What happened after the Committee of Public Safety began to fall apart?

What happened after the Committee of Public Safety began to fall apart?

A. In order to unite, a new leader took charge.

B. Liberals regained power and pushed out radicals.

C. The monarchy moved in to resume power.

D. Power shifted back to the National Convention.

Answer: D. Power shifted back to the National Convention.

It will be seen that when the Committee of Public Safety was diminishing power in revolutionary France devolved back to the National Convention. This change signified the coming to an end of an endeavour called the Reign of Terror and the start of a new period of the French Revolution called the Thermidorian Reaction.

The Committees of Public Safety which was headed at one point by Maximilien Robespierre had almost tyrannical power during the period known as The Reign of Terror 1793 and 1794. But as the period of the terror began and even the revolutionaries felt that, their lives were in danger, there was a rising opposition against Robespierre and his faction. Finally, on 9 Thermidor of year II in the French Republic calendar, which is equal to July 27 in the Julian calendar, the National Convention members decided to eliminate Robespierre and his followers.

This, termed as the Thermidorian Reaction terminated the radical stage of revolution in France. Afterwards, the National Convention that had practically relinquished its power to this Committee resumed control. For instance, the Convention immediately began to unravel the structure of the Terror and released thousands of prisoners along with beheading many of Robespierre’s associates.

The Convention also started the work on promulgation of a new constitution which later paved the way to the formation of the Directory in 1795. This new governmental organization was intended to dismantle the buildup of power that happened in the Committee of Public Safety. For example, it carved out a bicameral parliament and a five-member presidency team to share power.

This transfer of power back to the National Convention was the change from the radicalism of the Terror back to a more conservative point of view of how to govern revolutionary France.