This KS3 History quiz is our final look at the French Revolution. The storming of the Bastille is an event that occurred during the French Revolution. It was a fortress that was built in the fourteenth century to protect the eastern approaches to Paris. It was later used as a state prison. During the Revolution, it was stormed by a mob of revolutionaries.
Some history books suggest that it was done to free the political prisoners held captive there, but in reality, they wanted to steal the gunpowder for the guns that they had already stolen from the Hôtel des Invalides earlier. It started peacefully but the crowd grew impatient and tried to get into the inner courtyard. That's when things turned sour. In order to minimise the bloodshed, the governor of the prison surrendered and was murdered by the crowd.
The French Revolution was said to 'devour its children' because many of those who began the Revolution were later killed themselves by fellow revolutionaries. There was a period during the Revolution during which many thousands of people were executed, usually publicly. A guillotine was used to behead them and in some cases, the severed heads were impaled on pikes and paraded through the streets.