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He loses his authority, and
then, he loses his head on
January 21, 1793.
>> ROWE: Even with the death of
Louis XVI, monarchs and emperors
would rule France for almost
another 100 years, but once the
country does gain its freedom in
the 1880s, the anniversary of
the storming of the Bastille is
chosen as a national holiday.
>> HUNT: Just as the Statue of
Liberty has become the kind of
enduring symbol, all over the
world, of the idea of freedom,
so, too, the attack on the
Bastille has become the model of
what it means when a people goes
into rev
>> ROWE: The day after the
storming, crowds gathered at the
Bastille and began dismantling
it, piece by piece.
One clever entrepreneur decided
to sell the stones as
revolutionary souvenirs.
The idea caught on, and the
rubble of the Bastille spread
across France faster than the
spirit of reform.
For the History Channel, I'm
Mike Rowe.
Join me next time on, The Most.
>> Narrator: THIS WAS ONE BUSY
GUILLOTINE BLADE BACK IN 1792.
THE FRENCH WERE LOPPING OFF
HEADS AT A RECORD PACE, THANKS
TO THE SHARP PRECISION OF THE
NEW KILLING CONTRAPTION.
NO ONE KNEW THAT BETTER THAN
MARIE ANTOINETTE, A TEEN QUEEN
WHO, DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION, WAS AWAITING
HER TURN BEFORE THE SHINY BLADE.
COME NOW AND SEE HOW SHE MET THE
BLADE WHOSE DOWNFALL LED TO
HERS.
THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE IN THE
18th CENTURY WAS TYPICAL OF
REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.
THE COUNTRY WAS IN DISARRAY, THE
MONARCHY HAD LOST TOUCH WITH THE
PROBLEMS OF THE PEASANTS, AND
KING LOUIS XVI HAD LOST CONTROL.
RIOTS AND MASSACRES HAPPENED
REGULARLY.
EXECUTIONS DURING THESE
TUMULTUOUS DAYS WERE ON THE
RISE.
THE ARM OF THE GRAND
EXECUTIONER, THE CHIEFX MAN,
WAS GETTING TIRED.
WHY NOT MECHANIZE, SAVE A LITTLE
SWEAT, LET GRAVITY DO THE JOB?
IN 1789, THAT'S WHAT DR. JOSEPH
IGNACE GUILLOTIN TOLD THE FRENCH
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
HE PROPOSED AN IMPROVED NECK
CHOPPER.
"THE MECHANISM FALLS LIKE
LIGHTNING," HE SAID, "THE HEAD
FLIES OFF; THE BLOOD SPURTS; THE
MAN NO LONGER EXISTS."
FAST, USER FRIENDLY.
IT WAS ALSO SEEN AS A MORE
HUMANE WAY TO DO THE JOB-- ONE
CLEAN SLICE, AS OPPOSED TO
REPEATED CHOPS-- AND VERY
DEMOCRATIC.
AS IT WAS, PEASANTS WERE
GENERALLY HANGED OR TORTURED TO
DEATH, WHILE NOBLEMEN WERE
BEHEADED BY AN UNSTEADY SORT OF
CHOPPING BLADE.
ALL WOULD BE EQUAL UNDER THIS
BLADE'S COLD PRECISION.
AND WITH PRISONS OVERCROWDED,
SLICING THE WAITING LIST WAS A
TOP PRIORITY.
GUILLOTIN GOT THE GO AHEAD.
A PHYSICIAN NAMED ANTOINE LOUIS
DREW UP PLANS FOR THE DEVICE.
>> IT'S OFTEN BEEN SAID THAT
THAT SPACE BETWEEN THE PARALLEL
BARS WHERE THE BLADE HANGS IS
THE SPACE OF DEATH.
DEATH BECOMES VISIBLE, BECAUSE
IT'S THAT SPACE WHICH WILL BE
TRAVERSED BY THE FALLING BLADE.
>> Narrator: A HARPSICHORD MAKER
ACTUALLY BUILT THE ORIGINAL
MACHINE, WHICH WAS FIRST TESTED
ON SHEEP, THEN HUMAN CADAVERS.
>> AND THEN, THE FIRST PUBLIC
TESTING WAS MADE AND A CRIMINAL
WAS EXECUTED.
>> Narrator: THAT WAS ON APRIL
25, 1792.
THE CROWDS WERE HUGE-- AS USUAL.
EXECUTIONS WERE ENTERTAINMENT.
THEY WERE USED TO A PAGEANTRY OF
MUTILATION.
AX-WIELDING EXECUTIONERS OFTEN
MISSED.
TODAY WOULD BEIFFERENT.
>> THE GREAT INNOVATION AS FAR
AS THE BLADE WAS CONCERNED WAS
TO MAKE THE SLOPING BLADE,
BECAUSE THE SLOPING BLADE THEN
CUTS INCREMENTALLY INTO THE NECK
AND DOES A SLICING, RATHER THAN
A CHOPPING.
>> Narrator: THE AIM OF THIS
MACHINE WAS ALWAYS DEAD-ON.
AND OF COURSE, THERE WERE MANY
MORE SLICINGS PER HOUR.
AS MANY AS 30 CRIMINALS COULD BE
DISPATCHED IN ONE DAY OF
RECKONING.
THE BLADE FELL PERFECTLY EVERY
TIME.
AH, SWEET MUSIC, UNLESS, OF
COURSE, YOU WERE KING LOUIS XVI
LOUIS'S RULE HAD DISINTEGRATED,
YET HE WOULD NOT STEP ASIDE.