Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress and political prison known as the Bastille. After four hours of fighting and 94 deaths the insurgents were able to enter the Bastille. The governor de Launay and several members of the garrison were killed after surrender. The Bastille then represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming and was already scheduled for demolition, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuse of power. Its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution.
In France, 14 July is a national holiday called Fête nationale française which commemorates both the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille and the Fête de la Fédération which occurred on its first anniversary in 1790. In English this holiday is commonly referred to as Bastille Day.
During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, caused in part by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution and exacerbated by regressive taxes, as well as poor harvests in the late 1780s.[3] Furthermore, Finance Minister Calonne, Louis XVI's replacement for Jacques Necker, thought that lavish spending would secure loans by presenting the monarchy as wealthy. That only added to Louis' financial woes. On 5 May 1789, the Estates General convened to deal with the issue but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, representing the nobility,[4] which made up less than 2% of France's population.[2]
On 17 June 1789, the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the commoners, reconstituted itself as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The King initially opposed that development but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July.[5]
Paris, close to insurrection and in François Mignet's words, "intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm",[6] showed wide support for the Assembly. The press published the debates, and political debate spread beyond the Assembly itself into the public squares and halls of the capital. The Palais-Royal and its grounds became the site of an ongoing meeting.[7]
The crowd, on the authority of the meeting at the Palais-Royal, broke open the Prisons of the Abbaye to release some grenadiers of the French guards, who had been reportedly imprisoned for refusing to fire on the people.[8] The Assembly recommended the imprisoned guardsmen receive the clemency of the king, return to prison for a token one-day period, and receive a pardon.[9] The rank and file of the regiment, which had been considered reliable, now leaned toward the popular cause.[10]
