HEAR THE PEOPLE SING
Today is known by many people as 'Barricade Day' because 181 years ago, in Paris, the events of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, otherwise known as the June Rebellion, began.
This day is one of great controversy, because although the date goes greatly unnoticed, some people go around wearing red in order to 'celebrate' the event, however I believe that people are doing this for all the wrong reasons. People often overlook this as a day to simply 'celebrate the rebellion', but what exactly does that mean?
There's nothing I hate more than being misinformed on a topic, so I've looked into it and the basis behind the June Rebellion is that after previous rebellions to overthrow the king succeeded, the cousin of the previous king was put into power which made people kinda pissed because he wasn't elected and most people couldn't afford to register for the right to vote.
There was all this pent up rage, then in 1832 there was a huge cholera epidemic which killed large groups of peasants and one man, General Lemarque who they felt was the only person thinking about the people as a whole.
Well, you know the rest of the story... the young revolutionaries interrupted the funeral, waving red and black flags, they ran off and (in under 15 minutes in some cases) created barricades out of whatever they could find...
...less than 24 hours later the rebellion was crushed, with 800 wounded or dead.
The fact that this was such a notable occasion wasn't due to the effect it had, but due to the reasons behind it.
It was lead by a group of students and army veterans who had almost no chance of success, they are worth remembering because they fought for what they believed in, and while it is wrong that people are celebrating the triumphs of fictional characters in Les Miserables, we should remember the original students and, more relevant at the moment, the people of Istanbul who tried to protest peacefully only to be repressed by the government.
Because, in my eyes, anybody who isn't willing to sit idly by and let unwanted change happen is worth remembering.
xxx
This was an amazing post! I wasn't actually aware of the basis behind the June Rebellion, so thank you for that. I love how you tied Istanbul into the post because it is definitely very relevant right now. And that last line...amazing, beautiful and so very true. That might actually be my ultimate favourite line in a blog post.
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