Early morning of October 5, 1789, an
angry mob of women marched from Paris to Versailles armed with pitchforks,
pikes and muskets ready to fight for bread. During this time, there was poor
harvest and there was a shortage of supplies causing the limited supply of bread
to sharply rise. These women were demanding bread for their hungry families.
Bread is an essential need to the French people and was consumed every day so
this is a really important issue. It was a matter of survival, their lives and
their families lives depended on it. They headed for Versailles because there
were rumors going around that the palace often had grand and luxurious
banquets. This enraged the women and further encouraged them to march and
protest to the king. Due to the the anger and the strong will of the women they
were able to break in to the palace of Versailles and were able to make the
king agree to their demand. The king also decided to move his court to Paris
which was a fatal decision. He wasn't able to return to Versailles ever again. Since this was when the French Revolution
begun.
References:
http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/tpsocialsciences/world_history/dem_ideals/versailles.htm
http://frenchrevolutiontimelinesd.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/womens-march-on-versailles/
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151/French%20Revolution%20II/album/slides/WomenMarch_to_Versailles.html
Image: thekollektor.blogspot.com
References:
http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/tpsocialsciences/world_history/dem_ideals/versailles.htm
http://frenchrevolutiontimelinesd.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/womens-march-on-versailles/
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151/French%20Revolution%20II/album/slides/WomenMarch_to_Versailles.html
Image: thekollektor.blogspot.com