BV BHAVAN’S RAJAJI VIDYASHRAM
CLASS :IX THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
WARS AND EMPTY TREASURY
1. In 1774 when Louis XVI Bourbon family ascended the throne of France he
found and empty treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial resources
of France.
In this war France helped 13 American colonies to gain their independence so that
the debt increased to more than 3 billion livres.
3. Added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the palace of
Versailles
4. To meet its regular expenses, the state was forced to increase the tax
SOCIAL DISPARITIES
1. There was a Feudal system consisting of three Estates were practised in France
in the Middle Ages
2. The first two Estates formed privileged classes while Third Estate formed
unprivileged class.
3. The first 2 Estates comprised the minority of population and owned 60percent
of the land. They were exempted from paying taxes to the state
4. The Third Estate
It consists of Peasants, labour servants, artisans, traders, court officials and big
business men
5. Peasants made up of about 90 per cent of the population and only few owned
the land
6. Peasants had to pay feudal dues to the nobles
7. They had to pay Tithes (tax) to the church and Taille (tax) to the state. Apart
from these direct taxes, they had to pay a number of indirect taxes on the goods
of day today consumption.
8. The burden of financial activities of the state was borne by the Third Estate
alone
SUBSISTENCE CRISIS
1. Population increased from 23 million in1715 to 28 million in1789
2. Production of grains could not keep pace with the increased demand of food
grains
3. Food grains price increased but no increase in wages of workers.
4. When there was a calamity like drought or hail, it a led to subsistence crisis
5. Subsistence crisis was an extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood
were endangered
RISE OF MIDDLE CLASS
1. In the 18 th century ,there was a emergence of middle class which included
merchants, manufacturers, professionals and officials.
2. They were educated and believed that no group in a society should be
privileged by birth .Rather, a person‘s social position must depend on his merit.
3. They wanted to build a society based on freedom and equal laws
INFLUENCE OF PHILOSOPHERS
1. Being educated the members of middle class had access to the various ideas of
equality and freedom proposed by French and English political philosophers.
2. John Locke: In his book Two Treaties of government, he sought to refute the
doctrine of the divine and absolute right of monarch
3.Jean Jacques Rousseau: Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of
government based on a social contract between people and their representatives
.If the ruler did not fulfils contract, the people had the right to withdraw their
loyalty to him and bring down the ruler by revolting
4. Charles Montesquieu: A noble man by birth wrote a book, ” The spirit of Laws”
where he criticised autocracy and praised the democratic republic. He proposed a
division of power within the government between the legislature, executive and
judiciary
5. The ideas of philosophers were discussed intensively in saloons and coffee
houses and spread among people through books and newspapers.
Majority of the people were suffered by the financial burden and
the inequality in the society. They were influenced by the new ideas of
philosophers and rose against the government.
2. What was the role of the Jacobins in the French Revolution?
1. Jacobin clubs became an important rallying point for the people who wished to
discuss government policies and plans and their own forms of action.
2. In 1792,the Jacobins planned an insurrection of large number of Parisians who
were angered by short supplies and high food prices.
3. On the morning of August10, 1792. They stormed the Palace of the Tuileries
massacred the king’s greeds and held the king as hostage for several hours.
4. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family
5. Elections were held and from then all men of 21 years regardless of wealth
were given the Right to vote.
6. The newly elected assembly was called the Convention
7. On 21 Sept 1792 it abolished the monarch and declared France a Republic
8. They ruled France under their leader Maximilian Robespierre from 1793.
3. Describe the” Reign of Terror”
1. Reign of Terror refers to the period 1793-94 when France became a republic
under Maximilian Robespierre and followed a policy of severe control and
punishment
2. All those who saw as enemies of the republic, e.g., 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
Revolutionary Tribunal.
3. Atmosphere of restlessness, insecurity and anxiety prevailed.
4. When the tribunal found them guilty, they were guillotined
4. How did the Revolution affect the everyday life of the French people?
1. Revolutionary ideas of equality, and liberty transformed the clothes people
wore, the language they spoke and books they read.
2. With the abolition of censorship in 1789 and the Declaration of Rights of Man
and Citizen in 1791, freedom of speech became a natural right. This led to the
growth of newspapers, books, pamphlets and printed pictures.
3. Freedom of the press enabled voicing of opinions and counter opinions.
4. At flourished in the form of paintings, plays, songs and festive processions.
5. Visual and oral art forms enabled even the common man who could not read
and write to relate with the ideas of liberty, equality and justice.
