November 24, 2024

Bastille Day: All you need to know about Europe’s oldest and largest parade | India News

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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in France on July 13-14 to attend Bastille Day celebrations as a guest of honour in Paris.
French president Emmanuel Macron is laying out the red carpet for PM Modi and will host a state banquet at the Louvre museum in honour of the PM. They will also be holding high-level talks to discuss key defence deals and discuss collaboration in several sectors including space, geostrategic planning, infrastructure and energy.
By far the highlight of the visit will be the Bastille Day Parade on July 14. A 269-member tri-services contingent of the Indian armed forces will participate in the historic parade alongside French troops. Three Rafale jets and a Globemaster C-17 of the Indian Air Force are also expected to be part of a fly-past.
Bastille Day is one of the most famous and cherished national holidays in France as it marks the beginning of the French Revolution and the march from feudalism and monarchy to constitutional democracy.
Foreign leaders are seldom invited to the parade, which makes PM Modi’s presence all the more significant. US President Joe Biden was the last foreign leader to attend the parade in 2017.
Here are some interesting facts about Bastille Day:

  • Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on July 14 each year. In French, it is formally called the Fête nationale française (French National Celebration).
  • The French National Day is the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a major event of the French Revolution, as well as the Fête de la Fédération that celebrated the unity of the French people on July 14, 1790.
  • Shortly after the storming of the Bastille (which had become a symbol of royal tyranny and oppression), feudalism was abolished on August 4. On August 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed.
  • The first Bastille Day military parade was held in Paris in July 14, 1880.
  • Celebrations are held throughout France, including “the oldest and largest military parade in Europe” on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in front of the President of the Republic
  • The parade involves around 9,500 soldiers (7,800 on foot, the rest are crew members or cavalrymen), 380 vehicles, 240 horses and more than 80 planes and helicopters.
  • The annual parade has had only two interruptions: The first was during the German occupation from 1940-1944, the second was in 2020, when the parade was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • In 2016, a truck barreled through a pedestrian-filled crowd at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, killing 86 people and injuring over 400.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the India – France Strategic Partnership, and Prime Minister’s visit will provide an opportunity to chart the course of the partnership for the future across diverse sectors such as strategic, cultural, scientific, academic and economic cooperation.



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