International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Jean-Joseph-Charles-Louis Blanc was a French politician and historian who played an integral role in the Revolution of 1848 and its aftermath in France, emerging as an important spokesman for socialism. Born in Madrid, Spain, he was the son of a general tax inspector of King Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother. Blanc went to Paris in 1830 to study law after his family had been ruined by the Revolution of 1830 . He worked two years in Arras as a private tutor and as a freelance journalist for Le Progrès du Pas-de-Calais . In Paris in 1834 Blanc joined the Republican cause and worked for Le National and Le Bon Sens , of which he became the chief editor in 1837. His reputation grew as he campaigned in favor of the extension of universal suffrage, thanks to the Revue du progrès (1839–42) and La Réforme . Meanwhile, from 1841 to 1844 he wrote the five-volume Histoire de dix ans, 1830–1840 (The History of Ten Years) , which attacked the Louis Philippe government. He also expounded his Republican opinions in L'Organisation du travail (1839) and in the Revue du progrès , which was reprinted ten times between 1841 and 1848. In his books and writings Blanc argued that three principles governed the history of societies: authority (vanquished in 1789), individualism (which emerged after 1789), and fraternity. In order to reach this last goal, ruthless competition in the economy ... log in or subscribe to read full text