History Class 9 : Chapter 1 - The French Revolution
IX HISTORY
Lesson 1
The French Revolution
1. Describe the circumstances
leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
Ans: The following circumstances
led to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
i) Social Inequality : France
was suffering from social inequality. The clergy and the nobility led a luxurious
life and enjoyed many privileges by birth. While the peasant and the labourer lived very hard life. They had to pay heavy
taxes.
ii) Extravagant King : Louis
XVI spend lots of money on luxurious living and wasteful festivities.The high posts were generally auctioned
which caused inefficiency in the administration.
iii) Worse economic conditions:
Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. To meet the expenses, the state
was forced to increase taxes that irritated the people of France.
iv) Immediate cause : On 5th
May, 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes.
This proved to be the immediate cause of the French Revolution.
2. How was the French society
organised before the revolution of 1789? State the role of the third estate in it.
Ans: i) The French society was
divided into sections called 'estates' namely first estate consisting of the clergy, 2nd estate comprising the
nobility and the third estate comprising all commoners including big
businessmen, traders, merchants, Court officials, lawyers, peasant,artisans, labourers and servants.
ii) The entire burden of
taxation fell on the third estate. All economic functions were performed by them.
3. Which group of French
society benefited from the revolution? Which groups were forced to relinquish power? Which sections of
society would have been disappointed
with the outcome of the revolution?
Ans: i) All the groups of the
third estate benefited from the revolution. These included peasants,artisans, landless labour, servants,
merchants, Court officials, lawyers
etc.
ii) The clergy and the nobility
who enjoyed many privileges, were forced to relinquish power.
iii) Feudal lords, nobles,
clergy and women would have been disappointed with the outcome of the revolution.
4.Describe the legacy of
the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Answer:The legacy of the French revolution for the
people of the world:
a) It inspired
revolutionary movements in almost every country of Europe and in South
and Central America.
b) The French revolution
gave the term 'Nation' its modern meaning.
c) It ended the
arbitrary rule and developed the idea of people's republic.
d) This revolution
inspired the people with the ideal of freedom which became the basis of sovereignty.
e) It gave the concept
of social equality i.e., equal rights for all the citizens of the country.
5. Draw up a list of
democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the French Revolution.
Answer:The list of democratic rights are
Freedom of speech
Freedom of expression
Freedom of press
Abolition of censorship
Right to vote
Abolition of slavery
Right to liberty
Right to property
Right to security
Right to education
Divorce laws
6. Would you agree with the
view that the message of universal rights was beset with contradictions? Explain.
Answer:Yes, I agree with the view that the message of
universal rights was best with several contradictions.
a) Women wear not given
equal rights as the men.
b) Most of the
imperialist powers did not grant full freedom to the people of their colonies.
c) All citizen did not
have the right to vote.
d) Only men above 25
years of age who paid taxes equal to at least three days of their
labour's wages were given the
status of active citizen, that is, they were entitled to vote.
e) The task of
representing the people had been given to the rich only.
7. How would you explain
the rise of Napoleon?
Answer:
a) The fall of the
Jacobin government permitted the wealthier middle class to seize power.
b) New Constitution was
introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of society. It provide for two elected legislative
councils.
c) Both the legislative
council appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members.
d) The directors often
clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them.
e) The political
instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military director,Napoleon Bonaparte.
e) in 1804, Napoleon
Bonaparte crowned himself as emperor of France.
Extra Questions
Very Short Answers Type
Question 1.
Why did the people of France storm the Bastille?
Answer:
The people of France stormed the fortress-prison, the Bastille because they were hopeful to find hoarded ammunition there.
Question 2.
Why was the Bastille hated by all?
Answer:
The Bastille was hated by all because it stood for the despotic power of the king.
Question 3.
What was the Bastille? What happened to it?
Answer:
The Bastille was the fortress-prison where prisoners were kept. It was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the market.
Question 4.
What was the issue most French people were protested against?
Answer:
Most French people were protesting against the high price of bread.
Question 5.
The french society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates. Name them.
Answer:
- Clergy
- Nobility
- Third estate which included big businessmen, merchants, peasants, etc.
Question 6.
What do you mean by the term Old Regime?
Answer:
The term Old Regime is usually used to describe the society and institutions of France before 1789, the year of the French Revolution.
Question 7.
Who owned about 60 percent of the land in France?
Answer:
Nobles, the church and other richer members of the third estate owned about 60 percent of the land in France.
Question 8.
What privileges were enjoyed by the clergy and the nobility by birth?
Answer:
These people were exempted from paying taxes to the state. The nobles enjoyed feudal privileges too which included feudal dues.
Question 9.
What services did the peasants render to the lord?
Answer:
They worked in his house and fields, served in the army or participated in building roads.
Question 10.
Name the taxes that all members of the third estate had to pay to the state.
Answer:
A direct tax, called taille and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
Short Answers Type
Question 1.
What were reasons behind an empty treasury upon the accession of Louis XVI in 1774?
Answer:
Upon his accession in 1774 the new king Louis XVI found an empty treasury. There were several reasons behind it:
- Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. Added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immerse palace of Versailles.
- Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from Britain. The war added more than a billon livres to debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres. Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans.
- French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates and only members of the third estate paid taxes.
Question 2.
How was the system of estates in French society organised?
Answer:
French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates:
- The first estate was constituted by the clergy, who enjoyed certain privileges by birth.
- The second estate was constituted by the nobility who enjoyed feudal privileges.
- The third estate was consisted of big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, peasants, artisans, small peasants, landless labour and servants. Thus, within the third estate some were rich and others poor. Here, it is worth mentioning that the members of the first two estates were exempted from paying taxes to the state. Only the members of the third estate had to pay taxes.
Question 3.
Which factors were responsible for the subsistence crisis in France in 1789?
Answer:
The following factors led to the subsistence crisis in France in 1789:
- The population of France rose dramatically in 1789. This led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains. Production of grains could not keep pace with the growing demand. So the price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly.
- Most of the workers were employed as labourers in workshops where owners fixed their wages. But wages did not keep pace with the rose in price.
- Things became worse due to a severe winter which reduced the harvest.
Question 4.
Why did members of the third estate walk out of the assembly of the Estates General, called by Louis XVI on 5 May 1789?
Answer:
- On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. The first and second estate sent 300 representatives each, while the third estate sent 600 representatives.
- Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too the king was determined to continue the same practice.
- But Members of the third estate demanded that voting now 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 walked out of the assembly in protest.
Question 5.
What was the immediate cause that angered the French people so much so that they stormed and destroyed the Bastille and started the Revolution?
Answer:
The National Assembly was busy at Versailles in drafting a constitution that would limit the powers of the monarch. The common people on the other hand, were facing hardships. The king had nothing to do with their problems.
Meanwhile, there occurred a severe winter in France which aggravated their problem. Severe winter resulted in bad harvest. So, the price of bread rose. Often bakers exploited the situation and hoarded supplies. After spending hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into the shops. At the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris. So, on 14 July 1789, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille, which stood for the despotic power of the king. This was the start of the French Revolution.
Question 6.
Under what circumstances did Louis XVI finally accord recognition to the National Assembly? Mention the changes brought by the Assembly on the night of 4 August 1789.
Answer:
There was agitation all over France due to the short supplies and high prices of food. Unaware of the common man’s problems, the king decided to suppress it. As a result the agitation got intensified. Peasants began to attack chateaux. They looted hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing records of manorial dues. Faced with the power of his revolting subjects, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a constitution.
The Assembly passed a decree on the night of 4 August 1789 that brought the following changes:
- The feudal system of obligations and taxes was abolished.
- Members of the clergy were forced to give up their privileges.
- Tithes were abolished and lands owned by the church were confiscated.
Question 7.
What were the consequences of the uprising led by the Jacobins in 1792?
Answer:
- The Assembly voted to imprison Louis XVI and his family members. Elections were held. From now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.
- Monarchy was abolished and France was declared a republic.
- Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason. On 21 January 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde. The queen Marie Antoinette met the same fate shortly after.
Question 8.
Write three points about the Jacobin club in France. Who was its leader?
Answer:
(i) The most successful of the political clubs during the revolutionary France was that of the Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of St. Jacob in Paris.
(ii) The members of the Jacobin 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.
(iii) A large group among the Jacobins began to wear long striped trousers to set themselves apart from the fashionable sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches.
The leader of the Jacobin club was Maximilian Robespierre.
Long Answers Type
Question 1.
Describe how France became a republic?
Answer:
(i) Louis XVI was not happy by signing the Constitution of 1791. So, when he got opportune moment he entered into secret negotiations with the king of Prussia.
(ii) Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send troops to put down the events that had been taking place there since the summer of 1789.
(iii) Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare a war against Prussia and Austria. Thousands of volunteers thronged from the provinces to join the army. The Marseillaise composed by the poet Rouget de L’lsle was sung for the first time by the volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris.
(iv) Political clubs became important rallying point for people who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action. The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins
(v) In the Summer of 1792, these Jacobins planned on insurrection of a large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies arid high prices of food . On the morning of August 10, they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, malssacred the king’s guards and held the king himself as a hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. Elections were held. The newly elected assembly abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Louis XVI and his queen were executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde.
Question 2.
Why is Robespierre’s government known as the Reign of Terror? Give reasons.
Answer:
Robespierre’s government remained in power from 1793 to 1794. But this short period became so infamous that it began to be referred to as the Reign of Terror. The following reasons were responsible for this:
(i) Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. All those whom he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic such as 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 ‘guilty’ they were guillotined.
(ii) 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.
(iii) The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden. All citizens were required to eat pain d’e‘galite’ meaning equality bread, made of whole wheat.
(iv) Churches were shut down and their building were converted into barracks or offices.
(v) Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand modernisation. Finally, He was arrested and guillotined.
Question 3.
How did the revolution affect the everyday life of the people in France?
Answer:
(i) The years following 1789 in France saw many changes in the lives of men, women and children. Politics changed the clothes people wore, the languages they spoke and the book they read.
(ii) The revolutionary governments tool it upon themselves to pass laws that would translate the ideals of liberty and equality into everyday practice.
(iii) Censorship was abolished. Now the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a natural right.
(iv) Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from where they travelled rapidly into the country side. They all described and discussed the events and changes taking place in France.
(v) Freedom of the press also meant that opposing views of events could be expressed. Each side sought to convince the others for its position through the medium of print.
(vi) Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people. The system of slavery began to be criticised and finally it was abolished.
Question 4.
Describe how slavery was abolished in France?
Answer:
The abolition of slavery in the French colonies took place under the Jacobin regime. The colonies the Caribbean were important suppliers of commodities like tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee. But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant lands caused shortage of labour on the plantations.
Hence, a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas 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. The slaves were branded and shackled and then packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. There they were sold to plantation owners.
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 due to expected 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. But this lasted for a short term. Napoleon reintroduced slavery after he became the emperor of France in 1804. This exploitative system was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848. .
Question 5.
How did the French Revolution impact the world?
Answer:
(i) The ideals of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution.These ideals spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal system were abolished.
(ii) Political revolution in Europe began with the French Revolution. This revolution influenced the people in other European countries and political revolutions raged through Europe as people fought against the authority of kings.
(iii) Colonised peoples got inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution. They reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into the movements to create a sovereign nation state. Pipu Sultan and Rammohan are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.
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