The Jacobins were a political group known to be the radical wing of the French Revolution  of 1789. They were opposed to the Girondins , a more moderate grouping.

The ideology of the Jacobins was popular and republican. They proposed a state governed by the people and without absolutist monarchies , and they were defenders of democracy, laws and the constitution. Also the participation of citizens in decision-making.

The Jacobins represented a stage called the “regime of terror” , which took place between 1793 and 1794, where they managed to take control over the National Assembly and staged a series of executions of their opponents, including that of the monarch Louis XVI.

In 1794, after the arrest and execution of their main references, Robespierre and Saint-Just, the Jacobins were declared an illegal group and ended up dissolving.

Despite the fact that some members formed new opposition and revolutionary groups, the term is currently used to refer to people with extreme left ideology and not as the name of a government group.

Enhance your reading: Battle of midway results with causes/development/context

What were the ideas of the Jacobins?

The Jacobins were radical and proposed to place the people in a privileged and governmentally participatory position, through the use of a centralized democratic state .

They sought to completely abolish the monarchy in France and form a republic in which every citizen had the right to vote . Ultimately, the Jacobins wanted Parliament to be under the permanent surveillance of the people.

They proposed to end  the privileges of the bourgeoisie and give more participation to all citizens within the government of the nation. They were centralists and sought the sanction and enforcement of a constitution with just laws.

Furthermore, his ideology promoted commercial freedom for French citizens.

The role of the Jacobins in the French Revolution

During the French Revolution, the Jacobins were one of the leaders who obtained the most  prominence while they sought to abolish the monarchy and form a republic.

Between the years 1793 and 1794 they were in command of the Assembly, and during this period they were responsible for the bloodiest side of the French Revolution, since they sent to execute anyone suspected of being against their ideals, including the monarch Louis XVI.

The Jacobins i mpulsaron the French Constitution of 1793 , which declared absolute national sovereignty and recognized the rights of the worker and education. They also adopted universal suffrage for male citizens.

Indeed, the Jacobins succeeded in abolishing the monarchy and gave greater prominence to the common citizen . However, they lost total control after their leader Maximilien Robespierre was executed by the bourgeoisie in 1794 for his bloody decisions.

The Jacobin club was declared illegal, a fact that ended its government involvement and its revolution.

Enhance your reading: Representatives of the avant-garde/stages/ historical context

Jacobin leaders

The Jacobin leaders were as follows:

• Maximilien Robespierre (1758 – 1794) : lawyer, writer, orator, and politician. Maximum representative and promoter of Jacobin ideas. He ruled in France and was characterized by his drastic and bloody measures, which led to him being hanged in 1794.
• Louis de Saint-Just (1767 – 1794) : politician and right-hand man of Robespierre, in charge of large executions against his opponents. He is known as the “archangel of terror” for his political persecutions during the revolution.
• Jean-Paul Marat (1743 – 1793) : doctor, scientist, journalist and politician, strongly identified with the Jacobin sector. He was assassinated by the Girondins.