Editing Bastille Day (section)

==History==
{{external media
| topic = Bastille Day 2023
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| caption = via [[YouTube]]
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENnYWC4EsRM&t Live: Cérémonie du 14 juillet 2023] (14&nbsp;July 2023), by [[Élysée Palace]] (in [[French language|French]])
}}

In 1789, tensions rose in France between reformist and conservative factions as the country struggled to resolve an economic crisis. In May, the [[Estates General (France)|Estates General]] legislative assembly was revived, but members of the [[Estates of the realm#Third Estate|Third Estate]] broke ranks, declaring themselves to be the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] of the country, and on 20 June, [[Tennis Court Oath|vowed to write a constitution]] for the kingdom. 

On 11 July, [[Jacques Necker]], the finance minister of [[Louis XVI]], who was sympathetic to the Third Estate, was dismissed by the King, provoking an angry reaction among Parisians. Crowds formed, fearful of an attack by the royal army or by foreign regiments of mercenaries in the King's service and seeking to arm themselves. Early on 14 July, a crowd besieged the [[Hôtel des Invalides]] for firearms, muskets, and cannons stored in its cellars.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/4402553/bastille-day-history-july-14/ |title=What Actually Happened on the Original Bastille Day|first=Emma|last=Ockerman|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]|date=13 July 2016 }}</ref> That same day, another crowd stormed the [[Bastille]], a fortress-prison in Paris that had historically held people jailed on the basis of ''[[Lettre de cachet|lettres de cachet]]'' (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment, and was believed to hold a cache of ammunition and gunpowder. As it happened, at the time of the attack, the Bastille held only seven inmates, none of great political significance.<ref>Chevallaz, G. A., ''Histoire générale de 1789 à nos jours'', p. 22, Lausanne: Payot, 1974.</ref> 

The crowd was eventually reinforced by the mutinous [[Régiment des Gardes Françaises]] ("Regiment of French Guards"), whose usual role was to protect public buildings. They proved a fair match for the fort's defenders, and [[Bernard-René de Launay|Governor de Launay]], the commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a mutual massacre. According to the official documents, about 200 attackers and just one defender died before the capitulation. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding, fighting resumed. In this second round of fighting, de Launay and seven other defenders were killed, as was [[Jacques de Flesselles]], the ''prévôt des marchands'' ("provost of the merchants"), the elected head of the city's guilds, who under the French monarchy had the responsibilities of a present-day mayor.<ref>Isaac, J., ''L'époque révolutionnaire 1789–1851'', p. 60, Paris: Hachette, 1950.</ref>

Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, late in the evening of 4 August, after a very stormy session of the ''Assemblée constituante'', [[feudalism]] was abolished. On 26 August, the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] (''Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen'') was proclaimed.<ref>Isaac, ''L'époque révolutionnaire 1789–1851'', p. 64, Paris: Hachette, 1950.</ref>

===''Fête de la Fédération''===
{{main|Fête de la Fédération}}
[[File:Fête de la Fédération 1790, Musée de la Révolution française - Vizille.jpg|thumb|''Fête de la Fédération'', [[Musée de la Révolution française]]]]
As early as 1789, the year of the storming of the Bastille, preliminary designs for a national festival were underway. These designs were intended to strengthen the country's national identity through the celebration of the events of 14 July 1789.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Bastille: A History of a Symbol of Despotism and Freedom|last=Lüsebrink|first=Hans-Jürgen|publisher=Duke Press University|year=1997|isbn=9780822382751|pages=151}}</ref> One of the first designs was proposed by Clément Gonchon, a French textile worker, who presented his design for a festival celebrating the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille to the French city administration and the public on 9 December 1789.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Bastille: A History of a Symbol of Despotism and Freedom|last1=Lüsebrink|first1=Hans-Jürgen|last2=Reichardt|first2=Rolf|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1997|isbn=9780822382751|pages=152}}</ref> There were other proposals and unofficial celebrations of 14 July 1789, but the official festival sponsored by the National Assembly was called the Fête de la Fédération.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Bastille: A History of a Symbol of Despotism and Freedom|last1=Lüsebrink|first1=Hans-Jürgen|last2=Reichardt|first2=Rolf|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1997|isbn=9780822382751|pages=153}}</ref>

The ''Fête de la Fédération'' on 14 July 1790 was a celebration of the unity of the French nation during the French Revolution. The aim of this celebration, one year after the [[Storming of the Bastille]], was to symbolize peace. The event took place on the [[Champ de Mars]], which was located far outside of Paris at the time. The work needed to transform the Champ de Mars into a suitable location for the celebration was not on schedule to be completed in time. On the day recalled as the Journée des brouettes ("The Day of the Wheelbarrow"), thousands of Parisian citizens gathered together to finish the construction needed for the celebration.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fourteenth of July|last=Prendergast|first=Christopher|publisher=Profile Books Ltd.|year=2008|isbn=9781861979391|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/105 105–106]|url=https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/105}}</ref>

The day of the festival, the National Guard assembled and proceeded along the boulevard du Temple in the pouring rain, and were met by an estimated 260,000 Parisian citizens at the Champ de Mars.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fourteenth of July|last=Prendergast|first=Christopher|publisher=Profile Books Ltd|year=2008|isbn=9781861979391|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/106 106–107]|url=https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/106}}</ref> A [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] was celebrated by [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Talleyrand]], [[bishop of Autun]]. The popular [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette|General Lafayette]], as captain of the National Guard of Paris and a confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by King [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]]. After the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge four-day popular feast, and people celebrated with fireworks, as well as fine wine and running nude through the streets in order to display their freedom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottschalk |first=Louis Reichenthal |author-link= Louis R. Gottschalk |title=Lafayette in the French Revolution |date=1973 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-30547-3}}</ref>

===Origin of the current celebration===
[[File:Monet-montorgueil.JPG|thumb|[[Claude Monet]], ''Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878'']]
On 30 June 1878, a feast was officially arranged in Paris to honour the French Republic (the event was commemorated in a painting by [[Claude Monet]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Adamson|first=Natalie|title=Painting, politics and the struggle for the École de Paris, 1944–1964|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EgNGAQAAIAAJ|access-date=13 July 2011|date=15 August 2009|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-5928-0|page=68}}</ref> On 14 July 1879, there was another feast, with a semi-official aspect. The day's events included a reception in the Chamber of Deputies, organised and presided over by [[Léon Gambetta]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Nord|first=Philip G.|title=Impressionists and politics: art and democracy in the nineteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNSVHrVlGMQC&pg=PA37|access-date=13 July 2011|year=2000|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-20695-2|page=37}}</ref> (a military reviewer at Longchamp), and a Republican Feast in the [[Bois de Boulogne|Pré Catelan]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nord|first=Philip G.|title=The republican moment: struggles for democracy in nineteenth-century France|url=https://archive.org/details/republicanmoment0000nord|url-access=registration|access-date=13 July 2011|year=1995|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-76271-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/republicanmoment0000nord/page/205 205]}}</ref> All throughout France, ''[[Le Figaro]]'' wrote, "people feasted much to honour the storming of the Bastille".<ref>{{cite news|title=Paris Au Jour Le Jour|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k277157p/f4.image|access-date=15 January 2013|newspaper=Le Figaro|date=16 July 1879|page=4|quote=On a beaucoup banqueté avant-hier, en mémoire de la prise de la Bastille, et comme tout banquet suppose un ou plusieurs discours, on a aussi beaucoup parlé.}}</ref>

In 1880, the government of the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] wanted to revive the 14 July festival. The campaign for the reinstatement of the festival was sponsored by the notable politician [[Léon Gambetta]] and scholar [[Henri Baudrillart|Henri Baudrillant]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fourteenth of July|last=Prendergast|first=Christopher|publisher=Profile Books Ltd|year=2008|isbn=9781861979391|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/127 127]|url=https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/127}}</ref> On 21 May 1880, [[Benjamin Raspail]] proposed a law, signed by sixty-four members of government, to have "the Republic adopt 14 July as the day of an annual national festival". There were many disputes over which date to be remembered as the national holiday, including 4 August (the commemoration of the [[The Abolition of Feudalism|end of the feudal system]]), 5 May (when the [[Estates General of 1789|Estates-General]] first assembled), 27 July (the fall of [[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]]), and 21 January (the date of [[Louis XVI]]'s execution).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fourteenth of July|last=Prendergast|first=Christopher|publisher=Profile Books Ltd|year=2008|isbn=9781861979391|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/129 129]|url=https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/129}}</ref> The government decided that the date of the holiday would be 14 July, but that was still somewhat problematic. The events of 14 July 1789 were illegal under the previous government, which contradicted the Third Republic's need to establish legal legitimacy.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fourteenth of July|last=Prendergast|first=Christopher|publisher=Profile Books Ltd|year=2008|isbn=9781861979391|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/130 130]|url=https://archive.org/details/fourteenthofjuly0000pren/page/130}}</ref> French politicians also did not want the sole foundation of their national holiday to be rooted in a day of bloodshed and class-hatred as the day of storming the Bastille was. Instead, they based the establishment of the holiday as both the celebration of the Fête de la Fédération, a festival celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of France on 14 July 1789, and the storming of the Bastille.<ref name="Schofield">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23280120|title=Bastille Day: How peace and revolution got mixed up|last=Schofield|first=Hugh|date=14 July 2013|website=BBC News}}</ref> The Assembly voted in favor of the proposal on 21 May, and 8 June. The law was approved on 27 and 29 June. The celebration was made official on 6 July 1880.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-14 |title=Bastille Day {{!}} Definition, History, Traditions, Celebrations, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bastille-Day |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the debate leading up to the adoption of the holiday, Senator [[Henri Martin (historian)|Henri Martin]], who wrote the National Day law,<ref name="Schofield"/> addressed the chamber on 29 June 1880:

{{Blockquote|text=Do not forget that behind this 14&nbsp;July, where victory of the new era over the [[Ancien Régime]] was bought by fighting, do not forget that after the day of 14&nbsp;July 1789, there was the day of 14&nbsp;July 1790&nbsp;(...) This [latter] day cannot be blamed for having shed a drop of blood, for having divided the country. It was the consecration of the unity of France&nbsp;(...) If some of you might have scruples against the first 14&nbsp;July, they certainly hold none against the second. Whatever difference which might part us, something hovers over them, it is the great images of national unity, which we all desire, for which we would all stand, willing to die if necessary.|sign=[[Henri Martin (historian)|Henri Martin]], 1880<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130309015033/http://blog.greetingcarduniverse.com/2011/07/le-quatorze-juillet/ Le Quatorze Juillet] at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090802114707/http://blog.greetingcarduniverse.com/ Greeting Card Universe Blog]</ref>}}

===Bastille Day military parade===
{{main|Bastille Day military parade}}
[[File:14 juillet. Le 27e Chasseur - Fonds Berthelé - 49Fi1866.jpg|thumb|Military parade during World War I]]
The Bastille Day military parade is the French [[military parade]] that has been held in the morning, every year in Paris, since 1880. While previously held elsewhere within or near the capital city, since 1918 it has been held on the [[Champs-Élysées]], with the participation of the Allies as represented in the Versailles Peace Conference, and with the exception of the period of German occupation from 1940 to 1944 (when the ceremony took place in London under the command of General [[Charles de Gaulle]]); and 2020 when the [[COVID-19 pandemic in France|COVID-19 pandemic]] forced its cancellation.<ref>[http://www.garnison-paris.terre.defense.gouv.fr/14juillet2008/les-coulisses/historique-du-defile.htm Défilé du 14 juillet, des origines à nos jours] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224003154/http://www.garnison-paris.terre.defense.gouv.fr/14juillet2008/les-coulisses/historique-du-defile.htm |date=24 February 2011 }} (14 July Parade, from its origins to the present)</ref> The parade passes down the Champs-Élysées from the [[Arc de Triomphe]] to the [[Place de la Concorde]], where the [[President of France|President of the French Republic]], his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand. This is a popular event in France, broadcast on French TV, and is the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe.<ref name="paris1"/><ref name="paris-attractions1"/>

Smaller military parades are held in French garrison towns, including [[Toulon]] and [[Belfort]], with local troops.<ref>{{Cite web|title=France's National Day|url=https://shape.nato.int/page11283634/national-days/frances-national-day.aspx|access-date=2021-10-13|website=shape.nato.int|language=en}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Bastille Day Parade 170714-D-PB383-005 (35087624434).jpg|Allied forces participate in the military parade
File:Fly over Bastille Day 2017.jpg|The [[Patrouille de France]] with nine [[Alpha Jet]]s over the [[Champs-Élysées]] in [[Paris]] in 2017, during the [[Bastille Day military parade]]
File:French Republican Guard Bastille Day 2007 n1.jpg|Horseman of the [[Republican Guard (France)|Republican Guard]] during the 2007 [[Bastille Day military parade|military parade on the Champs-Élysées]]
File:Dominique Vallet-IMG 5734.JPG|Surgeon general inspector Dominique Vallet, head of the Laveran military medical school, at the ceremonies for Bastille Day in [[Marseille]], 2012
</gallery>