Chapter 1.

Topic: Chapter:1 French Revolution

Notes
________________________________________________________________

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How was the French society organized? What privileges did certain sections of the society enjoy?
Describe.
Or
‘Social disparity was one of the major causes of the French Revolution.’ Justify by giving examples.
HOTS
Answer:
(i) Division of the society into three Estate :
• The First Estate: It consisted of the clergymen and church-fathers.
• The Second Estate: It consisted of landlords, men of noble birth and aristocrats.
• The Third Estate: It consisted of the vast majority of the common masses, the landless
peasants, servants, etc.
(ii) 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.
(iii) Wide Gap between 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.
(iv) 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.
(v) Unequal Distribution of Wealth : In the French society, peasants made up about 90% of the
population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60% of the
land was owned by nobles, the church and other richer members of the Third Estate.

Question 2.
Explain the role of thinkers and philosophers in the French Revolution.
Answer:
(i) Influence of the Philosophers and Writers: There were many French philosophers and thinkers
like John Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire and Mirabeau, who exposed the evils prevailing in
the system. They infused people with the idea of liberty, equality and fraternity.
(ii) Charles Montesquieu (1689-1775): A nobleman by birth, he became a lawyer and a judge. In his
book, “The Spirit of Laws”, he criticised autocracy and praised the democratic republic.
(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 fulfil the contract,
the people had the right to withdraw their loyalty to him, and bring down the tyranny of the ruler, by
revolting.
(v) 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.

Question 3.
Explain the role of Mirabeau and Abbe’ Siyas’s in the French Revolution. HOTS
Answer:
• Both Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieye’s were great political thinkers.
• They were the leaders of the National Assembly which was formed in 1789 after the failure of
the meeting of the Estate General.
• Mirabeau was born in a noble family but was convinced of the need to do away with a society
of feudal privilege.
• He brought out a journal, and delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at
Versailles.
• Abbe’ Sieye’s originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called, ‘What is the Third
Estate?’

Question 5.
Explain triangular slave trade carried on during 18th and 19th century.
Answer:
• The triangular slave trade was carried between Europe, Africa and America.
• The slave trade began in the seventeenth century. French merchants sailed from the ports of
Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast, where they bought slaves from local chieftains.
• Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long
voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. There they were sold to plantation owners.
• The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in European
markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.
• Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing slave
trade.

Question 6.
Evaluate the importance of the following years in concern with French Revolution, 1774, 1789, 1791,
1804 and 1815.
Answer:
The importance of the following years in concern with French Revolutions :
(i) 1774: Louis XVI ascended the throne of France. He believed in the Divine Right Theory of Kings.
He had no respect for the freedom of liberty. Because of his empty treasure he began to impose heavy
taxes which were disliked by his own people.
(ii) 1789: French Revolution began in 1789. It started with the convocation of the Estates General in
May. The first year of revolution proclaimed the Tennis Court oath, assault on the declaration of
rights of man an citizen. Estates General was called together by Louis XVI to pass proposals for new
taxes.
(iii) 1791: The constitution of 1791 also established a short lived constitutional monarchy. The Third
Estate which assumed the name of the National Assembly framed a new constitution for France in
1791. The Assembly nationalized church lands to pay off the public debt. It also abolished the rights
of privileged classes. Declaration of the rights of man and citizen was also a feature of this year.
(iv) 1804: Napoleon became the emperor of France. He set out to conquer neighbouring Europeon
countries. He conquered Europe and saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.
(v) 1815: The French Revolution appeared nullified(invalidate) by 1815. The land owning classes and
the bourgeois(boje-vaa) (middle class) emerged as the dominant power. Napoleon was defeated in the
battle of Waterloo. Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modem
laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Naopleon had left.

Question 7.
Explain the circumstances under which Louis XVI finally accorded(agree) 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 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’ Sieye’s.
(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 rumour 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.

Question 9.
What was the role of Jacobins during the French Revolution?
Or
Explain the role of Jacobins in the French Revolution.
Answer:
(i) Middle Class: The members of the Jacobins 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.
(ii) Different Clothes: A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped
trousers similar to those worn by dock workers. This was to set themselves apart from the fashionable
sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knees 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 the
sansculottes, literally meaning — those without knee breeches. Sansculottes men wore in addition the
red cap that symbolised liberty.
(iii) Carrying the Revolution: They were the people who believed that the revolution had to be
carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society.
(iv) Storming the King’s Palace: In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned an insurrection of a
large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food. On the
morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held
the king himself as hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family.
(v) France became a Republic: Elections were held. From now on all men of 21 years and above,
regardless of wealth, got the right to vote. The newly elected assembly was called the Convention. On
21 September, 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.

Question 10.
How was slavery abolished in France?
Answer:
• One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of
slavery in the French colonies.
• Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The National
Assembly held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended to all French
subjects including those in the colonies. But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from
businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.
• It was finally the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas
possessions.
• This, however, turned out to be a shorterm 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. Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in
1848.

Question 11.
Describe the conditions of women during the period of French Revolution.
Answer:
Conditions of women during the period of French Revolution are :
• From the very beginning women were active participants in the events which brought sfbout
major changes in the French Society.
• Most women of the Third Estate had to work for a living as seamstresses or laundresses. They
even sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the market.
• They were employed as domestic servants in the house of prosperous people.
• They started their own political clubs and newspapers in order to voice their interests.
• They demanded the right to vote to be elected to the Assembly and hold political office.
• They did not have access to education or job training. Only daughter wealthier members of
the Third Estate could stay at convent.
• Working women had also to take care of their families. Their wages were lower than those of
men.

Question 12.
Who was Robespierre? Describe any four steps taken by him to bring equality.
Answer:
Maximilian Robespierre was the leader of Jacobin Club.
• The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed a
policy of severe control and punishment.
• 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. If the court found them
‘guilty1 they were guillotined.
• Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages 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.
• Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.

Question 13.
Explain any five features of the Constitution of 1791 framed by the National Assembly in France.
Or
Highlight any five features of the constitution of 1791 in France.
Answer:
Features of the Constitution of 1791 :
• It declared France a constitutional monarchy.
• Powers of the king separated and assigned to the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
• Laws to be made by the National Assembly.
• Only men above 25 years of age, who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage,
were entitled to vote.
• Many rights were given to the people.
• To qualify as an elector and as member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to highest
bracket of taxpayers.

Question 14.
Compare the political, economic and social conditions of France before and after the revolution.
Answer:
Before Revolution After Revolution

Political Conditions :

France was under the rule of a monarch, Louis

(i) France became a Republic.
XVI.

All the political powers were in the hands of the

(ii) Political powers were given to the Third Estate.
first two Estates.

Economic Conditions :

All the taxes were paid by the people .of the Taxes were levied according the to income and
(i)
Third Estates. wealth. The right to votewas linked to taxes.

The economic condition of government

(ii) The government was under heavy debt.
improved.

Social Conditions :

All were given equal rights irrespective of the

(i) People of Third Estate were discriminated.
Estate.

All the written materials and cultural activities The censorship on written materials and cultural
(ii) could be published or performed only after an activities was lifted. Now all were free to write
approval from the king. and speak.