USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On July 14, 1789, fears that King Louis XVI was about to arrest France’s newly constituted National Assembly led a crowd of Parisians to successfully besiege the Bastille, an old fortress that had been used since 1659 as a state prison.

Detailed explanation-2: -A medieval fortress, the Bastille’s eight 30-metre-high towers, dominated the Parisian skyline. When the prison was attacked it actually held only seven prisoners, but the mob had not gathered for them: it had come to demand the huge ammunition stores held within the prison walls.

Detailed explanation-3: -On July 12, royal authorities transferred 250 barrels of gunpowder to the Bastille, and Launay brought his men into the massive fortress and raised its two drawbridges. At dawn on July 14, a great crowd armed with muskets, swords, and various makeshift weapons began to gather around the Bastille.

Detailed explanation-4: -Reasons for the Attack. The main reason why the rebel Parisians stormed the Bastille was not to free any prisoners but to get ammunition and arms. At the time, over 30, 000 pounds of gunpowder was stored at the Bastille. But to them, it was also a symbol of the monarchy’s tyranny.

Detailed explanation-5: -The short answer is that they wanted to get the ammunition and gunpowder being stored inside. The more substantive answer is that for the people who stormed the prison, the ammunition and gunpowder were the last items needed in order to transform the population of Paris from subjects into citizens.