The garrison of the Bastille was small and
disheartened, provisions were short, and the royal governor was
irresolute. Within a few hours the mob was in possession of the
Bastille, and some of the Swiss mercenaries who constituted its
garrison had been slaughtered.
[Sidenote: Revolution in the Government of Paris: the Commune]
The fall of the Bastille was the first serious act of violence in the
course of the Revolution. It was an unmistakable sign that the people
were with the Assembly rather than with the king. It put force behind
the Assembly's decrees. Not only that, but it rendered Paris
practically independent of royal control, for, during the period of
disorder, prominent citizens had taken it upon themselves to organize
their own government and their own army. The new local government--the
"commune," as it was called--was made up of those elected
representatives of the various sections or wards of Paris who had
chosen the city's delegates to the Estates-General. It was itself a
revolution in city government: it substituted popularly elected
officials in place of royal agents and representatives of the outworn
gilds.
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