Re: CHAT: Bastille day [was Re: Le Jour de la Prise de la Bastille]

Thomas R. Wier scripsit:

> I've always wondered whether the celebration of Bastille day
> is a true reflection of the difference in political cultures
> between France and the English speaking world, or simply ignorance
> of the events it represents.
Well, nothing like the French Revolution has ever happened anywhere in
the anglophone world.  Its nearest analogues are the American Revolution,
the English Civil War, and the English Glorious Revolution.  All of these
(with the partial exception of the Civil War) represent preemptive strikes
against potential tyranny rather than the unseating of a tyranny actually
in place.  The fall of the Bastille symbolizes primarily the destruction of
tyranny through the physical destruction of one of its most hated symbols.

The fact that Louis XV's rule represented a considerable moderation of
what comes before it affected the timing of the French Revolution, but not
its symbolic impact.

--
"There is no real going back.  Though I         John Cowan
may come to the Shire, it will not seem         jcowan@reutershealth.com
the same; for I shall not be the same.          http://www.reutershealth.com
I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth,      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
and a long burden.  Where shall I find rest?"           --Frodo

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