14th July: Le Quatorze Juillet
- Ma Petite France
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
The 14th of July in a French man's ears sings freedom. This is because, on this day, their ancestors fought for their freedom pushing through the odds to gain liberty from the oppression of the monarchial government. In the English world, the festival is known as the Bastille Day.
Why is the fourteenth of July significant? What occurred at the Bastille?
The Bastille had been in Paris since the medieval era, initially serving as a fort and later as a prison. By 1789, it had become a symbol of royal power. And that year, there was a growing unrest in Paris. The Estates General convened at Versailles, delegates from the Third Estate, representing the common people, finally had the opportunity to voice their complaints and express their discontent with the absolutist monarchy of France.
They were dissatisfied with power being held by the nobility and clergy and demanded an equal share, forming a self-declared National Assembly. Initially, King Louis XVI seemed to accept this challenge to his power but resisted plans for a constitutional monarchy. As royal troops were stationed around Paris amid rising food prices and hunger, citizens elected their own representatives and formed militias. Seeking arms and ammunition, one group descended upon the Bastille Prison on that fateful July day. They seized weapons, killed the guards, and freed the prisoners.
The following year, General Lafayette, a captain of the National Guard of Paris and a confidant of the king, propose that the bastille day be celebrated as a national festival. On 14 July 1790, the first anniversary of the Bastille's fall was celebrated with optimism and unity, marking La Fête de la Federation and the anticipated constitutional monarchy. Fourteen thousand “fédérés” and soldiers, along with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, participated in Paris. And 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 nude through the streets in order to display their freedom. However, years of revolutionary turmoil followed.
In the nineteenth century, society and government fluctuated between monarchists and republicans, resulting in no fixed national holiday. The date changed with each regime. In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte declared his birthday, 15 August, as the French National Day. During the Restoration (1814–1830), the name day of each king was the national day.
In the ten years after the upheavals of 1870 and 1871, the Third Republic was established, and the newly elected government aimed to mend a fragmented French society. Motivated by the national unity embodied in the earlier Fête de la Fédération, the government reinstated the date, and the fourteenth of July was officially recognized as the French National Day in 1880.
Today, the Celebration takes place across France, with one of the largest military parades occurring in front of the President of France alongside other French officials and foreign guests on the Champs-Élysées. It is also marked by fireworks, street parties, parades, and concerts.
What was previously a revolt is today celebrated as the French National Day.
And every year from then on, France invites different countries to celebrate this freedom with them.
Vive la France!
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