The French Revolution

Q/A

Q1. What was Bastille and why was it hated?

Ans. Bastille was a fortress prison in Paris. It was hated by all because it stood for the
despotic powers of the king.

Q2. Mention the reasons for an empty treasury that king Louis XVI inherited in 1774.
Ans. The reasons for the empty treasury were –
(i) Due to various colonial wars, the financial resources of France were drained.
(ii) The monarch had provided financial assistance to the 13 American colonies,
helping them gain independence from their common enemy – Britain.
(iii) Added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immense
palace of Versailles.
(iv) To finance all this, the French monarchy had taken huge loans from moneylenders
who were now charging a 10 per cent interest.
(v) The costs of meeting regular expenses, such as maintaining an army, the court,
running government offices and universities was very high.

Q3. Explain the division of 18th century French society.

Ans. (i) The French was divided into three classes known as Estates. The first Estate being
the Clergy, the second being the Nobility and the third included the rest of society
consisting of peasants, middle class merchants and professionals.
1st Estate
CLERGY

2nd Estate
NOBILITY

3rd Estate
Big Businessmen, merchants, court
officials, lawyers etc.

Peasants and artisans

Small peasants, landless labourers and

servants

(ii) The first and second Estates formed the privileged classes. They owned most of the land
even though even though they were only a tiny fraction of the French population, all
important posts of the state were held by them and they were exempted from paying taxes.
(iii) The third Estate on the other hand, received no privileges. They were heavily taxed by
the state. Peasants had to perform compulsory unpaid services. The merchants and
professionals of the middle class were denied social equality and political rights.

Q3. What was the subsistence crisis?

Ans. An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.

Q4. How did the subsistence crisis happen and what was its impact?
Ans. (i) The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.
(ii) This led to a rapid increase in the demand for foodgrains.
(iii) Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand.
(iv) Price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly.
(vi) Wages of workers did not keep pace with the rise in prices leading to a further
widening of the gap between the poor and rich.
(vii) The poor could not meet their basic requirements which led to a situation of
extreme hardships.
IMPACT
(i) Discontentment, anger and frustration among the common people.
(ii) Food riots were common outside bakeries.
(iii) People wanted a change in the system of governance and were willing to
challenge the authority of the monarch.
(iv) This marked the beginning of the outbreak of the French Revolution.

Q4. Discuss the beliefs of the educated strata of the 3rd Estate.
Ans. The educated lot believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth. A
person’s social position must depend on his merit. They believed that society should be
based on freedom, equal laws and opportunities for all.

Q5. Explain the role of philosophers in bringing about a change in society.

Ans. Ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all,
were put forward by philosophers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
(i) John Locke in his Two Treatises of Government, sought to refute the doctrine of
the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
(ii) Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on a
social contract between people and their representatives.
(iii) In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the
government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

Q6. What are ‘natural and inalienable’ rights?

Ans. 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.

Q7. What is the significance of political symbols?

Ans. The majority of men and women in the eighteenth century could not read or write. So,
images and symbols were frequently used instead of printed words to communicate
important ideas.

Q8. What is a Constitutional Monarchy?

Ans. Constitutional Monarchy is a system of governance where the Monarch is Head of
State but does not enjoy absolute authority. His/her powers are regulated by a
constitutionally elected representative government.

Q9. Differentiate between Active and Passive citizens in 18th century France.
Ans.
Active Citizens Passive Citizens
• Got voting rights according • Did not get voting rights
to the Constitution of 1791 according to the Constitution
of 1791
• Included only men above 25
years of age who paid taxes • Included all poor, women and
equal to at least 3 days of a men below the age of 25 years
labourer’s wage. of age.

Q10. Name the painter of The Declaration of The Rights of Man and Citizen.
Ans. Le Barbier

Q11. Who were the members of the Jacobin Club?

Ans. The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of
society that included small shopkeepers, artisans as well as servants and daily-wage
workers.

Q12. What did the Jacobins wear and why?

Ans. (i) A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped trousers
similar, to those worn by dock workers.
(ii) It was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the elites of society who
wore knee breeches.

Q13. Why was the period between 1793-1794 referred to as the ‘Reign of Terror’?
Ans. The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror because –
(i) Maximilian Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment.
(ii) All those whom he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic – 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 a
revolutionary tribunal.
(iii) If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined.

Q 14. Mention the provisions taken by Robespierre to bring equality among the citizens.
Ans. (i) Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and
prices.
(ii) Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities
and sell it at prices fixed by the government.
(iii) The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat
the pain d’égalité (equality bread), a loaf made of wholewheat.
(iv) Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men
and women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).

Q15. Why was the Directory created?

Ans. The Directory was created as a safeguard against the concentration of power in a one-
man executive as under the Jacobins.

Q16. What was the Directory made up of? Did it lead to political stability?
Ans. (i) After the fall of the Jacobins a new constitution was introduced which provided for
two elected legislative councils.
(ii) These then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members.
(iii) However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to
dismiss them.
(iv) The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator,
Napoleon Bonaparte.

Q17. Describe the role of women in France before the revolution.

Ans. (i) Most women of the third estate worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold fruits
and vegetables or were employed as domestic servants in the houses of prosperous people.
(ii) Most women did not have access to education or job training.
(iii) Only daughters of nobles or wealthier members of the third estate could study at a
convent, after which their families arranged a marriage for them.
(iv) Working women had also to care for their families and children.
(v) Their wages were lower than those of men.

Q18. Describe the measures taken by the revolutionary government to improve the
condition of women in France.
Ans. (i) Schooling was made compulsory for all girls.
(ii) Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will.
(iii) Marriage was made into a contract, entered into freely and registered under civil law.
(iv) Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men.
(v) Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.
Q19. Name the two ports of France that owed their prosperity to the slave trade.
Ans. Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing
slave trade.

Q20. Explain the triangular slave trade carried on during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Ans. (i) French merchants sailed from the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast,
where they bought slaves from local chieftains.
(ii) Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long
voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.
(iii) There they were sold to plantation owners who exploited them to grow cash crops like
tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee.

Q21. Name the important law that came into effect after the storming of Bastille in 1789.
Ans. One important law that came into effect soon after the storming of the Bastille in the
summer of 1789 was the abolition of censorship.

Q22. Why is Napoleon called the modernizer of Europe?

Ans. Napoleon introduced many laws such as –
(i) Protection of private property.
(ii) Uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.

Q23. What was the most important legacy of the French Revolution?
Ans. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the
French Revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth
century.

Q24. Name the two Indians who responded to the ideas of revolutionary France.
Ans. Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy

Q 25. Describe the role of Jacobins during the French Revolution.

Ans. The Jacobins brought about many changes in France such as –
(i) Granting of voting rights to men of 21 years and above regardless of wealth.
(ii) Abolition of Slavery in French colonies such as Martinique, Guadeloupe and San
Domingo.
(iii) Price control by ceiling wages and market rates of goods.
(iv) Supported abolition of monarchy and declaration of France as a republic
Shortcomings of the Jacobins –
(i) Extremely repressive regime that was intolerant of opposition.
(ii) Rampant use of the guillotine.
(iii) Closure of women’s clubs and banning their political activities.

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