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Unlock This CourseBy the spring of 1793 the Republic looked close to collapse. Three problems hit at once.
On 18 March the Austrians beat General Dumouriez at Neerwinden and France lost Belgium. Dumouriez then tried to turn his army against Paris. His soldiers refused, and on 5 April he went over to the Austrians.
In February the Convention ordered 300,000 men to be raised for the army. This helped to set off the rising in the Vendée, which tied down troops needed at the borders.
The government printed more and more assignats to pay for the war, so they lost value and prices shot up. The sans-culottes demanded cheap bread and action against anyone hiding food.
The Convention had 749 deputies. It was far too big to make fast decisions in a crisis. So on 6 April 1793, the day after Dumouriez changed sides, it set up the Committee of Public Safety.
Key terms:
The Committee began with nine members and grew to twelve by September 1793. The Convention chose its members and had to renew its powers every month, so in law the Convention stayed in charge. In practice the Committee became the real government of France. It gave orders to ministers and generals, and it worked through the representatives on mission.
At first its leading member was Danton. He was dropped in July 1793, and Robespierre joined later that month. Members shared out the work. Lazare Carnot, an army engineer, ran the war. Robert Lindet took charge of food supplies.
In October 1793 the Convention declared that the government would be 'revolutionary until the peace'. Normal rules were set aside until the war was won.
The Republic was fighting most of Europe and needed far more soldiers. On 23 August 1793 the Convention passed the levée en masse.
By 1794 France had about 800,000 men under arms. Carnot, later called the 'Organiser of Victory', planned the campaigns. Generals were now picked for talent, not noble birth, and those who failed were removed.
The results came quickly. French armies won at Hondschoote in September 1793 and at Wattignies in October. In December they took back the port of Toulon. By the end of 1793 the invaders had been pushed back to the borders.
A huge army had to be fed, clothed and armed, and the towns had to be kept quiet. So the Committee took control of the economy.
A first Maximum, in May 1793, fixed the price of grain. In July, hoarding food became a crime that could be punished by death.
On 29 September 1793, after sans-culottes had marched on the Convention, the General Maximum was passed. Prices of essential goods were fixed at one third above their 1790 level. Wages were fixed at one half above their 1790 level.
Grain, horses and cloth were requisitioned for the troops. State workshops were set up in Paris to make muskets, and church bells were melted down for cannon.
Price controls had mixed results. Bread stayed affordable in Paris, which kept the sans-culottes loyal. But many peasants refused to sell grain at the fixed price. They hid it or sold it secretly on the black market, so shops were often empty and food had to be taken by force. Workers also hated the limit on wages.
The Girondins had led the government when the war went wrong, so they took the blame. There were other reasons why the Montagnards and the sans-culottes turned on them:
The sections of Paris had had enough. On 2 June 1793 about 80,000 National Guards with cannon surrounded the Convention. The deputies were not allowed to leave until they voted for the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies. The Convention had been purged by force, and the Montagnards now controlled it.
The purge had serious consequences:
Soldiers had now been used to remove elected deputies. From then on, few in the Convention dared to oppose the Committee. How it dealt with its enemies is covered in Robespierre and the Terror.
Extract A (a practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history textbook)
In the summer of 1793 the Republic seemed doomed. Then the Committee of Public Safety took hold of France with astonishing energy. Carnot, tireless at his desk, conjured new armies out of a whole nation, and within months the invaders were in retreat. Fixed prices put bread on the tables of the poor. These twelve determined men, working day and night, had rescued the Revolution when weaker leaders would surely have let it die.
What impression does the author give about the work of the Committee of Public Safety?
You must use Extract A to explain your answer. [6 marks]
The author gives the impression that the work of the Committee of Public Safety was a remarkable success that saved France. This is shown by the admiring language. The Committee acted with 'astonishing energy', its members were 'determined' and Carnot was 'tireless'. The word 'conjured' makes raising the armies sound almost like magic, and 'rescued' presents the Committee as heroes. The author also contrasts them with 'weaker leaders' who 'would surely have let it die', which stresses that only the Committee could have saved the Republic. The author has chosen to include only achievements: the retreat of the invaders and bread for the poor. Nothing is said about problems, such as peasants hiding grain, or about the force the Committee used. This one-sided selection creates a very favourable impression.
What lifts it to the top level: it names one clear impression, proves it with short quotations, explains what the chosen words suggest, and points out what the author stressed and what was left out.
Do not waste time telling the story of the Committee here. All six marks are for showing how the author creates the impression. Pick out praise words like 'tireless' and 'rescued', say what each one suggests, then add one sentence on what the extract leaves out.