The Committee of General Security (French: Comité de sûreté générale) was a French parliamentary committee which acted as police agency during the French Revolution that, along with the Committee of Public Safety, oversaw the Reign of Terror.
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The Committee supervised the local police committees in charge of investigating reports of treason, and was one of the agencies with authority to refer suspects to the Revolutionary Tribunal for trial and possible execution by guillotine.
The Committee of General Security was established as a committee of the National Convention in October 1792. It was designed to protect the Revolutionary Republic from its internal enemies. By 1794 the Committee became part of the opposition to Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety and members were involved in the 9 Thermidor coup d'état. In late 1795, along with the end of the National Convention, the Committee of General Security dissolved.
Origins and evolution
In October 1792, the National Convention created the Committee of General Security from its predecessors: the Search Committee (Comité des recherches) and the Committee of Surveillance (Comité de Surveillance). The Committee was not large and never exceeded 16 members. The Committee's main responsibility was the internal security of France and to protect the Republic from both external and internal enemies. One way of ensuring the security of France was through the passport system. Through this system the members of the Committee had the knowledge of who was entering France and where they were going. The Committee had the authority to decide who was sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal for judgment during the Reign of Terror. Once the evidence was fully considered in an individual case the members of the Committee made the decision on the innocence or guilt of the suspect, which determined if that person would be released or sent to the Tribunal.
Throughout, the existence of the committee it contributed to a large number of people being sent to the guillotine. On March 29, 1794, the committee ordered twenty-four former members of the parlements of Paris and Toulouse to be sent to the Tribunal, where they were subsequently executed. Shortly after, another twenty-eight people that were a part of the Farmers-General, were investigated by the Committee and sent to the Tribunal for trial. After the trial the men were found guilt and executed.
The Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety worked alongside one another. Their responsibilities became overlapping which caused tensions between the two groups. The tensions grew and contributed to the downfall of Robespierre. One example of the rising tension was when two members of the Committee of General Security, Jean-Pierre-André Amar and Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier, participated in the 9 Thermidor coup against Robespierre. During the same time at the National Convention,Vadier also used false accusations implementing Catherine Théot in a plot to overthrow the Republic, which was also connected to Robespierre and the Cult of the Supreme Being.
The Committee of General Security dissolved with the end of the National Convention in late 1795.