What did Alexis de Tocqueville predict shortly before the February Revolution of 1848?

Shortly before the February Revolution of 1848, Alexis de Tocqueville delivered a speech in the Chamber of Deputies in which he prophesied that a revolution was imminent.1

Even prior to this event, Tocqueville had recognized that France was facing a significant threat from a politically awakened working class. He observed that the nation was increasingly susceptible to socialist and revolutionary influences, driven by the growing demands of the poor for state welfare and the unemployed for state-provided jobs. Tocqueville viewed these pressures as precursors to a dangerous, universal dependence on the state, which he believed threatened the preservation of individual independence. Despite the accuracy of his warning, his speech at the time was largely ignored by his contemporaries.21