Guide Note:
The Reign of Terror was a 10-month period during the French Revolution in which mass executions were carried out daily, the majority by the guillotine. Another method of execution was mass drownings, known as Noyades
Fast Facts:
- The Reign of Terror was led by Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin that once opposed the death penalty
- The guillotine was often referred to as "Madame Guillotine" or "The National Razor"
- Death toll estimates range from 18,000 to 40,000
- Roughly 250,000 people were imprisoned
- At the height of "The Terror," 50 people were being executed each day
- The public executioner in Paris during this period was Charles-Henri Sanson
- Biggest achievment was saving the revolutionary government from defeat
