The Neo-Jacobins was a radical faction of Revolutionary French politics that formed in the aftermath of the Thermidorian Reaction of 1794 and the suppression of the original Jacobin Club.
Following the downfall of Maximilien Robespierre in the Thermidorian Reaction, Jacobin supporters were targeted by the Thermidorians' Muscadin street thugs, and the National Convention ordered the Jacobin Club to close on 11 November 1794. However, Jacobin remnants continued to operate from the shadows. The Thermidorian regime, governing from the center, would occasionally cooperate with the neo-Jacobins as a counterweight to rising Royalist influence, only to turn on the Jacobins once they became too powerful. In November 1795, core ex-Jacobins formed the Pantheon Club, led by Bertrand Barere and Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier, and they hoped to bring the Directory back towards leftism; they opposed the anti-democratic spirit of the Constitution of Year III and the greedy speculators who bought up the land. The Pantheon Club soon attracted over 1,000 members, though steep entry dues restricted its membership to well-off members. While initially distrusting of the radical Francois-Noel Babeuf, the Jacobins were later recruited into his Conspiracy of Equals in 1796. On 26 February 1796, the Thermidorians ordered the closure of the Pantheon Club and a few royalist clubs in a re-repression of Jacobinism, and the low-level Jacobin officials were also booted. On 10 May 1796, Lazare Carnot crushed the Jacobin and communist conspiracy. In September 1796, the remaining rump of left-wing Jacobins attempted to incite a mutiny of the garrison at Grenelle (near the Champ de Mars), free Babeuf, and seize power, but 130 Jacobins were captured and 30 were executed a month later by firing squad. The Jacobins would return from the shadows after the Thermidorians purged conservatives from elected offices at all levels and appointed ardent republicans, most of whom were leftists, to replace them.
The former Jacobins putting themselves forward for election in April 1798 were of a moderate variety, and they supported enlarging the franchise to make the constitution more democratic, and dealing with the greedy speculators who flourished since Thermidor. The left grew in confidence as the Thermidorians targeted Conservatives and Royalists after the Coup of Fructidor as the Directory encouraged the activity of committed republicans, but, ahead of the 1798 elections, the Thermidorians launched the bloodless Coup of 22 Floreal to deny seating to a quarter of the deputies elected by the majority vote. Of the 807 elected legislators, the Jacobins won 175 seats and the Thermidorians around 400 seats. In 1799, 134 more neo-Jacobins were elected to the Directory, worrying the Thermidorians, whose support was collapsing. Months later, as news arrived of France's many defeats at the front, the neo-Jacobins entered into very productive talks with army generals about overthrowing the triumvirate, whom the army scapegoated for their lack of preparedness. After the Coup of 30 Prairial VII, the Jacobins were invited into power by Paul Barras and Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, who brought aboard the general Jean-Francois-Auguste Moulin as a Director. The newly left-leaning councils reinstituted freedom of the press and lifted the ban on political clubs. Although the government attempted to suppress the rising leftist movement by closing the 3,000-strong Manege Club, the neo-Jacobins gained momentum due to the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. In November 1799, the Thermidorians launched the Coup of 18 Brumaire in an attempt to force through a new constitution and halt the ascendancy of the Jacobins, leading to the permanent "recess" of both councils and the end of the Directory.
Under Napoleon, the Jacobin movement was largely suppressed. Napoleon co-opted some Jacobin ideals such as centralization and meritocracy, but he eliminated remnants of Jacobinism. Some former Jacobins adapted their ideology to align with Bonapartist principles, while others began to embrace a more moderate republicanism. Jacobin ideas continued to resonate with the working classes (workers and artisans), particularly in urban areas where economic hardships were prevalent. Many former Jacobins remained active in political discourse, advocating for civil rights and reforms. Some rural populations, particularly those affected by the revolutionary changes in property rights, also found resonance with neo-Jacobin ideals. Major cities like Paris were key strongholds for neo-Jacobin sentiment, where political clubs and societies continued to discuss revolutionary ideals. Areas that had strong revolutionary traditions, such as the Vendée and parts of the Rhône-Alpes, maintained some degree of Jacobin influence. Bertrand Barere continued to be a prominent Jacobin voice, often advocating for the preservation of revolutionary ideals under the new regime.
After Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the subsequent Bourbon Restoration, the political landscape was fragmented, allowing for neo-Jacobin representatives to win between 30 and 40 seats in the 629-seat Chamber of Representatives in May 1815. By the late 1810s and into the 1820s, the original radical Jacobin ideology faded as France moved towards more moderate and conservative political frameworks. The restored monarchy continued to suppress radical political movements, and many former Jacobins realigned towards moderate republicanism or liberalism under the July Monarchy.