What event marked the beginning of the French Revolution?

The event that marked the beginning of the French Revolution is widely considered to be the storming of the Bastille. This event, which took place on July 14, 1789, became a powerful symbol of the fight against tyranny and injustice. The Bastille was a fortress and prison in Paris that was seen as representing the oppressive rule of the monarchy. Its storming by revolutionaries represented the uprising of the Third Estate against the king’s authority and the start of a wider revolution against the established order in France.

While the meeting of the Estates General and the signing of the Tennis Court Oath were critical moments in the early phases of the revolution, they did not directly symbolize the active rebellion against the monarchy as the storming of the Bastille did. The execution of Louis XVI, on the other hand, took place later in the revolution and signifies the culmination of revolutionary fervor rather than its inception. Thus, the storming of the Bastille is recognized as the moment when the revolutionary movement truly ignited.