What committee oversaw police and internal security during the Reign of Terror?

The Committee of General Security oversaw police and internal security during the Reign of Terror.

Created by the National Convention on 2 October 1792, the committee developed from earlier investigative bodies. Its job was to protect the revolutionary republic from internal enemies, supervise local police committees, investigate suspected treason, and administer the passport system.

The committee worked alongside the Committee of Public Safety, but the two bodies were not interchangeable. The Committee of Public Safety acted as the revolutionary government’s central executive and wartime leadership, while General Security focused more directly on policing, surveillance, arrests, and revolutionary justice. It could refer suspects to the Revolutionary Tribunal, though the tribunal itself conducted trials.

The committee became especially powerful during the Terror and was involved in the arrest of Maximilien Robespierre and his allies on 9 Thermidor, Year II. It dissolved on 4 November 1795 when the National Convention ended. The common mistake is to identify the Committee of Public Safety as the police committee; it was the broader governing body.