‘Jacobinism’ as perceived and experienced outside France varied between local contexts, the rich diversity of responses to the French Revolution reflecting the ideas, symbols and rhetoric emanating from France, but also pre-existing political and ideological trends, earlier attempts at reform, the specific structures of society and the scale of resistance to change. There were commonalities that included similarities in ideology, rhetoric, symbols and practices, but international Jacobinism was never a coherent ideology or political movement. ‘Jacobins’ outside France were, moreover, usually minorities and everywhere they felt the full force of reactions in defence of tradition and the conservative order. The varieties of ‘Jacobinism’ outside France nonetheless provided an important response to the widespread debates about the nature of freedom and political identity, the shape of which was being fervently disputed around the world.