8 May, 2023:Have you ever heard of Bastille Day? What is it and how did it start ? What does the PM's visit mean for India-France relations ? Read to know more.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited in France for The Bastille Day celebration, as a guest of honour for the event. Along with their French counterparts, soldiers from the Indian armed services will march in the parade, according to the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
In a tweet that was written in both French and Hindi, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his happiness at having Modi as the guest of honour in Paris.
The former prime minister Manmohan Singh also received this prestigious invitation, which represents the closeness of the two countries' relations in areas including climate change, development cooperation, defence, and the Indo-Pacific strategy.
This year, India and France have a fully packed summer of economic diplomacy planned. For the Choose France Summit, which is being hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, a delegation of prominent Indian CEOs is expected to attend. France is India's second-largest provider of military hardware, which has historically been the foundation of their diplomatic ties.
A little about Bastille Day
France's National Day is celebrated on July 14. It's time for the French to celebrate their shared principles, especially "liberty, equality, and fraternity," which are also found in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. said the French embassy in India. July 14 (also known as "Bastille Day"), one of Paris' revolutionary days and now a national holiday, is observed with a mixture of serious military parades, jovial dancing, and fireworks. France has been celebrating the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, for more than a century. The military parade is held on Paris' popular avenue des Champs-Elysées [literally Champs-Élysées Avenue] every Bastille Day.
Bastille was the name of a prison in France, where common people were imprisoned during the rule of Louis XVI (Louis the 16th) in France. Common people were frustrated under his reign as he seized their food supply and increased taxes. Life for common people of France became extremely difficult. For many of the people, the Bastille prison in Paris symbolized everything that was wrong with monarchy and the king's reign. Common people stormed the Bastille and freed the prisoners on July 14, 1789, and took control.
As a result, the French Revolution officially began. The fall of Bastille thus marked an end to the reign of the monarchy and the beginning of the French Revolution. The French Republic was established in 1792, three years later.
But France was destined to make history for another half a decade.
After the French Revolution, the political system of France went through several changes before settling into a stable form of government. Initially, the French Revolution led to the establishment of a republic, which replaced the monarchy that had been overthrown. The first French Republic was established in 1792, and it was governed by a series of elected assemblies and a Committee of Public Safety.
In 1799, the French Revolution entered a new phase when Napoleon Bonaparte, a military general, seized power in a coup d'état and established himself as the first consul of the French Republic. He later declared himself emperor of France in 1804, and he ruled the country until his defeat in 1815.
After Napoleon's defeat, France was briefly ruled by a monarchy again, with Louis XVIII as king. However, the monarchy was overthrown once again during the July Revolution of 1830, which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under King Louis Philippe I. This system of government lasted until the Revolution of 1848, which led to the establishment of the French Second Republic.
