FRENCH REVOLUTION

1 Describe the social condition of France during the 18th century

French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates.

The First Estate, Second Estate and the Third Estate.

The First Estate consisted of the Clergy and the Second Estate consisted of Nobility.. The members of the first
two estate enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes.
They lived a life of luxury

The Third Estate. The largest section consists of peasants. great majority were landless or had very little land.
The third estate included artisans, workers ,poor people living in towns and the middle class - the writers, doctors,
judges ,lawyers, teachers , businessmen etc. The third estates paid the direct taxes called Tithe, Taille and a number
of indirect taxes.
2 Discuss the causes of the French revolution of 1789?
Ans) The following were the causes of the French revolution:
1.Social causes :The French society was full of inequalities .The clergy and nobility belonging to privileged class.
They led a luxurious life and the common people who were forced to pay heavy taxes. The middle class was
wealthy and wise but had no political rights. This social inequality created discontentment among the common
people.
2.Economic causes: The shattered economy of France proved a major causes of the revolution due to the wrong
ways and luxuries of the royal family .The French Govt. became bankrupt. The clergy and nobility did not pay any
tax and common people had to bear burden of taxes.
3. Political causes: The kings of France were absolute rulers who believed in the” Devine Right Theory”. Louis
XVI was a weak ruler. His administration was corrupt and inefficient. The high Govt. posts were sold .The king
and queen wasted the state revenue on luxuries.
4.Philosophical causes: The great philosophers like Locke, Montesquieu Rousseau awakened the people of
France to overthrow the autocracy and nobility.
5.Immediate cause: Louis XVI called the meeting of the Estates General on 5 th May1789, pass proposal for new
taxes. The Third Estate not accepting the system of voting, walked out of the meeting and declared themselves as
the National Assembly to draft the constitution of France. Angry crowd stormed the Bastille on 14 th July and the
revolution began.
3 What was the ‘subsistence crisis’ in France? How did it arise?

It is an extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.

The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.

This led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains.

Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand. So the price of bread which was the staple diet

of the majority rose rapidly.

Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops whose owner fixed their wages.

But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
 Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. Shortage of food grains led to price rise,

riots and death. It is called subsistence crisis, something that occurred frequently in France during the Old

Regime.

4 Describe the role of philosophers in the French Revolution?

These ideas of a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, were put forward by
philosophers such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu.

i. In his Two Treatises of Government, Jjohn Locke sought to disprove the doctrine of the divine and
absolute right of the monarch.

ii. Rousseau,in his book The Social Contract carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on
a social contract between people and their representatives.

iii. In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the
legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people
through books and newspapers.

5 Write a short note on the Constitution of 1791 in France.

i. The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly,

which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly.

ii. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at
least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were given the status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote.

iii. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a
member of the Assembly a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.

iv. The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Rights such as the right to life,
freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law, were established as natural and inalienable rights, that
is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.

6.Why did the Third Estate walk out from the Estate General called by the King Louis

XVI in France?

i. Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate
had one vote. This time too Louis XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the third
estate demanded that voting now be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have
one vote. (This was one of the democratic principles put forward by philosophers like Rousseau in his book The
Social Contract.)

ii. When the king rejected this proposal, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly in protest. The
representatives of the third estate viewed themselves as spokesmen for the whole French nation.
7 Describe the political and economic condition of France during the 18th century.

i. In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France.

He was 20 years old and married to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette.

ii. Upon his accession the new king found an empty treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial
resources of France. The cost of maintaining an extravagant court at Versailles was very high.

iii. Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the
common enemy, Britain..

iv. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices
or universities, the state was forced to increase taxes.

8 How did France Become a Constitutional Monarchy?

i. Faced with the power of his revolting subjects, Louis XVI finally accorded

recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be checked
by a constitution.

ii. On the night of 4 August 1789, the Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and
taxes. Members of the clergy too were forced to give up their privileges. Tithes (tax imposed by the Church) were
abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated.

iii. The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution in 1791. Its main object was to limit the
powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one

person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions, the legislature, executive and judiciary. This
made France a constitutional monarchy.

9 How did France become a Republic?

i. Although Louis XVI had signed the Constitution, he entered into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia.
Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send
troops to put down the events that had been taking place there since the summer of 1789.

ii. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and
Austria. Thousands of volunteers joined the army. They saw this as a war of the people against kings and
aristocracies all over Europe.

iii. Political clubs like the Jacobins became an important rallying point for people who wished to discuss
government policies and plan their own forms of action. In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned an
uprising of a large number ofParisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food.

v. On the morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and
held the king himself as hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family.
Elections were held. vi. From now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.
The newly elected assembly was called the Convention. On 21 September1792 it abolished the monarchy and
declared France a republic.
10 Who were the Jacobins? What role did they play in making France a republic?

OR

Name the popular political club in France. Who was its leader?

i. The Jacobins were the successful Political club that became an important rallying

point for people in France who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action.

ii. The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of society. They included
small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and
daily-wage workers. Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.

11 What was the Reign of Terror in France?

OR

Why is the period from 1793 to 1794 referred to as ‘reign of terror’ in France?

i. The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror because it was a

period of severe control and punishment by Robespierre.

ii. All those whom he saw as being enemies of the republic, ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political
parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his methods were arrested, imprisoned and
then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.

iii. If the court found them guilty they were guillotined.

iv. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named
after Dr Guillotine who invented

12 What were the measures taken by Robespierre’s government in bringing equality in French society?

i. Robespierre’s government issued laws for placing a maximum limit on wages and

prices. Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices
fixed by the government.

ii. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat the pain dégalité
(equality bread), a loaf made of whole wheat.

iii. Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address. Instead of the traditional
Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men and women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne
(Citizen)

1 3 Why was a Directory appointed to rule France? What was the result?

The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power. A new constitution
was introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of society. It provided for two elected legislative
councils.
These councils then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members.This was meant as a
safeguard against the concentration of power in a one-man executive as under the Jacobins

However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them. The political
instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte

14 Name the women club of France. What was the main aim of these clubs?
a) The Society of Revolutionary and The Republican Women
Their main demands was that women enjoy same political rights as men. They also demanded the right
to vote, to be elected to the assembly and to hold political office.
15 What was the role of women in revolution in France?
Women actively participated in all events of French revolution.
Women started political club and news papers to voice their interests.
Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens

. They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office.

Women’s struggle for equal political rights, however, continued. During the Reign of Terror,

the new government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs and banning their political activities.

Many prominent women were arrested and a number of them executed.

It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.

16 How was slavery abolished in France?

French colonies in Carribbean Islands had tobacco ,indigo, sugar and coffee plantation, where slavery was
prevalent.

The growing demand of these commodities in Europe was met because of the slave trade in Africa.

The ‘National Assembly’ debated on the issue of the slave trade.

The convention in 1794 finally passed a law freeing all slaves in French colonies.

However this lasted for only 10 years.

Napoleon reintroduced slavery. It was finally abolished in 1848.

17 Give an account of revolution and everyday life.

The period following 1789 in France saw many changes in the life of all the people.

The government passed laws to put the ideal of liberty and equality in to practice.

One such law was the abolition of censorship.

The declaration of rights of man and citizen made freedom of speech and expression a natural right.

This led to the spread of written materials, news papers and books discussing changes in France.

People could oppose the views of events. Plays, songs and festivals became ways for people to identify with the
ideas of liberty and equality.
 18 Give an account of the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon was a great French general.

As the commander of the French army in the war between revolutionary France and Europe, he won many
victories and rose to fame.

He overthrew the Directory and crowned himself the emperor of France in 1804.

He removed dynasties and placed members of his family as rulers in Europe.

Considering himself as a modernizer of Europe, he introduced many reforms like the protection of private
property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.

Initially, he was seen as a liberator bringing freedom for the people. But soon his armies came to be
considered as an invading force.

Finally an alliance of almost all Europe defeated him in the battle of Waterloo in 1815.He was sent as a
prisoner to the island of St.Helena, where he died in 1821.

19 Describe the impact of the French revolution. or

Describe the contribution or legacy of the revolution to the world history.

The French revolution of 1789 had a deep impact on the countries of Europe and the world .

It gave to the world a new society based on the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity.

It put an end to the autocratic rule and the divine right theory of kings.

It developed the new system of people’s republic.

The people of the world were inspired by the ideas of freedom and popular sovereignty.

20 Which group of French society benefitted from the revolution? Which group were forced to relinquish
power? Which sections of society would have been disappointed with the outcome of revolution?

The middle class benefitted from the French revolution as they got political rights.

The nobles and clergy were forced to relinquish(give away )power.

The peasants and workers were disappointed with the outcome of the revolution as they did not get political
rights. Women were disappointed that the constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens.

21 What laws did the revolutionary government introduce to improve the lives of women?

In the early years, the revolutionary government introduced laws that helped improve the lives of women.
Together with the creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsory for all girls. Their fathers
could no longer force them into marriage against their will. Marriage was made into a contract entered
into freely and registered under civil law.

Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men. Women could now train for

jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.

1)Bordeaux. 2) Nantes. 3)Paris. 4) Marseilles