The Committee of... Public Safety?

         Yesterday’s seminar opened up my mind to the complexity that is French history. I learned several new things that were, at the same time, interesting and flat out weird. For example, in a video we watched about Napoleon, I learned that he had a phobia of cats and was terrified of open doors and no, that’s not even a joke. Not only did I enjoy learning new, mind-boggling information, I especially enjoyed having the opportunity to view my fellow applicants’ timelines. Many of us even had the same ideas and designs; great minds think alike I suppose. Yesterday’s seminar was very intriguing indeed; however, the one topic that stood out to me the most was the Committee of Public Safety.

Wikimedia Commons: Jacques-Louis David

          Simply put, the Committee of Public Safety was an epic fail. Following the execution of King Louis XVI, the French people needed some form of governance. The Committee of Public Safety was formed as an executive branch that could react quickly to various threats including conflict and war. Their leader, a very paranoid man, was Robespierre. The committee used terror tactics in response to many situations. Anyone Robespierre suspected was an enemy of the revolution was guillotined and made an example out of. The Committee of Public safety was responsible for the murder of 16,000 people, many of whom were innocent citizens. This time period was known as The Terror.

Wikimedia Commons: Louis Boilly

          After endless bloodshed, Robespierre advocated for the terror which made him an enemy of the same republic in which he was trying to form. This, ironically, led to his execution via guillotine. To sum it up, the Committee of Public Safety did an extremely horrible job at public safety! A more fitting name for it would be, the “Committee of We Really Suck at Public Safety”. This is so interesting to me because all throughout French history, you will see these strange moments of twisted irony and the French Revolution itself is an example of this. This excites me about the possibly of going to Paris because the idea of being in the heart of where many of these situations occurred is absolutely mind-blowing. Learning about these interesting moments in the same place in which they happened excites me.

          In conclusion, I really enjoyed yesterday’s seminar and I want to give a quick thanks to Mr. Dundov for taking the time out on his Saturday to teach us more information about France. I’m especially excited about the future seminars and can’t wait to learn something new.

~DeRael