Ledru-Rollin
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ALEXANDRE ALEXANDRE AUGUSTE (luh-drü-rō-lang'), a French -ro-lang), a French agitator; born near Paris, France, Feb. en- Paris, France, Feb. of 2, 1807. Admitted to the bar in 1830, to the bar in 1830, he made a name as defender of Republiaddefender of Republi- Greece subsequently obtained a great reputation as a democan journalists and subsequently ob- " as a deniocratic agitator and leader of the workanof the workingmen's party. He was elected in 1841 elected 1841 he deputy for Le Mans. On the outbreak of the eak of the revolution of 1848 he became a memideas ber of the provisional government, as minister of плet- Tragic the interior, and in May was 88 the in was elected one of the five in whose hands whose hands the Constituent Assembly placed the interim . the ingovernment. But he offended his , offended his supporters, by his injudicious conduct, icious conduct, and resigned. He next ventured on a next ventured on a candidature for the presidency against: presidency against Feb. Louis Napoleon in December, but was ig- December, but was igfor nominiously beaten. An unsuccessful: An unsuccosstal 1850 attempt to provoke an insurrection an insurrection he against his fortunate rival put an end to ival put an end to . his political activity. For the next 20 For the next 20 years he lived alternately in London and in London and Brussels, only being amnestied in 1870. After his return to France he was elected to the Assembly in 1871 , and again in 1874. He died in Fontenay, France, Dec. 31, 1874. an American
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Nothing in the record of Ledru-Rollin's life has been overturned since Collier's wrote in 1921: born near Paris in 1807, minister of the interior in the provisional government of 1848, beaten by Louis Napoleon, exiled, dead at Fontenay in 1874. What has shifted is the tone. Collier's calls him a "French agitator" whose "injudicious conduct" offended his supporters; modern historians of 1848 treat him as the leading figure of the démoc-soc left and the Montagne, and date his ruin precisely to the failed Paris demonstration of 13 June 1849 against the French expedition to Rome — which Collier's blurs into an undated "attempt to provoke an insurrection". His newspaper La Réforme, unmentioned here, is now standard evidence in accounts of how the Second Republic split.
Written for this edition, 2026.