The Jacobins
The Jacobins were one of the largest political
organizations through the years of the commune. During the years of the
commune, their influence caused the creation of a great deal of legislature
dealing with their own variant of socialism and a democratic system which was
created to support the working class of Paris.
The history of the Jacobins begins in 1789 at the
beginning of the French Revolution. They were an organization which was
officially named the ÒSociety of Friends of the ConstitutionÓ and they provided
a number of services, though they were intended to be a protection of the new
revolutionary government from the remaining aristocracy. Maximilien de
Robespierre, the tyrant of the first Committee of Public Safety, was one of the
most prominent members. After the proclaimation of the republic, the society
changed their name to ÒSociety of Jacobins: Friends of Liberty and Equality.Ó
They were a radical organization who pressed for events such as the execution
of Louis XVI in 1793.
When
Robespierre took power and instituted the Reign of Terror, they became his
primary instrument in maintaining order. With a membership around 500,000, the
Jacobins were able to provide arms and equipment to the army, act as military
police, and take over smaller local governments. Following the collapse of
RobespierreÕs government, the Jacobin organization sputtered and collapsed.
The
Jacobins of 1871 were not related to the organization of the late 18th century,
though they remembered them fondly and attempted to follow in the footsteps of
their predecessors. One admitted that, ÒTheir memory is always with me.Ó[1] They
were a loose group of radicals, generally devoted to the ideas of political liberty.
They did not trust the Internationalists and had little love for Karl
Marx, though that did not mean that they did not believe in socialism in
some form, as several of them did and were supporters of the Blanquists.
The
Jacobins, while they were not a unified group, were responsible for many of the
actions of the Commune near the end of its reign and for the further spread
of democratic ideas throughout Europe. Dedicated revolutionaries, the Jacobins
were in many ways responsible for the devolpment of the Commune. Their leader,
Delescluze, was one of the most important figures at the time, and other
prominent Jacobin leaders, while they sometimes bickered among themselves, were
also extremely important in the furthering of the new modern ideas that the
Commune harbored. The ideas of
radical democracy and early socialism that were present in Europe were
especially conspicuous in the Jacobin party and their leader, Delescluze.
While the Commune was not sucessful, many of the early changes that were made
before desperation set in were sucessful in accomplishing their goals,
something which was not forgotten by other European revolutionaries.