БАБУВИЗМ

Babouvism

The 18th century French revolutionary movement for "a republic of equals"—a single national commune governed from a single centre. The movement took its name from its leader and most consistent theoretician, Gracchus Babeuf (1760-97). In 1796, Babeuf, and his companions (Buonarotti, Marechal, Antonelle, Darthe, Germain, Debon, Lepelletier, and others) organised the "Conspiracy of Equals", which was the culminating point of the movement. The conspiracy was uncovered and many of the participants were arrested and put on trial. Babeuf and Darthe were guillotined in 1797.

Babouvism signified the break-down of the alliance of exploited plebeians and the bourgeoisie that had taken shape during preparations for, and in the course of, the French Revolution. The instability of this alliance was obvious, for a bourgeois revolution could not give anything substantial to the most exploited section of the population. This was particularly clear at the time of the Thermidor reaction. Babouvism was the political and ideological reflection of the early separation of the pre-proletariat from the general plebeian mass that had participated in the French Revolution. The Babouvists were the ideological heirs of French 18th century materialism, of the ideas of Meslier on the popular revolution, of the "rationalist" communism of Morelly and of the organisational and ideological experience of the most radical trends in the French Revolution.

Babouvism was a step forward in the development of socialist thinking, since it came into being at a new stage in the socio-economic development of France, the stage at which capitalist relations were being consolidated. The Babouvists were the first to attempt to convert socialism from a theory into the practice of the revolutionary movement. In addition to their general statute of the future "Republic of Equals", the Babouvists elaborated a whole system of measures to improve the condition of the poor and overcome the resistance of counter-revolutionary forces. They put forward the idea of retaining the dictatorship of the working people after the victory of the revolution; they tried to define the main stages of the revolutionary transformation of society; they put forward the proposition that history is a struggle between the rich and the poor, patricians and plebeians, between masters and servants, between the sated and the hungry.

Although it possessed features of historical realism, Babouvism did not go beyond conspiracies in its tactics; for this reason the movement is regarded as utopian, although ideologically and organisationally Babeuf and his companions contributed to the development of socialism from a utopia into a science.