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Bastille Day Explained ... The Storming of the Bastille
 The Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on 14 July 1789. While the medieval fortress and prison known as the Bastille contained only seven prisoners, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution and it subsequently became an icon of the French Republic. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English.
During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major financial crisis, triggered by the cost of intervening in the American War of Independence, and exacerbated by an unequal system of taxation. On 5 May 1789, the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but was held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate. The Second Estate consisted of the nobility and was 2% of France's population at the time. There was a First Estate as well, and this consisted of Catholic Church leaders, and this Estate took up 1% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789, the representatives of the Third Estate, which was the middle class, or bourgeoisie, that took up 97% of France's population at the time, 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 fall of the Bastille became a national holiday in France
Following the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, the revolution began to grow. This would be the third stage in the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes.[1] The second stage had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. And finally the third stage was the storming of the Bastille and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
The middle class had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolor rosettes of red, white and blue; soon to become the symbol of the revolution. The "Great Fear" had spread across the countryside, with attacks on wealthy landlords impelled by the belief that the aristocracy was trying to put down the revolution.
Paris, close to insurrection, and, in François Mignet's words, "intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm," showed wide support for the Assembly. (Mignet, History…, Chapter I) 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.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2008
Painting Claude Monet Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878.
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