Committee of General Safety

The Committee of General Safety was created by the National Convention in October 1792.  Initially it had 30 elected members however this would be changed to 12.  The main purpose of the Committee was to police and engage in counter espionage activities. With the removal of the Girondins the Committee became the key organ of surveillance for the Terror.

There was increasing tension between the Committees of General Safety and Public Safety as they clashed over who was truly responsible for policing.  The Committee of General Safety would survive the events of Thermidor only for its powers of policing to be removed and then for the Directory to remove Committees all together.