23 Prairial
An CCXXXIV
Committee of General Security
The politics of Year II of the Republic were dominated by two committees. The Committee of Public Safety was the political government of the Revolution, while the Committee of General Security was its police apparatus - a twelve-member committee responsible for surveillance and internal security. In this body, determined opponents of Robespierre, the leading member of the Committee of Public Safety, held the majority. The conflict escalated when the Committee of Public Safety created its own police bureau in April 1794. This was not the only reason why the Committee of General Security took a leading role on 9 Thermidor in the fall of the Incorruptible. Under the rule of the Thermidorian Convention, the Committee of General Security was able to maintain its position - unlike the Committee of Public Safety, which lost important powers.
1792 - 1795
- October 2, 1792 · The National Convention decides to establish a committee responsible for supervising the internal security of the state: Committee of General Security.
- April 6, 1793 · The Convention establishes a new committee vested with extensive powers: Committee of Public Safety. Its responsibilities partly overlap with those of the Committee of General Security.
- September 1793 · The Committee of General Security now consists of 12 members, including Amar, Vadier, Voulland, Dubarran, Lebas and David. Its composition remains unchanged until the fall of Robespierre.
- November 1793 · The Committee distributes its internal responsibilities. Three members are assigned to each of four regions (Paris, North/Northeast, Southeast, West/Centre).
- December 4, 1793 · The National Convention entrusts the Committee of General Security with the supervision of the revolutionary committees.
- April 1794 · After the Committee of Public Safety establishes its own police bureau to oversee the administration, conflicts arise between the two committees.
- June 10, 1794 · Couthon pushes through a new law on the Revolutionary Tribunal in the Convention, initiating the Great Terror (law of 22 Prairial) without prior consultation of the Committee of General Security. Tensions between the two bodies intensify once again.
- June 15, 1794 · Vadier delivers, in the name of the Committee of General Security, a report on the Théot affair, indirectly targeting Robespierre.
- July 22, 1794 · The two committees meet for the last time and agree on pragmatic compromises, which nevertheless fail to dispel their mutual distrust.
- July 27, 1794 · The members of the Committee of General Security (with the exception of Lebas and David) actively take part in the overthrow of Robespierre. The following morning, Dubarran enforces the immediate execution of the “conspirators” without trial.
- August 24, 1794 · The Convention distributes executive powers among 16 committees while reaffirming the authority of the Committee of General Security. The latter retains its political influence until the end of its mandate.
- October 26, 1795 · Final session of the National Convention. The Committee of General Security is dissolved as well.
Quotes
We must stir up a great deal of red.
David, 1793.
A horde of rogues protected by Amar and Jagot.
Robespierre in his last speech before the Convention concerning the agents of the Committee of General Security, 26 July 1794.
The Revolutionary Tribunal shall without delay execute the decree issued yesterday against the deputies declared traitors to the fatherland and placed outside the protection of the law.
Dubarran, 28 July 1794, 9 a.m.
Le Moniteur
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