Women’s march on Versailles, October 5, 1789

One of the major events of the French Revolution was the Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles. The march began with women in Parisian marketplaces who were nearly rioting over the high price of bread on the morning of October 5, 1789. Revolutionaries advocating liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France immediately became entangled in the unrest. The market ladies and their supporters eventually expanded into a throng of tens of thousands. They raided the city armory for firearms and marched on the Palace of Versailles, aided by revolutionary agitators. The crowd surrounded the palace and successfully pressed their demands on King Louis XVI in a dramatic and violent encounter. The throng forced the monarch, his family, and the majority of the French Assembly to return to Paris the next day.

These events signaled the end of the king's independence and the beginning of a new power balance that would eventually see the established, privileged orders of the French nobility displaced in favor of the ordinary people, known as the Third Estate. The March on Versailles proved to be a defining milestone of the Revolution by bringing together the largest number of people representing the Revolution's sources.

Dates: October 5, 1789