Conditions were poor in Paris for the common people. The price of bread was high and supplies short due to harvest failures. Rumors spread that the King and Queen were responsible for the shortages. Then French troops marched to the capital. Rumors spread quickly among the already restless mobs that the King was intending to use them against the people. The dismissal of the Finance Minister Necker, who was popular with the Third Estate, ignited the spark. 

Mobs roamed in search of weapons. Although some muskets were found when they broke into a public hospital for wounded soldiers, there was no ammunition. The ammunition was stored in the Bastille. 

Part of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Revolution exhibit