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The guillotine the french revolution essay points
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The French revolution an event that occurred in modern Europe where thousands of innocent people lost their life, the revolution began in 1789 and ended in 1799 in which the famous military leader and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ascended and conquered the majority of Europe. A revolution is a “violent and historically necessary transition from one system of production in a society to the next, as from feudalism to capitalism” (Revolution). The French revolution was battle to gain higher positions in social classes. A revolution that allowed everyone to be equal in rights and opportunities, no matter of social status. The middle social class believed that in order to gain a higher rank in social rating system, they had to abolish rules and laws …show more content…
In the 1700s, the French government was beginning to adapt to Nationalism, an excessive amount of love to an individual’s own nation. The adaptation to Nationalism has caused an enormous amount of unfortunate events that has caused the death of hundredths of thousands innocent bystanders and total destruction was a consequences. Before the revolution began, France was a country that was branched by different categories like religion; the only thing that united the French was that everyone that lived in France had to serve the King. Nonetheless, towards the end of the 18th century a new sense of unity was beginning to develop amongst the French; many began to recognize that they did not have to serve the king, but to serve their …show more content…
The Guillotine became a popular method of execution in the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 and it was introduced by Dr. Joseph Guillotine. The Guillotine was a notorious instrument that was used since the French Revolution up until 1977, and it dates all the way back to the Middle Ages; executions that were done by the Guillotine, were a popular spectator event that frightened and entertained its viewers at the same time. It was considered a part of life during the reign of terror since executions went on a daily basis. “Torturous punishment was considered something that needed elimination which is why the Guillotine was introduced as a swifter more certain and thus more humane method of execution.” (Upshur et al.654). The Guillotine consisted of a sharp razor blade that weighed between 80-90 pounds (The blade originally was a straight razor, but then it was replaced with an angled razor to decrease the amount of maintenance required, increase the amount of operation between blades, and decrease the duration of death). Death by the Guillotine was supposedly a humane way because of its quick beheading
The guillotine was first introduced during the French Revolution by a man named Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. He is a physician who first was involved with the issues of medicine. On December 1, 1789 he became interested in the idea of capital punishment. He invented the guillotine. It was a contraption used for causing immediate and painless death. It included a falling blade, running between two upright boards of wood and later a basket. Therefore, one may believe that the design of the guillotine helped with executions.
A guillotine is a decapitation device that quickly chops off it’s victims head in the blink of an eye. According to document F, About 16,000 people were believed to have died at the hands of it. No matter how small or petty a crime was, people would have been executed for it. Even Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, the leaders of France before the Revolution, were decapitated by one, as was the leader of the Reign of Terror, Maximilien Robespierre. Another method to weed out the counter revolutionaries was a network of spies that watched out for anyone who spoke out against the government, “A careless word of criticism spoken against the government could put one in prison or worse” (Document E). The punishment for a crime as small as ththis was more often than not
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble, the common people were heavily taxed, leaving many of them in poverty.
The guillotine was one of the fastest and most painless ways to kill people. Before that though there were a lot more painful and torturous ways to execute people. For example, they used to hang people but they would also torture them, to make their death even more painful. During the Enlightment, people favored human rights and their well being, so they didn’t torture people as bad as before. During the Enlightment, people got more rights so they couldn’t be tortured as much like former executions. The guillotine made execution a lot better. The guillotine was an enlightened way to execute people.
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country.
The French Revolution, also known as the revolution of 1789, was a movement that helped shape France into what it is today. The Revolution may have started in 1787 but it wasn’t till 1789 when the revolution actually started to become worse. The Revolution had many reasons for why it started, but it was only a few major things that really made it happen.
...st powerful symbols of the French Revolution and killed an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 people during the Reign of Terror. (Doc F) The guillotine was a sharp, angled blade that killed quickly the most deadly and feared method of invoking fear during the revolution. (Doc F) These methods; however, became too extreme and the deaths of the incident was not justified.
Have you ever wondered what happened in the revolution? Would you know how to answer questions about it? Learn or discover when things happened?
The Committee of Public Safety was very worried with the idea of a royalist rebellion. Those who believed that there should be a monarch were upset that the Committee of Public safety did not have one. To stop this rebellion the Committee of Public Safety decided to kill those who opposed the revolution. This time period in which they began to kill the rebels is now known as “the Terror”. Steven Otfinoski explains the reason behind the “Terror” “ The purpose was to protect the public safety from enemies both in and outside of France” (Doc 34). The biggest supporter of the “Terror” was Maximilien Robespierre. In his speech to the National Convention he said “We must smother the internal and external enemies of the republic or parish” (Doc 36). This shows that Robespierre wanted to be opposed by no one. This shows his motivation to become the only man who had power in the french government. Robespierre needed a new way to get rid of those who opposed him in a way to set an example to others. This way he found in the Guillotine. This use of the Guillotine betrayed the punishment ideas that were encouraged by Beccaria. In Beccaria's “Essay on Crimes and Punishments” he states “Such punishments,therefore,and such a mode of inflicting them,ought to be chosen, as will make the strongest and most
The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.
1. Why and how did the French Revolution take a radical turn entailing terror at home and war with European powers?
First of all, the French Revolution is one of the reasons the Eiffel Tower was built. In 1789 the French Revolution started for many reasons. Those reasons are rising taxes, wanted a new ruler, food shortages, impoverished peasants, ravenous royals and violence. The revolution started as a dispute over tax reforms soon evolved to a movement for political reforms. Also what got the revolution started was the peasants were tired of the high taxes that was only put on them and also the high food prices. During the war they had guillotines that they first used it on one if the leaders of the Reign of Terror, Robespierre. He was sent to the guillotine by his rivals when he was in charge he had condemned many to the same fate. There were also lies, corruption, and angry town
The revolutions that swept the world from 1765 to 1815 was an era marked by both relatively peaceful enlightenment based overthrows of repressive governments, and extremely bloody uprisings based on violence and the repression of its own citizens. The United States revolution lasting from 1775 to 1783 and the French revolution lasting from 1789 to 1799 fit these descriptions perfectly; and although they both fall under the same time period, these revolutions could not differ more. When compared to each other, the ideas that the American and French revolutions were founded on were similar, but the outcomes and the ways in which each revolution were executed were vastly different.
The French Revolution was one of the larger social revolutions. It can be considered a revolution on the political, social, religious, and economic front, although the biggest causes were social. The French Revolution began on July 14, 1789, with the fall of Bastille and continued until the rise of power of Napoleon Bonaparte. The main re...
The French Revolution, which occurred from 1789 to 1799, was a time where the monarchy was overthrown, a republic was formed, and limits were put on the church. The French Revolution ended with the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The French Revolution created France’s legislative assembly, which is still in place today. Many would argue that the Enlightment was a cause of the French Revolution, but the Enlightment was not one of the main drivers for the Revolution. The bad living conditions, France’s monarchy, and the involvement in the American Revolution and other wars caused the French Revolution.