396 Chapter 21
(which the revolution never accepted, see document
21.2)—but in 1789 it was the greatest statement of hu-
man rights in Europe.
Louis XVI rejected the August reforms. This action
defended tradition, but it angered the National Assem-
bly and the people of Paris. The people forced the issue.
Their fears of a royal counterrevolution were exacer-
bated by the food crisis. The harvest of 1789 was good,
but a late season drought had slowed the work of the
water-powered mills that ground grain into flour. Thus,
August and September 1789 again witnessed bread riots
led by the women of Paris.
Historians call those days on which the action of
the crowd changed the course of events “revolutionary
journées” (“revolutionary days”). The angry housewives
and working women of Paris led such a journée on Oc-
tober 5, 1789. Their target was the king. When Louis
blocked the August reforms, talk circulated in Paris
about a march to Versailles to bring him to Paris. On
the rainy Monday morning of October 5, the women
of Paris did just that. A procession of several thousand
set out for Versailles, chanting “Let’s fetch the baker!” A
few hours later, a reluctant Lafayette led the National
Guard to support them. After a small clash on the
grounds of the royal palace, Louis XVI agreed to accept
the August decrees and to move into his Tuileries
Palace (today the Louvre Museum) in Paris.
The National Assembly moved to Paris, too, confi-
dent that it now controlled France. The deputies de-
prived the king of the right to dismiss them or to veto
the constitution they were writing. Their effort to
shackle royal power included one mistake: They ex-
cluded royal ministers from the assembly. This blocked
the evolution of a cabinet system of government and
the principle of ministerial responsibility to parliament.
The move to Paris stimulated the growth of political
clubs (the precursors of political parties), which became
one of the distinguishing features of the revolution.
These clubs had roots in the salons of the Old Regime,
organizations such as Masonic lodges, and the excited
political meetings of 1788–89. They became the voice
of Parisian radicalism and then the center of revolution-
ary power. One of the most influential clubs was the
Cordeliers, named for a Catholic order whoseJuly 1790 Civil Constitution of the Clergy
June 1791 Chapelier Law outlaws unions and
strikes
June 1791 Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes and
arrest
July 1791 Massacre on the Champ de Mars
July 1791 Law against seditious meetings
September 1791 Emancipation of Jews
September 1791 Constitution of 1791 adopted
September 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman
The Legislative Assembly (1791–92)
November 1791 Decree against émigrés
November 1791 Decree against nonjuring priests
August 1792 King’s powers suspended
August 1792 Prussia invades France
September 1792 Legalization of divorce
September 1792 September massacres
September 1792 Battle of Valmy
September 1792 French monarchy abolishedCHRONOLOGY 21.1
May 1789 Opening of the Estates General
The National Assembly (1789–91)
June 1789 Third estate proclaims the National
Assembly
June 1789 Tennis Court Oath not to disperse
July 1789 Fall of the Bastille
July 1789 Beginning of “the great fear” in rural
France
August 1789 Abolition of feudalism, tithes, venal
offices
August 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man
October 1789 Women’s march on Versailles
November 1789 Nationalization of church
property
December 1789 Civil equality of Protestants
February 1790 Suppression of monasteries
March 1790 Abolition of the lettres de cachet
May 1790 Nationalization of royal land
June 1790 Nobility abolished