CLASS IX - SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY CHAPTER - 1 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

1. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
CLASS IX – SOCIAL SCIENCE
HISTORY CHAPTER -1
(BY: Mrs. Usha Joy)

2. Storming of the Bastille
 On 14 July 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm.
 King Louis XVI had commanded troops to move into the city.
 Some 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall and
decided to form a peoples’ militia.
 They broke govt buildings in search of arms and stormed the fortress
prison of Bastille.
 Killed the commander and released prisoners (only seven)
 the Bastille was hated by all, because it stood for the despotic power of
the king.
 Demolished it and fragments were sold in the market.

3. French Society – 18th Century
 Economic Causes
 In 1774,Louis XVI (Bourbon) family ascended the throne
 He was 20 years old -married to Austrian princess – Marie Antoinette
 He found an empty treasury – long years of war had drained the financial resources
 Spent a lot of money for maintaining an extravagant court – palace Versailles
 Helped 13 American colonies to gain independence from Britain. War added a
billion livres to a debt that had already of more than 2 billion livres
 Lenders began to charge 10 % interest on loans.
 To meet its regular expenses like maintain army, court, offices etc. he was forced to
increase tax.

6. French Society

7. French Society
 Social causes
 French society was the part of feudal system.
 Old Regime – The society and institutions of France before 1789.
 Only the third estate paid taxes
 90% of the population were peasants and 60% land was owned by
nobles, church…
 Clergy and nobility were exempted from taxes.
 Nobles enjoyed feudal privileges as feudal dues.
 Peasants were obliged to render services to the Lords.

8. The Church
 The church extracted tax called tithes.
 Tithes: A tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the
agricultural produce
 Direct tax – taille
 Taille: Tax to be paid directly to the state
 Indirect taxes – everyday consumption- salt, tobacco…
 Burden of taxes were born by the third estates

9. Struggle to Survive
Subsistence crisis
 Definition: An extreme situation where
the basic means of livelihood
are endangered

10. Subsistence Crisis
 Population rose from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in1789
 Rapid increase in demand for food grains
 Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand.
 So price of bread – rose rapidly.
 Wages did not keep pace with rise in price
 Gap between rich and poor widened
 Situation become worse – drought hail reduced the harvest

12. Growing Middle Class
 18th century witnessed the emergence of a new social group - middle
class
 They earned wealth through overseas trade, and from the manufacture of
woollen and silk..
 Merchants, manufacturers, lawyers, administrative officials were
educated and believed that social position must be depend on merit not
by birth
 No group in society should be privileged by birth.
 Philosophers put forwarded the idea - a society based on freedom and
equal laws and opportunities for all

13. Growing Middle Class
Intellectual CausesRole of Philosophers
 John Locke – Two Treaties of Government
 Jean Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract
 Montesquieu – The Spirit of the Laws

15. Role of Philosophers
 John Locke – Two Treaties of Government
refute the divine and absolute right of monarch
 Rousseau - The Social Contract
government based on a social contract between
people their representatives
 Montesquieu – The Spirit of the Law
division of power within the govt.
legislative, executive and judiciary

16. Protest against the system
• Ideas of philosopher – discussed in salons, coffee- houses
and spread through books and newspapers
• Read aloud – for those who could not read and write
• Imposition of tax by Louis XVI – anger and protest
against the system

17. The Outbreak of the Revolution
• In the Old Regime monarch did not have the power to impose tax.
• He had to call a meeting of Estate General – a political body to which
three estates sent their representatives.
• Last time it was done in 1614
• On 5th May 1789 called together an assembly of Estate General.
• Resplendent hall in Versailles – host the meeting
• First and second estates sent 300 members each
• Third estate sent 600 members (They had to stand at the back)
• Peasants, artisans and women were denied entry but they could sent
letters - 40,000 letters

18. The Estate General

19. Voting in the Estates General
 In the past each estate had one vote.
 Louis XVI wanted to continue the same practice.
 Third estate demanded each member would have one vote
 This was one of the democratic principle put forwarded by Rousseau –
The Social Contract
 King rejected the proposal and the third estate walked out.

20. The Tennis Court Oath

21. The Tennis Court Oath
 On 20th June they assembled in thehall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds
of Versailles.
 They declared themselves as National Assembly
 Swore not to disperse till they had drafted a constitution for France that would
limit the powers of the monarch.
 They were led by leaders loke Abbe Sieyes and Mirabeau
 Abbe Sieyes (priest) wrote an influential pamphlet - What is the Third Estate?

22. Turmoil in France
 National Assembly was busy in making constitution
 Severe winter had meant a bad harvest and price of bread rose, bakers
hoarded the grain.
 People had to stand hours in long queues to get bread.
 They stormed into the shops and which led to the storming of Bastille
 Rumours spread that Lords of the Manor had hired bands of brigades
to destroy crops.
 Peasants attacked chateaux and looted horded grains and burnt the
documents
 Lords- Fled from their homes or migrated

23. Decisions of National Assembly
 Louis XVI finally accorded recognition of National Assembly
 Louis XVI accepted – his powers would be checked by a constitution
 4th August 1789, the assembly passed a decree – abolishing feudal
system and taxes
 Tithes were abolished, confiscated the land owned by the church.
 Acquired assets worth at least 2 billion livres

24. Political System Under the Constitution - 1791

25. Constitutional Monarchy
 1791- National Assembly drafted the constitution
 Limit the powers of the monarch
 Powers are separated as legislature, executive and judiciary.
 National Assembly got the power to make law, which is indirectly elected
by the active citizens.
 Active citizens - Men above 25 years, who paid taxes equal to 3 days
wages
 Passive citizens – remaining men and all women

27. Rights
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
 Right to life
 freedom of speech
 freedom of opinion natural inalienable rights
 Equality before law
 They belonged to each human being by birth
and could not be taken away

28. Political Symbols
Chains were used to fetter slaves. A
Broken Chain stands for the act of
becoming free
One rod can be easily broken, but
not an entire bundle.
Strength lies in unity
The Broken Chain The Bundle of Rods or Fasces

29. Political Symbols
The eye within a triangle
radiating light
Sceptre
The all-seeing eye stands for
knowledge . The rays of the sun
will drive away the clouds of
ignorance
Symbol of royal power

30. Political Symbols
Snake biting it’s tail to from
a ring
Red phrygian Cap
Symbol of eternity . A ring has
neither beginning nor end .
Cap worn by a slave upon
becoming free.

31. Political Symbols
Blue-white-red The winged woman
The national colours of France. Personification of the law

32. Political Symbols
The Law Tablet
The law is the same for all , and all are equal
before it

33. Abolishes Monarchy
 Louis XVI had signed the Constitution but made secret negotiation with the
king of Prussia.
 Rulers of neighbouring countries planned to send troop.
 National Assembly voted to declare war against Prussia and Austria.
 They saw this as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies
 Among the patriotic songs Marseillaise written by Roget de L’Isle became
popular.
 The Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France

34. The Jacobins
 While the men were away fighting at the front, women took the tasks of
earning a living and looking after families
 Political clubs became the rallying point.
 The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins – it got its name
from a former convent of St Jacob in Paris
 Women formed their own clubs
 The members of the Jacobin club were less prosperous- shop keepers, shoe
makers, printers,….
 Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre
 The Jacobins – start wearing long striped trousers and were called San-
culottes – those without knee breeches

35. Maximilian Robespierre

36. San-culottes

37. The Rebellion
 The Jacobins planned an insurrection
 10th August – stormed the palace of the Tuileries
 Massacred the king’s guards and held king as hostage
 Voted to imprison the royal family
 All men of 21 years and above regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.

38. The Convention
 The newly elected assembly was called The Convention
 On 21 September 1792 – abolished monarchy and
declared France a Republic
 Republic – people elect the govt. including the head of the govt.
 Louis XVI was sentenced to death – for treason
 21st January 1793 he was executed publicly at de la Concorde
 Marie Antoinette also met with the same fate shortly after.

39. The Reign of Terror
 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 ‘guilty’ they were guillotined. The guillotine is
a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is
beheaded.
 It was named after Dr Guillotin who invented it.

40. The guillotine

41. The Reign of Terror
 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.
 The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were
required to eat the pain d’égalité (equality bread), a loaf made of wholewheat.
 Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men
and women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).
 Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or
offices.
 He was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to
the guillotine.

42. A Directory Rules France
 A new constitution was introduced which denied the vote to non-
propertied sections of society.
 It provided for two elected legislative councils.
 These then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five
members.
 However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils,
who then sought to dismiss them.
 The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a
military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

43. Napoleon Bonaparte

44. Did Women have a Revolution?
 Most women of the third estate had to work for a living.
 They worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits
and vegetables at the market, or were employed as domestic
servants in the houses of prosperous people.
 Most women did not have access to education or job training.
 Only daughters of nobles or wealthier members of the third estate
could study at a convent, after which their families arranged a
marriage for them.
 Working women had also to care for their families, that is, cook, fetch
water, queue up for bread and look after the children. Their wages
were lower than those of men.

45. Did Women have a Revolution?
 In order to discuss and voice their interests women started their own
political clubs and newspapers.
 About sixty women’s clubs came up in different French cities. The Society
of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.
 Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to
passive citizens.
 They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to
hold political office.

46. Did Women have a Revolution?
 Together with the creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsory for
all girls.
 Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will.
 Marriage was made into a contract entered into freely and registered under civil
law. Divorce was made legal,
 Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.
 Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages continued through the
next two hundred years in many countries of the world.
 It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.

47. The Abolition of Slavery
 The colonies in the Caribbean – Martinique, Guadeloupe
and San Domingo
 tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee
 Negroes – A term used for the indigenous people of Africa
south of the Sahara. It is a derogatory term not in common
use any longer

48. The Abolition of Slavery
 Triangular slave trade: between Europe, Africa and the Americas.
 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.

51. The Abolition of Slavery
 The National Assembly held long debates 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.
 Ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery.
 Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

52. The Revolution and Everyday Life
 The revolutionary governments passed laws that would translate the
ideals of liberty and equality into everyday practice.
 1789 - the abolition of censorship
 Freedom of the press also meant that opposing views of events could be
expressed.
 Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns
of France from where they travelled rapidly into the countryside

53. Conclusion
 In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.
 Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.
 He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and
a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal
system.
 Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for
the people.
 He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

54. Legacy of the French Revolution
 The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important
legacy of the French Revolution.
 These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth
century.
 Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into
their movements to create a sovereign nation state.
 Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy are two examples of individuals who
responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.

55. Tipu Sultan and Raja Ram Mohan Roy