Committee of Public Safety
Encyclopedia
The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention
and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror
(1793–1794), a stage of the French Revolution
. The Committee of Public Safety succeeded the previous Committee of General Defence (established in January 1793) and assumed its role of protecting the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. As a wartime measure, the Committee – composed at first of nine, and later of twelve members – was given broad supervisory powers over military, judicial, and legislative efforts. Its power peaked under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre
, between August 1793 and July 1794; following the downfall of Robespierre, the Committee's influence diminished, and it was disestablished in 1795.
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 anti-revolutionary revolts in the Vendée, but also by foreign agents who plotted the destruction of the nation from within. The betrayal of the revolutionary government by Dumouriez lent greater credence to this belief. In light of this threat, the Girondin leader Maximin Isnard
proposed the creation of a nine-member Committee of Public Safety. Isnard was supported in this effort by Georges Danton
, who declared, "This Committee is precisely what we want, a hand to grasp the weapon of the Revolutionary Tribunal
."
The Committee was formally created on April 6, 1793. Closely associated with the leadership of Danton, it was initially known as "the Danton Committee". Danton steered the Committee through the May 31 and June 2, 1793 journées
that resulted in the fall of the Girondins, and through the intensifying war in the Vendée. However, when the Committee was recomposed on July 10, Danton was not included. Nevertheless, he continued to support the centralization of power by the Committee.
On July 27, 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 de facto 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
, and thus for implementing some of the most stringent policies of the Terror – for instance, the levée en masse
, passed on August 16, 1793, the Law of Suspects
, passed on September 17, 1793, and the Law of the Maximum
, passed on September 29, 1793. The broad and centralized powers of the Committee were codified by the Law of 14 Frimaire (also known as the Law of Revolutionary Government) on December 4, 1793.
On December 5, 1793, journalist Camille Desmoulins
began publishing Le Vieux Cordelier
, a newspaper initially aimed – with the approval of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety – at the ultra-revolutionary Hébertist faction, whose extremist demands, anti-religious fervor, and propensity for sudden insurrections was problematic for 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 Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security ensured that Desmoulins and Danton were also arrested. Hérault de Séchelles – a friend and ally of Danton – was expelled from the Committee of Public Safety, arrested, and tried alongside them. On April 5, 1794, the Dantonists went to the guillotine.
, "had definitively closed the book on a collegial executive: Robespierre was, in fact, the head of the Republic's government." Certainly the strength of the committees had been made evident, as had their ability to control and silence opposition. The creation, in March 1794, of a "General Police Bureau" – reporting nominally to the Committee of Public Safety, but more often directly to Robespierre and his closest ally, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just – served to increase the power of the Committee of Public Safety, and of Robespierre himself.
The Law of 22 Prairial
, proposed by the Committee of Public Safety and enacted on June 10, 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, made mandatory their denunciation, and severely limited the legal recourse available to those accused. The punishment for all crimes under the Law of 22 Prarial was death. From the initiation of this law to the fall of Robespierre on July 27, more people were condemned to death than in the 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 Robespierre's 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
, found himself frequently in conflict with anti-religious Committee members Collot d'Herbois 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.
, Jean-Lambert Tallien
, and Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
– the latter two were 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 Barère
attempted to keep the peace between the Committees of Public Safety and General Security; however, on July 26, Robespierre delivered a speech to the National Convention 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, 9 Thermidor according to the Revolutionary calendar (July 27, 1794), Saint-Just began to deliver a speech to the Convention in which he had planned to denounce Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, and other members of the Committee of Public Safety. However, he was almost immediately interrupted by a riot of denunciation by Tallien and by Billaud-Varenne, who accused Saint-Just of intending to "murder the Convention." Barère, Vadier, and Stanislas Fréron joined the accusations against Saint-Just and Robespierre. The arrest of Robespierre, his brother Augustin
, and Saint-Just was ordered, along with that of their supporters, Philippe Le Bas
and Georges Couthon
.
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. Saint-Just, Couthon, and Maximilien and Augustin Robespierre were arrested and guillotined on July 28.
The ensuing period of upheaval, dubbed the Thermidorian Reaction
, saw the repeal of many of the Terror's most unpopular laws and the reduction in power of the Committees of General Security and Public Safety. The Committees ceased to exist under the Constitution of 1795, which marked the beginning of the Directory
.
for one month at a time, without period limits. Its first members, instated on April 6, 1793, were as follows, in order of election.
After Robespierre's election to the Committee on July 27, 1793, the Committee increased its membership to twelve. The list below represents the Committee's membership from the addition of Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne in September 1793 through the arrest of Hérault de Séchelles in March 1794.
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
(1793–1794), a stage of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The Committee of Public Safety succeeded the previous Committee of General Defence (established in January 1793) and assumed its role of protecting the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. As a wartime measure, the Committee – composed at first of nine, and later of twelve members – was given broad supervisory powers over military, judicial, and legislative efforts. Its power peaked under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
, between August 1793 and July 1794; following the downfall of Robespierre, the Committee's influence diminished, and it was disestablished in 1795.
Committee of discussion
On April 4, 1793, the French military commander and former minister of war General Charles François DumouriezCharles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life: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 anti-revolutionary revolts in the Vendée, but also by foreign agents who plotted the destruction of the nation from within. The betrayal of the revolutionary government by Dumouriez lent greater credence to this belief. In light of this threat, the Girondin leader Maximin Isnard
Maximin Isnard
Maximin Isnard , 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 he joined the Girondists.- Before the French Revolution :Born in 1755, he was the last son of Maximin Isnard and Anne-Thérèse...
proposed the creation of a nine-member Committee of Public Safety. Isnard was supported in this effort by Georges Danton
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton was leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in theoverthrow of the monarchy and the...
, who declared, "This Committee is precisely what we want, a hand to grasp the weapon of the Revolutionary Tribunal
Revolutionary Tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror....
."
The Committee was formally created on April 6, 1793. Closely associated with the leadership of Danton, it was initially known as "the Danton Committee". Danton steered the Committee through the May 31 and June 2, 1793 journées
Days of 31 May and 2 June 1793
The Days of 31 May and 2 June 1793 were a series of urban revolts in Paris during the French Revolution. They saw the fall of the Girondists under pressure from the people of Paris....
that resulted in the fall of the Girondins, and through the intensifying war in the Vendée. However, when the Committee was recomposed on July 10, Danton was not included. Nevertheless, he continued to support the centralization of power by the Committee.
On July 27, 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 de facto dictatorship alongside its powerful partner, the Committee of General Security
Committee of General Security
The Committee of General Security was a French parliamentary committee which acted as police agency during the French Revolution that, along with the Committee of Public Safety, oversaw the Reign of Terror....
. 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
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
, and thus for implementing some of the most stringent policies of the Terror – for instance, the levée en masse
Levée en masse
Levée en masse is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793.- Terminology :...
, passed on August 16, 1793, the Law of Suspects
Law of Suspects
The Law of Suspects is a term which is used to refer to an enactment passed on 17 September 1793 during the course of the French Revolution. It allowed for the creation of revolutionary tribunals to try those who were suspected of treason against the Republic and to punish those convicted with death...
, passed on September 17, 1793, and the Law of the Maximum
General maximum
General Maximum or The Law of the Maximum was a law created during the course of the French Revolution as an extension of the Law of Suspects on 29 September 1793...
, passed on September 29, 1793. The broad and centralized powers of the Committee were codified by the Law of 14 Frimaire (also known as the Law of Revolutionary Government) on December 4, 1793.
On December 5, 1793, journalist Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins was a journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. He was a childhood friend of Maximilien Robespierre and a close friend and political ally of Georges Danton, who were influential figures in the French Revolution.-Early...
began publishing Le Vieux Cordelier
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 downfall and execution of the Dantonists, among whom its author,...
, a newspaper initially aimed – with the approval of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety – at the ultra-revolutionary Hébertist faction, whose extremist demands, anti-religious fervor, and propensity for sudden insurrections was problematic for 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
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
and expounding the "indulgent" views of the Dantonist faction. Consequently, though the Hébertists were arrested and executed in March, 1794, the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security ensured that Desmoulins and Danton were also arrested. Hérault de Séchelles – a friend and ally of Danton – was expelled from the Committee of Public Safety, arrested, and tried alongside them. On April 5, 1794, the Dantonists went to the guillotine.
Committee of rule
The elimination of the Hébertists and the Dantonists, in the opinion of historian François FuretFrançois Furet
-Biography:Born in Paris on 27 March 1927, into a wealthy family, François Furet was a brilliant student who graduated from the Sorbonne with the highest honors and soon decided on a life of research, teaching and writing. He received his education at the Lycée Janson de Sailly and at the faculty...
, "had definitively closed the book on a collegial executive: Robespierre was, in fact, the head of the Republic's government." Certainly the strength of the committees had been made evident, as had their ability to control and silence opposition. The creation, in March 1794, of a "General Police Bureau" – reporting nominally to the Committee of Public Safety, but more often directly to Robespierre and his closest ally, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just – served to increase the power of the Committee of Public Safety, and of Robespierre himself.
The Law of 22 Prairial
Law of 22 Prairial
The Law of 22 Prairial, also known as the loi de la Grande Terreur, the law of the Reign of Terror, was enacted on June 10, 1794 . It was proposed by Georges Auguste Couthon and lent support by Robespierre...
, proposed by the Committee of Public Safety and enacted on June 10, 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, made mandatory their denunciation, and severely limited the legal recourse available to those accused. The punishment for all crimes under the Law of 22 Prarial was death. From the initiation of this law to the fall of Robespierre on July 27, more people were condemned to death than in the 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 Robespierre's 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
Cult of the Supreme Being
The Cult of the Supreme Being 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.- Origins :...
, found himself frequently in conflict with anti-religious Committee members Collot d'Herbois 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 FouchéJoseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante was a French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon Bonaparte. In English texts his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.-Youth:Fouché was born in Le Pellerin, a small village near Nantes...
, Jean-Lambert Tallien
Jean-Lambert Tallien
Jean-Lambert Tallien , was a French political figure of the revolutionary period.-Clerk and journalist:He was the son of the maître d'hôtel of the Marquis de Bercy, and was born in Paris. The marquis, noticing his ability, had him educated, and got him a place as a lawyer's clerk...
, and Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier was a French politician of the French Revolution.-Early career:Son of a wealthy family in Pamiers, Ariège, he served in the army of the king Louis XV, taking part in the Seven Years' War and the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757...
– the latter two were 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 Barère
Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac
Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac was a French politician and journalist, one of the most notorious members of the National Convention during the French Revolution.-Early career:He was born at Tarbes in Gascony...
attempted to keep the peace between the Committees of Public Safety and General Security; however, on July 26, Robespierre delivered a speech to the National Convention in which he emphasized the need to "purify" the Committees and "crush all factions." In a speech to the Jacobin Club
Jacobin Club
The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
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, 9 Thermidor according to the Revolutionary calendar (July 27, 1794), Saint-Just began to deliver a speech to the Convention in which he had planned to denounce Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, and other members of the Committee of Public Safety. However, he was almost immediately interrupted by a riot of denunciation by Tallien and by Billaud-Varenne, who accused Saint-Just of intending to "murder the Convention." Barère, Vadier, and Stanislas Fréron joined the accusations against Saint-Just and Robespierre. The arrest of Robespierre, his brother Augustin
Augustin Robespierre
Augustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre was the younger brother of French Revolutionary leader, Maximilien Robespierre....
, and Saint-Just was ordered, along with that of their supporters, Philippe Le Bas
Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas
Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas was a French revolutionary.- Life :The son of a notary, intendant to the prince de Rache, avocat to the parliament of 1789, companion and collaborator of Saint-Just, in 1792 Le Bas was elected député to the National Convention for the Pas-de-Calais, sitting among...
and Georges Couthon
Georges Couthon
Georges Auguste Couthon a French politician and lawyer in the French Revolution. Couthon would befriend Robespierre and serve on the Committee of Public Safety with him from 30 May 1793 until his and Robespierre’s deaths in 1794...
.
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
Hôtel de Ville, Paris
The Hôtel de Ville |City Hall]]) in :Paris, France, is the building housing the City of Paris's administration. Standing on the place de l'Hôtel de Ville in the city's IVe arrondissement, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357...
, attempting to incite an insurrection. Ultimately, faced with defeat and arrest, Le Bas committed suicide. Saint-Just, Couthon, and Maximilien and Augustin Robespierre were arrested and guillotined on July 28.
The ensuing period of upheaval, dubbed the Thermidorian Reaction
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
, saw the repeal of many of the Terror's most unpopular laws and the reduction in power of the Committees of General Security and Public Safety. The Committees ceased to exist under the Constitution of 1795, which marked the beginning of the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
.
Composition
The Committee was initially composed of nine members, all selected by the National ConventionNational Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
for one month at a time, without period limits. Its first members, instated on April 6, 1793, were as follows, in order of election.
- Bertrand Barère de VieuzacBertrand Barère de VieuzacBertrand Barère de Vieuzac was a French politician and journalist, one of the most notorious members of the National Convention during the French Revolution.-Early career:He was born at Tarbes in Gascony...
, representative of Hautes-Pyrénées (imprisoned, escaped guillotine to live in hiding) - Jean-François Delmas, representative of Haute-Garonne
- Jean-Jacques BréardJean-Jacques BréardJean-Jacques Bréard was born into a family of a navy inspectors. He moved to France as a young boy in 1758. His first involvement in politics included organizing elections to the Estates General in Marennes and a short stint as major of Marennes from January 1790 through July 1790...
, representative of Charente-Inférieure - Pierre-Joseph Cambon, representative of HéraultHéraultHérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(forced to live in hiding) - Georges DantonGeorges DantonGeorges Jacques Danton was leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in theoverthrow of the monarchy and the...
, representative of Paris proper (guillotined) - Jean-Antoine DebryJean DebryJean-Antoine-Joseph de Bry, called Debry was President of the National Convention , famous for a slogan La patrie est en danger he proposed.....
, representative of AisneAisneAisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
, later replaced by Robert Lindet, representative of Eure upon resignation - Louis-Bernard Guyton-MorveauLouis-Bernard Guyton de MorveauLouis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau was a French chemist and politician...
, representative of Côte d'Or - Jean-Baptiste Treilhard, representative of Seine-at-Oise
- Jean-François DelacroixJean-François DelacroixJean-François de Lacroix or Delacroix was a French politician and member of the Committee of Public Safety...
, representative of Eure-at-Loir (guillotined)
After Robespierre's election to the Committee on July 27, 1793, the Committee increased its membership to twelve. The list below represents the Committee's membership from the addition of Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne in September 1793 through the arrest of Hérault de Séchelles in March 1794.
- Maximilien de Robespierre, representative of Paris (guillotined)
- Bertrand Barère de VieuzacBertrand Barère de VieuzacBertrand Barère de Vieuzac was a French politician and journalist, one of the most notorious members of the National Convention during the French Revolution.-Early career:He was born at Tarbes in Gascony...
, representative of Hautes-Pyrénées (imprisoned) - Jean-Baptiste Robert LindetJean-Baptiste Robert LindetJean-Baptiste Robert Lindet was a French politician of the Revolutionary period. His brother, Robert Thomas Lindet, became a constitutional bishop and member of the National Convention...
, representative of Eure (denounced and tried) - André Jeanbon Saint AndréJean Bon Saint-AndréJean Bon Saint-André was a French politician of the Revolution era.-Early career and in the Convention:...
, representative of Lot (arrested but released) - Georges CouthonGeorges CouthonGeorges Auguste Couthon a French politician and lawyer in the French Revolution. Couthon would befriend Robespierre and serve on the Committee of Public Safety with him from 30 May 1793 until his and Robespierre’s deaths in 1794...
, representantive of Puy-at-Dôme (guillotined) - Marie-Jean Hérault de SéchellesMarie-Jean Hérault de SéchellesMarie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles was a French judge and politician who took part in the French Revolution.-Origins and early career:...
, representative of Seine-at-Oise (guillotined) - Pierre-Louis Prieur (called Prieur de la Marne), representative of MarneMarneMarne is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne...
- Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, representative of AisneAisneAisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
(guillotined) - Lazare Nicolas Marguerite CarnotLazare CarnotLazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot , the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars, was a French politician, engineer, and mathematician.-Education and early life:...
, representative of Pas-de-Calais - Claude-Antoine Prieur-DuvernoisClaude Antoine, comte Prieur-DuvernoisClaude Antoine, comte Prieur-Duvernois, commonly known as Prieur de la Côte-d'Or after his native département, to distinguish him from Pierre Louis Prieur , was a French engineer and a politician during and after the French Revolution.-Early life and revolutionary beginnings:Born in Auxonne,...
(former PriorPriorPrior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of Côte-d’Or), representative of Côte-d'Or - Jacques Nicolas Billaud-VarenneJacques Nicolas Billaud-VarenneJacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne , also known as Jean Nicolas, was a French personality of the Revolutionary period. Though not one of the most well known figures of the French Revolution, Jacques Nicolas Billaud Varenne was an instrumental figure of the period known as the Reign of Terror...
, representative of Paris (arrested and exiled) - Jean-Marie Collot d'HerboisJean-Marie Collot d'HerboisJean-Marie Collot d'Herbois 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 Guillotine, he administered the execution of more than 2,000 people in the city of...
, representative of Paris (arrested and deported)
See also
- Committee of General SecurityCommittee of General SecurityThe Committee of General Security was a French parliamentary committee which acted as police agency during the French Revolution that, along with the Committee of Public Safety, oversaw the Reign of Terror....
- National ConventionNational ConventionDuring the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
- Historiography of the French Revolution
- Public safetyPublic SafetyPublic safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...
- Reflections on the Revolution in FranceReflections on the Revolution in FranceReflections on the Revolution in France , by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the French Revolution...
- Revolutionary TribunalRevolutionary TribunalThe Revolutionary Tribunal was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror....