The Hébertists (, ), or Exaggerators (), were a radical revolutionary political group associated with the populist journalist

Jacques Hébert Jacques René Hébert (; 15 November 1757 – 24 March 1794) was a French journalist and leader of the French Revolution. As the founder and editor of the radical newspaper ''Le Père Duchesne'', he had thousands of followers known as ''the ...

, a member of the

Cordeliers The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( ), mainly known as Cordeliers Club ( ), was a Populism, populist List of political groups in the French Revolution, political club during the French Revolution from 1790 to 179 ...

club. They came to power during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

and played a significant role in the French Revolution. The Hébertists were ardent supporters of the dechristianization of France and of extreme measures in service of the Terror, including the

Law of Suspects :''Note: This decree should not be confused with the Law of General Security (), also known as the "Law of Suspects," adopted by Napoleon III in 1858 that allowed punishment for any prison action, and permitted the arrest and deportation, without ...

enacted in 1793. They favoured the direct intervention of the state in economic matters in order to ensure the adequate supply of commodities, advocating the national requisition of wine and grain.Schama, 806 The leaders went to the

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

on 24 March 1794.

Rise to popularity

The rise in power of the Hébertists can be largely attributed to the popularity of Hébert's newspaper, ''

Le Père Duchesne ''Le Père Duchesne'' (; "Old Man Duchesne" or "Father Duchesne") was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Hébert, who published 385 issues from September 1790 until eleven days before his death by gu ...

''. This newspaper, which purported to present the frank opinions of Père Duchesne, a fictional working-class furnace-maker, had a large following amongst the

sans-culottes The (; ) were the working class, common people of the social class in France, lower classes in late 18th-century history of France, France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their ...

. The government-funded distribution of ''Le Père Duchesne'' to the French armies, a policy arranged by the Hébertist Minister of War Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte in 1793, widened support and sympathy for Hébertist ideas. On 24 May 1793, the newly appointed Commission of Twelve ordered the arrest of Hébert, who had been using ''Le Père Duchesne'' to incite violence against members of the

Girondin The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

faction. The tremendous public outcry and civil unrest which ensued rapidly resulted in Hébert's release. However, rioting continued, culminating in a series of insurrections. On 31 May 1793, a large crowd of sans-culotte agitators surrounded the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

in an attempt to force its accession to their demands, namely the dissolution of the Commission of Twelve, the arrest of a list of Girondin deputies, a tax on the rich and the restriction of suffrage to sans-culottes.Furet, 127. The Commission was abolished, but on 2 June 1793 the crowds—now supported by National Guard forces headed by Hébertist and newly appointed Commandant-General

François Hanriot François Hanriot (; 2 December 1759 – 28 July 1794) was a French Sans-culotte leader, street orator, and commander of the National Guard during the French Revolution. He played a vital role in the Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793 and ...

—returned. Hanriot threatened to set fire to the Convention if the offending Girondin deputies were not expelled. Ultimately, the arrest of twenty-nine Girondins was decreed, marking the end of the Girondin faction's political power.Furet, 128. Following the assassination of

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (, , ; born Jean-Paul Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes ...

by a Girondin sympathizer in July 1793, Hébert positioned himself as Marat's natural successor in the affections of those who had shared the dead man's ultra-revolutionary beliefs.Furet, 141. The Hébertists' popularity grew. Their evident and increasingly destabilizing influence was disturbing to many less extreme revolutionary politicians, including leading Montagnard figures such as

Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gove ...

and

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

—the latter of whom especially disapproved of the Hébertists'

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

.Furet, 141.

Accusations and denunciation

Over the course of October 1793, a number of accusations were leveled against prominent Hébertists by

Fabre d'Églantine Philippe François Nazaire Fabre d'Églantine (; 28 July 1750 – 5 April 1794), commonly known as Fabre d'Églantine, was a French actor, dramatist, poet, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for having invented the names o ...

, a friend and supporter of Danton. Fabre claimed to have discovered a foreign plot in which

Stanislas-Marie Maillard Stanislas-Marie Maillard (11 December 1763 – 11 April 1794) was a captain of the Bastille Volunteers. As a national guardsman, he participated in the attack on the Bastille, being the first revolutionary to get into the fortress, and also accom ...

and Anacharsis Cloots, among others, were implicated as agents. This succeeded in casting suspicion on the Hébertist faction. However, Fabre himself was rapidly revealed to have been acting in part as part of an elaborate attempt to conceal his own involvement in a scandal surrounding the liquidation of the French East India Company and his credibility was thereby diminished. In December 1793, the journalist

Camille Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist, politician and a prominent figure of the French Revolution. He is best known for playing an instrumental role in the events that led to the Stormin ...

—whose political opinions had long been aligned with those of Danton and Robespierre—began publishing a journal, ''

Le Vieux Cordelier ''Le Vieux Cordelier'' () was a French journal published by Camille Desmoulins between 5 December 1793 and 3 February 1794 at the instigation of Georges Danton and warned not to exaggerate the revolution. Desmoulins argued that the French Revoluti ...

'', aimed in part at the discrediting of the Hébertist faction. The journal's title alluded to the fact that the Cordeliers Club, formerly a moderate revolutionary society dominated by the policies of Danton, had become overrun by sans-culotte Hébertists and their sympathizers. Desmoulins attacked Hébert for bringing the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

into disrepute through his writings, claiming that "when the tyrants of Europe wish dto vilify the Republic, to make their slaves believe that France is covered with the darkness of barbarism, that Paris ..is peopled with Vandals", they reprinted ''Le Père Duchesne''.Claretie, 271. He also mocked Hébert for having pretended to be a "man of the people" and a representative of the sans-culottes—when in fact he had profited handsomely from the contracts his follower Bouchotte had secured to distribute ''Le Père Duchesne'' to the armies.Schama, 811. In turn, Hébert accused Desmoulins of hypocrisy, pointing out that his current opposition to violence and extremism (in addition to attacking ultra-revolutionary excesses, Desmoulins had called for an end to the Terror) stood in sharp contrast to his support for such tactics in a 1789 pamphlet, ''Discours de la lanterne aux Parisiens,'' which had advocated the execution of those opposed to

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. The vitriolic exchange continued throughout the winter of 1793–1794, ultimately contributing to the downfall of both Desmoulins and Hébert.

Fall from power

Following the February 1794 recall of Hébertist deputy

Jean-Baptiste Carrier Jean-Baptiste Carrier (; 16 March 1756 – 16 December 1794) was a French Revolutionary and politician most notable for his actions in the War in the Vendée during the Reign of Terror. While under orders to suppress a Royalist counter-revoluti ...

from Nantes, where he had been engaged in mass executions to suppress the Vendéen revolts, the Hébertists attempted to stage a popular revolt, hoping to mimic that which had led to the downfall of the Girondins. On 4 March 1794, Carrier and Hébert veiled the bust of Liberty at the Cordeliers Club, declaring according to ritual a state of insurrection. They had hoped to demand that the National Convention expel Robespierre and his Montagnard supporters.Scurr, 306. However, the city of Paris did not rise and the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

failed to provide military support for the coup. The Hébertists were denounced by

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 176710 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the National Convention, French ...

and Robespierre, and the leaders of the faction were arrested on 13 March 1794.Scurr, 306. Some twenty of them, including Anacharsis Cloots, Pierre-Ulric Dubuisson, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel, Jean Conrad de Kock, Antoine-François Momoro,

Charles-Philippe Ronsin Charles-Philippe Ronsin (; 1 December 1751 – 24 March 1794) was a French general of the Revolutionary Army of the First French Republic, commanding the large Parisian division of ''l'Armée Révolutionnaire''. He was an extreme radical lead ...

, François-Nicolas Vincent and Hébert himself were tried before the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

and convicted on 24 March 1794. They went to the guillotine that same evening. Pierre Gaspard Chaumette followed a few days later, followed by Hébert's widow Marie Marguerite Françoise Hébert. Other Hébertists, including

Joseph Le Bon Joseph Le Bon (29 September 1765 – 10 October 1795) was a French politician. Biography He was born at Arras. He became a priest in the order of the Oratory, and professor of rhetoric at Beaune. He adopted revolutionary ideas, and became a cu ...

, François Chabot and

, were to also fall victim to the guillotine on various dates in 1794 and 1795.

Notable Hébertists

* Jacques-Claude Bernard *

* Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte *

* François Chabot * Pierre Gaspard Chaumette * Anacharsis Cloots * Pierre-Ulric Dubuisson * Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel *

* Jean Conrad de Kock *

(supporter) * Antoine-François Momoro * Jacob Pereira *

* François-Nicolas Vincent

Gallery

File:Hebert-1.jpg,

File:Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette.jpg, Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette File:FrancoisChabot.jpg, François Chabot File:Jean-Baptiste Gobel (1727-1794).jpg, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel File:Antoine-François Momoro.jpg, Antoine-François Momoro

References

* Claretie, Jules (1876). ''Camille Desmoulins and His Wife: Passages from the History of the Dantonists''. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. * Furet, François (1992). ''Revolutionary France, 1770-1880''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. * Schama, Simon (1989). '' Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. * Scurr, Ruth (2006). ''Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution''. New York: Owl Books.