Everything about F Te De La F D Ration totally explained
The
Fête de la Fédération of the
14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the establishment of the short-lived
constitutional monarchy in
France and what people of the time considered to be the happy conclusion of the
French Revolution, the outcome hoped for by the
monarchiens. Held on the first anniversary of the
storming of the Bastille, it's commemorated every year by what is improperly known in English as "
Bastille Day" (
Fête du 14 juillet in French).
The
Fête de la Fédération in Paris was the most prominent event of a series of spontaneous celebrations all over France: from August 1789,
Fédérations appeared in towns and countryside; on
5 June 1790, with lots of individual feasts to celebrate the new state of France, a constitutional monarchy. the
National Assembly approved the suggestion by the
Commune de Paris to organise a "general Federation". Organised late, it was largely an improvisation. The idea wasn't to contest the legitimacy of the king
Louis XVI, but to show the general will for stable institutions and a national reconciliation and unity. In the words of
Jean Sylvain Bailly, astronomer and mayor of Paris: "We suggest that this meeting (...) be sworn on the next 14 July, which we'll all see as the time of liberty: this day shall be spent swearing to uphold and defend it". Charon, President of the Commune of Paris, stated: "French, we're free! French, we're brothers!".
The Fête de la Fédération
Preparation of the feast: the "Journée des brouettes"
The event took place on the
Champ de Mars, which was at the time far outside Paris. The place had been transformed on a voluntary basis by the population of Paris itself, in what was recalled as the
Journée des brouettes ("Wheelbarrow Day").
Two 400 000 spectator earth steps were build on each side of the field (they remained there until the
Second Empire). The
Seine was crossed by a bridge of boats leading to an altar where oaths were to be sworn. The new military school was used to harbour members of the National Assembly and their families. At one end of the field, a huge tent was the king's step, and at the other end, a
Triumphal Arch was built. At the centre of the field was an altar for the mass.
Official Celebration
Journal de Paris had predicted "frequent downpours").
14 000 Federated (
Fédérés) came from the province, every single
National Guard unit having sent two men out of every hundred. They were ranged according to their
département under 83 banners. They were brought to the place were the Bastille once stood, and went through Saint-Antoine, Saint-Denis and Saint-Honoré streets before crossing the temporary bridge and arriving at the Champ de Mars. Deputies from other nations, "Swedes, Spaniards, Polacks, Turks, Chaldeans, Greeks, and dwellers in Mesopotamia," representatives of the human race, "with three hundred drummers, twelve hundred wind-musicians, and artillery planted on height after height to boom the tidings all over France, the highest recorded triumph of the Thespian art."
A mass was celebrated by
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand,
bishop of Autun under the
Ancien Régime. The very popular General
marquis de La Fayette, as both captain of the National Guard of Paris and confident of the king, took his oath to the Constitution:
French Constitution of 1791 wasn't yet written; it would only take effect in September 1791. La Fayette was followed by the President of the National Assembly. Eventually,
Louis XVI took his oath
The
Queen rose and showed the
Dauphin, future
Louis XVII, saying :
With the permission of the National Assembly, a delegation of the United States of America, led by
John Paul Jones, founder of the US Navy, joined the feast. It also included
Thomas Paine,
James Swan,
Georges Howell,
Benjamin Jarvis,
Samuel Blackden,
Joel Barlow and
William Henry Vernon. The delegation arrived at the Champ de Mars with its flag, the first instance ever of a US flag flown outside of the USA, and was cheered by the people.
Popular feast
After the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge popular feast. It was also a symbol of the reunification of the
Three Estates, after the heated
Estates-General of 1789, with the Bishop (
First Estate) and the King (
Second Estate) blessing the people (
Third Estate).
In the gardens of the
Château de La Muette, a meal was offered to 22,000, before balls took place. People drank, danced, sang and toasted. The organisation went up to deciding of the price of the
filles du Palais-Royal (prostitutes). The feast ended on the
18 July.
Reaction in foreign countries
In Germany and Italy, the French Revolution was rather well considered by urban bourgeoisie, impregnated with the ideas of the
Lumières of the
Enlightenment:
Voltaire,
Rousseau,
Montesquieu,
D'Alembert and others.
In Britain, the movement was welcomed by Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger (possibly because it was weakening his hereditary foe). His opponent, Liberal
Charles Fox said before the Parliament of Westminster: "Never before was made such a great step toward freeing Humanity"
Trivia
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