social order, in favour of a new sy sey duties, especially in the Christian Chu; ch, evolution: A forible overt of a government oF ergy: The body of all people ordained for religious Mire ustocratic class of people WhO enjoyed privileges: est class in certain societies, typically comprising people of no he ‘aristocracy: The high ices. siding hereditary titles and of state: A major political or social group or class, especially the ones having specifi oe aed commons in France or the lords spiritual, lords tom Poe MPor; al lanl powers, as the clergy, nol ommons in England. .m that prevailed during middle ages. a system: A political and economic syste! ‘ithe: A ta» ‘isin - imposed by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produ ce. Faille : e Tax to be paid directly to the state. re: Unit i stad currency in France, discontinued in 1794 crisis: At it i , Crisis: An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood ar re endan, gered Old Res gime: It is Revolutio, is a term us il e sed to describe the soci ciety and institution is Of France bi efore Fy te Envisages: To imagir gine or exy eae, pect something in ti i ; dex Socal Scence-Ik g in the future, especially something good, “ i 7. eo (© Scanned with OKEN Scanner/ Describe the French Civision of society, ‘The French society was divided into three Estates: (i First Estate: It comprised the church and the clen They were exempted from paying taxes to the sta (ii) Second Estate: In the second estate, w also exempted from paying taxes. The: dues from the peasants. (ii) Third Estate: About 90 per cent of the in the fields of their landlords y. They enjoyed certain privileges by birth. te ere the nobles and other rich members. They were 'y also enjoyed feudal privileges, These included feudal population was peasants. They were obliged to work e as well as in their houses, and also serve in the army. They were paying all direct taxes like ‘taille’ and a number of indirect taxes were also levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. hat was the role of the philosophers in the French Revolution? Ideas of having a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all were put forward by the French philosophers. @ John Locke: Locke wrote, ‘Tivo Tieatises of Government’. In this book, he criticised the divine and absolute rights of the monarch rulers. (i) Jean Jacques Rousseau: Rousseau had written his viewpoints in his book, ‘The Social Contract’. He had put forward the idea of formation of a government based on a social contract between people and their representatives. (ii) Montesquieu: His ideas were proposed in his book, ‘The Spirit of the Laws’. According to him, there should be a division of power between the three important organs—the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. ‘The ideas of these philosophers were discussed by common people in salons and coffee houses and inspired them to fight for their rights. © scanned with OKEN Scanner‘hat were the main causes of the French Revolution? Causes of the French Revolutior (i Despotic rule of Louis XVI: He became the ruler o financial resources of France in wars. For the cost of his regular extravaga increased taxes which were paid by the third estate. i Division of French society: The French society was divided into three sare first, se: ion third estates, respectively. Among them, First and Second Estates had 10 per cent off the total population, consisted of the clergy and nobles. They enjoyed all privileges Rest of the 90 per cent was of the third estate, which paid all kinds of direct or indirect taxes. This kind {France in 1774. He had drained the int expenses, he cond, of discrimination led to the revolution by the third estate. Rising prices: The population of France had increased. This resulted into more demand of food grains. So, the price of bread rose rapidly, which the poor could not afford to buy. So, the gap between the rich and the poor widened. (io) Inspiration of the philosophers: Philosophers like John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu propagated the ideas of having a society where people would enjoy freedom, equal laws and equal opportunities. Their ideas inspired the people of France to (iii) realise their dreams Role of middle class: The 18th century witnessed the emergence of social groups termed as middle class, who earned their wealth through an expanding trade of the manufactured @ History: India and the Contemporary World-I_ 17 —= ee , Ww ~=- ?- ames © scanned with OKEN Scannerome »f revolutionary protest in France, is ces leading to the outbreak of Describe the circumstances OR Which incident had led to the outbreak of the revolution in France? Ans, The incidents leading to the outbreak of the revolution were:— ; ( Meeting ofthe Estates General: On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called fora meeting to propose new taxes. Representatives ofall the three estates reached there, but members of the third estate had to stand at the back, as they were not offered any seat. Peasants, artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly. (i) Demand for Universal Adult Franchise: Members of the third estate demanded the power for each member to vote. When the King rejected the demand, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly to protest. (ii) Meeting of the newly formed National Assembly: Since the percentage of the third estate was more, they considered themselves as spokesmen for the whole French nation, They assembled in an indoor tennis court of Versailles and declared themselves as the ‘National Assembly’. They believed in removing the feudal privileges of the nobles and clergy, (#2) Revolt by peasants: The countryside rumours spread from village to village that their ripe crops would be destroyed by hired bands of lords of manors. Peasants in several districc feized hoes and attacked the residences of their manors. They looted, hoarded grain and ing records of manorial dues. burnt down documents contaii (©) Rall of Bastille prison: During this political turmoil, the French had experienced severe winters leading to bad harvest. It increased the price of bread. which we, hoarded in the market. Angry women attacked the shops. At the same time, the King ordered troops to vaaee into Paris. On 14 July 1789, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille Prison, © scanned with OKEN Scanner