Photo credit: Janet Donovan
This Day in History: “Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed.” The History Channel. In honor of the occasion of French Independence, The Ambassador of France Gérard Araud celebrated with friends at his Kalorama Residence.
Gérard Araud
Some historians found the diary of the King. On that day, July 14th, 1789 he only wrote “Nothing.” That was the result of his day’s hunting. When the Duc de Liancourt informed the King of what happened at the Bastille, the King asked his advisor “is this a revolt?” and he was answered, “No Majesty, this is a revolution.”
Rep. Ed Royce with Ambassador Araud
