The Terror

In the years 1793 - 1794 a vital stage of the French revolution known as the Terror took place. The committee of public safety (CPS) was set up on April 6th 1793 to preserve the reforms of the French revolution due to the opposition of the new revolutionary government. Its membership took final form on September 6th. Among its twelve members were Bertrande Barere de Vieuzac, Lazare Carnot, Georges Couthon, M.J. Herault de Sechelles, Maximilien Robespierre, and Louis de Saint-Just and the Herbertists, J.N. Billaud-Varenne and J.N. Collot d'Herbois.
Their aim was to eliminate all internal counterrevolutionary elements, to raise new armies and to ensure food supplies for the armies and the cities. This was essential for the support of the people of Paris who demanded these measures. Robespierre, was to become the dominant member of the CPS. …