1894 until his death, in 1901. He was an Anarchist Communist and impressed his ideas upon the Fédération and thence posthumously on the C.G.T. after its combination with the Fédération des Bourses. He even carried his principles into the government of the Federation: the committee had no chairman, and votes very rarely took place. He stated that "the task of the revolution is to free mankind, not only from all authority, but also from every institution which has not for its essential purpose the development of production."
The C.G.T. allows much autonomy to each unit in the organization. Each Syndicat counts for one, whether it be large or small. There are not the friendly society activities which form so large a part of the work of English Unions. It gives no orders but is purely advisory. It does not allow politics to be introduced into the Unions. This decision was originally based upon the fact that the divisions among Socialists disrupted the Unions, but it is now reinforced in the minds of an important section by the general Anarchist dislike of politics. The C.G.T. is essentially a fighting organization: in strikes, it is the nucleus to which the other workers rally.
There is a Reformist section in the C.G.T., but it is practically always in a minority, and the C.G.T. is, to all intents and purposes, the organ of revolutionary Syndicalism, which is simply the creed of its leaders.
The essential doctrine of Syndicalism is the class war, to be conducted by industrial rather than political
