Database: Women's March on Versailles

The Women's March was one of the inciting events of the French Revolution, and effectively brought the king under the power of the state.*
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* Which I should note is exactly what Mirabeau wanted, and part of the reason the assassins were there in the first place.
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On October 5, 1789, tired of wanting for food, and especially bread, more than 700 women from Les Halles, the biggest market in Paris, decided to act. They converged at the Paris City Hall, which they subsequently ransacked, taking 1700 muskets and 4 cannons. Workers from the Saint-Marceau and Saint-Antoine districts would come and join them. The crowd then made for Versailles.
When the crowd reached the marble courtyard of the château of Versailles, the King appeared. The crowd drew silent, respectful of their monarch. Then the Queen emerged. The angry mob hurled abuse at her before they began to shout: "To Paris!". The King and Queen, along with their children, were forced to return to the capital, where they stayed at the Tuileries Palace.
Category:Database: Events
Category:Helix database entries