Comment by kergonath

> Most guillotined were commoners [0] - not the wealthy nor the intelligentsia.

The guillotine for everyone was itself an egalitarian idea (I am not saying it really was progress, because the death penalty in itself is atrocious, but...) The status quo before was that the nobles were decapitated with a sword or axe (quick and usually painless death), whilst the commoners were hanged (usually long and very painful). In that light, a quick and painless death for everyone was better.