JAC'OBINS, Fr. pron. zha'ke'bilx'. A politi cal club in France which exercised a profound in fluence on the progress of the French Revolution before 1794. It had its origin in the Club Breton. which was organized at Versailles in May, 1789. by the representatives from Brittany to the States-General. It comprised in the beginning about seventy-five members. of whom some two thirds belonged to the Third Estate and the rent to the clergy. Its tone was radical. It was soon joined by members from other provinces and came to include the most prominent leaders of the time, among them being Mirabeau. Barnave. Sieves, Robespierre. Potion. and the brothers La meth. It met very frequently and in secret session for the purpose of deciding upon common action to be taken in the National Assembly, and it is probable that the great event of August 4. 1789— the abolition of feudal privileges—and the entul dation of the Rights of Man were planned before hand in the sessions of the club. Upon the remov al of the National Assembly to Paris the sessions of the club were suspended for a time. In the winter of 1789-90 they were resumed in the re fectory of the Jacobin convent in the Rue Saint Honore, whence the members of the club were derisively called by their opponents Jacobins. The name of the club was changed to Societe des Amis de la Constitution. Membership in the club was limited at first to Deputies of the National Assembly. but soon the club was thrown open to prominent Parisians in the various walks of life whose sympathies were with the Revolu tion. and such men as Marie-Joseph Chenier, La Harpe. Cabanis. Lacepede. David. and Fabre &Eglantine now joined the Jacobins. From radi cal the club had become rather conservative in its views. its objects being limited to the preserva tion of the monarchy so far as consistent with the safety of the newly acquired rights. After May. 1791. the meetings of the club were held in the chapel of the convent. In November. 179t. its membership numbered more than 1200. The proceedings of the club were published after October. 1791. It ]tad been the intention of the founders to make the club a nucleus for similar societies to be organized throughout France. and this object was speedily carried out. Affiliated societies sprang up in all the towns and in many villages. and these at all times remained• in close touch with the mother society. In May. 1791. the number of such societies was more than four hundred, and in the spring of 1794 they verged closely on one thousand. The Jacobin leaders in Paris were able in this manner to carry on a most effective propaganda throughout, the coun try, and, in fact, the perfection of their organiza tion was such as to give the Jacobins the aspect of a political machine.
The attempted Hight of Louis XVI. in 1791 produced the same effect upon the Jacobin Club as it did upon the nation at large. The radical ele ment began to gain the upper hand, and though it was still professedly monarchic in tone, the question of the deposition of Louis XVI. was seri ously raised. Upon this point the club split. In the hall of the Jacobins was drawn up the peti tion demanding the deposition of Louis XVI. which brought about the massacre in the Champs de Mars on July 17th, and though the leaders of the Jacobins disavowed all responsibility for the document, which it would seem had been drawn up by a crowd that had invaded the hall, the sanguinary outcome produced a schism in the club. The majority of members, with the
most prominent, leaders, seceded to form the club of Feuillants (q.v.), Robespierre and Potion being the most prominent of those that remained. The Jacobins now entered upon a new phase, that of violent republican propaganda. Together with the Girondists (q v.) they planned the uprising of August 10, 1702. the object of which was the overthrow of the monarchy. With the meeting of the Convention (September, 1792) the strife of parties began. Jacobin, against Girondists. The former, as the representatives of uncompromising democracy. showed themselves the more fit to cope with the dangers of foreign invasion and internal insurrection which now confronted France. In the struggle against the Girondists they brought to bear upon the Convention the force of public opinion skillfully directed by the various societies throughout the country acting in implicit obedience to the mother society in Paris. With the fall of the Girondists the Jacobins became the practical rulers of France. No important action was taken in the Convention which had not been previously discussed in the sessions of the club. and, as a matter of fact, the meetings of the club came to be popularly re. garded with greater interest than the sessions of the Convention. Of equal importance with the influence which it exercised upon the legis lative activity of the Convention was the super vision which it exercised over the representatives of the Government in the provinces. Its spies were constantly on the watch against treason to the republican cause. and in ninny places where the action of the Government officials seemed to lack the requisite revolutionary fervor the local Jacobin societies assumed virtual control. By this time the club. of course. had become thor oughly democratic. though perhaps the character of its members raised it above the mob con tingents. of Hebert and Collot d'Herbois. Robes pierre became its master after the overthrow of Danton. and, with the Committee of Safety, it was one of the most efficient instruments in carry ing out the Terror. With the fall of Robespierre the importance of the Jacobins ceased. Its ses sions were suspended for a time. resumed. and again abandoned. On November 11. 1794. its hall was closed by order of the Convention. Once more reconstituted, and meeting at the Pantheon, its sessions were forbidden by the Directory in February. 1790. In the provinces there was a short revival of Jacobin activity in 1799.
A great mass of literature concerning the Jacobins appeared between the years 1790 and 1795, the most important contributions being the Journal des Amis de in Constitution (Paris. 1790-9:1) and the Journal do in Montagne (Paris, 1794-95). There were also numerous pamphlets and poems published, such as La Jacobinadc, Lc secret des Jacobins, Les crimes des Jacobins. Of modern authorities, the best and most detailed is Aulard, La Societe des Jacobins (4 vols., Paris, 1889-92). Consult also: Zinkeisen. Der Jake biller-klub (2 vols.. Berlin, 1852-53). See FRANCE ; ROBESPIERRE ; DANTON ; together with the works cited under these titles.