Bastille Day: Fall of the Bastille – Beginning of the French Revolution

Posted on July 14, 2015 Updated on July 14, 2015

The Fall of the Bastille is considered a prime symbol of the French Revolution. It’s a mark of victory of the common man against years of tyranny and oppression by the royalty.

The Bastille was initially a medieval fortress situated in eastern Paris which was converted into the royal prison around the 17th century. It was used to detain political prisoners and citizens often without trial and had come to be viewed as the symbol of royal power and autocracy in France.

During this period, France was going through an economic and political turmoil. The country was being ruled by King Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette. The Second Estate in power consisted primarily of nobles and hardly had any representatives of the common people. The Third Estate was formed on 17th June 1789 with representatives drawn from the common people of France.Jacques Necker, the Finance Minister of King Louis XVI was sympathetic towards the formation of the Third Estate (Renamed as National Constituent Assembly on 9th July).

King Louis XVI was afraid that the political situation may escalate further and as a preventive measure dismissed Jacques Necker on 12th July 1789 and ordered the French troops to assemble in Paris. As a result of these moves the common people of Paris began to fear severe oppression from the King to curb the newly formed parliament system.

On 14th July 1789, a mob attacked Bastille in search of arms and ammunition that were said to have been stored in the prison fortress. During this time Bastille had only 7 prisoners and was guarded by 85 Invalides and 30 Swiss Guards under the leadership of Bernard-Rene de Launay.  Launay along with his garrison was able to defend the prison till 4 pm after which he surrendered. The mob freed the 7 prisoners and Launay and his men were initially taken into custody and later executed.

The fall of the Bastille represented the end of ancien regime and provided a major impetus to the revolutionary movement. The Bastille was torn down at the end of 1789 and Paris slowly came under the control of the revolutionaries.

King Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette were charged with treason and were sent to the guillotine in 1793.

The tricolor cockades of the National Guards (militia formed during the revolution to protect against royal coup) representing the red and blue cockade of Paris and the white cockade of the King became a symbol of the French Revolution and later was adopted as the symbol of France.14th July also known as Bastille Day is celebrated as a national holiday in France.

Source: bastille-day.com; The History Guide; History.com; The Guardian; Librarypoint