Page "History of France" Paragraph 214

This period of time is called the Bourbon Restoration and was marked by conflicts between reactionary Ultra-royalists, who wanted to restore the pre-1789 system of absolute monarchy, and liberals, who wanted to strengthen constitutional monarchy.

Louis XVIII was the younger brother of Louis XVI, and reigned from 1814 to 1824.

On becoming king, Louis issued a constitution known as the Charter which preserved many of the liberties won during the French Revolution and provided for a parliament composed of an elected Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Peers that was nominated by the king.

However the right to vote in elections to the Chamber of Deputies was restricted to only the wealthiest men.

Louis was succeeded in turn by a younger brother, Charles X, who reigned from 1824 to 1830.

On 12 June 1830 Polignac, King Charles X's minister, exploited the weakness of the Algerian Dey by invading Algeria and establishing French rule in Algeria.

However, the news of the fall of Algiers had barely reached Paris when a new revolution broke out and quickly resulted in a change of regime.