Editing Execution by firing squad (section)

==Military significance==
[[File:Austrians executing Serbs 1917.JPG|thumb|Serbian [[Prisoner of war|civilian prisoners]] arranged in a semi-circle, executed by an [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] firing squad in World War I]]
[[File:Poprava vůdců rumburské vzpoury 1918.jpg|thumb|Execution by [[Austria-Hungary]] of Czech leaders of a [[mutiny]] against their superior officers, 1918]]
[[File:The Bochnia massacre German-occupied Poland 1939.jpg|thumb|right|Mass execution of 56 Polish citizens in [[Bochnia]], near [[Kraków]], following the [[Nazi invasion of Poland]], December 18, 1939]]

The method is often the capital punishment or disciplinary means employed by [[military court]]s for crimes such as [[Cowardice#Military law|cowardice]], [[desertion]], [[espionage]], [[murder]], [[mutiny]], or [[treason]].

If the condemned prisoner is an ex-officer who is acknowledged to have shown bravery throughout their career, they may be afforded the privilege of giving the order to fire. Cases of this are the executions of [[Marshal of France|Marshals]] [[Michel Ney]] and [[Joachim Murat]]. As a means of insulting the condemned, however, past executions have had them shot in the back, denied blindfolds, or even tied to chairs. When [[Galeazzo Ciano]], son-in-law of [[Benito Mussolini]], and several other former fascists who voted to remove Mussolini from power were executed, they were tied to chairs facing away from their executioners. By some reports, Ciano managed to twist his chair around at the last second to face them, but this is unconfirmed.{{cn|date=March 2025}}