Bastille Falls: French Revolution Begins in Blood
Parisian insurgents stormed the Bastille to seize its massive stockpile of gunpowder, transforming a nearly empty fortress into a symbol of royal tyranny that they physically dismantled. The crowd's victory forced Governor de Launay to surrender and handed the revolutionaries the weapons needed to challenge the monarchy directly. This seizure of arms ignited the French Revolution, turning abstract grievances into an armed uprising that would soon topple the old regime.
July 14, 1789
237 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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