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MIND MAPS unit: i cHAPTER- 1 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION • Increase in population. • Increased demand for foodgrains. le gg ru • Price of bread rose. St e e viv • Low wages of workers. h ur • Laws to translate the T S ideals of liberty and to equality into everyday • Bad harvest. The the How • Increase in the price of bread. practice. Re g Subsistence v in A ol r tury C • Wages did not keep pace with increase in prices. u u n ri t G sis e E io D C Happens n y r • Widened gap between the rich & the poor. • Slavery was abolished a t th n o n ie n v w d c i in French colonies in e s i E o e a n t g The v S g 1848. A e h e M bo r g liti y h i s id • Peasants & workers participated in revolts on d c E E d o a n n l f y e against increasing taxes. S e e d C r t la L to la v F a s Did wom e if P s • Social groups emerged. en h r e L ri • Women started their own ave y vile • Earnings through overseas trade, manufacture a R ges political clubs & news- evolut ion? of woollen & silk textiles. papers to voice their • Philosophers emerged. interests. The French eak of Outbr the olishes Monarchy e ab Revolution lution Fra anc Revo Co nc John Locke Rousseau Montesquieu Fr Republic ns e mes a tit b eco ut e • Criticised • Idea of • Proposed d b io c an n o a m the divine & government division of The R l eign of Terr M e absolute right based on power within o s r o n a of the monarch. social contract the govt. a r A • Robespierre’s rule in France was c between people between the h D known as ‘Reign of Terror’ y & their legislative, the i r e • Laws placing a maximum ceiling on c representatives. executive & the to wages & prices were issued. judiciary. ry • Power was distributed among the legislature, r ule the executive and the judiciary. s Fra nce • Rights like right to life, freedom of speech • Rise of Napoleon equality before law, etc., were introduced | 29 UNIT – I CHAPTER India and the Contemporary THE FRENCH World-I REVOLUTION Sub Unit 1.1 : Events and Processes 1 Syllabus ¾ The Ancient Regime and its crises. ¾ The social forces that led to the Revolution. ¾ The different revolutionary groups and ideas of the time. TOPIC - 1 TOPIC-1 The Ancient Regime and its Crises P. 1 The Ancient Regime and TOPIC - 2 its Crises The Social Forces that led to the Revolution P. 4 TOPIC - 3 Revision Notes The Different Revolutionary Groups and Ideas of the Time P. 8 ¾ On the morning of 14th July 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm. The king had commanded the troops to move into the city. Rumours spread that the king would soon order the army to open fire upon the citizens. Some 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall and decided to form a peoples’ militia. They broke into a number of government buildings in search of arms. ¾ Finally, a group of several hundred people marched towards the eastern part of the city and stormed the fortress- prison, the Bastille, where they hoped to find hoarded ammunition. In the armed fight that followed, the commander of the Bastille was killed and the prisoners released. ¾ The days that followed saw more rioting both in Paris and the countryside. Most people were protesting against the high price of bread. Actually, it was the beginning of a chain of events that ultimately led to the execution of the king in France, though most people at that time did not anticipate this outcome. French Society during the late 18th century ¾ In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France. ¾ Causes for an empty treasury of France under Louis XVI : (i) Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. (ii) High cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles. (iii) Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy, Britain. (iv) The war added more than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres. (v) Lenders, who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. ¾ The French Society in the eighteenth century was divided into three Estates, and only members of the Third Estate paid taxes. (i) The members of the First Estate, that is the clergy, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state. (ii) The members of the Second Estate were the nobility. They enjoyed feudal privileges by birth. These included feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. They were also exempted from paying taxes. (iii) The Third Estate comprised of peasants, artisans, landless labour, servants, lawyers, doctors, administrative officials, traders, etc., they had to pay all taxes to the state. ¾ Peasants made up about 90% of the population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. ¾ Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord, work in his house and fields, serve in the army or to participate in building roads. 2 ] Oswaal CBSE Chapterwise & Topicwise Question Bank, SOCIAL SCIENCE, Class – IX ¾ All members of the Third Estate had to pay taxes to the state including a direct tax, called ‘taille’ and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. The Struggle to Survive ¾ Increasing population of France led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains. But the production of grains could not keep pace with the demand. So the price of bread rose rapidly. ¾ Wages of the workers did not keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened. ¾ Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. This led to a subsistence crisis, something that occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime. A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges ¾ The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups, termed the middle class. They earned their wealth through an expanding overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such as woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by the richer members of society. ¾ Members of the middle class were educated and believed that no group in the society should be privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. ¾ These 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. ¾ In his Two Treatises of Government, Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch. Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on a social contract between people and their representatives. ¾ In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. Know the Terms ¾ Bastille : The Bastille was a fortress in Paris that was used as a state prison by the kings of France. ¾ Bourbon family : It is the name of the royal family of French origin, members of which became rulers of several European countries. ¾ Bourgeoisie class : The social class that came to own the means of production during modern industrialization and was primarily concerned with property values. ¾ Chateau : A large French country house or stately residence belonging to a king or a nobleman. ¾ Constitutional monarchy : Form of government in which a king or queen acts as Head of State. ¾ Clergy : Group of persons vested with special functions in the Church. ¾ Convent : Building belonging to a community devoted to a religious life. Know the Dates ¾ Between 1715 and 1771 : French commerce had increased eight fold; it was exporting sugar, coffee and indigo. ¾ 10th May, 1774 : Louis XVI ascended the throne and death of Louis XV. Short Answer Type Questions (3 marks each) Q. 1. What were the causes for the empty treasury of Q. 2. Why did King Louis XVI conclude to increase France under Louis XIV? Assess any three causes. taxes? Assess any three reasons. U U [Board 2010 Term-I, Set–C1] [Board 2010 Term-I, Set – B1] Ans. Refer to Long Answer Q. 2. (Any three)(1×3=3) Ans. Refer to Long Answer Q. 4. (Any three) 3 Long Answer Type Questions (5 marks each) Q. 1. Evaluate the importance of the following years in believed in the Divine Right Theory of Kings, and concern with the French Revolution, 1774, 1789, had no respect for freedom of liberty. Because of 1791, 1804 and 1815. A his empty treasure, he began to impose heavy taxes [Board 2013 Term-I, Set-U9IN] which was disliked by his own people also. Ans. The importance of the following years in concern (ii) 1789 : On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called together an with the French Revolution : assembly of the Estates General to pass proposals (i) 1774 : Louis XVI ascended the throne of France. He for new taxes. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION [ 3 (a) The French Revolution started. Ans. Economic condition of France : (b) On 14th July, the agitated crowd stormed and (i) Constant wars.

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