Salut! It's been quite a while hasn't it?
School ended up being harder than I thought this year, and then this past winter I had problems with my wrist and arm and so couldn't write as much as I wanted.
I'm not going to make promises I can't keep, but I do think of this blog often and plan on making more posts (if anyone is even reading this). I know I've missed a lot of cool opportunities, but luckily many of these wonderful celebrations happen every year, so there's always a second chance.
Et maintenant, voilà!
Bastille Day
Alternate Name: La Fête nationale; le 14 julliet; le quatorze julliet
Date: July 14th
Place: France; USA; Australia; Hungary; French-speaking communities worldwide
Type: National
Celebrants: Frenchpeople; Francophones and -philes
Bastille Day -- know in France as la Fête nationale (National Day) or le quatorze julliet/le 14 julliet (14 of July, similar to Americans' calling their Independence Day the Fourth of July) -- commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison by French peasants in 1789, and is celebrated as the start of the French Revolution.
The Bastille Prison was built in the 1300s as a military fortress against the English during the Hundred Years' War in order to protect the capital, Paris; by the time of the French Revolution, it mostly held political prisoners, imprisoned without trial by the king, such as the writer Voltaire. Though it held only seven prisoners on July 14th, 1789, none of whom were political prisoners, the fortress had become a hated symbol of oppression by the monarchy, and rumors circulated that guards had once massacred prisoners without cause. As anger against the king and nobles rose, French revolutionaries decided to storm the Bastille to demand the release of the prisoners and acquire gunpowder and other weapons for the nascent revolution that had been started a few days before.
The governor of the Bastille, Bernard-René de Launay, was left with no support or advice on how to deal with the 1,000-strong mob surrounding the prison, armed with muskets and other home-made weapons they had taken from L'Hôtel des Invalides, a military hospital. He tried to negotiate with the leaders of the mob, but as the talks dragged on, the revolutionaries grew restless and began to scale the walls and fight their way in. De Launay ordered his guards to shoot, killing 100 men and wounding many more. However, a regiment of French Guards, stationed permanently in Paris and sympathetic to the rebels' cause, joined on the side of the rebels and turned the tide. De Launay was murdered and beheaded, his head paraded around on a stick, an early sign and forerunner to the violence of the French Revolution and soon-to-be Reign of Terror.
The Bastille was completely destroyed during the attack, and today a monumental tower stands in the square called La Place de la Bastille where it once stood.
A year later, in 1790, Fête de la Fédération was held on July 14th to celebrate the founding of France's new constitutional monarchy. Throughout the years, le quatorze julliet was celebrated, but it wasn't until 1880, about a century later, that the day was declared a national public holiday, at the suggestion of a politician named Benjamin Raspail. Since then, a military parade has been held in Paris every year, with the exception of 1940 - 1944, when France was under Nazi occupation; during that time, the Free French Forces paraded on this date in London, England.
Today, the military parade in Paris continues, running along the Champs-Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe to la Place de la Concorde. French people celebrate this day with picnics, parties, concerts, and fireworks, similar to the Fourth of July in America. Many businesses, as well as banks and post offices, are closed on this day. Festivities also sometimes start the day or night before, July 13, especially through Firemen's balls, or Bals des pompiers, which are concerts and dances held in fire stations across France, used to raise funds for the firefighters. Other people party with their friends and neighbors all night long on the 13th, taking advantage of the day off from work the following day. Also, the Tour de France is held on this day.
There are also celebrations across the world in French-speaking or French-descended communities, or among those who love French culture. Major celebrations in the United States are held in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle; Franschhoek, South Africa, and places in Hungary and Australia also hold festivals. Myself, an American with some French-Canadian ancestry, and who loves French desserts, celebrated the day by wearing red and white, eating croissants and crullers, and listening to "Traditional French Music" on Pandora.
.jpg)
If you celebrated le 14 julliet, then I hope you had a great time! I certainly enjoyed my little nod to French culture and history today. If I've gotten anything wrong in this post, please feel free to correct me. If there's a specific holiday, festival, or celebration you'd like me to cover, I'd love to hear about it! Hopefully I won't take as long between posts this time.
À la prochaine!
References:
https://www.ducksters.com/history/french_revolution/storming_of_the_bastille.php
https://www.flickr.com/photos/smallbox/511064882
https://www.history.com/topics/france/bastille-day
Comments