BASTILLE DAY
On July 14th
This day marks the end of monarchy and the beginning of the French Revolution.
Several factors led to the Revolution. The country was led by a King and Queen, whose governing was less than desirable.
France had the largest population in Europe and not nearly enough food to feed it.
The wealthy and growing bourgeoisie (the middle-class, merchants and businessmen) were allowed no political input or power.
The poor were in a bad situation and it was getting worse.
The country was nearing bankruptcy.
By the late 1780s the people of France were fed up and began speaking out.
Assemblies were held and demands of a constitution were made.
When King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, tried to quiet the unrest the people rebelled.
Marie Antoinette
1755-93
Marie was born to the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. She was the Queen of France and wife to Louis XVI.
The marriage was made to strengthen the allegiance with Austria when she was only 14 and Louis 15.
The marriage remained unconsummated for seven years.
The queen was unpopular with the people of France and was regarded as a foreign sympathizer.
She was unhappy and became extravagant wasting money on frivolous pleasures which earned her the nickname "Madame Deficit".
She became involved in several scandals making her the most despised person in France.
Her most memorable act, the response to the bread famine with the quote "Let them eat cake" probably never happened.
In 1793 she was charge with treason for trying to escape and met her fate with the guillotine.
Louis XVI
1754-93
After the death of his grandfather, Louis XVI became King of France at the age of 19.
He preferred hunting and tinkering to leading the country.
In his desire to be accepted he allied himself with the nobility and ignored his duties as king.
Unfortunately, the country was already facing monetary problems when Louis became king and rather than
economize he continued to spend money wastefully.
His lack of involvement in the court allowed the minister, A.R.J. Turgot, to make reforms that Parliament and the court firmly rejected.
Louis was forced to dismiss him and find a replacement.
He chose Jacques Necker but Necker resigned shortly after his appointment as the debt of France rose
steadily with its involvement in the American Revolution.
Bankruptcy was inevitable and the French Revolution began.
In 1789 Versailles was overtaken and the royal family was forced to move in to the Tuileries palace.
He and his family attempted to escape but were caught at Varennes.
This was considered an act of treason and Louis was condemned to death. He was guillotined on the January 21, 1793.
Date : 14 juillet
Le jour de la prise de la Bastille, la fête nationale française, commémore la prise de la Bastille, qui a eu lieu le 14 juillet 1789
et a marqué le début de la Révolution française. La Bastille était une prison et un symbole du pouvoir absolu et arbitraire de
l'Ancien Régime de Louis XVI. Sa prise par le peuple a démontré que le pouvoir du roi n'était plus absolu : ce pouvoir devait se
fonder sur la Nation et être limité par une séparation des pouvoirs.
Bien que la Bastille ne contenait que sept prisonniers à ce moment-là, la prise de celle-ci a été le symbole de la liberté et du
combat contre l'oppression pour tous les citoyens français ; comme le drapeau tricolore, elle a symbolisé les trois
idéaux de la République : Liberté, Égalité et Fraternité pour tous les citoyens français. Elle a marqué la fin de la monarchie
absolue et la naissance de la Nation souveraine et, finalement, de celle de la Première République, en 1792.
Le jour de la prise de la Bastille a été déclaré « fête nationale » le 6 juillet 1880, sur la recommandation de Benjamin Raspail,
au moment où la République s'enracinait définitivement. Si la prise de la Bastille a une signification aussi forte, c'est parce
qu'elle symbolise la naissance de la République. Comme aux USA, où la signature de la Déclaration d'Indépendance a été le signal
du début de la Révolution américaine, en France, la prise de la Bastille a marqué le début de la Révolution française.
Dans les deux pays, la fête nationale symbolise donc le début d'une nouvelle forme de gouvernement.
Au premier anniversaire de la chute de la Bastille, des délégués de toutes les régions de France ont proclamé leur allégeance à
une seule communauté nationale pendant la Fête de la Fédération à Paris - c'était ainsi la première fois dans l'histoire qu'un
peuple avait réclamé le droit à l'autodétermination.
Le drapeau tricolore
Le drapeau français bleu, blanc, rouge a pris sa forme lors de la Révolution. Les trois couleurs représentent les trois idéales de la République.
La Marseillaise was composed by
Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in
1792 and was declared the French national anthem in 1795.
Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's
Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!
Refrain
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This horde of slaves, traitors, plotting kings,
What do they want?
For whom these vile shackles,
These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, oh! what an insult!
What emotions that must excite!
It is us that they dare to consider
Returning to ancient slavery!
What! These foreign troops
Would make laws in our home!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would bring down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brows would bend beneath the yoke!
Vile despots would become
The masters of our fate!
Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,
The disgrace of all groups,
Tremble! Your parricidal plans
Will finally pay the price! (repeat)
Everyone is a soldier to fight you,
If they fall, our young heros,
France will make more,
Ready to battle you!
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims,
Regretfully arming against us. (repeat)
But not these bloodthirsty despots,
But not these accomplices of Bouillé,
All of these animals who, without pity,
Tear their mother's breast to pieces!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sacred love of France,
Lead, support our avenging arms!
Liberty, beloved Liberty,
Fight with your defenders! (repeat)
Under our flags, let victory
Hasten to your manly tones!
May your dying enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
Refrain
We will enter the pit
When our elders are no longer there;
There, we will find their dust
And the traces of their virtues. (repeat)
Much less eager to outlive them
Than to share their casket,
We will have the sublime pride
Of avenging them or following them!
Refrain
Email: Questions/Answers |
|
