France celebrates Bastille Day

The storming of the Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution, was commemorated in Paris yesterday - on Bastille Day, the French national holiday - with a traditional parade along the famed Champs Elysees.

The storming of the Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution, was commemorated in Paris yesterday - on Bastille Day, the French national holiday - with a traditional parade along the famed Champs Elysees. 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 signalled 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 three-coloured flag, it symbolised the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity for all French citizens.

It marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign nation, and, eventually, the creation of the Republic in 1792.

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