Storming of the Bastille
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The Storming of the Bastille, which occurred on 14 July 1789, was an event in which angry Parisian citizens stormed and captured the infamous Bastille prison, a symbol of monarchist oppression in France.
Although the prison was thought to be filled with political prisoners, only seven inmates were held at the time of the storming. Two of them were the French Assassins Pierre Bellec and Arno Dorian. After the two had met in May of that year, Bellec began training Arno in combat. When the facility was attacked by outraged Frenchmen two months later, the Assassins used the opportunity to make their escape.
After the storming, the Bastille was used as a powerful propaganda symbol of might and willpower during the French Revolution. In the following months, and after much debate on what to do with the former prison, the comte de Mirabeau settled the matter by destroying the first brick. By November, almost the entire fortress had been destroyed. The date of the storming, 14 July, was commemorated the following year as Le quatorze juillet, or French National Day - known around the world as Bastille Day.
Gallery
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Revolutionaries about to storm the Bastille -
Civilians storming the fortress's walls -
The storming, as seen from Notre-Dame's rooftops
Trivia
- The storming of the Bastille was represented in Assassin's Creed: Unity's world premier trailer; however, in the trailer, Arno participates in the storming, instead of being trapped within the prison.