Bastille Day

On July 14th, Paris will be celebrating “Bastille Day”, the national holiday of France. This festival commemorates the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, an event with much significance in the development of the modern French nation.
The Bastille, which was located on what is now the Place de la Bastille, was a prison for people jailed on the basis of lettre de cachet for rebelling against the monarchy and its oppressive regime. A group of peasants reacted violently against this oppression by storming the Bastille, attacking the building and destroying official documents. This forced the reigning Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette to flee to Versailles. The violent acts of the peasants were from then on known as the “great fear.”
For the working class, the Bastille was a symbol of the corruption and the hypocracy of the government, which was predominated by the upper and noble classes. The Storming of the Bastille marked the beginning of the peasant class role in the French Revolution, and consequently the beginning of a new era for France. Two days after the rebellion, the king unveiled the new tricoloured flag of France, which is still used today in recognition of the event. The three colours of the flag- blue, white and red- represent liberty, equality and fraternity (liberté, equalité, fraternité)
For the people of France, July 14th (Bastille Day) represents the death of the French monarchy and the birth of a new modern republic. Nowadays the people of Paris celebrate this day in style, with fireworks and festivities all night long.

(Photo by Piero Sierra)

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