Tuesday, July 14 2009
Happy Bastille Day!
My, that does look stormy
July 14th marks the 220th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The assault on the Bastille, a fortress and prison that held political prisoners (held under shadowy 'lettres de cachet', the equivalent of the Canadian 'security certificate') as well as a large stock of gunpowder and ammo, was the first step in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy that preceded the First Republic of France.
The whole French Revolution was complex, messy, and while it started off with desparate men seeking solutions to intractable problems, it wound up a right awful mess after a while. But you can't fault the early celebrations:
The Fête de la Fédération of the 14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the uprising of the short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French Revolution.
The event took place on the Champ de Mars, at the time outside of Paris but now the site of the Eiffel Tower. The place had been transformed voluntarily by the population of Paris in what was recalled as the Journée des brouettes ("Wheelbarrow Day").
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 naked through the streets in order to display their great freedom.
Whatever else you think about the causes or excesses of the revolution, you can't beat that for a way to commemorate a political uprising.
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