Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to

Louis Auguste Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848) Bl ...

(1805–1881) which holds that

socialist revolution Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...

should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Having seized power, the revolutionaries would then use the power of the state to introduce

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. It is considered a particular sort of "putschism"—that is, the view that political revolution should take the form of a ''putsch'' or ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

''. Blanquism is distinguished from other

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

currents in various ways: on the one hand, Blanqui did not believe in the predominant role of the proletariat, nor did he believe in popular movements—instead he believed that revolution should be carried out by a small group of professional, dedicated revolutionaries, who would establish a temporary dictatorship by force. This dictatorship would permit the implementation of the basis of a new order, after which power would then be handed to the people. In another respect, Blanqui was more concerned with the revolution itself rather than the future society that would result from it—if his thought was based on precise socialist principles. Blanquist thought rarely goes so far as to imagine a purely socialist society. For Blanquists, the overturning of the bourgeois social order and the revolution are ends sufficient in themselves, at least for their immediate purposes.

Central Revolutionary Committee

The

Central Revolutionary Committee The Central Revolutionary Committee (french: Comité révolutionnaire central, CRC) was a French Blanquist political party founded in 1881 and dissolved in 1898. The CRC was founded by Édouard Vaillant to continue the political struggle of Augu ...

(CRC) was a French Blanquist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

founded in 1881 and dissolved in 1898. The CRC was founded by

Édouard Vaillant Marie Édouard Vaillant (26 January 1840 – 18 December 1915) was a French politician. Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then la ...

to continue the political struggle of

Auguste Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848) Bl ...

(1805–1881). The CRC was a Blanquist party, supporting revolutionary activism, atheism, patriotism, and the

Jacobinism A Jacobin (; ) was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary political movement that was the most famous political club during the French Revolution (1789–1799). The club got its name from meeting at the Dominican rue Saint-Honoré M ...

of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The CRC was weakened by a split in 1888, when numerous members (

Henri Rochefort Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

) followed General Georges Boulanger who synthesized Jacobin nationalism with

. Many saw Boulangism as a possible way to socialism. Following the Boulangist dissidence, Vaillant adopted a strategy of

syndicalism Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...

and strike action. The CRC was further re-enforced by the affiliation of the

Revolutionary Communist Alliance The Revolutionary Communist Alliance (french: Alliance communiste révolutionnaire, ACR) or Communist Alliance (french: Alliance communiste, AC) was a French political party founded in 1896 and dissolved in 1901. The ACR was the name adopted by a ...

(ACR), formed by dissidents of the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (POSR) in 1896. The CRC merged into the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1898.

Use of the term "Blanquism"

The term "Blanquism" has often been used polemically to accuse some revolutionaries of failing to sufficiently meld their

praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

with the mass

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Rosa Luxemburg and Eduard Bernstein have criticised

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

that his conception of revolution was elitist and essentially Blanquist. For instance, as part of a longer section on Blanquism in her ''

Organizational Questions of the Russian Social Democracy ''Organizational Questions of the Russian Social Democracy'', later republished as ''Leninism or Marxism?'', is a 1904 pamphlet by Rosa Luxemburg, a Marxist living in Germany. In the text, she criticized Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik faction of ...

'' (later published as ''Leninism or Marxism?''), Luxemburg writes: By "

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

", Luxemburg has in mind the original use of the term derived from Marx and synonymous with "socialism"; she conceived of the social democratic party as a mass based organisation of working class struggle. However, Lenin dismissed as meaningless rhetoric the conflation of Blanquism with Bolshevism: Lenin himself denied any accusations of Blanquism in ''

The State and Revolution ''The State and Revolution'' (1917) is a book by Vladimir Lenin describing the role of the state in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution to establish the dicta ...

'' (1917) and accused Bernstein of "opportunism".

Bibliography

* Bernstein, Samuel. ''Auguste Blanqui''. 1970. * Hutton, Patrick. ''The Cult of the Revolutionary Tradition: The Blanquists in French Politics, 1864-1893''. 1981. * Spitzer, Alan. ''The Revolutionary Theories of Louis-Auguste Blanqui''. 1951.

References

{{Authority control Communism Eponymous political ideologies Political science terminology Revolution terminology Socialism in France