ABSTRACT
The political crisis in the Convention had echoes throughout the country, as moderates and radicals struggled for control of local governments. In several big provincial cities, violent local disputes pitted moderate and radical republicans against each other. The Convention even tried to remove the rebel city's name from the map: Lyon was to be renamed "Liberated City". The political crisis in the Convention had echoes throughout the country, as moderates and radicals struggled for control of local governments. The dream of creating a moralized revolutionary utopia was embodied in efforts to create a new revolutionary culture. Both contemporaries and historians have recognized Maximilien Robespierre as the leading figure among the Committee of Public Safety's members. Robespierre was better known than his colleagues on the Committee of Public Safety because he was called on most often to justify its actions and the system of revolutionary government.
