Why does France celebrate its National Day on July 14? What was the Storming of the Bastille?

A “flying man” dazzled on Bastille Day 0:58 (CNN) — When the French government dares to turn its back on the people, the streets of Paris are in danger: at least since the Storming of the Bastille , in 1789, the protest has become one of the nation’s greatest symbols. In fact, it also seems to be a long tradition in the country’s history. France’s past is marred by the blood and sacrifice of protesters who have continued a legacy of dissent and public demonstration. This culture of protest dates back to the days of the French Revolution, and in the Parisian fortress of Bastille, taken by popular forces on July 14, 1789, is the beginning of it all. The National Day of France, which is observed every July 14 in honor of those events, celebrates the seizure of power by the people against a tyrannical government. It is also a reminder to the current regime that the French citizens who empowered them also have the ability to remove them. July 14 is France’s National Day, which commemorates the Storming of the Bastille, a key date of the French Revolution. Here is the summary of the history of the Bastille and the resistance that continues to inspire long after. What was the Storming of the Bastille in the first place? When it comes to revolutions, no one makes them better than the French. But before the infamous Reign of Terror set in motion a series of guillotine beheadings, high taxes and a summer of famine in 1789 led French citizens to storm the Bastille castle in Paris, a military fortress and prison. . The taking represented the resistance against the Bourbons, the tyrannical French monarchy. What happened at the beginning of the French Revolution To put it mildly, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were not loved by the French people. In fact, her reign ended with her beheading on the guillotine (and they wouldn’t be the only ones). But the concerns that fueled an all-out revolution went far beyond these two inadequate leaders. (Though they certainly didn’t help.) The extravagant spending of Louis and Marie Antoinette was rivaled only by their even more extravagant debts, which they inherited from the previous government. By the 1780s, unemployment, food shortages, and high taxes had left commoners desperate and destitute, while the wealthy nobility remained untouched. French mounted republican guards march during France’s traditional National Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on July 14, 2017. When the monarchy began to feel the pressure, Louis summoned the Estates General, the legislative body of the country, for the elaboration of a new fiscal plan. The Third Estate (made up of the commoners) then separated from the nobles and the clergy (the other two estates in the assembly) and demanded a written constitution. This led to the creation of the National Assembly. However, when Louis fired finance minister Jacques Necker, popular with members of the Third Estate, shortly afterward, the response was explosive. French protesters took to the streets and clashed with royalist soldiers, burning customs posts and looting the city for food and weapons. Ultimately, the mob that formed looted the Hôtel des Invalides military hospital before setting their sights on bigger prizes. Finally, the Taking of the Bastille The crowd marched towards the Bastille, where its governor, Bernard-Rene de Launay, cowered behind the walls: he agreed to negotiate with the delegates, but finally the demonstrators broke in and de Launay gave the order to shoot at the crowd. The revolutionaries suffered heavy losses, but finally took the fortress after several hours. Why it matters to France The Bastille was one of the key events at the start of the French Revolution. Today is celebrated with fireworks and parades. But this commemoration is much more than a national holiday: it fostered a culture of civil disobedience in France that inspired countless riots, uprisings and demonstrations for centuries. Here are some of his most key moments. This engraving shows the proclamation of the Republic in the Place de la Bastille on February 27, 1848. The Second Revolution of 1848 Approximately half a century after the events of the French Revolution, which after years of fighting and the rise of Napoleon ended with the monarchical restoration in 1815, the public mobilized en masse once again to bring down the government of King Louis-Philippe. They established the second Republic after the coup d’etat of Luis Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleón). The events were part of a series of revolutions in 1848 in which revolutionaries across Europe protested centuries-old monarchies in Sicily, Germany, Italy and Austria. The “French May” of 1968 Fifty years ago, students of the prestigious Sorbonne University marched in the streets after an occupation at the university sparked a violent conflict with the city’s police. The protests were famous for the cobblestones that protesters dug up and hurled at police. The movement of nearly 9 million students, workers, and civil servants eventually crushed government resistance, leading to a 35% increase in the minimum wage, a 10% salary increase, and the dissolution of the National Assembly. But it came at the cost of seven deaths and hundreds of injuries among the protesters. Parisians climb over piles of cobblestones in the streets during the French student demonstrations of May 1968. The 1986 university reform protests Like the movement of two decades earlier, the 1986 demonstration also forced the French government to relent to the demands of the people. A bill on university selection criteria caused massive public upheaval; once again, the streets of Paris were filled with fire, blood and broken glass. The protests came to a devastating climax after a student participating in the protests was beaten and killed by police. The bill was eventually withdrawn and the minister who proposed it resigned. High school students gather at a general assembly in 1986 to protest against a bill to reform France’s Department of Education. The “yellow vests” in 2018 The streets of Paris burned again in 2018 when more than 300,000 people across the country mobilized against a tax on gasoline and diesel imposed by the government. Protesters known as the “gilet jaunes” (yellow vests, for the high-visibility clothing worn by motorcyclists on France’s roads) barricaded highways, blocked gasoline tanks, defaced public property and burned cars for weeks in manifestation. The protests turned into a much broader resistance against the administration of President Emmanuel Macron. It has become known as one of the biggest protests the city had seen in decades, and it continued, to a lesser extent, well into 2019. A new generation of French populist protesters are wearing yellow vests, which the French government requires all protesters to wear. drivers carry in their vehicles in an emergency. The protests over the pension system in 2019 The memory of the “yellow vests” was still fresh in the memory of the French and the world when a new massive demonstration shook the streets of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, this time against the reform to the pension system proposed by the Macron government. A general strike was also added to the barricades and protests, and the tension continued until February 2020.