Today in Sobrehistoria we are talking about one of the most important chapters of the French Revolution and the history of France in general: the storming of the Bastillewhich occurred on July 14, 1789. A key period for the rights and freedoms of the individual in Europe.
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille It was not an improvised revolt or one that arose from the revolutionary spirit of a few, but rather a widespread and generalized revolution. The revolution had already been spreading through the streets of Paris for months. The idea of a new regime; the creation of a National Assembly, and the Oath of the Ball Game of June 20 by which the Third Estate was declared (the people to obtain a Constitution for the country), had tense the situation in Paris. But the intransigence of King Louis XVI before the movement of the populace, and the dismissal of Jacobo Nécker, one of the most influential politicians and loved by the people, as Minister of Finance, made the fuse burn even more. Desperate, the King appealed for help to loyal foreign countries, who congregated around Paris and Versailles. That was understood as an act of self-proclamation of despotism by Louis XVI… and the people took to the streets.
A huge crowd from 40 and 50,000 people took part in the taking of Les Invalides, in search of weapons with which to defend themselves. The chants resounded in unison in the Place de la Bastille, but from inside, the soldiers who remained in their defense refused to open fire on the people despite having several cannons. Nearby, on the Champ de Mars, the royal regiments, under the command of Pierre de Besenval, also refuse to charge against the mutineers.
It is the signal, and the people rush feverishly to scale the walls that surround the Bastille. at 3:30 p.m. of that July 14, with five cannons that they have seized, they fire against the Bastille. Shortly after, he capitulates. At 5:00 p.m. the crowd invaded the Bastille seizing weapons and gunpowder. the warden of the prison, the Marquis de Launay, was swiftly executed and his head displayed on the walls. It was the first big step in that Revolution, which would not stop until it finished with the king himself and his family on the guillotine.
That act of ferocity, of agony, of longing for freedom against oppression by the populace, workers, masons, artisans… had a special meaning for the world. The History of France changed forever and that date has been etched in the memory of the French. Today, on July 14, the National Holiday of France is celebrated, even though really, the reason for that Party is the one that occurred exactly one year later, on July 14, 1790, with the Feast of the Federation.
In the place where the Bastille used to be, demolished shortly after, a great column was built, 24 meters high, made with the bronze of the cannons that were stolen from the Spanish, and inaugurated in 1840.
The square, today, is known by the name of Plaza de la Libertad.
After the taking of the Bastille
France had finished with the absolutist monarchical power, but what was coming now? What were the consequences of the Storming of the Bastille?
The Storming of the Bastille is one of the key moments of the French Revolution, and it had numerous consequences. Immediately abolished the feudalism and the servitudeAt a stroke of the pen nobles and clergy lost much of their privileges. The revolution was already effective, although it would take until 1793 for the changes to become socially palpable.
One of the social classes and estates most affected by the change of course of events after the taking of the Bastille were the church and the clergy, which began to rapidly lose their power. Possessions and privileges were taken from them, and they became directly dependent on the state. They were also years of harsh repression against priests throughout France.
For its part, the monarchy it had to share power with the legislature for the first few years, although it still had veto power. This was the case until the year 1792, in which the legislative assembly dispossessed the king of his powers, repealed the monarchy and proclaimed the French republic.
Despite the fact that anti-revolutionary movements followed one another in the years following the taking of the Bastille, the change continued its course and, finally, the Constituent Assembly managed to approve the first constitution of the history of France, in the year 1791.
It should be noted that the internal instability in France was taken advantage of by military rivals such as Austria and Prussia to try to invade the country.
This entire period of revolution will lead, 10 years later, to the coup d’état led by General Napoleonwho would end up becoming one of the most successful military leaders in history and appointing himself emperor of a vast empire.
The lyrics of the French national anthem
In some moments, the national soul of the towns burns with songs that raise the spirit. Songs of death and country, that help in the fight, that exalt, and that crack in the brains with a single voice. United unto death, the steps march, inflexible, for France, for freedom.
That song that sounded so many times in the Place de la Bastille became over time the national anthem. La Marseillaise is the reflection of the desire for freedom of the French people, the notes of the struggle and the will. And that moment, that July 14, 1789 became the symbol of the Republic.
Undoubtedly, the Marseillaise is the song that best reflects what was experienced at that time, to the point that it has been the French national anthem ever since. His lyrics are as follows:
Allons, children of the fatherland,
the day of glory is here!
contre nos de la tyrannie
l’étendard, sanglant est levé.
Understand-you dans the campagnes
moo ces ferocious soldiers?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
egorger nos fils et nos compagnes!…
Auz arms, citoyens! train your battalions!
Marchons! qu’ un sang impur opens us sillons!…
Let’s march, sons of the country, the day of glory has already arrived!
Against us the bloody banner of tyranny has been raised.
Do you hear those fierce soldiers roaring in the fields?
They come to slaughter our children and our companions in our arms!
To arms, citizens! form your battalions!
Let’s march! Let impure blood water our fields!…
Now, to finish, we leave you with a video and some links that you might find interesting to complement the information in the article.
Video
Here we leave you with a documentary that reflects everything that happened during the French Revolution:
Links of interest
In Overstory we have many other articles that you may find very interesting:
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