Address of the 221

The Address of the 221 was an address to king Charles X of France by the chambre des députés at the opening of the French parliament on 18 March 1830. It expressed the defiance of the chambre's liberal majority of 221 deputies to the ministry headed by Jules, prince de Polignac, and helped lead to the July Revolution.

With the election of the 17th and 24 November 1827, the liberals became the majority in the chambre des députés. Even though nothing requires that they do so and even though it is against their beliefs, they agreed to give the leadership of the ministry to the semi-liberal Viscount of Martignac. His ministry started on 4 January 1828, and although they voted into law some liberal measures, they were unable to stop the momentum of liberalism, and Martignac resigned after being outvoted on a legal reorganisation of local governments.

Charles X became tired of what he considered as the abuses by the Liberals and decided to impose his own candidate to the leadership of the Ministry, despite the Liberal's parliamentary majority. On 8 August 1829, Charles X appointed Jules de Polignac, his confidant and the leader of the Ultra-royalists, as Foreign Minister. Polignac quickly emerged as the leading figure of the Ministry, and that November he finally became the Prime Minister.

The advent of the Polignac ministry preceded the founding of the Le National newspaper, which released its first issue on 3 January 1830. In the hands of heavyweights such as Thiers, Carrel, Mignet, and Sautelet, it became the banner for liberalism. The new title was added to already well-established newspapers, such as Le Globe and Le Temps, in addition to more moderate liberal papers, such as Le Constitutionnel and the Journal des Débats.

The address was elaborated by a specifically appointed parliamentary committee. The Chamber of Deputies examined it on 15 and 16 March. It was a real and proper motion of defiance against the Polignac Ministry, and, above all, a real request for the amendment of the Charter to a parliamentary system.

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