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Guillotins

Guillotins are a class of execution devices designed to carry out decapitation by a heavy blade that falls vertically under gravity. The mechanism centers on a weighted, angled blade sliding within a tall frame and guided by a groove. A lunette or similar restraint holds the condemned’s neck in place, while a release mechanism allows the blade to drop swiftly, producing a rapid, usually decisive, death.

The device is closely associated with late 18th-century France. The concept was promoted by Dr. Joseph-Ignace

Guillotins were used extensively during the French Revolution and remained the primary means of capital punishment

Today, guillotins are largely historical artifacts. Museums preserve surviving examples, and the word continues to appear

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Guillotin
as
a
humane
method
of
execution,
but
the
actual
design
was
developed
by
Antoine
Louis,
a
French
surgeon,
with
construction
by
the
German
engineer
Tobias
Schmidt.
The
first
guillotine-like
apparatus
was
installed
in
Paris,
and
the
first
execution
by
the
device
took
place
in
1792.
Over
the
ensuing
decades,
guillotins
were
produced
in
numerous
sizes
and
installations
and
became
the
standard
method
of
execution
in
France
for
many
years.
in
France
for
nearly
two
centuries.
Their
use
persisted
into
the
late
20th
century,
with
France
abolishing
capital
punishment
in
1981.
Beyond
France,
the
term
and
its
image
appeared
in
various
countries
and
contexts,
sometimes
as
a
symbol
of
revolutionary
justice
or
as
a
generic
term
for
similar
decapitation
devices.
in
discussions
of
legal
history,
human
rights,
and
the
cultural
legacy
of
the
French
Revolution.