For a revolution to be successful, over seventy percent of the population must be with the cause to overthrow the government. This is not the only need, however, in a revolution as each uprising is different. Other needs include people who lead the revolution and direct the people and armaments to actually overthrow the current government. With these needs and more, a series of events will occur that will set off a chain reaction to a victorious revolution. The French Revolution was a successful conquest for the revolutionists because of three important events-the fall of the Bastille, horrible attempts at reform by the current government, and the execution of the royal family.
             One of the early and decisive victories in the French Revolution was the fall of the French prison fort, the Bastille. The Bastille was earlier used as a fort to protect Paris in the late 1300s with walls 100 feet high and eight feet think, but in the 1700s it was used as a prison to hold criminals who committed acts against the state, such as spies and traitors (Benedict 31). Being a former fort, the Bastille had an ironic combination where it housed gunpowder, ammunition, and arms along side the prisoners (Benedict 31). Mobs had gathered in front of the Bastille and demanded gunpowder, which, of course, the Bastille refused to give up (Benedict 35). Shooting broke out at the Bastille and eighty people were killed and seventy people were injured by early afternoon (Benedict 39). A member of the mob, Elector Thuriot de la Rosière, gained admittance to the Bastille to negotiate with De Launay, the commander of the Bastille, who was determined not to cooperate or surrender to the revolutionists (Carlyle 68). The negotiations did not work out in favor for the revolutionaries and Rosière was taken captive (Benedict 47). When what seemed to be a loosing battle for the mob, they were joined by the French Militia and the French G
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