THE GUILLOTINE

THE GUILLOTINE

Was proposed as a humane form of punishment for capital crimes.

HOW CAN BEHEADING BE HUMANE?

Compared to hanging, drawing and quartering or using a sword or an axe it was very quick. And therefore more humane

IT WAS ALSO SEEN AS BEING EQUAL AMONG SOCIAL CLASSES

In France, the wealthy were beheaded and the poor were hanged. Because of the age of Enlightenment, revolutionaries wanted everyone to have a life of equalityThe also wanted people to be equal in death

IT QUICKLY BECAME A TOOL TO KILL ANY WHO OPPOSED THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Thousands of people were killed by the Guillotine during the Reign of Terror

GUILLOTINING WAS PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT

There were people selling food and souvenirs; guillotine earrings were quite popular!!!!

People were upset that the killings happened so quickly as a result there would be many beheadings in a day

BOTH MARIE ANTIONETTE AND LOUIS WERE GUILLOTINED

Louis tried to give a speech before he was killed and the crowd yelled at him to be quiet. He soon was.

Marie Antionette is reported to have apologized to the executioner when she accidentally stepped on his foot

SMALL GUILLOTINES WERE POPULAR CHILDREN’S TOYS

They would behead dolls Sometimes they would behead rodents, such as rats They were eventually banned because parents

thought they were a bad influence on the youth And you though parents only complained about

violent video games

THE BLADE FALLS FASTER THAN THE HUMAN EYE CAN BLINK

The blade can behead a person in 1/1200th of a second

HITLER USED THE GUILLOTINE

It is estimated that Hitler had over 17,000 people killed using the guillotine

That’s more than were killed during the French Revolution

JOSEPH GUILLOTIN DID NOT INVENT THE DEVICE

He presented the idea to the National Assembly

When the device was named after him he petitioned the courts to have the name of the device changed

He did not succeed

IT WAS LAST USED IN FRANCE IN 1979

In 1981 France abolished the death penalty entirely

SOURCES:

Andrews, Evan. "8 Things You May Not Know About the Guillotine."History.com. A&E Television Networks, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.