14th of July, French National Day

In July, we also have a big day of celebration in France. While you are getting ready to celebrate the Independence Day on July 4th, we are getting ready to celebrate the 14th of July, The French National Day or Bastille Day.

Bastille Day, the French National Holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th's Ancient Regime. By capturing this symbol, the people signaled that the king's power was no longer absolute: power should be based on the Nation and be limited by a separation of powers.

Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners at the time of its capture, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens; like the Tricolore flag, it symbolized the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all French citizens.

14th of July, marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign Nation, and, eventually, the creation of the (First) Republic, in 1792.

Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday on 6 July 1880, on Benjamin Raspail's recommendation, when the new Republic was firmly entrenched. Bastille Day has such a strong signification for the French because the holiday symbolizes the birth of the Republic. As in the US, where the signing of the Declaration of Independence signaled the start of the American Revolution, in France the storming of the Bastille began the Great Revolution. In both countries, the national holiday thus symbolizes the beginning of a new form of government. On the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, delegates from every region of France proclaimed their allegiance to a single national community during the Fête de la Fédération in Paris - the first time in history that a people had claimed their right to self-determination. How do we celebrate the 14th of July? The celebrations begin on the 13th, when in the evening all fire stations of the city are open (just like in the rest of the country), and the firefighters organize dance parties in the fire stations  Regular people, as well as firefighters, police, and military from all branches attend the parties, that go on until the early morning. These dance parties are held on the 13th and the 14th, in most fire stations on both nights.

JOYEUX 14 JUILLET!!!