Storming of the Bastille

Storming of The Bastile by Jean-Pierre Houël

Date	July 14, 1789
Location	Paris, France 48°51′11″N 2°22′09″E / 48.85306°N 2.36917°E / 48.85306; 2.36917Coordinates: 48°51′11″N 2°22′09″E / 48.85306°N 2.36917°E / 48.85306; 2.36917
Result	Bastille captured, rebellion begins

Belligerents

French government

Parisian militia
Gardes françaises

Commanders and leaders

Bernard-René de Launay

Pierre-Augustin Hulin

Strength

114 soldiers, 30 artillery pieces

probably fewer than 1,000 insurgents

Casualties and losses

One (six or possibly eight killed after surrender)

The Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]) occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of abuses by 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.

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.

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