The French Revolution began in 1789 and lasted until 1794. The Paris mob, hungry from poor harvests and annoyed with King Louis XVI’s rising taxes, stormed a prison called the Bastille fortress. A Republic of France was declared, the king was executed, the monarchy fell, and the middle class was born. Many historians regard the French Revolution as a turning point in the the history of Europe, as well as in North America where many of the same ideas influenced the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.