The Three Glorious Days: How the 1830 July Revolution Overthrew the Bourbon Dynasty

The July Revolution in 1830, also called the Three Glorious Days, marked the end of the Bourbon dynasty in France. It kicked off on July 26 when King Charles X announced the Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud, which curtailed press freedoms, disbanded the Chamber of Deputies, and limited voting rights. The following day, on July 27, crowds of workers and students took to the streets of Paris, constructing barricades from buses and stones. When government soldiers opened fire on protesters near Rue Saint-Honoré, it ignited a full-blown revolution. By July 29, rebels captured the Louvre and the Tuileries Palace, forcing Charles X to abdicate on August 2. Instead of his grandson, Louis-Philippe became the "Citizen King," and on August 9, he was officially named King of the French, ushering in the July Monarchy. The revised Charter of 1814 stripped the king of certain powers and replaced the Bourbon flag with the Tricolor. Eugène Delacroix's painting, Liberty Leading the People, celebrated this revolution and influenced Victor Hugo's character Gavroche in Les Misérables.