On this day in 1848, the French February Revolution began when thousands of Parisians took to the streets to protest political suppression, leading to the founding of the Second Republic and establishment of labor reforms. Among the reforms the Second Republic passed were universal male suffrage and a guaranteed "right to work", provided by National Workshops which gave the unemployed with a source of income.

The protests of February 22nd were triggered by the banning of political banquets, legal means of criticizing the government and fundraising for political organizing. Incidentally, communist journalist Friedrich Engels was in Paris at the time and witnessed these banquets. After the ban, thousands flooded out onto the streets to protest against the "Citizen King" Louis Philippe and his chief minister François Pierre Guillaume Guizot.

Shouting "Down with Guizot" and "Long Live the Reform", the crowds marched past Guizot's residence and erected barricades in the streets of Paris, where fighting broke out between the citizens and the Parisian municipal guards. French troops shot into the crowd, killing at least fifty-two people.

In the next few days, Guizot resigned and King Philippe fled the country. By February 26th, the Second Republic had been formed, with poet Alphonse de Lamartine acting as a de facto dictator over France for the next three months.

The Second Republic's governance would be tested in the "June Days" uprising, which Karl Marx identified as a conflict between petite bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The revolting workers were crushed by force (with over 4,000 insurgents being deported to Algeria) and the Second Republic continued until elected President Louis Napoléon Bonaparte dissolved the parliament in a coup in 1851.

The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850 :marx-guns-blazing:

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  • boog [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Feel like shit about myself. Never thought I would be 28 and never even have been in a relationship.

      • boog [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        :meow-hug: some days are harder than others but i try to stay positive

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      the key is to stop feeling like shit about yourself and pretend you have a confidence that is utterly foreign to you

      • boog [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I always find this kind of advice funny. Not to knock it, of course - confidence is obviously a very attractive trait and being nice to yourself is important. But it kind of feels inaccurate when I see absolutely awful, miserable, insecure people in relationships basically all the time. I think it's really mostly just luck, at the end of the day. Luck and amount of time you spend around other people.

        • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          absolutely awful, miserable, insecure people in relationships basically all the time.

          they might not have always been that way tho

          • boog [none/use name]
            ·
            2 years ago

            That's also true. I feel like I came across as too incel-y in my response there, so I just want to clarify that I know I could definitely be doing more to improve my chances.

      • boog [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Actually trying? I guess not. Hard to get into a relationship when you're a hermit, I admit.

        It's not that I'm not trying to get into a relationship, but it's hard to get into a relationship when you don't even have friends or a job.

        Still, I've tried to fix my lack of friendships/romance by signing up for some sports/gym/life drawing, but I've only met significantly older people in those places.

        • Acute_Engles [he/him, any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Big love comrade it seems like you have the right idea. It's cliche at this point I figure but it always seemed to happen for me when I was ready to give up on finding someone. I hope you can stay positive about the whole situation

    • Ho_Chi_Chungus [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Turning 23 soon and feeling the same way every day, comrade :meow-hug:. I feel you

      • Dryad [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I'm also 23 and in the same boat. Never kissed anyone, never even held anyone's hand in a romantic way. I'm pretty much the world's purest virgin.

        Doesn't bother me though. I'm mostly just limited by living in a small city in a disgusting part of a disgusting country, so there are no groups focused around any of my interests basically anywhere in the area.