Committee of Public Safety

In the French Revolution, a body appointed by the members of the National Convention in 1793 to supervise the actions of the executive, but which usurped all the powers of that body and assumed virtually dictatorial control over the country, and began the Reign of Terror. Its principal spokesperson was Robespierre.

It organized propaganda and sought to direct opinion, and it created a war machine based on conscription, the direction of labour, the requisitioning of food and scarce materials, price controls, and the general direction of the economy.