Effect of Storming of the Bastille on different groups

On the afternoon of July 14, 1789 a group of over a thousand Parisians, consisting of people within all social classes, but mostly made up of artisans, wage-earners, and tradesmen arrived at the Bastille. , Legend claims that this riled group of Parisians attacked the Bastille with the sole aim of rescuing prisoners only to find that there were, in fact, only seven prisoners there, and that the Bastille was actually a discreet prison reserved for people of influence and power, which they themselves were not. In actuality, the group of Parisian insurgents arrived at the Bastille only demanding that the governor relinquish the arms and ammunition kept there. That morning, the same group had claimed all the weapons they could acquire in the Invalides hospital. For the most part, this group of Parsians was staging what they considered a defensive maneuver against the royal troops and cannons that they perceived were threatening them and their city. Had the governor prepared enough provisions the Bastille’s high walls and wide mote would have easily kept it safe from attacks. However, after one of the insurgents was permitted inside to converse and make agreements with the governor and the drawbridge was eventually let down for the crowd outside, the defenders of the Bastille were ordered to fire making the Parisians fear they had fallen into a trap and quickly retaliate. Throughout the mostly unequal battle the crowd demanded that the second drawbridge be let down, and amid the confusion and despite warnings the governor de Launey acquiesced and the crowd rushed in.

The invasion of the Bastille actually had a few other causes apart from defense and acquiring weaponry. For one, the public was facing a shortage of food s...

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11. "The French Revolution | The National Archives." The National Archives. Extract from a confidential report from the British Ambassador, 30th July 1789 (FO 27/2). http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/lesson36.htm (accessed February 6, 2012).

12. "The face of a 1789 Live Free of Die medal (commemorating the Fall of the Bastille)." Vern McCrea, napoleonicmedals.com. American Social History Productions. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media . http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1150/ (accessed February 6, 2012).

13. de Bailly, Jean Sylvain. "The Mayor of Paris on the Taking of the Bastille." Mémoires de Bailly, avec une notice sur sa vie, des notes et des éclaircissements historiques, vol. 1 (Paris: Baudouin frères, 1882) 338–341. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media . http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/304/ (accessed February 6, 2012).