What Really Happened on Bastille Day | July 14, 1789 (2024)

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What Really Happened on Bastille Day | July 14, 1789? ›

On the morning of July 14, the people of Paris seized weapons from the armoury at the Invalides and marched in the direction of an ancient Royal fortress, the Bastille. After a bloody round of firing, the crowd broke into the Bastille and released the handful of prisoners held there.

From history.com, Bastille Day: “Bastille Day is a holiday celebrating the storming of the Bastille—a military fortress and prison—on July 14, 1789, in a violent uprising that helped usher in the French Revolution.

On the morning of July 14, 1789, hundreds of Parisians stormed the Bastille, a state prison, seizing 250 barrels of gunpowder and freeing its prisoners. The storming of the Bastille was a pivotal moment in the French Revolution, the violent result of a multitude of social, economic, and political crises.

A state prison in Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by a discontent and angry mob. The mob demanded the arms and ammunition stored at the Bastille. After the rejection, they stormed the prison, took arms and ammunition, and released prisoners held there.

On July 14 1789 the Paris mob, hungry due to a lack of food from poor harvests, upset at the conditions of their lives and annoyed with their King and Government, stormed the Bastille fortress (a prison).

The capture of the Bastille symbolized the end of the ancien regime and provided the French revolutionary cause with an irresistible momentum. In 1792, the monarchy was abolished and Louis and his wife Marie-Antoinette were sent to the guillotine for treason in 1793.

On July 14, 1789, the Parisian crowd stormed the Bastille, a symbol of royal tyranny. Again the king had to yield; visiting Paris, he showed his recognition of the sovereignty of the people by wearing the tricolour co*ckade. In the provinces, the Great Fear of July led the peasants to rise against their lords.

He accordingly opened the gates, and the vainqueurs swept in to take over the fortress at 5:30 pm. Ninety-eight attackers and one defender had died in the actual fighting or subsequently from wounds, a disparity accounted for by the protection provided to the garrison by the fortress walls.

The taking of the Bastille signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, and it thus became a symbol of the end of the ancien régime. What does Bastille Day celebrate? July 14, often called la fête nationale in France, became an official holiday in 1880.

Bastille was a fortress prison in France. It was a symbol of the despotic powers of King Louis XVI. Hence it was hated all in France. The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the markets.

What was the significance of the Bastille and the events of July 14 1789 quizlet? ›

What was the significance of the Bastille? This imposing prison was a symbol of the Ancien Regime and tyrannical government. It was believed to contain political prisoners. Therefore the event suggested that the people had taken the side of the Revolution and signified that the National Assembly could not be dispersed.

On 14 July 1789, a mob advanced on the Bastille, intending to seize gunpowder that was stored within. After a fierce fight, the revolutionaries captured the prison. They found only seven prisoners. But the power of the people had been made known, encouraging the fighters for liberty and equality.

On July 14, 1789, fears that King Louis XVI was about to arrest France's newly constituted National Assembly led a crowd of Parisians to successfully besiege the Bastille, an old fortress that had been used since 1659 as a state prison.

The Storming of the Bastille

On the morning of July 14, the people of Paris seized weapons from the armoury at the Invalides and marched in the direction of an ancient Royal fortress, the Bastille. After a bloody round of firing, the crowd broke into the Bastille and released the handful of prisoners held there.

Angered by Launay's evasiveness, the people stormed and captured the place; this dramatic action came to symbolize the end of the ancien régime. The Bastille was subsequently demolished by order of the Revolutionary government. Where the Bastille once stood is today a public square called the Place de la Bastille.

The French national holiday thus commemorates the Federation festival (Fête de la Fédération), which took place on July 14th, 1790, for the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, on the initiative of La Fayette to celebrate the french federal national gards.

It was released in cinemas in the UK as "Bastille Day". The film has been re-titled "The Take" for DVD there, due to the real-life 14th July 2016 Bastille Day attack occurring between its theatrical and home video releases.