Storming of the Bastille. On July 14, 1789, a mob of militant Parisian workers attacked the royal fortress of the Bastille in Paris. Built in the fourteenth century, the Bastille was first used as a prison in the seventeenth century. Despite holding an average of only 40 prisoners a year, the fortress became a symbol of Bourbon tyranny. On the morning of July 14, 1789, a group of rioters descended on the Bastille, demanding the surrender of the weapons and ammunition inside. That day, the prison held only seven inmates. When the prison governor refused, the people stormed the fortress and freed the prisoners. This dramatic action marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Over the next three years, marked by violence and political unrest, approximately 1,000 people, in addition to the king and Queen Marie Antoinette, were guillotined. During the revolution, the Bastille was destroyed. Today in France, July 14th – Bastille Day – is a national holiday.
