Chapter: The French Revolution

Subject: History
Class: IX

Chapter-1: The French Revolution

(Notes)
The French Revolution is regarded as a remarkable event in the history of the world. The
storming of the Bastille prison on 14 July 1789 marked the beginning of the French
Revolution.

Causes of the French Revolution

Inequalities in French Society
• French society was divided into three estates. The first estate consisted of the clergymen,
the second estate consisted of the nobles and the third estate consisted of the common
people most of whom were peasants.
• While the peasants comprised about 90% of the French population, only few owned
land. 60% of the land was owned by the members of the first two estates.
• One of the many reasons why the revolution broke out was because only the members of
the third estate paid taxes to the state. The members of the first and second estates were
exempted from paying any taxes to the king.
• The nobility and the clergy enjoyed many privileges in French society. The nobles
extracted feudal dues from the peasants. The latter were also compelled to provide
services to the noblemen by working in his fields and house. They also had to serve in
the army.
• The church also collected religious taxes from the people known as ‘tithes’. The
members of the third estate had to pay direct tax to the state known as ‘taille’. Indirect
taxes were imposed on tobacco, salt and many other everyday items. Thus, the third
estate was seething with financial difficulties.

The Rise of the Middle Class

• There was the rise and emergence of many social groups in France in the eighteenth
century. They were traders, businessmen, lawyers and teachers. The traders and
businessmen had acquired wealth through overseas trade.
• The administrative officials, lawyers and teachers were educated and believed that no
group should be given special privileges merely on the basis of birth. They believed that
the members of the first two estates should also pay taxes to the state.
• The middle class in France was inspired by the writings of social thinkers and
philosophers. John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau were two such thinkers who
rejected the idea of the divine right of the king. Rousseau propounded that the
Government should be based on a social contract drawn between the people and the
Government.
• These ideas of philosophers were discussed everywhere - in coffee shops and in salons
and spread among the common people. Inspired by these ideas, people began to oppose
the special privileges enjoyed by the members of the first and second estates.
• The educated youth in France were inspired by the rights of liberty and equality which
were ensued in the American Revolution.
• When the people learned that the king was planning to further increase taxes, they rose in
revolt.

The Revolt Breaks

• Wars had drained the French treasury. The state was under heavy debt and had to pay
hefty interests to creditors. To improve the finances of the state, the king decided to
increase the taxes levied on people.
Chapter: The French Revolution
Subject: History
Class: IX
• When the king called the meeting of an assembly of the Estates Generals to pass
proposals of new taxes, the members of the third estate walked out from the meeting
demanding that every person in the Assembly should have one vote contrary to the
existing practice of one estate having one vote.
• The members of the third estate assembled in the indoor tennis court on 20 July 1789
determined to draft a Constitution which would limit the powers of the king.
• During this time, the prices of bread rose in France and bakers began to hoard supplies.
Agitated by the unavailability of bread, people including women stormed into shops.
When the king ordered his troops to move into Paris, an agitated crowd stormed into the
prison of Bastilles and liberated its prisoners.
• As the number of revolts began to grow, the French monarch recognized the French
Assembly. His powers could now be checked by the Constitution.

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

• The National Assembly consisting of the members of the third estate drafted the
Constitution which limited the powers of the king, and the executive, legislative and
judicial powers were assigned to different institutions.
• The National Assembly had the powers to frame laws for the country. The members of
the National Assembly were elected by the body of electorates. This body of electorates
was elected by citizens who paid taxes to the Government who were termed active
citizens. Other men and all women had no voting rights.
• The Constitution of France guaranteed the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of
opinion and equality before law.

Abolition of Monarchy in France

• Because the powers of King Louis XVI were reduced, he asked for help from the
Prussian and Austrian monarchies. However, the revolutionaries in France formed a
large army and declared a war against Prussia and Austria.
• The Jacobin Club in France was formed by the revolutionary forces of the country. It
included small shopkeepers, watch makers, pastry cooks, printers, daily wage earners
and servants.
• In 1792, when the supplies of bread reduced, the Jacobins along with people stormed the
Tuileries Palace and imprisoned the royal family of France.
• This development led to the changes in the Constitution. Elections were held and
everyone more than 21 years of age was given the right to vote. Monarchy was abolished
and France became a republic.
• King Louis XVI was executed publicly on 21 January 1793 on the charges of treason.
His queen Mary Antoinette was also executed later.

Reign of Terror
• The period from 1793 to 1794 is called the Reign of Terror. Robespierre, the head of the
Jacobin Club, followed the policy of severe control and punishment. Clergymen, nobles
and people who were considered enemies to the republic were guillotined. Even he
ordered the killing of his own party members who did not agree to his methods and
ways.
• Robespierre’s government put a definite limit on the wages and the prices of essential
goods. Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were also forced to sell grains at a price
fixed by the Government. Churches were closed.
• Robespierre followed his policies so strictly that even his supporters turned against him.
Finally, he was convicted by a court in July 1794 and was guillotined.
• After the fall the Jacobin Government, the wealthier middle class took the power into
their own hands. They introduced a constitution which did not give voting rights to the
non-propertied class.
Chapter: The French Revolution
Subject: History
Class: IX
• A Directory, an executive council, was appointed consisting of five members. This
executive council frequently clashed with the legislative councils. This political
instability paved a way for the rise of military dictatorship under Napoleon Bonaparte.

Women’s Participation in the Revolution

• Women were active participants in the French Revolution. Women in France were not
empowered.
• Most of the women of the third estate had to work to earn their livelihood. They worked
as seamstresses/ tailors, sold flowers and vegetables or worked as domestic servants in
the houses of wealthy families.
• Women started their own clubs in order to raise their own voices. A famous women’s
club was the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. This club demanded that
women be given the same political rights as men. Women till now had no right to vote.
• In the beginning, many laws were implemented to improve the condition of women in
French society. Schooling was made compulsory for all girls. Fathers could no longer
marry off their daughters without obtaining their consent. Divorce was made legal, and
women began to be trained for various jobs.
• During the Reign of Terror, many laws were issued which ordered the closing of
women’s clubs. Many women were tried and guillotined/beheaded/executed.
• Women’s struggle to demand equal voting rights however continued. The French women
were finally granted voting rights in 1946.

The Abolition of Slavery

• One of the important reforms of the Jacobin Club was the abolition of slavery in French
colonies.
• Slaves were brought from Africa by the Europeans and were then sold to plantation
owners. Because of the employment of slaves in the colonies, the growing demands for
sugar, coffee and indigo by the European markets were met.
• The system of slavery was hardly criticized in France. This was because slaves were
important in the plantations.
• After being banned by the Jacobins, slavery was again reintroduced by Napoleon
Bonaparte.

The French Revolution brought several changes in the everyday lives of the French.
Censorship was abolished in 1789. As a result, books, pamphlets and other printed materials
flooded the markets of France. Freedom of press and speech created an atmosphere where
people could freely discuss and criticize the working of institutions.

Napoleon Bonaparte along with his troops carried on the ideas of the French Revolution in
Europe. He introduced laws such as protection of private property and the uniform systems of
weighs and measurements. However, he also placed his successors on the throne of the
countries which he invaded. He thus came to be regarded as an invader.

The ideas of liberty, equality and democratic rights were the greatest gifts of the French
Revolution to the world.