[24] On the history of French socialism: R. T. Ely, _French and German Socialism_ (1878); Th. Kirkup, _A History of Socialism_ (1906); G. Isambert, _Les Idées Socialistes en France_ (1905); P. Louis, _Histoire du Socialisme Français_ (1901).
The idea of co-operation had been propagated before 1848 by the Saint-Simonists and Fourierists, and particularly by Buchez who had outlined a clear plan of co-operation in his paper _L'Européen_ in 1831-2. Similar ideas were advanced during the forties by a group of workingmen who published _L'Atelier_. But only with the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848, and under the influence of Louis Blanc, did the co-operative idea really become popular with the workingmen. Between 1848 and 1850 the enthusiasm for co-operative societies was great, and a considerable number of them were formed. On July 6, 1848, the Constituent Assembly voted a loan of 3,000,000 francs for co-operative societies, and this sum was divided among 26 societies in Paris and 36 in the provinces.[25] But the number of those founded without assistance was much greater; about 300 in Paris and many more in the provinces. Of these societies most perished within a short time while the rest were dissolved by the administration of Napoleon III after the _coup-d'état_ of 1851.[26]
[25] Georges Renard, _La République de 1848_.
[26] Albert Thomas, _Le Second Empire_ (Paris, 1907).
The Revolution of 1848 was an important moment in the history of the French working-class. Though the socialist idea of the "Organization of Work" (_L'Organisation du Travail_) which was so prominent during the Revolution passed into history after the days of June, it left an impression upon the minds of French workingmen. The belief in a possible social transformation became a tradition with them. Besides, the Revolution gave a strong impulse to purely trade organizations such as the _sociétés de résistance_. Before 1848 they had existed in a few trades only. The period of the Revolution witnessed the formation of a large number of them in various trades and strengthened the tendency towards organization which had manifested itself before.
During the first decade of the Second Empire all workingmen's organizations were persecuted; most of them perished; others went again into secrecy or disguised themselves as mutual aid societies.