Auguste Blanqui 1848

Address of Central Republican Society to the Government


Written: March 2, 1848;
Source: Louis Auguste Blanqui, Ecrits sur la Révolution, presenté et annoté par A. Munster. Editions Galilee, Paris, 1977;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2005.


We have the firm hope that the government issued from the barricades of 1848 will not, like its predecessor, want to put back in place, along with each paving stone, a law of repression. With this in mind, we offer our assistance to the Provisional Government in the realization of the (beautiful) motto: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.

We that demand that the government (immediately) decree as a result of the popular victory:

  1. The complete and unlimited freedom of the press.
  2. The absolute and irrevocable suppression of security deposits and franking and postal rights [for the press].
  3. The complete freedom of circulation for works of the intellect through all possible means: through posters, peddlers, public criers, without any restrictions or hindrances, without any need for prior authorization.
  4. The freedom of the printing industry and the suppression of all privileges represented by licenses, though with prior indemnification.
  5. The holding blameless of printers for any writing whose author is known.
  6. The suppression of art. 291 of the Penal Code, of the law of April 9 1834, and the formal abrogation of laws, ordinances, decrees, edicts or rules of any kind, dated previous to February 25, 1848, capable of limiting or inhibiting the absolute and inalienable right to association and gathering.
  7. The removal from the standing and sitting magistracy of those from the three last reigns, and their provisional replacement by lawyers, advocates, notaries, etc.
  8. The immediate armament and organization in National Guards of all workers not established in a profession and who receive a salary, without any exception, with an indemnity of two francs for each day of active service.
  9. The abrogation of art. 415 and 416 of the Penal Code, as well as of all special laws against working-class coalitions.