Explain Why the Parisian Crowd Attacked the Bastille on 14th July 1789

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The storming of the Bastille in July 1789 was seen to signify the end of the ancien regime and the beginning of the French Revolution. This unplanned and impromptu attack came after a build up of events in Paris and across France, which caused tension and unrest in the city. One could argue that there are underlying long term issues which contributed to the uprising of the Parisian crowd. The French economy was suffering which had detrimental effects on the people living in Paris. The economy was reliant on agriculture and during the 1780s there were disastrous harvests causing prices to rapidly increase in urban areas. It is evident that the effects were so extreme that by 1789 a labourer was spending 88% of his daily wage on bread. As a result of this, protests sparked up in the city amongst workers and the tensions and unrest amongst the Parisians was further exacerbated when the government made no attempts to introduce new reforms to deal with the economic crisis when the Estates-General met in May 1789. Another factor which worsened the situation was the presence of Louis’s troops stationed around Paris. The King’s strategy of military force was believed to be necessary due to the third estate rebelling and breaking away from the Estates-General in June 1789. Members of the third estate had formed the National Assembly on 17th June and had claimed that it represented most of the nation and had the right t manage its own affairs and decide taxation. It is clear to see from this that the government were losing control, so one can see why Louis responded by trying to assert his power with military action. By the beginning of July 20,000 troops occupied Paris and would have threatened and worried its citizens. Therefore one can assume that this created the perfect conditions for revolutionary action in Paris. These long term factors created a spring board for the
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