Western Civilization II / Unit 7 WC2 0624 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Robespierre and the Guillotine
Captions available
The idea
Robespierre, called the Incorruptible, dominated the Committee. The guillotine, named for the doctor who proposed it, made execution mechanical and public. Suspects were arrested by category, and militants terrorized the very peasants they claimed to represent.
In practice
The biggest battles of the Terror were against royalists, not foreigners.
Where people slip
The anchor's judgment on the militants is attributed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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