Class 9 History Chapter 1

The French Revolution

Very Short Answer Questions

1. When did the French Revolution begin?

Or
When was the Bastille Prison stormed?
Answer: It began on 14th July, 1789 with the storming of the Bastille prison
just outside Paris.

2. Louis XVI belonged to which dynasty?

Or
Which ruler came to power in France in 1774?
Answer: Louis XVI belonged to the Bourbon dynasty. He became the king of
France 1774.

3. The new Constitution of France drafted in 1791 immediately after the

revolution made France what kind of state?
Answer: It made France a Constitutional monarchy, with the powers of the
king severely limited.

4. Who was the leader of the Jacobin club?

Answer: The leader of the Jacobin club was Maximilian Robespierre.

5. Who was the author of the pamphlet called ‘What is the Third Estate’?
Answer: Abbe Sieyes, originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called
‘What is the Third Estate’.
6. What was the charge on which king Louis XVI was sentenced to death?
Answer: Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of
treason. On 21st January, 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la
Concorde.

7. What was the name of the assembly which was called in France in
1792?
Or
Who abolished monarchy in France and declared it a republic and when?
Answer: On 21st September, 1792 the Convention, the newly elected assembly
abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.

8. A triangular slave trade was held between which areas of the world
during the 18th century?
Or
Between which three continents triangular slave trade was held?
Answer: A triangular slave trade was held between Europe, Africa and the
Americas to meet a shortage of labour on the plantations in the Americas.

9. When did Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France?

Answer: He crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804.

10. When and where was Napoleon Bonaparte finally defeated?

Answer: Napoleon was finally defeated at the battle of Waterloo in 1815.

11. Who did seize power after the fall of the Jacobin government?
Answer: The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle
classes to seize power in the form of a political body called Directory.
12. Who did lead the representatives of the third estate in Versailles on
20th June, 1789?
Answer: The representatives of the third estate were led by Mirabeau and
Abbe Sieyes.

13. What was the name of the direct tax collected by the state from the
peasants in 18th century France? What was tithe?

Answer: These included A direct tax, called taille was collected by the state.

Tithe was a tax levied by the church, comprising at least one tenth of the
agricultural produce by the farmers.

14. When was slavery finally abolished in the French colonies?

Answer: Slavery was finally abolished in the French colonies in 1848.

15. Who wrote a ‘Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens’?

Answer: Olympe de Gouges wrote a ‘Declaration of the Rights of Women and
Citizens’ in 1791.

16. When did the women in France get the right to vote?|
Or
When did women in France finally get the right to vote in France?
Answer: In 1946, the women in France won the right to vote.

17. Why was the Bastille hated by all?

Or
What did the fall of the Bastille signify?
Answer: The Bastille, the fortress prison was hated by all, because it stood for
the despotic power of the king.

18. When was monarchy abolished and France declared a republic?

Answer: On 21st September, 1792 monarchy was abolished and France
became a republic.

19. What was the most important legacy of the French Revolution?
Answer: The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important
legacy of the French Revolution.

20. Name the important political clubs formed by women in France to

fight for their political rights.
Answer: The society of Revolutionary and The Republican Women.

21. What was ‘Directory’?

Answer: Directory was an executive made up of five members. They were
appointed by two elected legislative councils.

22. How Robespierre’s end came?

Answer: Robespierre was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on
the next day sent to the guillotine and killed in the same manner he punished
guilty people.

23. What was Guillotine?

Answer: Guillotine was a device consisting of two poles and a blade with
which a person is beheaded. It was named after Dr. Guillotine, who invented it.
24. Who introduced ‘Reign of terror’ in France?
Answer: Robespierre introduced Reign to Terror when he followed a policy of
severe control and punishment in France.

25. Who were ‘Sans-Culottes’?

Answer: Those Jacobins were known as Sans-Culottes, who were without knee
breeches and who wore red caps to symbolize liberty.

26. What was ‘Marseillaise’?

Answer: It was a patriotic song sung by volunteers of Marseilles as they
marched into Paris. Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France.

27. Who could qualify as an Elector?

Or
Who were electors?
Answer: To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a
man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.

28. When was the draft of the National Assembly’s constitution

completed and what was its main objective?
Answer: The draft of the constitution was completed in 1791 and its main
objective was to limit the powers of the monarch.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. What was the subsistence crisis? Why did it occur in France during the
Old Regime?
Answer: Definition- Subsistence crisis can be defined as an extreme situation
where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.
Reason- The population of France was on the rise. It rose from 23 million in
1715 to 28 million in 1789.
This led to an increase in the demand for food grains. The production of food
grains could not keep pace with the demand and the price of bread which was
the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly. The wages also did not keep pace
with the rise in prices. This led to the subsistence crisis in France.

2. What was the system of voting in the Estates General? What change
did the Third Estate want in this system?

Answer: Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted
according to the principle that each estate had one vote. Members of the
Third Estate demanded that voting must now be conducted by the assembly
as a whole, where each member would have one vote.
This was according to the democratic principles put forward by philosophers
like Rousseau in his book “The Social Contract”.

3. What were ‘natural and inalienable rights’?

Answer: The constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizens. Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of
opinion, equality before law were established as ‘natural and inalienable
rights’, i.e., they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be
taken away. It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

4. What was the importance of the Declaration of the Rights of Man?

Answer: The document ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man” passed by France’s
National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, hit the prevailing European
system which was based on privileges. It is a fundamental document of the
French Revolution that granted civil rights such as faith in equality, liberty and
fraternity.

5. Discuss the role of women in the French Revolution.

Answer: Women were active participants in the events related to the French
Revolution of 1789. Most women of the Third Estate had to work for a living as
seamstresses, flower-sellers, vegetable and fruit sellers. They led a hard life,
and were paid lower wages. So to discuss and voice their interests they began
their own newspapers and political clubs. They put forward their political and
economic demands.

6. Who formed the National Assembly? On which day is ‘Bastille Day’

celebrated and why?

Answer: The representatives of the Third Estate assembled at Versailles on 20

June 1789 and declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to
disperse till they had drafted a constitution for France. The Bastille Day is
celebrated on 14th July every year because on this day the unruly Paris mob
stormed and attacked the prison of Bastille which was considered a symbol of
terror and despotism.

7. Name three famous writers and philosophers who influenced the

French Revolution. What were their ideas?

Answer: Jean Jacques Rousseau – Rousseau proposed an idea of government

based on social contract between people and their representatives.
Montesquieu – In his book ‘The Spirit of Laws’, Montesquieu proposed a
division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive
and the judiciary.

John Locke – In his ‘two treaties of government’, John sought to refute the
doctrine of divine and the absolute right of monarch.

8. Who were the sans culottes? Who were able to control them in the
end?

Answer: A large among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped
trousers similar to those worn by dock workers. To set themselves apart from
the fashionable sections of the society, especially nobles, who wore knee
breeches. It was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by
wearers of knee breeches. These Jacobins came to be known as the sans
culottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches’. After the fall of
Jacobins, power was seized by the wealthier middle class.

9. Which single event turned the revolution into a Reign of Terror?

Describe the role of Robespierre in it.

Answer: The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the ‘‘Reign of Terror’’.
Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. All these he
saw as enemies of the republic.
Examples: Nobles, clergymen and other party members, with whom he did
not agree were arrested, imprisoned, tried and guillotined if found guilty. He
pursued his policies relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand
moderation.
10. How was French Society organised? What privileges did certain
sections of society enjoy?
Or
How far was the French society responsible for the drastic changes
brought about by the revolution?

Answer: French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three
Estates-two privileged estates, i.e. the clergy and the nobility, and the Third
Estate comprising businessmen, traders, lawyers, peasants, workers, poor
people. Out of these, only the members of the Third Estate paid taxes.

The maximum burden of taxes was borne by the common people, which gave
rise to the ‘subsistence crisis’. The growth of an enlightened, educated middle
class plus the role of philosophers like Locke and Rousseau, together brought
about the changes caused by the revolution.

11. Write the importance of Napoleon Bonaparte in the History of France

and the world.

Answer: Napoleon saw himself as a moderniser of Europe. He introduced

many laws such as protection of private property and uniform system of
weights and measures provided by the decimal system. He carried out the
revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe which
he conquered. They had a great impact on people. He was a great general too.

12. What was the Estates General? Which demand of the Third Estate did
Louis XVI reject?

Answer: The estates general was a political body of France to which the three
estates sent their representatives which would then pass the proposal of new
taxes.
The Third Estate demanded that voting in the assembly should be conducted
as a whole and each member should have one vote. This was rejected by King
Louis XVI.

13. What is the significance of ‘The Tennis Court Oath’ in the French
Revolution?

Answer: The representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as

spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20th June, 1789, they assembled
in the hall of on indoor tennis court in the grommets of versailles. They
declared themselves a national assembly and score not the disperse till they
had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the
monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes.

14. Write three main features of the French constitution of 1791.

Answer: (a) The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in
1791. Its main objective was to limit the powers of the monarch.
(b) The power to make laws was vested in the National Assembly. Citizens
voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the assembly.
(c) Rights like the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion,
equality before law were established as ‘natural and inalienable’ rights. It as
the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

15. What was the contribution of Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes to the
French Revolution?
Answer: On 20 June, 1789, the representatives of the Third Estate had
assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles.
They were led by Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes.

Himself from a noble family, Mirabeau was convinced of the need to do away
with a society of feudal privileges. He brought out a journal and delivered
powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at Versailles. Abbe Sieyes,
originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called ‘What is the Third
Estate’?

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Explain the “Reign of Terror” in brief. [CBSE 2015]

Answer: The following points explain the Reign of Terror:

(a) The period from 1793 to 1794 is called the Reign of Terror because
Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. Ex-nobles,
clergy, members of other political parties and even the members of his own
party, who did not agree with his methods, were arrested, imprisoned and
guillotined.
(b) Laws were issued by Robespierre’s government laws were issued by
placing a maximum ceiling of wages and prices. Meat and bread were
rationed.
(c) Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at
prices fixed by the government. The use of more expensive white flour was
forbidden; all citizens were required to eat the equality bread.
(d) Equality was also sought to be practiced through forms of speech and
address. Instead of the traditional Sir and Madam, French men and women
were addressed as citizen.
(e) Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or
offices. Finally, Robespierre was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and
the next day, sent to the guillotine.

2. Explain the features of the constitution of France drafted in 1791.

Answer: (a) The constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution in
France, created after the collapse of absolute rule.
(b) Its main aim was to limit the powers of the monarch.
(c) Powers were then divided/separated and assigned to different institutions
like legislative, executive and judiciary.
(d) According to this, active citizens of France elected electors who in turn
voted to elect the National Assembly.
(e) Not all citizens had the right to vote. Only men of 25 years of age who
paid taxes equal to at least three days of a labourer’s wage. They were called
active citizens.
(f) The remaining men and all women were called the passive citizens.
(g) The National Assembly controlled the king. France became a constitutional
monarchy.

3. Describe the incidents that led to the storming of the Bastille.

Answer: (a) While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a
constitution, the rest of France was seething with turmoil. A severe winter had
meant a bad harvest, the price of bread rose.
(b) The situation worsened When bakers started hoarding supplies.
(c) After spending hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry
women stormed into the shops. At the same time, the king had ordered
troops to move into Paris. On 14 July,1789 the agitated crowd stormed and
destroyed Bastille.
(d) In the armed fight the commander was killed and all the seven prisoners
were released. Bastile was hated by all because it stood for despotic powers of
the king.
(e) The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the
market to all those who wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction.

4. Why did slavery begin and why was it abolished in French colonies?

Answer: (a) The slave trade began in the 17th century. The colonies in the
Caribbean – Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo – were important
Suppliers of commodities.
(b) But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and unfamiliar
lands meant a shortage of labour on the plantations.
(c) Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in
France. The National Assembly did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from
businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.
(d) It was the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the
French overseas possessions. This, however, turned out to be a short-term
measure. Napoleon reintroduced slavery.
(e) Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

5. what is a revolution? In what ways did the French Revolution mean

different to different people?

Answer: It is an attempt by a large number of people to change the

government of a country, especially by violent action.
It has changed the life of many people in the following manner.
(a) The Third Estate comprising the common men benefited from the
Revolution.
(b) The clergy and nobility had to relinquish power. Their land was
confiscated. Their privileges were finished.
(c) The people of lower middle class also benefited. Position of artisans and
workers improved.
(d) Clergy, feudal lords, nobles and even women were disappointed.
(e) The revolution did not bring real equality as everyone was not given the
right to vote meaning women who got it finally in 1946.

6. Describe how the new political system of constitutional monarchy

worked in France.

Answer: The Constitution of 1791- The new system had many new
following changes in the functioning of government.
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.

7. How did Robespierre propose to bring about equality in the French

society?

Answer: Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment to

bring about equality in the French society. He brought many following
changes.
(a) He put a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.
(b) Meat and bread were rationed.
(c) Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at
prices fixed by the government.
(d) The use of expensive white flour was prohibited. .All citizens were required
to eat the equality bread made of whole wheat.
(e) Equality was also practised through forms of speech and address. All
French men and women were called Citoyen and Citoyenne respectively
(citizens).
8. What are the three important ideas of the French Revolution? How
were they guaranteed under the constitution of 1791?

Answer: The three important ideas of the French revolution was Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity.
The constitution passed the right of man and citizen and the following rights
were established as ‘natural and unalienable’ rights:
(a) Right to life,
(b) Freedom of speech,
(c) Freedom of opinion,
(d) Equality before law
Rights were given by birth and could not be taken away. The duty of the state
was to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

9. What were the causes for the empty treasure of France under Louis
XIV? Assess any three causes.

Answer: (a) Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France.
Under Louis XIV, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their
independence from the common enemy, British. The war added more than a
billion lives to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion lives.
(b) Lenders who gave the state credit began to charge 10 percent interests on
loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an increasing
percentage of its budget on interest payments alone.
(c) The cost of maintaining the army, the court, government officials and
universities was very high.
10. ‘‘The inequality that existed in the French society in the Old Regime
became the cause of French Revolution.’’ Justify the statement by giving
three suitable examples.

Answer: (a) Peasants constituted about 90 per cent of the population but
about 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the church and richer
members of the Third Estate.

(b) The clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most
important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state.
The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges. These included feudal dues,
which they extracted from the peasants.

(c) The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by
the Third Estate alone. Taxes included tithes collected by the church from the
peasants and taille, a direct tax, and a number of indirect taxes which were
levied on activities of everyday consumption like salt and tobacco.

Thus the members of the Third Estate groaned under heavy taxation with no
privileges whatever. This led to a deep sense of resentment among the
members of the Third Estate who galvanised and led the revolution.

12. Explain the condition which led to the rise of Jacobins.

Answer: (a) The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties
to the people. Huge sections of the population were convinced that the
revolution had to be carried further, as the constitution of 1791 gave political
rights only to the richer sections of society.
(b) Political clubs became an important rallying point for people who wished
to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action. The most
successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins which got its name from the
former convent of St. Jacob in Paris.

(c) In the summer of 1792, the Jacobins planned an insurrection of a large

number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices
of food. On August 10, they stormed the palace of the Tuileries, massacred the
king’s guards and held the king himself hostage for several hours. Later the
Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. The Jacobin regime from 1793 to
1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror.

13. How did the peasants contribute to the outbreak of the French
Revolution? Explain.

Answer: The peasants constituted the majority of the Third Estate which led
the revolution. Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population.
However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. They
had to bear the burden of taxes. The nobles extracted feudal dues from the
peasants.

Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord–to work in his house and
fields and to serve in the army or to participate in building roads. The
exploitation of peasantry and their misery led the peasants to revolt.

They became the most vociferous section of the Third Estate which led the
revolution. Moreover, the peasants were the worst victims of the Subsistence
Crisis which occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime.
NCERT Solutions – Social Science History Chapter 1

Exercise Page No. 24

1. Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary

protest in France.

Answer:

When King Louis XVI was appointed as the new king, he found an empty

treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. On

top of this, there was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the

Palace of Versailles. France had helped the thirteen American colonies gain

their independence from their common enemy, Britain.

Raising taxes did not suffice, because the French society was divided into 3

estates and only the 3rd estate had to pay taxes. The 1st estate and the 2nd

estate did not pay any taxes.

The population of France was also growing massively. This led to a rapid

increase in the demand for food grains. Production of grains could not keep

pace with demand. So the price of bread, which was the staple diet of the

majority rose rapidly. But the wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices.

So the gap between the rich and the poor widened.

All these factors led to the outbreak of the French Revolution.

2. Which groups of French society benefited from the revolution? Which

groups were forced to relinquish power? Which sections of society would

have been disappointed with the outcome of the revolution?

Answer:

French society was divided into 3 estates. The third estate benefitted the

most. The third estate consisted of Peasants, artisans, Small peasants,

landless labour, servants, big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers

etc. The groups that were forced to relinquish power were the people

belonging to the 1st and 2nd estate. These people had enjoyed certain

privileges by birth. With the revolution, the people in 1st and 2nd estate lost

their privileges. Because inequality was one of the root causes of the

revolution, the revolution tried to bring equality to society.

3. Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world

during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Answer:

The ideas of liberty and democratic rights are the most important legacies of

the French revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during

the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished. Colonised

people reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to

create a sovereign nation-state. Tipu Sultan and Ram Mohan Roy are two

examples of individuals who responded to the ideas originating from

Revolutionary France.
4. Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be

traced to the French Revolution.

Answer:

The list of democratic rights are

1. Freedom of speech
2. Freedom of expression
3. Freedom of press
4. Abolition of censorship
5. Right to vote
6. Abolition of slavery
7. Right to liberty
8. Right to property
9. Right to security
10. Right to education
11. Divorce laws
5. Would you agree with the view that the message of universal rights was

beset with contradictions? Explain.

Answer:

Though it says ‘Universal Rights’, women were unfortunately left out from the

basic rights that were promised. They did not have equal rights that men

enjoyed. They did not have the right to liberty, property, security and above all,

the resistance to oppression. In the formulation of laws, women did not have

any representation. Women were not entitled to all the honours and public

employment, according to their abilities.

6. How would you explain the rise of Napoleon?

Answer:

Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. He started

conquering neighbouring countries by waging wars against them. He saw

himself as a moderniser of Europe. He introduced many laws, such as the

protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures

provided by the decimal system. Many of his measures carried the

revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to the other parts of Europe.

This had a positive impact on people long after he was dethroned as an

emperor when he was finally defeated in the Battle of Waterloo.