- Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year . In France, it is called Fête Nationale ("National Celebration") in official parlance, or more commonly "quatorze juillet" ("14 July"). It commemorates the 1790
Fête de la Fédération , held on the first anniversary of thestorming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during theFrench Revolution .Current festivities
Festivities are held the morning of 14 July, the largest on the
Champs-Élysées avenue inParis in front of the President of the Republic.The parade opens with many
cadet s from theÉcole Polytechnique , Saint-Cyr,École Navale , and so forth, then otherinfantry troops, then motorised troops;aviation of thePatrouille de France flies above. In recent times, it has become customary to invite units from France's allies to the parade; in 2004 during the centenary of theEntente Cordiale , British troops (the band of theRoyal Marines , theHousehold Cavalry Mounted Regiment ,Grenadier Guards andKing's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery ) led the Bastille Day parade in Paris for the first time, with theRed Arrows flying overhead. [http://www.entente-cordiale.org/en/6a_c.php?id=1]Traditionally, the students of the École Polytechnique set up some form of joke.
The president used to give an
interview to members of the press, discussing the situation of the country, recent events and projects for the future.Nicolas Sarkozy , elected president in 2007, has chosen not to give it. The President also holds agarden party at the Palais de l'Elysée.Bastille Day falls during the
Tour de France and is traditionally a day on which French riders try to take a stage victory for France, working harder than they might otherwise.Article 17 of the
Constitution of France gives the President the authority topardon offenders, and since 1991 the President has pardoned many petty offenders (mainly traffic offences) on 14 July. In 2007, President Sarkozy declined to continue the practice [ [http://www.plusnews.fr/articles/000942_sarkozy_enterre_la_grace_presidentielle.php Sarkozy enterre la grâce présidentielle du 14 juillet] , plusnews.fr] .History
The storming of the Bastille
Bastille Day ceremony, Cazouls les Beziers 2008
On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of the
Third Estate representing the common people (the two others wereclergy andnobility ) decided to break away and form a National Assembly. On 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took theTennis Court Oath , swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established. They were gradually joined by delegates of the other estates; Louis started to recognize their validity on 27 June. The assembly re-named itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to function as a legislature and to draft a constitution.In the wake of the 11 July dismissal of
Jacques Necker , the people ofParis , fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal military, and seeking to gain arms for the general populace, stormed theBastille , a fortress-prison in Paris which had often held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet", arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed. Besides holding a large cache of arms, the Bastille had been known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the siege in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance.When the crowd (legend says it was organised by descendants of the
Knights Templar )— eventually reinforced by mutinous "gardes françaises" — proved a fair match for the fort's defenders, Governor de Launay, the commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a mutual massacre. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding, fighting resumed. Ninety-eight attackers and just one defender died in the actual fighting, but in the aftermath, de Launay and seven other defenders were killed, as was the 'prévôt des marchands' (roughly, mayor)Jacques de Flesselles .The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than a practical act of defiance.
Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on 4 August
feudalism was abolished and on 26 August, theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed.The "Fête de la Fédération"
The Fête de la Fédération of the 14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the uprising of the short-lived
constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of theFrench Revolution .The event took place on the
Champ de Mars , at the time outside of Paris but now the site of theEiffel Tower . The place had been transformed voluntarily by the population of Paris in what was recalled as the "Journée des brouettes" ("Wheelbarrow Day").A mass was celebrated by Talleyrand,
bishop of Autun . The popular General Lafayette, as captain of the National Guard of Paris and confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by the King Louis XVI.After the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge four-day popular feast and people celebrated with fireworks, as well as fine wine and running naked through the streets in order to display their great freedom.
Origin of the present celebration
On 30 June 1878, a feast had been set in Paris by official decision to honour the Republic (the event was immortalised in a painting by
Claude Monet ). On the 14 July 1879, another feast took place, with a semi-official aspect; the events of the day included a military review in Longchamp, a reception in the Chambre of Deputies, organised and presided byLéon Gambetta , and a Republican Feast in the pré Catelan withLouis Blanc andVictor Hugo . All through France, as "Le Figaro " wrote on the 16th, "people feasted a lot to honour the Bastille".On the 21 May 1880,
Benjamin Raspail proposed a law to have "the Republic choose the 14 July as a yearly national holiday". The Assembly voted the text on 21 May and 8 June. The Senate approved on 27 and 29 June, favouring 14 July against 4 August (honouring the end of the feudal system on 4 August 1789). The law was made official on 6 July 1880, and the Ministry of the Interior recommended to prefects that the day should be "celebrated with all the brilliance that the local resources allow". Indeed, the celebrations of the new holiday in 1880 were particularly magnificent.In the debate leading up to the adoption of the holiday,
Henri Martin , chairman of the French Senate, addressed that chamber 29 June 1880. "Do not forget that behind this 14 July, where victory of the new era over the "ancien régime " was bought by fighting, do not forget that after the day of 14 July 1789, there was the day of 14 July 1790. … This [latter] day cannot be blamed for having shed a drop of blood, for having divided the country. It was the consecration of unity of France. … If some of you might have scruples against the first 14 July, they certainly hold none against the second. Whatever difference which might part us, something hovers over them, it is the great images of national unity, which we all desire, for which we would all stand, willing to die if necessary."References
Bastille Day celebrations in other countries
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United States :*New York City has a large Bastille Day celebration each year on 60th Street on the Upper East Side ofManhattan :*San Francisco has a large celebration in the downtown historic French quarter.:*Philadelphia 's Bastille Day, held atEastern State Penitentiary , involvesMarie Antoinette , with a cry of "Let them eatTastykake !", throwing the locally-manufactured pastries at theParisian militia , as well as a re-enactment of the storming the Bastille. [ [http://easternstate.org/events/bastille.php ESP :: Eastern State Penitentiary Website ] ] :*Milwaukee 's four-day [http://www.easttown.com/info/Bastille%20Days/bdindex Bastille Days] street festival begins with a "Storming of the Bastille" with a 43-foot replica of theEiffel Tower .:*Minneapolis has a celebration inUptown with wine, French food, pastries, a flea market, circus performers and bands.:*Seattle 's , held at theSeattle Center , involves performances, picnics, wine and shopping.
*South Africa :*Franschhoek 's week-end festival [ [http://www.franschhoek.co.za/bastille.html Bastille Day Festival at Franschhoek ] ] has been celebrated for the last 15 years. [Franschhoek meaning 'French Corner' is situated in theCape Province ]*
Hungary :*Two day celebration in Budapest, sponsored by theInstitut de France . [http://www.budapestresources.com/node/447]One time celebrations
* 1989 :199 years after the fête, France celebrates 200th anniversary of French Revolution, notably with a monumental show on the
Champs-Élysées in Paris, directed by French designerJean-Paul Goude . PresidentFrançois Mitterrand hosts world leaders.
* 1998 : Two days after the French football team becomes world champions, huge celebrations took place nationwideee also
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Bastille Day Military Parade
*Public Holidays in France External links
""'commonscat|Bastille Day military parade
* [http://14juillet.senat.fr/toutsavoir/index.html "Tout savoir sur le 14 Juillet"]
* [http://www.fiaf.org/pressroom/releases/2006/FIAF-2006-Bastille-Day.pdf Bastille Day in New York 2006]
* [http://www.bastilledayusa.com/ Bastille Day in New York 2007]""'
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