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The French Revolution Notes

The French Revolution began in 1789 due to growing social and economic inequality as well as political instability under King Louis XVI. The French society was divided into three unequal estates, with the first two estates exempted from most taxes. Philosophers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu influenced new ideas of equality, liberty, and separation of powers. Dissatisfaction increased as the population grew but harvests did not, leading to famine. The storming of the Bastille prison sparked the revolution. The revolution established a constitutional monarchy and guaranteed rights of citizens.

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DIVYA HARSHINI KURMA
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43 views

The French Revolution Notes

The French Revolution began in 1789 due to growing social and economic inequality as well as political instability under King Louis XVI. The French society was divided into three unequal estates, with the first two estates exempted from most taxes. Philosophers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu influenced new ideas of equality, liberty, and separation of powers. Dissatisfaction increased as the population grew but harvests did not, leading to famine. The storming of the Bastille prison sparked the revolution. The revolution established a constitutional monarchy and guaranteed rights of citizens.

Uploaded by

DIVYA HARSHINI KURMA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FRENCH REVOLUTION

GRADE 9

NOTEBOOK NOTES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Give a short note on French Revolution.

Ans. French revolution started in 1789. The series of events started by the
middle class shaken the upper classes. The people revolted against the
cruel regime of monarchy. This revolution put forward the ideas of liberty,
fraternity, and equality.

• The revolution began on 14th July, 1789 with the storming of the fortress-
prison, the Bastille.
→The Bastille, the fortress prison was hated by all, because it stood for the
despotic power of the king.
→ The fortress was demolished.

2. Describe the Social Causes of the French Revolution:

Social Cause

French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century


The term ‘Old Regime’ is usually used to describe the society and
institutions of France before 1789.

The society was divided into three estates.


1. 1st Estate: Clergy (Group of persons involved in church matters)
2. 2nd Estate: Nobility (Persons who have high rank in state administration)
3. 3rd Estate: (Comprises of Big businessmen, merchants, court officials,
lawyers, Peasants and artisans, landless labour, servants)

• First two classes were exempted from paying taxes. They enjoyed
privileges by birth. Nobility classes also enjoyed feudal privileges.
• Only the members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state.
→ Direct tax called taille and also a number of indirect taxes which were
charged on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
• A tax called Tithe was also collected by the church from the peasants.
• Clergy and Nobility were 10% of the population but possessed 60% of
lands. Third Estate was 90% of the population but possessed 40% of the
lands.

3. Describe the Economic Cause of the French Revolution.

Subsistence Crisis
• The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million
in 1789.
• This increased the demand for the foodgrains. However, production could
not keep pace with the demand which ultimately increased the prices of the
foodgrains.
• Most workers work as labourers in the workshops and they didn’t see
increase in their wages.
• Situation became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.
• This led to the scarcity of foodgrains or Subsistence Crisis which started
occurring frequently during old regime.

4. Explain about the Political Cause of the French revolution.

• Louis XVI came into the power in 1774 and found empty treasury.
• Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France.
• Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain
their independence from the common enemy, Britain which added more
than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion
livres.
• An extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles also cost a lot.
• 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.

5. Describe about the Growing Middle Class in French Society.

• The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups,


termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through overseas trade,
from manufacturing of goods and professions.
• This class was educated believed that no group in society should be
privileged by birth.
• They were inspired by the ideas put forward by the various philosophers
and became a matter of talk intensively for these classes in salons and
coffee-houses and spread among people through books and newspapers.
• The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an
important example for political thinkers in France.

6. Name the Philosophers and their contribution in revolution

• John Locke: (written a book named ‘Two Treatises of Government’) in


which he criticized the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the
monarch.
• Jean Jacques Rousseau (written a book named ‘Social Contract’) in
which he proposed a form of government based on a social contract
between people and their representatives.
• Montesquieu (written a book named ‘The Spirit of the Laws’) in which he
proposed a division of power within the government between the
legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
7. Describe about the French Constitution at that time.

• 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 given 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.
• Various Political Symbols:
→ The broken chain: stands for the act of becoming free.
→ The bundle of rods or fasces: Show strength lies in unity.
→ The eye within a triangle radiating light: The all-seeing eye stands for
knowledge.
→ Sceptre: Symbol of royal power.
→ Snake biting its tail to form a ring: Symbol of Eternity.
→ Red Phrygian cap: Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free.
→ Blue-white-red: The national colours of France.
→ The winged woman: Personification of the law.
→ The Law Tablet: The law is the same for all, and all are equal before it.

8. Explain the impact of the French Revolution on the life of people


of French.

 Divorce was made legal, and could be applied by both women and
men. Women could be now trained for jobs, could become artists or
run small businesses.
 The Constitution of 1791 began with a Declaration of the Rights of
Man and Citizen. It proclaimed that Freedom of speech and opinion
and equality before law were natural rights of each human being by
birth. These could not be taken away.
 Newspapers, pamphlets and printed pictures appeared steadily in the
towns of French. From there, they travelled into the countryside.
These publications described and discussed the events and changes
taking place in the country.
9. Explain any five features of the Constitution drafted in 1791.
Answer:

 The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the


National Assembly, which was indirectly elected.
 With the new Constitution the powers of govern the country were
assigned to different institutions, i.e., the legislature, executive and the
judiciary.
 The judiciary and the legislature were elected by the people. 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.
 Under this system the powers of the monarch were limited. Most of the
powers were in the hands of legislatures.
 The ministers were also answerable to the legislature. The king
enjoyed the veto power.

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