Louis Blanc was one of the most prominent French publicists of the 1830s. A nobleman by birth, Blanc won public recognition for his works, in which he expounded his views on the ideal structure of society and suggested ways to solve the problem of social inequality.
Louis Jean Joseph Blanc: facts from the biography
The future historian, journalist, socialist and revolutionary was born in Madrid on October 29, 1811 in a French family. Two years after the birth of the child, his parents moved to France. In 1830 Blanc went to Paris. But before that, he managed to graduate from college.
Blanc subsequently became a professional journalist. He first published the Bon Sens magazine, then founded the Revue du Progres newspaper. In these editions, Blanc developed his original economic ideas. Blanc's work was popular among the broad masses.
Louis Blanc's socialist ideas
Blanc is also known as a writer. He outlined his thoughts on the structure of society in the book "Organization of Labor". At the center of Blanc's socialism was the idea of creating public workshops. They are a kind of production cooperatives with equal pay for equal work and with an elected leadership. However, Blanc subsequently rejected the principle of equal pay, replacing it with the principle of proportional equality.
Blanc defended mechanized production. He believed that competition in economic activity should be eliminated. Instead, the "principle of brotherhood" should be approved.
Another important idea of the French socialist was to secure funding for public workshops from the future democratic state.
Blanc ignored the fact that any bourgeois state is essentially an instrument of oppression of the working people. He naively believed that it was only necessary to carry out the simplest democratic transformations, and then conditions would immediately arise for the creation of an economic system organized according to socialist principles.
The publicist was convinced that industrial associations of workers would eventually supplant private enterprises, and the social transformations introduced by the state would be approved by the bourgeoisie.
Socialist, revolutionary, politician
Blanc took an active part in the 1848 revolution in France, becoming a member of the provisional government of the so-called Second Republic. When the revolution was suppressed, Blanc emigrated to Britain.
Louis Blanc is known as a critic of the July monarchy in France in 1830-1848. Of the critical works of the socialist, one can note the works "History of Ten Years: 1830-1840", "History of the French Revolution", "Major Issues of Today and Tomorrow", "Ten Years of the History of England".
In September 1870, Blanc returned to France. Here he becomes a member of the National Assembly. Blanc condemned the Paris Commune and the Frankfurt Peace Treaty.
The famous French socialist and journalist passed away on December 6, 1882 in Cannes.
