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ISO: 9001 – 2015 The French Revolution (History)

Empty Treasury
Mind Map: Due to war and luxury living

Causes of
Increase in Population French Bad Harvest and increase
and Subsistence Crises Revolution in price of bread

Division of Estates
and Privileges
Mind Map: Society of Estate:

1st Estate
CLERGY

2nd Estate
NOBILITY

Big Businessmen, merchants, court

officials, lawyers etc.

Peasants and artisans

Small peasants, landless labour,servants

Question and Answers:
1. Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.

A. The French revolution broke out due to various social, economic, intellectual and political factors.
Following are some of the causes which had a cumulative effect to result in revolution in France:

a. The war with Britain for an independent America: This war led to mounting debt on the French
monarchy. This necessitated imposition of new taxes on the public.
b. Privilege based on birth: People got privileges and position based on their lineage and not on their
merit. This led to resentment among common people.
c. Concentration of power among the privileged: People belonging to the first and second estate had
all the power and money. Masses were at the mercy of this privileged class.
d. Subsistence Crisis: Rising population and less grain production resulted in demand supply gap of
bread, which was the staple diet. Wages did not keep pace with rising prices. It was becoming
difficult for people.
e. Growing Middle Class: Because of increased overseas trade a new class emerged. This class was
wealthy not because of birth but because of its ability to utilize opportunities. People of the middle
class started raising their voice for an end to privileges based on lineage.

All of this led to a general sense of resentment among people. Certain thinkers of the period spread
awareness through various media. Some from the privileged classes also advocated a switch to democracy.
So, finally there was revolution in France.

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:
1. The middle class benefitted from the French revolution. It included the merchants, Manufacturers
and professionals such as lawyers and administrative officials.
2. The feudal lords and clergy were forced to relinquish power
3. The peasants and workers were disappointed with the outcome of the revolution.
3. Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.
Answer:
1. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights are the most important legacies of the French revolution.
2. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems
were abolished.
3. Colonized people reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a
sovereign nation-state.
4. Tipu Sultan and Ram Mohan Roy are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas
originating from Revolutionary France.
5. Thus, the greatest effect was the starting the mass movements all over world and instilling the spirit
of nationalism among people.
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 and expression.

2. Right equality-equality before law
3. Right to life
4. Right to vote

5. Would you agree with the view that the message of universal rights was beset with contradictions?
Explain.

Answer:1. Contradicting Equality before Law

● The Universal Right were beset with contradictions.

● The Declaration of the Rights of the Man and Citizen spoke about Equality before Law.

● In reality this was not implemented.

● The rich people had the sole right of representing all the people. The poor people did not have any
right to represent themselves.
● This lack of equality before law was clearly noted by the revolutionary journalist named Jean-Paul
Marat in his newspaper The Friend of the People (L’Ami du peuple).

2. Contradicting Many Rights – Reign of Terror

● The Declaration of Man and Citizen spoke about responsibility of the State to protect the natural
rights of citizens, and it also spoke giving freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, and right to life.
● But all these freedoms were taken away during the Reign of Terror.

● The Policy of severe punishment and control was followed by Robespierre during the Reign of
Terror.
● Members of his own party, members of other political parties, clergy, ex-nobles who had different
opinions were arrested, imprisoned and executed, which was completely contradictory to the
assurance of Right to Life, freedom of Speech.

3. Contradicting Right to Life, Freedom of Speech

● In 1793, Camille Desmoulins, a Revolutionary Journalist wrote about the meaning of Liberty. He
wrote Liberty was all about justice, equality, happiness, and reason.
● He opposed the views of people who believed Liberty had to go through the phase of discipline and
Maturity.
● He was soon executed, contradicting the meaning of Freedom of Speech and Right to Life.

5. How would you explain the rise of Napoleon?

Or
Define the role of Napoleon as a modernizer of Europe.
Answer:
1. Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.
2. He started conquering neighboring countries by waging wars against them.
3. He saw himself as a modernizer of Europe.
4. He introduced many laws, such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights
and measures provided by the decimal system.
5. Many of his measures carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to the other parts of
Europe.
6. 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.
6. The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution in 1791’. Mention any two
features of the Constitution.
Answer:

● It vested the power to make laws in the hands of National Assembly,

● It limited the powers of the monarch. Now powers were decentralized and assigned to different
institutions.

7. Write a short note on Reign of Terror.

Answer:

▪ The period from 1793 to 1794 CE is known as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre, the leader of

Jacobin club, followed a policy of strict control and punishment.

▪ He arrested, imprisoned and then tried all the people he saw as enemies of the republic through a

revolutionary tribunal.

▪ They included exnobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own

party who did not agree with his methods. If the court found them guilty, they were guillotined.

▪ Robespierres government issued laws placing an upper limit on wages and prices. All the people

were allowed to have only a fixed amount of meat and bread.

▪ Peasants were forced to send their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government.

The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden.

▪ All the citizens were required to eat a loaf of bread made of whole wheat.

▪ Churches were shut down and their buildings were converted into barracks or offices.

8. Explain the impact of the French Revolution on the life of people of French.
Answer:
● French Revolution put an end to absolute monarchy and paved way for a republican government.

● Feudalism and serfdom were also abolished.

● 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.

● 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

9. 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.
Or
‘Social disparity was one of the major causes of the French Revolution.’ Justify by giving
examples.
Answer:
1) Division of the society into three Estates:
i) The First Estate: It consisted of the clergymen and church-fathers.
ii) The Second Estate: It consisted of landlords, men of noble birth and aristocrats.
iii) The Third Estate: It consisted of the vast majority of the common masses, the landless
peasants, servants etc.
2. Heavy burden of taxes on the Third Estate: The members of the first two estates were exempted
from paying taxes to the state. So all the taxes were paid by the people of the Third Estate.
3. Wide gap between people of different people of different Estates: Most of the people of the
Third Estate were employed as labourers in workshops with fixed wages. The wages failed to keep
pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
4. No political rights: Out of the total population, the First and the Second Estates had share of 2%.
The remaining people belonged to the Third Estate. Although the upper two classes made up only
a small fraction of the total population, yet they were the people who controlled the political and
economic system of the nation. They enjoyed all the ‘rights and privileges. The entire machinery
of the government was designed to protect their interests and privileges. The people belonging to
the Third Estate did not enjoy any political rights.
10. What was the role of philosophers and thinkers in the French Revolution? Explain by giving
three examples.
Answer:There were many French philosophers and thinkers like John Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau,
Voltaire and Mirabeau, who exposed the evils prevailing in the system. They inspired people with the
idea of liberty, equality and fraternity.
i. Charles Montesquieu (1689-1775): A nobleman by birth, he became a lawyer
and a judge. In his book, “The Spirit of Laws”, he criticized autocracy and
praised the democratic republic.
ii. Francis Aronet Voltaire (1694-1778): Voltaire was another outstanding
philosopher of the Revolution. He wanted the people to think about their
material life on earth, and forget about heaven. He condemned the Church
which supported the privileged class, and ignored the poor.
iii. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): Rousseau is regarded as the architect of
the French Revolution. He gave the slogan “Man was born free, yet he is
everywhere in chains”. In the famous book. “The Social Contract”, he proved
that the government was the result of a social contract between the people on
the one hand, and ruler on the other. So if the ruler did not fulfill the contract,
the people had the right to withdraw their loyalty to him, and bring down the
tyranny of the ruler, by revolting.
iv. John Locke: He was also a great political thinker. He wrote “Two Treatises of
Government’ in which he sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and the
absolute right of the monarch.