THE REIGN OF TERROR. The Musée Carnavalet features exhibits on the history of Paris, including the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a period of extreme violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution from September 1793 to July 1794. As conflicting revolutionary parties battled each other after the executions of the monarchs, mass executions of “enemies of the revolution” took place. The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with some 17,000 executed by guillotine and another 25,000 killed in summary executions across France. The executions were carried out by the Committee of Public Safety, largely led by a fanatical revolutionary, Maximilien Robespierre. Ultimately more rational French revolutionaries recognized Robespierre’s excesses and sent him to the guillotine for execution. French physician Joseph Ignace-Guillotin did not invent the execution device, but he was the man who called for reformation of capital punishment in France with the guillotine used, instead of less humane and painful devices.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:58:05 +0000
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