A People's History of the French Revolution by Eric Hazan

Author:Eric Hazan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Verso Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Committee of Public Safety; representatives ‘on mission’ to the front

The Convention did not confine itself to reorganizing the army. During the critical months of March and April 1793 it took three measures of great significance: the establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal, the creation of the Committee of Public Safety, and the sending of representatives assigned to the armies.

The Revolutionary Tribunal was demanded by the most advanced Paris sections. On 9 March, the deputy for the Bas-Rhin, Bentabole, close at this time to Marat, returned from the Oratoire section to say: ‘A general desire prevails in Paris to rush to the frontiers … We were told that citizens were only unwilling to leave because they perceived that there is no real justice in the Republic, and it was necessary for traitors and conspirators to be punished. They demanded a tribunal one could be sure of.’18 David and Jean Bon Saint-André conveyed the same wish on the part of the Louvre section.

The following day, Vergniaud made clear the Girondin opposition to this project: it would be, he said, ‘an inquisition a thousand times more fearsome than that of Venice. We will all die sooner than consent to it.’19 The discussion became bogged down. At six in the evening, the session was about to adjourn when Danton suddenly took the floor:

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