Capital Punishment In The French Revolution

The French Revolution, which lasted ten years, contained many grand and little, but important conflicts. These conflicts have great contribution as to why the war was prolonged. During this time period, there was chaotic bloodbaths and great suffering because of its failure to achieve all of its goals. Throughout the revolution, there was a certain time period where capital punishment was brought upon society. In the French Revolution, capital punishment was also known as the usage of the guillotine. AS Andrews suggested, the guillotine was a beheading device called the “planke” which was used in Germany and Flanders during the Middle Ages, and the English had a sliding axe known as the Halifax Gibbet, which may have been lopping off heads …show more content…
THESE guillotine showings were made into big events because these executions had developed as high entertainment. Many people came to the Place de la Revolution to see the showings of the guillotine doing its grisly work. The attendees would honor the guillotine’s actions with countless songs, jokes, and poems. The attendees who viewed the execution would also wave a new flag that showed the colors of the Republic. These spectators also “ could buy souvenirs, read a program listing the names of the victims, or even grab a quick bite to eat at a nearby restaurant called “Cabaret de la Guillotine””. During this time period, guillotine executions were shaped and developed as more humane executions which justifies why these executions were taken into consideration for actual public events. As seen as a humane method of execution, guillotines eventually took place in the lives of children. Children began to accept guillotines as a toy. Besides the often attending of children to the guillotine executions, children began to play with miniature versions of guillotines in their very homes. “Kids used the fully operational guillotines to decapitate dolls or even small rodents” for their pure entertainment. Eventually, these ‘toys’ were banned out of fear for the children that they were being viciously influenced by the guillotine. In addition, fascination about the guillotines and their …show more content…
The guillotine was put to work and was also known as “the new instrument of egalitarian justice” during that time. The guillotine was “adopted because it was an egalitarian and humanitarian form of capital punishment.” Execution with the usage of the guillotine was indeed considered a humane form of punishment. The thought of the guillotine being almost acceptable made it easier and more efficient to use it as an instrument to kill in larger numbers. In addition to killing in larger numbers, not only was the guillotine used during the French Revolution and during the Reign of Terror, the guillotine was also used in Germany in assistance to the Nazis. SINCE the guillotine remained as France’s state method of capital punishment, which was until the late 20th century, Adolf Hitler made the guillotine the state of method for execution for Germany as well. Hitler, too, considered execution by the guillotine to be a demeaning form of punishment, but yet, Hitler still used the guillotine for many political executions. Hitler demanded