History
French Revolution Notes
Answer the following in one or two sentences.
1.Who was the ruler of France during the revolution?
Louis XVI of the Bourbon family was the ruler of France.
2.Name the three ‘Estates’ into which French society was divided before the Revolution.
● The First Estate — Clergy
● The Second Estate — Nobility
● The Third Estate — Common people.
3.When did the French Revolution occur?
14th July, 1789.
4.What were tithes?
It was a tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce.
5.What was taille?
It was a direct tax to be paid to the State.
6.Who formed the National Assembly in France in 1789?
Third Estate
7.Which class of society in France was behind the French Revolution?
Middle class.
8.What was the slogan of the French revolutionaries?
Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.
9.On what charges was Louis XVI of France sentenced to death?
Treason.
10.What was the feudal system?
It was a system under which land was granted to landlords in return for military or labour
services.
11.Which philosopher had forwarded the principle of voting by the assembly as a whole,
where each member should have one vote, during the rule of Louis XVI?
Rousseau.
12.In which book did Rousseau mention the idea of one person, one vote?
The Social Contract.
13.Give the titles of the books written by :
(a) Rousseau -The Social Contract
(b) Charles Montesquieu - The Spirit of the Laws.
14.Who proposed a division of power within the government?
Montesquieu.
15.Name any four French philosophers who inspired the French people to revolt.
● Jean Jacques Rousseau
● Montesquieu
● Voltaire
● John Locke
16.Why was Bastille hated by the French people?
Bastille was hated because it stood for the despotic power of the king.
17.When did France abolish the monarchy and became republic?
21st September, 1792.
18.Who was the leader of the Jacobin Club?
Maximilian Robespierre.
19.What does the Red Cap worn by Sans-Culottes in France symbolize?
Liberty.
20.Name the political body to which the three estates of French society sent their
representatives?
The Estates General was a political body to which the three estates sent their
representatives.
Answer the following questions
1. How was the system of estates organized in French society?
The French society was divided into 3 estates.
(i) The Clergy
(ii) The Nobility and
(iii) Businessmen, merchants, court officials, peasants, artisans, landless labour &
Servants
The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain
privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the
state.
Peasants, belonging to the 3rd estate made up 90 per cent of the population. Peasants
were obliged to render services to the members of the 1st and 2nd estate and to work in
their houses and fields and to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.
2.“Ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French
Revolution”. Explain the statement in the light of the French Revolution.
● People of the Third Estate demanded a society based on freedom and
opportunities for all.
● The National Assembly was formed in 1789 with an objective to limit the powers
of the monarch.
● The Constitution framed in 1791 began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizens.
● Censorship was abolished in 1789.
3.“The inequality that existed in the French Society in the Old Regime became the
cause of the French Revolution”. Justify the statement by giving three suitable
examples.
● French Society was divided into three Estates. The First Estate consisted of
clergy, the Second Estate consisted of nobility and the Third Estate consisted of
businessmen, traders, merchants, artisans, peasants and servants.
● The members of Church and nobility enjoyed certain privileges by birth, the most
important being the exemption from paying taxes to the State.
● Feudal dues were extracted by nobles from peasants and one-tenth of the
agricultural produce of peasants, in the form of Tithes, came to the share of
clergy. All members of the Third Estate including peasants paid taxes, thus, the
burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the Third
Estate alone creating heavy discontentment.
4.Mention the importance of the following dates:-
(i) 1774 (ii) 1789 (iii) 1791 (iv) 1792-93
The importance of the dates are:-
● 1774-Louis XVI became the King of France
● 1789-Convocation of Estates General,Third Estate formed the National
Assembly, The Bastille was stormed
● 1791-A constitution was framed to limit the powers of the king and to guarantee
basic rights to all human beings.
● 1792-93-France became a Republic and the King was beheaded. The Jacobin
republic was overthrown.
5. How did the fall of Bastille prison become the immediate cause of the French
revolution?
● On the morning of 14th July, 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm. The
king ordered his troops to move to the city.
● Rumours spread that he would soon order the army to open fire upon the
citizens.
● Some 7000 men and women gathered in the front of the town hall and decided to
form a people’s militia. A group of several hundred people marched towards the
eastern part of the city and stormed the fortress- prison,the Bastille.
● In the armed fight, the commander of Bastille was killed and prisoners released.
Since the Bastille stood the despotic power of the king, it led people towards the
success of the French Revolution.
6. What does the subsistence crisis mean?What led to the subsistence crisis in France?
● Subsistence crisis is an extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood
are endangered.
● The demand for foodgrains increased as the population had increased in France
from 23 million to 28 million. Production of grains could not keep pace with the
demand.So, the price of bread, which was the staple diet of the majority rose
rapidly.
● Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops whose owners fixed
their wages. But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices.So, the gap
between the poor and rich widened.
● Things became worse whenever drought and hail reduced the harvest. This led
to a subsistence crisis , something that occurred frequently in France during the
Old Regime.
7.What was the main objective of the Constitution drafted by the National Assembly?
● The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791.
● Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers, instead of
being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and
assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary.
● This made France a constitutional Monarchy.
8.How were the members of the National Assembly elected?
● Members of the National Assembly were elected indirectly.
● Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all
citizens, however, had the right to vote.
● 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 and were eligible to vote.
● The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens.
● To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to
belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.
9.Write a note about the Jacobin Club.
● The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous
sections of society. They included small shopkeepers, artisans such as
shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and
daily-wage workers.
● Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.
● The Jacobin Club was the strongest of the many clubs that were formed. In the
summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned an insurrection
● They stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held
the king himself hostage for several hours.
● Later elections were held. The Jacobian Government came to power. The newly
elected assembly was called the Convention.
● The Jacobin leader , Robespierre, headed the Assembly. Robespierre followed a
policy of severe control and punishment.
● Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began
to demand moderation.
● Finally, he was convicted by a court in July 1794.
● The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize
power.
10.What compelled Louis XVI to raise taxes in France?
● Wars and Economic Crisis : In 1774, when Louis XVI ascended the throne, he
found an empty treasure. The nation had gone into deep debt because of the
fighting in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the Revolutionary War in
America under Louis XVI. In this war, France helped the 13 American colonies to
gain their independence from Britain. The war added more than a billion livers to a
debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres.
● Debt Trap: Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent
interest on loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an increasing
percentage of its budget on interest payments alone. 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.
● Extravagant Court: France under various kings had an extravagant court at the
immense palace of Versailles.
11 .Explain the circumstances under which Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the
National Assembly.
Or What were the main causes of the French Revolution of1789?
(i) Assembly of the Estates: On 5th May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of
the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. Voting in the Estates General in
the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote.
This time too, Louis XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of
the Third Estate demanded that voting now should be conducted by the assembly as a
whole, where each member would have one vote. When the king rejected this proposal,
members of the Third Estate walked out of the assembly in protest.
(ii) National Assembly: The representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as
spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20th June, they assembled in the hall of an
indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles. They declared themselves a National
Assembly, and swore not to disperse till they had drafted a constitution for France that
would limit the powers of the monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieyes.
(iii) Turmoil in France: While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting the
Constitution, the rest of France seethed with turmoil. Due to bad harvest, there was
shortage of food, and there was also rumor that bands of brigands were on their way to
destroy the ripe crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants started attacking nobles.
Under all these circumstances, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National
Assembly.
(iv) Storming the Bastille: On the morning of 14th July, 1789, the agitated crowd
stormed and destroyed the Bastille. Under all these circumstances, Louis XVI finally
accorded recognition to the National Assembly.
(v) France became a Republic: In 1792 the Jacobians held the king hostage and
declared to form a new government. The newly elected Assembly was called the
Convention. On 21st September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France as
a republic.
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