Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773-26 August 1850) was King of France from 9 August 1830 to 24 February 1848, succeeding Charles X of France and preceding the provisional government of Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure. Louis Philippe was a member of the liberal Orleanists, a younger branch of the House of Bourbon, and the came to power in the July Revolution of 1830. Despite being a constitutional monarch, he still did not have the support of the people, leading to his deposition in 1848.
Biography[]
Louis Philippe was born in the Palais Royal of Paris, France, the son of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans; Louis Philippe would be executed in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. Louis Philippe belonged to the Orleanists, a branch of the House of Bourbon that had liberal sympathies during the French Revolution. Louis Philippe served in the French Revolutionary Army during the French Revolutionary Wars and even attempted to join the Jacobin Club, but the increasing radicalism of the revolutionary government led to Louis Philippe falling out with his radical father and the revolutionaries. He attempted to assist Charles-Francois Dumouriez's mutiny against the French government, but the lack of artillery forced Louis Philippe and Dumouriez to go into exile rather than launch a coup. During the rest of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Louis Philippe lived in exile, settling in the United States and England for much of his time abroad.
After Napoleon I was forced to abdicate in 1814, Louis Philippe returned to France, which was now ruled by his cousin King Louis XVIII of France. He was friendly with Louis and even more friendly with his successor, Charles X of France, but he disagreed with Charles due to Charles' reactionary views, as Charles was the leader of the Legitimists. In 1830, Louis Philippe I served as regent for Henri, Comte de Chambord after the July Revolution overthrew Charles, and the people decided to make the liberal Louis Philippe the leader of a constitutional monarchy. He was unpopular, however, as many people sought to create a republic, or to bring the Bonapartists to power. He survived several assassination attempts, and the people of France continued to suffer under his rule, especially the poor. In 1832, he crushed the June Rebellion, and he faced opposition from republicans throughout his reign. In 1848, the republicans rose up against him during the French Revolution of 1848, and he was overthrown. Henri de Chambord was nominated to succeed him, but he was rejected and replaced by the Third French Republic after he insisted on changing the revolutionary tricolor flag to the white fleur de lys flag. Louis Philippe died in exile in Claremont, Surrey, England in 1850 at the age of 76.