It was Claude Rouget de l'Isle who imagined it in Alsace.
At the heart of the French Revolution, the mayor of Strasbourg, Baron de Dietrich, a fervent patriot, whose two children had enlisted to defend France, asked Rouget, a military officer whom he knew well and who was also a fan of the Muse, for something to galvanize the volunteers. Rouget set about composing the "war song of the armies of the Rhine" during the night of April 25 to 26, 1792.
Why the Marseillaise?
It's true that the name "Marseillaise" is astonishing when the song was born... In Alsace. In fact, we say "La Marseillaise" because it was made famous by the federates of Marseille who went to Paris. It was by singing it that they went to storm the Tuileries castle on August 10, 1792. It still resounded when the Republic was proclaimed a few days later. The Parisians loved it and sang it again and again this "marseillaise" to the point that it became emblematic of the French Revolution. It became the national anthem on July 14, 1795, and also emblematic of the Republic
Suppressed, restored... The Marseillaise has followed the eventful history of France.
As a result, it was muzzled under the Empire. The same happened under the monarchy. Re-established by the Republic, it was forbidden "without authorization" under the Vichy regime before being re-established at the Liberation. National anthem since 1879, we know a Russian version, a Catalan version, Spanish, Mao wanted to hear it during the great march. Even the Beatles liked the Marseillaise
Sculpted on the façade of the Arc de Triomphe, it watches over the unknown soldier who surely sang it when he was alive. Re-orchestrated by Berlioz, accelerated by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing when he was president, it continues to move the citizens and the World when it roars each time, of sadness, anger, or joy... vibrates the heart of France.
What happened to Rouget de l'Isle?
His life was as eventful as his work. Imprisoned under the Terror because he was judged by a republican enough, he was later released and fought against the Chouans. Enemy of Napoleon, to whom he wrote all the bad things he thought of him, very badly seen by Louis XVIII and even more by Charles X, who had not forgotten that Rouget was the composer of the hymn which had accompanied the disappearance of the monarchy, he ended his life ruined in his small house of Choisy, after having dispersed the paternal inheritance. Louis Philippe, King of the French, gave him a pension. He died on June 28, 1836, and was buried for a long time in the Choisy cemetery before the French deposited his ashes in the Invalides in 1915.
The words of the Marseillaise in English
REFRAIN
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
Let an impure blood...
Water our furrows!
COUPLETS
I
Let us go! Children of the Fatherland!
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us of tyranny,
The bloody standard is raised! (Bis)
Do you hear in the countryside
Howl these ferocious soldiers?
They come to your arms
To slaughter your sons, your companions
REFRAIN
II
What does this horde of slaves want,
Of traitors, of conspired kings?
For whom these ignoble fetters,
These long-prepared irons? (Bis)
Frenchmen! For us, ah! What an outrage!
What transports it must excite;
It is us whom one dares to meditate
To return to the ancient slavery!
REFRAIN
III
What! Foreign cohorts
Would make the law in our homes!
What! Mercenary phalanxes
Would overpower our proud warriors! (Bis)
God ! Our hands would be chained!
Our foreheads under the yoke would bend!
Vile despots would become
The masters of our destinies!
REFRAIN
IV
Tremble, tyrants and you, perfidious,
The opprobrium of all parties!
Tremble! Your parricide projects
Will finally receive their price. (Bis)
All is soldier to fight you.
If they fall, our young heroes,
The earth produces new ones
Against you all ready to fight.
REFRAIN
V
French, as magnanimous warriors
Let us carry or hold our blows!
Let us spare these sad victims,
With regret, arming themselves against us! (Bis)
But this bloodthirsty despot!
But these accomplices of Bouillé!
All these tigers who, without pity,
Tear up their mother's breast!
REFRAIN
VI
Sacred love of the Fatherland
Lead, support our avenging arms!
Freedom! Cherished liberty,
Fight with your defenders! (Bis)
Under our flags that Victory
Run to your male accents!
May your expiring enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
REFRAIN
***
VERSE OF THE CHILDREN
We will enter the career,
When our elders are no longer there;
We will find their dust
And the trace of their virtues (Bis)
Much less jealous to survive them
Than to share their coffin
We will have the sublime pride
To avenge them or to follow them.
In French :
REFRAIN
Aux armes, citoyens !
Formez vos bataillons !
Marchons, marchons !
Qu'un sang impur...
Abreuve nos sillons !
COUPLETS
I
Allons ! Enfants de la Patrie !
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé ! (Bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes
REFRAIN
II
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (Bis)
Français ! Pour nous, ah ! Quel outrage !
Quels transports il doit exciter ;
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage !
REFRAIN
III
Quoi ! Des cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi ! Des phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (Bis)
Dieu ! Nos mains seraient enchaînées !
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient !
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées !
REFRAIN
IV
Tremblez, tyrans et vous, perfides,
L'opprobre de tous les partis !
Tremblez ! Vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leur prix. (Bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre.
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La terre en produit de nouveaux
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre.
REFRAIN
V
Français, en guerriers magnanimes
Portons ou retenons nos coups !
Épargnons ces tristes victimes,
A regret, s'armant contre nous ! (Bis)
Mais ce despote sanguinaire !
Mais ces complices de Bouillé !
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !
REFRAIN
VI
Amour sacré de la Patrie
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs !
Liberté ! Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (Bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la Victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents !
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !
REFRAIN
***
COUPLET DES ENFANTS
Nous entrerons dans la carrière,
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus ;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus. (Bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre.
REFRAIN
