82 revolutionaries had been killed during the Storming of the Bastille, with 15 others later dying of their wounds. Yet by 1789, the Bastille was very much a paper tiger. This uprising believed forces loyal to the crown would soon attack to try and coerce both Paris and the revolutionary National Assembly, and were seeking weapons to defend themselves. On July 14th, 1789, days into the French Revolution, a massive crowd of Parisians had just received arms and cannon from the Invalides. Traditionally, this fortress was used by French kings to imprison subjects that didn't agree with them politically, making the Bastille a representation of the oppressive nature of the monarchy. Although it had been formidable in its past, the Bastille was now considered one of the more desirable places of incarceration for high-born prisoners, with many of its infamous underground cells having fallen into disuse. The storming of the Bastille - Namuwiki The sense of menace that the militarization of the city caused provoked a march to the Htel des Invalides, where they looted approximately 3,000 firearms and five canons. Although the catalyst for the attack was the dismissal of popular Genevan commoner Jacques Necker (1732-1804) from the ministry of King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792), societal imbalances and financial hardships had been pressuring the French people for years. Pillaged, scattered and burned during and after the fall of the fortress, large parts of the archive were recovered by Beaumarchais and by the Russian diplomat and bibliophile Pierre Dubrowsky. [26] Two representatives from the Hotel de Ville (municipal authorities from the Town Hall)[35] were invited into the fortress and negotiations began, while another was admitted around noon with definite demands. Converted into a state prison at the start of the 15th century, most of the prisoners kept there had been detained at the express warrant of the king, having been denied judicial process. This disarmament might have deescalated the situation had it been announced in time. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson on the Storming of the Bastille [1789] The King was now [July 11, 1789] in the hands of men, the principal among whom had been noted, through their lives, for the Turkish despotism of their characters, and who were associated around the King, as proper instruments for what was to be executed.The news of this change [of ministry as well as the plan to use .