Ledru-Rollin, Alexandre Auguste definition of Ledru-Rollin, Alexandre Auguste in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Ledru-Rollin, Alexandre Auguste (älĕksäN`drə ôgüst` lədrü`-rôlăN`), 1807–74, French politician. A lawyer, he first became known as a radical opponent to the accession (1830) of Louis Philippe and the defender of the journalists. He was elected (1841) to the chamber of deputies and was very active in the banquet campaign, which led to the February Revolution February Revolution, 1848, French revolution that overthrew the monarchy of Louis Philippe and established the Second Republic. General dissatisfaction resulted partly from the king's increasingly reactionary policy, carried out after 1840 by François Guizot ,
..... Click the link for more information. of 1848. He became minister of the interior in the provisional government formed by Alphonse de Lamartine Lamartine, Alphonse Marie Louis de (älfôNs` märē` lwē də lämärtēn`)
..... Click the link for more information. . Largely because of his pressure, universal suffrage was adopted in the elections to the Constituent Assembly. Ledru-Rollin, supported by Lamartine, was included (May, 1848) in the executive commission that replaced the provisional government, although many conservative republicans opposed him for favoring moderate social reform. After the June Days June Days, in French history, name usually given to the insurrection of workers in June, 1848. The working classes had played an important role in the February Revolution of 1848, but their hopes for economic and social reform were disappointed.
..... Click the link for more information. the executive commission was dissolved. Ledru-Rollin was a candidate for president in the election of Dec., 1848, but was defeated by Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808–73, emperor of the French (1852–70), son of Louis Bonaparte (see under Bonaparte , family), king of Holland.
..... Click the link for more information. ). In June, 1849, his attempted insurrection against the government of Louis Napoleon failed—he actually headed a provisional government for two hours—and he fled to England. During his long exile, he wrote numerous revolutionary pamphlets. At the fall of the Second Empire, he returned to France and was elected (1874) to the chamber of deputies. Ledru-Rollin was a powerful speaker. His speeches and pamphlets were collected in his Discours politiques et écrits divers (1879).

Bibliography

See A. R. Calman, Ledru-Rollin and the Second French Republic (1922).