In his third National Day celebration, French President Francois Hollande commemorated the start of the Great war and paid tribute to the scarifies of millions of soldiers that participated in the First World War (WWI) a century ago.
"This July 14 is not like the others ... A century ago, soldiers around the world came to save us," the French president said when addressing a group of ministers and military figures on the eve of the National Day.
Under a grey sky and dry weather, Hollande presided over the military parade down the Champs Elysees Avenue, which involved some 3,700 soldiers, 285 armored vehicles, 240 horses and 54 jet fighters.
To honor their sacrifices in WWI, troops from 80 nations participated in this year's celebration but no foreign leader attended the ceremony
The display also included flyovers by fighter jets, tanks and giant trucks mounted with land-to-air defense systems.
With Mozart Clarinet Concerto, about 250 young people dressed in black and white ended the two-hour parade by releasing doves to pay tribute to the soldiers died on the battlefields in 1914.
In a televised interview scheduled later in the afternoon, the head of state will defend his policy which has been widely criticized on failure to deliver on pledges to kick-start growth and trim alarming unemployment rate