Place de la Bastille many worse prisons in France, including the dreaded Bicêtre, also in Paris. However, in terms of popular literary accounts, the Bastille was a place of horror and oppression, a symbol of autocratic cruelty. The confrontation between the commoners and the Ancien Régime ultimately led to the people of Paris storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789, following several days of disturbances. At this point, the prison was nearly empty, with only seven inmates: four counterfeiters, two madmen, and a young aristocrat who had displeased his father. The regular garrison consisted of about 80 'invalides' (veteran soldiers no longer capable of
Paris in the 18th century the "Garde" were far-ranging, from chasing criminals to monitoring bread prices, keeping traffic moving on the streets, settling disputes and maintaining public order. The Parisians considered the police both corrupt and inefficient, and relations between the people and the police were increasingly strained. When the Revolution began, the "Garde" harshly repressed the first riots of 1788-89, but, submerged in the neighborhoods of Paris, it was quickly infected by revolutionary ideas. On 13 October 1789, the "Garde" was formally attached to the "Garde Nationale." It was reformed into the "Legion de Police Parisienne" on 27 June 1795, but its members mutinied