A little bit of history, what is May 8 in France?

May 8 is a Holiday in France. Do you know why?It's Victory Day (la fête de la victoire, le jour de la libération) to celebrate the end of World War II and the French people's freedom. It is the anniversary of when Charles de Gaulle announced the end of World War II in France on May 8, 1945.

Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French Forces, announced the official end of World War II to the French people on May 8, 1945. Church bells rang to communicate and celebrate this message. It marked the end of a six-year war and the Nazi oppression in France, which resulted in millions of deaths.

Many people attend parades on May 8 each year to celebrate the end of World War II and the freedom of France from Nazi oppression. They also sing patriotic songs and display the French national flag on their homes and public buildings. The mood on WWII Victory Day is generally joyous but people may also make time to remember family members or others who died during World War II. 











The French Flag:The French flag, or tricolor, is an important symbol of WWII Victory Day. It is one-and-a-half time as wide as it is tall and consists of three vertical bands colored blue, white and red. The bands are all the same width. The French flag is based on a revolutionary cockade created during the French Revolution in 1789, after the fall of the Bastille. It takes the colors of red and blue, the colors of Paris (blue representing equality, red representing liberty). The red and blue are combined with white, symbol of the Bourbon monarchy.

The flag represents everything the French Revolution stood for, including all the ideals mentioned in the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, the 1791 and 1795 Constitutions, founded on liberal bourgeois ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The colors of the flag are a symbol of the achievements that were won through the Revolution.

La Marseillaise:

La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" (English: "War Song for the Army of the Rhine") was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795. The name of the song is due to first being sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille.

    French version                                    English version

Allons enfants de la Patrie	Arise, you children of the fatherland
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !	The day of glory has arrived!
Contre nous de la tyrannie	Against us, tyranny
L’étendard sanglant est levé (bis)	Has raised its bloodied banner (repeat)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes	Do you hear in the fields
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?	The howling of these fearsome soldiers?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras	They are coming into your midst
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !	To slit the throats of your sons, your wives!
Aux armes, citoyens !	To arms, citizens!
Formez vos bataillons !	Form your battalions!
Marchons, marchons !	Let us march, let us march!
Qu’un sang impur	May impure blood
Abreuve nos sillons !	Soak our fields’ furrows!
Que veut cette horde d’esclaves,	What does this horde of slaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?	Traitors, and plotting kings want?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves	For whom these vile chains
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ?(bis)	These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Français, pour nous, ah! Quel outrage,	Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage,
Quels transports il doit exciter !	What fury it must arouse!
C’est nous qu’on ose méditer	It is us they dare plan
De rendre à l’antique esclavage !	To return to the old slavery!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…
Quoi! Des cohortes étrangères !	What! These foreign cohorts!
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !	They would make laws in our homes!
Quoi! Ces phalanges mercenaires	What! These mercenary phalanxes
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers !(bis)	Would cut down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Grand Dieu! Par des mains enchaînées	Good Lord! By chained hands
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient	Our brow would yield under the yoke
De vils despotes deviendraient	The vile despots would become
Les maîtres de nos destinées !	The masters of our destinies!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides	Tremble, tyrants and traitors
L’opprobre de tous les partis	The shame of all good men
Tremblez! Vos projets parricides	Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis)	Will receive their just reward! (repeat)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre	Against you, we are all soldiers
S’ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,	If our young heroes fall,
La terre en produit de nouveaux,	The earth will bear new ones,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre !	Ready to join the fight against you!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…
Français, en guerriers magnanimes,	Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Portez ou retenez vos coups !	Bear or hold back your blows!
Épargnez ces tristes victimes	Spare these sad victims
À regret s’armant contre nous (bis)	That they may regret taking up arms against us(repeat)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires	But not these bloody despots
Mais ces complices de Bouillé	These accomplices of Bouillé
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,	All these tigers who mercilessly
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !	Ripped out their mothers’ breast!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…
Amour sacré de la Patrie,	Sacred patriotic love,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs	Lead and support our avenging arms
Liberté, Liberté chérie,	Liberty, cherished liberty,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)	Fight back with your defenders! (repeat)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire	Under our flags, let victory
Accoure à tes mâles accents,	Hurry to your manly tone,
Que tes ennemis expirants	So that your enemies, in their last breath,
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !	See your triumph and our glory!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…
(Couplet des enfants)	(Children’s Verse)
Nous entrerons dans la carrière	We shall enter the career
Quand nos aînés n’y seront plus	When our elders will no longer be there
Nous y trouverons leur poussière	There we shall find their dust
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)	And the mark of their virtues (repeat)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre	Much less jealous of surviving them
Que de partager leur cercueil,	Than of sharing their coffins,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil	We shall have the sublime pride
De les venger ou de les suivre !	Of avenging or following them!
Aux armes, citoyens…	To arms, citizens…

HAPPY FRENCH HOLIDAY!

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