Thomas, Albert
Thomas, Albert
(älbĕr` tômä`), 1878–1932, French statesman and Socialist leader. He worked with Jean Jaurès on the journal Humanité and was active in socialist politics. In 1910 he was elected to the chamber of deputies, and during World War I he held cabinet positions, serving notably as minister of munitions. He was director (1919–32) of the International Labor Bureau of the League of Nations. Among his several books are Le Syndicalisme allemand (1903) and Le 2d Empire (1907).Bibliography
See study by E. J. Phelan (1949).
Thomas, Albert
Born June 16, 1878, in Champigny-sur-Marne; died May 7,1932, in Paris. French political figure and historian.
Thomas began contributing to the socialist press in 1904. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the Socialist Party in 1910 and was one of the leaders of reformism. During World War I he was a social chauvinist. Thomas served as undersecretary of state for munitions in 1915 and 1916 and as minister of munitions in 1916 and 1917. In May 1916 and from April to June 1917, he visited Russia with the goal of inducing the country to increase its involvement in the imperialist war. Thomas was one of the founders of the International Labor Organization at the League of Nations and served as its chairman from 1920 to 1932. He was the author of several historical works, of which the most important was The Second Empire: 1852–1870 (1907; Russian translation, 1908).