Adolphe Thiers - July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe

July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe

For a moment it seemed as if Thiers had definitely chosen the lot of a literary man, not to say of a literary hack. He even planned an Histoire générale. But the accession to power of the Polignac ministry in August 1829 made him change his plans, and at the beginning of the next year Thiers, with Armand Carrel, Mignet, Auguste Sautelet and others started the National, a new opposition newspaper which quite openly called for the ouster of King Charles X should he attempt to curb civil liberties. Thiers himself was one of the animators of the 1830 revolution, being credited with "overcoming the scruples of Louis Philippe," perhaps no Herculean task. At any rate, he received his reward. He ranked as one of the Radical supporters of the new dynasty, in opposition to the party of which his rival François Guizot was the chief literary man, and Guizot's patron, the duc de Broglie, the main pillar. At first Thiers, though elected deputy for Aix, became only Undersecretary of State for the Treasury.

After the overthrow of his patron Jacques Laffitte, he became much less radical, and after the troubles of June 1832 he was appointed to the ministry of the interior. He repeatedly changed portfolios (minister of trade and public works in 1833-34, minister of the interior again in 1834-36, and minister of foreign affairs in 1836) but remained in office for four years, became president of the council and, in effect, Prime Minister, in which capacity he began his series of quarrels and jealousies with François Guizot. During this time, Thiers helped suppress various revolts including the legitimists under the Duchess de Barry in 1832 and a republican uprising in 1834. After 1833, his career was bolstered by his marriage, as he secured financial backing from his nouveau riche patrons (in exchange for their place in the state officialdom and high society).

He traveled in Italy for some time, and it was not till 1838 that he began a regular campaign of parliamentary opposition, which in March 1840 made him president of the council and foreign minister for the second time, during which time he initiated the return of Napoleon's remains to France in 1840. His policy of support for Muhammad Ali of Egypt in the Eastern crisis of that year led France to the brink of war with the other great powers. In addition, Thiers favored military intervention in Spain's civil wars, but all of these met with the disapproval of the king who supported a completely pacifistic foreign policy and he was soon dismissed from his post. Thiers now had little to do with politics for some years, and spent his time on his Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire, the first volume of which appeared in 1845.

Though he was still a member of the chamber, he spoke rarely, till after the beginning of 1846, when he was evidently bidding once more for power as the leader of the opposition group of the Center-Left. He then became a liberal opponent of the July Monarchy and again turned to writing, beginning his History of the Consulate and the Empire (20 vol., 1845–62; tr. 1845–62). In the midst of the February Revolution of 1848, Louis Philippe offered him the title of premier, but he refused, and both king and Thiers were soon swept aside by the revolutionary tide. Elected (1848) to the constituent assembly, Thiers was a leader of the right-wing liberals and bitterly opposed the socialists. Immediately before the February revolution he went to all but the greatest lengths, and when it broke out he and Odilon Barrot, the leader of the Dynastic Left, were summoned by the king; but it was too late. Thiers was unable to govern the forces he had helped to gather, and he resigned.