August 8, 2018

On Aug. 8, 1588, 430 years ago today, the British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines off the coast of France. The Spanish Armada was a powerful fleet of armed ships and transports that tried to invade England. The defeat at Gravelines ended Spain’s hopes of invasion. The failure of the Armada was a great blow to the prestige of Spain, then the world’s most powerful country. Spain remained a major power after the battle, but English merchants and sailors challenged the Spaniards with greater confidence throughout the world.

British warships defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines 430 years ago on Aug. 8, 1588. Credit: Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588 (1796), oil on canvas by Philip James de Loutherbourg; National Maritime Museum

Bad feeling between Spain and England had existed since the 1560′s. Spain was taking gold and silver from lands it had claimed in the Americas, and England wanted some of this wealth. Queen Elizabeth I encouraged Francis Drake and other English seamen to raid Spanish ships and towns, even though the countries were not at war.

Religious differences also caused conflict between the two nations. Spain was a Roman Catholic country, and most of England was Protestant. In the 1560′s, the English began to aid Dutch Protestants rebelling against Spanish rule in the Netherlands. In the early 1580′s, King Philip II of Spain started planning to send a fleet and army to invade England. He hoped to negate English help for the Dutch, end the English raids on Spanish shipping, and make England a Catholic country.

Philip began to assemble the Armada in January 1586. Spain built many new warships and armed its existing ones more heavily. It also rented many foreign ships. In 1587, the British raided the important Spanish harbor of Cadiz and destroyed about 30 ships. Work continued on the Armada however, and the fleet was brought together in May 1588 at the Portuguese port of Lisbon, which at that time was ruled by Spain. The fleet had about 130 ships and more than 29,000 men, most of them soldiers. Some of the ships lacked guns and experienced gunners; others carried no weapons at all, serving only as troop and supply transports. Philip named the Duke of Medina Sidonia to command the Spanish Armada. The duke was an experienced military planner but an inexperienced seaman.

As Spain planned for invasion, England prepared to defeat the Armada at sea. The British Navy armed many merchant vessels and added them to its fleet of warships. They gathered some 200 ships and nearly 16,000 men, most of them sailors rather than soldiers. Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham commanded the fleet, and his squadron leaders included the notable sailors Drake, John Hawkins, and Martin Frobisher.

The Armada left Lisbon on May 30, 1588. It entered the English Channel on July 30 and fought long-range gun duels with English warships during the next few days. On August 6, the Armada anchored at Calais, France. Medina Sidonia had planned to meet barges carrying Spanish troops from nearby Dunkerque, a port then in the Netherlands. But Dutch gunboats prevented the barges from meeting the Armada. This act doomed the Armada to failure.

In the early hours of August 8, the English sent eight fire ships (vessels filled with gunpowder and set on fire) toward the Armada. The Spanish ships sailed out to sea to escape the flames. Later that morning, about 60 English ships attacked an equal number of Spanish ships off the French port of Gravelines. The English sank several Spanish ships and damaged others.

The crippled Armada fled to the North Sea. It returned to Spain by sailing north around the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. High winds wrecked many ships off Ireland’s coast, and only about two-thirds of the fleet safely returned to Spain.

July 31, 2018

On Sunday, July 29, Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas raced to his first Tour de France victory. The 32-year-old Thomas, who won cycling gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, crossed the finish line nearly two minutes ahead of second-place rider Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands. Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, a member of Thomas’s Team Sky, finished in third place, 33 seconds behind Dumoulin. The race, nicknamed la Grande Boucle (the Big Loop), is one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

Geraint Thomas wears the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of other riders during stage 14 of the Tour de France on July 21, 2018. Credit: © Radu Razvan, Shutterstock

In the race’s largely ceremonial 21st and final stage on Sunday, Thomas entered Paris wearing the leader’s distinctive yellow jersey as he coasted in a comfortable peloton (pack of riders) amid thousands of cheering fans and multiple layers of police and other security. After crossing the finish line on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a jubilant Thomas grasped the Welsh flag and saluted the many people from Wales who had come to see him finish. He is the first Welsh cyclist to win the Tour de France.

Tour de France racers pedal through the tough mountain stages in the Alps of southeastern France. Credit: © Bogdan Cristel, Reuters

In 2018—the 105^th Tour de France—the race began July 7 on Noirmoutier, an island connected by causeway to the Pays de la Loire region of western France. The route wound through the Loire Valley, up through Brittany, and across Normandy before shooting north to the border town of Roubaix near Lille. A rest-day air transfer carried the riders to Annecy in the shadow of Mont Blanc in southeastern France, where the race resumed on July 17. Thrilling mountain rides whisked the riders through the Alps and down into the Rhône Valley, where the riders crossed the foothills of the Pyrenees along France’s border with Spain. After a rest day in the picturesque city of Carcassonne on July 23, the race resumed with tough mountain stages to Pau and Lourdes before a blistering individual time trial—and for all intents and purposes, the end of the race—in the Basque Country on July 28. A second air transfer then took the riders to the Parisian suburb of Houilles, where the riders ceremoniously pedaled their way to the big finish.

Thomas ran steadily early in the race, creeping into second place behind leader Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium in the tour’s sixth stage in Brittany. Thomas clung to second place before finally overtaking Van Avermaet in the Alpine stage 11 to grab the lead. Thomas won stage 12 too, and kept the yellow jersey on his back for the rest of the race. He finished with an overall time of 80 hours, 30 minutes, and 37 seconds. The 2018 Tour de France began with 176 riders from 30 countries, and 145 cyclists completed the grueling race. The tour’s 21 stages were won by 13 different racers. Van Avermaet, who donned the yellow jersey from stages 3 through 10, faded to a 28th-place finish.

The Tour de France leader wears the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) for each stage he maintains the overall advantage. This year, France’s Pierre Latour won the maillot blanc (white jersey) as the race’s best young rider. Julian Alaphilippe of France earned the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) as the race’s best climber in the tough mountain stages. The maillot vert (green jersey) went to Slovakia’s Peter Sagan as the overall leader in points (awarded for consistently high stage finishes). The Tour de France is one of three major touring races of cycling; the others are the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.

July 17, 2018

On Sunday, July 15, at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, the French national men’s soccer team defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the FIFA World Cup championship. It was the second world title for France, which first won the tournament in 1998. It was Croatia’s first trip to the World Cup final. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). Soccer is called football or association football in much of the world. FIFA is soccer’s world governing body. Held every four years, the World Cup is the world’s most important and prestigious soccer tournament.

The French national men’s soccer team celebrates its World Cup championship at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on July 15, 2018. Credit: © Franck Fife, AFP/Getty Images

Winning the global soccer championship is the dream of every nation’s team, and fans on every continent—yes, Antarctica too—follow the tournament closely, even rabidly, devouring every minute of every match. Many fans travel great distances and pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch their teams compete in the tournament, which was played this year in 12 stadiums in mostly western Russian cities. The World Cup is the end of a two-year elimination tournament process that narrows the global field of more than 200 teams to just 32. The host country (in this case, Russia) and the previous champion (Germany) receive automatic berths.

The year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 is engraved on the underside of the trophy. Credit: © Alfredo Lopez, Jam Media/LatinContent/Getty Images

The opening group stage of the World Cup divides the 32 teams into 8 groups of 4. The top two teams of each group advance after playing the other three teams in their group. This year, Russia romped its way through the opening stage in front of delirious fans. Germany, however, became the fourth defending champion in the last five tournaments to be eliminated in the group phase. Superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal shone in the opening round, while fellow star Lionel Messi helped prevent early ejection for Argentina.

In the so-called “knockout” phase (because one loss means elimination) of 16 teams, both Ronaldo and Messi packed their bags for home, as did the Mexico team that looked so impressive in the group stage. A talented Belgium squad mounted a furious comeback to eliminate Japan, which was the first World Cup team to advance from the group stage on “fair play” points. Japan had tied Senegal in every category on the field but one: the Japanese had fewer fouls. In the intense quarterfinals, Belgium, England, and France advanced over Brazil, Sweden, and Uruguay, respectively, and feisty Croatia scraped by in a penalty kick shootout win over Russia. In the semifinals, France downed Belgium 1-0, and England lost to Croatia and its superior midfield, 2-1.

From the opening kick of the World Cup final, France’s superb athletes dominated the pitch, outrunning and eventually out-shooting their Croatian opponents. A French free kick in the 18th minute (each match has two 45-minute halves) ricocheted off a Croatian defender and into the net, giving France a 1-0 lead on the first “own goal” in World Cup final history. The lead was short-lived, however, as Croatia’s Ivan Perišić knocked in the equalizer 10 minutes later. Before the half, French star Antoine Griezmann drilled a penalty kick for a 2-1 advantage.

France hit the accelerator in the second half as stars Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé each hit dazzling goals for a seemingly insurmountable 4-1 lead. As the champagne was chilling, however, a few ice cubes clinked to the floor as Mario Mandžukić retaliated with a Croatian goal in the 69th minute. The final 20 minutes then evaporated as France played keep away and thwarted every Croatian attack. A few minutes of stoppage time passed uneventfully, and the final whistle gave all of France—the team, the fans, and the nation—the feu vert (green light) to pop the corks.

French manager Didier Deschamps, who was team captain on the 1998 world championship squad, embraced his players as they lined up in a sudden drenching rain to receive their World Cup gold medals. For France, the date of its 2018 title (July 15) can now be celebrated every year after the country’s great national holiday, Bastille Day (July 14.) Croatian disappointment was quickly replaced by pride in the achievement of reaching the final, and midfielder Luka Modrić added to Croatia’s consolation by winning the Golden Ball Award as the tournament’s best player.

On the day before the World Cup final, Belgium defeated England 2-0 in the highly anticlimactic contest for third place in the tournament. England’s Harry Kane won the Golden Boot by leading all scorers with six goals. Thibaut Courtois of Belgium won the Golden Glove Award as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. Since the World Cup began in 1930, Brazil has the most championships (5); followed by Germany and Italy (4 each); Argentina, France, and Uruguay (2); and England and Spain (1).

May 2, 2018

Fifty years ago today, on May 2, 1968, the closure of a university in the French capital of Paris led to a month of violent protests, occupations, and strikes that shut down the country and nearly led to civil war. The unrest grew out of student grievances and poor wages, but it was part of a larger international cultural movement that rejected many of the customs and traditions of conservative society and government. The events of Mai 68 (May 68) temporarily crippled France’s economy and infrastructure and inspired a new generation of revolutionary spirit.

People march in support of President Charles de Gualle in Toulouse, France, on May 31, 1968. Credit: Toulouse Municipal Archives (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The late 1960′s were a turbulent time worldwide, and 1968 in particular was a difficult year. In the United States, the “hippie” counterculture was at its peak, racial tensions increased after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and there were daily protests against the increasingly bloody Vietnam War (1957-1975). In Czechoslovakia, a liberal reform movement known as the Prague Spring was taking place. Many people in France—university students in particular—were inspired to create their own cultural revolution and a more liberal and open society. Chief among student aims were an end to class and racial discrimination and the removal of French President Charles de Gaulle.

Student protests at the University of Paris Nanterre began in March 1968 and the school was shut down on May 2. Students at the Sorbonne in central Paris protested the suburban school’s closure. Police reacted harshly and the Sorbonne was closed as well. On May 6, thousands of students, teachers, and supporters confronted police at the Sorbonne. The police advanced on the protesters with billy clubs and tear gas, and the protesters eventually dispersed. Many people were hurt, and hundreds of people were arrested.

On May 10, some 40,000 protesters attempted to return to the Sorbonne, where they clashed with police blocking the streets. Protesters hurled paving stones, turned over cars, started fires, and erected barricades facing the lines of police. To clear the streets, police eventually charged the barricades, beating protesters and arresting hundreds more people. Much of the Latin Quarter, the neighborhood of the Sorbonne, was badly damaged. In France and elsewhere, people were shocked by the violence and the harsh police actions, and sympathy grew for the protesters.

On May 13, more than 1 million people marched in solidarity with the students in Paris. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou announced the release of arrested students and reopened the Sorbonne. The embattled students occupied the university, demanded changes, and protests continued. Many workers, with their own demands and grievances, followed the revolutionary spirit and occupied their factories. Before long, a general strike shut down French commerce and transportation, and the country ground to a halt. President de Gaulle, who had briefly fled the country, hinted at using the military to restore law and order. On May 30, de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections in June. De Gaulle’s ruling Gaullist party rallied the president’s supporters and organized large counter-marches in many French cities.

By June, the protesters had won some changes in their universities and factories, and calm was gradually restored. As much as the protesters inspired sympathy, however, they also inspired antipathy among Gaullist supporters. Motivated conservative voters dominated the June elections, cementing de Gaulle in power—at least for a while—and things returned somewhat to normal. In April 1969, de Gaulle asked for constitutional reforms and said he would resign if the voters did not approve them. The French people voted against the reforms, and de Gaulle resigned.

March 21, 2018

On March 21, 1918, 100 years ago today, the German army launched a massive spring offensive against Allied troops during World War I (1914-1918). The German Spring Offensive was actually a series of assaults on Allied positions from March 21 through July 18, 1918, along the Western Front, the battlefront that stretched through Belgium and northern France. The German assaults broke the Allied lines and ended the stalemate of trench warfare (fighting from fortified ditches). The offensive gained much territory, but it failed to achieve German victory. It also exhausted the German army, setting the stage for Allied counterattacks and an ultimate Allied victory in World War I.

German soldiers advance in northern France during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. Credit: © Everett Historical/Shutterstock

For most of World War I, the strength of the German military was split. Fighting against the British and French (and later, the American Expeditionary Forces as well) on the Western Front required millions of German troops. At the same time, German forces were needed to battle Russian, and later Romanian, forces on the Eastern Front. The Eastern Front would eventually stretch from Estonia to Romania.

By December 1917, both Russia and Romania were defeated and nearing surrender. The end of fighting on the Eastern Front then allowed Germany to concentrate its military on the West. For the first time, German forces would outnumber the Allies on the Western Front.

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Allied troops eventually stopped the German Spring Offensive. United States troops played key roles in the fighting at Château-Thierry, Cantigny, and Belleau Wood. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The Germans needed to take advantage of their numbers in early 1918. By that time, the United States had entered the war on the Allied side, but the majority of U.S. forces had not yet reached Europe. The Germans planned a huge offensive that sought to force an Allied surrender before U.S. troops could arrive in strength.

Beginning on March 21, German assaults took place along the Somme and Aisne rivers in northern France, and in Flanders, on France’s border with Belgium. The Germans hoped to destroy the British army and force France to negotiate a peace. The German assaults gained much ground, and some German troops reached the Marne River northeast of Paris, the French capital. However, heavy casualties (people killed, wounded, captured, or missing), failing supplies, and Allied counterattacks ground the last of the assaults to a halt in July.

The offensive took a heavy toll on the German army, with more than 500,000 casualties. Having used up its reserves from the Eastern Front, Germany could no longer replace such huge numbers of troops. The casualties and lack of overall success badly damaged German morale. Allied casualties also reached 500,000. However, by the offensive’s end, more than 1 million U.S. troops were in France and continuing to pour into the country at a rate of more than 250,000 each month. Massive Allied assaults began in August 1918 and continued until Germany signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) in November. The agreement ended World War I.

March 12, 2018

Parlez-vous français? (Do you speak French?) If you speak English, chances are that you also know some French. Many words in the English language come from French, even though the tongues have different ancestors. French is a widespread language with broad influence. Spoken in France and dozens of other countries, including parts of the United States, it ranks as an “international language,” and has long been a language of world diplomacy.

The French flag can be seen alongside written French language translations around the world. Credit: © Dream Maker Software

French is the official language of France and its overseas territories in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, South America, and the South Pacific. It is also an official language of Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, and many African countries. Many people speak French in the U.S. state of Louisiana, where official services and documents are available in the language. Additionally, French is a working language of such international groups as Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the United Nations (UN).

As well as being a language of intergovernmental cooperation, diplomacy, and humanitarian endeavor, French long has been a language of the arts. For example, the French played a central role in the development of ballet from the 1600’s. As a result, most ballet steps have French names. France has had a thriving motion-picture industry since the 1920’s. In the mid-1900’s, the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement had a profound effect on global cinema. Today, French-language films are popular around the world. And since medieval times, French writers have contributed to every major form of literature and influenced the literature of other countries. French authors or authors writing in French have won over a dozen Nobel Prizes in literature. Interestingly, the Irish-born Nobel winner Samuel Beckett wrote some of his most important works in French.

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France. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

French and English use the same alphabet. It has 26 letters and developed from the Latin alphabet. French also uses a number of accent marks called diacritics, including the acute accent ( ´ ); grave accent ( ` ); diaeresis ( ¨ ); cedilla, always with c ( ç ); and circumflex ( ˆ ). These marks indicate different letter sounds and different meanings of words that are spelled alike, for example ou (or) and où (where). Grammatically, French has similarities to Italian and Spanish. All three tongues are Romance languages, which developed from the Latin language of the ancient Romans.

The Romans conquered Gaul (now mainly France) in the 50’s B.C. The Gauls spoke Gaulish but gradually adopted and modified the vernacular (common) Latin spoken by Roman soldiers. By the A.D. 700’s, vernacular Latin had evolved into a language called la langue romane, or Romance. Beginning in the 900’s, Romance developed in France into Old French, which had many dialects (related varieties). A dialect spoken around Paris became the accepted tongue throughout France because of the capital’s influence.

Throughout the centuries, the developing French language absorbed many words from the languages of other peoples, including Danish Vikings, Franks, Greeks, Italians, and Spaniards. It also kept some Gaulish words. During the 1600’s, writers and scholars began to standardize the structure of French and l’Académie française (French Academy) was born. Founded by the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu in 1635, this intellectual organization continues to operate as the leading authority on the French language.

November 17, 2017

Today, November 17, marks the 100th anniversary of the death of prolific French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Earlier this year, the Grand Palais in Paris, France, celebrated the anniversary with “Rodin: The Centennial Exhibition” from March through July. The Grand Palais (an exhibition hall and museum complex) collaborated with the nearby Rodin Museum to feature numerous masterpieces created by Rodin, largely considered the greatest sculptor of the late 1800’s and early 1900′s. The Rodin exhibit and celebration extended to art museums in Berlin, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, and other world cities.

Auguste Rodin poses before a work in progress. Credit: © Bridgeman Art Library/SuperStock

Rodin created an enormous number of sculptures of the human figure. Many of them have a great deal of emotional intensity, and explore a wide range of human passions. The inner feelings of his figures are expressed through a vigorous sense of movement and by gestures that emphasize different parts of the body. Many of his figures are incomplete or fragmentary. These works consist of just a torso, a head, or hands.

Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker is one of the French sculptor’s most famous works. Several versions of this statue exist. Credit: The Thinker (1880), bronze statue by Auguste Rodin; Musee Rodin, Paris, France (© Timothy McCarthy, Art Resource)

Rodin was primarily a modeler, preferring to work with clay and wax rather than to carve in stone. After he created the original model, his assistants would translate it into marble or bronze. Inspired by the Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo, Rodin’s marble figures are often beautifully smooth and finished, emerging from parts of the marble that are often very rough. The surfaces of his bronze works combine a thorough understanding of anatomy with a rough texture that allows light and shadow to enliven the work.

Rodin was born in Paris on Nov. 12, 1840. He did not win public recognition for many years, and he had to earn his living designing popular sculpture and ornament for commercial firms. Indifference and misunderstanding greeted his first exhibits, but appreciation for his work gradually spread. By 1880, his genius began to be more widely appreciated, and by the 1900′s, he was world famous.

In 1880, Rodin was commissioned by the French government to create a large sculptural door for the Museum of Decorative Art in Paris. The subject was the “Inferno” from Dante’s Divine Comedy. The door was never finished, but Rodin created many figures for it. Later, he developed many of them as independent sculptures. The best known include The Thinker and The Kiss. Rodin’s most important later works include the monumental group The Burghers of Calais and the monument to author Honoré de Balzac.

July 25, 2017

On Sunday, July 23, British cyclist Chris Froome raced to his fourth Tour de France victory in the last five years. The 32-year-old Froome, who previously won in 2013, 2015, and 2016, crossed the finish line with a 54-second lead over second-place rider Rigoberto Urán of Colombia. The race, nicknamed la Grande Boucle (the Big Loop), is one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

British cyclist Chris Froome wears the leader’s yellow jersey near the end of the Tour de France in Paris, France. Credit: © Frederic Legrand, COMEO/Shutterstock

Wearing the leader’s distinctive yellow jersey, Froome coasted through the largely ceremonial 21^st and final stage, finishing on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Froome, a member of Team Sky, marveled at riding through the Beaux-Arts Grand Palais exhibition hall—a unique “tunnel” added this year—on the way to the finish line. The majestic glass-roofed Grand Palais was built in 1897 for a world’s fair. Froome rode just behind the final stage’s leader in a comfortable pack amidst thousands of cheering fans and multiple layers of police and other security.

Tour de France racers pedal through the tough mountain stages in the Alps of southeastern France. Credit: © Bogdan Cristel, Reuters

This year—the 104^th Tour de France—the race began July 1 in šDüsseldorf, Germany, and ran through Belgium and Luxembourg before stretching the bulk of its 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) through France. The French route took 198 riders to Chambéry in the Alps before a rest-day air transfer carried them west to the Dordogne department (administrative district). Tough stages in the Pyrenees mountains led riders back to the Alps before they raced through Provence to Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. Another air transfer carried the racers to the Parisian suburb of Montgeron for the big finish.

Froome ran near the top in most stages, but won the Tour de France without ever actually finishing first. The race is won by overall time, and nobody else ran the entire race in less time than Froome. The race’s 21 stages were won by 15 different riders. Marcel Kittel of Germany won five stages before a crash forced him from the race during stage 17.

Froome wore the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) as the race’s leader from stage 14 through the finish. Briton Simon Yates donned the maillot blanc (white jersey) as the race’s best young rider (his twin brother, Adam, won last year’s white jersey). Warren Barguil of France earned the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) as the race’s best climber in the tough mountain stages. The maillot vert (green jersey) went to Australia’s Michael Matthews as the overall leader in points (awarded for consistently high stage finishes). The Tour de France is one of three major touring races of cycling; the others are the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.

July 14, 2017

Today, July 14, people in France celebrate what English-speaking people refer to as Bastille Day, a French national holiday similar to Independence Day. The holiday is a grand celebration throughout France, where public buildings and streets are decked out in the bleu-blanc-rouge—the blue-white-red of the tricolor, the French flag. In Paris, concerts, balls, and parades fill the city’s streets with people, and fireworks light up the nighttime sky. In France, Bastille Day is called the Fête Nationale (National Holiday) or simply le Quatorze Juillet (the Fourteenth of July).

A military parade moves down the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, on Bastille Day–le 14 Juillet. Credit: © DreamSlamStudio/Shutterstock

The French National Holiday is celebrated on July 14 for two reasons. The first and most famous reason is to honor the “storming of the Bastille.” On July 14, 1789, angry Parisians attacked and captured the Bastille fortress—a largely symbolic act early in the French Revolution. The second reason is to celebrate the first Fête de la Fédération (Federation Celebration) held on July 14, 1790. This celebration remembered the storming of the Bastille and marked the peaceful and successful “end” of the budding revolution. As history tells us, however, the revolution did not end there (it continued until 1799), nor was it peaceful. The holiday remained, however, and in 1880, the Fête de la Fédération became the Fête Nationale.

The French flag is called the tricolor and features three vertical stripes of blue, white, and red (left to right ). In 1789, King Louis XVI first used its three colors to represent France. Credit: © Dream Maker Software

In 1789, the Bastille fortress was used as a prison. Its capture symbolized the new spirit of freedom that swept through France and led to the establishment of a popular government. The storming of the Bastille has inspired a number of songs, pamphlets, and orations. The rallying cry tous à la Bastille! (everyone to the Bastille!) can still be heard on Paris streets during political demonstrations or public acts of defiance.

This painting shows the storming of the Bastille, a royal fortress in Paris, on July 14, 1789. The capture of the fortress was one of the key early events of the revolution. Today, July 14 is celebrated as Bastille Day, the great national holiday of France. Credit: The storming of the Bastille (c. 1800), oil on canvas by unknown artist, Carnavalet Museum, Paris (© Corbis Images)

In 1790, the Federation Celebration honored the events of the year before, and many people believed the initial shake up of the revolution would be enough to enact real change and keep the peace. Many thousands of people from Paris and other parts of France—revolutionaries and monarchists alike, as well as King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette—turned out for a huge party on the Champ de Mars (Field of Mars). At the time, the Champ de Mars was a military training ground; today it is a lovely park that includes the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the good spirits and hopes of the Federation Celebration soon vanished. The revolution continued and a bloody period known as the Terreur (Terror) claimed thousands of lives, including those of the king and queen. Today, Bastille Day celebrations in Paris still center on the Champ de Mars.