PRAYAS ACADEMY FRENCH REVOLUTION HISTORY NOTES

The Beginning-
France had been fighting off and been a monarchy as long as the year of 1789.
It has been under the reign of the bourbon dynasty, the chapter introduces to the
king of the bourbon dynasty who was a monarch at the time of French Revolution.

LOUIS XVI MARIE ANTOINETTE

Under Louis XVI reign-

❖ France has been helping 13 american colonies fight off one common enemy,
Britain.
❖ There was also the cost of maintaining the extravagant palace of Versallies.
❖ He was married to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette.
❖ He was in debt of 2 billion livres.

DIVISION OF THE FRENCH SOCIETY-

FIRST ESTATE - CLERGY (CHURCH) TAX- TITHE

They are privilege born.

SECOND ESTATE- NOBILITY (LORDS, RELATIVES OF THE KING)

They are privilege born.

THIRD ESTATE - PEASANTS, BUSINESSMAN, LAWYERS

They were burdened to pay all the taxes.
 TWO TYPES OF TAXES -

Tithe- It is an indirect tax paid to the church by the third

estate.
Taille- It is a direct tax paid to the state by the third
estate.
Subsistence Crisis:
A situation where there is a shortage of goods which needs to be given to the
common people.
As the France population increased from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in
1789, there has been a surge of demands for the grains and bread which led to the
shortage for some, the people were starving out of hunger. This is known as the
subsistence crisis in France. This happened frequently in the Old Regime (the period
of Louis XVI reign).

ROLE OF PHILOSOPHERS-

John Locke Jean Rousseau Montesquieu

(two treatises of govt) (the social contract) (the spirit of laws)

As the people travelled to the distant lands for trade, they came back to France with
various ideas of how to work and inspire the people against the monarchy.

These three philosophies were taken into account in understanding the various forms of
government.

John locke stated that Rousseau stated that Montesquie brought

to refute the doctrine he believed in the form theory of separation of
of the divine and of republic where the powers among the
absolute right of people elects the head power between
monarch. of the state. executive, legislative,
judiciary.
ESTATES GENERAL MEETING- 5th May 1789
❖ In France, the monarch didn’t have the power to impose taxes. They had to
call a meeting of the Estates-General, a political body to which the three
estates sent their representatives, to pass proposals for new taxes.
❖ Louis XVI, on 5 May 1789, called an assembly to pass proposals for new taxes.
Representatives from the first and second estates (300 each and each) were
present and the third estate(600) was represented by its prosperous and
educated members.
❖ According to the principle each estate had one vote. But, representatives from
the third estate demanded each member would have one vote. The demand
was rejected so members of the third estate walked out to protest and reached
the Tennis Court in Versailles and hence they took the Tennis court oath.

20th June 1789 Tennis Court Oath (Leaders- Mirabeau and Abbé Seiyas)
❖ Due to the severe winter, bread price rose and people had to spend hours in long queues. Rumours
spread that the lords of the manor hired bands of brigands to destroy the ripe crops.
❖ In fear, peasants started looting hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing records of
manorial dues. Nobles fled from their homes.
❖ Louis XVI accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the principle that his powers
would from now on be checked by a constitution.
❖ The Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes on 4 August
1789. Tithes were abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated.

BASTILLE- 14th July 1789

❖ In 1789, in the wake of early morning, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm.
Rumours spread that the King would open fire upon the citizens.
❖ People started gathering and they started breaking a number of government buildings in
search of arms.
❖ The commander of the Bastille was killed in the armed fight and the prisoners were
released.
❖ People hated the Bastille as it stood for the despotic power of the king. People protested
against the high price of bread.
❖ A new chain of events began which led to the execution of the King in France.

BASTILLE-14TH JULY1789

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

In 1791, The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution and its main
object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers were now separated and
assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary. France became
a constitutional monarchy.
 CHARTER of RIGHTS

ACTIVE CITIZEN PASSIVE CITIZEN

Men above 25 years of age who paid taxes Men, women and children are not entitled
equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage to vote.
were entitled to vote.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

❖ In April 1792, the National Assembly voted for a war against Prussia and Austria.
❖ Marseillaise became the national anthem of France.
❖ While men were away fighting at the war, women took care of their families.
Large sections of the population demanded that the revolution had to be carried
further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections
of society.
❖ Political clubs were formed and among them, Jacobins became the most successful
club. Members of the Jacobin club included small shopkeepers, artisans such as
shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and
daily-wage workers.
❖ Jacobin members started wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn by
dockworkers. These Jacobins were called the sans-culottes, literally meaning
‘those without knee breeches’.
On August 10 1792, Jacobins stormed the Palace of the Tuileries and held the
king hostage for several hours. Elections were held and all men of 21 years
and above got the right to vote. Monarchy was abolished on 21 September
1792 and France was declared a republic. Louis XVI was sentenced to death
by a court on the charge of treason.
REIGN OF TERROR- 1793-94

MAXIMILIAN ROBISPEIRRE GUILLOTINE

❖ The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. People
whom Robespierre saw enemies of the republic were arrested, imprisoned
and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
❖ If they were declared guilty by the court then they were guillotined.
❖ The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a
person is beheaded, named after Dr Guillotin.
❖ Laws were issued to place a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.
❖ Meat and bread were rationed. Expensive white flour was forbidden to use.
Equality was practised through forms of speech and address.
❖ All French men and women were addressed as Citoyen and Citoyenne
(Citizen). In July 1794, he was convicted by a court arrested and the next
day sent to the guillotine.
A DIRECTORY RULE OF FRANCE

-
❖ Fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize
power.
❖ According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society denied
voting. It provided for two elected legislative councils.
❖ The government appointed a Directory, consisting of executives made up of five
members. Political instability paved the way for a military dictator, Napoleon
Bonaparte.

Did Women have a Revolution?

❖ Women were active participants from the beginning which brought important
changes in the country France.
❖ Women from the third estate had to work for a living and they didn’t have access
to education or job training.
❖ Daughters of nobles of the third estate were allowed to study at a convent.
Working women also had to care for their families.
❖ Compared to men, their wages were lower. Women also started their political
clubs and newspapers.
❖ The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was one of the most famous
women’s clubs. They demanded equal political rights as men, the right to vote and
to hold political office. The revolutionary government introduced laws to improve
the lives of women. Schooling became compulsory, divorce made legal and they
could run small businesses.
❖ During the Reign of Terror, the government closed women’s clubs banning their
political activities. After much struggle, women in France in 1946 won the right to
vote.
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY-

Jacobin regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of slavery in
the French colonies. In the seventeenth century, slavery trade began. Slaves were
brought from local chieftains, branded and shackled and were packed tightly into
ships for the three-month-long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Slave
labour met the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.
Throughout the eighteenth century, there was little criticism of slavery in France.
In 1794, the Convention legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas
possessions. Napoleon introduced slavery after ten years. In 1848, slavery was
abolished in French colonies.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE-
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France, in 1804 and introduced many
laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and
measures provided by the decimal system. Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

LEGACY OF FRENCH REVOLUTION-

France during 1789 saw changes in the lives of men, women and children.
Abolition of censorship happened in the summer of 1789. Declaration of the Rights
of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a natural
right. Freedom of press meant opposing views of events could be expressed. Plays,
songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.
The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the
French Revolution. Colonised peoples reworked on the idea of freedom to create a
sovereign nation-state.