What impact did the Women's March on Versailles (1790) have on political power and royal authority?

• A. It pressured the monarchy, bringing Louis XVI to Paris and increasing the revolutionary government's influence over the king.
• B. It strengthened the monarchy's autonomy from Paris.
• C. It had no real impact on royal authority.
• D. It resulted in the immediate abolition of the monarchy.

Answer: (B)

Public pressure from the streets could reshape political power, and this event shows that vividly. The Women’s March on Versailles forced the king to relocate to Paris, bringing him into the orbit of Parisian revolutionary influence and under the watchful eye of the revolutionaries in the capital. By moving the royal residence, the king lost a degree of personal autonomy that had long rested in Versailles and symbolically placed him under the control and authority of the new political forces in Paris. In short, royal authority became more constrained by the revolutionary movement and its leaders in the capital, not more autonomous from Paris. The march did not abolish the monarchy, nor did it leave royal power untouched; it marked a shift toward greater Parisian and revolutionary influence over the king.