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The Great French Revolution Chapter 11: Paris on the Eve of 1789–1793 the Fourteenth Revolution centred in Paris, not in Assembly — Paris Pëtr Kropotkin ready to rise — Districts organise people — Arrest of soldiers of Gardes françaises — Scarcity of bread — Fury of people increases — Dismissal of Necker — Camille Desmoulins appeals to arms — Struggle begins—Tocsinrung—Peopleprocurefoodandarms — Permanent Committee instituted — Formation of NationalGuard-Middleclassestrytodisarmpeople The attention of the historians is generally absorbed by the Na- tional Assembly. The representatives of the people assembled at Versailles seem to personify the Revolution, and their last words or acts are chronicled with pious devotion. Nevertheless, it was not there that the passionate heart of the Revolution was throb- bingduringthoseJulydays:itwasthrobbinginParis. WithoutParis,withoutherpeople,theAssemblywasnaught.If thefearofParisinrevolthadnotrestrainedtheCourt,theAssem- bly would have been most certainly dispersed, as has been seen so many times since — on the I8th Brumaire and December 2 in France,andalsorecentlyinHungaryandinRussia.Nodoubtthe deputieswouldhaveprotested;nodoubttheywouldhaveuttered somefinespeeches,andsomeofthemperhapsmighthavetriedto raise the provinces; but without a people ready to rise, without a preliminary revolutionary work accomplished among the masses, 1909 without an appeal to the people for revolt made direct from man 80 to Dumouriez at Caen on July 10 by the Duchess de Beuvron, in thepresenceofsixtyexultingnobles,shouldsufficetoproveit: “Well,Dumouriez,”saidtheDuchess,“doyounotknowthegreat news? Your friend Necker is turned out, and the result is that the King reascends the throne and the Assembly is dispersed. Your friends, ‘the forty-seven,’ are at this very moment in the Bastille, perhaps,withMirabeau,Turgot,andahundredorsoofthoseinso- lentfellowsoftheThirdEstate,andforcertainMarshaldeBroglie isinPariswiththirtythousandmen.”5 TheDuchesswasmistaken.Neckerwasnotdismisseduntilthe 11th,andBroglietookcarenottoenterParis. But what was the Assembly doing then? It was doing what As- semblieshavealwaysdone,andalwayswilldo.Itdecidedonnoth- ing.Whatcoulditdecide? The very day that the people of Paris began to rise, that is, on July8,theAssemblychargednootherthanMirabeau,thepeople’s tribune,withthedrawingupofahumblepetitiontotheKing,and whileprayingtheKingtowithdrawthetroopstheAssemblyfilled theirpetitionwiththegrossestadulation.Itspokeofapeoplewho dearlylovedtheirKing,andthankedHeavenforthegiftbestowed upontheminhislove.Howmanytimessimilarwordsandflatteries willbeaddressedtotheKingbytherepresentativesofthepeople during the progress of the Revolution? The fact is that the Revo- lution cannot be understood at all if these repeated efforts on the part of the propertied classes to win over Royalty to their side as a buckler against the people are passed by unnoticed. All the dra- maswhichwillbeenactedlateron,in1793,withintheConvention, werealreadycontainedingerminthispetitionfromtheNational Assembly,signedbutafewdaysbeforeJuly14. 5Dumouriez.Memoires,vol.ii.p.35. 79 and it did its best to defend the nobles and their privileges, to see itselflateronbetrayedinreturnbythoseself-samepersonsprivi- legedfromtheirbirth. Meanwhile information concerning the plots of the Court was Contents comingfromallquarters,bothtothepartisansoftheDukeofOr- léans,whousedtomeetatMontrouge,aswellautotherevolution- aries,whofrequentedtheBretonClub.Troopswereconcentrating atVersailles,andontheroadfromVersaillestoParis.InParisitself Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 theytookpossessionofthemostimportantpointsinthedirection Chapter1:TheTwoGreatCurrentsoftheRevolution 11 ofVersailles.Thirty-fivethousandmenweresaidtobedistributed withinthiscompass,andtwentythousandmoreweretobeadded Chapter2:TheIdea 15 totheminafewdays.TheprincesandtheQueen,itwasrumoured, were planning to dissolve the Assembly, to crush Paris in case of Chapter3:Action 21 a rising, to arrest and kill, not only the principal leaders and the DukeofOrléans,butalsothosemembersoftheAssembly,suchas Chapter4:ThePeopleBeforetheRevolution 26 Mirabeau,MounierandLally-Tollendal,whowishedtotransform LouisXVI.intoaconstitutionalmonarch.Twelvemembers,saidLa Chapter5:TheSpiritofRevolt:theRiots 30 Fayettelateron,weretobeimmolated.TheBarondeBreteulland Chapter 6: The Convocation of the States General Be- Marshal de Broglie had been summoned to put this project into comesNecessary 42 execution — both of them quite ready to do it. “If it is necessary to burn Paris, Paris will be burnt,” said the former. As to Marshal Chapter7:TheRisingoftheCountryDistrictsDuring de Broglie, he had written to the Prince de Condé that a whiff of theOpeningMonthsof1789 47 grapeshotwouldsoon“dispersetheseargufiersandrestoretheab- solute power which is going out, in place of the republican spirit Chapter8:RiotsinParisandItsEnvirons 58 whichiscomingin.”4 It must not be believed that those rumours were only idle Chapter9:TheStates-General 62 tales, as some reactionary historians have asserted. The letter of the Duchess de Polignac, addressed on July 12 to Flesselles, the Chapter10:PreparationsfortheCoupd’État 70 ProvostoftheMerchants,whichwasfoundlateron,andinwhich Chapter11:ParisontheEveoftheFourteenth 80 allthepersonsimplicatedwerementionedunderassumednames, is sufficient proof of the plot hatched by the Court for July 16. If Chapter12:TheTakingoftheBastille 92 therecouldstillbeanydoubtonthismatter,thewordsaddressed Chapter13:TheConsequencesofJuly14atVersailles 103 4LouisBlanc,HistioredelaRévolution,françeis 78 3 Chapter14:ThePopularRisings 110 bat nothing was decided, nothing undertaken. And, when one of themembersraisedthequestionofthespeculatorsanddenounced Chapter15:TheTowns 115 some of them, he had the entire Assembly against him. Two days later,July6,Boucheannouncedthattheculpritswereknown,and Chapter16:ThePeasantRising 127 that a formal accusation would be made the next day. “A general panic took possession of the Assembly,” says Gorsas, in the Cour- Chapter17:August4andItsConsequences 137 rierdeVersaillesetdeParis,whichhehadjuststarted.Butthenext Chapter18:TheFeudalRightsRemain 149 daycameandnotawordmorewasutteredonthissubject.Theaf- fairwassuppressedintheinterim.Why?Forfear—assubsequent Chapter19:DeclarationoftheRightsofMan 162 eventsgotoprove—ofcompromisingrevelations. Inanycase,somuchdidtheAssemblyfearthepopularoutbreak, Chapter20:TheFifthandSixthofOctober1789 167 thatontheoccasionofariotinParis,onJune30,afterthearrestof the eleven French Guards who had refused to load their muskets Chapter21:FearsoftheMiddleClasses—TheNewMu- to fire on the people, the Assembly voted an address to the King, nicipalOrganisation 179 conceived in the most servile terms and protesting its “profound attachmenttotheroyalauthority.”3 Chapter 22: Financial Difficulties — Sale of Church HowevergrudginglytheKingmighthaveconsentedtogivethe Property 190 middle classes the smallest share in the Government, they would haveralliedtohimandhelpedwithalltheirpoweroforganisation Chapter23:TheFêteoftheFederation 196 tokeepthepeopledown.But—andletthisserveasawarninginfu- Chapter24:The“Districts”andthe“Sections”ofParis 202 turerevolutions—inthelifeoftheindividual,ofparties,andeven ofinstitutions,thereisalogicwhichisbeyondanyone’spowerto Chapter 25: The Sections of Paris Under the New Mu- change.Theroyaldespotismcouldnotcometotermswiththemid- nicipalLaw 211 dleclasses,whodemandedfromittheirshareintheGovernment. Itwaslogicallydestinedtofightthem,andoncethebattlebeganit Chapter26:DelaysintheAbolitionoftheFeudalRights218 hadtosuccumbandyielditsplacetorepresentativegovernment— theformwhichwasbestsuitedtotheruleofthemiddleclasses.On Chapter27:FeudalLegislationin1790 229 theotherhand,withoutbetrayingitsnaturalsupporters,thenobil- ity, it could not make terms with democracy, the people’s party, Chapter28:ArrestoftheRevolutionin1790 237 Chapter 29: The Flight of the King — Reaction — End 3“The National Assembly deplores the troubles which are now agitating Paris…ItwillsendadeputationtotheKingtobeghimofhisgracetoemployfor oftheConstituentAssembly 248 there-establishmentofordertheinfalliblemeansoftheclemencyandkindness thataresonativetohisheartwiththeconfidencewhichhisgoodpeoplewill alwaysdeserve.” 4 77 themselvesbehindit.Desertedbythenobility,itwasintheranks Chapter 30: The Legislative Assembly — Reaction in of his commons, at one time so obstinate, that Louis XVI. would 1791–1792 259 have found his most faithful and most alarmed servitors. He was ceasingtobetheKingofgentlemen,hewasbecomingtheKingof Chapter 31: The Counter-Revolution in the South of theproperty-owners.” France 270 This primordial defect in the Revolution weighed it down, all Chapter32:TheTwentiethofJune1792 278 thetime,asweshallsee,uptothemomentwhenreactiongotthe upperhand. Chapter33: The TenthOf August:Its Immediate Con- The distress in the city, however, increased from day to day. It sequences 292 is true that Necker had taken measures to avert the dangers of a famine.OnSeptember7,1788,hehadsuspendedtheexportationof Chapter34:TheInterregnum—TheBetrayals 306 corn, and he was protecting the importation by bounties; seventy millionlivreswereexpendedinthepurchaseofforeignwheat.At Chapter35:TheSeptemberDays 322 the same time he gave widespread publicity to the decree of the King’sCouncilofApril23,1789,whichempoweredjudgesandof- Chapter 36: The Convention — The Commune — The ficersofthepolicetovisitprivategranariestomakeaninventory Jacobins 335 of the grain, and in case of necessity to send the grain to market. Chapter 37: The Government — Conflicts With the Butthecarryingoutoftheseorderswasconfidedtotheoldauthor- Convention—TheWar 345 itiesand-nomoreneedbesaid! NowinJulytheGovernmentwasgivingbountiestothosewho Chapter38:TheTrialoftheKing 358 brought wheat to Paris; but the imported wheat was secretly re- exported, so that it could be brought in again and so obtain the Chapter39:The“Mountain”andTheGironde 369 bounty a second time. In the provinces, monopolists were buying upthecornwithaviewtothesespeculations;theyboughtupeven Chapter40:AttemptsoftheGirondinstoStoptheRev- thestandingcrops. olution 378 ItwasthenthatthetruecharacteroftheNationalAssemblywas revealed.Ithadbeenworthyofadmiration,nodoubt,whenittook Chapter41:The“Anarchists” 383 theoathintheTennisCourt,butaboveallthingsitstillmaintained Chapter42:CausesoftheRisingonMay31 391 towards the people a middle-class attitude. On July 4, when the report of the “Committee of Subsistence” was presented, the As- Chapter43:SocialDemands—StateofFeelingInParis sembly discussed the measures to be taken for guaranteeing food —Lyons 401 and work to the people. They talked for hours and made proposi- tionafterproposition.Petionproposedaloan,othersproposedau- thorismgtheprovincialassembliestotakethenecessarymeasures, 76 5 Chapter 44: The War — The Rising in La Vendee — andinsurrectionrepresentedintheireyesthemeansofprocuring TreacheryofDumouriez 411 thebreadtheyneeded.Atthetimewhenthefaminewasgrowing moreandmoresevere,andeventhesupplyofbadflour,yellowand Chapter45:ANewRisingRenderedInevitable 424 burnt, reserved for the poor, continually failed, the people knew thatinParisandthevicinitytherewasenoughfoodtofeedevery- Chapter46:TheInsurrectionofMay31andJune2 432 body,andthepoorsaidtooneanotherthatwithoutaninsurrection themonopolistswouldneverleaveoffstarvingthepeople. Chapter 47: The Popular Revolution — Arbitrary Tax- But, as the murmurs of the people in their dark quarters grew ation 440 louder,theParismiddleclassesandtherepresentativesofthepeo- Chapter48:TheLegislativeAssemblyandtheCommu- ple at Versailles became more and more alarmed about a possible nalLands 446 risingintheprovinces.BettertheKingandCourtthanthepeople inrevolt.2TheverydaythethreeOrderswereunited,June27,after Chapter49:TheLandsRestoredtotheCommunes 455 thefirstvictoryoftheThirdEstate,Mirabeau,whountilthenwas appealing to the people, separated himself completely from them, Chapter50:FinalAbolitionoftheFeudalRights 461 andadvocatedtheseparationoftherepresentativesfromthem.He even warned the members to be on their guard against “seditious Chapter51:TheNationalEstates 466 auxiliaries.” In this we can already see the future programme of “the Gironde” evolving in the Assembly. Mirabeau wished the As- Chapter52:TheStruggleAgainstFamine—TheMaxi- sembly to contribute “to the maintenance of order, to the public mum—Paper-Money 472 tranquillity, to the authority of the laws and their ministers.” He wentevenfurther.HewantedthedeputiestorallyroundtheKing, Chapter 53: Counter-Revolution In Brittany — Assas- saying that the King meant well; if it happened that he did any sinationofMarat 481 wrong,itwasonlybecausehewasdeceivedandbadlyadvised! Chapter 54: The Vendee — Lyons — The Risings in The Assembly loudly applailded this speech. “The truth is,” SouthernFrance 489 says Louis Blanc very aptly, “that far from wishing to overturn the throne, the middle classes were already trying to shelter Chapter55:TheWar—TheInvasionBeatenBack 499 2ThosewhomakespeechesontheanniversariesoftheRevolutionprefer Chapter 56: The Constitution — The Revolutionary tokeepsilentonthisdelicatesubject,andspeakofthetouchingunanimitywhich theypretendtohaveexistedbetweenthepeopleandtheirrepresentatives.But Movement 508 Louis Blanc has already pointed out the fears of the middle classes as the 14th of July drew near, and modern research only confirms this point of view. The Chapter57:TheExhaustionoftheRevolutionarySpirit 516 additionalfactswhichIgivehere,concerningthedaysfromthe2ndtothe12thof July,showalsothattheinsurrectionofthepeopleofParisfolloweduptothe12th Chapter58:TheCommunistMovement 523 itsownlineofconduct,independentofthemiddleclassmembersoftheThird Estate. 6 75 and such a moment had come at Versailles. Thus, while the no- Chapter59:SchemesfortheSocialisationofLand,In- bility were rejoicing over the little success gained by the Royal dustries,MeansofSubsistenceandExchange 532 Session, some middle-class revolutionaries were founding at Ver- sailles itself a club, the Breton Club, which soon became a great Chapter60:TheEndoftheCommunistMovement 539 rallying centre and was later on the famous club of the Jacobins. Chapter 61: The Constitution of the Central Govern- Tothisclubtheservants,eventhoseoftheKingandQueen,went ment—Reprisals 548 to report what was said behind closed doors at the Court. Some Bretondeputies,amongthemLeChapelier,GlezenandLanjulnais, Chapter62:Education—TheMetricSystem—TheNew were the founders of this Breton Club, and Mirabeau, the Duke Calendar—Anti-ReligiousMovement 559 d’Aiguillon, Sieyés,Barnave,Pétion, the Abbé Grégoireand Robe- spierreweremembersofit. Chapter63:TheSuppressionoftheSections 570 SincetheStates-GeneralhadbeensittingatVersaillesthegreat- estexcitementprevailedinParis.ThePalaisRoyal,withitsgardens Chapter64:StruggleAgainsttheHebertists 576 andcafés,hadbecomeanopen-airclub,whithertenthousandper- sonsofallclasseswenteverydaytoexchangenews,todiscussthe Chapter65:FalloftheHebertists—DantonExecuted 586 pamphletsofthehour,torenewamongthecrowdtheirardourfor Chapter66:RobespierreandHisGroup 594 futureaction,toknowandtounderstandoneanother.Hereflocked togetherthelowermiddleclassesandtheintellectuals.Alltheru- Chapter67:TheTerror 599 mours,allthenewscollectedatVersaillesbytheBretonClub,were immediately communicated to this open-air club of the Parisians. Chapter68:The9th Thermidor—TriumphofReaction 606 Thencetherumoursandnewsspreadtothefaubourgs,andifsome- times on the way fiction was added to fact, it was, as is often the Chapter69:Conclusion 617 case with popular legends, truer than the truth itself, since it was only forestalling, and revealing under the guise of legend, the se- cret springs of action, and intuitively judging men and things of- tenmorecorrectlythandothewise.Whobetterthantheobscure masses of the faubourgs knew Marie-Antoinette, the Duchess de Polignac, the perfidious King and the treacherous princes? Who hasunderstoodthembetterthanthepeopledid? Ever since the day following the Royal Session, the great city wassimmeringwithrevolt.TheHoteldeVillehadsentcongratula- tionstotheAssembly.ThePalaisRoyalhadforwardedanaddress couched in militant language. For the famished people, despised andrejecteduntilthen,thepopulartriumphwasagleamofhope, 74 7 revolutionwassoontoturnuponthematter,wastheKing’sdecla- rationconcerningtheinviolabilityofthefeudalrights.Hedeclared thatthetithes,redemptions,rentsofallkindsandseigneurialand feudal rights were property rights absolutely and for ever invio- lable. By such a pronouncement the King was evidently placing the nobilityonhissideagainsttheThirdEstate.Buttomakeapromise of this extent was to circumscribe the Revolution in advance, in suchawayastorenderitpowerlesstoaccomplishanysubstantial reforminthefinancesoftheStateandintheentireinternalorgani- sationofFrance.ItmeantmaintainingintacttheoldFrance,theold régime,andweshallseelaterhow,inthecourseoftheRevolution, royaltyandthemaintenanceoffeudalrights—theoldpoliticalform andtheoldeconomicform—cametobeassociatedinthemindof thenation. ItmustbeadmittedthatthismanoeuvreoftheCourtsucceeded uptoacertainpoint.AftertheRoyalSessionthenobilityaccorded the King, and especially the Queen, an ovation at the palace, and thenextdaythereremainedonlyforty-sevennobleswhoadhered to the two other Orders. Only a few days later, when the rumour spread that a hundred thousand Parisians were marching on Ver- sailles,thepeopleatthepalacewereinastateofgeneralconsterna- tionathearingthisnews,andonanorderfromtheKing,confirmed bytheweepingQueen—forthenobilitynolongerrelieduponthe King—mostofthenoblesrejoinedtherepresentativesoftheclergy and the Third Estate. But even then they scarcely concealed their hopeofsoonseeingthoserebelsdispersedbyforce. Meanwhile,allmanuveringoftheCourt,allitsconspiracies,and even all conversations of such-and-such a prince or noble, were quickly made known to the revolutionaries. Everything reached Paris by a thousand secret ways of communication carefully es- tablished, and the rumours coming from Versailles helped to in- creasethefermentinthecapital.Themomentalwaysarriveswhen those in power can no longer depend even upon their servants, 73 advantage of this the middle classes urged the people to open Preface insurrection, and allowed them to arm themselves. At the same time they took care to be armed, too, so that they could control ThemoreonestudiestheFrenchRevolutionthecleareritishow the popular outbreak and prevent its going “too far.” But as the incomplete is the history of that great epoch, how many gaps in insurrectiongatheredforce,thepeople,contrarytothewillofthe it remain to be filled, how many points demand elucidation. How middle classes, seized the Bastille, the emblem and support of the could it be otherwise? The Great Revolution, that set all Europe royal power; whereupon the middle classes, having meanwhile astir, that overthrew everything, and began the task of universal organised their militia, lost no time in suppressing the men with reconstruction in the course of a few years, was the working of pikesandre-establishingorder. cosmicforcesdissolvingandre-creatingaworld.Andifinthewrit- Thatisthetwofoldmovementwhichhastobedescribed. ings of the historians who deal with that period and especially of WehaveseenthatthepurposeforholdingtheRoyalSessionof Michelet,weadmiretheimmenseworktheyhaveaccomplishedin June23wastodeclaretotheStates-Generalthattheywerenotthe disentanglingandco-ordinatingtheinnumerablefactsofthevari- power they wished to be; that the absolute power of the King re- ousparallelmovementsthatmadeuptheRevolution,werealiseat mainedunimpaired;thattherewasnothingfortheStates-General the same time the vastness of the work which still remains to be to change in it;1 and that the two privileged orders, the nobility done. and the clergy, would of themselves enact whatever concessions The investigations made during the past thirty years by the they should deem useful for a more just distribution of the taxes. school of historical research represented by M. Aulard and the The benefits which were to be granted to the people would come Société de la Revolution françalse, have certainly furnished most therefore from the King in person, and those benefits would be the valuable material. They have shed a flood of light upont the acts abolition of statute labour, in great part already accomplished, of of the Revolution, on its political aspects, and on the struggles mortmainandoffranc-fief,restrictionofthegamelaws,thesubsti- for supremacy that took place between the various parties. But tutionofa regularenlistment insteadof drawinglotsfor themili- the study of the economic side of the Revolution is still before tia, the suppression of the word taille and the organisation of the us, and this study, as M. Aulard rightly says, demands an entire provincial authorities. All this, however, belonged to the realm of lifetime. Yet without this study the history of the period remains emptypromises,orindeedwasbutthemerenamingofreform,for incompleteandinmanypointswhollyincomprehensible.Infact,a all that these reforms implied, all the substance for making these longseriesoftotallynewproblemspresentsitselftothehistorian changes, had still to be provided; and how could it be provided as soon as he turns his attention to the economic side of the withoutlayingtheaxetotheprivilegesofthetwosuperiororders? revolu-tioharyupheaval. Butthemostimportantpointintheroyalspeech,sincethewhole Itwaswiththeintentionofthrowingsomelightupontheseeco- nomic problems that I began in 1886 to make separate studies of 1Necker’soriginalprojectallowedtheAssemblyarighttopushtheRev- the earliest revolutionary stirrings among the peasants; the peas- olutionasfarastheestablishmentofacharter,inimitationoftheEnglish,says antrisingsin1789;thestrugglesforandagainstthefeudallaws;the LouisBlanc;theytookcaretoexcludefromalljointdeliberationstheformofcon- real causes of the movement of May 31, and so on. Unfortunately stitutiontobegivenbythenextStates-General(HistoiredelaRevolutionfrançeis, IwasnotabletomakeanyresearchesintheNationalArchivesof 4vo,voli.p.120). 72 9 France,andmystudieshave,therefore,beenconfinedtothecollec- Such is the usual account, which is repeated at the Republic’s tionsofprintedmatterintheBritishMuseum,whichare,however, festivals.Itis,however,onlyahalf-truth.Itistruesofarasthedry inthemselvesexceedinglyrich. statement of facts is concerned; but it does not tell what should Believingthatitwouldnotbeeasyforthereadertoap-preciate be told about the part played by the people in the rising; nor yet thebearingofseparatestudiedofthiskindwithoutageneralview aboutthetrueconnectionbetweenthetwoelementsofthemove- ofthewholedevelopmentoftheRevolutionunderstoodinthelight ment,thepeopleandthemiddleclasses.ForintheParisinsurrec- of these studies, I soon found it necessary to write a more or less tionleadingtoJulyI4,asallthroughtheRevolution,thereweretwo consecutive account of the chief events of the Revolution. In this separatecurrentsofdifferentorigin:thepoliticalmovementofthe account I have not dwelt upon the dramatic side of the episodes middleclassesandthepopularmovementofthemasses.Atcertain of these disturbed years, which have been so often described, but moments during the great days of the Revolution, the two move- I have made it my chief object to utilise modern research so as to mentsjoinedhandsinatemporaryalliance,andthentheygained revealtheintimateconnectionandinterdependenceofthevarious theirgreatvictoriesovertheoldregime.Butthemiddleclassesal- events which combined to produce the climax of the eighteenth ways distrusted their temporary ally, the people, and gave clear century’sepic. proof of this in July 1789. The alliance was concluded unwillingly Thismethodofstudyingseparatlythevariouspartsofthework bythemiddleclasses;andonthemorrowofthe14th,andevendur- accomplishedbytheRevolutionhasnecessarilyitsowndrawbacks: ingtheinsurrectionitself,theymadehastetoorganisethemselves, it sometimes entails repetition. I have preferred, however, to take inorderthattheymightbeabletobridletherevoltedpeople. the risk or reproach for this fault in the hope of impressing more Ever since the Réveillon affair, the people of Paris, suffering clearlyuponthereader’smindthemightycurrentsofthoughtand from scarcity, seeing bread grow dearer day by day, and deceived actionthatcameintoconflictduringtheFrenchRevolution—cur- by empty promises, had been trying to revolt. But not feeling rentssointimatelyblendedwiththeveryessenceofhumannature themselves supported, even by those of the middle classes who thattheymustinevitablyreappearinthehistoriceventsofthefu- had become prominent in the struggle with royal authority, they ture. could only chafe the bit. In the meantime, the Court party, led by AllwhoknowthehistoryoftheRevolutionwillunderstandhow the Queen and the princes, decided to strike a great blow, which difficult it is to avoid errors in facts when one tries to trace the would put an end to the Assembly and to the popular agitation developmentofitsimpassionedstruggles.Ishall,therefore,beex- in Paris. They concentrated troops whose attachment to the King tremelygratefultothosewhowillbegoodenoughtopointoutany and Queen they stimulated by every means, and openly prepared mistakes I may have made. And I wish to express here my sincer- a coup d’état against the Assembly and against Paris. Then the estgratitudetomyfriends,JamesGuillaumeandErnestNys,who Assembly, feeling themselves threatened, gave free rein to those havehadthekindnesstoreadmymanuscriptandhelpmeinthis of their members and friends in Paris who wanted “the appeal to workwiththeirknowledgeandtheircriticisms. the people”; that is to say, the appeal for a popular rising. And the people of the faubourgs, desiring nothing better, responded PeterKropotkin to the appeal. They did not wait for the dismissal of Necker, but began to rise as early as July 8, and even on June 27. Taking 10 71

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sailles, to reform the entire system of the government in France, and to initiate a . this took place in April 1789, without the shedding of a drop of blood. It is “a
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