sourced story
6 April 1793Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Committee of Public Safety Is Formed

A twelve-member war council becomes the Republic's de facto government

On the timeline · around 6 April 1793 · Republic and TerrorRepublic and TerrorThe Committee of Public Safety Is Formed1793

Quick facts

Location
Paris
Date
6 April 1793 (formed); 27 July 1793 (Robespierre joins)
Members
12, at its height
Governed
September 1793 to July 1794

What happened

The Convention created the Committee of Public Safety on 6 April 1793, initially as a war council meant to help the Convention respond faster to the military and political crises threatening the Republic on every front, and to "watch over and speed up" government functions tied to war and intelligence. Maximilien Robespierre was elected to the Committee on 27 July 1793, a turning point after which its twelve members, historian R. R. Palmer's "Twelve Who Ruled," accumulated increasingly dictatorial power. The Law of 14 Frimaire, passed on 4 December 1793, formally codified the Committee's authority over the rest of the government.

Why it matters

What began as an emergency coordinating body became the Republic's real executive for ten months, from the start of the Terror in September 1793 to Robespierre's fall in July 1794. Concentrating war powers, police powers, and the machinery of revolutionary justice in twelve men made the Terror administratively possible.

How we know

World History Encyclopedia's account of the Committee's formation and evolution draws on the Convention's own decrees, including the Law of 14 Frimaire, and cites R. R. Palmer's standard scholarly study of the Committee's members.

Sources

See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.

Part of a timelineThe French Revolution28 events · How a bankrupt monarchy's tax crisis became a decade of upheaval that ended with a general seizing powerView all →
The Committee of Public Safety Is Formed · The French Revolution · SourcedStory