WI: The Bastille Explodes?

[Christian]

Delaunay, the one who was commander of the Bastille, apparently threatened to ignite the 250 barrels of gunpowder which were inside of the fortress. Now, IOTL, he was talked down from doing so or was just bluffing, but what if he wasn't? What if, either by intention or accident, the 250 barrels of gunpowder blows up, which, according to Jeremy Popkin, would apparently be strong enough to destroy the Bastille itself and the neighborhoods surrounding it.

How would that affect the ongoing events? How would the National Assembly in the Versailles react to it? What about the countryside which was going through the Great Fear? Would their fears seem validated? Could the Bastille being blown up instead of captured lead to harsher or more radical reactions?

 

[Redolegna]

The Faubourg Saint-Antoine was a very working-class place with a lot of artisans who were quite radical and very enthusiastic about bringing down the Bastille and bringing about some changes.

Now you'd be looking at a death toll in the thousands or tens of thousands because a mass explosion like that is going to cause fires and it's old Paris and houses are insanely packed and and and... On the one hand, a lot of the most radical Parisians will be dead and inactive in the coming agitation of the following years, as well as a lot of members of the National Guard; on the other hand, no matter how much Louis XVI will protest he had no hand in this, an officer of the king will have been responsible for the horrific slaughter of so many, that a great many people will be radicalized two or three years early. The idea of Louis XVI as a benevolent monarch being led astray by evil councillors would take a serious hit.

I do think de Launay was bluffing and playing for time, he would have known the death toll would have been too great.