Jacobins

The Jacobins were the members of a French political organization who played influential roles in the early years of the French Revolution (1789–1799). Led by such figures as Maximilien Robespierre and Jean-Paul Marat, the Jacobins helped to oust King Louis XVI and end the reign of the French monarchy. After the king's execution in 1793, the Jacobins were among the first revolutionary leaders of the new French republic. They also directed the subsequent Reign of Terror that saw the executions of thousands of French citizens. In part due to their violent governance, the Jacobins fell from power in 1794, with many of their leaders facing the same execution by guillotine they had forced upon their enemies.

The Jacobin Club was forcibly disbanded after the deaths of most of its leadership. In the aftermath, the Jacobin movement became associated in both Europe and abroad with radical extremist politics. More often, the term Jacobin is linked to far left-wing politics. In the United States, for instance, a journal called Jacobin has presented a leftist socialist perspective on American culture and politics since 2011.

Brief History

The French Revolution marked the transition of France from an absolute monarchy to a republic. Under the French monarchy in the late eighteenth century, the inequality between the aristocracy and the common people had become dramatic. The French economy became increasingly unstable, and the vast majority of French citizens fell into great poverty. This was the product of poor harvests and rising national debt resulting from both the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and the French government's support of American colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). In addition to these financial pressures, the French government instituted a series of harsh taxes that further undermined the lower classes. The government also enforced a labor tax. Under this statute, French citizens were required to either pay an annual tax or work two weeks out of the year for free to build or repair public roads for the French crown. As only the wealthy or middle classes could afford to pay these taxes, the poorer classes bore the physical brunt of this free labor. The increasingly revolutionary members of these lower classes eventually came to be known as the sans-culottes, meaning without breeches—a term that referenced their inability to afford the stylish breeches worn by the wealthy.

In response, a collection of radical political groups opposed to the monarchy arose throughout France at the end of the eighteenth century. These organizations were popularly called clubs after Anglo-American groups that used similar methods of organization. The Jacobin Club became one of the most vocal and radical of these groups.

The Jacobin Club was founded in 1789. It was initially composed of a group of anti-royalty representatives to the Estates-General of 1789 from the province of Brittany. The Estates-General consisted of clergy, nobility, and commoners who were members of the French National Assembly. The Jacobins eventually moved to Paris, where they borrowed the name Jacobin after the converted Dominican (or Jacobin) convent in which they met.

Initially, the group was comparatively small, with a restricted membership that consisted only of deputies to the Estates-General. After a shift in membership rules to allow anyone, the Jacobins quickly became one of the most popular revolutionary groups after the start of the revolution. The group may have had as many as half a million members and nine hundred chapters nationwide during its height of power. These Jacobins initially met with the goal of discussing the transfer of power from the monarchy and drafting resolutions to affect change.

In its original form, the Jacobin Club was a politically moderate group. However, due to the chaos and radicalism associated with the revolutionary era, the Jacobins were subject to increasing factionalism within its membership. The first major schism occurred in July of 1791 after the king sought to flee revolutionary France to garner support elsewhere for his continued rule. His unsuccessful escape turned public sentiment against him. The more radical elements of the Jacobins petitioned to have him removed as king; this led to the departure from the group of many of its more moderate royalist members who left to form the Feuillants Club.

Robespierre ascended to a position of leadership within the depleted Jacobins. After the monarchy was officially deposed in August of 1792, the Jacobins assumed a greater political role in the new revolutionary government. During this phase, they renamed themselves the Society of the Friends of the Constitution (Société des amis de la Constitution). They further solidified their nascent power by aligning with another political faction called The Mountain (La Montagne) whose members were known as Montagnards. Their leftist politics made them popular with Parisian masses, and their faction seized control of the new National Convention in June of 1793 from the more moderate Girondins faction of Jacobins.

Once in power, the Montagnard Jacobins became increasingly radical and violent in their politics. This shift in tone may have been in response to a need to satisfy the legions of people who had supported their rise to power and who had failed to see the social and economic gains they had been promised under the new regime. The Jacobins instituted policies of price controls and food seizures to feed the hungry masses. They also started to punish their rivals, leading to a period called the Reign of Terror. The Montagnard faction emerged as the most powerful and radical segment within the Jacobins. While the Jacobins were in power, they purged their rivals and former allies in the Girondins and Feuillants, as well as royalists, aristocrats, and many other groups they deemed to be enemies of the new republic. Ultimately, tens of thousands died during this period, including seventeen thousand people who were executed by the Jacobins. This campaign eventually led to Robespierre's overthrow and execution. Although the group tried to survive without him, it permanently disbanded in November of 1794.

Impact

As the new French republic lacked political parties, groups with shared political belief systems like the Jacobins and Montagnards filled the gap. As such, the term Jacobin has come to be identified with a particular political ideology often linked to far-left policies of extreme political egalitarianism. In its idealized form, Jacobinism seeks a moral society that creates economic and social solutions to such issues as poverty and inequality through a transparent, centralized state. However, due to its link with the Reign of Terror, Jacobinism is often equally associated with extreme left-wing politics, particularly those that have ties to violent repression.

Bibliography

Alpaugh, Micah. "The British Origins of the French Jacobins: Radical Sociability and the Development of Political Club Networks, 1787–1793." European History Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, 2014, 593–619.

Hanson, Paul R. Jacobin Republic under Fire: The Federalist Revolt in the French Revolution. Pennsylvania State UP, 2000.

Kennedy, Michael L. The Jacobin Clubs in the French Revolution, 1793–1795. Berghahn Books, 2000.

Linton, Marisa. "Friends, Enemies, and the Role of the Individual." A Companion to the French Revolution. Edited by Peter McPhee, Wiley Blackwell, 2013, pp. 263–77.

Linton, Marisa. "Jacobinism." Encyclopedia of Political Theory. Edited by Mark Bevir, SAGE Publications, 2010, pp. 725–26.

Rapport, M. "Jacobinism from Outside." The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution. Edited by D. Andress, Oxford UP, 2015, pp. 503–20.

Schnapper, Dominique. "Making Citizens in an Increasingly Complex Society: Jacobinism Revisted." The Jacobin Legacy in Modern France: Essays in Honour of Vincent Wright. Edited by Sudhir Hazareesingh, Oxford UP, 2002, pp. 196–215.

Smith, Jason E. "Let Us Be Terrible: Considerations on the Jacobin Club." The Brooklyn Rail, 6 Apr. 2016, brooklynrail.org/2016/04/field-notes/let-us-be-terrible. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

Tanner, Allison M. "From Fraternity to Fratricide: Why the Jacobin Vision of Utopia Degenerated into the Terror." Athene Noctua, no. 1, 2013, www.fau.edu/athenenoctua/pdfs/Allison%20Tanner.pdf. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

Walters, Jonah. "A Guide to the French Revolution." Jacobin, 14 July 2015, www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/french-revolution-bastille-day-guide-jacobins-terror-bonaparte/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.