Against historical illiteracy, a thread:

I have seen many people invoke the language and imagery of the French Revolution, particularly the guillotine, as a force for positive change the likes of which we need again.

I wonder what they think happened during the Reign of Terror.

The popularly understood narrative seems to be that Madame Guillotine took the heads off the king and queen and the aristos, all enemies and oppressors of the people. One feels safe in calling for her return, presumably, if one is not an enemy of the people.

Here are a few - a mere few - of the other victims of the Terror, that might suggest otherwise:

Olympe de Gouges: feminist, abolitionist, playwright, and political pamphleteer; supporter of the revolution. Executed by guillotine on 3 November 1793.

Jacques Hébert: journalist, founder and editor of a radical newspaper, harsh critic of Marie Antoinette and proponent of revolutionary violence. Executed by guillotine on 24 March 1794.

François Joseph Westermann: Revolutionary general famous for brutally putting down the royalist insurgency in the Vendée. Executed by guillotine on 5 April 1794.

Madame Roland: salonnière, revolutionary activist, and political strategist. Executed by guillotine on 8 November 1793.

Claude Fauchet: republican bishop, supporter of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, member of the National Convention. Executed by guillotine on 31 October 1793.

Philippe d'Orleans: Liberal aristocrat and supporter of the Jacobins, changed his name to Philippe Égalité and voted in favor of the death of Louis XVI. Executed by guillotine on 6 November 1793, under the terms of a law he voted for.

Jacques Pierre Brissot: abolitionist, pamphleteer, publisher of a revolutionary newspaper, and leader of the Girondin faction in the revolutionary government. Executed by guillotine on 31 October 1793. Sang the Marseillaise on the way to the scaffold.

Georges Danton: revolutionary leader and proponent of revolutionary violence, first president of the Committee of Public Safety. Executed by guillotine on 5 April 1794. Famously predicted Robespierre's downfall would follow his own.

And of course, Maximilien Robespierre: leader of the Jacobins, member of the Committee of Public Safety, widely regarded as the chief architect of the Reign of Terror. Executed by guillotine on 28 July 1794 following the Thermidorian Reaction.

Being a liberal or progressive will not save you from the guillotine. Being a journalist or intellectual will not save you from the guillotine. Supporting the revolution will not save you from the guillotine. Sending others to the guillotine will not save you from the guillotine.

Revolutionary terror is not a neat affair. No one is safe. If you rush to put the Enemies of the People under the national razor, you may be disappointed to find yourself one day counted among their number.

Fin.

I guess the UK isn't a modern society by your standards?