Polish Jacobins

Polish Jacobins (or Huguenots) was the name given to a group of late 18th century radical Polish politicians by their opponents. Polish Jacobins formed during the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm ( Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in War ...

as an offshoot of the " Kołłątaj's Forge" (''Kuźnia Kołłątajska'') of

Hugo Kołłątaj Hugo Stumberg Kołłątaj, also spelled ''Kołłątay'' (pronounced , 1 April 1750 – 28 February 1812), was a prominent Polish constitutional reformer and educationalist, and one of the most prominent figures of the Polish Enlightenment. He se ...

(hence their alternate name - Huguenots (''Hugoniści'') and later the

Patriotic Party , colorcode = #E4433E , leader1_title = Leaders , leader1_name = Ignacy PotockiAdam Kazimierz Czartoryski Stanisław Małachowski , foundation = , dissolution = , headquarters = Kraków , ideology = Pro-ReformConstitution ...

(''Stronnictwo Patriotyczne''). Polish Jacobins played a significant part in the preparation of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

and Wilno Uprising during the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Pr ...

. Under the name of Association of Citizens Offering Help and Assistance to National Magistrate for Good of the Homeland (''Zgromadzenie Obywateli Ofiarujących Pomoc i Posługę Magistraturom Narodowym w Celu Dobra Ojczyzny'') they formed a

political club The political club is a feature of Urban politics in the United States, American urban politics usually representing a Political parties in the United States, particular party in a Neighbourhood, neighborhood. They were most prominent in the later ...

(based on French

Jacobin Club , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

) which became part of the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

of Poland ( Temporary Provisional Council, ''Radza Zastępcza Tymczasowa''). For their support for

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

of supporters of the

Targowica Confederation The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a Confederation (Poland), confederation established by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Pe ...

they have been abolished by

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, an ...

, but as the Uprising neared its defeat they were reactivated under the name of Association for Supporting the Revolution and the Cracow Act (''Zgromadzenie dla Utrzymania Rewolucji i Aktu Krakowskiego''). After the third

partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

, many Jacobins emigrated and joined the

Polish Legions in Italy The Polish Legions ( pl, Legiony Polskie we Włoszech; also known as the Dąbrowski Legions) in the Napoleonic period, were several Polish military units that served with the French Army, mainly from 1797 to 1803, although some units continu ...

. Many of those who remained in Poland took part in various conspirational organisations ( Association of Polish Republicans, ''Towarzystwo Republikanów Polskich''). Eventually some prominent Jacobins (like

Józef Zajączek Prince Józef Zajączek (; 1 November 1752 – 28 August 1826) was a Polish general and politician. Zajączek started his career in the Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, an aide-de-camp to hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki. He w ...

) became part of the government of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

and later

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

). During the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

they were reactivated as Patriotic Society (''Towarzystwo Patriotyczne''), founded by

Joachim Lelewel Joachim Lelewel (22 March 1786 – 29 May 1861) was a Polish historian, geographer, bibliographer, polyglot and politician. Life Born in Warsaw to a Polonized German family, Lelewel was educated at the Imperial University of Vilna, where in 18 ...

. Polish Jacobins slowly became absorbed into other groups of the

Great Emigration The Great Emigration ( pl, Wielka Emigracja) was the emigration of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians, particularly from the political and cultural élites, from 1831 to 1870, after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and of oth ...

, although traces of their ideas were visible not only in the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

but also in the

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' P ...

(''Polska Partia Socjalistyczna''). Their political views had much in common with French

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

. They supported the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and wanted to transplant most of its ideals to Poland, to abolish

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

and

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

, equalize the privileges of the various

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...

es,

nationalize Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

property (as a temporary measure for funding the war) and limit the privileges of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(although unlike radical French Jacobins, their stance was not

anti-Christian Anti-Christian sentiment or Christophobia constitutes opposition or objections to Christians, the Christian religion, and/or its practices. Anti-Christian sentiment is sometimes referred to as Christophobia or Christianophobia, although these terms ...

). Main activists: *

* gen.

Jakub Jasiński Jakub Krzysztof Jasiński ( lt, Jokūbas Kristupas Jasinskis) of Rawicz Coat of Arms, Rawicz Clan (24 July 1761, in Węglew near Pyzdry in Greater Poland – 4 November 1794, in Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish genera ...

Józef Pawlikowski Józef Pawlikowski (1767 near Piotrków – 1828 in Warsaw) was a Polish noble (from an impoverished noble family) and political activist. One of the Polish Jacobins; secretary of Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ...

* Jan Alojzy Orchowski *

* Tomasz Maruszewski * Józef Kalasanty Szaniawski *

Jan Czyński Jan Kazimierz Czyński (1801–1867) was a Polish independence activist, lawyer by education, writer and publicist, fighter for the emancipation of the Jews, trade supporter, utopian socialist, and radical democrat. He went into exile after ...

* Tadeusz Krępowiecki *

Maurycy Mochnacki Maurycy Mochnacki (13 September 1803, in Bojaniec near Żółkiew – 20 December 1834, in Auxerre) was a Polish literary, theatre and music critic, publicist, journalist, pianist, historian and independence activist. One of the main theorists of P ...

* Kazimierz Konopka {{Authority control 1790s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth