What is Bastille Day and why does France celebrate the moment that kick-started the French Revolution?
Storming of medieval Paris prison led to execution of Louis XVI and the rise of Napoleon
THE Nice Bastille Day attacks came on the very day France celebrates the moment it fought back against terror.
The national holiday commemorates the historic moment revolutionaries stormed the medieval Bastille prison in a moment that would lead to the French Revolution.
The grand Parisian jail only housed seven inmates, but it had come to represent the despised French monarchy and an absence of justice for the everyday French population.
Its surrender on 14 July 1789 would eventually lead to King Louis XVI being beheaded at the guillotine four years later.
The abolition of the monarchy saw Napoleon Bonaparte emerge as French emperor and his armies would only be stopped from conquering Europe by Wellington's British army at Waterloo in 1815.
Today, France celebrates the storming of the Bastille as the moment it began on a path to become one of the world’s modern democracies.
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Its national motto “liberte, egalite, fraternite” – translating as freedom, equality and fraternity – was born from that turbulent period in the country’s history.
But far from its violent roots, the day was made a national holiday in 1880 and is now considered a family day centred around a feast.
The Bastille Day military parade see thousands of Parisians and tourists pack the Champs-Elysees to witness troops march towards the Arc de Triomphe.
Many French choose to celebrate the holiday watching firework displays – much like Britain’s Guy Fawkes celebrations.
Those so brutally killed when a lorry tore into a packed Nice seaside promenade were watching one of those displays.
Thousands had gathered in the French Riviera town to celebrate.
But they were met with terror when a 25-tonne lorry mowed down hundreds of revellers.
Witnesses described the white truck zig-zagging along the pavement at 40mph as it sought to kill as many as possible.
The driver was eventually killed in a shoot-out with French police.
But by the time he was finally stopped, 84 victims lay dead on the ground.
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