RIYADH, 14 July 1005 — Bastille Day, the French National Day, which commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of the Ancien Regime (old regime) of Louis XVI. The capture signaled the first victory of the people of Paris against a symbol of the Ancien Régime. Indeed, the edifice was razed to the ground in the months that followed.
Although the Bastille held only seven prisoners at the time, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression of all French citizens. It was like the Tricolor flag which depicted the Republic’s three ideals: liberty, equality, and fraternity for all French citizens. It marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign nation, and, eventually, the creation of the (First) Republic, in 1792.
Paris was in a state of high agitation in the early months of the French revolution. In Spring 1789, the Estates-General refused to dissolve, transforming itself instead into a constituent National Assembly. In July, King Louis XVI called in fresh troops and dismissed his popular minister, Necker. On the morning of July 14, the people of Paris seized weapons from the armory at the Invalides and then marched in the direction of an ancient royal fortress, the Bastille. After a bloody round of firing, the crowd broke into the Bastille and released the handful of prisoners held there.
The Fête de la Fédération (Feast of the Federations) held on July 14, 1790, celebrated with great pomp the first anniversary of the insurrection. In Paris, Talleyrand held mass at the Altar of the Fatherland, on the Champ de Mars.
The commemoration of July 14 was abandoned in subsequent years. Under the Third Republic, however, leaders (Gambetta especially) cast about for ways to celebrate the foundations of the regime. A deputy for the Seine Department, Benjamin Raspail, moved that July 14 be named the national holiday of the Republic, and Parliament passed an act to that effect on July 6, 1880.
From the outset, the emphasis was on the patriotic and military character of the event, expressing France’s recovery from the defeat of 1870. Every commune or locality in France held its own celebration, starting with a torchlight parade on the evening of the 13th. The next morning, church bells or gun salutes announced the military parade, which was followed by a luncheon, spectacles and games, with dancing and fireworks to end the day.
Coming after the austerity of the 1914-18 war, the 14th of July 1919 was the occasion of a great victory celebration. Similarly, July 14, 1945 was preceded by three days of civic rejoicing.
Today, the festivities of July 14 are as popular as ever. In Paris, the traditional military parade on the Champs-Elysées is a meticulously planned spectacle, and dancing and fireworks displays or special illuminations are organized all over the country.
Successive presidents of the Fifth Republic have modified the day’s events in the course of time. Restoring the tradition of revolutionary Paris, President Giscard d’Estaing re-routed the military parade, marching the troops from the Place de la Bastille to the Place de la République.
Under President François Mitterrand, the “La Marseillaise” night-time parade organized by Jean-Paul Goude on July 14, 1989, watched by numerous foreign heads of state, was a high point in the celebrations of the bicentenary of the French revolution.
In 1994, German soldiers serving in the Eurocorps took part in the parade on the Champs-Elysées, symbolizing the reconciliation between the two nations.
Since the election of President Chirac, young people from all over France, as well as members of the armed forces, have been invited to attend the reception given after the parade in the grounds of the Elysée Palace. The national anthem, La Marseillaise (The Marseillaise) started life as a revolutionary battle song and a hymn to freedom. It gradually gained acceptance as a national anthem. Nowadays it is performed at most official events.
History
Following the French declaration of war on Austria in 1792, Rouget de Lisle, a French officer stationed in Strasborg, composed the “ Song of the Rhine Army” during the night of April 25-26, in the home of citizen Dietrich, the mayor of the city.
The song was taken up by the fédérés (volunteers) from Marseille who took part in the Tuileries insurrection on August 10, 1792. It proved so successful it was declared a national song on July 14, 1795.
Banned under the Empire and the Restoration, La Marseillaise was reinstated by the July Revolution of 1830, and Hector Berlioz orchestrated the music, dedicating his composition to Rouget de Lisle.
The Third Republic (1879) established it as the French national anthem, and in 1887 an “official version” was adopted by the Ministry of War following the recommendation of a specially-appointed commission.
Also under the Third Republic, the ashes of Rouget de Lisle were transferred to Les Invalides (on July 14, 1915).
Its status as the national anthem was reaffirmed in the 1946 and 1958 Constitutions (article 2).
b>The Composer
Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, captain of engineers in the French army, was born at Lons-le-Saunier in 1760. His military career was fairly brief. As a moderate revolutionary, he was saved from the Terror (1793) by the success of his song. He also wrote a handful of romances and operas, then lived in obscurity under the Empire and the Restoration until his death, at Choisy-le-Roi, in 1836.
The Music
The “Hymne des Marseillais” spread throughout Alsace, in handwritten or printed form, in a matter of weeks, before being taken up by several Paris printers. The early editions were published anonymously, casting doubt for a while on the authorship of Rouget de Lisle, who was otherwise a rather poor composer.
There is no authoritative version of La Marseillaise, it having been set to music in a variety of forms, with or without words, right from the start.
In 1879, La Marseillaise was declared to be the official anthem with no indication as to the version to be used, causing considerable musical confusion whenever the work was performed by more than one band brought together for the occasion! The 1887 commission, made up of professional musicians, settled on an official version after having reworked both the tune and the harmony.
In 1974, the newly-elected President Giscard d’Estaing wanted the performance of the work to reflect its origins more closely and ordered it to be played at a slower tempo. The version played at official ceremonies today, however, is adapted from the 1887 version.
La Marseillaise has also been adapted by jazz and popular musicians.
The French Flag
The “tricolor” (three-color) flag is an emblem of the Fifth Republic. It had its origins in the union, at the time of the French Revolution, of the colors of the King (white) and the City of Paris (blue and red). Today, the “tricolor” flies over all public buildings. It is flown at most official ceremonies, both civil and military.
History
In the early days of the French Revolution, the three colors were initially brought together in the form of a cockade. In July 1789, just before the taking of the Bastille, Paris was in a state of high agitation. A militia was formed; its distinctive sign was a two-color cockade made up of the ancient colors of Paris, blue and red. On July 17, Louis XVI came to Paris to recognize the new National Guard, sporting the blue and red cockade, to which the Commander of the Guard, Lafayette, it appears, had added the royal white.
The law of 27 pluviôse, Year II (February 15, 1794), established the “tricolor” as the national flag. At the recommendation of the painter David, the law stipulated that the blue should be flown nearest the flagstaff.
Throughout the 19th century, the blue of the legitimist royalists contended with the three colors inherited from the Revolution. The white flag was re-introduced under the Restoration, but Louis-Philippe reinstated the “tricolor,” surmounting it with the Gallic rooster.
During the Revolution of 1848, the provisional Government adopted the “tricolore,” but the people on the barricades brandished a red flag to signal their revolt.
Under the Third Republic, a consensus gradually emerged around the three colours. From 1880 onwards, the presentation of the colors to the armed forces, each July 14, came to be a moment of high patriotic fervor.
While the Comte de Chambord, claimant to the French throne, never accepted the “tricolor,” the royalists ended up rallying round the national flag at the time of the First World War.
The French Flag Today
The constitutions of 1946 and 1958 (article 2) instituted the “blue, white and red” flag as the national emblem of the Republic.
Today, the French flag can be seen on all public buildings. It is flown on the occasion of national commemorations, and it is honored according to a very precisely-defined ceremonial. The French flag frequently serves as a backdrop when the French president addresses the public. Depending on the circumstances, it may be accompanied by the European flag or the flag of another country.
