Jacobins

   The Jacobins were a radical political club that played a central role in the revolution of 1789. Known also as the Jacobin Club, the group was founded in 1789 as the Friends of the Constitution, which met in a former Jacobin monastery in Paris, hence the name. Both the count de mirabeau and maximilien Robespierre were early members. Although it had only 3,000 members in Paris, the club controlled 1,200 related societies throughout France, giving it enormous political power. At first a moderate organization, the club had a diverse membership (besides Mirabeau and Robespierre, who ultimately took control, members included emmanuel sieyès, charles de talleyrand, antoine barnave, the marquis de lafayette, and others). After the attempted escape of King louis XVI in 1791 and the affair of the Champ-de-Mars, the Jacobins turned against any form of royal government. At the same time, with the formation of the National Convention, the Jacobin Club, which now also used the name society of the Friends of Liberty and Equality, reached their peak of power. No important action was taken by the National Convention without Jacobin approval. All moderate members had left by 1793, at which point extremists took complete control. Dominating the powerful Committee of Public safety, they brought the nation into the reign of terror. The Jacobins, insisting on the death of the king, destroyed also the moderate girondins and executed thousands of opponents. Losing much of its power with the downfall of Robespierre, the club was closed during the Thermidorian reaction. it was reorganized under the directory (1795-96) without great success and was finally closed in 1799.