6th April 1793: Committee of Public Safety established by the National Convention of France

By the spring of 1793 the French Revolution was facing a range of internal threats including the counter-revolutionary uprising in the Vendée at the same time as fighting the War of the First Coalition. Consequently the National Convention established the Committee of Public Safety with the primary objectives of maintaining public order, managing the war effort against foreign powers, and rooting out perceived enemies of the revolution.

Led by prominent figures such as Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Danton, and Jean-Paul Marat, the Committee of Public Safety exercised broad powers. These included the ability to authorize arrests, conduct investigations, and oversee the execution of revolutionary policies. One of the most notable initiatives was the levée en masse, a mass mobilization that provided the revolutionary government with a vast army to repel foreign threats. Additionally, the committee pursued a policy of dechristianization, which aimed to diminish the influence of the Catholic Church and promote revolutionary values of reason and secularism.

However, the Committee of Public Safety’s authority was not without controversy. Its implementation of the Reign of Terror, marked by mass executions of perceived enemies of the revolution, remains one of the darkest chapters in French history. This triggered further social unrest and political instability within France. Consequently, despite its efforts to defend the revolution, the Committee of Public Safety found itself facing internal divisions and external pressures. In July 1794, Robespierre and his allies were overthrown and executed during the Thermidorian Reaction.