tradition
Le 14 Juillet WHAT IS BASTILLE DAY? IT’S BEST NOT TO ASK YOUR FRENCH FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS THAT QUESTION!
B
astille day is what the English call the 14th July – the French call it la fête nationale française. So if you refer to it as Bastille Day, expect to get a confused look from your French friends! How did it all start? It is all a bit confusing, really. In 1789, politics was looking even more uncertain than usual. The country was in economic crisis; there was tension between the Reformist and the Conservative factions as to what to do. The people were, as usual, getting the worst of it. In England, the Black Death had brought the old feudal system to an end in the 14th century; in France it was still pretty-much the way of life.
Buoyed up by excitement and fervour, and strengthened by a disaffected group of French Guards (whose normal role was to guard public and official buildings), the rioters broke into the Bastille. After some confused attempts to calm the situation, and much apparent misunderstanding, the hapless Marquis de Launay, Governor of the Bastille, and seven other defenders, were killed.
It is not certain how much weaponry the invaders found, but if they hoped to stage a triumphant release of political prisoners, they were sadly disappointed. There were only seven prisoners, many in various stages of mental disintegration. The most celebrated was the Marquis de Sade. The prison conditions The populace gave itself up to four were in fact quite On 20th June 1789, there was a move to days of feasting, fireworks and comfortable, and overthrow the entire celebration, by the end of which most of the system, and rewrite the prisoners had no the streets ran with wine and Constitution of France. desire to leave! naked citizenry The Establishment However, the reacted by dismissing storming of the Bastille had a far-reaching ministers even slightly sympathetic to this effect on the government, and on 4th solution. The people of Paris suddenly August, following a very stormy session of became fearful that an attempt would be the Assemblée Constituante, feudalism made by the Authorities to crush the was abolished and the Declaration of the embryonic movement for reform by the Rights of Man and of the Citizen use of violence, and they sought to provide (Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du themselves with the arms to Citoyen) was proclaimed. The Declaration defend themselves. is still the basis of French politics today On 14th July, the people besieged the and is pinned up in every school hallway. Hôtel des Invalides looking for weapons, How to celebrate the revolution? while another section of the populace surrounded the Bastille. This was an old Barely had the damaged gates of the fortress-prison in which the Authorities Bastille ceased to swing before people (especially the Kings) had incarcerated were making plans to celebrate the event. special prisoners without trial or due By December 1789, embryonic plans were process, simply on the basis of a warrant. afoot, which culminated in La fête de la It must be bristling with weapons! Surely, Fédération, scheduled to be held in the to strike at this would make a significant Champ de Mars on 14th July 1790. statement and supply arms for Ironically, it was intended to symbolise many people. peace, as well as celebrating the storming
8 etcetera
By Mik
e Geo r ge
Mike George is our regular contributor on wildlife and the countryside in France. He is a geologist and naturalist, living in the Jurassic area of the Charente
of the Bastille, and to establish the freedom of the French Nation during the Revolution. However, the Champ de Mars was not the well-kept civic amenity it is today, but a rough field well outside Paris itself, used by the militia for squarebashing, so the event had to be preceded by a Journée des Brouettes, or Wheelbarrow Day, when some serious ground-clearance had to be done by volunteer workers. On the day itself it poured with rain, but the parades and the Mass (celebrated by Talleyrand in his role as a Bishop) and the speeches and the ceremonial signings still went ahead. Afterwards the populace gave itself up to four days of feasting, fireworks and celebration, by the end of which the streets ran with wine and naked citizenry demonstrating their new liberté (though perhaps not their égalité or fraternité!). Later years The poor old Bastille had been on the list for demolition for a long time, even before the Revolution, and when the shouting died down, it was quietly dismantled, and the stones used to build the Pont de la Concorde nearby. You can see the outline of the Bastille in the Place de la Bastille, outlined in red bricks near the Rue St. Antoine. It was almost 100 years before anyone thought to have an official annual celebration of the Revolution and the Republic of France. On 14th July 1879 there was a feast in Paris organised to
