The Society of the Friends of the Constitution, commonly known as the Jacobin Club, was the most influential political club of the French Revolution.
The club was founded in 1789 by anti-royalist deputies from Brittany who supported the abolition of the Ancien Regime, the creation of a parliament, the introduction of a Constitution, and the separation of powers. It acquired its nickname from its headquarters at the Couvent des Jacobins de la rue Saint-Honoré, and its ranks initially included conservative Feuillants, centrist Montagnards, and liberal Girondins. The club initially restricted its membership to "active citizens," namely professionals and the well-to-do bourgeoisie. The Jacobins were relatively moderate in the early stages of the revolution, opposing the king's dethronement on 17 July 1791. The departure of the monarchist Feuillants from the Jacobin Club in July 1791 radicalized the Jacobins, and the Girondin section of the faction supported war with Austria later that year, while Maximilien Robespierre was opposed. After September 1792, the Jacobin Club became divided between the Girondins and the Montagnards, who shifted to the left of the Girondins, supported the war, and advocated for the purge of counter-revolutionaries. Robespierre's Montagnard faction became the center of power in the Jacobins, and the Girondins stopped visiting the Jacobin Club. In April 1793, Girondin demands for the silencing of radical voices in Paris resulted in the Insurrection of 31 May-2 June 1793, overthrowing the Girondins and empowering the Montagnards. The Jacobins lurched towards the radical left, and their ranks included the center-left Montagnards, the left-wing Cordeliers, and the far-left Enrages and Hebertists. After the Girondins organized Federalist revolts in 60 of France's 83 departments, the Montagnards began the Reign of Terror, executing Girondin and Federalist leaders, Royalists, and later even left-wing extremists like Jacques Hebert of the Hebertists and Jacques Roux of the Enrages. In 1794, the Terror resulted in the murder of the popular Cordeliers leader Georges Danton, and the looming purge of Robespierre's colleagues on the Committee of Public Safety resulted in the Thermidorian Reaction of 28 July 1794, in which Robespierre and his associates were arrested, sentenced to death, and guillotined. The new Thermidorian government, a conservative-liberal coalition looking to restore order to the revolution, targeted the Jacobins in the press and with roving gangs of right-wing Muscadins on the streets. While the Jacobins disavowed their support for Robespierre, they supported a return to the Terror, and their unpopularity caused them to fall to 600 members. On 12 November 1794, the National Convention banned the Jacobin Club by a nearly unanimous vote, shuttering 93% of Jacobin clubs throughout the country. A group of neo-Jacobins would continue to advocate for leftism and form societies like the Pantheon Club, and, in 1799, Thermidorian leader Paul Barras supported the Jacobin Club du Manege as a counterweight to rising Royalism. 250 Jacobins were elected to the two councils of the legislature, but public opinion was by then prepodnerantly moderate or royalist, and the club was violently attacked in the press and the streets. In August 1799, the club was once again suppressed, and the club's members avenged themselves on the Directory by supporting Napoleon's Coup of 18 Brumaire.
The Jacobin Club was the political foundation of almost all leftist schools of though, including anarchism, communism, and socialism. The term "Jacobin" was used by contemporaries to describe political positions comparable to those of the Montagnards, and was often applied to progressives and radicals until the Russian Revolution saw terms like Marxism and socialism overtake the term "Jacobin." The Jacobins, particularly under the leadership of figures like Maximilien Robespierre, began to emphasize social welfare and economic equality, advocating for measures like price controls on essential goods and the right to subsistence. Towards the end of the Revolution, especially during the height of the Reign of Terror, Jacobin leaders began to adopt ideas that could be considered proto-socialist. They called for the redistribution of wealth and protections for the poor, aligning with early socialist principles. Policies implemented during this period, such as the Law of 14 Frimaire, aimed to regulate the economy and provide for the needy, reflecting a growing recognition of social justice issues.
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