Today's Date:

• Pictures of the 2002 parade in Paris

• Statements by Jacques Chirac, President of Republic, on National Day (excerpts)

• Ambassador's speech (in French)

• Bastille Day at the Embassy of France

The French Revolution and American Independence are different results of the same philosophical and societal evolution. Indeed, the American dream of the Founding Fathers has much in common with the ideals of the French Republic and Our two democracies are offsprings of the age of enlightenment. the extraordinary French-American friendship and alliance that transcend the centuries finds its roots in a shared History of defense of our common values.

This year’s July 14th celebration will be centered around the bicentennial of the Legion of Honor and the cooperation with the United States. In this regard, the West Point military academy, decorated with the Legion of Honor for its participation in the World War I, and as of late, welcomed approximately 200 military cadets from the Saint Cyr military school for the 2002 graduation, will open the military march.
An exchange program has existed between these two prestigious military schools since 1994.

To everyone in France, Bastille Day today represents the solemn military parade up the Champs Elysées in the presence of the head of state.   It is also a holiday on which each commune holds a local dance and fireworks.

But above all, Bastille Day, or the Fourteenth of July, is the symbol of the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the Republic. The national holiday is a time when all citizens celebrate their membership to a republican nation. It is because this national holiday is rooted in the history of the birth of the Republic that it has such great significance.

The people storm the Bastille

On May 5, 1789, the King convened the Estates General to hear their complaints, but the assembly of the Third Estate, representing the citizens of the town, soon broke away and formed the Constituent National Assembly.

On June 20, 1789, the deputies of the Third Estate took the oath of the Jeu de Paume "to not separate until the Constitution had been established." The Deputies' opposition was echoed by public opinion. The people of Paris rose up and decided to march on the Bastille, a state prison that symbolized the absolutism and arbitrariness of the Ancien Regime.

The Nation marches towards the Republic

The storming of the Bastille, on July 14, 1789, immediately became a symbol of historical dimensions; it was proof that power no longer resided in the King or in God, but in the people, in accordance with the theories developed by the Philosophes of the 18th century.

On July 16, the King recognized the tricolor cockade: the Revolution had succeeded.

For all citizens of France, the storming of the Bastille symbolizes, liberty,democracy and the struggle against all forms of oppression.