17. The history of the French press in the period of the July monarchy (1830-1848)

The July Revolution of 1830 marked the victory of the bourgeoisie over the nobility. The monarchy, which was in dire financial need, was strongly financially dependent on this top of the bourgeoisie, and King Louis-Philippe himself. very soon became a permanent character in newspaper cartoons and anecdotes, appearing either as a fat bourgeois, or as a stupid and fat carnival bull. The government’s response was a sharp turn towards repressive measures. If a week after the July Uprising, journalists who had previously been convicted of “political crimes in the press” were released, then two months later, in November 1830, a law was passed,

However, by this time, the growth in the number of newspapers and their circulation, caused by the revolutionary upsurge, had already managed to instill in journalists the confidence in their strength. In total, about 700 newspapers and magazines were published under the July monarchy, twice as many as under the Restoration, and their circulation increased by more than a third. They were quite sharply opposed to the actions of the government and immediately became victims of repressive laws.