On 14 July, the French National Day, you’ll often hear the English-speaking media cheerfully trilling ‘Happy Bastille Day to all the French people out there’. Clearly this is nonsense, for several reasons.
French speakers don’t refer to 14 July as Bastille Day. It’s an Anglicism, deriving from what is possibly the one fact that English speakers know about the French Revolution: that the Bastille prison was ‘stormed’ on 14 July 1789 – an event that precipitated the Revolution.
Trouble is, that’s not exactly the whole story….
It’s really ‘A Tale of Three Dates’.
What happened on 14 July 1789?
It might be a pity to spoil a good story, but the revolutionaries didn’t break down the prison walls to free hordes of like-minded zealots who would rush to the cause.
First of all, the prison held only seven people at the time – four forgers, one aristocrat who was guilty of ‘sexual crimes’, and two mentally ill prisoners. Not one of them was a ‘political’ prisoner.
Second, when the ‘attack’ happened, on the morning of 14 July, the mob’s purpose was to seize the guns, cannons and gunpowder that were stored there. The ‘revolutionaries’ were making mostly futile efforts to break down the walls. The prison governor tried to negotiate with them, and the drawbridge was lowered. That’s when the mob rushed in. The full story is well-documented and worth looking up.
It was only later that the Bastille was demolished, and became a useful symbol for all that was hated in the royalist regime.
Federation Day 14 July 1790
Most people are unaware of the second reason why 14 July is important.
As a reaction to the weakness and perceived corruption of the central government, various regional groups began to spring up. It was a loose and spontaneous arrangement. One year after the Bastille incident, it was decided there should be a ‘federation’ of these regional power groups, under one constitution.
Led by the Marquis de Lafayette, moves were made to bring them all together. On 14 July 1790, ‘la fête de la Fédération’, a great parade of these regional groups marched from the Bastille to the Champs de Mars (near where the Eiffel Tower stands today). The King, Louis XVI, swore to uphold the National Assembly’s new Constitution. The arrangement didn’t last long; the King was guillotined less than 3 years later.
French National Day 14 July 1880
After the King’s death, the date was largely ignored. It wasn’t until 1880 that 14 July was formally recognised as ‘La Fête Nationale’ (The French National Day). Even then, some still disputed the date for the celebration. They didn’t want any association with the violence of 1789.
Eventually, everyone agreed that the commemoration would focus on the events of 14 July 1790.
So it’s not Bastille Day. It’s La Fête Nationale or, most commonly, ‘le quatorze juillet’ – the 14th of July, plain and simple.
See the Francy That! article Musee Carnavalet – Paris 3 for more information.
Musée Carnavalet (The History of Paris Museum) is the oldest museum in the city and has an excellent display related to the French Revolution. You can also visit its official website.
