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The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
which formed 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 ...
and war cabinet during the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...
, a violent phase of 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 conside ...
. Supplementing the Committee of General Defence created after the execution of King
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
in January 1793, the Committee of Public Safety was created in April 1793 by the
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
. It was charged with protecting the new republic against its foreign and domestic enemies, fighting the First Coalition and the
Vendée revolt Vendée (; br, Vande) is a Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.levée en masse'') against the monarchist coalition of European nations and counter-revolutionary forces within France, it became more and more powerful. In December 1793, the Convention formally conferred executive power upon the committee. Between August 1793 and July 1794, the committee's power grew to dictatorial heights as it organised the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...
. Among the members, the radical Jacobin
Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
emerged as a leader. After the arrest and execution of the rival factions of Hébertists and Dantonists, sentiment in the Convention eventually turned against Robespierre, who was executed in July 1794. In the following Thermidorian Reaction, the committee's influence diminished and it was abolished in 1795.


Origins and Evolution


Social Climate of Revolutionary France

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 conside ...
brought about an immense shift in society in which citizens desired to bring about a new age of critical rationality,
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...
, and patriotism amongst French men. Revolutionary ideals were spread throughout France and a belief in
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...
and civilian government was heralded as the new era of French civilization. 1793 would bring a new republican constitution, drafted by the National Assembly. The French Constitution of 1793 and its subsequent government would bring sweeping reforms to French politics and the French social order. Major reforms included comprehensive education, the recognition of rights for illegitimate children, the abolition of slavery, and improved rights for married women. The French Constitution of 1793 outlined the prevailing Enlightenment era ideology of the French government at this stage of the revolutionary period. The constitution outlines a right to the resistance of oppression as well as the right to personal liberty. The equality of all French men is detailed as is the structure of the French Republic. The new constitution and the shift into a republican government centered on the National Assembly created the atmosphere for a radicalized governing authority to take power. Members of the French common classes such as the Sans-Culottes turned to radicalism and inspired militant activism among the French populace.


Committee of discussion

On 5 April 1793, the French military commander and former minister of war General Charles François Dumouriez defected to Austria following the publication of an incendiary letter in which he threatened to march his army on the city of Paris if the National Convention did not accede to his leadership. News of his defection caused alarm in Paris, where imminent defeat by the Austrians and their allies was feared. A widespread belief held that revolutionary France was in immediate peril, threatened not only by foreign armies and by recent revolts in the Vendée, but also by foreign agents who plotted the destruction of the nation from within.. Dumouriez's defection lent greater credence to this belief. In light of this threat, the Girondin leader
Maximin Isnard Maximin Isnard (; 16 November 1755 Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes – 12 March 1825 Grasse), French revolutionary, was a dealer in perfumery at Draguignan when he was elected deputy for the ''département'' of the Var to the Legislative Assembly, where ...
proposed the creation of a nine-member Committee of Public Safety. Isnard was supported in this effort by
Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In Augu ...
, who declared: "This Committee is precisely what we want, a hand to grasp the weapon of the Revolutionary Tribunal". After a proposal by Bertrand Barère on 18 March the Committee was created on 6 April 1793. Closely associated with the leadership of Danton, it was initially known as the Danton Committee.. Danton steered the Committee through the 31 May and 2 June 1793 ''journées'' that saw the violent expulsion of the Girondins and through the intensifying war in the Vendée. When the Committee was recomposed on 10 July 1793, Danton was not included. Nevertheless, he continued to support the centralization of power by the Committee.. On 27 July 1793, Maximilien Robespierre was elected to the Committee. At this time, the Committee was entering a more powerful and active phase, which would see it become a dictatorship alongside its powerful partner, the Committee of General Security. The role of the Committee of Public Safety included the governance of the war (including the appointment of generals), the appointing of judges and juries for the Revolutionary Tribunal,. the provisioning of the armies and the public, the maintenance of public order and oversight of the state bureaucracy.. The Committee was also responsible for interpreting and applying the decrees of the
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
and thus for implementing some of the most stringent policies of the Terror — for instance, the '' levée en masse'' passed on 23 August 1793, the
Law of Suspects :''Note: This decree should not be confused with the Law of General Security (french: Loi de sûreté générale), also known as the "Law of Suspects," adopted by Napoleon III in 1858 that allowed punishment for any prison action, and permitted the ...
passed on 17 September 1793 and the
Law of the General Maximum The Law of the General Maximum (french: Loi du Maximum général) was instituted during the French Revolution on 29 September 1793, setting price limits and punishing price gouging to attempt to ensure the continued supply of food to the French ...
passed on 29 September 1793. The broad and centralized powers of the Committee were codified by the
Law of 14 Frimaire The Law of 14 Frimaire was passed on 4 December 1793, during the French Revolution, in which power became centralized and consolidated under the Committee of Public Safety. It stopped representatives on-mission from taking 'action' without the auth ...
(also known as the Law of Revolutionary Government) on 4 December 1793.


Execution of the Hébertists and Dantonists

On 5 December 1793, journalist
Camille Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee ...
began publishing ''
Le Vieux Cordelier ''Le Vieux Cordelier'' () was a journal published in France between 5 December 1793 and 3 February 1794. Its radical criticism of ultra-revolutionary fervor and repression in France during the Reign of Terror contributed significantly to the downf ...
'' with the approval of Robespierre and the Committee''..'' This newspaper was initially aimed against the ultrarevolutionary Hébertist faction, whose extremist demands, anti-religious fervor and propensity for sudden insurrections troubled the Committee. However, Desmoulins quickly turned his pen against the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security, comparing their reign to that of the Roman tyrants chronicled by Tacitus and expounding the indulgent views of the Dantonist faction. Consequently, though the Hébertists were arrested and executed in March 1794, the Committees had Desmoulins and Danton arrested as well. Hérault de Séchelles, a friend and ally of Danton, was expelled from the Committee of Public Safety, arrested and tried alongside them. On 5 April 1794, the Dantonists went to the guillotine.


Committee of rule

The elimination of the Hébertists and the Dantonists made evident the strength of the Committees to control and silence opposition. The creation in March 1794 of a General Police Bureau — reporting nominally to the Committee of Public Safety— served to increase the power of the Committee of Public Safety. The Law of 22 Prairial, proposed by the Committee and enacted by the Convention on 10 June 1794, went further in establishing the iron control of the Revolutionary Tribunal and above it the Committees of Public Safety and General Security. The law enumerated various forms of public enemies, required their denunciation, and severely limited the legal recourse available to those accused. The punishment for all crimes under this law was death; from its inception to the fall of Robespierre on 27 July 1794, more people were condemned to death than in the entire previous history of the Revolutionary Tribunal.. However, even as the Terror reached its height and with it the Committee's political power, discord was growing within the revolutionary government. Members of the Committee of General Security resented the autocratic behavior of the Committee of Public Safety and particularly the encroachment of the General Police Bureau upon their own brief.. Arguments within the Committee of Public Safety itself had grown so violent that it relocated its meetings to a more private room to preserve the illusion of agreement.. Robespierre, a fervent supporter of the theistic
Cult of the Supreme Being The Cult of the Supreme Being (french: Culte de l'Être suprême) was a form of deism established in France by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. It was intended to become the state religion of the new French Republic and a re ...
, found himself frequently in conflict with anti-religious Committee members
Collot d'Herbois Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madame Tussaud from the ...
and Billaud-Varenne. Moreover, Robespierre's increasingly extensive absences from the Committee due to illness (he all but ceased to attend meetings in June 1794) created the impression that he was isolated and out of touch.


Fall of the Committee and aftermath

When it became evident in mid-July 1794 that Robespierre and Saint-Just were planning to strike against their political opponents Joseph Fouché, Jean-Lambert Tallien and Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier (the latter two members of the Committee of General Security), the fragile truce within the government was dissolved. Saint-Just and his fellow Committee of Public Safety member Bertrand Barère attempted to keep the peace between the Committees of Public Safety and General Security. However, Robespierre delivered a speech to the National Convention on 26 July 1794 in which he emphasized the need to "purify" the Committees and "crush all factions".. In a speech to the Jacobin Club that night, he attacked Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne, who had refused to allow the printing and distribution of his speech to the Convention. On the following day, 27 July 1794 (or
9 Thermidor The Coup d'état of 9 Thermidor or the Fall of Maximilien Robespierre refers to the series of events beginning with Maximilien Robespierre's address to the National Convention on 8 Thermidor Year II (26 July 1794), his arrest the next day, and ...
according to the Republican calendar), Saint-Just began to speak before the Convention, planning to denounce Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne and other members of the Committee of Public Safety. However, he was almost immediately interrupted by Tallien and by Billaud-Varenne, who accused him of intending to "murder the Convention".. Barère, Vadier and Stanislas Fréron joined the accusations against Saint-Just and Robespierre. The Convention ordered the arrest of Robespierre, his brother Augustin, and Saint-Just, along with that of their supporters
Philippe Le Bas Philippe Le Bas (18 June 1794 in Paris – 19 May 1860 in Paris) was a French hellenist, archaeologist and translator. He was the son of Philippe Le Bas and Elisabeth Duplay, the daughter of Robespierre's landlord Maurice Duplay. He was only 6 w ...
and
Georges Couthon Georges Auguste Couthon (, 22 December 1755 – 28 July 1794) was a French politician and lawyer known for his service as a deputy in the Legislative Assembly during the French Revolution. Couthon was elected to the Committee of Public Safety o ...
. A period of intense civil unrest ensued, during which the members of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security were forced to seek refuge in the Convention. The Robespierre brothers, Saint-Just, Le Bas and Couthon ensconced themselves in the Hôtel de Ville, attempting to incite an insurrection. Ultimately, faced with defeat and arrest, Le Bas committed suicide, while Saint-Just, Couthon, and Maximilien and Augustin Robespierre were arrested and guillotined on 28 July 1794. The ensuing period of upheaval, dubbed the Thermidorian Reaction, saw the repeal of many of the Terror's most unpopular laws and the restriction of the Committees of General Security and Public Safety. The Committees ceased to exist under the Constitution of the Year III (1795), which marked the beginning of the
Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network' ...
.


Composition


Commission (25 March 6 April 1793)

;Party breakdown


1st Committee (6 April 10 July 1793)

;Party breakdown


2nd Committee (10 July 5 September 1793)

;Party breakdown ;Changes: * On 30 May or 11 June, Saint-Just, Couthon and Hérault de Séchelles (Mountain) were admitted to the Committee. * On 27 July 1793, Gasparin was substituted by
Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
(Mountain).


3rd Committee (5 September 1793 31 July 1794)

;Party breakdown ;Changes: * On 17 March 1794, Hérault de Séchelles (Mountain) was arrested for treason, leaving his post vacant. * On 27 July 1794, Robespierre, Saint-Just and Couthon (Mountain) were arrested and executed the following day. * On 27 July 1794, the three were substituted by Jean-Lambert Tallien (Mountain).


4th-5th Committees (1 September 7 November 1794)

;Party breakdown


6th-7th Committees (7 November 1794 7 January 1795)

;Party breakdown


8th-9th Committees (7 January 5 March 1795)

;Party breakdown


10th-11th Committees (5 March 5 May 1795)

;Party breakdown


12th Committee (3 June 27 October 1795)

;Party breakdown


Use of the term during the Algerian War

During the May 1958 crisis in France, an army junta under General
Jacques Massu Jacques Émile Massu (; 5 May 1908 – 26 October 2002) was a French general who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War, the Algerian War and the Suez crisis. He led French troops in the Battle of Algiers, first supporting and later ...
seized power in Algiers on the night of 13 May 1958 and
General Salan Raoul Albin Louis Salan (; 10 June 1899 – 3 July 1984) was a French Army general. He served as the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. He was one of four retired generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch op ...
assumed leadership of a body calling itself the Committee of Public Safety.


See also

* Commissioners of the Committee of Public Safety * Committee of General Security *
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
*
Historiography of the French Revolution The historiography of the French Revolution stretches back over two hundred years, as commentators and historians have used a vast array of primary sources to explain the origins of the Revolution, and its meaning and its impact. By the year 2000, ...
* Revolutionary Tribunal * '' Reflections on the Revolution in France''


Bibliography

# Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 121.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163. # Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 121–122.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163. # Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 245.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163. # Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 313.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163. # The Committee of Constitution (1793). ''The New Constitution of France''. London: London: Printed for J. Ridgway. p. 3. # The Committee of Constitution (1793). ''The New Constitution of France''. London: London: Printed for J. Ridgway. pp. 4–7. # Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 251.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163. # Tackett, Timothy (2015). ''The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution''. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 251.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
9780674425163.


Notes


References

* * * Linton, Marisa (2013). ''Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution''. Oxford University Press. * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Committee Of Public Safety Organizations established in 1793 1795 disestablishments 1793 events of the French Revolution 1794 events of the French Revolution French National Convention