The event commonly regarded as the start of the French Revolution in 1789 is the Storming of the Bastille. On July 14, 1789, revolutionaries stormed this fortress and prison, viewing it as a symbol of royal tyranny. The Bastille held political prisoners and was a focal point of French oppression, and its fall represented the uprising against King Louis XVI's absolute monarchy. This event galvanized the revolutionary movement, leading to the establishment of a constitutional government, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and eventually the rise of radical factions during the Revolution.