The Réveillon riots between 26 and 29 April 1789 centered in the St. Antoine district of Paris where a factory which produced luxury wallpaper was owned by

Jean-Baptiste Réveillon Jean-Baptiste Réveillon (1725–1811) was a French wallpaper manufacturer. In 1789 Réveillon made a statement on the price of bread that was misinterpreted by the Parisian populace as advocating lower wages. He fled France after his home and his w ...

. The factory employed around 300 people. The riots were one of the first instances of

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The factory where the riot took place was unusual in pre-revolutionary France as the factory was

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

-free in an era where guilds controlled quality standards. Protests began after rumors spread that the owner had made a speech stating that workers, many of whom were highly skilled, were to be paid lower wages and, as a result, there would be lower prices. Workers were concerned with food shortages, high unemployment, and low wages after a difficult winter in 1789. However, Réveillon was known for his benevolence towards the poor and actually stated that bread prices should be brought down to those that people could afford (below 15 sous a day) but his comments were misinterpreted as wage restrictions. He made the comments on 21 April when the assembly of the Saint-Marguerite was discussing its ''Cahier'' which all Estates drew up before the Estates-General was to be called. After informal protests on Sunday 26 April, groups of protesters congregated on the

Île de la Cité Île de la Cité (; English: City Island) is an island in the river Seine in the center of Paris. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the Roman governor. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace ...

and in the ,

Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (c ...

, and

Faubourg Saint-Antoine The Faubourg Saint-Antoine was one of the traditional suburbs of Paris, France. It grew up to the east of the Bastille around the abbey of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, and ran along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Location The Faubourg Saint-An ...

the next day for a series of protest-marches. Though the first three marches - one of which targeted the

Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

's Assembly of Electors - were resolved peacefully, confrontations between troops and participants in the fourth demonstration led to the outbreak of violence in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine that evening. While the protesters did not manage to destroy the factory, which was being guarded by a group of around fifty troops, a factory owned by the

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitra ...

manufacturer Henriot was destroyed after he made similar comments. However Réveillon's factory was destroyed a day later as was his home.Chronology of the French Revolution: 1789–1790
The riot killed 25 people and wounded around the same number although rumour caused the casualty figures to be exaggerated. The French Guard were used to restore order. On the fantasy/crime drama

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

, the Réveillon riots were noted in the fifth season in the episode

Wesen Nacht "Wesen Nacht" is the 6th episode and midseason finale of season 5 of the supernatural drama television series ''Grimm'' and the 94th episode overall, which premiered on December 11, 2015, on the cable network NBC. The episode was written by seri ...

to have been wesen-on-wesen violence.

References

*'The Oxford History of the French Revolution' by William Doyle * Micah Alpaugh, "The Politics of Escalation in French Revolutionary Protest: Political Demonstrations, Nonviolence and Violence in the Grandes journées of 1789," French History 23, no. 3 (Fall 2009), 336–359.

External links

An eyewitness account of the riot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reveillon Riots 1789 events of the French Revolution Food riots 1789 riots 18th century in Paris Labor disputes in France 18th-century scandals

See also

References

External links