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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and Welcome to Western Seth Episode four hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>ninety one. The Women's March The March of October fifth,

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen eighty nine did not erupt suddenly. It was a

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<v Speaker 1>culmination of weeks of mounting tension in Paris and Versailles.

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<v Speaker 1>The summer's promise of liberty and reform, symbolized by the

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<v Speaker 1>fall of the Vast Deal in July, had not in

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<v Speaker 1>any way solved the practical crisis most pressing to ordinary

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<v Speaker 1>Parisians hunger. Bread, that staple of life in the pre

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<v Speaker 1>modern world, remained scarce and expensive. As Autumn arrived, supplies

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<v Speaker 1>faltered once more. Lines lengthened at bakeries, and the price

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<v Speaker 1>of a loaf reached levels that pushed families to desperation.

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<v Speaker 1>Women who were often the ones who were standing in

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<v Speaker 1>line for said bread, felt this burden most directly. At

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<v Speaker 1>the same time, political suspicion ran high. The royal family

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<v Speaker 1>had moved to Versailles, seemingly insulated from the people's daily struggles.

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<v Speaker 1>Rumors spread through Paris that the King and Queen were

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<v Speaker 1>encouraging resistance to the revolution. These whispers intensified after a

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<v Speaker 1>lavish banquet at Versailles on October the first, when officers

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<v Speaker 1>of the King's bodyguard allegedly trampled on the new National Cockade,

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<v Speaker 1>the red, white and blue symbol of popular sovereignty. What

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<v Speaker 1>many Parisians saw his proof of royal contempt for the

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<v Speaker 1>revolution inflamed anger, especially among those already embittered by hunger.

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<v Speaker 1>The radical press gave voice to these grievances. Jean Paul Morant,

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<v Speaker 1>through his fiery newspaper La du Predillu, warned that the

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<v Speaker 1>revolution was being betrayed by the court in the aristocracy.

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<v Speaker 1>Each new rumor or insult seemed to confirm his warnings. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>the National Assembly, though still in Versailles, was debating sweeping reforms,

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<v Speaker 1>but its deliberations brought little to no relief to Parisian

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<v Speaker 1>bread markets. By early October, the convergence of shortages, rumor,

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<v Speaker 1>and anger at the court's perceived arrogance created an atmosphere

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<v Speaker 1>that was positively explosive. The insult of the cockade was

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<v Speaker 1>the final spark. When Maraaut called for action, Thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>women took to the streets, transforming their hunger into a

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<v Speaker 1>march that would bring the king to Paris and place

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<v Speaker 1>him face to face with his people. The weeks before

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<v Speaker 1>the march had shown just how quickly riots, political rumor,

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<v Speaker 1>and radical journalism could turn to a revolutionary force. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>Marat had claimed that the Court had insulted the revolution itself,

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<v Speaker 1>that officers of the World Bodyguard had trampled the tricolored cockade,

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<v Speaker 1>that small but potent badge of the people's sovereignty. Marat

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<v Speaker 1>would write, quote a crime that Paris cannot ignore. That morning,

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of women, fishwives, market women, lawn dresses, carrying pikes,

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<v Speaker 1>kitchen knives, or muskets gathered in the sleets and rain.

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<v Speaker 1>What began as a protest against bread shortages became something larger,

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<v Speaker 1>a march to bring the king to Paris to make

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<v Speaker 1>him feel the hunger of his subjects. The procession was

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<v Speaker 1>long and it was ragged, winding its way twelve miles

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<v Speaker 1>to Versailles. Lafayette, the commander of Paris the National Guard itself,

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<v Speaker 1>hesitated at first, but then ultimately he followed with twenty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand citizen soldiers, both to support and also to restrain

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<v Speaker 1>the crowd. By dawn on October the sixth, the demonstration

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<v Speaker 1>had truly turned chaotic. A mob of women stormed into

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<v Speaker 1>the palace, breaking into the Queen's apartments and nearly seizing

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<v Speaker 1>Marie Antoinette. Herself guards were killed. Panic reigned until Lafayette

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<v Speaker 1>and his troops restored order, But the women's demands were

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<v Speaker 1>simple and relentless. The king must come to Paris, cornered

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<v Speaker 1>and truly, with two options, come to Paris or die.

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<v Speaker 1>Louis the sixteenth agreed that same afternoon, Interestingly, amid cheers

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<v Speaker 1>of Vivi Lera live the King. The royal family was

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<v Speaker 1>escorted in triumph, yet effectively as prisoners, to the Tularise

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<v Speaker 1>Palace in Paris. The National Assembly promptly voted to follow

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<v Speaker 1>uprooting itself from Versailles, resettling in the capital city. Once

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<v Speaker 1>in Paris, the Assembly moved quickly to solidify revolutionary authority.

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<v Speaker 1>On October the tenth, Lafayette's position was strengthened. He was

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<v Speaker 1>named commander of the regular army units stationed around Paris,

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<v Speaker 1>effectively making him the guardian of both the king and

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<v Speaker 1>the people. The Assembly simultaneously struck at a royal prerogative,

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<v Speaker 1>altering Louis the sixteenth traditional title, no longer the King

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<v Speaker 1>of France and Navarre. He was now styled King of

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<v Speaker 1>the French, a subtle but radical change, meaning now that

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<v Speaker 1>sovereignty flowed upward from the nation rather than downward from God. Interestingly,

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<v Speaker 1>not that same day, doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotine introduced a

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<v Speaker 1>chillingly practical proposal, a new device for executions, swift and

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<v Speaker 1>equal for all. He insisted mechanism that spare suffering and

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<v Speaker 1>treats every condemned man for the same. The Guillotine was

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<v Speaker 1>born not from cruelty, but for a demand for equality

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<v Speaker 1>and death. And before we go any further, I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's worth taking a moment in talking a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>about doctor Guillotine, who, in many ways remains I think

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<v Speaker 1>a bit of a tragic figure, Doctor Joseph Guillotine. His

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<v Speaker 1>life is often remembered through the shadow of the machine,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, that bears his name. Yet Guillotine was not

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<v Speaker 1>an executioner by temperament. He was a physician. He was

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<v Speaker 1>a reformer, and he was a son of the Revolution

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<v Speaker 1>who believed in rationality, equality and the alleviation of suffering

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<v Speaker 1>even in death. His story reveals the irony of a

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<v Speaker 1>really humane man who would be forever linked to a

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<v Speaker 1>symbol of terror. Guillotine was born on May the twenty eighth,

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen thirty eight and cents a small town in western Friends.

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<v Speaker 1>His family came from respectable but not wealthy roots, and

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<v Speaker 1>he was steered early on towards the priesthood. For a

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<v Speaker 1>time he studied with the Jesuits, even earning the title

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<v Speaker 1>of abbey, but his interests gravitated less towards theology and

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<v Speaker 1>more towards new sciences, particularly medicine. He abandoned a clerical

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<v Speaker 1>career and turned to medicine and the other medical arts,

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<v Speaker 1>studying at Bordeaux before he eventually did move to Paris.

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<v Speaker 1>In the capital, Guillotine distinguished himself as a student of

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<v Speaker 1>anatomy and physiology. He traveled abroad, spending time in Ireland,

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<v Speaker 1>where he practiced medicine and eventually earned his medical doctorate.

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<v Speaker 1>In Paris, he established himself as a physician of good reputation,

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<v Speaker 1>with a particular interest in public health and preventative medicine.

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<v Speaker 1>Unlike many of his contemporaries, Guillotine was more fascinated by

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<v Speaker 1>the broader welfare of society than by the prestige of

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<v Speaker 1>treating the wealthy. Alone. Guillotine's rise happened to coincide with

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<v Speaker 1>the height of the Enlightenment. He joined circles of reform

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<v Speaker 1>minded men who believed that reason and science should guide

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<v Speaker 1>political and social life. He was admitted to the Academy

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<v Speaker 1>of Medicine in Paris and developed a reputation as a bontful,

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<v Speaker 1>humane physician. By the late seventeen eighties, as crisis loomed

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<v Speaker 1>over France, Uilletine's reforming spirit drew him into politics. Elected

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<v Speaker 1>as a deputy for Paris to the Estates General of

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen eighty nine, he sat with a third estate and

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<v Speaker 1>soon became an active participant in debates that reshaped the kingdom.

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<v Speaker 1>Was calm, deliberate, and respectful, which won him the trust

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<v Speaker 1>of colleagues, even when he was the most fiery of orators.

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<v Speaker 1>On October tenth, seventeen eighty nine, amid sweeping reforms of

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<v Speaker 1>justice and sovereignty, Guillotine introduced a measure that would define

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<v Speaker 1>his place in history, capital punishment. In the old regime,

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<v Speaker 1>the Anzian regime, notoriously brutal and unequal. Nobles were decapitated

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<v Speaker 1>with the sword, while commoners might be hanged broken on

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<v Speaker 1>the wheel or burned to death. Guillotine insisted this was

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<v Speaker 1>unjust punishment. He argued should be equal for all, and

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<v Speaker 1>execution should be made swift and painless as possible. He

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<v Speaker 1>proposed a mechanical device that would decapitate quickly without a torture,

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<v Speaker 1>sparing both the condemned and the executioner needless suffering. At

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<v Speaker 1>the time, his idea was one among men any reforms

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<v Speaker 1>under discussion, but his words struck a chord. He assured

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<v Speaker 1>the assembly gathered, quote, with my machine, I make the

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<v Speaker 1>head fly off in the twinkling of an eye, and

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<v Speaker 1>the condemned will feel nothing. Though he never actually designed

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<v Speaker 1>or built the device himself, engineers later constructed what became

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<v Speaker 1>known as the guillotine, which by seventeen ninety two would

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<v Speaker 1>become France's official method of execution. To Guillotine's total dismay,

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<v Speaker 1>his name fused with the machine, forever linking him to

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<v Speaker 1>the symbol of revolutionary blood. Said. Despite this association, it's

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<v Speaker 1>important to point out Guillotine himself played no part in

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<v Speaker 1>the reign of terror. He actually continued to work as

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<v Speaker 1>a physician, serving as a secretary of the Academy of Medicine,

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<v Speaker 1>and promoting welled reforms in vaccination, public health, and medical education.

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<v Speaker 1>His reputation as a humanitarian remained strong even among his peers,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the fact as the wider audience in public increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>identified him with what would become known as the National Razor. Ironically,

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<v Speaker 1>Guillotine himself was never guillotined. That's a myth that spread

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<v Speaker 1>widely in the nineteenth century. In fact, he died peacefully

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<v Speaker 1>of natural causes on March to twenty sixth, eighteen fourteen,

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<v Speaker 1>at the age of seventy five. His family, embarrassed by

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<v Speaker 1>the macabre association of his name, even petitioned the government

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<v Speaker 1>to rename the machine, though without success. Joseph Ignace Guillotine's

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<v Speaker 1>legacy is one of paradox, and it's so typical of

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<v Speaker 1>the time. He was a physician who wanted to reduce

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<v Speaker 1>human suffering, but he became immortalized in an instrument of death.

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<v Speaker 1>His name, once associated with the Enlightenment reform ideals, is

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<v Speaker 1>now bound to an icon of terror. Yet to those

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<v Speaker 1>who knew him, Guillotine was not the architect of bloodshed,

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<v Speaker 1>but a man of moderation and reason who tried. However,

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<v Speaker 1>fate twisted the result to make even punishment subject to

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<v Speaker 1>the principles of equality and humanity that the revolution proclaimed. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>behind the scenes, the royal family plotted. On October the twelfth,

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<v Speaker 1>Louis the sixteenth secretly appealed to his cousin, Charles the

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<v Speaker 1>fourth of Spain, lamenting his humiliation. His brother, the fiery

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<v Speaker 1>Count of Artois, turned to Austria for support, urging the

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<v Speaker 1>Emperor Joseph the Second to intervene militarily. The revolution, it

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<v Speaker 1>was already clear, was no longer purely a French matter, was,

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<v Speaker 1>from the perspective of the crowned heads, a European crisis now. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>the Assembly settled into its new home on October the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteenth that held its first meeting in Paris in the

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<v Speaker 1>chapel of the archbishop's residence near Notre Dame. But unrest

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<v Speaker 1>in the capital forced further action. On October the twenty first,

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<v Speaker 1>Fearful of renewed popular violence, the deputies declared martial law,

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<v Speaker 1>authorizing officials to suppress uprisings with force. The Revolution, which

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<v Speaker 1>had thrived on popular demonstrations, now sought to contain them. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>The month of November then saw some decisive blows land

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<v Speaker 1>against the old order. On November two, the Assembly voted

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<v Speaker 1>to place all property of the Catholic Church at the

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<v Speaker 1>disposal of the nation, monasteries, lands and revenues. Nearly a

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<v Speaker 1>tenth of the total land mass of France was seized,

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<v Speaker 1>both to weaken the Church's power and to shore up

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<v Speaker 1>a bankrupt state, And at the same time, revolutionary Paris

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<v Speaker 1>was already reshaping its world as a place of clubs

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<v Speaker 1>and pamphlets. On November the ninth, the Assembly moved into

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<v Speaker 1>the Sala de Menajerra, a riding hall near the Tuileries,

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<v Speaker 1>which soon echoed with debates on sovereignty, rights and reform.

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<v Speaker 1>Later that month, Camille Desmoulin's Friarrie, friend of Dantin and Marant,

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<v Speaker 1>launched his Historias des revolution de France de braband, a

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<v Speaker 1>savage weekly lampooning aristocrats and royalists with wit as cutting

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<v Speaker 1>as an eguillotine. Let's take a second and talk a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit more about the clubs. When the French Revolution erupted,

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<v Speaker 1>it did not just transform government. It created whole new

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<v Speaker 1>spaces for politics. Among the most influential of these were

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<v Speaker 1>the political clubs, which became the training ground the echo

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<v Speaker 1>chamber and often the engine of revolutionary thought and action.

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<v Speaker 1>At their core, the clubs were voluntary associations where citizens

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<v Speaker 1>could meet to debate the issues of the day. They

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<v Speaker 1>were open to men who could pay the dues, sometimes modest,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes steep, and they functioned as both social circles and

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<v Speaker 1>ideological battlegrounds. Newspapers reported their speeches, pamphlets circulated their declarations.

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<v Speaker 1>Their influence often reached far beyond the walls within which

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<v Speaker 1>they met. Of all, the most famous club was the

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<v Speaker 1>Jacobin Club. Originally the Society of the Friends of the Constitution,

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<v Speaker 1>it began in seventeen eighty nine as a gathering place

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<v Speaker 1>for the deputies of the National Assembly who favored radical reform.

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<v Speaker 1>Their meetings were held in a monastery belonging to the

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<v Speaker 1>Dominican nicknamed the Jacobins in France, and the name stuck.

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<v Speaker 1>By seventeen ninety, the Jacobins branches had sprouted up across France,

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<v Speaker 1>creating a kind of national network members like Robespierre, Seez

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<v Speaker 1>and later Dantin and Marunt. This is what made the

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<v Speaker 1>Jacobins so powerful. It wasn't just their Paris debates, but

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<v Speaker 1>their ability to link Paris to the provinces, spreading revolutionary

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<v Speaker 1>ideas like an organized modern day political party, and opposing

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<v Speaker 1>them were groups like the Fuiance, formed in seventeen ninety

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<v Speaker 1>one when more conservative deputies would split off from the Jacobins.

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<v Speaker 1>As we'll see, they wanted to preserve a constitutional monarchy

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<v Speaker 1>and avoid growing radicalism. This club tended to be much

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<v Speaker 1>more prestigious with aristocrats and moderates, but it lacked the

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<v Speaker 1>same fervor in mass connection. Another crucial circle was the

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<v Speaker 1>Cordiers Club, which was cheaper to join and thus attracted artisans,

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<v Speaker 1>small tradesmen, and radical journalists. Charles Danton, Camille Desmalion, and

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<v Speaker 1>Jean Paul Morant were eventually among its leading voices. They

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<v Speaker 1>prided themselves on being closer to quote unquote the people

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<v Speaker 1>than the other clubs, and their speeches often pressed for

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<v Speaker 1>forms of direct democracy, universal male suffrage, and social equality.

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<v Speaker 1>The Cordeliers also pioneered mass petitioning and street mobilization, tools

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<v Speaker 1>that would become essential in revolutionary politics. Clubs were not

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<v Speaker 1>just debating halls, they became engines of mobilization. When bread

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<v Speaker 1>prices spiked, it was often the clubs that drew up petitions.

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<v Speaker 1>When the monarchy hesitated, it would be the clubs that

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<v Speaker 1>would coordinate protests. They lobbied the National Assembly, pressured ministers,

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<v Speaker 1>and rallied the crowns. By the early seventeen nineties, clubs

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<v Speaker 1>also sent delegates to one another's meetings, forming webs of

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<v Speaker 1>influence that made them more powerful than any single faction

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<v Speaker 1>within the legislature. In short, political clubs during the French

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<v Speaker 1>Revolution were a law more than just discussion groups. They

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<v Speaker 1>were the laboratories of ideology, the networks of power, and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes the spark behind insurrection. They taught citizens to speak

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<v Speaker 1>politically and act collectively, and imagine themselves as something totally new,

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<v Speaker 1>as participants in politics in a new democratic life. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>while the clubs were forming, the revolution continued, and in

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<v Speaker 1>fact this is the stage where the revolution finally starts

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<v Speaker 1>to spread beyond Paris. On December, the first sailors at

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<v Speaker 1>Toulon mutinied, arresting the Admiral de Albert and seizing control

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<v Speaker 1>of their ships. Royal authority had now started to crumble

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<v Speaker 1>across the kingdom. The Assembly pressed on then with institutional reform.

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<v Speaker 1>On December the ninth, it voted to erase the patchwork

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<v Speaker 1>of historic provinces Brittany, Burgundy, Provence and replace them with

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<v Speaker 1>new rationally drawn departments. No longer would feudal boundaries dictate

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<v Speaker 1>political identity. France was now going to be remade on

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<v Speaker 1>a grid of reason. Finances, however, remained desperate. On December

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteenth, the Deputies introduced the Asagnant, a revolutionary paper

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<v Speaker 1>currency backed not by gold or silver, but by the

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<v Speaker 1>confiscated lands from the Catholic Church. According to Mirabou quote,

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<v Speaker 1>national property is the nation's wealth end quote. But the

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<v Speaker 1>seeds of inflation, speculation, and financial distas trust were already

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<v Speaker 1>being sown. Finally, on December twenty fourth, the Assembly struck

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<v Speaker 1>another blow against the religious monopoly of the old regime.

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<v Speaker 1>Protestants were now officially allowed to hold public office. Jews,

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<v Speaker 1>I should say, however, remained excluded, an uneasy reminder that

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<v Speaker 1>revolutionary tolerance had its limits. By the close of that

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<v Speaker 1>first revolutionary year seventeen eighty nine, the revolution had remade

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<v Speaker 1>France in ways unimaginable. Just a few months before, the

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<v Speaker 1>king was in Paris, subject to the watchful eyes of

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<v Speaker 1>the people and their guards. The Assembly had claimed the

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<v Speaker 1>Church's property redrawn the nation's map and created a paper

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<v Speaker 1>currency from confiscated land. Political clubs multiplied, the press flourished,

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<v Speaker 1>and the very words of sovereignty were rewritten. Yet beneath

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<v Speaker 1>these triumphs lurked tension. The king plotted with foreign monarchs,

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<v Speaker 1>the streets of Paris simmered with unrest, and the revolution's

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<v Speaker 1>own children, Maraunt Desmoulins and the Jacobins, were already sharpening

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<v Speaker 1>their rhetoric. The revolution had begun with bread, but by

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<v Speaker 1>the years and it had become something much larger, a

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<v Speaker 1>contest over the very meaning of sovereignty, religion, and nationhood.

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<v Speaker 1>Seventeen eighty nine had opened with a king summoning the

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<v Speaker 1>Estates General. It closed with the people who had brought

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<v Speaker 1>him to Paris, stripped him of his sacred titles, and

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<v Speaker 1>put the fate of France in their own hands. For once,

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<v Speaker 1>the year of beginnings was over, but the true storm

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<v Speaker 1>of the revolution was only still gathering over the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Time