Did you know that the guillotine was still being used when the movie Star Wars (1977) was released? Perhaps you were unaware that the French celebrate almost a dozen national holidays every year? Maybe you were uniformed that about a third to a half of basic English words are derived from French words, including but not limited to: surf, view, strive, challenge, pride, and war? As you can see from the above information, the country of France has has a long and convoluted history, during which their advanced military, culture, and holidays have developed greatly.
Imagine being forced into laying down horizontally and looking out towards the masses of people surrounding you. You attempt to look up, but the wooden restraints around your neck are holding you down. The only thing that you can see is the blue sky, and just floating on the edges of your peripheral vision, the slight glint of the incredibly shiny and heavy metal blade hanging about fourteen feet above your head. As you hear the creaking of the rope that holds your life in place, you begin to sweat. This was how death came to King Louis XVI, and many others who fell under the mighty power of the French military. These individuals were executed by one of the most powerful death machines of the day: the infamous guillotine. According to the article, “Off With Their Heads- History of the Guillotine,” it took about a seventieth of a second for the guillotine to fall from its apex to its nadir, (a distance that was an even fourteen feet on average,) while the actual beheading only took a miniscule two hundredths of a second. The rate of speed for a guillotine was approximately twenty one feet a second. Despite this apparent speediness, these executions were apparently far fr...
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...ay because it was the day that Germany surrendered and the war ended. On this day, there is a minute of silence but no military parade. Another holiday that celebrates an ending of a war is the 8th of May or Victoire 1945, which admires the end of World War II and another victory among the French. People attend parades, sing patriotic songs, hang the national flag all over the country, and sometimes remember the people that died serving France in the war. As a result, of these national days that remember wars, the French can pay a tribute to the dead.
In conclusion, the French culture is one that has diversified itself throughout the years, particularly in the areas of: military, culture and holidays. This can be shown through the great legacy and history that the French people have left behind them in the years past, and still continue to produce to this day.
The guillotine was first introduced during the French Revolution by a man named Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. He is a physician who first was involved with the issues of medicine. On December 1, 1789 he became interested in the idea of capital punishment. He invented the guillotine. It was a contraption used for causing immediate and painless death. It included a falling blade, running between two upright boards of wood and later a basket. Therefore, one may believe that the design of the guillotine helped with executions.
There are many cumulative events that have influenced Western Civilization reflective in today’s modern world, but the most impactful was the French Revolution. Western Civilization has many historic milestones building to the world as we know it, but none set such broad themes that are felt in our everyday life. Many of these themes have become so ingrained into the way we live that we can’t understand a world without them. For this reason, the effects of the French Revolution molded the westernized world more so than any other event. I consider the French Revolution the catalyst to how our world is shaped today. It’s ideas and events continue to echo through our lives century after century.
...st powerful symbols of the French Revolution and killed an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 people during the Reign of Terror. (Doc F) The guillotine was a sharp, angled blade that killed quickly the most deadly and feared method of invoking fear during the revolution. (Doc F) These methods; however, became too extreme and the deaths of the incident was not justified.
The impact of the Battle of Valmy was extremely evident after the decisive victory of the French. On September 20th, 1792, the allied forces amassed an army of up to roughly 104,000+ soldiers (40,000 Prussians, 30,000 Austrians, 15,000 French émigrés). France fought against its enemies for roughly 10 days, after the start of the battle. The allied forces made their hasty retreat back towards the border of France on September 3rd, 1792 and then moved out of France by October 23rd of the same year. The heavy impact that surrounds this battle is that, France’s enemies heavily underestimated their rivals and this led to the axis’ loss of the battle. After the word spread that the Battle of Valmy had been won by the allied forces, the morale of France as a whole was pushed upwards by this great news. The day after the battle had ended; France had officially become a republic, without the control of a monarch.
The Great Cat Massacre with out a doubt has one of the most unusual titles ever created especially for a book about history. Now this unusual title perhaps fits this book better than any other straight - forward title Mr. Darnton could have conjured. You see the text contained in the book isn’t just your standardized, boring, and redundant view of history. Most historical text looks at history from a political standpoint, of which king did what and what were the political effects of a war; then what were the politics like after the war, how were they changed and by which major political figures did the changing. Darnton instead of the old style of viewing history looks at it through the eyes of the people, and not the figures of history. Mr. Darnton’s book The Great Cat Massacre, reexamines French culture during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteen century with the eyes of the peasant’s. Robert Darnton looks at the writings of the peasant’s, and traces them to their origins and compares them to other text of similar origins and text, to create credible accounts or views of particular topics of the people during the era. In this review your going to see a summarization of the book, describing the various subjects of this book. After that I will comment on Mr. Darnton’s on some topics like his organization, writing style, and fairness to his subject material, then discuss the historical importance of the topics that Robert Darnton mentions in his book and give you my personal opinion of the book its self. Next I will discuss with you a battery of topics like why I choose the book, is the book controversial, what was the authors purpose for writing the book, what were some of the major theses, who or what Darnton’s sources were? Lastly I will end this review with a compare and contrast of potentially different views of what Robert Darnton is telling us in his book.
In my many countries is celebrated a day to remember the loved ones that perished. Each culture has its own way to celebrate or mourn this date. In the Latin American culture most all the countries in the South America celebrates this day from October 31st to November 2nd. In the U.S we have the Memorial Day that is celebrated in the last Monday of May. However, each place has a way to live the moment and to honor their precious one.
Originating on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, 1918, the cessation of fighting at the end of World War I would come to be known as Veterans Day. This hallowed day, was thought to be the end to wars, and was reflected upon by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 as representative of the solemn pride to honor those who died in service of their country. (VA.gov)
... would come day after day and vie for the best seats." The description Medieval Tortures provided of an execution by guillotine sounds very similar to how audiences watch horror movies. For both horror films and guillotine executions large crowds are attracted, people fight for the best seats, and individuals are killed. BLANK Though both horror films and guillotine executions are terrifying they offer us a necessary break from our daily lives.
...rtatious, and mainly associated with food. Even the character names such as "Cherie and Lumiere" of "Beauty and the Beast" promotes the romantic nature that the French are stereotyped for. Through the representation of this culture, children would only learn to associate the mentioned stereotypes toward the French and only that. They would not consider other characteristics that the French are also known for, not necessarily the romance and the great French cuisine that we already know of. Having said this, what Disney produced as a harmless depiction of the French, could furthermore fuel of what could be viewed as a limiting representation of the French culture.
There are several horrific punishment methods and devices put in place during the revolution, though the most commonly known is the guillotine. History.com says, “Over some 200 years of use, the guillotine claimed the heads of tens of thousands of victims ranging from common criminals to revolutionaries, aristocrats and even kings and queens” (Andrews, Evan. "8 Things You May Not Know About the Guillotine." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 15 Sep. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.). The guillotine takes the lives of many, and affects the families of the one it takes. While the gullone was scary for the victim, it was also used as entertainment for many. Often people watched and cheered as the guillotine executed its next victim. History.com says, “Children often attended guillotine executions, and some may have even played with their own miniature guillotines at home” (Andrews, Evan. "8 Things You May Not Know About the Guillotine." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 15 Sep. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.). Often the gullone is used as entertainment as people and even children watch the victim lose their head. The guillotine is a major punishment for aristocrats, revolutionaries, and even normal
Execution as a form of criminal punishment has been used throughout various parts of the world since the Middle Ages. In fact, back in that time, even petty offenses such as committing adultery or stealing from a food vendor were considered criminal enough to be worthy of death. During the 18th century, death by execution became subject to public display, and was even thought by some to be a form of entertainment. This “entertainment” took shape via methods such as burning at the stake, breaking on the wheel, and slow strangulation. However, due to a growing humanitarian movement in the late 1800’s, these torturous methods became extinct. Rather, more “humane” forms of execution were implemented, such as by guillotine, hanging, or the headman’s axe. The pain inflicted by these was far less than the first three methods, as death was nearly instantaneous.
Execution by guillotine is also a type of capital punishment. It was invented by French surgeon and physiologist, Antoine Louis and German engineer, Tobias Schmidt. It was developed as a more human method of execution when compared to the breaking wheel. The guillotine consists of a tall upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade raised to the top and suspended. The convicted is secured at the bottom of the frame with the neck held directly below the blade and the blade is then dropped. It is usually done publicly to afflict fear into anyone who wishes to commit capital
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
Gofen, Ethel and Reymann, Blandine. Cultures of the World: France. New York: Times Media Private Limited, © 2003.