This Week in History

Photo Source: Storming of the Bastille. Britannica
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CWA # 1381, 13 July 2024
This Week in History
14 July 1789: The Storming of Bastille and the Start of French Revolution

  Karthik Manoharan

On the morning of 14 July 1789, thousands gathered and stormed the Bastille prison in France, a symbol of power and despotism. The prison, guarded by a small garrison, retaliated against the crowd, resulting in the death or injury of 200. Nevertheless, the commander of the garrison was beheaded, and his head was carried on a pike through the French streets as a mark of victory, marking the beginning of the French Revolution.

Causes leasing to the Storming of the Bastille
Social, economic, and immediate causes led to the storming of Bastille 

First, the social divisions and inequalities. France had 20 million people at the beginning of the 18th century, which increased by 8-10 million more by the end. Most of the population lived in small villages and a few cities, with Paris being the exception. While capitalism began to enter everyday life, leading to increased regional and international trade, daily life in the countryside remained mostly unchanged, with peasants struggling to make a living.

French society was divided into three orders: clergy, nobility, and common people, with the clergy further divided into higher and lower clergy. Privileges and social status were mainly determined by birth, with the higher clergy living in luxurious and extravagant lifestyles without paying taxes, creating resentment among the common people. On the other hand, the lower clergy served the people and lived in poor conditions. Provincial nobles, while focused on solving the people's problems, did not enjoy the same privileges as the Court nobles. The Third Estate, a diverse class including farmers, cobblers, and other lower classes, faced various taxes such as Taille, Tithe, and Gable, while also enduring exploitation by the clergy and nobility through labor obligations. The bourgeoisie, composed of doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and intellectuals, held wealth and status, yet were ranked as part of the Third Estate by the monarchy, influenced by the clergy and nobles. The bourgeoisie, along with the lower clergy and provincial nobles, played a significant role in inspiring the common people about their rights and inciting rebellion, hence the French Revolution is sometimes referred to as the "Bourgeoisie Revolution."

Social tensions surrounding inequality became a central issue during the Revolution, as representatives from the Third Estate sought equal representation. Pamphlets were published, arguing for a new concept of society where commoners had equal value to the other orders.

Second, the heavy taxation and the plight of the Third Estate
The wars of the king, his extravagant spending on the royal palace at Versailles, and mismanagement resulted in a soaring national debt. Marie Antoinette's extravagant lifestyle added to the financial burden on the state. Meanwhile, the third estate, despite being deprived of basic rights, faced heavy taxation. Peasants endured multiple taxes, including taille, corvée, gabelle, franc-fief, and tithe, while the upper classes grew wealthier. The nobles and clergy enjoyed tax exemptions and accumulated wealth, further exacerbating the frustrations of the peasantry. Moreover, the French monarchy's support of the American War of Independence drained the royal budget. The cost of supporting the Americans and fighting Britain strained the French economy, adding to the financial crisis.

Third, the growing demand for reforms
The immediate causes leading to the storming of Bastille include the demands for reform. Some members of the Assembly of Notables were open to fiscal reform and paying more taxes, but only if their privileges were guaranteed through institutional reforms. They wanted the king to call for regular assemblies of the Estates-General, which hadn't been done since 1614, to address the financial crisis and reduce the privileges of the nobles. However, implementing these reforms without the approval of the nobles could lead to accusations of despotism or tyranny. Yielding to the demands of the privileged classes in exchange for new taxes would compromise the king's absolute authority and suggest that his decisions were subject to the approval of the nation or nobility.

About the Author
Karthik Manoharan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore

In the series:
08 July 1497: Vasco Da Gama leaves Portugal, starting an era
05 July 1962: The Algerian War comes to an end
01 July 1968: US, Soviet Union, UK and 40 countries sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty
05 July 1996: Dolly becomes the first mammal to be cloned
01 July 2002: The Rome Statute establishes the International Criminal Court
05 July 1962: Algeria declares its independence, ending 132 years of French occupation
06 June 1944: Allied forces land in Normandy, turning the tide in World War-II
21 May 1991: LTTE human bomb assassinates Rajiv Gandhi
20 May 1948: Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer lands in Calicut in India’s west coast
20 May 2002: East Timor becomes an independent country
30 April 1975: Saigon falls to North Vietnam troops, leading to the reunification of Vietnam
21 April 1526: The First Battle of Panipat leads to the emergence of the Mughal Empire in India
17 April 1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki ends the first Sino-Japan War (1894-95)
17 April 1975: Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh in Cambodia, establishing the Pol Pot regime
16 April 1917: Lenin issues “April Theses”
04 April 1968: Martin Luther King Jr assassinated
18 March 2014: Russia annexes Crimea
14 March 1879: Albert Einstein born in Germany
14 March 1849: The Sikh Army surrenders to the British
12 March 1918: Lenin shifts the capital to Moscow
11 March 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

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