Bastille Day is the name given in English speaking countries to the French National
Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête
Nationale and commonly Le quatorze juillet. The French National Day commemorates the beginning
of the French Revolution with the Storming of the Bastille on the 14 July 1789, as well
as the Fête de la Fédération on the 14 July 1790. Celebrations are held all over
France. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe is held on the morning of
14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic,
French officials and foreign guests.
Events and traditions of the day The Bastille Day Military Parade opens with
cadets from the École polytechnique, Saint-Cyr, École Navale, and so forth, then other infantry
troops, then motorized troops; aircraft of the Patrouille de France aerobatics team fly
above. In recent times, it has become custom to invite units from France's allies to the
parade; in 2004 during the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, British troops (the band
of the Royal Marines, the Household flying overhead. In 2007 the German 26th Airborne
Brigade led the march followed by British Royal Marines. In 2013, Malian soldiers opened
the parade, following the Franco-Malian military Operation Serval. Members of the United Nations'
MINUSMA forces also took part in the parade, including soldiers from twelve other African
countries, notably Chad. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended the parade alongside
French President François Hollande. The president gives 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, chose not to give it. François Hollande,
elected president in 2012, reinstated it. History
Storming of the Bastille
On 19 May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of
the Third Estate representing the common people decided to break away and form a National
Assembly. On 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, swearing
not to separate until a constitution had been established. They were gradually joined by
delegates of the other estates; Louis XVI started to recognize their validity on 27
June. The assembly renamed 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 of Paris, fearful that
they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal military, and seeking to gain
ammunition and gunpowder for the general populace, stormed the Bastille, 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 ammunition
and gunpowder, 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—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' Jacques de Flesselles.
Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on 4 August feudalism was abolished and on
26 August, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed.
Fête de la Fédération
The Fête de la Fédération on the 14 July 1790 was a celebration to commemorate the
first anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille and the unity of the French Nation during
the French Revolution. The event took place on the Champ de Mars, which was at the time
far outside Paris. The place had been transformed on a voluntary basis by the population of
Paris itself, in what was recalled as the Journée des brouettes.
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 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 arranged
in Paris by official decision to honour the French Republic. On 14 July 1879, another
feast took place, with a semi-official aspect; the events of the day included a reception
in the Chamber of Deputies, organised and presided over by Léon Gambetta, a military
review in Longchamp, and a Republican Feast in the Pré Catelan. All through France, Le
Figaro wrote, "people feasted much to honour the storming of the Bastille".
On 21 May 1880, Benjamin Raspail proposed a law to have "the Republic choose the 14
July as a yearly national holiday". The Assembly voted in favour of the proposal on 21 May
and 8 June. The Senate approved on it 27 and 29 June, favouring 14 July against 4 August.
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 on 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 the 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.
Bastille Day Military Parade
The Bastille Day Military Parade is the French military parade that has been held on the
morning of 14 July each year in Paris since 1880. While previously held elsewhere within
or near the capital city, since 1918 it has been held on the Champs-Élysées, with the
evident agreement of the Allies as represented in the Versailles Peace Conference, and with
the exception of the period of German occupation from 1940 to 1944. The parade passes down
the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, where the President
of the French Republic, his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand. This
is a popular event in France, broadcast on French TV, and is the oldest and largest regular
military parade in Europe. In some years, invited detachments of foreign troops take
part in the parade and foreign statesmen attend as guests.
Smaller military parades are held in French garrison towns, including Toulon and Belfort,
with local troops. Bastille Day celebrations in other countries
Belgium Liège celebrates the Bastille Day each year
since the end of the First World War, as Liège was decorated by the Légion d'Honneur for
its unexpected resistance during the Battle of Liège.
Czech Republic Since 2008, Prague is hosting French market
"Le marché du 14 juillet" offering traditional French food and wine as well as music. The
market takes place at the Kampa Island, usually between 11 and 14 July.
Hungary Budapest's two-day celebration is sponsored
by the Institut de France.
India Bastille Day is celebrated with great festivity
in Pondicherry every year.Being an important French colony, Pondicherry celebrates this
day with great honor and pride. On the eve of the Bastille Day, retired soldiers engage
themselves in parade and celebrate the day with Indian and French National Anthems. On
the day, uniformed war soldiers march through the street to honor the French soldiers who
were killed in the battles. One can perceive French and the Indian flag flying alongside
that project the mishmash of cultures and heritages.
New Zealand The Auckland suburb of Remuera hosts an annual
French themed Bastille Day street festival.
South Africa Franschhoek's week-end festival has been celebrated
for the last 15 years. The French Consulate in Cape Town also celebrate
by throwing an official party for the French Community and local officials.
United Kingdom London has a large French contingent, and
celebrates Bastille Day at various locations including Battersea Park.
Edinburgh continues recalls the days of the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France
with its annual Bastille Day celebration, which is often second only those of Paris.
United States – Over 50 U.S. cities conduct annual celebrations:Baltimore has a large
Bastille Day celebration each year at Petit Louis in the Roland Park area of Baltimore
City. Boston has a celebration annually, hosted
by the French Cultural Center for over 35 years. Recently, the celebration took place
in The Liberty Hotel, a former city jail converted into a boutique hotel, though more often the
festivities occur in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, near the Cultural Center's headquarters. The
celebration typically includes francophone musical performers, dancing, and French cuisine.
Chicago has hosted a variety of Bastille Day celebrations in a number of locations in the
city, including Navy Pier and Oz Park. The recent incarnations have been sponsored in
part by the Chicago branch of the French-American Chamber of Commerce and by the French Consulate-General
in Chicago. Dallas's Bastille Day celebration, "Bastille
On Bishop", began in 2010 and is held annually on July 14 in the Bishop Arts District of
the North Oak Cliff neighborhood, southwest of downtown just across the Trinity River.
Dallas' French roots are tied to the short lived socialist Utopian community, La Réunion,
formed in 1855 & incorporated into the City of Dallas in 1860.
Houston has a celebration at La Colombe d'Or Hotel. It is hosted by the Consulate General
of France in Houston, The French Alliance, the French-American Chamber of Commerce, and
the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts. Milwaukee's four-day [2] street festival begins
with a "Storming of the Bastille" with a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower.
Minneapolis has a celebration in Uptown with wine, French food, pastries, a flea market,
circus performers and bands. Also in the Twin Cities area, the local chapter of the Alliance
Française has hosted an annual event for years at varying locations with a competition
for the "Best Baguette of the Twin Cities." Montgomery, Ohio has a celebration with wine,
beer, local restaurants' fare, pastries, games and bands.
New Orleans has multiple celebrations, the largest in the historic French Quarter.
New York City has numerous Bastille Day celebrations each July, including Bastille Day on 60th
Street hosted by the French Institute Alliance Française between Fifth and Lexington Avenues
on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Bastille Day on Smith Street in Brooklyn, and Bastille
Day in Tribeca. The Empire State Building is illuminated in blue, white and red.
Orlando has a boutique Bastille Day street festival that began in 2009 in the Audubon
Park Garden District and involves champagne, wine, music, petanque, artists, and street
performers. Philadelphia's Bastille Day, held at Eastern
State Penitentiary, involves Marie Antoinette throwing locally manufactured pastries at
the Parisian militia, as well as a re-enactment of the storming of the Bastille.
Sacramento, California conducts annual "waiter races" in the midtown restaurant and shopping
district, with a street festival. San Francisco has a large celebration in the
city's historic French Quarter in downtown. Seattle's Bastille Day Celebration, held at
the Seattle Center, involves performances, picnics, wine and shopping.
St. Louis has annual festivals in both the Soulard neighborhood and the former French
village of Carondelet, Missouri which include reenactments of the beheading of Marie Antoinette
and Louis XVI, as well as reconstructed French fur trading posts.
One-time celebrations 1979: A concert with Jean Michel Jarre on
the Place de la Concorde in Paris attracted one million people, securing an entry in the
Guinness Book of Records for the largest crowd at an outdoor concert.
1989: France celebrated the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, notably with a monumental
show on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, directed by French designer Jean-Paul Goude. President
François Mitterrand acted as host for invited world leaders.
1990: A concert with Jean Michel Jarre was held at La Défense in Paris.
1994: The military parade was opened by Eurocorps, a newly created European army unit including
German soldiers. This was the first time German troops entered in France since 1944, sealing
the definitive Franco-German reconciliation. 1995: A concert with Jean Michel Jarre was
held at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 1998: Two days after the French football team
became World Cup champions, huge celebrations took place nationwide.
2004: To commemorate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, the British led the military
parade with the Red Arrows flying overhead. 2007: To commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the Treaty of Rome, the military parade was led by troops from the 26 other EU member
states, all marching at the French time. See also
Bastille Day Military Parade Opération 14 juillet
Public Holidays in France References
External links Bastille Day – 14 July - Official French
website The French Revolution - In a Nutshell
Bastille Day history Bastille Day 2011 — slideshow by Life magazine
The 2011 Bastille Day Military Parade, video broadcast by the French Minstry of Defence