ABSTRACT
Ultra-royalists believed they stood for the traditional values of monarchy, Church and nobility, a trinity which they believed had once ruled France in harmony. The changing balance in the Chamber between liberals and ultras was as much due to individuals realigning themselves as actual changes in the individuals elected. The ultra-backlash after 1820 pushed a number of constitutional royalists, such as Casimir Perier and Guizot, towards a more resolutely liberal stance. Historians tend to divide the Restoration years into blocks of time dominated successively by ultras or liberals. Meanwhile Martignac had taken steps to address the economic crisis that had been developing since 1827. This crisis was caused by a number of factors. It was at once a traditional food crisis, the result of consecutive poor harvests, of grains, grapes and potatoes, and also a commercial and industrial recession set off by financial uncertainties and increased bankruptcies.
