Jacobin is a member of a political party (Jacobin Club) during the French Revolution.
The origin of motion
The Jacobin Club was formed by deputies of the National Assembly from the Breton faction. They held their meetings in the walls of the monastery of St. Jacob in Paris. Hence the name of the party of the Jacobins. They also had their followers in the provinces, where many smaller clubs were created. Date of foundation - June 1789. The Jacobin club was one of the most influential at that time and had a huge impact on the development and movement of the French Revolution.
Club membership
It included three wings, or fractions:
1. The right, led by Danton, a lawyer and future Minister of Justice of France.
2. Left, whose leader was a famous doctor and journalist of radical views, Marat, an ardent supporter of the terror unleashed by the Jacobins.
3. Center - headed by Maximilian Robespierre, a brilliant speaker and lawyer by profession.
Thus, the Jacobin is one of the participants in the revolutionary movement, the vast majority of whom were well-educated people.
At the very beginning of their emergence, the Jacobins were in favor of introducing a constitutional monarchy in the country . Speaking in the Convention, they defended the unity of the state, strengthening national security, but at the same time called for fierce internal terror against opponents of France and those who are trying to split the state from the inside.
Maximilian Robespierre - leader of the Jacobins
He was born into a family of hereditary lawyers. Having lost his mother and father who abandoned his family early, Robespierre was brought up by his maternal grandfather, a brewer who wanted to make him a worker, being sure that the profession of a lawyer would not bring prosperity. But the boy’s teachers, seeing his talent for study, turned to the influential people of the city for help, and Robespierre received a scholarship, which gave him the opportunity to study at the Paris Lyceum. After graduation, he returns to his hometown and plunges into political life. Thanks to his excellent oratory, Robespierre is elected to the number of deputies of the General States from his city and returns to Paris.
The brilliant speeches of the young provincial soon attracted attention, they began to listen to the words of Robespierre.
Since the beginning of the revolutionary events in France, he has been taking an active part in them, advocating for the permission to engage in public activities for actors, Huguenots and Jews, for the abolition of slavery in the colonies and for the veto on the death penalty in France.
Since the creation of the Jacobin Club, Robespierre has become one of its main leaders. After the overthrow of the monarchy and the declaration of France as an independent and indivisible republic, it occupies one of the leading positions in the National Convention.
The policy of the Jacobins after coming to power
In the National Convention, the main opponents of the Jacobin Club were Girondins. The Jacobin is a member of a radical political club, which means that he is not on the way with those who are less determined. The Girondins were against the execution of the king, fearing that she would open the way to terror in the country. Not differing in oratorical talents and organization, they lost the struggle for power. In 1793, after an indictment in the Robespierre Convention, they were put on trial and executed.
After the Jacobins came to power, the dictatorship of their party acquired a particularly formidable scale. A committee for public safety was created. He was led by Robespierre. In all parts of the country were sent authorized to act on the ground. The Jacobins threw all their forces into the reflection of intervention and the solution of economic problems. For speculation, the death penalty was introduced , bread and grain were forcibly seized, and fixed prices were set for the most important products.
In a short time, thanks to the decisive actions of the Jacobins, they managed to create a battle-worthy French army and eliminate the threat of intervention. Economic reforms did not improve the situation. Among the Jacobins themselves, a split began. The bourgeoisie was dissatisfied with tough policies, the people demanded further reforms. Robespierre, trying to maintain power in the country with the help of terror, soon became his victim himself. He and his closest associates were executed in 1794. After this, the dictatorship of the Jacobins fell.
Conclusion
The word has another meaning. The Jacobin is a freethinker or a person who thinks revolutionary. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, this word was quite popular. Currently, it is rarely used.