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Joseph VilleleFrench statesman of the Restoration era.
Country:
 France |
Content:
- Joseph Villele Biography
- Early Life and Career
- Political Career
- Ministerial Positions
- Challenges and Downfall
Joseph Villele Biography
Joseph Villele was a French statesman during the Restoration era. He gained recognition among monarchists for his sharp pamphlet advocating for the restoration of absolute monarchy. Villele proved his loyalty to the Bourbon monarchy during the Hundred Days and was rewarded with the position of mayor of Toulouse. He was later elected as a deputy in the reactionary chamber in 1815.
Early Life and Career
Joseph Villele was born in 1773 in Toulouse, France. As a young man, he traveled to the West Indies with his relative San-Felix and lived there for several years. He then became a servant to a wealthy plantation owner and married his daughter. Villele gained influence in the island's affairs and defended it against England and the Convention.
In 1803, Villele returned to France and settled in Toulouse, where he lived as a private citizen throughout the Napoleonic era due to his sympathies for the Bourbons. The Restoration presented him with a political opportunity, and he enthusiastically entered politics, dreaming of restoring absolutism in the same form it existed in France before the revolution.
Political Career
When Louis XVIII promised to give the country a constitution, Villele published a sharp pamphlet arguing for the restoration of absolute monarchy. This caught the attention of monarchists, and his loyalty to the Bourbons during the Hundred Days further earned him recognition. After the second restoration of the Bourbons, Villele became the mayor of Toulouse and was subsequently elected as a deputy in the reactionary chamber in 1815.
Villele's parliamentary career influenced his views. With his remarkable oratory skills and administrative abilities, he rose to prominence within the ranks of the Ultra-royalist party. This, in turn, influenced him to adopt a more conciliatory approach towards constitutionalism.
While still maintaining his affinity for strong authority, Villele began to seek subordination of constitutionalism to his own views. He soon became one of the leaders of the group of royalists who opposed the moderately liberal ministry of Decazes.
Ministerial Positions
In December 1820, Villele, along with his like-minded colleagues Corbiere and Lenne, joined the ministry of Duke de Richelieu as ministers without portfolios. Despite this concession, the extreme royalists viewed Richelieu's ministry as a transitional combination and showed hostility towards it.
When the elections in October 1820 resulted in increased strength for the Ultra-royalists and weakened the liberals, Richelieu felt compelled to include Villele and his colleagues in his ministry. However, the extreme royalists continued to be hostile towards the ministry, and it fell soon after.
In the subsequent ministry, composed exclusively of Ultra-royalists, Villele assumed the position of Minister of Finance. Despite the king's suspicions towards the Ultra-royalists, Villele actively supported the passage of a new electoral law that favored large landowners, mainly the nobility, in the election of deputies.
Challenges and Downfall
As Villele focused on financial reforms, he opposed a war with Spain that the Ultra-royalists sought to suppress the Spanish constitution. However, he did not dare to sacrifice his position and, yielding to the prevailing trend, compromised Spanish freedom. The French army restored the despotism of Ferdinand VII, but this campaign disrupted France's recovering finances.
As Villele became the president of the council of ministers, he sought to strengthen his position by extending the five-year term, for which the chamber was elected, to seven years. In late 1823, the chamber was dissolved, and new elections were held in March 1824, marred by deception and violence orchestrated by the ministry.
Despite the opposition in the new chamber, Villele found support in the chamber of peers, which rejected laws on primogeniture and strict censorship for the press. Dissatisfaction with the king and the ministry grew, culminating in a demonstration by the National Guard in April 1827, demanding the removal of the ministry.
Facing opposition from both the chamber of peers and the public, Villele attempted to break the resistance by appointing 76 new peers. However, this measure weakened the ministerial majority in the chamber of deputies, leading to its dissolution and new elections. The new chamber was hostile towards Villele's ministry, and without the support of the king, he resigned in December 1827.
Villele was transferred to the chamber of peers with the title of count and served there until the July Revolution. Afterward, he retired to Toulouse, where he lived as a private citizen until his death on March 13, 1850. In his later years, Villele's memoirs were published, shedding light on his political career.
