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The July Revolution has been given less attention than those of 1789 and 1848, partly because it did not yield striking democratic progress, and partly because it did not bring a major transformation in the social system. The Revolution was, however, effective in establishing its limited objectives. Until recently, it has been treated largely as a Parisian rather than French affair, but such an interpretation has ignored the point that Parisian revolt required provincial approval to become revolution. Two crucial elements allowed the July Revolution to proceed. The first consisted of public opinion generally, and in this regard the Liberal Opposition played a vital role by providing an elite leadership that possessed mass support. A second factor lay in the army's response to revolt. One can perhaps argue that the army had become so professional that it was incapable of acting in partisan fashion in a civil conflict, but such ‘neutrality’ was in fact tantamount to sealing the fate of the regime. Save for the King's Guard, by 2 August forces concentrated near Saint-Cloud had been reduced by desertion to roughly 1,350 men, and virtually all garrisons in a fifty-mile radius had declared for the Revolution, rendering royalist plans to continue the fight south of the Loire unfeasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]