French revolutionaries storm Bastille - Jul 14, 1789 - HISTORY.com French revolutionaries storm Bastille Publisher A+E Networks Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution , a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed. The Bastille was originally constructed in 1370 as a bastide, or “fortification,” to protect the walled city of Paris from English attack. It was later made into an independent stronghold, and its name–bastide–was corrupted to Bastille. The Bastille was first used as a state prison in the 17th century, and its cells were reserved for upper-class felons, political troublemakers, and spies. Most prisoners there were imprisoned without a trial under direct orders of the king. Standing 100 feet tall and surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet wide, the Bastille was an imposing structure in the Parisian landscape.

By the summer of 1789, France was moving quickly toward revolution. There were severe food shortages in France that year, and popular resentment against the rule of King Louis XVI was turning to fury. In June, the Third Estate, which represented commoners and the lower clergy, declared itself the National Assembly and called for the drafting of a constitution. Initially seeming to yield, Louis legalized the National Assembly but then surrounded Paris with troops and dismissed Jacques Necker, a popular minister of state who had supported reforms. In response, mobs began rioting in Paris at the instigation of revolutionary leaders. Bernard-René Jordan de Launay, the military governor of the Bastille, feared that his fortress would be a target for the revolutionaries and so requested reinforcements. A company of Swiss mercenary soldiers arrived on July 7 to bolster his garrison of 82 soldiers.

The Marquis de Sade, one of the few prisoners in the Bastille at the time, was transferred to an insane asylum after he attempted to incite a crowd outside his window by yelling: “They are massacring the prisoners; you must come and free them.” On July 12, royal authorities transferred 250 barrels of gunpowder to the Bastille from the Paris Arsenal, which was more vulnerable to attack. Launay brought his men into the Bastille and raised its two drawbridges. On July 13, revolutionaries with muskets began firing at soldiers standing guard on the Bastille’s towers and then took cover in the Bastille’s courtyard when Launay’s men fired back. That evening, mobs stormed the Paris Arsenal and another armory and acquired thousands of muskets. At dawn on July 14, a great crowd armed with muskets, swords, and various makeshift weapons began to gather around the Bastille. Launay received a delegation of revolutionary leaders but refused to surrender the fortress and its munitions as they requested. He later received a second delegation and promised he would not open fire on the crowd.

To convince the revolutionaries, he showed them that his cannons were not loaded. Instead of calming the agitated crowd, news of the unloaded cannons emboldened a group of men to climb over the outer wall of the courtyard and lower a drawbridge. Three hundred revolutionaries rushed in, and Launay’s men took up a defensive position. When the mob outside began trying to lower the second drawbridge, Launay ordered his men to open fire. One hundred rioters were killed or wounded. Launay’s men were able to hold the mob back, but more and more Parisians were converging on the Bastille. Around 3 p.m., a company of deserters from the French army arrived. The soldiers, hidden by smoke from fires set by the mob, dragged five cannons into the courtyard and aimed them at the Bastille. Launay raised a white flag of surrender over the fortress. Launay and his men were taken into custody, the gunpowder and cannons were seized, and the seven prisoners of the Bastille were freed. Upon arriving at the Hotel de Ville, where Launay was to be arrested by a revolutionary council, the governor was pulled away from his escort by a mob and murdered.

The capture of the Bastille symbolized the end of the ancien regime and provided the French revolutionary cause with an irresistible momentum. Joined by four-fifths of the French army, the revolutionaries seized control of Paris and then the French countryside, forcing King Louis XVI to accept a constitutional government. In 1792, the monarchy was abolished and Louis and his wife Marie-Antoinette were sent to the guillotine for treason in 1793. By order of the new revolutionary government, the Bastille was torn down. On February 6, 1790, the last stone of the hated prison-fortress was presented to the National Assembly. Today, July 14–Bastille Day–is celebrated as a national holiday in France. Related Videos July 14, 1789: A Paris mob storms the Bastille. ... : UNHISTORICAL July 14, 1789: A Paris mob storms the Bastille . The storming of the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris, was one of the key events and iconic moments of the early years of the French Revolution.

When King Louis XVI ascended the throne of France in 1774, the government was deeply in debt as a result of colonial wars, and this debt worsened as France threw its support - and money - behind the American rebels in their war against the British crown. Famine was widespread, as was a general malaise, leading to the summoning of the Estates General to discuss the status of the nation. Disgruntled members of the Third Estate formed the National Assembly in June of 1789 and signed the Tennis Court Oath on June 20. When Jacques Necker, the king’s finance minister with some desire to appease the commoners with reform, was dismissed, mobs in Paris began to riot, believing that the king and royal forces meant to shut down the newly-formed National Constituent Assembly. They soon directed their anger at the relatively lightly guarded medieval fortress of Bastille, both a symbol of monarchical despotism and power in addition to a storage place for tens of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, which the revolutionaries intended to seize. By the early hours of July 14, a large armed mob had gathered outside the prison and prepared to storm the building.

By the early afternoon, the Bastille’s military governor had surrendered the building, arms, and ammunition; he, along with other defenders of the prison, were beaten and killed by the mob, their heads raised above the crowd and paraded through the streets. Ninety-nine people died during the attack itself. The King, meanwhile, had been away at hunt; when he exclaimed that there had been a revolt upon learning of the fall of the Bastille, he was met with a reply from one member of the Estates-General and a social reformer: “ Non, sire, c'est une révolution”. Storming of the Bastille Storming of the Bastille Share Intro On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy’s dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. This article reporting the events of 14 July was published in an English newspaper called The World, a few days after the event took place. A medieval fortress, the Bastille’s eight 30-metre-high towers, dominated the Parisian skyline.

When the prison was attacked it actually held only seven prisoners, but the mob had not gathered for them: it had come to demand the huge ammunition stores held within the prison walls. When the prison governor refused to comply, the mob charged and, after a violent battle, eventually took hold of the building. The governor was seized and killed, his head carried round the streets on a spike. The storming of the Bastille symbolically marked the beginning of the French Revolution, in which the monarchy was overthrown and a republic set up based on the ideas of ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ (the French for liberty, equality and brotherhood). In France, the ‘storming of the Bastille’ is still celebrated each year by a national holiday. Essay on Storming of the Bastille - 524 Words Storming of Bastille Essay ...Carmine Mennone The Storming of Bastille The storming of Bastille took place on July 14, 1789. The citizens of Paris were tired of the lack of food, over taxing, and seeing their country deteriorate, causing the citizens of Paris to fix things and revolt.

The Bastille at this time was a prison and Bernard de Launay was the commander of the garrison stationed at the Bastille. This prison only had 7... 284 Words | 1 Pages Essay about The Storming of the Bastille ...﻿ The Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the bastille was the famous day on July 14, 1789 where a huge Mob of hungry enraged blood thirsty peasants came marching to the bastille for Weapons and Prisoners that were imprisoned by king Louis XVI. What would make a Mob of angry peasants want to attack building right out the blue? What made all these Peasants so angry was... 451 Words | 1 Pages Storming the Bastille Essay ...Revolt and Revolution at Bastille Hunger, over taxation, and unfair law in Paris was the start of what triumphantly would be the start of the French revolution. Pamphlets and publications regarding local events, true or not, were readily available and widely spread. With literacy and education in every range of the population, and the socialization of the enlightenment movement rapidly growing, word and action were hand in hand. Thanks to the motivation and desperation of a...

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Wordcount: 377 To what extent was the storming of the Bastille on the 14th To what extent was the storming of the Bastille on the 14th of July the most significant event during 1789?The years leading up to the 1789 storming of the Bastille were turbulent ones. The French had been burdened by two lengthy and expensive wars, not to mention their involvement in the American ... Wordcount: 825 Bastille Day: A Turning Point in the French Revolution Bastille Day: A Turning Point in the French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a political movement devoted to the people, more specifically, the common people. The motto of the Revolution was "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," meaning freedom, equals, and alliance. Although the Revolution was thou... Wordcount: 1882 French Revolution The French Revolution was a trying time for many people in the 1700's. Robespierre was using the guillotine to produce his Reign of Terror that left more than 250 people dead. But the Reign of Terror was a result of a more radical time.

The storming of the Bastille was one of the main issues during ... Wordcount: 277 Tale of Two Cities Tale of Two Cities ParagraphThe angry mobs of poor citizens take on a form of a powerful, forceful ocean that unpredictably sweeps through the Bastille. The mobs of people are compared to a sea that is rising when Dickens states "suddenly the sea rose immeasurably wider and higher." The 'sea' comes ... Wordcount: 359 tale of two cities speech "The storming of the Bastille...the death carts with their doomed human cargo...the swift drop of the guillotine blade-this is the French revolution that Charles Dickens vividly captures in his famous work "A Tale of two cities". With dramatic eloquence, he brings to life a time of terror and treaso... Wordcount: 1952 A Tale of Two Cities Plot Summary:Well I saw just over half the movie, but this is what happened. The movies goes back and forth between England and France during the brutal times of the French Revolution. I think most the action a saw took place in Paris, France. Charles Darnay, a major character in this movie is a tut...

Wordcount: 380 A Tale of Two Cities - The French Revolution, in the novel A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens, is described throughout the novel as a "force of nature"; the revolution came progressively but indubitably sweeping over an entire region with cries of passion, as like rain, and hazardous conditions brought forth ... Wordcount: 1426 American and French Revolution American and French Revolution During the late 17th century two areas of the world started to make changes in the way they lived. These two areas were France and America which both had suffered from monarchs and their governments. The peasants who lived in t... Wordcount: 945 Book Report:Violence Cycles in Tale of Two Cities October 29, 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charles Dickens, one of the most esteemed British writers of the nineteenth century, used to his famous work, A Tale of Two Cities, to give several im... Wordcount: 1284 Napoleon Timeline June 17th, 1789: The Third Estate Declares itself to be a National Assembly.

They invited the nobles and clergy to join them in this single-chambered legislature.June 20th, 1789: Tennis Court Oath declared. In fear that they would be stopped, the members of the National Assembly regrouped at a lo... Wordcount: 549 Frances Economy Frances EconomyA country may describe itself as having a market, command, or traditional economy when really they have a mix of all three. France is a good example of a country with all three of these economic systems. The government controls a lot of things about the economy. Many people also c... Wordcount: 505 Revolution Intro To Politics - - - IN POLITICS, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION? ARE THEY NECESSARY TO ESTABLISH A SUCESSFUL CHANGE IN A POLITICAL SYSTEM? DISCUSS, USING EXAMPLES...According to me whether revolution is necessary to establish a successful change in the political system depends on the situatio... Wordcount: 896 A Tale Of Two Cities Tale of Two Cities is not only a love story about Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette, but also about the French Revolution taking place.

Charles carries the name of a hated family who is caught in the middle of a vast movement in France. His only hope is his wife's father, Dr. Manette who helps him m... Wordcount: 1658 The French Revolution1 THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONThere was a loud "thunk" as the blade hit, and then a roar of the crowd as another nobleman's head was raised, after being cut off. The French Revolution (1789-1795) was one if not the most bloodiest revolutions ever in history. There were three social classes in France known a... Wordcount: 1883 Tale of two cities "It was the Best of Times, It was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had every...

Wordcount: 1195 A Tale of Two Cities "A Tale of Two Cities" is written by Charles Dickens and it takes place in France and England during the troubled times of the French Revolution. most of the story happens in Paris, France. It is a story about love and tragedy and making the ultimate sacrifice for the ones you love. Its also a story... Wordcount: 1156 french american revolution The French and American RevolutionsIn this paper we will discus and compare the French and American revolutions. Letsstart out by talking about the French Revolution, then move on to the AmericanRevolution.The French Revolution was fought between the years of 1789 and 1799, and violentlychanged Fran... Wordcount: 506 Napoleon Buonaparte Napoleon Buonaparte was a military genius who, at the age of sixteen, gained the rank of lieutenant in the French Army. He overcame all of the criticism he received in the army became a great leader. Napoleon, perhaps, was one of the most prominent, and p... Wordcount: 2221 The French Revolution The French Revolution was a moderately large event that happened in the late 1700's.

Most aristocrats were sentenced to the guillotine. Many tried to escape but most didn't succeed. But before I go on, I must tell you what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about the French Revolution, Marie... Wordcount: 1226 Causes of The French Revolution The boulevards were like all the other streets, brilliantly illuminated, with immense numbers of people walking up and down on this late February evening. Men, women, and children were rejoicing, as the terrible struggles of the day had ceased. Near the Hotel des Capucines there was a heavy force of... Wordcount: 1427 Othello6 Napoleon Buonaparte was a military genius who, at the age of sixteen, gained the rank of lieutenant in the French Army. He overcame all of the criticism he received in the army became a great leader. Napoleon, perhaps, was one of the most prominent, and p... Wordcount: 2221 Causes of the French Revolution The boulevards were like all the other streets, brilliantly illuminated, with immense numbers of people walking up and down on this late February evening.

Men, women, and children were rejoicing, as the terrible struggles of the day had ceased. Near the Hotel des Capucines there was a heavy force of... Wordcount: 1427 Quia - The French Revolution Java Games: Flashcards, matching, concentration, and word search. The French Revolution Chapter 23, Sections 1 & 2. A The political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution. estates The three social classes in France before the French Revolution: First Estate - clergy, Second Estate - nobility, Third Estate - the rest of the population. Estates-General An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France. National Assembly A French congress established by representatives of the Third Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people. Bastille A Paris prison, stormed by the mob on July 14, 1789. Great Fear A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789.

Tennis Court Oath A pledge made by members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen A statement of revolutionary ideals adopted by the National Assembly. Women’s March to Versailles A march by women in Paris in October, 1789, demanding that the government provide bread. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy A law passed by the National Assembly by which the French government took over Church lands and that Church officials and priests were to be elected and paid as state officials. Legislative Assembly A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the Constitution of 1791. Jacobins Radical party in the Legislative Assembly, wanted social revolution and central control from Paris. Girondins Moderate party in the Legislative Assembly, they wanted a federal type of government. Monarchists Conservative party in the Legislative Assembly, they wanted to bring back the Old Regime. Emigre A person who leaves their country for political reasons, like the nobles and others who fled France during the peasant uprisings of the French Revolution.

sans-culottes A radical group made up of Parisian wage-earners and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end to food shortages. Guillotine A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution. Brunswick Manifesto The threat by the commander of Prussian forces advancing on Paris in 1792, if the king or any member of the royal family was harmed, Paris would be destroyed. September Massacres Murder of many nobles, priests and royalist sympathizers in September, 1792. National Convention Governing body in France after September 21, 1791 which abolished the monarchy and declared France a rewpublic. First Coalition Alliance of Britain, Holland, Spain, Sardinia, Austria, Prussia and the German States against France. Assignats Paper money issued by the french government. Royalist Uprisings Counter-revolutionary uprisings in the Brittany and Vendee regions in France. Jacobin Acts Laws issued by the National Convention that aimed at radical change in France.

Committee of Public Safety Organization whose chief task was to protect the Revolution from it enemies by uncovering counter-revolutionaries and executing them. Reign of Terror The period from mid-1793 to mid-1794, when Maximillien Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed. Levy En Masse The draft of 300,000 French citizens during 1793 -1794. The Directory French government from 1795 to 1799, consisting of 5 Directors and two assemblies. This activity was created by a Quia Web subscriber. msjworldciv2honors - French Revolution - Storming of the Bastille French Revolution - Storming of the Bastille Joe Hiltz jhiltz90@gmail.com The French Revolution- Storming of the Bastille The seizure of the Bastille, today marked by a national holiday in France, triggered the first of the great emigrations from France as the king's brothers, failing to convince the king to punish the rioters and supress the Assembly, fled. It also marked the beginning of violence that would become endemic in the Revolution.

The disaffection of the officers and the rifts between the officers and the enlisted also helped to bring down the ancient regime because the army would play a crucial role in the unrest of the summer of 1789. The government had mustered more than 20,000 men in the Paris area by July 1789, but it did not dare use them. The government's perception that the army could not be trusted ensured that the government could not inforce its will. When the crisis came, the king'sministers assumed that the army could not be counted upon to enforce order. The commander's advice not to employ the troops only reinforced the king's indecision. Whether discipline would have helld is open to question, because some units remained loyal; but the officers did not believe that the men would obey and were unwilling to test soldiers' loyalty. athe government's lack of faith in its troops most likely quickened the desertion rate because most of the desertions occured after the fall of the Bastille as the traditional lines of authority collapsed. The perception that the men were unreliable became a self-fueling prophecy.

The breakdown of discipline within the ranks, the mingling of the soldiers with and their sympathy for the people in Paris, and their disaffection from their officers led the government to withdraw the regular troops from Paris. Frey, Linda S., and Marsha L. Frey. The French Revolution. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2004. 4, 60. Print. Louis's actions led to the storming of the Bastille prison by the Paris mob on July 14, 1789. On the same day the price of bread in Paris had reached its highest ever level. The Bastille was the symbol of the repressive power of the monarchy. It was also believed to hold ammunition that would allow the Parisians to defend themselves against the king's soldiers. The storming of the Bastille was followed by the formation of a revolutionary city government in Paris, known as the Paris Commune, and a number of peasant uprisings outside Paris. French Revolution. Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia. Helicon Publishing. 2005. eLibrary. ProQuest LLC. MOUNT ST JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL. 11 Nov 2009. .

As rioting over Necker's dismissal took place on July 12th and 13th, Parisians, now a mob, began a non-systematic and often hysterical search for arms and supplies. Shops were looted, grain stores sacked, and even churches and monasteries were searched for hidden stores. On the morning of July 14, a crowd of some 7,000-8,000 people took some 30,000 guns from the Hôtel des Invalides. Spurred on by their stunning success, the crowd next looked to the Bastille, known to be equipped with gunpowder and arms recently sent there from the arsenal. To secure those weapons and gunpowder was the real goal of the siege of the Bastille. Thuriot returned to say that the governor refused to surrender, although he would agree not to fire unless attacked. Half an hour later, some of the crowd forced down a small undefended drawbridge that led into the inner, or Governor's, court. The crowd, which now numbered many hundreds of people, immediately swarmed through this entrance.

It was at this point that de Launay panicked and ordered his troops to fire, even though they were protected by the prison's thick walls. At least ninety-eight of the crowd were killed and seventy-three wounded. Even two delegates carrying white flags were fired on. Word of the carnage reached troops stationed at the Hôtel de Ville under the command of former National Guard noncommissioned officer Hulin and a lieutenant named Élie who quickly came to the defense, bringing with them two detachments of the National Guard along with five cannon removed from the Invalides that morning. Joined at the Bastille by several hundred armed civilians, this new force fought its way to the inner courtyard of the fortress and aimed the cannon at the main gate. De Launay offered terms at this point. The mob released the seven prisoners remaining in the Bastille; ironically, none of them was in any way a political prisoner. One was an insane young man kept in the Bastille by his family, two others were also mentally disturbed, and four were disreputable characters being prosecuted for forgery.

According to a census in 1790 of those who participated in the storming of the Bastille, people from all classes of society were involved, although most were artisans from the surrounding neighborhood. The most reliable records show that the vaingueurs de la Bastille, as they were called, numbered between 800 and 900 people, and names, addresses, and occupations were established for 662 of the survivors. The storming of the Bastille, although a fairly minor incident in and of itself, particularly militarily, was a potent political symbol: it came to be regarded as the beginning of the French Revolution. And, despite many setbacks to come, in a real sense it was. The king had lost control of Paris and did not have the resources to take the city back by force. The people had been energized; for them, there was no turning back. The monarchy was eventually overthrown and a republic established. July 14 became a French national holiday - Bastille Day - that is celebrated today in much the same manner that Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, their Independence Day. "Paris (France): Place de la Bastille." International Dictionary of Historical Places Volume 2 Northern Europe.

Chicago: Fitzory Dearborn, 1995. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 11 Nov. 2009 < >. The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on 14 July, 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven prisoners at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution, and it subsequently became an icon of the French Republic. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally knowparticularly never-consummated efforts to invade Great Britain), and exacerbated by an unequal system of taxation. On 5 May, 1789, the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and comprising 2% of France's population at the time.

On 17 June, 1789, the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the middle class, or bourgeoisie, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July. The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes.[1] The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. The middle class had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolor cockades (rosettes) of blue, white and red, formed by combining the red-and-blue cockade of the Paris commune and the white cockade of the king. These cockades, and soon simply their color scheme, became the symbol of the revolution and, later, of France itself.

Paris, close to insurrection, and, in François Mignet's words, "intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm," showed wide support for the Assembly. The press published the Assembly's debates; 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 endless meeting. 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, reportedly imprisoned for refusing to fire on the people. The Assembly recommended the imprisoned n as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, initiated by the cost of intervening in the American War of Independence (and guardsmen to the clemency of the king; they returned to prison, and received pardon. The rank and file of the regiment, previously considered reliable, now leaned toward the popular cause. (n.d.). Storming of the Bastille. Wikipedia.

Retrieved (2009, November 12) from The time was half past three, on the famous date of July 14, 1789. A huge, bloodthirsty mob marched to the Bastille, searching for gun powder and prisoners that had been taken by the unpopular and detested King, Louis XVI. Even elements of the newly formed National Guard were present at the assault. The flying rumors of attacks from the government and the biting truth of starvation were just too much for the angry crowds. The Bastille had been prepared for over a week, anticipating about a hundred angry subjects and along the thick rock walls of the gargantuan fortress and between the towers were twelve more guns that were capable of launching 24-ounce case shots at any who dared to attack. However, the enraged Paris Commune was too defiant and too livid to submit to the starvation and seeming injustice of their government. But nothing could have prepared the defenders for what they met that now famous day. The Bastille was governed by a man named Marquis de Launay.

On July 7th, thirty-two Swiss soldiers led by Lieutenant Deflue, came to aid de Launay, helping him to prepare for a small mob. Rumors were flying everywhere. The Marquis was expecting a mob attack, but certainly not a siege! The entire workforce of the Bastille had stealthily and furiously been repairing the Bastille and reinforcing it, all to prepare for a minor attack from a hundred or so angry citizens. At three o'clock that afternoon, however, a huge group of French guards and angry citizens tried to break into the fortress. There were over three hundred people ready to give their lives to put an end to their overtaxing and overbearing government. However the Bastille was threatened by more than the numerous crowds: three hundred guards had left their posts earlier that day, out of fear and from the rumors. The besiegers easily broke into the arsenal and into the first courtyard, cut the drawbridge down, and then quickly got through the wooden door behind it. They boldly demanded that the bridges be lowered, but they were refused. The Marquis de Launay said he would surrender if his troops were allowed to leave peacefully, but he was simply rebuked.

They wanted de Launay on a noose or with his head in a basket. The vicious crowds shouted for him to lower the bridges. De Launay sent a note to a mob leader named Hulin, claiming that he had 20,000 pounds of gunpowder and if the besiegers did not accept his offer, he would annihilate the entire fortress, the garrison, and everyone in it! Yet, they still refused. The bridges were finally lowered on de Launay's command, and he and his soldiers were captured by the crowds and dragged through the filthy streets of Paris. The mob paraded through the streets, showing off their captives, and crudely cutting off many heads. The National Guard tried to stop the crowds from looting, but it was useless. They continued marching on, maKing their way to the Hotel de Ville.

Upon learning that the Bastille had been taken, King Louis XVI, who was residing at Versailles, was reported to have asked an informer: "Is this a revolt?" and La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said, "No, Sire, it is a revolution." Little did Louis know that the mob's next plan was to march to Versailles, and take him away with them as well. Bastille, Fall of the (14 July 1789) When the ESTATES GENERAL met in May 1789 there was conflict between the Crown and the privileged Estates (clergy and nobles) on the one hand and the Third Estate on the other, particularly when the latter claimed the right to manage the affairs of the nation and called itself the National Assembly in June. LOUIS XVI increased the number of troops round Paris with the apparent intention of using them to dissolve the Assembly. This was prevented by the revolt of the people of Paris. They began seizing arms but were short of gunpowder and cartridges, so they marched on the fortress of the Bastille.

The government would have used its troops to crush the rising but they proved unreliable and some French Guards deserted to join the Parisians besieging the Bastille. When the crowds entered the inner courtyard the Governor, de Launay, ordered his troops to fire. Ninety-eight of those laying siege were killed before the French Guards, using cannon, broke in: de Launay, forced to surrender, was decapitated. Those who attacked the Bastille were not the wealthy middle class but SANS-CULOTTES - master craftsmen and journeymen of the working-class districts. At the height of the rebellion about a quarter of a million Parisians were under arms. The fall of the Bastille had far-reaching results. The King had lost control of Paris, so the Assembly could now draw up a constitution safe from the threat of being dissolved by the King. Real power had passed from the King to the elected representatives of the people. When news of the Bastille's fall spread throughout France, the authority of the King collapsed in most French towns, as it had done in Paris, whilst in the countryside the peasant revolution, which had already begun, was extended and intensified.

The revolt of Paris also began the emigration of some nobles, led by the King's brother, the Comte d'Artois (the future King CHARLES X ): 20,000 fled abroad in two months. Gouverneur Morris, later US ambassador to France, wrote to George Washington, 'You may consider the revolution to be over, since the authority of the King and the nobles has been utterly destroyed.' Publication: The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History 1789-1945 Publisher: Penguin Published: 2001 Place of Publication: London (c) Duncan Townson 1994, 1995, 2001. Text copyright (c) Donald Bates, David Englander, John Gillingham, Joanna Innes, Diarmaid McCulloch, John Stevenson, 1995, 2000. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd The French Revolution- Storming of the Bastille King Louis XVI, in 1788 decided to call together the States General in order to raise taxes.

By doing this, Louis XVI was admitting that the French monarchy was bankrupt and in a desperate position and they were forced to find new solutions to thier problems. Storming of the Bastille - 必应 Sign in Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]) occurred in Paris, France, on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of the abuse of the monarchy: its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English. 关于Storming of the Bastille，网友们最关心的问题 1 Storming of the Bastille Background During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, partially initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution, and exacerbated by a regressive system of taxation.

On 5 May 1789, the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and amounting to only 2% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789, the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the commoners, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July. The commoners had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolour cockades (cocardes) of blue, white and red, formed by combining the red and blue cockade of Paris and the white cockade of the king. These cockades, and soon simply their colour scheme, became the symbol of the revolution and, later, of France itself. Paris, close to insurrection and, in François Mignet's words, "intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm," showed wide support for the Assembly.

The press published the Assembly's debates; 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 endless meeting. 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, reportedly imprisoned for refusing to fire on the people. The Assembly recommended the imprisoned guardsmen to the clemency of the king; they returned to prison, and received pardon. The rank and file of the regiment, previously considered reliable, now leaned toward the popular cause. Storming of the Bastille Necker's dismissal On 11 July 1789, with troops at Versailles, Sèvres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint-Denis, Louis XVI, acting under the influence of the conservative nobles of his privy council, dismissed and banished his finance minister, Jacques Necker, who had been sympathetic to the Third Estate, and completely reconstructed the ministry.

The marshals Victor-François, duc de Broglie, la Galissonnière, the duc de la Vauguyon, the Baron Louis de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon, took over the posts of Puységur, Armand Marc, comte de Montmorin, La Luzerne, Saint-Priest, and Necker. News of Necker's dismissal reached Paris in the afternoon of Sunday, 12 July. The Parisians generally presumed that the dismissal marked the start of a coup by conservative elements. Liberal Parisians were further enraged by the fear that a concentration of Royal troops, brought to Versailles from frontier garrisons, would attempt to shut down the National Constituent Assembly, which was meeting in Versailles. Crowds gathered throughout Paris, including more than ten thousand at the Palais-Royal. Camille Desmoulins successfully rallied the crowd by "mounting a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: 'Citizens, there is no time to lose; the dismissal of Necker is the knell of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots!

This very night all the Swiss and German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all; one resource is left; to take arms!'" The Swiss and German regiments referred to were among the foreign mercenary troops who made up a significant portion of the pre-revolutionary Royal Army, and were seen as being less likely to be sympathetic to the popular cause than ordinary French soldiers. By early July, approximately half of the 25,000 regular troops in Paris and Versailles were drawn from these foreign regiments. The French regiments included in the concentration appear to have been selected either because of the proximity of their garrisons to Paris or because their colonels were supporters of the reactionary "court party" opposed to reform. During the public demonstrations that started on 12 July the multitude displayed busts of Necker and of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, marching from the Palais Royal through the theater district before continuing westward along the boulevards. The crowd clashed with the Royal German Cavalry Regiment ("Royal-Allemand") between the Place Vendôme and the Tuileries Palace.

From atop the Champs-Elysees, the Prince de Lambesc unleashed a cavalry charge which dispersed the remaining protesters at Place Louis XV—now Place de la Concorde. The Royal commander, Baron de Besenval, fearing the results of a blood bath amongst the poorly armed crowds or defections amongst his own men, then withdrew the cavalry towards Sèvres. Meanwhile, unrest was growing among the people of Paris who expressed their hostility against state authorities by attacking customs posts blamed for causing increased food and wine prices. The people of Paris started to plunder any place where food, guns and supplies could be hoarded. That night, rumors spread that supplies were being hoarded at Saint-Lazare, a huge property of the clergy, which functioned as convent, hospital, school and even as a jail. An angry mob broke in and plundered the property, seizing 52 wagons of wheat which were taken to the public market. That same day multitudes of people plundered many other places including weapon arsenals. The Royal troops did nothing to stop the spreading of social chaos in Paris during those days.

Storming of the Bastille Armed conflict The regiment of Gardes Françaises (French Guards) formed the permanent garrison of Paris and, with many local ties, was favourably disposed towards the popular cause. This regiment had remained confined to its barracks during the initial stages of the mid-July disturbances. With Paris becoming the scene of a general riot, Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc (Marshal of the Camp, Proprietor of the Royal Allemand-Dragoons), not trusting the regiment to obey his order, posted sixty dragoons to station themselves before its dépôt in the Chaussée d'Antin. Once again, a measure intended to restrain served only to provoke. The officers of the French Guards made ineffectual attempts to rally their men. The rebellious citizenry had now acquired a trained military contingent. As word of this spread, the commanders of the royal forces encamped on the Champ de Mars became doubtful of the dependability of even the foreign regiments. The future "Citizen King", Louis-Phillipe, duc d'Orléans, witnessed these events as a young officer and was of the opinion that the soldiers would have obeyed orders if put to the test.

He also commented in retrospect that the officers of the French Guards had neglected their responsibilities in the period before the uprising, leaving the regiment too much to the control of its non-commissioned officers. However, the uncertain leadership of Besenval led to a virtual abdication of royal authority in central Paris. A "bourgeois militia" arose through the sixty voting districts of Paris to take control over the insurrection. Storming of the Bastille Storming the Bastille (14 July 1789) On the morning of 14 July 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm. The partisans of the Third Estate in France, now under the control of the Bourgeois Militia of Paris (soon to become Revolutionary France's National Guard), had earlier stormed the Hôtel des Invalides to gather arms (29,000 to 32,000 muskets, but without powder or shot), and were mainly seeking to acquire the large quantities of arms and ammunition stored at the Bastille. On the 14th, there were over 13,600 kilograms (30,000 lb) of gunpowder stored there.

At this point, the Bastille was nearly empty of prisoners, housing only seven old men annoyed by all the disturbance: four forgers, two "lunatics" and one "deviant" aristocrat, the Comte de Solages (the Marquis de Sade had been transferred out ten days earlier). The cost of maintaining a medieval fortress and garrison for so limited a purpose had led to a decision being taken to close it, shortly before the disturbances began. It was, however, a symbol of royal tyranny. The regular garrison consisted of 82 invalides (veteran soldiers no longer suitable for service in the field). It had however been reinforced on 7 July by 32 grenadiers of the Swiss Salis-Samade Regiment from the troops on the Champ de Mars. The walls mounted eighteen eight-pound guns and twelve smaller pieces. The governor was Bernard-René de Launay, son of the previous governor and actually born within the Bastille. The list of vainqueurs de la Bastille has 954 names, and the total of the crowd was probably fewer than one thousand.

The crowd gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the guns and the release of the arms and gunpowder. Two representatives of the crowd outside were invited into the fortress and negotiations began, and another was admitted around noon with definite demands. The negotiations dragged on while the crowd grew and became impatient. Around 1:30, the crowd surged into the undefended outer courtyard, and the chains on the drawbridge to the inner courtyard were cut, crushing one unfortunate vainqueur. About this time, gunfire began, though some stories state that the Governor had a cannon fire into the crowd killing several women, children, and men, turning the crowd into a mob. The crowd seemed to have felt it had been drawn into a trap and the fighting became more violent and intense, while attempts by deputies to organise a cease-fire were ignored by the attackers. The firing continued, and at 3:00, the attackers were reinforced by mutinous gardes françaises and other deserters from among the regular troops, along with two cannons. A substantial force of Royal Army troops encamped on the nearby Champs de Mars did not intervene.

With the possibility of a mutual massacre suddenly apparent, Governor de Launay ordered a cease-fire at 5:00. A letter offering his terms was handed out to the besiegers through a gap in the inner gate. His demands were refused, but de Launay nonetheless capitulated, as he realised that his troops could not hold out much longer; he opened the gates to the inner courtyard, and the vainqueurs swept in to liberate the fortress at 5:30. Ninety-eight attackers and one defender had died in the actual fighting. De Launay was seized and dragged towards the Hôtel de Ville in a storm of abuse. Outside the Hôtel, a discussion as to his fate began. The badly beaten de Launay shouted "Enough! Let me die!" and kicked a pastry cook named Dulait in the groin. De Launay was then stabbed repeatedly and fell, and his head was sawn off and fixed on a pike to be carried through the streets. The three officers of the permanent Bastille garrison were also killed by the crowd; surviving police reports detail their wounds and clothing.

Two of the invalides of the garrison were lynched, but all but two of the Swiss regulars of the Salis-Samade Regiment were protected by the French Guards and eventually released to return to their regiment. Their officer, Lieutenant Louis de Flue, wrote a detailed report on the defense of the Bastille which was incorporated in the logbook of the Salis-Samade and has survived.It is (perhaps unfairly) critical of the dead Marquis de Launay, whom de Flue accuses of weak and indecisive leadership. The blame for the fall of the Bastille would rather appear to lie with the inertia of the commanders of the substantial force of Royal Army troops encamped on the Champs de Mars, who made no effort to intervene when the nearby Hôtel des Invalides or the Bastille were attacked. Returning to the Hôtel de Ville, the mob accused the prévôt ès marchands (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles of treachery, and he was assassinated en route to an ostensible trial at the Palais-Royal. Storming of the Bastille Aftermath The king first learned of the storming only the next morning through the Duke of La Rochefoucauld.

"Is it a revolt?" asked Louis XVI. The duke replied: "No sire, it's not a revolt; it's a revolution." The citizenry of Paris, expecting a counterattack, entrenched the streets, built barricades of paving stones, and armed themselves as well as they could, especially with improvised pikes. Meanwhile, at Versailles, the Assembly remained ignorant of most of the Paris events, but eminently aware that Marshal de Broglie stood on the brink of unleashing a pro-Royalist coup to force the Assembly to adopt the order of 23 June and then to dissolve. The viscomte de Noailles apparently first brought reasonably accurate news of the Paris events to Versailles. M. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, dispatched to the Hôtel de Ville, confirmed his report. By the morning of 15 July the outcome appeared clear to the king as well, and he and his military commanders backed down. The Royal troops concentrated around Paris dispersed to their frontier garrisons.

The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris; Jean-Sylvain Bailly – leader of the Third Estate and instigator of the Tennis Court Oath – became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the Commune de Paris. The king announced that he would recall Necker and return from Versailles to Paris; on 17 July, in Paris, he accepted a tricolour cockade from Bailly and entered the Hôtel de Ville to cries of "Long live the King" and "Long live the Nation". Nonetheless, after this violence, nobles – little assured by the apparent and, as it was to prove, temporary reconciliation of king and people – started to flee the country as émigrés. Early émigrés included the comte d'Artois (the future Charles X of France) and his two sons, the prince de Condé, the prince de Conti, the Polignac family, and (slightly later) Charles Alexandre de Calonne, the former finance minister.

They settled at Turin, where Calonne, as agent for the count d'Artois and the prince de Condé, began plotting civil war within the kingdom and agitating for a European coalition against France. The successful insurrection at Paris spread throughout France. In accord with principles of popular sovereignty and with complete disregard for claims of royal authority, the people established parallel structures of municipalities for civic government and militias for civic protection. In rural areas, many went beyond this: some burned title-deeds and no small number of châteaux, as the "Great Fear" spread across the countryside during the weeks of 20 July to 5 August, with attacks on wealthy landlords impelled by the belief that the aristocracy was trying to put down the revolution. On July 22, 1789 the populace beheaded Joseph Foullon de Doué and his son-in-law . Although there were arguments that the Bastille should be preserved as a monument to liberation or as a depot for the new National Guard, the Permanent Committee of Municipal Electors at the Paris Town Hall gave the construction entrepreneur Pierre-François Palloy the commission of disassembling the building. Palloy commenced work immediately.

The demolition of the fortress itself, the melting down of its clock portraying chained prisoners, and the breaking up of four statues were all carried out within five months. Austrian composer Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf wrote his Symphony in C Major as a tribute to the event. The first movement of the piece is known as La Prise De La Bastille. In Book 2 of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, the Defarges help lead the assault on the Bastille. In 1790 Lafayette gave the cast-iron, one-pound and three-ounce key to the Bastille to American President George Washington. Washington displayed it prominently at government facilities and events in New York and in Philadelphia until shortly before his retirement in 1797. The key remains on display at Washington's residence of Mount Vernon. Storming of the Bastille References ^ a b Mignet 1824, §Chapter I ^ Micah Alpaugh, "The Politics of Escalation in French Revolutionary Protest: Political Demonstrations, Nonviolence and Violence in the Grandes journees of 1789," French History (Fall 2009) ^ Louis, Bergeron (1970).

Le Monde et son Histoire. Paris. p.Volume VII, Chapter VI. Micah Alpaugh, "The Politics of Escalation in French Revolutionary Protest: Political Demonstrations, Nonviolence and Violence in the Grandes Journees of 1789," French History (2009) ^ Civilisation: A Personal View, Kenneth Clark, Penguin, 1987, p. 216 ^ Connelly, Owen (2006). The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon 1792-1815. New York: Routledge. p.18. ^ ^ Hibbert, Christopher. 'The French Revolution' (1980), p. 82 (1982 Penguin Books edition) ^ Simon Schama, page 405 "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution", ISBN 0-670-81012-6 ^ "Rélation de la prise de la Bastille le 14 juillet 1789 par un de ses défenseurs," in Révue Retrospective, vol. 4 (Paris: M. J.

Taschereau, 1834) ^ Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret, La Bastille est prise, Paris, Éditions Complexe, 1988, p. 102. ^ "The Séance royale of 23June 1789". Fitchburg State College. Retrieved 22 January 2009. ^ Simon Schama, page 412 "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution", ISBN 0-670-81012-6 ^ Simon Schama, page 414 "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution", ISBN 0-670-81012-6 ^ "Bastille Key". Retrieved 15 November 2015. Storming of the Bastille Further reading Alpaugh, Micah. "The Politics of Escalation in French Revolutionary Protest: Political Demonstrations, Nonviolence and Violence in the Grandes journees of 1789," French History (Fall 2009). Alpaugh, Micah.

"A Self-Defining Bourgeoisie in the Early French Revolution: The Milice bourgeoise, the Bastille Days of 1789, and their Aftermath," Journal of Social History 47, no. 3 (Spring 2014), 696-720. Lüsebrink, Hans-Jürgen; Reichardt, Rolf; Schürer, Norbert (1997). The Bastille. Duke University Press. ISBN978-0-8223-1894-1. Mignet, Francois-Auguste (1 January 2006). History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814. Taylor, David (1997). The French Revolution. Heinemann. pp.16–17. ISBN978-0-435-31694-5. Stephens, Henry Morse (1886). A History of the French Revolution. C. Scribner's sons. pp.128–168. Abbott, John Stevens Cabot (1887).

The French Revolution of 1789 as Viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions. Jefferson Press. pp.112–122.

Question: What Paris prison was stormed by the mob in 1789?
Answer: Bastille