The feast of the Federation of 1790: the first July 14

No military parade but a ceremony in tribute to caregivers: health crisis requires, the 2020 edition of July 14 promises to be less festive than in previous years. Perhaps this is an opportunity to plunge back into the origins of our national holiday ... In 1790, a year after the storming of the Bastille and the start of the Revolution, the first holiday of the federation celebrated with great pomp the unity of the French. In this new episode of "At the heart of history", produced by Europe 1 Studio, Jean des Cars tells you the story of the first of July 14. 

For the past few days, Paris has not been sleeping. Huge flares light up the Champ de Mars, this beautiful promenade which, at the time, went from the École Militaire to the Seine. This gigantic construction site where almost one thousand two hundred workers are active is that of the Fête de la Fédération. One year after the storming of the Bastille, it is about celebrating, with great pomp, the founding event of the French Revolution.
In June 1790, the Constituent Assembly decided to celebrate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on the Champ de Mars, and it had to be grand! In less than three weeks, thirty rows of stands for spectators must be established around the area. In front of the Military School, an amphitheater must be erected to accommodate the constituted corps. It is dominated by a platform covered with a canopy, where the members of the Constituent Assembly, the queen and the royal family will sit. In front of this tribune, two identical seats, side by side: the first for the President of the Assembly, the second, a little raised, will welcome the king.  

But it's not just that! It is also necessary to build a triumphal arch on the banks of the Seine. And in the middle of the Champ de Mars, a mound on which the altar of the fatherland must take place. As the one thousand two hundred workers were not enough for this immense project, the Parisians were asked to come and help with the development of the Champ de Mars.

Madame de Tourzel, the governess of the Children of France, that is to say the dolphin and her sister Madame Royale, describes this crazy activity: "Everyone wanted to have their share in the work; it was sacred land, woe to those who would not have gotten their hands in it! The ladies even had themselves driven in a coach to load the wheelbarrow; and anyone who passed quietly near the Champ de Mars without stopping there ran the risk of being insulted. It was an exaltation of which one cannot have the idea. One saw at the same time in the work of workers, bourgeois, Carthusians and other religious of the various orders, soldiers, beautiful ladies, men and women of all classes and from all states of society, work according to their faculties. "

A cooperation that would have enchanted the philosophers of the Enlightenment if they had still been there ... Some workers sing and cry peacefully "Long live the Nation!", Others chant "Ca ira! Ca ira!" But what has happened since July 14, 1789 to push the Constituent Assembly to imagine a celebration celebrating the return of national union? 

Why a feast of the federation? 

After the violence of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, on October 6, the king and the royal family arrived in Paris. They are installed in the Tuileries. This follows a violent episode: a procession of women had come to Versailles from Paris, demanding bread from the king. The situation had degenerated, the castle had been invaded, the guards murdered. 

Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and their children are now under surveillance, in the heart of the capital. The Assembly of Versailles turned into a Constituent Assembly and moved to the Manège, a stone's throw from the Tuileries. On October 10, she decides that Louis XVI is no longer king of France and Navarre but king of the French. Little by little, she reduces her powers. 

Given the magnitude of the deficit, Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the deputies to seize the property of the clergy, estimated at around three billion pounds. In return, the State takes care of the costs of worship and the remuneration of the clergy. The decree was voted by a large majority on November 2, 1789. The civil constitution of the clergy is in the making. The Constituent Assembly also decides on an important administrative reform: France is now divided into 83 departments, of roughly equal sizes. 

From the end of 1789 and the beginning of 1790, due to unrest and revolts in the provinces, the patriots decided to bond fraternally in the villages, the cities and the departments, in order to oppose the enemies of the interior and from the outside. These groups have taken the name of Federations. And on June 5, 1790, Bailly, the Mayor of Paris, proposed to the Assembly to organize a Federation Day. 

The delegates of the national guards in each province are invited to Paris, that is 14,000 participants. The date fixed is July 14, 1790, first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. It is a question of making it a prestigious event to celebrate the Federations, symbols of the national union, but not only… During this ceremony, the king must also swear an oath to the new constitution. It is rather paradoxical because the writing of the said Constitution is not yet finished! 

The day before, July 13, the king reviewed the Federates of the departments who had arrived from their provinces. Most of them do not know Paris. They are paraded before him and the royal family at the foot of the grand staircase of the Tuileries. The queen presents her children to them. The king's first contact with the Federates was a success.

The grand feast of the Federation

All of Paris wants to attend the show. Some even spend the night at the Champ de Mars to be sure of having places! In the morning, on the other side of the Seine, a huge crowd gathered on the hills of Passy and Chaillot, to have a bird's eye view of the scene. 

This July 14, it's raining. But that did not deter anyone. All the terraces of the Champ de Mars are filled. We see umbrellas of all colors. The procession of the Federates starts at 6 a.m. Two companies of Volunteers open the parade. Preceded by a banner where their names have been inscribed, the representatives of the first forty-two departments advance. The officers carry the bare sword, the hunters, the field marshals, the hussars and the artillery follow. Leading the delegates of the Navy, advances the Count d'Estaing, one of the French victors of the American Revolutionary War. Torrents of water fall on the troops but no one complains. The crowd of spectators applauds them on their passage.

The huge column does not arrive at Place Louis XV (the current Place de la Concorde) until noon. The President of the Assembly, walking between two hurdles of standard bearers, escorts him to the Champ-de-Mars. Arrived by the quays on the right bank, they cross the Seine by a boat bridge installed for the occasion. They then pass under a gigantic triumphal arch which elevates its three arches to 25 meters high and which was built for the occasion in record time. They see the altar of the Fatherland in the middle of the Champ-de-Mars. And, at the very bottom, the magnificent gallery. 

Their arrival is announced by artillery salvos. Another announces the appearance of the king and the royal family. They arrive last, in a grand ceremony and accompanied by a large procession. When everyone has won their place, Talleyrand steps forward, limping. He blessed the flags before celebrating mass on the altar of the Nation. It is already four o'clock in the afternoon. Passing La Fayette, Talleyrand slips to him: "Above all, don't make me laugh ..."

It is said that Talleyrand was so used to celebrating mass that he had repeated it the day before with Mirabeau. The southern aristocrat, with a slender face and a journey at least as tortuous as that of Talleyrand, knew the liturgy very well. When he was a prisoner in Vincennes at the request of his father, for three years, he attended mass every day. Since then, he had become an atheist! 

"To the Nation, to the king, to the law!"

As soon as the mass is over, La Fayette, who is a bit the master of ceremonies, steps forward. He draws his sword, places it on the altar and takes an oath: "I swear to use all the power delegated to me by constitutional act of the State, to maintain the Constitution decreed by the National Assembly and accepted by me." He concluded with this formula: "To the Nation, to the king, to the law!", Taken up by 300,000 votes.

La Fayette is almost carried in triumph when he heads towards the royal gallery. The public is boosted. He tries to see the sovereign couple but the rain prevents him. Unusual cries resound: "Down with the umbrellas!" La Fayette turns pale. He only heard the beginning of the cry: "Down ..." and thinks it's for him! Once reassured, he advances towards the king. He too will take his oath but without going to the altar. The crowd is delirious. She shouts "Long live the king!" 

The triumph is increased tenfold when the queen, who wears a headdress trimmed with blue, white, red feathers, takes the dolphin in her arms to present it to the crowd. These exhilarating moments caused the historian Lenôtre to write: "Since the Revolution began, I hardly see a day when all the French were in agreement: that day was July 14, 1790 "

It is, indeed, an amazing moment. The king takes an oath, he agrees to comply with the new Constitution. France moves from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy. The dream of the Enlightenment philosophers is coming true. After the coronation of the king, in Reims, in 1774, this oath is a new pact with the Nation. An immense part of the people of Paris, the Federates from all the provinces of deep France, the constituted bodies, the Constituent Assembly: all make a triumph for the king and the royal family. Accompanied by his family, Louis XVI returned to the Tuileries with repeated cries of "Long live the king! Long live the royal family!" But other voices are raised: "Despite the aristocrats and the rain, we are getting wet but it will end" ...

The festivities end at 6 o'clock in the evening. The Federates will dine at the Château de La Muette. La Fayette comes to be applauded. It is at the height of its popularity. There is also a banquet at the Hôtel de Ville, balls in Paris, in front of the Tuileries, on Place Louis XV and even on the ruins of the Bastille, where a tavern is installed. It is the first ball on July 14.

Disappointing tomorrows

Louis XVI and the royal family stayed a few more days in Paris, until the Federates returned to their provinces. The king wants to take advantage of this little surge in popularity to show himself in the best light to all those people who see him for the first time. Indeed, Louis XVI had "traveled" only twice in his life, apart from his trips to Fontainebleau and Marly: the first, for his coronation in Reims on June 11, 1775 and the second to review the fleet at Cherbourg, June 23, 1786.

The royal family dines in public every day. The dolphin then joins them. The Federates rave about this charming little boy, so kind to them. The king reviews them at the Star - without Arc de Triomphe at the time - with some army battalions. He is on horseback. The queen accompanies her in an open carriage, with their two children and Madame Elisabeth, the king's sister. Marie-Antoinette speaks to all those who approach her. The soldiers and their officers then manifest a sincere attachment to the sovereign and his family.
After that, the king and his relatives returned to Saint-Cloud where they managed to stay from May 23 to November 2, 1790. Saint-Cloud does not have the bad reputation of Versailles. This castle is very close to Paris. Marie-Antoinette loves her deeply. She has very recently had it restored by its architect, Richard Mique. The king, whose overweight has considerably increased, can again hunt, a happiness which he is deprived of in Paris. The dolphin and Madame Royale can enjoy the park without having to bear the curiosity of Parisians, as is the case at the Tuileries.
However, despite the happy moments of Federation Day, the political climate deteriorated in the summer of 1790. Two days before the holiday, on July 12, the Constituent Assembly voted the Civil Constitution of the clergy. For the king, it is a heartbreaker. The law reorganized the dioceses and the parishes, reformed the ecclesiastical offices and changed the mode of appointment of bishops. These will now be elected by the people and no longer appointed by the king. A break with the Concordat of Bologna in the year 1516.
Louis XVI knows very well that the pope is completely opposed to this reform. On July 9, 1790, Pius VI had sent a very clear letter to the king, inviting him not to approve the Civil Constitution of the clergy. According to him, she would precipitate her kingdom into schism and, perhaps, into a new religious war.
Despite everything, the king will give his agreement on July 23. Why does Louis XVI thwart the Pope and deny himself? For two reasons. On the one hand, because some clergymen he has consulted are not against it. On the other hand, Louis XVI thinks that the Pope will eventually accept the Civil Constitution of the clergy. The king had asked his ambassador to Rome, Cardinal Bernis, to authorize, at least temporarily, the appointments of the new bishops. Pie VI will not even respond ...
From August 1790, the bishops begin to resist and condemn the new law. Faced with the strength of this opposition, the Assembly decided, on November 26, that all members of the clergy, from priests to bishops, should take an oath to the Civil Constitution of the clergy. Louis XVI is horrified. He wrote again to the Pope asking for concessions, but Pius VI still refused. On December 26, 1790, Louis XVI sanctioned the duty to take the oath. We know the consequences: the clergy will be torn between priest jurors and refractory priests.
The persecutions against the refractory clergy will begin from January 1791. Louis XVI realizes that he is trapped and totally in the hands of the Assembly. He decides to run away with his family. In June, he was recognized and arrested in Varennes. From then on, the king was only a hostage. The days of August 10, 1792 and the capture of the Tuileries made him a prisoner. The royal family is taken to the Temple. Louis XVI is dismissed, the Republic proclaimed. The tragedy is underway. Become citizen Louis Capet the ex-king Louis XVI is guillotined on January 21, 1793, and the ex-queen Marie-Antoinette, become "the widow Capet", is executed on October 16, 1793. The Terror strikes France. The feast of July 14, 1790 was only an illusion.

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars 

Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli

Realization: Laurent Sirguy and Guillaume Vasseau

Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio