François-Noël Babeuf (; 23 November 1760 – 27 May 1797), also known as Gracchus Babeuf, was a French
proto-communist
While Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels defined communism as a political movement, there were already similar ideas in the past which one could call communist experiments. Marx himself saw primitive communism as the original hunter-gatherer state of ...
,
revolutionary, and
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
of the
French Revolutionary period. His newspaper ''Le tribun du peuple'' (''The Tribune of the People'') was best known for its advocacy for the poor and calling for a popular revolt against the
Directory, the government of France. He was a leading advocate for
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
and the abolition of
private property. He angered the authorities who were clamping down hard on their radical enemies. In spite of the efforts of his
Jacobin friends to save him, Babeuf was executed for his role in the
Conspiracy of the Equals
The Conspiracy of the Equals (french: Conjuration des Égaux) of May 1796 was a failed coup d'Etat during the French Revolution. It was led by François-Noël Babeuf, who wanted to overthrow the Directory and replace it with an egalitarian and p ...
.
The nickname "Gracchus" likened him to the
Gracchi brothers, who served as
tribunes of the people in ancient Rome. Although the terms ''
anarchist'' and ''
communist'' did not exist in Babeuf's lifetime, they have both been used by later scholars to describe his ideas. ''Communism'' was first used in English by
Goodwyn Barmby
John Goodwyn Barmby (Bapt. 12 November 1820 – 18 October 1881) was born at Yoxford in Suffolk and educated at Woodbridge School. He was an English Victorian utopian socialist thinker. He and his wife Catherine Barmby (1816/17–1853) were in ...
in a conversation with those he described as the "disciples of Babeuf". He has been called "The First Revolutionary Communist."
About his political philosophy, Babeuf wrote: "Society must be made to operate in such a way that it eradicates once and for all the desire of a man to become richer, or wiser, or more powerful than others." In the ''Manifesto of the Equals'', Babeuf wrote: "The French Revolution was nothing but a precursor of another revolution, one that will be bigger, more solemn, and which will be the last."
Early life
Babeuf was born at St. Nicaise near the town of
Saint-Quentin. His father, Claude Babeuf, had deserted the
French Royal Army in 1738 for that of
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...
, reportedly rising to the rank of
major. Amnestied in 1755, he returned to France, but soon sank into poverty, and had to work as a casual labourer to support his wife and family. The hardships endured by Babeuf during his early years contributed to the development of his political opinions. His father gave him a basic education, but until the outbreak of the Revolution, he was a domestic servant, and from 1785 occupied the office of , assisting the nobles and priests in the assertion of their
feudal rights over the peasants.
Accused of abandoning the feudal aristocracy, he would later say that "the sun of the French Revolution" had brought him to view his "mother, the feudal system" as a "hydra with a hundred heads."
Revolutionary activities
Babeuf was working for a land surveyor at
Roye when the Revolution began. His father had died in 1780, and he now had to provide for his wife and two children, as well as for his mother, brothers and sisters.
He was a prolific writer, and the signs of his future socialism are contained in a letter of 21 March 1787, one of a series mainly on literature and addressed to the secretary of the Academy of
Arras. In 1789 he drew up the first article of the of the electors of the ''
bailliage
A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on ...
'' of Roye, demanding the abolition of feudal rights. From July to October 1789, he lived in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, superintending the publication of his first work: ("National
Cadastre or land register, Dedicated to the
National Assembly, Year 1789 and the
First One of French Liberty"), which was written in 1789 and issued in 1790. The same year he published a pamphlet against feudal aids and the ''
gabelle
The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...
'' (salt tax), for which he was denounced and arrested, but provisionally released.
Political writings and imprisonment
In October, on his return to Roye, he founded the , a political journal that would have 40 issues. Babeuf used his journal to agitate for a
progressive taxation system, and condemned the "
census suffrage" planned for the 1791 elections to the
Legislative Assembly in which citizen votes would be weighted by their social standing. Due to his political activities, he was arrested on 19 May 1790, but released in July before the
Fête de la Fédération, thanks to pressure exerted nationally by
Jean-Paul Marat. In November Babeuf was elected a member of the municipality of Roye, but was expelled.
In March 1791, Babeuf was appointed commissioner to report on the national property () in the town, and in September 1792 was elected a member of the council-general of the of the
Somme. A rivalry with the principal administrator and later deputy to the
Convention,
André Dumont, forced Babeuf to transfer to the post of administrator of the district of
Montdidier. There he was accused of
fraud for having altered a name in a deed of transfer of national lands. The error was probably due to negligence; but, distrusting the impartiality of the judges of the Somme, he fled to Paris, and on 23 August 1793 was sentenced ''
in contumaciam'' to twenty years' imprisonment. Meanwhile, he had been appointed secretary to the relief committee () of the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
.
The judges of
Amiens pursued him with a
warrant for his arrest, which took place in
Brumaire of the year II (1793). The
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
quashed the sentence, through defect of form, and sent Babeuf for a new trial before the
Aisne tribunal, which acquitted him on 18 July 1794, only days before the
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...
.
Babeuf returned to Paris, and on 3 September 1794 published the first issue of his , whose title was changed on 5 October 1794 to . The execution of
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
on 28 July 1794 had ended the
Reign of Terror and begun the
White Terror. Babeuf – now self-styled ''
Gracchus'' Babeuf – defended the fallen Terror politicians with the stated goal of achieving equality "in fact" and not only "by proclamation". However about the Terror, he said "I object to this particular aspect of their system." Babeuf attacked the leaders of the Thermidorian Reaction and, from a socialistic point of view, the economic outcome of the Revolution. He also argued for the inclusion of women into the political clubs.
This was an attitude which had few supporters, even in the
Jacobin Club, and in October Babeuf was arrested and imprisoned at Arras. Here he was influenced by political prisoners, notably
Philippe Buonarroti,
Simon Duplay, and René-François Lebois, editor of the and afterwards of the papers of
Leclerc which carried on the traditions of
Jean-Paul Marat. Babeuf emerged from prison a confirmed advocate of
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
and convinced that his project, fully proclaimed to the world in Issue 33 of his , could come about only through the restoration of the
Constitution of 1793. That constitution had been ratified by a national referendum by universal male suffrage but never implemented.
In February 1795, Babeuf was arrested again, and the was solemnly burnt in the by the , young men whose mission was to root out
Jacobinism. Babeuf might have faded into obscurity like other agitators, but for the appalling economic conditions caused by the fall in the value of .
Conspiracy of the Equals
The attempts of the
Directory to deal with the economic crisis gave Babeuf his historical importance. The new government wanted to abolish the system which benefitted Paris at the expense of all France. To this goal, the government planned to abolish the sale of bread and meat at nominal prices, on 20 February 1796. The announcement caused widespread consternation. Workers and the large class of
proletarian
The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philoso ...
s attracted to Paris by the system, as well as and government officials, whose incomes were paid in arbitrarily set by the government, felt threatened with starvation. The government yielded to the outcry, and tried to mitigate the problem by dividing people entitled to relief into classes, but this only increased alarm and discontent.
The universal misery gave point to Babeuf's virulent attacks on the existing order and gained him a hearing. He gained a small circle of followers known as the , soon merged with the rump of the Jacobin Club, who met at the
Panthéon
The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...
. In November 1795, police reported that Babeuf was openly preaching "insurrection, revolt and the Constitution of 1793". The group was influenced by
Sylvain Maréchal, the author of and a sympathiser of Babeuf.
For a time, the government left Babeuf alone but observed his activities. The Directory benefitted from the leftist agitation because it counteracted
royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
movements for overthrowing the Directory. Most workers, even of extreme views, were repelled by Babeuf's bloodthirstiness; and police reported that his agitation increased support for the government. The Jacobin Club refused to admit Babeuf and Lebois, on the ground that they were "throat-cutters" ().
However, the economic crisis increased Babeuf's influence. After
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
closed the club of the Panthéon on 27 February 1796, Babeuf increased his activity. In
Ventôse and Germinal (late winter and early spring) under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
, Babeuf published the paper "Scout of the People, or Defender of Twenty-Five Million Oppressed" (), which was passed from group to group secretly in the streets of Paris.
At the same time, Issue 40 of Babeuf's caused immense sensation as it praised the authors of the
September Massacres
The September Massacres were a series of killings of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792, from Sunday, 2 September until Thursday, 6 September, during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by '' fédérés'', gu ...
as "deserving well of their country" and declared that a more complete "2 September" was needed to destroy the government, which consisted of "starvers, bloodsuckers, tyrants, hangmen, rogues and mountebanks".
Distress among all classes continued. In March, the Directory tried to replace by a new issue of and this raised hopes, but they were soon dashed. A rumour that
national bankruptcy
A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the
government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments (or receivables) may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it wi ...
had been declared caused thousands of the lower class of workers to rally to Babeuf's ideas. On 4 April 1796, the government received a report that 500,000 Parisians needed relief. From 11 April, Paris was placarded with posters headed "Analysis of Babeuf's Teaching" () '', Tribun du Peuple'', which began with the sentence "Nature has given to every man the right to the enjoyment of an equal share in all property", and ended with a call to restore the Constitution of 1793.
Arrest and execution
Babeuf's song "Dying of Hunger, Dying of Cold" (), set to a popular tune, began to be sung in , with immense applause. Reports circulated that the disaffected troops of the
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipme ...
in the camp of Grenelle were ready to join an insurrection against the government. The had accumulated through its agents (notably ex-captain Georges Grisel, who was initiated into Babeuf’s society) evidence of a
conspiracy (later called the "Conspiracy of Equals") for an armed uprising fixed for 22 Floréal, year IV (11 May 1796), which involved Jacobins and leftists.
The Directory thought it time to react. On 10 May Babeuf, who had taken the pseudonym ''Tissot'', was arrested. Many of his associates were gathered by the police on order from
Lazare Carnot: among them were
Augustin Alexandre Darthé and
Philippe Buonarroti, the ex-members of the
National Convention,
Robert Lindet,
Jean-Pierre-André Amar,
Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier (17 July 1736 – 14 December 1828) was a major French politician of the French Revolution. He is sometimes called the "Great Inquisitor", for his active participation in the Reign of Terror. During this time, he was i ...
and
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, famous as the postmaster of
Sainte-Menehould
Sainte-Menehould (; german: Sankt Mathilde) is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) died in Sainte-Ménéhould. It was the ...
who had arrested
Louis XVI during the latter's
Flight to Varennes, and now a member of the Directory's
Council of Five Hundred
The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...
.
The government crackdown was extremely successful. The last issue of the appeared on 24 April, although René-François Lebois in the tried to incite the soldiers to revolt, and for a while there were rumours of a military uprising.
Babeuf and his accomplices were to be tried at the newly created high court at
Vendôme
Vendôme (, ) is a subprefecture of the department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019).
It is one of the main towns along the river Loir. The river divides itself at the ...
. When the prisoners were removed from Paris on 10 and 11 Fructidor (27 August and 28 August 1796), there were tentative efforts at a riot hoping to rescue the prisoners, but these were easily suppressed. On 7 September 1796, 500 or 600 Jacobins tried to rouse the soldiers at
Grenelle
Grenelle () is a neighbourhood in southwestern Paris, France. It is a part of the 15th arrondissement of the city.
There is currently a Boulevard de Grenelle which runs along the North delimitation of the ''quartier'', and a Rue de Grenelle, ...
but also failed.
The trial was held at Vendôme beginning on 20 February 1797. Although more important people were involved in the conspiracy, the government depicted Babeuf as the leader. His own vanity played into their hands. On 7 Prairial (26 May 1797) Babeuf and Darthé were condemned to death; some of the prisoners, including Buonarroti, were
deported
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
; the rest, including Vadier and his fellow-conventionals, were acquitted. Drouet managed to escape, according to
Paul Barras
Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras (, 30 June 1755 – 29 January 1829), commonly known as Paul Barras, was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795–1799.
Early ...
, with the connivance of the Directory. Babeuf and Darthé were
guillotine
A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...
d the next day at Vendôme, 8 Prairial (27 May 1797), without appeal.
Babeuf's body was transported and buried in a mass grave in the Vendôme's old cemetery of the Grand Faubourg, in
Loir-et-Cher.
See also
*
Neo-Babouvism
*
Pierre-Antoine Antonelle
*
Society of the Friends of Truth
The Society of the Friends of Truth (Amis de la Verité), also known as the Social Club (French:
''Cercle social''), was a French revolutionary organization founded in 1790. It was "a mixture of revolutionary political club, the Masonic Lodge, ...
Notes
References
*
*
Ernest Belfort Bax
Ernest Belfort Bax (; 23 July 1854 – 26 November 1926) was an English barrister, journalist, philosopher, men's rights advocate, socialist, and historian.
Biography
Ernest Belfort Bax was born on 23 July 1854, in Leamington Spa, son of Danie ...
, ''Last Episodes of the French Revolution'', Haskell House Pub Ltd (1911; reprinted 1971),
* Birchall, Ian H. ''The Spectre of Babeuf'', Palgrave Macmillan (1997), hardcover, 204 pages, or
*
Philippe Buonarroti, translated by
James Bronterre O'Brien, ''Babeuf's Conspiracy for Equality'', Hetherington (1836; first English edition); Kelly (1965) hardcover, 454 pages
original texton books.google.com)
* * Furet, Francois, and Mona Ozouf, eds. ''A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution'' (1989) pp 179–85
* Rose, R. B. ''Gracchus Babeuf: The First Revolutionary Communist'', Stanford University Press (1978), hardcover, or Routledge (1978), hardcover,
* Soule, George. ''Ideas of the Great Economists'', New York: Viking press. 1953.
; Attribution
*
External links
*
documents on
Marxists.org.
''Gracchus Babeuf and the Conspiracy of the Equals''by Belfort Bax.
*
review of Bax's book.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babeuf, Francois-Noel
1760 births
1797 deaths
People from Saint-Quentin, Aisne
Proto-socialists
18th-century French journalists
18th-century French newspaper publishers (people)
Newspaper publishers (people) of the French Revolution
French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution
French archivists