The Event, 1848
Original title: L'Événement, changed to L'Avénement du Peuple 18 Sep, 1851
The newspaper The Event was launched in July 1848 by Charles and François-Victor Hugo, Auguste Vacquerie and Paul Meurice. Although not officially involved, there is little doubt that The Event was a political propaganda tool initiated by and to a considerable extent written or dictated by Victor Hugo.
It had solid financing, adopted the latest printing technology and innovative marketing. The content was mainly a family affair; it published the memories of Madame Hugo, stories by Adèle and fashion and decoration reviews by Léonie d'Aunet. But more than anything, it was the political mouthpiece of Victor Hugo.
Initially, The Event paid no attention to Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who had been elected to Parliament along with Hugo in June 1848. But from October it gave Louis-Napoléon its full support in his campaign for President. On the night before the election, The Event published a supplement with no other content than Louis-Napoléons name repeated 100 times. A gesture that sprung from Hugo's dream of becoming the intellectual mentor of a liberal emperor.
However, the next summer, Louis-Napoléon exposed the nature of his ambitions when a demonstration against the French military in Italy made him forbid newspapers to print anything insulting about the President. Rumours of a coup d'etat were spread and on the 25 October, The Event turned against the regime. When October turned to November, Louis-Napoléon dismissed the cabinet and replaced it with his own.
In June 1850, 'dangerous' meetings were banned and in July, all newspapers were taxed. In addition, all published articles had to be signed. A year later, Charles was charged for publishing a contemptuous article and sent to prison. Hugo opposed the constitutional changes in a speech held in the National Assembly on 17 July 1851 - it was in this speech he coined the epithet Napoléon le Petit. As a response, The Event was banned and François-Victor and Paul Meurice were sentenced to nine months in jail, Auguste Vacquerie to six months. The newspaper immediately re-emerged under the name The Rise of the People but perished in 1852.
Read more about Victor Hugo, The Politician.
