Absolutely true. Prior to 1789, there were some “odd” political movements, but they didn’t amount to much and left little in the way of a legacy.
But the Jacobins were a big deal, and to some extent they have never gone away and they are still causing a lot of damage.
The Jacobins, like the Leftwing Academics today, are examples of what happens when pseudo intellectuals, without any sense of constructive purpose, have too much free time to meddle with other people’s lives.