Editing July Monarchy (section)

== The {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} government (2 November 1830 – 13 March 1831) ==
[[File:Vincennes chemise and keep.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Donjon]] of the {{lang|fr|[[Château de Vincennes]]|italic=no}}, where [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]'s ministers were detained]]
Although Louis-Philippe strongly disagreed with the banker {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} and secretly pledged to the Duke of Broglie that he would not support him at all, the new President of the Council was tricked into trusting his king.

The trial of Charles X's former ministers took place from 15 to 21 December 1830 before the [[Chamber of Peers (France)|Chamber of Peers]], surrounded by rioters demanding their death. They were finally sentenced to life detention, accompanied by [[civil death]] for {{lang|fr|Polignac|italic=no}}. {{lang|fr|La Fayette|italic=no}}'s National Guard maintained public order in Paris, affirming itself as the bourgeois watchdog of the new regime, while the new Interior Minister, {{lang|fr|[[Camille de Montalivet]]|italic=no}}, kept the former ministers safe by detaining them in the Château de Vincennes.

But by demonstrating the National Guard's importance, {{lang|fr|La Fayette|italic=no}} had made his position delicate, and he was quickly forced to resign. This led to the Minister of Justice {{lang|fr|Dupont de l'Eure|italic=no}}'s resignation. In order to avoid exclusive dependence on the National Guard, the "Citizen King" charged {{lang|fr|[[Marshal Soult]]|italic=no}}, the new [[Minister of War (France)|Minister of War]], with reorganizing the [[French Army|Army]]. In February 1831, {{lang|fr|Soult|italic=no}} presented his project, aiming to increase the military's effectiveness. Among other reforms, the project included the 9 March 1831 law creating the [[Foreign Legion (France)|Foreign Legion]].

In the meantime, the government enacted various reforms demanded by the {{lang|fr|Parti du Mouvement}}, which had been set out in the Charter (art. 69). The 21 March 1831 law on [[municipalities of France|municipal councils]] reestablished the principle of election and enlarged the electorate (founded on [[census suffrage]]) which was thus increased tenfold in comparison with the legislative elections (approximately 2 to 3 million electors from a total population of 32,6&nbsp;million). The 22 March 1831 law re-organized the National Guard; the 19 April 1831 law, voted after two months of debate in Parliament and promulgated after {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}}'s downfall, decreased the electoral income level from 300 to 200 francs and the level for eligibility from 1,000 to 500 francs. The number of voters thereby increased from less than 100,000 to 166,000: one Frenchman in 170 possessed the right to vote, and the number of constituencies rose from 430 to 459.

=== The February 1831 riots ===
[[File:Guizot, François - 2.jpg|thumb|{{lang|fr|[[François Guizot]]|italic=no}}, a leader of the {{lang|fr|Parti de l'Ordre}}]]
Despite these reforms, which targeted the bourgeoisie rather than the people, Paris was once again rocked by riots on 14 and 15 February 1831, leading to {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}}'s downfall. The immediate cause of the riots was a funeral service organized by the [[Legitimist]]s at [[Saint-Germains l'Auxerrois Church|{{lang|fr|Saint-Germains l'Auxerrois|nocat=y}} Church]] in memory of the [[ultra-royalist]] [[Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry|Duke of Berry]], assassinated in 1820. The commemoration turned into a political demonstration in favor of [[Henri, Count of Chambord]], Legitimist pretender to the throne. Seeing in this celebration an intolerable provocation, the Republican rioters ransacked the church two days in a row, before turning on other churches. The revolutionary movement spread to other cities.

Confronted with renewed unrest, the government abstained from any strong repression. The prefect of the Seine {{lang|fr|[[Odilon Barrot]]|italic=no}}, the [[prefect of police]] {{lang|fr|[[Jean-Jacques Baude]]|italic=no}}, and the new commandant of the National Guard, General {{lang|fr|[[Georges Mouton]]|italic=no}}, remained passive, triggering {{lang|fr|Guizot|italic=no}}'s indignation, as well as the Republican {{lang|fr|[[Armand Carrel]]|italic=no}}'s criticisms against the demagogy of the government.  Far from suppressing the crowds, the government had the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris|Archbishop of Paris]] {{lang|fr|[[Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen|Mgr de Quélen]]|italic=no}} arrested, as well as charging the friar of {{lang|fr|Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois}} and other priests, along with some other monarchists, with having provoked the masses.

In a gesture of appeasement, {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}}, supported by the Prince Royal {{lang|fr|Ferdinand-Philippe|italic=no}}, Duke of {{lang|fr|Orléans|italic=no}}, proposed to the king that he remove the {{lang|fr|[[fleur-de-lys]]}}, symbol of the {{lang|fr|Ancien Régime}}, from the state seal. With obvious displeasure, {{lang|fr|Louis-Philippe|italic=no}} finally signed the 16 February 1831 ordinance substituting for the arms of the House of Orléans a shield with an open book, on which could be read "{{lang|fr|Charte de 1830}}". The {{lang|fr|fleur-de-lys|italic=no}}, was also removed from public buildings, etc. This new defeat of the king sealed {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}}'s fate.

On 19 February 1831, {{lang|fr|Guizot|italic=no}} verbally attacked {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} in the Chamber of Deputies, daring him to dissolve the Chamber and present himself before the electors. {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} accepted, but the king, who was the only one entitled to dissolve the Chamber, preferred to wait a few days more. In the meanwhile, the Prefect of the Seine {{lang|fr|Odilon Barrot|italic=no}} was replaced by {{lang|fr|[[Taillepied de Bondy]]|italic=no}} at {{lang|fr|Montalivet|italic=no}}'s request, and the prefect of police {{lang|fr|[[Jean-Jacques Baude]]|italic=no}} by {{lang|fr|[[Alexandre-François Vivien|Vivien de Goubert]]|italic=no}}. To make matters worse, in this insurrectionary climate, the [[economic history of France|economic situation]] was fairly bad.

{{lang|fr|Louis-Philippe|italic=no}} finally tricked {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} into resigning by having his Minister of Foreign Affairs, {{lang|fr|[[Horace Sébastiani]]|italic=no}}, pass him a note written by the French ambassador to [[Vienna]], [[Marshal Maison]], and which had arrived in Paris on 4 March 1831, which announced an imminent [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] intervention in Italy. Learning of this note in {{lang|fr|[[Le Moniteur Universel|Le Moniteur]]}} of 8 March, {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} requested an immediate explanations from {{lang|fr|Sébastiani|italic=no}}, who replied that he had followed royal orders. After a meeting with the king, {{lang|fr|Laffitte|italic=no}} submitted to the Council of Ministers a belligerent program, and was subsequently disavowed, forcing him to resign. Most of his ministers had already negotiated their positions in the forthcoming government.