VIVE LA FRANCE

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!

July 14th is Bastille Day, the national holiday of France. Its name originates from a prison in Paris that held political captives whose philosophies were found abhorrent to the sovereign. On July 14, 1789, a mob stormed the Bastille to liberate the prisoners (there were only 7 captives incarcerated at the time) and collect the large arsenal of weapons stored there. It was a bold move which left no doubt that popular support for the monarchy had all but vanished. Bastille Day is the birthdate of France's contemporary history, marking the death of the ancien regime (the established socio-political order of France that dated from the early Middle Ages), the eventual execution of the King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and the abolition of feudalism.

The violence of which Bastille Day was born was nearly replicated in 2002, when then-President Jacques Chirac was almost assassinated by a disgruntled conservative, Maxime Brunerie. The gunshot was a narrow miss, and Bruniere would have made a second attempt had he not been overpowered by fellow spectators at the military review where it occurred.

The Fete Nationale (National Holiday) of France is referred to colloquially as Quatorze Juillet (14th of July), in much the same manner as America's Independence Day is commonly called the 4th of July. Military parades, speeches, and fireworks along the Champs-Elysees in Paris take place on Bastille Day; of note is the fact July 14 also falls in the middle of the Tour de France every year.

The celebration of Bastille Day is not limited to France. Modern nations that were once French colonies--such as Canada, French Guiana, the islands of French Polynesia, Vietnam, and numerous African states, such as Djibouti, the Ivory Coast, Benin, among others--still recognize Bastille Day with myriad forms of celebration. In the United States, the cities of New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Seattle all host large celebrations in honor of the holiday.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BASTILLE DAY WITH THESE MAIN LBRARY MATERIALS...

Blood of the Bastille, 1787-1789: From Calonne's Dismissal
to the Uprising of Paris by Claude Manceron, 1989.
944.04 M 311 b


The Oxford History of the French Revolution by William Doyle, 1989.
944.04 D 778 0


The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, A & E Home Video, 2005
DVD 944.04 Fre