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This article is about the event. You may be looking for the memory.

The Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution.

On 5 October 1789, working women, frustrated by the lack of bread and the prices at which it was being sold, mobilized in Les Halles to protest. Joined by labourers and revolutionaries, they ransacked the Hôtel de Ville, procuring weapons and cannons, and subsequently marched on the Palace of Versailles. There, the protesters successfully pressed their demands upon Louis XVI and succeeded in bringing him back to Paris.

Food shortages and taxes

One of the driving forces behind the French Revolution was the shortage of food, and bread in particular, among the common people. During the late 18th century, France's population numbered 26 million, 22 million of which were farmers that could barely support their families. The French's refusal to adopt the potato as a staple of their diet, unlike England and other European countries, further compounded their already precarious situation.

As such, they were especially susceptible to the bad harvests that they faced in the decade leading up to the French Revolution. Many desperate farmers flocked to the cities in search of work and food, causing conditions to deteriorate.

Adding to the frustrations of the working class were the taxes levied by the King. Both the clergy and the nobility were exempt from taxation, leaving the beggars, bakers, cloth merchants and estate owners to shoulder France's debts. The failures of ambitious overseas military campaigns caused the country to sink even deeper into financial ruin, with taxes rising as a result. The King nonetheless continued to spend frivolously, drawing ire and resentment from the lower classes.

March through Paris

Following the Storming of the Bastille and the Great Fear