The Blanquists and Louis-Auguste Blanqui
The Blanquist Party
The
Blanquists were founded by Louis-Auguste Blanqui in the years following 1865.
They were a socialist organization and were hostile towards both the
church and the regular French army and one which, alongside the International, dominated the socialist political scene in Paris during the commune, making socialism appealing to those who did not approve of the Inernational. Their actions brough socialism to a larger group of people, strengthening and spreading the movement. A group of dedicated revolutionaries, even
Karl Marx, who saw them as pretenders to the real socialist movement, respected
them and their actions. Their founder was their most important and most visible
figure. Blanqui had been imprisoned for over 33 years in various prisons for
his actions against the government, and had been responsible for many of the
demonstrations against the government immediately prior to the founding of
the Commune.
Louis-Auguste
Blanqui (1805 - 1881)
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Louis-Auguste Blanqui |
Blanqui
was educated in both law and medicine before becoming a member of the radical
ÒSociety of the Friends of the PeopleÓ after the revolution of 1830. He was
arrested twice shortly thereafter, and while imprisoned studied the previous
insurrections against the French government and became convinced that a
struggle between the aristocracy, bourgeios, and working class was inevitable.
He wished to establish a popular government following such a struggle, and
believed that he would only be able to do so if he had a strong base of
support. As a result of this, he founded several underground societies which
would be available to provide assistance in a time of struggle.
In
1839 he provoked an revolt during which five hundred armed men surrounded the
H™tel de Ville and attempted to overthrow the government, but they were easily
defeated by the regular army and Blanqui was sentanced to life imprisonment. He
was released shortly before the revlolution of 1848 because of failing health.
Arriving in Paris during the revolution, he worked tirelessly to convince the
provisional government to persue more socialist policies and to postpone
general elections until the general populace would be able to vote. For his part
in protests, he was sentanced to another ten years in prison. He was released
in 1859 and then arrested again that same year for organizing more secret
societies to aid in anti-government actions. He escaped in 1865 and fled to
Belgium.
The
industrial growth of France under Napolen III provided Blanqui an opportunity
to rally the workers together, and in 1865 he began to organize the first
Blanquist organizations in Paris among the students and workers. During that
same time he wrote the ÒInstruction pour une prise dÕarmes,Ó which was essentially an Òurban revolt for
dummiesÓ manuel. In 1870 when the Third Republic was founded several
Blanquist organizations took part. However, Blanqui was convinced that the measures
being taken to defend Paris were insufficient, and he twice took part in
revolts attempting to overthrow the government. After the surrender of Paris
to Prussia, he was imprisoned once more for his part in those revolts.
Immediately
following those events, the Commune was founded and Blanqui was elected
president, regardless of the fact that he remained in prison. Blanqui was
eventually released in 1879, long after the collapse of the Commune. He
continued to campaign in favor of the socialist movement until his death in
1881. After his death, the Blanquists and Internationalists in France
reconciled their differences and founded a larger socialist party, the ÒComitŽ
RŽvolutionnaire Central.Ó
Blanqui and his Blanquists were the most important socialist figures in France, moreso than Karl Marx and his Internationalists. BlanquiÕs theories on the devolpment of a socialist state, which he believed had to begin with a dictatorship which would remove the power of both the Bourgeios and the Church. His work, paired with that of Karl Marx, was the keystone to the devolpment of an European socialist movement.