Bastille Day: A Turning Point In The French Revolution

By 1789, the French people had become critical of the monarchy, even though it had been successful in defending France in domestic violence. They resented the rising and unequal taxes, the persecution of religious minorities, and government interference in their private lives. These resentments, in addition to an inefficient government and outdated legal system, made the French government seem more and more inadequate to the French people. The royal court of Versailles, which had been developed to impress the French people and Europe, now symbolized the squandering of tax money and the corruption of the entire Old Regime.1.
             During the 18th century, criticism of the French monarchy also came from people who worked for the Old Regime. Some of the king's own ministers criticized past practices and proposed new reforms, but the Parlements, (13 regional royal courts led by Parlement of Paris) were the more influential party. The Parlements had the power to register royal decrees, and all decrees had to be registered by the Parlements before becoming an official law. In this way, the Parlements frequently protested royal initiatives that they believed to threaten the traditional rights and liberties of the common people. The Parlements published many works with the image of a historically free France and denounced the absolute rule of the crown that in their view, threatened traditional liberties by imposing religious orthodoxy and new taxes.2.
             Parlement protests blended in with the other parties, especially an intellectual group known as the philosophes. Like those who supported the Parlements, the philosophes did not advocate violence. They claimed to speak on behalf of the public, arguing that people had certain natural, civil and legal rights and the purpose of governments are to guarantee these rights. In pamphlets and treatises, which were illegally printed and handed out, they openly ridiculed the Old Regime's inefficiencies and its abuses of power.