Why did the fall of the Bastille become the great symbolic event of the French Revolution?

Answer 1

It was a notewrthy popular grass roots uprising that marks the start of the French Revolution.

Answer 2

It represented a symbolic date of the French Revolution; the citizens took over the prison in order to acquire gunpowder in order to fight off the kings foreign army.
The fall of the Bastille (not Basille) was important to the French people since it was a symbol of the French aristocracy and oppressive system of Feudalism. Destroying the Bastille symbolised the end of the aristocracy.

Answer 3

I think it is a very good question. Because the fall of the Bastille prison is not "historically" that important. The revolution was already in march after the General Estates, but the symbol of common folks attacking one of the most important prison in France stayed in the common conscience. The facts are that the Bastille was a prison in which the aristocrats were jailed when they disagreed with the king : a kind of jail for richs : intellectuals, politicians. When the Bastille fell, there were seven prisoners only, and they had not been badly treated. History only kept the popular revolt against monarchy. Contrary to the common belief, the 14th of July does not celebrate the fall of the Bastille but The federation day which held the year after (the confusion is made because the date was chosen as an anniversary of the Bastille day). So we can say that in France we celebrate the first anniversary of the falling of the Bastille. :0))
The Bastille was a fortress and prison in Paris. Having already seized cannond ans guns at the Invalids, the people (and among them part of the National guard which stood with rioters) thought there was some gun powder to seize at the Bastille. Another reason for storming the Bastille was that people thought there were a number of people unjustly jailed there, for their ideas, by the monarchy. The storming of the Bastille marks the official beginning of the French revolution and the 14th of July is France national day.

Answer 4

It was seen as the catalyst for the French Revolution. It's symbolic importance to the people encouraged similar revolts later on. The storming of Bastille is seen as the trigger to the French Revolution, with out it happening we probably could have avoided the great wars.

Answer 5

Because it was the first 'open' sign of the rebellion against the King of France, taking the protests against the Ancien Regime out of the Meeting Hall of the Estates-General and making it a popular movement.

Rumour had it that the King had 'hundreds' of political prisoners confined and wasting away in the Bastille. In fact it contained only a handful of prisoners, a few confined by their families for mental disorders, a few having been convicted for serious crimes by a Court of Law. The guards were army pensioners and the prison regime was relaxed to say the least with several of the inmates being free to walk in or out of the building as they pleased. Several of them after having been 'freed' by the mob, returned that night for shelter and a meal.