Bastille Day: A Turning Point in the French Revolution

The French Revolution was a political movement devoted to the people, more specifically, the common people. The motto of the Revolution was “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” meaning freedom, equals, and alliance. Although the Revolution was thought to be a bloody tragedy by some, the majority of the people around the world saw the Revolution as much more. The French Revolution, on a technical level, took place between the years of 1789 and 1799.1 It began with the storming of the Bastille, but tensions were mounting long before that. However, the taking of the Bastille was a significant symbol in France and the world as a whole, for it symbolized what can be done when the people take the power into their own hands.

The growing economic and social importance of the bourgeoisie, the middle class of France, was usually described as the cause of the Revolution. It was believed that the bourgeoisie overthrew the Old Regime because the regime had given power and privilege to the other classes such as the nobility and clergy, who prevented the bourgeoisie from advancing socially and politically. Economic recession in the 1770s frustrated the bourgeoisie in their rise to pow

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After years of corruption and violence rocked France, Napoleon Bonaparte rose, promising the French people stability would be established, and that he would bring France to her glory days. On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI proposed an overhaul of the financial system, and other important reforms. ” It stated that he agreed to surrender on condition that nobody inside the fortress is killed. Jacques Necker, director of government finance between 1777-1781, reformed the treasury system and published an analysis of the state of government finance. It shouted itself hoarse, demanding powder and cartridges, which Launay, the governor, had no intention of giving. The governor’s reasoning was not unfounded because for over an hour, all the crowd did was shout louder and louder on the far side of the famous walls, seemingly deaf and blind. The Reign of Terror was established to rid the Republic of its’ enemies, mainly, monarchists. With that, the French Revolution was sparked, and so a new age of order was to come. 2

Parlement protests blended in with the other parties, especially an intellectual group known as the philosophes. Although he is shaken by the size of the crowd, he did not seriously believe that the King’s finest fortress, even defended by a few soldiers, will yield to any kind of attack from carpenters, cabinetmakers, locksmiths, etc. The Bastille was simply a prison, but its intimidating military potential frightened people. The drawbridges lower and the crowd spread in growing numbers. After a brief hour of isolated shots and rushing into the fortress, they told the governor he must surrender. But most of these reforms were undone as the result of pressure from financial groups, and the government continued to borrow at high rates of interest. There were three different kinds of bread: white (for the wealthy), which were bought by the loaf, brown-white and brown, which were purchased by weight.

Approximate Word count = 1882
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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