Paris has been plagued by food riots and mass hunger throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793.

The new Convention has done little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, occupied instead with matters of war.

Finally, on April 6, 1793, the Convention creates the Committee of Public Safety (closely associated with the leadership of Danton, it  is initially known as "the Danton Committee"), and is given a monumental task: “To deal with the radical movements of the Enragés, food shortages and riots, the revolt in the Vendée and in Brittany, recent defeats of its armies, and the desertion of its commanding general.”

Most notably, the Committee of Public Safety will instate a policy of terror, and the guillotine will begin to fall on perceived enemies of the republic at an ever-increasing rate, beginning the period known today as the Reign of Terror.