Let them eat cake

On October 5th, 1789, something very important occurred in the development of the French revolution, and the development of France overall. Upon this day, women of France, who were furious over the scarcity of bread and its high price. At this same time, a group of revolutionaries, seeking political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France, were roaming the streets. These two groups became entwined, and the amalgamation of the groups proceeded to go to the castle, after ransacking the city armory, and forced the royal family to listen to their demands. Shortly afterward, the king would be dragged back to Paris from Versailles against his will, and would become, in effect, a prisoner. This served as the beginning of the official French Revolution, which, while eventually leading France into total anarchy, would be a great stepping stone in the way that this country would turn out, particularly in regards to the form of government. The initial influence this had was great, in that the people, for once, had power over the royalty, and would use it to further their needs. This revolution also helped to serve as a form of a "wake-up call" to other nations and leaders, fearing that what had happened to the French monarchy could happen to them. This would eventually cause other countries to become more liberal-leaning and to move their governments towards republics. I am somewhat of mixed feelings as to whether this was good or not. On the one hand, while it did help progress civilization in France and the rest of the world a good deal, it also resulted in an incredible amount of bloodshed and absolute chaos for a great deal of France.