Guillotine

“The guillotine was used during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Now that the power of the Girondists was broken, and military successes had strengthened the revolutionary party in control, France entered upon that part of the Revolution known as the Reign of Terror. The characteristic feature of the next few months was the wholesale murder of all persons suspected of hostility toward the Jacobin government or lukewarmness on its behalf. To be sure, the victims enjoyed the show of a judicial trial, but sentence was rendered without regard to justice or the facts of the case and execution followed quickly. The guillotine, named after its inventor, Dr. Guillotin, was a serviceable instrument for disposing quickly of the condemned, and hardly a day passed without seeing a score or more of suspected persons beheaded in the city of Paris alone."—Colby, 1899

Downloads