Committee+of+Public+Safety

toc = = = = =__The Committee of Public Safety__=

The Committee of Public Safety was created by the National Convention on April 6, 1793. The Committee was formed as an administrative body to supervise and expedite the work of the executive bodies of the Convention.The Committee formed the [|de facto] executive government of France during the Reign of Terror. Under war conditions and national survival at stake, the Jacobins under Robespierre centralized denunciations, trials, and executions under the supervision of the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee was responsible for thousands of executions in the time known as the Reign of Terror. In December 1793, the Convention formally conferred the entire power of government on the Committee. After the overthrow of Robespierre on July 27 1794, power of the government was restored to the Convention. The Committee of Public Safety continued to exist until 1795. Georges Jacques Danton was the __first president of the Committee of Public Safety__.

=__The Committee of General Security__=

The Committee of General Security was a French __parliamentary committee which acted as a police agency during the French Revolution__. It directed the political police and Revolutionary justice. The Committee of General Security was founded by the National Convention in 1792. Alongside the Committee of Public Safety, they administered the Reign of Terror. The Committee supervised the local police committees in charge of investigating reports of treason. It was one of the agencies with authority to refer suspects to the Revolutionary Tribunal and the authority to execute by the guillotine.

__**George Danton**__

 * (October 26, 1759 – April 5, 1794)**

Georges Jacques Danton was a great leader of the French Revolution. He was one of the few people who were responsible for the massacres of the Reign of Terror. Danton considered those deaths "necessary for the safety of his country." When he believed that the safety was assured, he advocated more humane policies. Danton wished to restore the normal life of France. At the beginning of the French Revolution, Danton was a successful lawyer in Paris and a leader of the Cordeliers Club. This group that Danton was in wanted to rid France of the monarchy. On August 10 1792, the Cordeliers Club achieved their purpose when Louis XVI was imprisoned. Because of Danton's leadership in the movement to imprison Louis, he was called "the Man of August 10th." Danton then became the minister of justice. Danton, Desmoulins, Robespierre, and Marat established a National Convention of revolutionary leaders and revolutionary tribunal. With this, the Reign of Terror started. Thousands of people were brought before the jury of the tribunal and were executed. Soon after, Danton recognized the need for stopping the violence. He felt that the convention should relax its policy and prepare a workable republican constitution for an orderly government. Robespierre was jealous of Danton's successes so he ordered Danton arrested for disloyalty. Danton was brought before the tribunal. Because of Danton's eloquent denunciation, tribunal members feared the loss of power. Soon after, Danton was condemned and executed. __His death climaxed the Reign of Terror__.

__Jean-Paul Marat__

 * (May 24,1743 - July 13,1793)**[[image:http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=10098&rendTypeId=4 align="right" caption="Jean-Paul Marat"]]

Jean-Paul Marat was a radical leader of the French Revolution. Marat is one of the important people of the Reign of Terror because he increased the violence by demanding death for all opponents of the revolution. Marat strongly supported the French Revolution because he believed that it would improve living conditions for the common people. Jean-Paul __founded the newspaper, L'Ami du Peuple to spread his views__. L'Ami du Peuple was a __newspaper that violently criticised the people who opposed the revolution__. In September 1792, Marat was elected to the National Convention. He joined the Jacobin Club who demanded King Louis XVI's execution. Because of this, Marat soon became the main target of the Girondists. The Girondists accused Marat of plotting against them and went into trial. Marat was acquitted. He then quickly called an expulsion for the Girondist leaders from the Convention. Jean-Paul Marat was born in Boudry, Switzerland. Marat became a doctor and writer. He wrote books on electricity, heat, light, physiology, law and political theory. Marat was sick from a debilitating skin disease three years prior to his assassination. Because of the disease, he spent most of his time in his bathtub. The diagnosis of his disease was dermatitis herpetiformis. Marat died in July 1793 when Charlotte Corday stabbed him to death in his bathtub.

**__Charlotte Corday__**

 * (July 27, 1768 - July 17, 1793)**[[image:445px-Charlotte_Corday.jpg width="343" height="369" align="right" caption="Charlotte Corday's assassination of Jean-Paul Marat"]]

Charlotte Corday was born in Saint-Saturnin-des-Ligneries, Normandy, France. She was a member of an aristocratic family. Corday was a French patriot who killed Jean-Paul Marat during the Reign of Terror in 1793. She was tried in the Revolutionary court and executed four days later. Charlotte Corday sympathized with the Girondists. When the Girondist leaders were arrested, she resolved to kill Marat, who was an opponent in the French legislature. The decision of Corday to kill Marat was stimulated by her fear of an all out civil war. She recognized Marat as the center point for everything that was threatening the great virtues of the French Republic. Corday believed that Marat's death would be the death of violence throughout the nation. Corday also believed that the execution of King Louis XVI was unnecessary. Charlotte Corday did find virtue in all life. Unfortunately for Marat, that virtue did not hold for those she felt were responsible for ending the lives of hundreds.

__**Bibliography**__
//**Committee of Public Safety -**//
 * 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety
 * 2) http://library.thinkquest.org/C006257/revolution/committee_pub_safety.shtml

//**Committee of General Security -**//
 * 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_General_Security
 * 2) http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-228602/Committee-of-General-Security

//**Danton -**//
 * 1) __World Book Encyclopedia; Volume 5__. p.32
 * 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Danton

//**Marat -**//
 * 1) __World Book Encyclopedia; Volume 13__. p.196
 * 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Marat

//**Corday -**//
 * 1) __World Book Encyclopedia; Volume 4__. p.350
 * 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday
 * 3) http://www.things.org/music/al_stewart/history/charlotte_corday.html

__//***Note: All characters and phrases underlined are answers for the crossword handout.**//__

//**"The Committee of Public Safety" wikipage created by Antoni M. and Lizelle T.**//