The Role of the Rumors of the ‘Pacte de Famine’ on the Women’s March to Versailles and how it could have led to the fall of the French Monarchy.
Abstract
The Pact de Famine was a rumour that spread like wildfire among the citizens of the third estate in the 18th century. The rumour stated that the flour that was meant to be distributed in the Parisian markets was being purposely withheld from the peasants by the monarchy to save it for those of the higher classes.
The Women’s March on Versailles is one of the earliest and most crucial events that took place during the French Revolution. On the 5th of October 1789, the women of Paris, who belonged to the Third Estate marched to Versailles, in order protest against the lack of grain …show more content…
It was not long before the peasants’ of the third estate began to doubt the interests of the higher classes and started to believe that the elite class was purposely withholding grain from them, for their own benefits and in order to starve the peasants. Witnessing the still lavish lifestyle lived by the nobles and the royals, while many of them had died or were disease ridden, led to the creation of the hostile rumour of the ‘Pact de Famine’. The rumour spread like wildfire among the peasants and did nothing but add fuel to the resentment of the peasants.
The Pacte de Famine was famous for a long period of time and was a noteworthy contributing element in the French Revolution. Due to the state of famine being stretched out over such a long period of time, the Third estate had rebelled against the government in the past. For example, the Flour War of 1775. The Flour War were a series of riots spread across the country, and only calmed down after the intervention of militants.
Thus, by the time the Fall of Bastille came around, the people of Paris had already lost all hope in and admiration for their monarch. This proved to be extremely unfortunate for the nobles as the country was in a state of
Abstract
The Pact de Famine was a rumour that spread like wildfire among the citizens of the third estate in the 18th century. The rumour stated that the flour that was meant to be distributed in the Parisian markets was being purposely withheld from the peasants by the monarchy to save it for those of the higher classes.
The Women’s March on Versailles is one of the earliest and most crucial events that took place during the French Revolution. On the 5th of October 1789, the women of Paris, who belonged to the Third Estate marched to Versailles, in order protest against the lack of grain …show more content…
It was not long before the peasants’ of the third estate began to doubt the interests of the higher classes and started to believe that the elite class was purposely withholding grain from them, for their own benefits and in order to starve the peasants. Witnessing the still lavish lifestyle lived by the nobles and the royals, while many of them had died or were disease ridden, led to the creation of the hostile rumour of the ‘Pact de Famine’. The rumour spread like wildfire among the peasants and did nothing but add fuel to the resentment of the peasants.
The Pacte de Famine was famous for a long period of time and was a noteworthy contributing element in the French Revolution. Due to the state of famine being stretched out over such a long period of time, the Third estate had rebelled against the government in the past. For example, the Flour War of 1775. The Flour War were a series of riots spread across the country, and only calmed down after the intervention of militants.
Thus, by the time the Fall of Bastille came around, the people of Paris had already lost all hope in and admiration for their monarch. This proved to be extremely unfortunate for the nobles as the country was in a state of