages=297-298}} As a historical footnote, the young science of disinfection had advanced in the early 1820s to the point where it was recognized that chlorides of lime could be used to both eliminate smells and slow decomposition. The body of Louis XVIII was washed with chlorides by a French scientist, [[Antoine Germain Labarraque]], permitting his corpse to be "presented to the public ''without any odour''" (emphasis in the original) in 1824.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alcock |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uova46vWMlIC |title=An Essay on the Use of Chlorurets of Oxide of Sodium and of Lime, as Powerful Disinfecting Agents, and of the Chloruret of Oxide of Sodium, More Especially as a Remedy of Considerable Efficacy, in the Treatment of Hospital Gangrene; Phagedenic, Syphilitic, and Ill Conditioned Ulcers; Mortification; and Various Other Diseases |date=1827 |publisher=Burgess and Hill |location=London |pages=152 |access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref>