Complete answer: On 14 July 1789 a crowd in Paris stormed the Bastille and destroyed it. This was because of the increasing discontent between the French citizens and the growing feeling of aggression and conflicts in France. This demolition of Bastille by the crowd marked the beginning of French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napole…
Full Answer
What was Bastille why was it hated by the people?
The French people destroyed the Bastille, an old prison in the Paris centre because this building (that at that time was empty )was the tangible and hated symbol of the king’s and aristocracy’s tyranny. Do wealthy French citizens celebrate Bastille Day? The 14th July is the national day in France.
Why did the mobs storm the Bastille?
Why did people storm the Bastille? On July 14, 1789 a Paris mob stormed the Bastille, in search of large quantities of arms and ammunition that they believed was stored at the fortress. Also, they hoped to free prisoners at the Bastille, as it was traditionally a fortress in which political prisoners were held.
What did the people of Paris want from the Bastille?
What did the mob of people want from the Bastille? They wanted weapons and gunpowder. ... Where was the Bastille located? Paris, France. After the peasants stormed the Bastille what did they say they were going to do with the prisoners? They were going to release the prisoners. ... What oath did the people take when they formed the national ...
Why was the Bastille attacked?
Why was the Bastille attacked? The Bastille, the great prison/fortress in the heart of Paris which was stormed by a Parisian mob on the 14th of July 1789, was attacked because they wanted its gunpowder and weapons.
How did the Bastille get destroyed?
It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789, in the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement. It was later demolished and replaced by the Place de la Bastille.
Why did the French destroy the Bastille?
Why did they storm the Bastille? The Third Estate had recently made demands of the king and had demanded that the commoners have more of a say in government. They were worried that he was preparing the French army for an attack.
How did the storming of the Bastille end?
Launay's men were able to hold the mob back, but as more and more Parisians were converging on the Bastille, Launay raised a white flag of surrender over the fortress. Launay and his men were taken into custody, the Bastille's gunpowder and cannons were seized, and the seven prisoners were freed.
Where is the Bastille today?
The square straddles 3 arrondissements of Paris, namely the 4th, 11th and 12th. The square and its surrounding areas are normally called simply Bastille. The July Column (Colonne de Juillet) which commemorates the events of the July Revolution (1830) stands at the center of the square.
Who were the 7 prisoners in the Bastille?
The seven prisoners in in residence that day were: four forgers, the Comte de Solanges (inside for 'a sexual misdemeanour') and two lunatics (one of them was an English or Irish man named Major Whyte who sported a waist-length beard and thought he was Julius Caesar).
When did the Bastille fall?
July 14, 1789Storming of the Bastille / Start date
Why was the Bastille hated by all?
Yet the Bastille was hated by all, because it stood for the despotic power of the king. The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the markets to all those who wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction.
How did the king react to the storming of the Bastille?
All of this happened on July 14, which has been known in France and all over the world as “Bastille Day” ever since. Hearing that the Bastille had fallen, Louis XVI asked the duke de La Rochefoucauld: “So, is there a rebellion?” To which the duke retorted: “No, Sire, a revolution!”
When was the Bastille destroyed?
July 15, 1789Bastille / Destruction beganThe Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]) happened in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille.
What was the purpose of the Bastille?
Built in the 1300s during the Hundred Years' War against the English, the Bastille was designed to protect the eastern entrance to the city of Paris. The formidable stone building's massive defenses included 100-foot-high walls and a wide moat, plus more than 80 regular soldiers and 30 Swiss mercenaries standing guard.
What were the reasons for the outbreak of the French Revolution?
What are the main cause of French Revolution? Despotic rule of Louis XVI,division of French society,rising prices,inspiration of the philosophers,role of middle class.
Why did the French Revolution happened?
The French Revolution began in 1789 and lasted until 1794. King Louis XVI needed more money, but had failed to raise more taxes when he had called a meeting of the Estates General. This instead turned into a protest about conditions in France.
What happened to the Bastille?
The fall of the Bastille. On July 14th 1789, a crowd of several thousand people laid siege to the Bastille, a royal fortress, prison and armoury in eastern Paris. After a standoff of several hours, they gained access to the Bastille, overwhelmed its guards and murdered its governor. The fall of the Bastille was chiefly symbolic.
Why did the Bastille hold few prisoners?
On the eve of revolution, the Bastille held very few prisoners, largely because the use of lettres de cachet had declined through the 1780s.
What was the Bastille?
While the fall of the Bastille has resonated through history, the real history of the Bastille was actually more mundane.
How many cannons did the Governor of the Bastille have?
Between late morning and mid-afternoon, the governor received deputations from the crowd. They pleaded with him to withdraw the fortress’s 18 cannons, pointed threateningly at the suburbs below, and to surrender the Bastille’s gunpowder to the people. De Launay agreed to the first but not the second.
How many soldiers guarded the Bastille?
His father had also been its governor and De Launay himself had been born within its walls. The fortress was lightly guarded by around 120 soldiers, most old or infirm – but the Bastille’s strong high walls and its numerous artillery pieces made it almost unassailable, even for a crowd of several thousand people.
Why was a stint in the Bastille important?
Indeed in many circles, a stint in the Bastille was useful for establishing one’s credentials as a writer or an intellectual.
What is the name of the building that stood over Faubourg Saint-Antoine?
The Bastille’s tower loomed over Faubourg Saint-Antoine, a working-class district known for its rowdiness and occasional defiance.
Why was the Bastille built?
The Bastille was built in response to a threat to Paris during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Prior to the Bastille, the main royal castle in Paris was the Louvre, in the west of the capital, but the city had expanded by the middle of the 14th century and the eastern side was now exposed to an English attack. The situation worsened after the imprisonment of John II in England following the French defeat at the battle of Poitiers, and in his absence the Provost of Paris, Étienne Marcel, took steps to improve the capital's defences. In 1357, Marcel expanded the city walls and protected the Porte Saint-Antoine with two high stone towers and a 78-foot-wide (24 m) ditch. A fortified gateway of this sort was called a "bastille", and was one of two created in Paris, the other being built outside the Porte Saint-Denis. Marcel was subsequently removed from his post and executed in 1358.
Why was the Bastille fortified?
The defences of the Bastille were fortified in response to the English and Imperial threat during the 1550s, with a bastion constructed to the east of the fortress. The Bastille played a key role in the rebellion of the Fronde and the battle of the faubourg Saint-Antoine, which was fought beneath its walls in 1652.
How did Henry IV retake Paris?
It took Henry IV several years to retake Paris. By the time he succeeded in 1594, the area around the Bastille formed the main stronghold for the Catholic League and their foreign allies, including Spanish and Flemish troops. The Bastille itself was controlled by a League captain called du Bourg. Henry entered Paris early on the morning of 23 March, through the Porte-Neuve rather than the Saint-Antoine and seized the capital, including the Arsenal complex that neighboured the Bastille. The Bastille was now an isolated League stronghold, with the remaining members of the League and their allies clustering around it for safety. After several days of tension, an agreement was finally reached for this rump element to leave safely, and on 27 March du Bourg surrendered the Bastille and left the city himself.
Why was the Bastille important to the French?
The Bastille was strategically vital during the period, both because of its role as a royal fortress and safe-haven inside the capital, and because it controlled a critical route in and out of Paris. In 1418, for example, the future Charles VII took refuge in the Bastille during the Burgundian-led "Massacre of the Armagnacs" in Paris, before successfully fleeing the city through the Porte Saint-Antoine. The Bastille was occasionally used to hold prisoners, including its creator, Hugues Aubriot, who was the first person to be imprisoned there. In 1417, in addition to being a royal fortress, it formally became a state prison.
What was the Bastille used for?
It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789, in the French Revolution, ...
What was the Bastille's role in France?
The Bastille figured prominently in France's domestic conflicts, including the fighting between the rival factions of the Burgundians and the Armagnacs in the 15th century, and the Wars of Religion in the 16th.
What was the name of the fortification in Paris?
In 1357, Marcel expanded the city walls and protected the Porte Saint-Antoine with two high stone towers and a 78-foot-wide (24 m) ditch. A fortified gateway of this sort was called a "bastille", and was one of two created in Paris, the other being built outside the Porte Saint-Denis.
When was the Bastille destroyed?
When the Bastille was overrun during the French Revolution and destroyed in July 1789, many political liberals within Britain celebrated. The schoolboy Coleridge, in particular, leaned towards radical views and would later become more and more radical although his views within "The Destruction of the Bastile" are more moderate. Although the poem was composed following the Bastille's destruction, it was not published until 1834.
Who wrote the poem "The Destruction of the Bastile"?
Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Destruction of the Bastile was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1789. The poem describes Coleridge's feelings of hopes for the French Revolution as a catalyst for political change.
Why did the people storm the Bastille?
On the morning of July 14, 1789, when only seven prisoners were confined in the building, a crowd advanced on the Bastille with the intention of asking the prison governor, Bernard Jordan, marquis de Launay, to release the arms and munitions stored 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.
When was the Bastille storming?
The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, undated coloured engraving. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now. Bastille Day, celebrated annually on July 14, was chosen as a French national holiday in 1880.
How many towers were there in the Bastille?
Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789. With its eight towers, 100 feet (30 metres) high, linked by walls of equal height and surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet (24 metres) wide, the Bastille dominated Paris.
When was the Bastille built?
The first stone was laid on April 22, 1370, on the orders of Charles V of France, who had it built as a bastide, or fortification (the name Bastille is a corruption of bastide ), to protect his wall around Paris against English attack.
Who was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison?
Cardinal de Richelieu was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison, in the 17th century; the yearly average number of prisoners was 40, interned by lettre de cachet, a direct order of the king, from which there was no recourse.
Where is the Bastille on the right bank?
The road off the upper end of the Île Saint-Louis leads to the Place de la Bastille on the Right Bank. From the river to the place runs a canal, the Arsenal Basin, which formerly supplied water to the moat around the Bastille fortress.…
Overview
History
The Bastille was built in response to a threat to Paris during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Prior to the Bastille, the main royal castle in Paris was the Louvre, in the west of the capital, but the city had expanded by the middle of the 14th century and the eastern side was now exposed to an English attack. The situation worsened after the imprisonment of John II in England foll…
Remains
Due to its destruction after 1789, very little remains of the Bastille in the 21st century. During the excavations for the Métro underground train system in 1899, the foundations of the Liberté Tower were uncovered and moved to the corner of the Boulevard Henri IV and the Quai de Celestins, where they can still be seen today. The Pont de la Concorde contains stones reused from the Bastille.
Historiography
A number of histories of the Bastille were published immediately after July 1789, usually with dramatic titles promising the uncovering of secrets from the prison. By the 1830s and 1840s, popular histories written by Pierre Joigneaux and by the trio of Auguste Maquet, Auguste Arnould and Jules-Édouard Alboize de Pujol presented the years of the Bastille between 1358 and 1789 as a single lo…
See also
• List of castles in France
Notes
1. ^ Lansdale, p. 216.
2. ^ Bournon, p. 1.
3. ^ Viollet, p. 172; Coueret, p. 2; Lansdale, p. 216.
4. ^ Bournon, p. 3.
External links
• Video accompanying 2011 exhibition at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French)