July 14 – Bastille Day
The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, has been commemorated in France for over a century.
In the early months of the French Revolution, there was great unrest in Paris. In the spring of 1789, the Estates-General, refusing to dissolve, transformed into the National Constituent Assembly. In July, King Louis XVI called for more troops and dismissed Necker, a popular minister.
On the morning of July 14th, the people of Paris took up arms at Les Invalides and headed towards an old royal fortress: the Bastille. After a bloody shootout, they seized control of it and freed the few prisoners held there.
The storming of the Bastille was an initial victory for the people of Paris over a symbol of the Old Regime. In the months that followed, the entire fortress building was completely demolished.
On the «Festival of the Federation» on July 14, 1790, the first anniversary of the uprising was celebrated with great pomp. In Paris, at the Champ de Mars, Talleyrand held a grand mass at the altar of the fatherland.
Since 1880, July 14th has been the National Day of France, not specifically to celebrate the storming of the Bastille itself, but to commemorate the Festival of the Federation in 1790, whose date coincided intentionally and celebrated the reconciliation and unity of all French people.
