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a monarchist group in France; at the time of the Restoration, supporters of the claims of Louis Philippe of Orléans to the throne: during the Revolution of 1830 they succeeded in having him proclaimed king.
Representing the interests of the financial aristocracy, the Orléanists were the ruling group in France during the July Monarchy (1830–48). In the Second Republic (1848–52), together with the Legitimists, supporters of the Bourbon dynasty, they constituted the reactionary “party of order,” whose policy helped establish the Second Empire. Later, sharing the views of the Versaillais, the Orléanists took part in suppressing the Paris Commune of 1871. In the 1870’s they helped prepare the abortive monarchist coup headed by M. E. P. MacMahon. After participating in the Boulangist movement of the end of the 1880’s, they left the political scene.