IX History Ch-1 The French Revolution
IX History Ch-1
The French Revolution
Topic: Causes of French Revolution
Role of Philosophers
v Philosophers played an important role in French revolution they inspired the common mass with their revolutionary ideas.
v Philosophers and thinkers believed that no group in a society should be privileged by birth Philosophers such as Montesquieu and Rousseau put forward ideas of a society based on freedom , equal laws and opportunities for all.
v In his Two Treatises on Government, John Locke refuted the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
v Rousseau was a French Swiss philosopher.
v His main idea was man is naturally good and that society of civilisation makes man anxious and unhappy. he proposed a form of government based on 'social contract' between people and their representatives.
v In the spirit of the laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.This form of government was put into force in USA. It was an important example for political thinkers in France.
v Mirabeau – he brought about a journal and delivered powerful speeches to the crowds at Versailles.
v Voltaire – A famous French writer. He exposed the evils prevailing in the Church and administration
v Abbè sieyës, originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called
What is the Third Estateí ?
v Philosophers attacked existing French institutions in their writings .The ideas of liberty , equality and justice were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and Newspapers.
Role of church
(i) The members of the church, clergy belonged to the First Estate. The clergy enjoyed all
privileges with no obligations. They lived in pomp and extravagance which led to resentment among the members of the Third Estate.
(ii) The church was owner of a big chunk of land in France. It maintained a feudal set up.
(iii) The church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes
(1/10th of agri produce) from the peasants. Apart from this,
the church also collected many other dues .
Role of the Bourbon kings in the French Revolution
*The Bourbon kings maintained an extravagant court. They lived and spent lavishly.
*Louis XVI was an autocratic and ineffective ruler He could not compromise with his luxurious life
*he also lacked farsightedness many wars and their lavish style of living had drained the financial resources of France.
* The treasury was empty. France was under a debt of more than 2 billion livres.
*To meet expenses the state under Louis XVI, who was only 20 years of age when he ascended, increased taxes.
* There was a steep rise in prices, extreme shortage of food, low wages, the gap between the rich and the poor widened. All this finally led to the French Revolution.
Topic: French Society before Revolution
Social inequality
The three estates French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three
Estates.
*The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to
the middle ages.
The first estate included the clergy the second estate was comprised of the nobility
*The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed
certain privileges by birth.
*They were exempted from paying taxes to the state.
* The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges
* These included feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants.
*They both humiliated the members of the third estate.
The third estate constituted of the common mass i.e
Businessmen ,merchant, lawyers peasants, artisans , landless labours , etc
*within the Third Estate some were rich while others were very poor.
*The prosperous groups within the third estate had access to education and new
ideas. and poor were always the victims of food scarcity
*The eighteenth century witnessed Peasant made up about 90 percent of the total population only a small number of them owned the land .
Heavy burden of taxes on the Third Estate
* All(only) members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included
a direct tax, called taille and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on
articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
*The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes(1/10th of agri produce)
from the peasants,The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone
No political rights
*The first two estates had the share of 2 % of the population.
Remaining people belonged to the third estate they had no political rights and
social status while upper estates controlled the whole political and economic system .
Condition of women
*Most women of the third estate had to work for a living.
They worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the market, or were employed as domestic servants in the houses of prosperous people.
*Most women did not have access to education or job training.
only daughters of noble or richer people could get education .
Their wages were lower than those of men.
Growing Middle Class
*The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of the middle class, who earned
their wealth through overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such as
woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by the richer members of society.
* The middle class included the prosperous groups within the third estate merchants
and manufacturers, professionals such as lawyers or administrative officials.
*All of these were educated and influenced by the philosophers so they believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. They wanted a society based on freedom and equality This middle class was behind the French revolution .
The Struggle to Survive: Economic causes
1. Empty treasury : causes
(i) In 1774 when Louis XVI became king he got a empty treasury.
Seven years war and revolutionary war of America had drained the financial
resources of France.
Under Louis XIV, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy, British.
The war added a debt of more than 2 billion livres.
(ii) Lenders who gave the state credit begun to charge 10 per cent interests on loans.
So the French government was obliged to spend on increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments alone.
(iii) The cost of maintaining army, the court, government officials and universities was very high.
The treasury was empty. France was under pressure to meet expenses the state under Louis XVI.
State was forced to increase taxes to meet the regular expenses.
(iv) France. Under Louis XVI, had a extravagant court at the palace of Versailles.
2.‘Subsistence crisis’
Subsistence crisis refers to an extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.(Add points from text book Read it.)
Causes
i. Rise in population - The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.
This led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains. 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.
ii. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops whose owner fixed their wages. But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
iii. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. Shortage of food grains led to price rise, riots and death.
This led to the subsistence crisis, that occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime.
Topic: The National Assembly
National assembly
*The 745 representatives of third estate in estates General ** formed the National Assembly.
in France because they viewed themselves as spoke men for the whole France.
*After the fall of Bastille** Louis XVI accepted the constitution his powers were reduced.
The powers were now divided among legislature, executive and judiciary.
National assembly got the power to make laws and had control over the king and ministers.
*The national assembly abolished the feudal system of taxes.
*The members of clergy were forced to give up their privileges.
*Land owned by the church were confiscated.
FACTS
**The Estates General was a political body during the rule of Louis XVI
* Three estates sent their representatives in it.
*However, the monarch alone could decide when to call a meeting of this body.
**The Bastille Day is celebrated on 14th July every year because On July 14, 1789.
A mob of Paris stormed the fortress – the prison of Bastille
which was considered a symbol of oppression terror and despotism.
The Swiss guards were killed and prisoners set free. The mob stole arms and ammunition
Election process of the National Assembly in France.
The constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly,
*It was indirectly elected.
*Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn close the assembly.
*All citizens did not have 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, that is, they were entitled 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 tax payers
Importance of Declaration of the Right of Man in France.(1791 Constitution )
The Declaration of the Right of Man in France was a landmark decision in the history of France.
The constitution began with a declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion,
equality before law were established as ‘natural and inalienable’ rights.
That is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.
* It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen's natural rights.
*This influenced revolutionary movements and laid the foundation for
human rights all over the world
Role of women in revolution
*From the very beginning, women were active participants in the events which brought
about so many important changes in French society.
* They hoped that their involvement would pressurise the revolutionary government to introduce measures to improve their lives.
*In order to discuss and voice their interests women started their own political
clubs and newspapers.
About sixty women’s clubs came up in different French cities.
The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.
* One of their main demands was that women should be given the same political
rights as men.
Women were disappointed that the constitution of 1791 reduced them to
passive citizens.
*They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office.
Topic: France as Republic.
The revolutionary government and the women status
*In the early years, the revolutionary government did introduce laws that helped improve the lives of women. Government created state schools, schooling was made compulsory for all girls. Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will.
* Marriage was made a contract entered into freely and registered under civil law. Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men.
Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small business.
*Women’s struggle for equal political rights, however, continued. During the Reign of Terror, the new government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs, and banning their political activities.
*Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages continued through the next two hundred years in many countries of the world. It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.
Storming of kings palace
In the summer of 1792, large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food. On August 10, they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king's guards and imprisoned the king.
France became a republic
Elections were now held. The newly elected assembly was called the Convention.
* On 21st September, 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic
*Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason and executed on 21stJanuary, 1793.
*The queen also met with the same fate.
*All the men of 21 years and above got the right to vote .
**Guillotine was a divice with which a person was beheaded. It was named after Dr Guillotine who invented it.
Jacobins and their contribution
*Political clubs had become rallying point for people who wanted to discuss government policies and
*Plan their own forms of action. The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins.
*They got their name from the former convent of St. Jacob in Paris.
Middle class
*They belonged to the less prosperous sections of the society.
* They included small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers as well as servants and daily wage earners.
*Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.
Different clothes
*A large group among the Jacobin decided to wear long striped trousers similar to those worn by dock workers.
*This was to set themselves apart from fashionable sections of society especially the nobles who wore knee breeches.
*It was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches.
*These Jacobins came to be known as sans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches’.
*San-culottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty.
Women, however, were not allowed to do so.
Topic: Reign of Terror
Causes for the fall of Jacobin government in France
(i)Strict policies of Robespierre
*The Jacobin government in France was based on extreme measures.
*The period from 1793-1794 is referred to as the reign of terror.
*Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment.
*All those he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic
Such as 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 guillotined.
* This led to chaos and resentment among the people.
(ii) Economic control
The Jacobin government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wage and prices.
*Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government.
*This led to a feeling of resentment against the Jacobins.
Peasants began opposing them.
(iii)Principle of equality
Equality was forcefully imposed through the speech and address.
He introduced equality bread**.
(iv) Control over churches
*Robespierre’s government ordered to shut down of churches and converting church buildings into barricades or offices.
*Thus the clergy turned against the Jacobin regime and hastened its fall.
(v) Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters
turned against him.
*They began to demand moderation and a middle path.
Finally, he was arrested and guillotined in 1794.
After the Fall of Jacobin club (Directory)
*The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power .
*A new constitution was introduced which denied the right to vote to non-propertied sections of society.
*It provided for two elected legislative councils.
*These then appointed a Directory, it was an executive made up of five members.
*This was meant as a safeguard against the concentration of power in a one-man executive as under the Jacobin.
Topic: The slave trade
The slave trade
* Slave trade was one of the darkest chapter in the human history.
*The slave trade began in the 17th century.
*France played a leading role in slave trade buying millions of slave in it’s African colonies
*The slave trade was legalized by king Louis XIII in 1642.
*The main reason of this practice was economic reason.
*The colonies in the Caribbean – Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo – were important suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee.
*But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and unfamiliar lands meant a shortage of labour on the plantations.
*So this was met by a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas.
*Slaves were sold by African slave traders to European merchants.
*merchants of Europe sold slaves to American plantation owners.
*The exploitation of slaves made it possible to meet to meet the growing demands in European market for sugar, coffee and indigo
* Port cites of Bordeaux and nantes owed economic prosperity due to slave trade.
Abolition of slave trade
*Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France.
*The National Assembly did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.
*The Jacobins abolished the slavery in France
* It was the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions.
*This, however, turned out to be a short-term measure.
*Ten, years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery.
*Plantation owners understood their freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes in pursuit of their economic interests.
*for over 400 years more than 15 million men , women and children were the victims of tragic slave trade.
Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.
Topic: Rise of Napoleon
Drawbacks of the Directory
After the fall of Jacobins Directory seized the powers in France but it was instable and could not sustain Because
* The Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them.
* The frequent clashes between these two government bodies created political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon who soon became the Emperor of the France.
Role of Napoleon as an emperor of France
*Napoleon is known as one of the greatest self made man in the history of the world.
*In 1796 he was appointed commander of French forces in Italy and within a year his troops conquered Italy and Austria.
*Napoleon as a military commander seized the powers in 1799.
*In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.
*Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.
*He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
*He wanted to modernise France by establishing new industries
*He promoted trade by building roads and canals.
*He set out to conquer neighbouring European countries, dispossessing dynasties and creating kingdoms where he placed members of his family.
*He established friendly relation with the Pope
*He carried out the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of
Europe which he conquered.
*He had a great impact on people. He was a great general too.
*Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people.
*But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an
invading force.
*Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Napoleon had left.
*He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
*He was forced to into exile on the remote island of St. Helena in south Atlantic where he lived the reminder of his days.
Topic: Legacy of French Revolution
Outcomes of French Revolution
1. The Third Estate comprising the common men benefitted from the Revolution. The clergy and nobility had to relinquish power.
2. Their land was confiscated. Their privileges were finished. The people of lower middle class also benefitted.
3. Position of artisans and workers improved.
4. Clergy, feudal lords, nobles People from the first and the second estate must have been a disappointed lot
5. Women were disappointed. The revolution did not bring real equality as everyone was not given the right to vote meaning women who got it finally in 1946.
Legacy of French Revolution
*The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution. These spread from France to the rest
of the Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished.
*Colonised people reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a sovereign state.
*Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas coming from the revolutionary France.
*The following fundamental rights, given in the Indian constitution can be traced to the French Revolution:
The right to equality
The right to freedom of speech and expression
The right to constitutional remedies
The right against exploitation
*The French revolution gave the modern meaning to the word nation and promoted nationalism
*the declaration of rights of man and citizen laid the foundation of a new social order
Worksheet
*What were the main causes of the French revolution of 1789.
*Highlight the political causes of the French revolution .
*Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
*Describe the contribution of French philosophers in the French revolution.
*Explain the role of thinkers and philosophers in the French revolution .
*How was church responsible for the French Revolution ?
*The rise of the middle class played important role in the rise of the French revolution . explain
*Which class of society in France was behind the French revolution
Who constituted the middle class in French society ?
How did they participate in the French revolution .
*The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of middle class .who were they and what were their ideas?
*Social disparity was one of the major causes of the French revolution justify by giving examples.
*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 example.
*How was the system of estates in French society organized ? Who constituted the middle class ? *What were their ideas about privileges in the society?
*How was the French society organized ?what privileges did certain sections of the society enjoy ?Describe
*Name the categories which constituted the French society.
*Describe the status of nobles in the France before the revolution.
*What were the causes of empty treasure of France under Louis xvi?
Access any three reasons .
*What compelled Louis xvi to raise taxes in France ?
*What is subsistence crisis ?Mention any two factors responsible for this in France .
*What is subsistence crisis ? what led to the subsistence crisis in France ?
*To whom was the taxes called Tithes payable by the peasants in the eighteenth century in France .
*Name the political body to which the three estates of French society sent their representatives .
*Write the main features of French constitution of 1791 .
*Who formed the national assembly in 1789 ? 2014
*Who were given rights to vote under the new constitution of France adopted in 1791
*How did France became the constitutional monarchy ?2011
*Discuss the impact of abolition of censorship in France 2010
*Describe the effects of abolition of law of censorship on France 2011
*Why were women disappointed by the constitution of 1791 in France 2011
*What was the significance of the tennis court oath in the French revolution 2010
*What was the jacobian club ?who was their leader 2011
*What was convention ?describe its role in France 2015
*What was the role of Jacobins during the French revolution 2012,11
*Which period in history is known as the reign of terror ? give reasons
*Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.2010
*Ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French revolution explain the statement in the light of French revolution 2015
*Explain the impact of French revolution on the life of the people of France 2015
*Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the French Revolution. (CBSE 2010)
*Trace rights which we are enjoying today had origin in French revolution 2014
*********Chapter Done here ***********
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