''Le National'' was a French daily founded in 1830 by

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...

Armand Carrel Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel (8 May 1800 – 25 July 1836) was a French journalist and political writer. Early life He was born at Rouen. His father was a wealthy merchant, and he received a liberal education at the '' Lycée Pierre Co ...

, François-Auguste Mignet and the librarian-editor Auguste Sautelet, as the mouthpiece of the liberal opposition to the Second Restoration.

Background

The first issue was published on 3 January 1830, whilst the

Ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (, collectively Ultras) were a Politics of France, French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who str ...

prince de Polignac governed France in the name of

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

. ''Le National'' was subsidised by the banker

Jacques Laffitte Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767 – 26 May 1844) was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France (1814–1820) and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important fi ...

and also supported by Talleyrand and the

duc de Broglie The House of Broglie (, also ; , or ) is a distinguished French noble family, originally Piedmontese, who migrated to France in the year 1643. Members of this family bore the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, granted to them in 1759 by ...

, one of the leader of the liberal ''

Doctrinaires During the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848), the Doctrinals () were a group of Monarchism in France, French royalists who hoped to reconcile the monarchy with the French Revoluti ...

'' group. Its title alluded to one of the motto used in 1789 during the French Revolution, ''la Nation, la Loi, le Roi'' (Nation, Law and King). The daily advocated a constitutional monarchy and opposed Charles X's interpretation of the 1814 Charter, popularizing in particular the saying "''Le roi règne mais ne gouverne pas''" (The King reigns but does not rule). Journalists gathered at the offices of ''Le National'' to sign a petition in protest against the

July Ordinances The July Ordinances, also known as the Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud, were a series of decrees set forth by Charles X and Jules Armand de Polignac, the chief minister, in July 1830. Compelled by what he felt to be a growing, manipulative rad ...

restricting freedom of the press, one of the events that led to the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830. During the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

, ''Le National'' published

Armand Marrast Armand Marrast (June 5, 1801, Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, Saint-Gaudens–March 10, 1852, Paris) was a French journalist, politician and List of mayors of Paris, mayor of Paris. Editor of ''La Tribune'' (1830-35) and ''Le National'' (from 1836), ...

's call to Parisians to demonstrate on 22 February 1848, following the outlawing of a public meeting by the Paris prefect. Hundreds of students gathered on the place of the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

, before joining workers at the Madeleine. This was the beginning of the

1848 Revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. During the Second Republic, ''Le National'' became the mouthpiece of the moderate Republican majority (the "bourgeois Republicans") which formed the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. The new government was headed by General

Louis-Eugène Cavaignac Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (; 15 October 1802 – 28 October 1857) was a French general and politician who served as head of the executive power of France between June and December 1848, during the French Second Republic. Born in Paris to a promi ...

, while the moderate Republican parliamentaries were called members of the ''Parti du National'' (Party of the National) in reference to the daily. The ''National'' then shifted toward a more

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

position. It was outlawed following

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

's 2 December 1851 coup, and disappeared on 31 December 1851. Its final editor, Ernest Caylus, fled to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and cofounded the French Benevolent Society of New York, which would eventually found the French Hospital in Manhattan.

References

* ''Visages de la Presse — La présentation des journaux des origines à nos jours''; Louis Guéry, avec le concours du Musée de la presse; CFPJ éditions, Paris, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:National, Le Defunct newspapers published in France Bourbon Restoration July Monarchy French Second Republic Newspapers established in 1830 Publications disestablished in 1851 1830 establishments in France