Louis XVI was the French king on the throne when the Bastille was stormed on 14 July 1789.
Louis XVI had ruled since 1774, succeeding his grandfather Louis XV. His reign was marked by mounting financial problems, including debts linked to France’s intervention in the American Revolutionary War, along with poor harvests and an unequal tax system. These pressures helped intensify opposition to the monarchy.
In 1789, Louis summoned the Estates-General to address the financial crisis. The Third Estate soon declared itself the National Assembly and demanded constitutional reform. When the king dismissed finance minister Jacques Necker on 11 July, Parisians feared a royal crackdown and began gathering weapons.
The Bastille fell four days later. Louis did not order the fortress stormed, but his government’s policies and the presence of royal troops helped fuel the crisis. The king learned of the event the next day and accepted the tricolour cockade in Paris on 17 July. He was executed in January 1793.