François Guizot: The Historian in Politics

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the role of intellectuals in the political life of France based on the study of the views and state activities of the famous French historian and political figure François Guizot (1787–1874). The author examines the relationship between the historical views of Guizot, his understanding of the main problems of French and European history, his public and state activities during the Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848). The theme of the intelligentsia in power is most vividly revealed through the personality and activities of F. Guizot. He was more than just the leading politician of the July Monarchy. He enriched such fields of knowledge as history, pedagogy, constitutional law, sociology, political science. Similarly to many of his contemporaries, Guizot pursued two careers at the same time: scientific and political. However, Guizot’s failure as a politician overshadowed Guizot as a scientist. The article concludes that history and politics have always been closely intertwined for Guizot. Guizot searched in the past for answers to questions pertaining to modern France. Guizot saw history as a direct continuation of politics. In doing so, Guizot took into account not only the lessons of the past. He formulated his concept of French leadership in Europe and built a theoretical framework for his foreign policy based on knowledge of history. In addition, the article concludes: turning to the historical heritage of France and Europe for Guizot was important not only from a practical point of view, but also from the point of view of morality and education. For him, the history of the development of civilization was the history of the moral improvement of mankind.