Prise de la Bastille The Bastille was a prison and fortress that stood ominously in central Paris.

Originally constructed to defend the city from invasion and hold prisoners, the building was used as an arsenal for the French government in the late 18th century. The fortress was also a symbol of the tyrannical rule and absolute power of King Louis XVI. After aiding the Americans in their revolution, the French went through an economic crisis. In an attempt to end the crisis the government implemented a heavy regressive tax system in which the wealthiest people only paid 2% of the taxes, leaving the burden of the nations debt on the shoulders of the commoner. It was this tax system and the ideas of the enlightenment of the 18th century that sparked revolution in the hearts of the French. In the days before the storming of the Bastille, there was turmoil within the French Government and its Estates General. A man named Maximilien de Robespierre led the Third Estate, the legislative group representing the common people of France. He and other members of the Third Estate demanded more power within the government and an overhaul of the regressive tax system. When their demands were not met, Maximilien wrote a constitution for France and created the National Constituent Assembly on July 9, 1789. Although the king opposed the creation of the assembly, he was forced to recognize them as the legitimate legislative body. Four days later, on the 13th of July, word was going around that the king was ready to use military force on the new legislative body. One day later, wanting to preserve the progress of the revolution, a mob of Parisians stole weapons from the Invalides and began marching to the Bastille. The mob knew that there was a large stock of gunpowder within the Bastille, and they needed the powder to use their newly acquired weapons. The few soldiers who were guarding the

fortress opened fire on the mob and killed hundreds of revolutionaries. When reinforcements were sent to defend the fortress, the reinforcements sided with the mob. With the help of the reinforcements combat skills and weapons, the mob was able to seize the fort. When the mob entered, they beheaded Marquis Bernard-Rene de Launay who was leading the troops garrisoned at the Bastille. That night the mob began to destroy the fortress, and July 14th is celebrated in France today as an independence day. This event marked the beginning of an armed revolution against the monarchy and the elites of France. It would lead to the beheading of Louis XVI, the rise and rule of Napoleon, and the beginning of a democratically ruled France that we know today. On Bastille Day, Louis XVI was out hunting, and simply wrote Nothing in his diary. Little did he know that this was the beginning of the end of his rule in France and the birth of France, and even Europe, as we know it today.

Works Cited "Bastille Day - July 14th, 1789." Storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. "The Estates General Meeting." The Estates General Meeting at the Tennis Court Oath. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.