The History of Bastille Day
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- For the longest time, the Bastille trapped the people of Paris under its terrorizing shadow. It stood there, tall, in the middle of the city as an eternal reminder of royal despotism. Yet, when it was finally stormed on July 14th, 1789, the revolutionaries found no torture chambers and rotting corpses like they were told they would be. So, how did it became a symbol of the French revolution?
Hi there! This is Barris, a French - American that lived most of his life in France and is passionate about learning, exploring, hiking and cooking. It’s a vast and beautiful world out there so join me as we discover the historical, cultural and culinary heritage of France, Europe and the rest of the World.
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In the 14th century, France was in the middle of the 100 years war and the capital was threatened by the English. The west of Paris was already protected by the Louvre. As a result, the mayor of Paris strengthened the city’s defenses by expanding its walls in 1357 and building two large towers around the Saint-Antoine gate in the east. These types of defenses were known as “bastilles”, and so, the gateway was named the Bastille Saint-Antoine.
A decade later, the new provost of Paris fortified the Bastille Saint-Antoine. He did so by building six new towers, thus giving the Bastille its ionic shape. In the 17th century, with the reign of Louis XIV, the Bastille gained its notoriety as the symbol of French despotism and absolutism, and would detain over 2,000 individuals throughout his reign, or an average of 43 yearly. Most of its prisoners were put there by order of Lettres de Cachet.
As Paris grew, the Bastille became a clear divide between the wealthy aristocratic neighborhood of the Marais and the densely populated, working-class Faubourg of Saint-Antoine, and so a symbol of growing inequalities. Famous writers who stayed there, such as Voltaire, wrote dramatized accounts of their stay.
By Louis XV’s reign, the Bastille’s yearly prisoner count barely passed 20, and those who were imprisoned were treated relatively well. For example, the Marquis of Sade arrived with an elaborate wardrobe and over 130 books.
On July 11th, 1789, Louis XVI dismissed his Finance Minister, the Swiss banker Jacques Necker. In retaliation, 10,000 Parisians gathered around the Palais Royal where Camille Desmoulins, famously rallied the mob. On July 13th, mass looting ensued. On that same day, a bourgeois militia of 48,000 men was formed to restore order. On the famous July 14th, the newly created militia stormed the Hôtel des Invalides, a vast military complex that held muskets but not tgunpowder, which was stored in the Bastille, the last remaining royalist stronghold in Paris. By late morning, a crowd of 954 Parisians, later called “Les Vainqueurs de la Bastille”, gathered around the Bastille Prison.
The crowd demanded its surrender along with its supply of arms and gunpowder. By mid-afternoon, mutinous French troops had joined the mob along with two cannons. DeLaunay, the commander of the Bastille, surrendered. He was then brutally dragged to the town hall before being stabbed to death. His head was then cut off and put unto a spike along with the heads of three other officers of the Bastille.
Following the storming of the Bastille, the more despotic and evil it was described, and the more justified the revolution became. And so, that’s what the revolutionary press did. Following this, the King announced he would recall Necker and return to Paris from Versailles.
At first, the revolutionaries were unsure of the fate of the Bastille, but Mirabeau symbolically started destroying the prison himself. By November of the same year, the fortress has been destroyed and in 1793, a fountain was built on the new Place de la Bastille.
The first official celebration of Bastille Day occurred in 1790 on the Champs de Mars and was called the Fête de la Fédération. Despite the rain, over 260,000 Parisians watched as General Lafayette and the King took oath on the new constitution.
It was under Napoleon that Bastille Day became more militarized as to favor national unity in the face of numerous foreign threats. During the 1870s, near the end of Napoleon III’s reign, Bastille day became a rallying point for republicans as its celebration had been made illegal by the Emperor. Finally, with the permanent re-establishment of the Republic, it became a National Holiday on 1880 and has remained the most important holiday in France ever since. Since the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, the military parade now takes place on the Champs-Élysées with the participation of our Allies. And even during Nazi occupation in WW2, Bastille Day was still celebrated under the command of De Gaulle in London.
Hey everyone,
I had another video ready for this week but like last week I just remembered that Bastille Day is today and that I should do something for it. In seven days, I had to write, record and edit this video so yeah, I'm sorry if its quality isn't on par to other videos.
Have great Bastille Day and Merde!
EDIT: I made a mistake with the height of the Bastille, having confused width and height. The Bastille is actually 24 metres high and 68 metres wide. Sorry.
Bastille day ? It's funny because we don't celebrate the 14th July 1789 but 14th July 1790, because the storming of Bastille was violent and the Party of Federation was the peace, people, deputies and the king was "together".
Good video !
Exactly! Although I think if you ask any French, most think about the La Prise de la Bastille rather than the Fête de la Fédération.
Thank you Thomas! I really appreciate it. And of course we don't regret it, we love our American friends - we've been through so much together.
the music made it unwatchable. Please upload with out background music TY
"Per french tradition the mayor was executed" for this kind of history jokes i am here.
Well then you're in the perfect place because it's a common theme in French history! haha Thank you for watching and merde
1789: STORMING OF THE BASTILLE
2019: STORMING OF AREA 51
If it happens, it ought to become our new national holiday!
@@ThisisBarris An intergalactic holiday!
This is painful to look back at
Nice job on getting it out on time Barris! :) Great video as always. Yours, one of those English Rotten Scoundrels. ;
Thank you Cask! It was a close shot, especially since exporting on my laptop is always a long and frustrating event...
I hope no hard feelings for the little insult ;)
@@ThisisBarris No insult taken, our two great nations have always been the best of frenemies, hahaha! ;)
I saw your oh shit, Bastille Day is coming Twitter post. You did a great job getting this out on time, man. It's a solid video, all the same. I'm always surprised just how dark French history is.
I'm American and the coverage of world history in public schools is horribly lacking, hell, our own dark history is horribly lacking in public schools too.
Thank you for watching man! I'm glad you enjoyed it despite how rush it was. And well I think every country has its share of dark history and it's important to remember it.
Le petit hommage aux victimes du 14 juillet 2016 m'a beaucoup touché! Merde à toi Barris!
Je suis content que tu l'aies apprécié. Nice est la ville natale de ma famille et j'ai vécu juste à côté donc c'était assez important pour moi. Merci d'avoir regardé! Toujours content de te voir dans les commentaires. Merde à toi Bugs!
great video mate, Happy Bastille Day to all the french!
My dad who passed two years ago would have loved your channel. He loved French History and being part French.
I'm really sorry to hear that. My mother died less than two years ago so I know it's hard. I'm happy to hear that he would have loved my channel - I hope you love it too. Thanks for watching.
@@ThisisBarris Absolutely do love it, and binge watched the other night. I'm sorry about your dear mother was well.
"The capital was threatened by the rotten scoundrels commonly known as the English". I desperately need to see Lindybeige's face when he is watching this moment, haha.
P.S. Wonderful video, my friend! A great amount of new information about Bastille for me. So far, it's my favorite one.
And congrats with 2k!
Hahaha, I hope that when I'm big enough, I become Lindybeige's arch-nemesis!
Thank you man! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. As always, it's a pleasure to see you here. Merde to you!
Witch such content you definitely will, my friend. Keep it up!
Your accent makes me want to improve my french that aren't that good to begin with xD. Me, a greek, and an american friend use your videos to learn more about french history in an entertaining way. Keep up the good work!
TBH I'm glad I learned French growing up and I'm glad I did because I can't imagine learning it as a second language... I'm glad you and your friends are learning from my videos, it means a lot to me. I'll make sure to keep up the good work. Merde!
A fascinating story...and video, so well illustrated and explained...Thanks for this impressive series of illustrious characters, and anecdotes!
Thank you Phil! Always happy to see you here. Merde!
This was great Barris, I learnt a lot, as I always do from your vids and my baby also sat gripped and quiet for the whole thing, so thanks for that too! I loved the musical choices, Ma Vlast's opening is lovely and I think it means my country in polish which seems appropriate. I am still learning lots of technical stuff from you too, I really like your style of editing. Are your transitions (the kind of billowing smoke ones) in AE or are they ones you got from elsewhere? Bonne Fete Nationale!
Thank you Rohin! I really appreciate the fact that you keep finding the time to watch my videos despite your youtube fame. You were close, it means "my homeland" in Czech although I didn't even know it before you mentioned it.
For the transitions, I cheat a bit by using overlays which are both aesthetic and very easy to use. I would be happy to send you my stuff and a video on how to use them if you're interested. Cheers mate and Merde!
Seeing Rohin on one of these videos is like seeing Spock in Game of Thrones. Totally didn't expect it.
Ce qui est sympa quand on suit une chaîne avant qu'elle ne devienne connue (parce que ça finira par arriver) c'est qu'on peut être sur que le créateur va sûrement lire les félicitations.
Bravo pour cette excellente vidéo !
Merci beaucoup :) J'apprécie ton surpport depuis si longtemps. Ça sera grâce à des viewers comme toi que la chaîne devienne un jour populaire. Merde pour ça!
Have a great Bastille Day, Barris! Good timing. Though you said this was hastily put together, your quality is superb as always.
(we won't speak a word about the British light brigade at 13:34 😉).
Thank you man! I'm glad you enjoyed it. The video almost killed me and I was closed to abandoning because of premiere's fucking exporting nightmare... but I prevailed. Merde!
A pastry chef? Given France's economic situation and grain supplies at the time I find it funny that he was still employed....
Not only was he unemployed, but he got kicked in the groin. What a shit day!
The fact that you used Moldau by Bedřich Smetana made me really have the czech vibes during the video even tho I spent 15 minutes listening to french history. Anyways greetings from Prague
It's a beautiful song so I was happy to use it. Always wanted to visit Prague. Glad to see I have some viewers from there! Merde!
Me too. Thank you "Music Appreciation 101"
Excellent doc. A lot packed in. Cheers.
Another great video Barris! Your content is always superb, you're definitely one of my favourite channels and I can't wait to learn more from you!
Thank you Jose! It means a lot to hear that I'm one of your favorite channels :) I'll make sure to keep up that title with my future videos. Merde to you!
Another brilliant video, fantastic graphical display and made even more impressive by the limited time frame! You really out did yourself here Barris ;)
Thank you man! I really appreciate it. I just strive to improve with each video so I'm glad to see it's the case. Merde to you!
Awesome documentary. Can you do one the Louisiana Purchase, the Haitian Revolution, Genet and Georges Danton? I really appreciate your approach to these subjects.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. These are definitely subjects I want to cover but unfortunately these videos take a long time to make so I have a huge backlog of subjects. I hope you understand. Merde!
Wasn't the seizure of the Bastille fortress prompted by a mentally-ill prisoner screaming that the guards had started slaughtering all the prisoners?
The mentally-ill prisoner was the Marquis de Sade (whom I discussed in my latest video) who did that on July 2nd. While it definitely contributed to the negative image of the Bastille, I wouldn't call it the element that prompted it. Necker's dismissal was a much bigger contributing factor.
I should have mentioned it nevertheless but I was scared of repeating myself with my last video... As usual, thank you fro watching and merde!
Was Jacque Necker popular because he was actually an effective royal treasurer or just because he published the governments finances?
That's actually a really interesting question and I'll have to research more to answer it properly (maybe I'll do a video about him). I think he was seen as an ally of the third estate and the fact that he published the governments finances helped that image. However, after he was rehired, people were quite indifferent when he decided to quit his job as a finance minister which shows that he quickly became irrelevant, especially in the rapidly changing political environment of the French revolution.
Great content as usual, Barris!
Thank you Hikma! Looking forward to more of your great content, too.
You do such a wonderful job Barris. Your love for history really comes through with each video.
Thank you Evan! Happy to see you in the comments and to hear that you enjoy my videos so much. Merde to you!
Man, I'm even late for Canada but joyeux 14 juillet ;)
Thank you! I hope you had a great 14 Juillet too and Merde!
Merci pour la vidéo ! Un ami m'a fait découvrir la chaîne y'a qqes mois et c'est vraiment de l'excellent travail !
Je suis heureux d'apprendre qu'un ami t'as fait découvrir la chaîne! Et je suis toujours content de trouver des francophones dans les commentaires. Merci beaucoup et merde à toi et ton ami!
It wasn't a symbol of tyranny but if reckless spending, of deficit, so yes, it was a symbol of tyranny.
My mother used to bake a tricouleur cake each Bastille Day and my parents would pull out old records like Edith Piaf and such, set up the backyard and invite people over to dance and drink Champagne. Then, ils ont divorcé!
When I went away to uni, there was a French restaurant nearby and they would block the street, there was amazing sometimes costumes, super and loud French disco music, lots of Champers to drink, lots of singing the Marseillaise and energetic dancing until midnite. So wonderful. Imagine: in America, in Philadelphia of all places!
That sounds absolutely wonderful. Glad you were able to enjoy those moments. Merde!
This is Parris, and my birthday is Bastille Day. Came to learn a little, thank you
From the accent of the narrator I gather that he is French. I was in France back in the late 1980s on their July 14 celebration. I knew some French in those days and enjoyed talking about the meaning of Bastille Day for the French
I am indeed French! From the South of France. July 14th celebrations are always nice, I'm glad you had a good time. Thank you for watching and merde!
Great video mate
Thank you man!
Honestly, your video offers more in terms of detail and balanced history than most of the documentaries I've watched about the French Revolution. I'm an American - from Philadelphia - and I always think of our respective revolutions as being tied to one another. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to fund our own revolution, the cost of which ricocheted back to inspire yours. Indeed, there are portraits of King Louis and Queen Marie-Antoinette installed here in Philadelphia's Congress Hall - the portraits were actually requested of the French monarchs, as a kind of parental homage. As a lover of all things Marie-Antoinette and the 18th century - Colonial America, Baroque, Rococo, et cetera - the French Revolution seems like an almost inevitable end to the froth and glory of the gilded 18th century. Do you think you'll ever do a video about Marie-Antoinette? Also, I've been wanting to ask a French person, is there a kind of general opinion about her in the modern age? Do modern day Parisians think more sympathetically towards her, or is she still viewed as the 'let them eat cake' Queen of misquoted legend? I subscribed, either way. I have some French blood, according to my family, alongside Irish, English, and German. Great video!
Hello Richie,
Thank you for watching and thank you for the sweet words! Happy to see someone from Philly here, never been but I hope to one day. I have a script on Marie-Antoinette that I have yet to finish so hopefully that video will come out soon enough. And well, she has quite an undeserved reputation as a spoiled, out of touch brat even to this day (the whole "let them eat cake" ordeal which is a myth) so I hope to touch on that during my video.
Thank you for subscribing and I hope you enjoy my future videos as well. Merde!
Bro wrote a whole essay 💀
I could use this for my assignments no cap 🧢
Hi Barris! Can you do a video about the Rise of Louis Napoleon the third? :)
Quill & Ink History The Failed Emperor...
The Architect of Paris....
The Final French Monarch....
Well....
*Almost* the final French monarch...
Definitely! He's an interesting character who has some good which got tarnished by his later reputation. Thank you for watching Quill!
Again! Merci pour cette video! 🇫🇷🇺🇸🙏
My pleasure! Thanks for watching Anne and merde!
It gives a good visual understanding of european history..... I have learnt abut it now
ain’t no way
Would you be interested in doing a collaboration hovering around Charles de Gaulle?
I didn't plan on discussing the 20th century just yet (I want to be more experienced and have resources before I do since it's so recent) but whenever I'll do, I'll make sure to reach out.
This is Barris! - French History No problem :)
Dang the French really can party. Great video Boomer
From a fellow boomer, that means a lot! Thank you for watching man et merde!
Today is the 14th here in the states so I can offer a happy belated bastille day
Thanks alot you helped in me in my exams
I'm glad I did! I hope you get a good grade. Merde!
Little flag waving and no barbeque? But how do you prove to each other that you're true patriots?
I know right? I'm fine with having no flag waving, but no barbeque? That's just sad.
@@ThisisBarris Frankly, I tired of all the flag waving over here. It gets tiresome. I'm glad the French are so inclined to it
"Rotten scoundrels commonly known as the english" daaaaaaammmmmnnn beefin lol
What happened to Napoléon I’s elephant?
I didn't have the time to talk about it in details (I'll probably do so whenever I discuss Napoleon) but basically, Napoleon planned on building it in copper but in the end, only a plaster statue was built. This was displayed for a bit until it was replaced by the July Column in 1833. Finally, it was destroyed in 1846 after residents complained that it was worn down and that rats lived in it.
Thank you for watching Luiz!
This is Barris! - French History Thank you for the information!
Anytime :)
Mr. Barris, if you ever do cover Henri, Count of Chambord, also known as Dieudonné (God-given) in his youth, i think you should mention the fact, the George Clemenceau referred to him as the "French Washington", the one man who without the French 4th Republic couldn't have been founded.
For quite stupid reasons....
Yes, I'll definitely cover him once I discuss the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent revolutions. However, I never knew Clemenceau referred to him like that so thank you for that info.
If he hadn't turned down the throne due to the *bloody* insistence he had over the restoration of the Bourbon flag, France would probably be a Kingdom today....
This is Barris! - French History Didn't the Bad Ems Telegram arrive in France on Bastille Day?
@@Edmonton-of2ec The day before.
Also, I have English ancestry, so I thank you for your such flattering comments....
cough hon hon hon baguette surrender cough
To be honest, I'm really disappointed they tore down the Bastille.
I mean, imagine storming the fortress every 14th of July while a crowd of stalls outside sells loaves of bread the same price they sold back in those days, imitating the social anarchy, rioting, sharpening their overpriced baguettes and choppity chop chopping people's heads off and putting the president's head on said sharpened baguettes-
That went way overboard real quick, and I love it. But for real, having the Bastille over look Paris would have been pretty cool!
This has good content for understanding than j'st writing
Thnx
The storming of the Bastille: one of the most pointless riots in history. People who didn't know of the public rumors could not understand WHY people tried to destroy it.
What are these public rumors you speak of?
@@bobmarley3147 Of thousands being arbitrarily tortured at the Bastille.
Ohhhh man your presentation just gets more and more flawless with time I didn't know that was even possible- pff and to think bastille is the name of a band these days , and they aren't even French! pretty sure they're English! they should be reported
Guillotine them! Guillotine them all!
Thank you man :) I really appreciate it and I hope to get better and better.
Wow!
Thanks for watching Suzy and merde!
Do I hear Bedrich Smetana's "Vltava" in the background?
Indeed! I just really enjoy it. Thanks for watching.
Bon je connais bien sûr tout ça je regarde tes vidéos pour le merde à la fin ! ET VIVE LA FRANCE ♥
Merci beaucoup! J'apprécie parce que ça aide avec l'algo... Puis j'espère que tu as quand même appris un truc ou deux.
Vive la France et merde!
@@ThisisBarris Ce que j'apprend surtout c'est l'orthographe des mots en anglais lol.
Parisian Peasants in 1789
Damn we really need something to destroy Looks out window
A few hours later
Constant chanting and screaming with the bastille kinda burning
Speaking of LES MISERABLES, i read the whole of it for the first time last summer. in
You're quite courageous! I tried reading it but French 19th century writers are pretty infamous for the length of their sentences and adding an unnecessary amount of details, especially Victor Hugo.
@@ThisisBarris Yes, there are numerous and quite pedestrian digressions in Les Miserables.And very elevated and poetic language. It's longer even than the novels of Dostoyevski. Probably only WAR AND PEACE is longer. My reading of it lasted the whole of last summer.Whew!
Wow, this is a great channel I hope you get more subscribers!🤔
I found a new History channel. 💯 #enchanté🙂
Thank you for subscribing and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy my other videos too and merde!
@@ThisisBarris Yes, the channel is all queued up!
You have some great titles.🤔
Could you tell the history of the Louvre and Tuileries?
I want to do these things while traveling to their actual location and filming there (I Know the Tuilleries has burnt down but you know) but I need more resources before that! Thank you for watching Tito and merde!
@@ThisisBarris You can check out a video about the Louvre's history and transformation.
The Tower of London. The Bastille of Paris.
Funny that you thought depot was pronounced with a T at the end when it's one of the few english loan words from french that's pronounced more like french (except the vowel E depending on the accent/dialect). Altho, it's hard to know how some English words are pronounced. It's so inconsistent and unpredictable...
Yeah, sometimes I get the pronunciations messed up like that, especially since I switch between english and french a lot in videos. I hope it didn't make things too unclear though. Thanks for watching Sal and merde!
@@ThisisBarris No, it's completely fine and understandable. It's hard to be perfect in a second language. I just thought it was funny.
Merci. Pourriez-vous faire une vidéo en FRANCAIS svp?...
The Bastille did nothing wrong!
Excellent video!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bonne fête (en retard) aux Françaises et Français.❤️🇫🇷
I have to commend Barris on his excellent research which gives the modern understanding of the events of July 14, 1789, and their impact in what came after. There is a lot of myth, but the taking of the Bastille was definitely the spark of liberty (even if the event was instrumentalized by reactionaries).
Place de la Bastille remains the rallying place for all progressives in France, as it was the night François Mitterrand was elected in 1981. 🌹
Thank you Frank! As usual, I appreciate your comments. I hope you had a great Bastille day and merde to you!
⚜️⚜️⚜️
Racist….
US Capitol, January 6th, 2021 brought me here. (Not that I am disagreeing with them)
The French Tower of London.
Whoa 😳 the English author Mortimer calls this invader Edward 3 ‘the perfect 👌 king 🤴’
Mortimer is wrong!
That sounds a bit wrong.
Necker.... Niquer.... Coincidence???
*musique illuminati*
Is "French history" limited to Gaul and revolutions ?
Of course not but I have only so much free time so there is only so many videos I can make. Also, I don't like discussing multiple subjects at once and would rather finish what I have been discussing before moving on to something else. My next video is about French movie director George Méliès so yeah...
MERDE to you too ! SALUD!
:0
Merde to you
merde to you too 😊
que zesty
ZESTFEST ❤️
is fake
No
What?
Dude drop the accent
Sorry. Next time I'll make sure to not be born and raised in France.