Reunion of Friends of the Republic | |
Réunion des Amis de la République | |
 | |
| Named after | Panthéon |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Jacobin Club |
| Formation | 6 November 1795 |
| Dissolved | 27 February 1796 |
| Type | Political Club |
| Legal status | dissolved |
| Purpose | Pressure theDirectory to more radical positions |
| Headquarters | Abbey of Saint Genevieve,Montagne Sainte-Geneviève |
| Location | |
ThePanthéon Club (French:Club du Panthéon) was a French revolutionary political club founded in Paris the 6 November 1795. Its official name wasReunion of Friends of the Republic (Réunion des Amis de la République). It was composed of formerterrorists and unconditionalJacobins coming from thepetite bourgeoisie.[1][note 1]
The club met on theMontagne Sainte-Geneviève, in the former royalAbbey of St Genevieve, near thePanthéon, nowLycée Henri-IV.
Among the founders was René Lebois, printer and journalist of theOrateur plébéien, maybe aBarras agent. The club was attended by those who wanted to redirect theDirectory policy toward the left in the way of the defeat of the13 Vendémiaire royalist insurrection. However, the politics of the club were initially rather moderate and respectful of legality in refusing to receive the ineligibleNational Convention members.[2]
But the club soon attracted a number of formerMontagnards, includingJean-Pierre-André Amar andPierre Joseph Duhem, former members of theCommittee of General Security,Pierre-Antoine Antonelle,Sylvain Maréchal,Restif de La Bretonne,Jean-Nicolas Pache, andRobert Lindet, as well asPhilippe Buonarroti, aBabeuf friend,[3] who moved the club in the direction of radical republicanism.
Membership in the club grew rapidly: from 934 members the 29 November 1795, its meetings attracted about 2,400 people in February 1796.[1]
Several members of the club, defeated in theNational Convention election, as well asterrorists likeAugustin Darthé, former prosecutor for theRevolutionary Tribunal, nurtured the ambition of transforming the club.[4] They wanted the government to give up theConstitution of the Year III of 1795 to go back to the more radicalConstitution of 1793. Although not member of the club,Gracchus Babeuf was one of the key speakers and developed hisequality doctrine viewed as essential elements forcommunism.
Fearing that the club might disturb law and public order and even its own legitimacy, the Directory ordered its dissolution, and on 27 February 1796 GénéralNapoléon Bonaparte, commanding theArmy of the Interior, carried out the orders.
The leaders of the club would subsequently form the core of Babeuf'sConspiracy of the Equals.[2]
