The Guillotine, as it came to be known, was an invention designed by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a professor of anatomy, during the French Revolution, in the interest of finding a humane form of execution to replace hanging, beheading by sword or axe, and other gruesome forms of execution.

The Guillotine was adopted as the only form of execution for France on March 20, 1792 and played a huge part in the French Revolution, almost universally endorsed by Revolutionaries, because of it's effectiveness, and that it was seen as a symbol of equality for citizens, in that all of the condemned, regardless of social rank or class, received an identical punishment. The Guillotine claimed thousands of victims during the course of the initial revolution and subsequent Reign of Terror.