Committee Of Public Safety

The Committee of Public Safety was a post-French Revolution faction that gained near dictatorial control over France during the Reign of Terror. Established on April 6, 1793, it was not intended to have dictatorial powers as it was reapproved every month by the Convention. However, after June 2 of that year, when the Girondins were forcibly removed from power, the CPS became the tools of the Jacobins and later Maximilien de Robespierre who joined on July 27, 1793.

On December 4, 1793, the law of Frimaire established revolutionary government. The CPS was granted full control over ministers and generals, foreign policy and the Terror. Despite providing a stable government for France and ending the anarchy of the Revolution, rejected the principles of the 1789 Revolution. 1,594 people were executed in Paris during the period from June 10, 1794, to July 27, also known as the Great Terror. After the fall of Robespierre, in which the CPS played a minor role, many of its members joined the Thermidorians who moved the politics of the Revolution away from the extreme left and towards the center, unwittingly preparing France for Napoleon Bonaparte to take over.

See also[edit]

• Junta