Who Were the Jacobins?

The Jacobins were a political organization during the French Revolution. They reigned most prominently during the National Convention, consolidating power in the Committee of Public Safety with leaders like Maximilien Robespierre. They had a radicalized view of government and society and helped the Revolution protect itself from outside forces bent on invasion and home-grown threats of counter-revolutionaries.

Time Frame

The Jacobin Club was first formed during the Estates-General of 1789 by a group of Breton deputies. As the French Revolution entered its infancy, the Jacobins expanded their membership and influence of power. By 1791, there were 152 associated chapters throughout France.

That same year, as the Jacobins were becoming more radicalized, many moderate members became disillusioned by the direction of the Club and left their ranks. This allowed the left-leaning membership to consolidate power.

Taking great power in the National Convention, the Jacobins successfully unseated the Girondin Party leadership and seized control of the Committee of Public Safety, the executive body of the Convention. With the Committee's power, the Jacobin Club launched a campaign on September 5, 1793 known as the Reign of Terror, beheading royalists and counter-revolutionaries by the tens of thousands.

Finally, after a year of the Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction brought a swift end to the Jacobin control and executed the Club's leadership.

History

Many prominent figures of the French Revolution were members of the Jacobin Club, most of whom ended up executed either during the Terror or after the Thermidorian Reaction.

Antoine Barnave was one of the originators of the Revolution as a deputy of the Third Estate in the Estates-General of 1789. He brought his gift of oratory to the Club and wrote the first manifesto for the organization. He left the Jacobins in 1791 when the moderate membership began to lose power to the more radical elements. Soon, revelations of his sympathy to the royal family brought charges of treason upon him, ultimately leading to his execution on November 29, 1793.

Maximilien Robespierre led the Committee of Public Safety during the Jacobin reign in the National Convention. He consolidated his power over the Club by being known as "incorruptible." A lawyer and a statesman, Robespierre was the central figure in the institutionalization of the Reign of Terror. Ultimately, he was overthrown by a vast conspiracy within the ranks of the Convention and was executed without a trial on July 28, 1794.

For the period during the Terror, the Montagnards were synonymous with the Jacobin Club. Also known as the Mountain, the group was the main leadership element of the National Convention. They were pivotal in the overthrow of Robespierre, but their unity was short lived and the group dissolved shortly after the Thermidorian Reaction.

Function

The Jacobin Club worked as a modern political party in many ways, specifically in their establishment of a constitution and a platform. The Jacobins elected a party leader, along with secretaries and a treasurer. They worked as a left-wing organization to empower the people with a voice during the French Revolution. Their main position was to establish a Republic of Virtue by awarding the people with universal suffrage, public education, a separation of church and state and a strong central government.

Considerations

Having been the driving force in transition of the Revolution, the Jacobin Club controlled the French government at a time of great political upheaval. They established the rights of the Citizen as a body in French society as well as grew the strength of the central government into a full-fledged republic.

The Jacobins are known today for their liberal, occasionally radical views of government and its place in society. The term is still used to describe anyone who takes a radical left-wing view of a situation and pushes for strong central authority.

Significance

Responsible for the executions of over 40,000 Frenchmen, the Jacobins brought about the bloodiest chapter in the French Revolution. The Catholic church was dismantled and the old feudal regime was swept away through attrition and the guillotine. They conscripted an army of 850,000 men, creating the fundamental army that would later march across Europe in the Napoleonic Wars.

However, their leadership through these times brought France back from the brink of starvation and invasion to a strong republic. They defeated the foreign enemies at their gates, prevented a counter-revolution and reestablished the economic status of the country through a strong middle class. The Jacobins ruled during a bloody era, but saved the Revolution from collapse.

Resources

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