When French citizens stormed the Bastille Prison in Paris on the morning of July 14, 1789, many people, including noted historians, still believe they sang "La Marseillaise", later to become the French national anthem. The myth is that the song inspired them in their mission to free the Bastille's political prisoners. Almost every Hollywood movie about the event features the stirring music as background or with the marchers actually singing the words.

It is an inspiring song that begins with"Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arriv ! (Let us go, children of the fatherland, the day of glory has arrived!) Actually the song was written three years later in 1792, and the words are about another locale of the revolution in the port city of Marseille, where the rebels fought foreign mercenaries hired by King Louis the 16th. If it had been about the Paris uprising, the name would have been called something like "La Pariseillaise".

After the song became popular throughout France, it was first adopted as the national anthem by the newly-formed Republic government in 1795. No one knows what the Paris mob's musical inspiration was as it stormed the Bastille, if there was any at all. They were probably just howling ... howling mad.

Another myth is that the mob of tens of thousands joined in on the attack, when actually it was less than 900. And how about the formidable array of King Louie's troops lined up against them? It was just 82 French Army guys on light duty because of age and infirmity, aided by 32 Swiss guards who were mostly costumed dandies used for ceremonies and parades. That makes a force of 114 who faced a mob ten or more times their number. Oh, did anyone tell you that most of the French guards and 300 other French soldiers stationed nearby deserted and joined the mob?

Another legend is that the revolutionaries attacked the dreaded fortress with the noble purpose of freeing hundreds of suffering political prisoners who were jailed there under horribly inhumane conditions. After the mob had captured the Bastille, the prisoner count was just seven: a young dandy accused to sex crimes, two men confined there because their families declared them insane, and four career criminals sentenced for forgery. Well, gee, those seven guys were just as grateful for their freedom as hundreds more would have been.

It wasn't quite like Moses freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, but it did capture the imagination of all the people

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about A brief history of Bastille Day?
We want to hear your view. Write now!