This video shows footage of Bastille Day 2012 in Paris, with various military planes flown overhead, troops marching through the streets, and vehicles driven past.

Bastille Day, or French National Day, is a celebration held in France (naturally) each year. There are military fly-pasts and all kinds of mostly military displays. But what’s it all about?

On July 14, 1789, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison which held people put behind bars by royal decree. This ended feudalism in France, and lead eventually to the system in place today.

Bastille Day is the commemoration of the Fête de la Fédération, a huge feast held one year after the storming of the Bastille. On July 14 each year the French remember their past, mark their present, and look to their future.