WASHINGTON — In America, we celebrate the declaration of our independence from British rule on July 4. In France, the citizen’s commitment to freedom is observed on July 14.
Bastille Day, the national holiday known as La Fête Nationale in France, commemorates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. The Bastille was a notorious prison that was the symbol of the total and arbitrary power of King Louis' ancient regime. This protest sparked a movement that grew into a national uprising known as the French Revolution. Upon seizing the Bastille, the French people declared that the king's power was no longer absolute.
