During the Reign of Terror, there were many forms of execution. The most widely utilized form was the guillotine. The guillotine was a killing machine used to enforce capital punishment by decapitation. It was introduced to France in 1792 during the revolution.
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The French doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) was credited with the invention of the guillotine. However, a machine similar to the guillotine had already been used in other countries including Germany, England, Italy, Scotland, and Persia. The machine used in other countries was mainly used to humanely kill farm animals. Guillotin saw these machines and developed an idea for a more humane method of capital punishment. Ironically, he intended this machine to be used for private executions, so that the condemned could die with dignity. Unfortunatly, the guillotine became a tool used for quick, effeicent murders. When Dr. Guillotin realized this, he was horrified and tried to disassociate himself from it. Since it was named after him, his claims that he had nothing to do with the guillotine were not believed.
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During the French Revolution, all classes of people were executed equally. The first execution by guillotine was on April 25, 1792, when Nicolas Jacques Pelletie was beheaded at Place de Grève on the Right Bank. King Louis was beheaded on January 21, 1793. Thousands of people were beheaded during the French Revolution. Executions became somewhat of a public celebration. People would come out to watch the beheadings, after jeering and shouting insults at the condemned. Many people used these large crowds to their advantage by peddling their wares during the executions. The last execution by guillotine took place in Marseilles, France on September 10, 1977, when the murderer Hamida Djandoubi was beheaded.
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There were various other ways of execution. One account talks about a magistrate named Jean Baptiste Carrier who sent many boats of prisoners onto the Loire River. On the bottom of each boat was a trap door. He ordered that these trapped were to be opened, thus causing the boats to sink and the prisoners to drown. That's where the word "noyade" comes from. It means "massive drowning".
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