The Women's March on Versailles, October 5, 1789
"Bread!" they shouted. "Bread!" as they trudged the 12 miles from Paris to Versailles. They were a mob of the poor, most of them women (and some men dressed as women). They were marching on the king's palace at Versailles because they were suffering from a fierce hunger. Since the summer of 1788, first a terrible drought, then hailstorms, and then the coldest winter France had know
n in 80 years had made food scarce. Thousands of unemployed workers had flooded the French cities, especially Paris. Food shortages brought on starvation and outbreaks of disease among the poor. Thousands had died.
n in 80 years had made food scarce. Thousands of unemployed workers had flooded the French cities, especially Paris. Food shortages brought on starvation and outbreaks of disease among the poor. Thousands had died.
It was October 5, 1789 - only a little over three months since the French Estates General had proclaimed itself the National Assembly (the legal represen-tative of the French people) and the king, Louis XVI, had acquiesced in the decision. This, the first assault of the revolution, was peaceful; but on July 14, 1789, the revolution was baptized in blood: armed mobs had attacked the Bastille, killing its governor and some soldiers, stabbing and beheading its commander. About 100 of the assailants were killed in the attack.
To the surprise and joy of the insurgents, King Louis XVI did not retaliate; instead, he gave in to insurgent demands. Paris, and the city government the king created for Paris, the commune, would have its own armed force, commanded by the revolutionary nobleman, Gilbert du Motier, the marquis de Lafayette (a hero of the American Revolution). Secure behind their own armed force, the members of the National Assembly could proceed with their political revolution. On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen -- a document that proclaimed the people, not the king, the supreme authority in France. Louis XVI would hold the title of king, but effectively his power had passed to the people and their "representative" -- the National Assembly.
So, if the people were triumphant in France, why, on October 5, 1789, were a mob of the people marching on Versailles? The excerpt we offer here* from our middle-school volume, Light to the Nations II: The Making of the Modern World, tells the background of the march and its consequences. The march on Versailles proved to be one of the pivotal events of the French Revolution, for it is the first chapter in what may fairly be called the "Tragedy of Louis XVI" -- a tragedy that ended four years later under the falling blade of the guillotine.
*The attachment is not a facsimile of the published book.
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