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Comité de Salut Public, 1794. Anonymous French print, 18th
century.
The Committee of Public Safety (French: Comité de salut public),
created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then
restructured July 1793, formed the de facto executive
government of France during the Reign of Terror (1793-4), a stage of
the French
Revolution. Under war conditions and with national survival
seemingly at stake, the Jacobins, under Maximilien Robespierre,
centralized denunciations, trials, and executions under the
supervision of this committee of first nine and later twelve
members. The committee was responsible for thousands of executions,
with many high-profile executions at the guillotine, in what was known as the "Reign of
Terror." Frenchmen were executed under the pretext of being a
supporter of monarchy or
opposing the Revolution. The Committee ceased meeting in 1795.
Composition
The Committee was formally composed of nine members, all
selected by the National Convention for one month
at a time, without period limits. Its first members, instated on 6
April 1793 were as follows, in order of election. Later,
Robespierre joined the Committee and largely dominated it.
- Bertrand
Barère de Vieuzac, representative of Hautes-Pyrénées
- Jean-François Delmas, representative of Haute-Garonne
- Jean-Jacques Bréard, representative
of Charente-Inférieure
- Pierre-Joseph Cambon,
representative of Hérault
- Georges
Danton, representative of Paris proper
- Jean-Antoine
Debry, representative of Aisne, later replaced by Robert Lindet,
representative of Eure upon resignation
- Louis-Bernard
Guyton-Morveau, representative of Côte d'Or
- Jean-Baptiste
Treilhard, representative of Seine-at-Oise
- Jean-François Delacroix, representative of Eure-at-Loir
On 10 July, the Committee was recomposed and renamed the
Grand Committee of Public Safety (le Grand Comité de
salut public). Most of the original members were replaced, and
the committee received extraordinary powers. In September 1793, the
size of the committee was restructured to hold twelve members. It
was almost completely dominated by Robespierre upon his election to
the committee on 27 July.
- Maximilien de
Robespierre, representative of Paris
- Bertrand
Barère de Vieuzac, representative of Hautes-Pyrénées
- Jean-Baptiste Robert
Lindet, representative of Eure
- André Jeanbon Saint André,
representative of Lot
- Georges
Couthon, representantive of Puy-at-Dôme
- Marie-Jean Hérault de
Séchelles, representative of Seine-at-Oise
- Pierre-Louis Prieur (dit Prieur de la
Marne), representative of Marne
- Louis
Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, representative of Aisne
- Lazare Nicolas
Marguerite Carnot, representative of Pas-de-Calais
- Claude-Antoine
Prieur-Duvernois (former Prior of Côte-d’Or), representative of
Côte-d'Or
- Jacques Nicolas
Billaud-Varenne, representative of Paris
- Jean-Marie Collot
d'Herbois, representative of Paris
The Committee lost its power in the Thermidorian reaction on 27 July 1794. The
de facto dictatorship of Robespierre, whose powers
had reached their height with the executions of Danton and Hébert
during the spring of 1794, was effectively ended, and with it the
Reign of Terror. Robespierre was guillotined the following day,
along with most of the members of the Committee who had held actual
power. The Committee was finally abolished in 1795, when a new
constitution was promulgated, ending the rule of the National
Convention that had lasted from the proclamation of the republic in 1792.
Actions
Failures
- Around 40,000 French citizens were killed.
- Many tens of thousands more were alienated from the
Revolution
- Grain shortages and hoarding caused by price controls.
- The poor bore the burden of conscription and grain
requisitions.
- Hospitals, schools and charities were deprived of staff because
of attacks on religious orders.
- Deepening hostilities in the countryside over the dechristianisation
campaign.
Prominent
members
- Bertrand
Barère de Vieuzac - Earlier a Girondist, later a Bonapartist, drew up the
9
Thermidor report outlawing Robespierre.
- Jacques Nicolas
Billaud-Varenne, an Hébertist
- Jean Jacques Régis de
Cambacérès was a member only after 9 Thermidor
- Lazare
Carnot - physicist, the "Organizer of Victory"
- Jean-Marie Collot
d'Herbois, an Hébertist
- Georges
Couthon
- Georges
Danton, only from April - July 1793
- Marie-Jean Hérault de
Séchelles
- Robert Lindet
- Jérôme Pétion de
Villeneuve, only from March - June 1793, also mayor of
Paris
- Claude Antoine,
comte Prieur-Duvernois (also known as Prieur de la
Côte-d'Or)
- Pierre Louis Prieur (also known as
Prieur de la Marne)
- Maximilien Robespierre, a Montagnard
- Jean Bon Saint-André
- Louis
Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, a Montagnard
- Jean-Lambert Tallien was a member
only after 9 Thermidor
- Jacques-Louis David
See also
References
- R.R. Palmer Twelve Who Ruled
(1941, ISBN 0-691-05119-4)
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