One of the few presentations on here that is actually about the guillotine and the french revolution

1. THE GUILLOTINE

2. THE GUILLOTINE
Was proposed as a humane form of
punishment for capital crimes.

3. 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

4. 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 equality
The also wanted people to be equal in death

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. THE BLADE FALLS FASTER THAN THE
HUMAN EYE CAN BLINK
The blade can behead a person in 1/1200th
of a second

10. 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

11. 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

12. IT WAS LAST USED IN FRANCE IN 1979
In 1981 France abolished the death penalty
entirely

13. 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.