18
votes
Did Lenin order the execution of the Romanovs?
tl;dr Nobody knows.
If you haven't found anything conclusive, you are not alone: there's no agreement among the historians, either. Some say Lenin was not at all responsible, that the execution was ...
- 455
17
votes
Accepted
Under what legal theory was Mary Surratt hanged as an assassin of President Lincoln in 1865?
This is a legal issue that is perhaps better for Law SE than History SE (I'm on both sites).
Mary Surratt was found guilty of "conspiracy" to kill Lincoln. Under that legal theory, being part of a ...
- 104k
11
votes
Accepted
Why did the Nazis guillotine criminals but mostly hang political enemies, and why were the White Rose group an exception?
The key distinction was not between beheading and hanging, but rather "good" and "bad" beheading and "good" and "bad" hanging. Which in turn depended on the skill of the executioner. More highly ...
- 104k
8
votes
Were any French aristocrats guillotined facing up?
New World Encyclopedia:
[in 19th century Germany]... victim being decapitated either face up or down
depending on how the executioner predicted they would react to the
sight of the machine
The ...
- 26.7k
8
votes
Why did the Nazis guillotine criminals but mostly hang political enemies, and why were the White Rose group an exception?
One reason is that hanging is regarded to be one of the more disgraceful ways to kill a person, normally reserved for petty criminals, while beheading or shooting was regarded to be more 'honorable'. ...
- 3,441
8
votes
What was the biggest empire that never had capital punishment?
It is hard to answer your question.
Are you asking about the biggest empire that never ever had capital punishment during its entire existence as an empire? The problem with that would be defining ...
- 18.4k
5
votes
Did Lenin order the execution of the Romanovs?
From Robert Messie "Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty." (If you do not know, Ilyich in this context means Lenin.)
The link between the party ...
- 6,188
5
votes
Why was the swordsman of Calais chosen as Anne Boleyn's executioner?
The question breaks down into two parts: Why a swordsman instead of an axeman, and why the swordsman of Calais.
I now believe that the answer I posted earlier was only partially correct. This source ...
- 104k
5
votes
How old was the youngest white person sentenced to death in the U.S.A?
The youngest that I can find evidence of was Irving Hanchett, executed in Florida at 15 on 5/6/1910.
Irving Hanchett, barely 15 years of age, was executed by Florida in
1910. Only three months ...
- 5,960
4
votes
Accepted
Were any French aristocrats guillotined facing up?
Cursory googling suggests they were always face down during the French Revolution.
The Aftermath of the French Revolution by James R Arnold, for instance, notes in the Robespierre entry that:
...
- 23.1k
3
votes
What happened to all the French guillotines?
There's one in the Museum of Police next to an actual police station in Paris, Quartier Latin.
Address: 4 rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève - 75005 Paris
- 31
3
votes
What were common reasons people attended executions in mid 1930s.?
Unfortunately, I had trouble finding a source of evidence to link to you for this, but I recall that, in a high school US History class, we watched a documentary on the death penalty, and it covered ...
3
votes
How old was the youngest white person sentenced to death in the U.S.A?
It is certainly possible that, if one considers persons put to death by the civil and military officials of the Confederate States of America to be legally executed instead of murdered, the ...
- 75
3
votes
First execution by firing squad
Humayun, son of the first Mughal Emperor Babur, has been credited with the first execution by firing squad.
Over one hundred prisoners of war were captured along with around
eight war elephants. ...
- 3,169
2
votes
Accepted
Has capital penalty ever been a municipal-level decision?
Yes, this was common practise in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The republic was as loose a confederation as can possibly be. Each of the provinces was largely independent, and within ...
- 19.4k
1
vote
Why did the Nazis guillotine criminals but mostly hang political enemies, and why were the White Rose group an exception?
I know a lot about this subject so if I may, I will share it:
Hitler decreed that the uniform execution method throughout German and the
"Greater Reich" would be beheading by fallbeil (...
1
vote
Why was the swordsman of Calais chosen as Anne Boleyn's executioner?
Cutting off a head in one blow is somewhat harder than it may sound; the main issues are that the vertebrae are hard bones and unless the executioner is skilled he could miss, hitting the head or back ...
- 37.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible