Berenson Edward. Populist Religion and Left Wing Politics in France, 1830-1852

Princeton University Press, 1984. — 308 p.Examining the democratic-socialist politics of the Second Republic, Edward Berenson delves into the largely unexplored content of the Montagnards' ideology and traces its diffusion and reception in the populist religious culture of rural France. The publicists of the Montagnard left created an elaborate propaganda network that won broad support for the republican opposition to Louis Napoleon from late 1848 until the Bonapartist coup d'état of December 2, 1851. This book shows how the urban based Montagnards were able to appeal to rural Frenchmen by advocating doctrines grounded in the ideals and morality of early Christianity. The concept of socialism as "Christianity in practice" interested peasants and rural artisans whose religious sentiments put on practical results. By disseminating a political doctrine fashioned from Catholic spirituality, middle-class radicals succeeded in transforming the religious attitudes of central and southern rural France into a lasting commitment to the republican left.