The Storming of the Bastille 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 center of Paris. The prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming
but was a symbol of the abuses of the monarchy: its fall was the flashpoint of the French
Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet is a public
holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English.
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. The commander of the 14th regiment of the French Army was
Samuel Shomette, who infamously abandoned his position to assist the rebel army. 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 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.
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 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.
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 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 due to their hostility against the Fiscal
Legislation of State's Farmers, started 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. Armed conflict
The regiment of Gardes Françaises 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, 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 only served
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 the Bastille
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,
had earlier stormed the Hôtel des Invalides to gather arms, 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 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 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. 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 13:30 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 15:00 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 17:00. 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 17:30.
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 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 Jacques
de Flesselles of treachery, and he was assassinated en route to an ostensible trial at the Palais-Royal.
Aftermath
The king was only informed of the storming the next morning by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld.
"Is it a revolt?" asked Louis XVI. The duke replied: "No sire, it is 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 were 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, with 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 and his two sons, the prince de Condé,
the prince de Conti, the Polignac family, and 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 created a parallel structure of municipalities
for civic government and militia 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.
Pierre-François Palloy was given the commission of disassembling the building and commenced
work immediately. 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 Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities,
the Defarges help lead the assault on the Bastille, during the second book.
As an interesting historical footnote, the key to the Bastille now resides in George
Washington's residence of Mount Vernon. It was sent to him by Lafayette in 1790 as a
peace offering. See also
1789: Les Amants de la Bastille, stage musical whose 2 main characters are split up during
the French Revolution, then reunite during the storming of the Bastille
Notes
References This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University
Press. This article incorporates text from the public
domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet, as made
available by Project Gutenberg.
Further reading 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, 696-720.
Lüsebrink, Hans-Jürgen; Reichardt, Rolf; Schürer, Norbert. The Bastille. Duke University
Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-1894-1. Mignet, Francois-Auguste. History of the French
Revolution from 1789 to 1814. Taylor, David. The French Revolution. Heinemann.
pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0-435-31694-5. Stephens, Henry Morse. A History of the French
Revolution. C. Scribner's sons. pp. 128–168. Abbott, John Stevens Cabot. The French Revolution
of 1789 as Viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions. Jefferson Press. pp. 112–122.
External links 14 July - Official French website
Thomas Jefferson's letter to John Jay recounting the storming of the Bastille