Storming of the Bastille

1. Storming of the Bastille Kat Monnier

2. Timeline Built between 1370 and 1383. In 1659, the Bastille was made into a prison. Was stormed on 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. Played a key role in the battle of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, which was fought beneath its walls in 1652. In 1669, The Man in the Iron Mask was held in the Bastille. The Bastille was demolished in 1789.

3. The Bastille was created in between 1370 and 1383. It at first was used as a fortress, used for the French armies when a war would occur in France. In 1659, the Bastille became a prison. Over its course of 130 years of being a prison, the Bastille held over 1,500 prisoners, mostly political or mentally unstable Parisians. In early July of 1789, many Parisians started to have suspicions about what was actually held in the Bastille. Many thought that the royalty were holding lots of prisoners and arms, like muskets, cannons, swords, and such. So on July 14, the Parisians marched up to the Bastille and ordered the guards to lower the draw bridge that stretched across the 80 foot moat. Most of the guards decided that it was not a good an idea to lower the draw bridge, but the guard captain told the people who lowered the bridge to lower it. When the bridge was lowered, the Parisians stormed through the Bastille, killing most of the guards, including the guard captain. When they searched through the Bastille however, they found only seven prisoners, three of them were mentally unstable, three were thieves that were meant to be in prison, and only one was a political prisoner. Also there were absolutely no arms in the fortress. There are slogans that the rebel French yelled while storming the Bastille; “Liberté, Ėgalité, Fraternité, ou la Mort!” and “Viva la Revolution!” That day marked the beginning of the French Revolution, and is celebrated as France’s independence from the monarchy. French people celebrate Bastille Day on July 14 with fireworks, parties, and lots of wine.