The French Revolution: the Bastille

Description: Focusing on the fall of the Bastille, shows how a weak, bankrupt king’s efforts to raise money unleashed the first total revolution in history. Amid the extravagance of his court, Louis XVI is warned that he must choose between the demands of the nobility and bourgeoise if he expects to raise taxes in the Estates General. Throughout France, bread is scarce. Mass hunger is inflamed by the aristocrats’ resurgence and by bourgeois talk of equality. When order breaks down in the Paris streets, Louis sides with the nobles and sends troops into the city, and the poor react by turning on that symbol of royal power, the Bastille.