1-153-739 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Victims of the Terror, French Revolution, 1794. The last victims of the Reign of Terror being taken to the guillotine in a tumbril. The Terror was imposed by the revolutionary authorities with the objective of suppressing counter-revolutionary activity by means of state terrorism. Under the direction of Maximilien Robespierre and his fellow members of the Committee for Public Safety, thousands of people were condemned to death between September 1793 and July 1794. Estimates of the number of victims vary widely, from 18,000 to as many as 40,000.