Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: July 14 marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789 during the French Revolution. Apart from serving as a prison, the royal fortress stood as a symbol of the monarchy and also housed an armoury. The angry citizens aimed to release the political prisoners, seize weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder to fight the royal troops who were stationed in and around Paris.
The event is celebrated as the Fête Nationale Française, or the National Day in France. It is also known as the Bastille Day and symbolises the democratic values of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ – the central theme of both the Indian and French Constitutions.
Considered as one of the oldest regular military parades in the world, it has been held by French troops and their counterparts from elsewhere on the morning of July 14 each year down the Champs Elysees in Paris since 1880. This year Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited as the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade in France.
Altogether 6,300 soldiers took part in various marching contingents, which also included a 269-member tri-services (Army, Navy, and Air Force) representation from the Indian Armed Forces marching alongside their French counterparts.
