Happy Bastille Day (almost)!

I was doing a little research on Bastille Day because, well, I honestly didn't remember much about it from my seventh-grade European history class. It's coming up on Saturday and it's a huge deal around here, so I figured I should know more.


La Fête Nationale, aka the 14th of July, aka Bastille Day, aka le quatorze juillet celebrates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a large prison in Paris and it represented the absolute power of the monarchy, at that time ruled by Louis XVI (his queen was Marie Antoinette). The country was in a state of economic crisis and after the king fired the royal accountant, a man beloved by the peasants, those peasants rose up. Riots broke out in Paris and elsewhere and eventually—on the morning of July 14, 1789, to be exact—sights were set on the Bastille and its weapons cache. The rioters were successful, proving for the first time that peasants could defeat the government. The French Revolution eventually led to the birth of the Republic, which we know today.
Some interesting facts about the French Revolution:


Some interesting facts about the French Revolution:

* The Revolution’s three ideals were, “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,” a motto that the French still live by.

* Those three ideals were expressed through a tri-color flag—red, white and blue—which is now the French flag.

* There were only seven prisoners in the Bastille when it was attacked.
Napoleon Bonaparte took charge of the French army at the end of the Revolution. Did you know … it illegal to name a pig Napoleon in France??

* Out of the French Revolution came the metric system!

* The guillotine was perfected during the French Revolution (many claim it was invented during this time, though this fact has been disputed). During the Revolution, more than 15,000 people were executed by guillotine.