February 24, 1848

French Revolution of 1848

Louis-Philippe abdicates and a provisional government displaces the monarchy

On the surviving proclamation, one occurrence of "provisional" was crossed out and replaced with "current" — so that the government, not the Republic, would sound temporary.

A crown handed to a nine-year-old

With insurgents threatening to invade the Tuileries Palace on 24 February 1848, Louis-Philippe abdicated in favour of his nine-year-old grandson, Philippe, Count of Paris, and left Paris.

The boy's mother, Hélène, Duchess of Orléans, went to the Chamber of Deputies seeking recognition of her son and her own regency.

An invading crowd and republican deputies rejected every monarchical solution; the child was never effectively invested and never exercised power.

The Hôtel de Ville fills the vacuum

Republican deputies gathered at the Hôtel de Ville, divided the ministerial responsibilities among themselves, and had a provisional government accepted by acclamation that evening. The Chamber was dissolved.

This was not a calm election by the Chamber: lists circulated amid the invasion, offices were negotiated on the spot, and the crowd acclaimed the result.

A surviving handwritten declaration dated 24 February states that France's current government was republican and that the nation would be called to ratify the decision by vote.

One half-sheet, six signatures

Six men signed the hurried document. The city seal was stamped upside down, and nobody added a written date.

That manuscript is catalogued as the de facto proclamation of the Second Republic, but the French National Assembly dates Lamartine's formal public proclamation to about 3 p.m. on 25 February.

Louis-Philippe fled Paris on the 24th and did not reach England until 3 March, when he and Queen Marie-Amélie landed at Newhaven.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

A February 24 manuscript declares the government republican and is cataloged as the de facto proclamation of the Second Republic. The French National Assembly nevertheless dates Lamartine’s formal public proclamation of the Second Republic to about 3 p.m. on February 25.
Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his grandson, but the child was never effectively invested, never exercised power, and should not be presented as an accepted King Louis-Philippe II.