THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

1.What compelled Louis XVI to raise taxes in France?

Answer:

 Wars and Economic Crisis: In 1774, when Louis XVI ascended the throne, he
found and empty treasure. The nation had gone into deep dept 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 dept 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 a extravagant court at the
immense palace of Versailles.

2. 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 3.
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) Francis Aronet Voltaire (1694-1778): Voltaire was another outstanding

philosopher of the Revolution. He wanted the people to think about their material life
on earth, and forget about heaven. He condemned the Church which supported the
privileged class, and ignored the poor.

(iv) 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 4.
Explain the events that led to the insurrection of 1792 in France.
Answer:
(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’ 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
according 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 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 by 1815. The land owning
classes and the bourgeois 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.
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 out 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 8.
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.