Why Was the Bastille So Central to the French Revolution?

What turned a prison into the hated symbol of absolute monarchy and corruption in France? This article explains how the fall of the Bastille in 1789 became the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution.

According to ambassador Arjan; In July 1789, Paris plunged into riots; Because the Parisians believed that Louis XVI's government was going to dissolve the newly established National Assembly and abandon any real social and political reform. A group of people who were looking for weapons and gunpowder took control of the Bastille fortress in a surprising move. The storming of the Bastille became the defining image of the French Revolution. However, the fall of the Bastille did not immediately lead to the destruction of the absolute monarchy or the old order and privileges in France. So why did the Bastille become the most important symbol of the French Revolution?

The answer to this question is to a large extent sought in how the Bastille was associated with the privileges of absolute monarchy and aristocracy, as well as widespread corruption and abuse of power in France. According to historian Nicole Bauer, this image was the product of a culture of secrecy designed to scare people away from the power of the monarchy and the unknown fate that awaited the prisoners of the Bastille.

As we will see below, the secrecy of Bastille's official affairs fueled the creation of a "black legend"; A narrative in which ex-prisoners and writers presented a picture of the terror and arbitrary exercise of government power.

French readers and foreign audiences were eager to hear horror stories about the Bastille prison; But many of these exaggerated or fabricated narratives increased anger and hatred towards the monarchy and government.

This anger finally erupted in July 1789, leading to the storming of the Bastille and the formation of a public demand for greater transparency in French government and society.

The Bastille in Paris dates back to the 14th century, but in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIII and under his chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, it was transformed into a huge and terrifying prison.

Louis XIV, the king who ruled France for many years (1643 to 1715), used the Bastille extensively as a prison. As Nicole Bauer points out, the 17th and early 18th centuries saw the emergence of the modern Paris police force. At this point, the responsibility of running the Bastille prison was entrusted to the Paris police.

How the Bastille was governed in the 18th century

Researchers Hans-Jürgen Losebrink and Rolf Reichart note that there have been several "Bastilles" throughout France at different times in history. In fact, they say that the word "Bastille" originally referred to defensive towers that were built during the Hundred Years War.

Until the 18th century, the term "Bastille" referred to the royal fortress and prison of Paris. In the decades leading up to the crises that finally led to the French Revolution in 1789, the Bastille in Paris became an increasingly hated and feared symbol of the power of the monarchy and the "old system".

According to Nicole Bauer, before the French Revolution, the police believed that keeping the process of accepting prisoners, interrogating them, and releasing them secret was a powerful tool for maintaining public order.

As a result, prisoners were usually entered or released from the Bastille late at night. Furthermore, if prisoners died in the Bastille, they were buried at night; All these actions were done with the aim of preventing people from seeing and knowing.

The lack of information about the fate of the prisoners fueled rumors of horrific conditions and torture. Meanwhile, the freed prisoners had to take an oath of silence and not speak about their imprisonment in the Bastille; Otherwise, they would face the king's retaliatory measures.

Therefore, concealment not only caused fear, but until the end of the 18th century, it created increasing suspicion and hatred towards the authority of the monarchy and the power of the government.

Voltaire and exciting literary narratives about the Bastille

Rumors of torture and brutal prison conditions, as well as official secrecy about the Bastille, were incompatible with the growing importance of public opinion and the exchange of ideas of the Age of Enlightenment.

The growing anger and hatred of being imprisoned in the Bastille can be seen in the accounts of some of those who broke their oath of silence.

François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was a former prisoner of the Bastille who broke his oath of silence. Voltaire, who was twice imprisoned in the Bastille, became very interested in the history of this prison. For example, in the 1750s, he helped shape and expand the Bastille legend by writing The Man in the Iron Mask.

Many researchers believe that claims of widespread abuse and an atmosphere of terror in the Bastille have been greatly exaggerated. However, the typical experience of a prisoner in the Bastille cannot be easily generalized.

Despite this, Franz Funk-Brentano, an archivist during the French Third Republic, relentlessly tried to discredit the "black legend" of the Bastille. Although Funk-Brentano argued that conditions within the prison were generally adequate, he had to admit that the best treatment and food were reserved for prisoners of higher social status.

Why did the Bastille become a symbol of the French Revolution?

The commercial success of ex-prisoners' memoirs and fictional accounts cemented the image of the Bastille as a notorious royalist prison and a symbol of repression.

Simon-Nicolas Henri Lange, a popular 18th-century lawyer and writer, was among those who broke his oath of silence to denounce his imprisonment in the Bastille. Nicole Bauer notes that Lange wrote a four-volume exposé of the appalling conditions of the Bastille while in exile in England. He demanded the destruction of the Bastille in 1783.

According to the historian Brecht Dessures, the most influential memoir about the Bastille was the book Historical Considerations and Anecdotes of the Bastille, written by Joseph-Marie Brusset de Péret, published in 1774. Pere's work was not only a bestseller in France, but its English and German translations were also successful.

Bastille's role as a symbol of repression and dark secrets helped increase the demand for a transparent government; A desire that was associated with the initial stages of the French Revolution.

The storming of the Bastille and its revolutionary legacy

Immediately after the fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, the Parisians spontaneously began to destroy it. However, according to P. M. Jones, the historian, soon after a construction contractor named Pierre-Francois Pallava took charge of the demolition operation. Pallava's work was also aimed at revolutionary propaganda.

In fact, the "black legend" of the Bastille as a notorious prison led to tours of its interior. Jones notes that Pallava made the Bastille story more gruesome by adding a "dungeon" and a skeleton. The message of this show was clear: former prisoners were tortured and may have even been killed simply at the will of their jailers.

According to Nicole Bauer, excavations revealed the remains of Bastille prisoners; But it was precisely the same culture of secrecy that did not allow people to know that the area had long been a cemetery.

The public was charged admission to visit the Bastille and was encouraged to donate to the families of those who died during the attack. Fragments of the Bastille were distributed throughout France to symbolize the revolution's victory over absolute rule and corruption. For example, the city of Lyon received more than 700 pounds, equivalent to 318 kilograms, of relics from the Bastille, among which was a small model of the fortress, which was built with the materials of the Bastille itself.

If, as historian William Doyle argues, the establishment of the National Assembly in June 1789 was the founding event of the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille was the event that ensured the survival of the anti-absolute movement.