On July 14, 1789 an angry French mob stormed the Bastille. The fall of the Bastille is considered the opening salvo of the radical stage of the French Revolution.
Located in Paris, the Bastille was a prison, housing less than a dozen prisoners at the time. However, rumors swirled through Paris that hot summer that armaments were stored there to overthrow the new National Assembly.
The National Assembly had formed less than a month earlier by the members of the Third Estate who desired to have an equitable voice in the French government. Some members of the First and Second estate joined the Assembly, and when King Louis XVI requested all members of the First and Second Estate to join, the old Estates General dissolved.
Still, most members of the Third Estate were suspicious of the King. the city poor and rural farmers had joined the middle class to ask for government changes. However, the middle class needed to assure their continued support. When word came that the King's troops had encircled the city of Paris, the city residents looked toward the Bastille.
The Bastille, symbol of the King's tryanny, housed prisoners and armaments. Early in the morning of July 14, 1789, a crowd gathered outside the prison. As the mob moved toward the Bastille, the warden gave the order for his troops to fire--nearly one hundred Parisians were killed. The French Guard arrived on the scene and threatened to bombard the Bastille.
At this point, the warden surrendered. He was promised no harm would come to him or his troops. However, the angry crowd killed him and several of his soldiers. The king withdrew his troops and the National Assembly continued moderate reforms until Robesppiere moved the revolution into a radical stage.
