On July 14, 1789, as a result of a popular uprising, the Bastille – a state prison located in Paris – fell. The Bastille was built in 1370–1382 and was originally a fortress, which later contained prisoners, most of whom from the beginning of the 16th century were political prisoners. Some were arrested by direct order of the king, and the sentence was not subject to appeal. Despite the fact that the prison was planned to be demolished by the end of the 18th century, it has long become the main symbol of bourbon tyranny. Twice a prisoner of the Bastille was Voltaire.

At the end of the 18th century, France was in a deep crisis: the country’s debt was growing rapidly, disruptions in food supplies began. The country was threatened by famine, and the monarchy sharply raised taxes to solve financial problems. Anticipating the threat, Louis XVI convened the General States in July 1789, for the first time in more than a hundred years, to develop a new tax policy. The third estate (the growing bourgeoisie) broke away from the nobility and the clergy, demanding the adoption of a written constitution and the expansion of civil liberties. The king then fired the Minister of Finance, Jacques Necker, who was appointed by the General States. The news of the removal of Necker infuriated the country. On July 14, a crowd of people took to the streets and went to the House of the Disabled to capture guns and rifles, and then to the Bastille itself, where ammunition and gunpowder were stored. The garrison of the prison was quickly defeated, and the remaining prisoners were released. The head of the prison and his deputies were executed.

The news of the uprising stirred the French nobility, and a day later Louis XVI arrived in Paris to pacify the rebels. In August of that year, a constitutional monarchy was proclaimed, and the Old Order (French: Ancien Régime) fell. A year later, the Bastille was demolished. In its current form, Bastille Day has been celebrated since 1880, after the overthrow of Napoleon III.