The Storming of the Bastille

The storming of the Bastille is the symbol of the French Revolution, the point where the French people rose up against the aristocracy and said “no more”. Highly symbolic and indeed highly significant in its own way, the actual events of the storming of the Bastille are perhaps not exactly what people think they are.

Bastille Day is to most people the most famous of the French national holidays, although officially the 14th July celebration is the Fete Nationale; the 14th July being the date of the storming of the Bastille in 1789. The Bastille, the Bastille Saint-Antoine, the dominant fortress-prison of Paris, and so most people think that the storming of the Bastille was an attempt to free the prisoners held within it.

The Bastille - Hubert Robert - PD-art-100

The truth is though that on the 14th July 1789, the Bastille was prison to only seven prisoners, and even its most famous resident, the Marquis de Sade had been moved some ten days earlier. The seven prisoners comprised four forgers, two lunatics, including an Irish or Englishman who thought he was Julius Caesar, and the Comte de Solanges, an aristocrat imprisoned for sexual misdemeanours.

Even at its fullest capacity the Bastille would normally only play host to fifty or so guests, and indeed the cost of its upkeep had already meant that its decommissioning and demolition were planned.
If though the storming of the Bastille was not to release its inmates, what was the purpose?

The Bastille was a symbol of oppression to the residents of Paris, but even more importantly than that though the storming of the Bastille was an effort to gain ammunition for the arms that had already been scavenged. Indeed some thirty thousand muskets had been seized from the Hotel des Invalides.

The Bastille was relatively poorly defended by 82 invalides and 32 Swiss Mercenary Grenadiers, but on the streets of Paris were many thousands of rebellious residents. The governors of the prison, Bernard Rene de Launay agreed to listen to the demands of the crowd who had gathered outside of the prison, a crowd that perhaps numbered nine thousand. The demands were the surrender of the prison, the provision of armaments and removal of the prison’s cannons.

The prison was defendable, especially against a crowd with limited skill and few weapons, although De Launay received no assistance from the Royal forces stationed around the city. De Launay though made the mistake of allowing the crowd into the Bastille’s courtyards, providing access to the rest of the prison. Four hours of fighting would follow, with the crowd assisted by dissident French soldiers. With the crowd inside the castle, the situation was hopeless and De Launay was forced to sue for peace.

Storming of the Bastille - Jean-Pierre Houël (1735–1813) - PD-art-100

In the fighting some 98 of the crowd were killed, and one of the defenders, but despite a promise of safe passage many of the defenders were subsequently killed. Those who stormed the Bastille are remembered as vainqueurs, of which almost a thousand are named, and to be known as one was a badge of honour in the Revolution that was to follow.

The storming of the Bastille was not an effort to free the inmates, but was an effort to gain much needed powder and musket balls. The symbolism of the storming of the Bastille though was important for the Revolutionaries, and ever since has been remembered as the key event of the 1789 Revolution.

Copyright - First Published 25th February 2011

Keywords - Storming Bastille, bastille day, vainqueurs, french revolution, paris bastille