The October Days

5–6 Oct 1789 — Thousands of Parisian market women march on Versailles over the price of bread and bring the royal family back to Paris — as guests, then as hostages.

THE MOMENT IN CONTEXT

France’s government could not reliably tax the wealth it governed. Interest on war debt consumed much of the budget, while noble and Church privileges limited reform. The 1788 harvest failure raised bread prices just as the state sought new revenue. Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General, which had not met since 1614. Elections and written grievance lists gave millions of people a language and process for national change.

From Chapter 3 — The French Revolution of The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848 (JUL 1789).

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TEACH THIS IN 5 MINUTES

Why it happened — The bill for two empires’ wars. France fought Britain for a century and paid for America’s liberty last; unlike Britain, it had no parliament to legitimize taxes and no Bank of…
The turn — The Bastille, 14 July 1789. Militarily trivial — seven prisoners, a hundred dead. Politically absolute: the king’s soldiers would not fire on Paris, and everyone saw it. Power…
What it changed — Sovereignty changes its address. “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation” — Article 3. Once stated, no throne in Europe is safe from the question, which…

Then ask the room: Could Louis XVI have saved the monarchy — and if so, when was the last exit? The argued answer is on the chapter page →