socialpirate

A Turning Point in the French Revolution

I just learned that one event in 1790, over a year after the storming of the Bastille, turned out to be pivotal in securing the gains of the Revolution. This event, related in Paris: Capital of Europe by Johann Wilmm, seems eerily reminiscent of the current gatherings on Wall Street:

[On the morning of October 5] “A large gathering of people and unusual excitement filled the square in front of the Hotel de Ville, when several large groups of women, who had gathered in the districts, began to arrive; they asked to be admitted to the Hotel de Ville and stated that they wished to speak to the mayor and representatives of the Commune to inform them that they had decided to march to Versailles. They added that they would not permit any men to join them.”

This spontaneous movement of women had no leader and no demands, just a sense that something was not right.Ultimately, the National Guard did join the women’s march, and the rest as they say, “is history.” The author writes:

“In the revolutionary history of Paris there had not been, nor was there ever again, anything like that mass action of October 5. All of Paris went to Versailles – for reasons that varied greatly – and saved the Revolution by bringing the king back to Paris in triumph.”

On the evening of October 5, Louis XVI gave his written agreement to the decrees issued by the National Assembly between August 4 and 11. Not many hours earlier he had said he would never consent to these regulations. Furthermore, Louis agreed to move back to Paris, and so did the National Assembly. They all set out on October 6 and that evening the king in Paris “as a prisoner of his people.” Three years later in 1793 he was executed, as every 8th grader knows!

The Modern Day Parallel

Fast forward two centuries and we see some startling parallels between the October Parisian women’s march of 1790 and the October Occupy Wall Street events of 2011. Could this leaderless, demandless group ultimately do what no political party has yet accomplished? We will see. But meanwhile, I think it is foolish of politicians and pundits to dismiss it. Something is not right, and the people know it. If there was a King Louis in New York, he would be on his way to Washington.