July 14: Bastille Day or Fete Nationale

Bastille Day is held on July 14 and commemorates the Fete de la Federation, the first anniversary celebration of the storming of the Bastille in Paris, France of the year 1789. Officially it is termed 'Fete Nationale' (Federation Day Festival) but in common parlance the people of France often refer to it as 'Le Quatorze Juillet' (July 14).

The Iconic Bastille

The Bastille was the repository for political prisoners and unpopular writers to which the King (Louis XVI) could condemn his victims with the stroke of a pen on a 'lettres de cachet'. There was no recourse for a prisoner of the Bastille arbitrarily convicted by the 'royal will'.

It was not to free the prisoners that the populace of Paris attacked the fortress of the Bastille on July 14, there were only seven cells occupied at the time, the ancient prison was already in the process of being de-commissioned.

What the populace wanted was to acquire the gunpowder and ammunition stored there. The armory had been broken into earlier and the people had many guns but no powder yet.

Power to the People of France

Society in the France of 1789 had a hierarchy consisting of three levels. Two elite classes, 'Nobility' wielding the greatest power and 'Church' holding a close second in terms of influence. The 'Third Estate' were the rabble and for centuries had no influence whatever, suffering greatly from the heavy hand of the elite.

Only two months before the popular revolution and storming of the Bastille on July 14, members of this Third Estate occupied the royal tennis court and formed a National Assembly on May 5, 1789.

By the middle of June the church and nobility of France were beginning to see which way the winds of change were blowing and their delegates drifted toward this nascent government. Even the King recognized the reality of the National Assembly just two weeks later.

End of a Monarchy

Early in July, barely a week after receiving royal acknowledgment, the newly named National Constituent Assembly began to write a constitution and legislate as if the King of France no longer held power.

The attempt to re-assert his influence, that the monarch of France made on July11, caused the populace to realize the need to arm themselves, resulting in successful attacks at the Armory for guns and the Bastille for gunpowder and ammunition, on July 14, 1789.

Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march! Let us march!

(refrain from "La Marseillaise", the national anthem of France)

The taking of the Bastille became a symbol for the people of their assault on feudalism and monarchy. On August 26, 1789, after much desperate fighting, the people of France stood up and proclaimed the 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'.

Fete Nationale Festivities

Paris holds a grand Bastille Day parade that passes in review before the President of the Republic. The Champs-Elysees is filled with jubilant crowds to watch the cadets of the Ecole Polytechnique leading the pride of the infantry and motorized military forces of France while the Patrouille de France flies overhead.

Until Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President (2007) it was traditional for the head of state to give what amounted to a state of the union address to the people of France on July 14 during Fete Nationale but President Sarkozy chose to break with this as well as the tradition of pardoning petty criminals such as traffic offenders.

The Palais de l'Elysee is the home of an elegant garden party, for the rich and influential to celebrate Fete Nationale, while the rest of France celebrates with flags, feasts and music as they pay special attention to the Tour de France. The French riders make an extra effort to take the lead on July 14, Bastille Day, a day for France to celebrate the dignity of the individual.

Reference:
http://french.about.com
www.progress.org
www.infoplease.com
www.whatsonwhen.com
www.bastilledaynyc.com