The Guillotine During The French Revolution

338 Words2 Pages
The notorious killing machine of the French Revolution was, in fact, the guillotine. They had used the guillotine to execute anyone that would have refused to obey what the government would have wanted at the time. Out of the thousands of people to be executed by this killing machine, some higher power was also taken to. This included King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Estimated of the number of lives taken by the guillotine during the French Revolution range from 17,000 to 40,000 citizens. It had a large blade which would use gravity to land down onto the back of the prosecutor 's neck, which would leave the guilty one beheaded. This notorious machine was developed back in late 1789 when Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin thought that there was