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Bastille Day - July 14th

© Linda Campbell

The 14th of July is Bastille Day or ‘la Fete de la Federation’, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille Prison in Paris in 1789. This action heralded the start of the French Revolution. King Louis XVI was monarch of France and the populace were unhappy (to say the least!) with their general treatment. On 5th May 1789, the king convened the Estates General Parliament to hear their complaints but the people, represented by the Assembly of the Third Estate, broke away to form the National Assembly. Feelings were running high and it was decided to attack the Bastille, which was a symbol of the oppressive rule of the monarchy.

For many years, different kings had used the Bastille Prison to incarcerate not only criminals, but also political dissidents. They were arrested and held without trial, especially during the reign of King Louis XIII, when the hated Cardinal Richelieu (Prime Minister of France) held such persuasive influence. During this period, the King’s authority in the provinces was extended and the laws strictly applied, with severe punishments.

Louis XIV followed this by reducing the power of the nobles and taking away their land. His successor, Louis XV further undermined the social structure of France by selling political and social positions to wealthy commoners. By the time of Louis XVI, there were a lot of people who felt that they and their families had been treated unfairly. At this time, there were three classes in France – the clergy, the nobility and the commoners. The clergy were representatives of the church who also served as judges while the nobles generally served in the armed forces. The commoners can be further divided into two groups – the bourgeoisie who were relatively wealthy - and the peasants.

King Louis XVI inherited a country that was facing a dire financial crisis. Although possibly a well intentioned king (he once stated that ‘all men, without exception are my equals’) he was unfortunately inept. He recognised that he needed to increase taxes and that the commoners carried an unequal share of the tax burden. In fact, they carried all of it as the clergy and nobles were exempt from tax! When he convened the Estates General Parliament on 5th May Louis XVI tried to force the nobles and clergy to start paying taxes. The nobles, already dissatisfied with the loss of power and lands under the previous king, vehemently disagreed. The resulting furore resulted in the commoners (the Third Estate) breaking away to form the National Assembly on June 17th.

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