What is the strongest basis for linking the fall of the Bastille with a crisis of state legitimacy?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: People rejected a visible symbol of royal oppression and asserted their own political agency.
State legitimacy depends on whether people accept the authority of political institutions and rulers as rightful. In 1789, the Bastille stood in the public imagination for arbitrary royal imprisonment and the coercive power of the Old Regime. Its capture was therefore more than a military incident: it demonstrated that Parisian crowds no longer accepted the unquestioned authority of the monarchy and were prepared to act politically themselves. Option A best expresses this link between popular action and weakened legitimacy. Option B is false because the attack was not ordered by the king. Option C misidentifies the building, while D incorrectly denies its relationship with royal authority.
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What is the correct answer to this question?
People rejected a visible symbol of royal oppression and asserted their own political agency.
Why is this the correct answer?
State legitimacy depends on whether people accept the authority of political institutions and rulers as rightful. In 1789, the Bastille stood in the public imagination for arbitrary royal imprisonment and the coercive power of the Old Regime. Its capture was therefore more than a military incident: it demonstrated that Parisian crowds no longer accepted the unquestioned authority of the monarchy and were prepared to act politically themselves. Option A best expresses this link between popular action and weakened legitimacy. Option B is false because the attack was not ordered by the king. Option C misidentifies the building, while D incorrectly denies its relationship with royal authority.
Which subject and chapter does this question cover?
This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: The French Revolution. Topic: The Outbreak of the Revolution.
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