Ancient history

La Marseillaise, musical soul of the Revolution

Rouget de Lisle singing the Marseillaise for the first time, by Isidore Pils. 1849. Historical Museum, Strasbourg • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

In 1849, more than fifty years after the events, the painter Isidore Pils fixed the legend of the Marseillaise :the anthem would have been interpreted for the first time by the young captain of genius Claude Rouget de Lisle, in the salons of the mayor of Strasbourg. What happened on that night of April 25 to 26, 1792? One evening at a reception, the mayor and wealthy industrialist Frédéric de Dietrich would have regretted the absence of a song actually paying homage to the volunteers who were then leaving for the border, arousing the inspiration of the young officer, a composer in his spare time. . As often, the reality is more nuanced. If it is probably a myth, this scenario reveals in any case the exceptional impact of this war song, which has become one of the national anthems best known for its strength and its universalism, but also one of the most controversial for its radicalism and violence.

To better understand the energy carried by this song as well as the debates it aroused, we must return to the tense situation of the spring of 1792. On April 20, France declared war on the King of Bohemia and Hungary. It is then a question of protecting the nation from a probable attack aimed at bringing down the Revolution and restoring royalty. Coming from spontaneous gatherings of armed men known as federations, tens of thousands of young volunteers leave from all over the country and go to the borders, generating a lot of enthusiasm on their way. Living in Strasbourg, Rouget de Lisle is not a republican, but, like many French people, this moderate monarchist becomes radicalized as the counter-revolutionaries organize themselves in France and abroad, threatening those and those who have often engaged since 1789.

An air of "already heard"

In the days and months following the declaration of war, the atmosphere became militarized, in order to promote the ideal of the citizen-soldier, capable of taking up arms to protect those who had chosen to live within the same civic community. The many songs like the famous It'll be fine! de Ladré, which punctuate the marches, parties and gatherings, seem too weak and light in relation to the new challenges. Omnipresent in everyday life, songs are also part of the protest culture:they mobilize, they structure political discourse, they reassure and galvanize when it is necessary to show courage.

Rouget de Lisle is perfectly aware of this. He was part of the influential Society of Friends of the Constitution, one of whose songs uses slogans heard since the American Revolution of the 1770s, urging ordinary citizens to commit themselves to the Revolution at the risk of their lives:“ To arms, citizens ! The standard of war is unfurled. […] You have to fight, win or die. » The War Song for the Army of the Rhine , composed by Rouget, condenses words and tunes that have been circulating for several years in the world of the elite (we recognize certain passages from Mozart), but also of the working classes:this air of "already heard" as well as the need for unifying emotions explain why singing spreads like wildfire. This was particularly the case among the volunteer battalions from Montpellier and Marseille, who went to Paris in the summer of 1792 to take part in the new Fête de la Fédération:because of their essential contribution to the popularization of this anthem, this one it is quickly called "anthem of the Marseillais", then "Marseillaise". He recalls, if necessary, that for a long time the Revolution was not Jacobin, that is to say, according to the meaning that this word took on later, centralized, but lived rather as a federation.

Te Deum revolutionary”

Competition from Carmagnole , born just after the fall of the monarchy on August 10, 1792, the Marseillaise is not, in its beginnings, not republican, even if its presence at the time of the attack on the Tuileries transforms it into a somewhat magical song. Sung by many moderate monarchists, it nevertheless accompanied the birth of the Republic:orchestrated in September 1792 by Gossec in the opera L’Offrande à la liberté , the Marseillaise is sung on the battlefields, when French troops enter “liberated” cities and countries, but also during holidays (such as that of the Supreme Being, June 8, 1794) and official celebrations of military victories. It arises more spontaneously during collective mobilizations, or even during certain public executions. Obviously, from the fall of 1792, when it was used by the new republican authorities to create support for the young regime, the song lost its spontaneous character. But populations are not inert in the face of inculcated marks of citizenship.

Indeed, if the Marseillaise spread in regions at war and especially in Alsace, elsewhere, such as in the north of France, it had more difficulty in imposing itself. Among the peoples who rose up against the Mountain Republic in 1793, singing was also challenged by more moderate hymns (the "Marseillaise des Normands") or frankly counter-revolutionary, such as the air of "Ô Richard, ô mon king”, taken from the opéra-comique composed by Grétry in 1784 and which, from 1789, became a rallying song for supporters of absolute monarchy. Very quickly, abroad, the Marseillaise is nevertheless identified with the French Revolution:in September 1792, at the Battle of Valmy, Goethe, fighting in the Prussian armies, describes it as "Te Deum revolutionary”.

Lyrics that reflect their times

If the Marseillaise divides is that it recalls how much the Republic was born in a context of radicalism and commitment to the survival of the civic community. The famous verses of the chorus (“let un blood impure / water our furrows”) clearly call for the death of the despots and aristocrats, who have long been held responsible for the moral corruption and decadence of European societies. But this violence is not intended for ordinary foreign soldiers, whom the French consider to be dominated and forced into obedience (“Spare these sad victims / Regretfully arming themselves against you”). Added after the fact, the seventh stanza, called "of the children", suggests the idea that, from generation to generation, citizenship passes through the armed defense of the civic community:"We will enter the career / When our elders do not will be more. This radicalism is also what makes it successful.

On November 24, 1793, the National Convention decreed that the Marseillaise will be sung in all shows:for several months, many "patriotic" theaters have been spontaneously performing it. After having eliminated Robespierre and succeeded in making believe that with him disappeared the Republic of exception instituted in the spring of 1793, the conservative Republicans wish to reject any form of radicalism and prefer the Song of departure of Méhul and Chénier, more moderate. As for the royalists, they promote the Awakening of the people , which calls for revenge against the Jacobins, described as "drinkers of blood". But the success of the Marseillaise is already too strong, it is she who makes the crowds vibrate:on July 14, 1795, she officially becomes national song. The upheavals of the following century would almost get the better of it:banned under the First Empire, it was not until 1879 that it became, until today, a national anthem that is both emblematic and still hotly debated.

Find out more
The Marseillaise, F. Robert, National Printing Office, 1989.

“Form your battalions! »
After the revolution of 1830, the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile in Paris is decorated with a bas-relief, The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 , a work by François Rude better known as La Marseillaise . At the top of the composition, a young woman symbolizing the genius of war, her wings outstretched, sounds the alarm and guides the volunteers with her sword to the place of combat. Below, the fighters take on the appearance of Greco-Roman heroes. Their leader, provided with a coat of mail and a cuirass, brandishes his helmet to galvanize his men. He is followed by a naked ephebe, who clenches his fist in rage. On the right, a mature man is about to draw his sword, while an old man seems to be advising the chief. On the left, a young man, bare chested, bends his bow while another soldier turns towards the winged young woman to sound the trumpet.

Almost Guillotine
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle was a man of moderate political ideas, who did not view the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 favorably. captain and that he was imprisoned twice.