Facing the Guillotine Quiz | European

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1. The guillotine was an execution machine that became famous during the French Revolution. Its main weapon was a large blade between two wooden beams. Most guillotines had a part known as the lunette, a head restraint that would hold the prisoner's head in place. When the blade was released, the blade would decapitate the victim, leaving the head to fall off in a basket or some other container. Most executions were a public event with large crowds of spectators, who sometimes would applaud or cheer.

Answer: True

During the French Revolution, the guillotine became one of the most common methods of execution. Executions were often public events, that could attract crowds of spectators that would sometimes applaud or cheer with each execution. Executioners would often hold up the decapitated head for the crowd to see and react to. For many, it was a shameful death, where some victims experienced more pain than others due to complications and malfunctions with the guillotine.

The guillotine could often host more than twenty executions in one day, using the same blade for every victim. Most executions were often back to back, and victims rarely had the decency of having the blade or the guillotine itself cleaned off before they faced their own fate.

It is estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 people were executed this way during the French Revolution.

2. This highwayman was convicted of armed robbery. Which of these is considered the first official victim of the guillotine during the French Revolution?

Answer: Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier

Little is known about Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier, except his role as the first human victim of the model of guillotine that was used during the time period of the French Revolution. He had been a highway man and was convicted of armed robbery and petty theft.

3. This man's birth name was Louis Auguste. He became the king of France in 1774, at a time where France was bankrupt, and its people were suffering socially and economically. He became the target of hatred for those who despised the ancient tradition of the monarchy and the nobility. As the French Revolution grew in popularity, this king became a prisoner. When he tried to flee to his wife's country to regain control of his kingdom, he became known to many as a traitor, and an enemy of the Revolution. Which of these was the king that was arrested, tried before the National Convention and was sentenced to the guillotine for treason and high crimes against the state?

Answer: Louis XVI

Louis XVI became king of France during a very weak point in his country's history. He was indecisive as a leader, and was known for being easily persuaded by his colleagues and his queen. When France became a constitutional monarchy, Louis XVI found his power whittled away, leaving him more as a national symbol, than a king with power. Louis XVI decided to flee to Austria, to gain an ally in helping him regain his power, but when he and his family had arrived only a few miles from the border, they were arrested and brought back to Paris as traitors. Louis XVI was tried before the National Convention, a group of Representatives from around the country, and was found guilty of treason and high crimes against his country.

At his execution, Louis tried to make a speech but was quickly silenced by the guards and executed.

His head was held up before the crowd after decapitation. His body was denied the honor of an ornate tomb, and instead his remains were buried in a pit with quicklime.

4. This lady was not originally from France, but was a young archduchess from Austria. She became the wife of the king who ruled France at the time of outbreak of the French Revolution, but was often despised because of her extreme love of fashion and display of wealth. Which of these was the queen of France that was convicted and sentenced to the guillotine on charges of treason?

Answer: Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is one of the most famous victims of the French Revolution. Before becoming Louis XVI's wife at the age of fourteen, she was an archduchess of Austria. During her imprisonment, Louis XVI was guillotined, and her son was taken away from her in an attempt to prevent a revolt of people trying to reestablished the monarchy.

When she was finally put on trial she was only in her thirties. However the queen resembled an old woman with white hair, most likely caused by the stress and experiences she had gone through while she was in prison.

She was denied the privilege of riding in a closed carriage to her execution. Instead she was taken to the guillotine in a common prisoner cart, where people could mock and give verbal abuse. She was executed on October 16, 1793.

5. This lady was very loyal to the royal family, and was by their side during most of their tragic experiences during the French Revolution. Which one of these ladies was executed during the Great Terror primarily because she was the youngest sister of the king during the French Revolution?

Answer: �lisabeth Philippine Marie H�l�ne

�lisabeth Philippine Marie H�l�ne of France was the youngest sister of Louis XVI. Although she had the opportunity to leave France, she stayed on her own accord and chose to remain with her brother's family. She lived in the Tulleries Palace, when the royal family was forced to move to Paris, and accompanied her brother's family on their unsuccessful attempt to flee to Austria.

After her brother's execution and the removal of her nephew, she spent her life with Marie Antoinette in prison, up until the queen's own execution.

When �lisabeth Philippine Marie H�l�ne was brought to trial herself, she was accused of assisting King Louis XVI in his escape from Paris, aiding enemies with funds, encouraging the resistance of royal troops, and sexually abusing her own nephew.

She was sentenced to death, and faced the her fate on the guillotine on May 10, 1794.

6. This lady was a French courtesan and mistress to King Louis XV, but was banished from the court according to the King Louis XV's last wishes while he was on his deathbed. Which one of these ladies was convicted of treason and guillotined during the time period known as the "Great Terror"?

Answer: Madame du Barry

Madame du Barry had the chance to escape the French Revolution, and could have avoided her death. She had gone to England concerning her stolen jewelry, and was advised to stay there when popular feeling turned against the nobility in France during the Great Terror. During the Great Terror, many were executed because of the positions they held, or for the slightest accusation, in order to strike fear into those that would betray the republic. Madame du Barry, was not of noble birth, but because of her position as mistress to the former king, it put her in danger.

She returned to France and was arrested in 1793. She was thrown in prison, then sent to trial where she was accused of treason and convicted. At her execution, Madame Du Barry is best remembered for her hysterical rants, and her last words, "Another moment Mr. Executioner, just a little moment".

7. Although many of the people who faced the guillotine were sentenced to death because of they were members of, or connected with the nobility, or were considered criminals, the guillotine reached leaders of religious faith as well. Which of these was a Roman Catholic bishop and a politician?

Answer: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel was the archbishop of Paris, who became a politician through his election by the Roman Catholic clergy to the Estates General. His resignation as a member of the clergy, marked him as a threat to leaders, who thought he had become an atheist.

He was accused of joining the H�bertists, an anti-Christian group that wanted a nonreligious government and were enemies of the government's 'Cult of the Supreme Being' religion. Gobel was guillotined on the same day as the leaders of the H�bertists on April 12, 1794.

8. This lady was born into a aristocratic family, but due to the family tragedy of her mother dying, her father sent her to a covent. She was supporter of a political group known as the Girondins, a moderate political group during the French Revolution. Fearing her country would be split by a civil war, she became famous for the murder of a radical member of the Jacobin party, whom she blamed for many of the unnecessary deaths that occurred at the guillotine. Which of these ladies was convicted and guillotined for the murder of a famous revolutionary and newspaper journalist?

Answer: Marie-Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont

Marie-Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont was also known as Charlotte Corday during the French Revolution. She was responsible for assassinating Jean Paul Marat, an outspoken newspaper journalist who was responsible for publishing the newspaper, "L'Ami du peuple".

In his newspaper Marat had often called for the executions of many "traitors" and "enemies" of France, and most of the people he named did meet their deaths at the guillotine. Charlotte Corday believed Marat was an agitator of violence and feared his influence could spark a civil war.

While Marat was in his bathtub, she visited him claiming she had reports of a Girondist uprising. However instead of getting any news for his newspaper, Marat received a fatal stab from a large kitchen knife directed by Corday.

When questioned at her trial, Charlotte Corday boldly admitted to her crime saying,"I killed one man to save 100,000".

9. Although many individuals who met death at the guillotine were executed because of 'high crimes', or their position in society, some of the popular leaders of the French Revolution met their fate at the guillotine as well. Although this man may not have had the advantage of a charming appearance, he was a great orator during the French Revolution and a very powerful influence. Which of these men was accused of 'anti-revolutionary activity', after he had called for an end to the event known as the Great Terror?

Answer: Georges Jacques Danton

Georges Jacques Danton was a great speaker during the French Revolution. Danton often gave rallying speeches concerning the revolution, recruiting volunteers for the military, and securing the arrest of political suspects. Danton was member of the Committee of Public Safety during its early days, but when he began to call for a peaceful end to the war and an end to violence, he was viewed by his colleagues as an traitor. Fearing Danton would turn against the Committee of Public Safety, his collegues had him arrested, and convicted in a possibly rigged trial.

In one of his famous quotes, Danton said to his executioner, "Show my head to the people, it is worth seeing." Danton was guillotined on April 6, 1794.

10. This man was a famous leader of the French Revolution, and the head of the Committee of Public Safety, a group of men responsible for sending and signing the death warrants of many individuals during the Great Terror. Ironically, although this man's influence sent many to the guillotine, the machine became his fate as well. Which of these men was known as "the Incorruptible"?

Answer: Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre was an highly influential leader of the French Revolution. He had started out as a lawyer in his hometown of Arras, and became involved in politics with his election to the Estates General. Robespierre became a known speaker during the French Revolution, and made friends with Georges Danton.

They both served on the Committee of Public Safety, which was a small group that sought out enemies of France and ruled the country by fear. However when Danton began to call for an end of violence, proposing that they move forward with making France a stabilized country, the issue broke Danton and Robespierre apart with Robespierre viewing the ideas as treason.

Many thought Robespierre became insane, when he created the "Cult of the Supreme Being", and charged him making himself dictator of France.

In his last speech, Maximilien Robespierre tried to defend himself of these charges, claiming that leaders of the National Convention were traitors, and he had a list of conspiracies. Robespierre never produced the list, and the members of the National Convention feared he had become too powerful.

They proclaimed Robespierre an outlaw, and sought to have him and his followers arrested. At the realization of their surrounding by troops at the hotel where they were gathered, Robespierre and his followers panicked. Robespierre tried to commit suicide, but failed, only shattering his jaw. Unable to defend himself, he spent the night in the room of the Committee of Public Safety awaiting his execution. He was guillotined on July 28, 1794 - and the Great Terror ended.

Source: Author exceller

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Facing the Guillotine Trivia Quiz

A bloody execution style indeed. Come and find out about the victims of the guillotine during the French Revolution, and the instrument that sent them to their fate!

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