1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: two different hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: on with the show. Welcome to this day in History 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. It's the 7 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: show where we explore the past one day at a 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: time with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: it's October. Five women marched on Versilles on this day 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: in This is mostly in response to a food shortage. 12 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: France had deregulated its grain market in the seventeen seventies, 13 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: and this was all part of a big economic plan 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: that was devised by Anne Robert Jacques Trejeaux, who was 15 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: Minister of Finance, Trade and Public Works under King Louis 16 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: Triseo's philosophy was no bankruptcy, no tax increases, no borrowing. 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: This d regulation of the green market, though, was followed 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: by several years in a row of poor harvests, and 19 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: at the same time the population of France was growing 20 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: really quickly while the size of the agricultural industry was 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: staying the same, so there were more people, but at 22 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: best the same amount of food to feed them. In reality, 23 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: less food to feed them. Because of these poor harvests, 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: grain prices and consequently bread prices skyrocketed in the face 25 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: of this shortage, and by nine French laborers were spending 26 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: about eighty percent of their wages just on bread. Then 27 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: on October one of nine, in the middle of this 28 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: ongoing bread shortage and massive economic problems and the early 29 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: months of the French Revolution, there was a massive and 30 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: pretty rowdy party at Versailles, at the Opera house there, 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: and it got all kinds of publicity. Printmakers and other 32 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: media covered this whole party in a really overblown way, 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: but there was a neugget of truth to what they 34 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: were saying. There had really been a big, rowdy party 35 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: at Versailles while the common people were going hungry, and 36 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: guests at Versailles had been bad mouthing the ongoing revolution 37 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: to make things worse. This was at the time of 38 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: year when bread should have been available because the grain 39 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:21,119 Speaker 1: harvest happened in September, but people were still facing breadlines 40 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: that stretched for blocks, so people started protesting in the 41 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: streets on October four, and then on the fifth, between 42 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: five thousand and ten thousand people, most of them women, 43 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: gathered outside the Hotel de Villa in Paris, which was 44 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: the seat of the city council. A lot of them 45 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: had participated in the storming of the Best Deal a 46 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: few months earlier. They were demanding that grain be released 47 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: to the people, and they just didn't get a response, 48 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: so they started marching, and they marched the whole twelve 49 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: miles or so, approximately twenty kilometers to Versailles. They were 50 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: armed with things like clubs and muskets and pikes, and 51 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: the crowd swelled on way there. By the time they 52 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: got to Versailles there were as many thirty thousand people. 53 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: They had also developed some goals. They wanted the monarchy 54 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: to address this food shortage. They wanted the king to 55 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: relocate to Paris and to reign from a position where 56 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: he was actually with his people, not off on his 57 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: own in Versailles. Mostly being influenced by the aristocracy. Some 58 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: of them also wanted to harm the king or to 59 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: harm Marie Antoinette. This crowd was at verciesh for about 60 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: twenty four hours and the tensions were really high at 61 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: various points. At one point, a group of protesters got 62 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: into Versailles to try to search for the queen, and 63 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: the guard opened fire and killed two of them. The 64 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: protesters turned on the guards and killed two of them 65 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: and dismembered them. Eventually, the military was able to remove 66 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: the protesters from inside of Versailles, and the king spoke 67 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: to them while they were out on the grounds. He 68 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: was saying that he loved his people, and he promised 69 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: to go to Paris. He even put on a tricolor cockade, 70 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: which had become an emblem of the revolution. Louis the 71 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: six teenth, Marie Antoinette and their children left Versai and 72 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: went to Paris the next day, and this was the 73 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: first time in a century that France was ruled from 74 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: Paris instead of from Versailles. So while the protest did 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: achieve some of its goals, we should note that this 76 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: is a very very early piece of the French Revolution, 77 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: and a whole lot more happened after that. You can 78 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: learn more about all this in the February episode of 79 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,799 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class. Thanks to Tari Harrison 80 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 1: for oliver audio work on this show and You can 81 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: subscribe to the Stay in History Class and Apple Podcasts, 82 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts and where else you get your podcasts. You 83 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: can tune in tomorrow We're going to rob a train. 84 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, I'm Eves and welcome back to This Day 85 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: in History Class, a podcast where we unwrap a piece 86 00:04:54,360 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: of history candy every day. The day was October five, 87 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 1: ninety six. Around two hundred people began their march from 88 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: Jarrow to London as part of the Jero March. They 89 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,799 Speaker 1: were protesting the unemployment and poverty in Jarrow, a town 90 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: in northeast England on the south bank of the River Time. 91 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: None of the march's goals were immediately met, but in 92 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: the longer term it did contribute to changing attitudes regarding 93 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: welfare and social reforms. When the Great Depression hit the 94 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: UK in the nineteen thirties, industry declined an unemployment increased. 95 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: The economic downturn was particularly bad in industrial and mining 96 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: places like southern Wales, Northeast England and parts of Scotland 97 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: were hit hard because of the dominance of the coal, iron, steel, 98 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: and shipbuilding industries, so the places that had flourished due 99 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: to these industries took a huge fall during the depression. 100 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: Throughout the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties, people organized hunger 101 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: marches to protest unemployment and poverty in the hopes of 102 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: improving their conditions. One of those places greatly affected by 103 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: unemployment was Jarro, which had an economy that was largely 104 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: built on coal and shipbuilding. In eighteen fifty one, Charles 105 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: Mark Palmer established a shipyard at Jarrow with his brother George, 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: calling the company Palmer Brothers and Co. By eighteen sixty five, 107 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: the company had expanded to include an iron rolling mill 108 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: and blast furnaces. In the early nineteen hundreds, the company 109 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: was a major builder of warships for the Royal Navy, 110 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: cargo liners and tankers, but when the depression hit, the 111 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: company suffered losses and shut down in nineteen thirty three. 112 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: Since Jerald depended so heavily on the shipbuilding industry, a 113 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: lot of people were unemployed. About sevent of the local 114 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: workforce was out of work by nineteen thirty three. In 115 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: a speech she gave and the how of Commons in November, 116 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: Gerald's labor Party, MP Ellen Wilkinson said that only one 117 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: hundred men were employed on a temporary scheme where eight 118 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: thousand people had previously been employed. Wilkinson, who was elected 119 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: as Gerald's MP in November of nine, was sympathetic to 120 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: the struggles of unemployed workers. People in gerald were eager 121 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: for the government to do something about the unemployment. They 122 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: organized a meeting with a Cabinet minister, but they were 123 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: told that Jerald had to work out its own salvation. 124 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: So the gerald Borough Council decided to present a petition 125 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: to Parliament for help establishing work in Jarrow. The petition 126 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: got eleven thousand signatures. It would be marched from Jarrow 127 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: to London to be shown to the House of Commons. 128 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: They hoped that the non political march would get a 129 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: lot of publicity and earned the sympathy of the public 130 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,239 Speaker 1: so that industry would be re established in the town 131 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: and unemployed men could work. After attending at echumenical dedication service, 132 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: two hundred men deemed fit set off on a three 133 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: hundred mile journey to London on October five, ninety six. 134 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: They had the support of Wilkinson and Gerald's Mayor, Billy Thompson. 135 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: On October thirty one, they made it to London. A 136 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: group of blind veterans also organized a march to London 137 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: to arrive at the same time as the Gerald March. 138 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: A national hunger March also coincided with the Gerald March. 139 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: Wilkinson presented the petition to the House of Commons four 140 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: days later, but no immediate help was given to Jaral 141 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: or the protesters, who soon headed back to their hometown. 142 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: Though they got a warm welcome when they returned, the 143 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 1: marchers felt that their efforts were unsuccessful. There was no 144 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: immediate increase in employment, but the Second World War soon 145 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: brought industry back to the town. Some historians have said 146 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: that the Gerald March and other unemployment protests help shape 147 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: later perspectives the nineteen thirties, and that they contributed to 148 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: support of social programs after the war. I'm each Jeff 149 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 150 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday and give a warm, warm 151 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: birthday shout out to our producer Alexis, who works very 152 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: hard and it's also very awesome. You can find us 153 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at t d I h 154 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: C Podcast. If emails your thing, send us a note 155 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: at this day at I heeart media dot com. Thanks 156 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For more 157 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 158 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.