During the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), led by Robespierre, claimed over 16,000 lives. This number, unfortunately, accounts only for those deaths that were legally documented. Killing innocents, the Revolutionaries abused the Law of Suspects by  hypocritically stating this law as their reason to mercilessly guillotine people. Horrifically, the Law of Suspects proclaimed that anybody who perpetrated any remotely suspicious activity could be executed. Citizens could be horribly punished for written works, casual statements, or even by the way that they acted. People were encouraged to rat out their neighbors, sometimes fabricating accusations just to get rid of them. This law, which was a real terror, condemned thousands inside Paris alone.