Polish Jacobins


Polish Jacobins was the name given to a group of late 18th century radical Polish politicians by their opponents.
Polish Jacobins formed during the Great Sejm as an offshoot of the "Kołłątaj's Forge" of Hugo Kołłątaj and later the Patriotic Party. Polish Jacobins played a significant part in the preparation of the Warsaw Uprising and Wilno Uprising during the Kościuszko Uprising. Under the name of Association of Citizens Offering Help and Assistance to National Magistrate for Good of the Homeland they formed a political club which became part of the provisional government of Poland. For their support for lynching of supporters of the Targowica Confederation they have been abolished by Tadeusz Kościuszko, but as the Uprising neared its defeat they were reactivated under the name of Association for Supporting the Revolution and the Cracow Act. After the third partition of Poland, many Jacobins emigrated and joined the Polish Legions in Italy. Many of those who remained in Poland took part in various conspirational organisations. Eventually some prominent Jacobins. During the November Uprising they were reactivated as Patriotic Society, founded by Joachim Lelewel. Polish Jacobins slowly became absorbed into other groups of the Great Emigration, although traces of their ideas were visible not only in the January Uprising but also in the Józef Piłsudski's Polish Socialist Party.
Their political views had much in common with French Jacobins. They supported the French Revolution and wanted to transplant most of its ideals to Poland, to abolish monarchy and serfdom, equalize the privileges of the various social classes, nationalize property and limit the privileges of the Catholic Church.
Main activists: