Reign of terror french revolution guillotine
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Guillotine
Apparatus designed for carrying out executions by beheading
This article is about the device used to carry out executions by beheading. For the paper slicing tool, see Paper cutter. For other uses, see Guillotine (disambiguation).
A guillotine (GHIL-ə-teenGHIL-ə-TEENGHEE-yə-teen)[1] is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean pass; the head falls into a basket or other receptacle below.
The guillotine is best known for its use in France, particularly during the French Revolution, where the revolution's supporters celebrated it as the people's avenger and the revolution's opponents vilifi
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The country had been bankrupted by war and the bourgeoisie (the upper and middle-classes) had limited political power. Educated citizens, influenced by the writers of the Enlightenment, became jaded with the absolutist regime that had been in place for centuries. They decided it was time for change. Different factions rose up within the various revolutionary governments, all with their own approaches and definitions of revolution.
The mob’s storming of the Bastille on 14 July signalled that a revolution had begun. Though mainly a symbolic attack – there were only a handful of prisoners in the Parisian fortress-prison – it was seen as an assault on royal authority. The King and his family were soon imprisoned, with a deadly fate awaiting them and many others across France.
This time of nationwide change brought into the public eye some colourful characters – many of whom lost their heads. We bring you the stories of some of the pivotal people who defined the Revolution.
Louis XVI
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For a lot of people, mention of the French Revolution conjures up images of wealthy nobles being led to the guillotine. Thanks to countless movies, books and half-remembered history lessons, many have been left with the impression the revolution was chiefly about chopping off the heads of kings, queens, dukes and other cashed-up aristocrats.
But as we approach what’s known in English as Bastille Day and in French as Quatorze Juillet – a date commemorating events of July 14 in that came to symbolise the French Revolution – it’s worth correcting this common misconception.
In fact, most people executed during the French Revolution – and particularly in its perceived bloodiest era, the nine-month “Reign of Terror” between autumn and summer – were commoners.
As historian Donald Greer wrote:
[…] more carters than princes were executed, more day labourers than dukes and marquises, three or four times as many servants than parliamentarians. The Terror swept French society from base