kingdom · France and the Low Countries

Bourbon Restoration

1814 CE – 1830 CE · capital Paris

The return of the Bourbon kings after Napoleon, a constitutional monarchy under Louis XVIII and Charles X that ended in the July Revolution of 1830.

Origins

After Napoleon's abdication in April 1814 the allies and the French Senate restored Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. He granted the Charter of 1814, which kept a parliament and many revolutionary gains. Napoleon's return in the Hundred Days of 1815 interrupted the regime until Waterloo.

Rule and society

France had a two-chamber parliament elected by a very small, wealthy electorate. Moderate ministers such as the Duke of Richelieu paid off war indemnities and ended the allied occupation in 1818, while ultra-royalists pressed for revenge after the White Terror. Charles X, crowned at Reims in 1825, compensated émigrés and favoured the Church.

Decline and legacy

In July 1830 Charles X issued ordinances dissolving parliament and curbing the press. Three days of revolt in Paris drove him into exile, and Louis-Philippe of Orléans became king, beginning the July Monarchy. Algiers had been taken weeks earlier.

Lineage

French Empire 1534 CE – 1980 CEBourbon RestorationJuly Monarchy 1830 CE – 1848 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Bourbon Restoration. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/bourbon-restoration
MLA
“Bourbon Restoration.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/bourbon-restoration. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Bourbon Restoration.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/bourbon-restoration.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Bourbon Restoration’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/bourbon-restoration (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻