The storming of the Bastille

The storming of the Bastille was brought about by a combination of circumstances that weakened popular respect for the authority of the Ancien Regime. The events that lead to the storming of the Bastille arguably began across the Atlantic Ocean as the Ancien Regime had spent a fortune in backing the American Revolution. After the loss of the American colonies, Britain made peace with the new United States of America and her European allies, mainly France.

France had almost bankrupted itself in the bid to defeat Britain. The British state arguably showed strong powers of recovery, in complete contrast to the Ancien Regime across the channel. The storming of the Bastille would probably not have happened at all if the French government had remained solvent. It could for example have prevented or at least reduced the food shortages that directly lead to the storming of the Bastille.

Food Shortages

The storming of the Bastille was brought about due to the severe food shortages affecting France in the spring and summer of 1789. Three, or four bad harvests in a row, which meant that many people especially the poor in urban areas found it very difficult to feed them adequately, had blighted France.

The situation for the Ancien Regime was worsened by the royal family’s inability to cut back on its excessively extravagant spending whilst the state itself approached bankruptcy and the poorest members of French society were faced with the prospect of starvation. King Louis XVI despite being well meaning was not able to prevent the slide towards the French Revolution.

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