The French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France.

The chapter also

discusses the Declaration of the Rights of Man, notions of equality and freedom,
anti-colonial movements in India and China, Africa and South America.
The French Revolution
1. In 1789, in the wake of early morning, the city of Paris was in a state of
alarm. Rumours spread that the King would open fire upon the citizens.
2. People started gathering and they started breaking a number of
government buildings in search of arms.
3. The commander of the Bastille was killed in the armed fight and the
prisoners were released.
4. People hated the Bastille as it stood for the despotic power of the king.
5. People protested against the high price of bread. A new chain of events
began which led to the execution of the King in France.
French Society during the Late Eighteenth Century
1. Louis XVI, in 1774, ascended the throne of France.
2. Financially, France was drained because of the war.
a. France, Under Louis XVI, helped the thirteen American colonies to
gain their independence from Britain.
3. Taxes were increased to meet regular expenses, such as the cost of
maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or
universities.
4. The country of France was divided into three estates in the eighteenth
century called Ancient Regime. The feudal system was part of the
society estates dated back to the Middle Ages.
5. 90 percent of the population was dominated by peasants but only a small
number of them owned the land they cultivated.
6. 60 percent was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of
the third estate.
7. The clergy and the nobility, members of the first two estates enjoyed
certain privileges by birth.
a. These groups of members were exempted from paying taxes and
enjoyed feudal privileges.
8. All members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state which
included a direct tax, called taille, to clergy called tithes, to nobility
called feudal dues and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on
articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
The Struggle to Survive
1. Increase in population led to a rapid increase for food grains.
2. Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand due to which
the price of bread rose rapidly.
3. Due to low wages paid to the labourers the gap between the poor and the
rich widened.
4. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.
A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges
1. Peasants used to participate in revolts against taxes and food scarcity.
a. Group of the third estate had become prosperous and had access to
education and new ideas.
2. In the eighteenth century, new social groups emerged, termed the middle
class, who earned their wealth through expanding overseas trade and by
manufacturing woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or
bought by the richer members of society.
3. The third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative
officials.
a. A person’s social position was dependent on their merit.
b. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society
should be privileged by birth.
c. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit.
4. A new form of government was proposed by Rousseau based on a social
contract between people and their representatives.
5. Similarly, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the
government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
a. In the USA, this model of government was put into force.
6. Louis XVI planned to impose further taxes to meet the expenses.
The Outbreak of the Revolution
1. In France, the monarch didn't have the power to impose taxes.
2. They had to call a meeting of the Estates-General, a political body to
which the three estates sent their representatives, to pass proposals for
new taxes.
3. Louis XVI, on 5 May 1789, called an assembly to pass proposals for new
taxes.
4. Representatives from the first and second estates were present and the
third estate was represented by its prosperous and educated members.
5. According to the principle each estate had one vote.
6. But, representatives from the third estate demanded each member would
have one vote.
7. The demand was rejected so members of the third estate walked out to
protest.
a. They swore not to disperse till a constitution drafted for France that
would limit the powers of the monarch.
8. Due to the severe winter, bread price rose and people had to spend hours
in long queues.
 9. Rumours spread that the lords of the manor hired bands of brigands to
destroy the ripe crops.
10.In fear, peasants started looting hoarded grain and burnt down documents
containing records of manorial dues.
11.Nobles fled from their homes.
12.Louis XVI accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted
the principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a
constitution.
13.The Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations
and taxes on 4 August 1789.
14.Tithes were abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated.
France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy
In 1791, The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution and its
main object was to limit the powers of the monarch.
These powers were now separated and assigned to different institutions – the
legislature, executive and judiciary.
France became a constitutional monarchy.
Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly, but
unfortunately, not every citizen had the right to vote.
Men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a
labourer’s wage were entitled to vote.
The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality
before law, were established as ‘natural and inalienable’ rights, that is, they
belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

1. In April 1792, the National Assembly voted for a war against Prussia and
Austria.
2. Marseillaise became the national anthem of France.
3. While men were away fighting at the war, women took care of their
families.
4. Large sections of the population demanded that the revolution had to be
carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to
the richer sections of society.
 5. Political clubs were formed and among them, Jacobins became the most
successful club.
a. Members of the Jacobin club included small shopkeepers, artisans
such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well
as servants and daily-wage workers.
b. Jacobin members started wearing long striped trousers similar to
those worn by dockworkers.
c. These Jacobins were called the sans-culottes, literally meaning
‘those without knee breeches.’
d. On August 10 1792, Jacobins - The French Revolution stormed the
Palace of the Tuileries and held the king hostage for several hours.
6. Elections were held and all men of 21 years and above got the right to
vote.
7. Monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792 and France was
declared a republic.
8. Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason.

The Reign of Terror

1. The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror.
2. People whom Robespierre saw enemies of the republic were arrested,
imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
3. If they were declared guilty by the court then they were guillotined.
4. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which
a person is beheaded, named after Dr Guillotin.
5. Laws were issued to place a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.
6. Meat and bread were rationed.
7. Expensive white flour was forbidden to use.
8. Equality was practised through forms of speech and address.
9. All French men and women were addressed as Citoyen and Citoyenne
(Citizen).
10.In July 1794, he was convicted by a court arrested and the next day sent
to the guillotine.

A Directory Rules France

1. Fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to
seize power.
 2. According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society
were denied voting.
3. It provided for two elected legislative councils.
4. The government appointed a Directory, consisting of executives made up
of five members.
5. Political instability paved the way for a military dictator, Napoleon
Bonaparte.

Did Women have a Revolution?

1. Women were active participants from the beginning which brought
important changes in the country France.
2. Women from the third estate had to work for a living and they didn’t have
access to education or job training.
3. Daughters of nobles of the third estate were allowed to study at a convent.
a. Working women also had to care for their families.
b. Compared to men their wages were lower. Women also started their
political clubs and newspapers.
4. The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was one of the
most famous women's clubs.
a. They demanded equal political rights as men, the right to vote and
to hold political office.
5. The revolutionary government introduced laws to improve the lives of
women.
6. Schooling became compulsory, divorce made legal and they could run
small businesses.
7. During the Reign of Terror, the government closed women’s clubs
banning their political activities.
8. After much struggle, women in France in 1946 won the right to vote.

The Abolition of Slavery

1. Jacobin regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of
slavery in the French colonies.
2. In the seventeenth century, slavery trade began.
a. Slaves were brought from local chieftains, branded and shackled
and were packed tightly into ships for the three-month-long voyage
across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.
 b. Slave labour met the growing demand in European markets for
sugar, coffee, and indigo.
c. Throughout the eighteenth century, there was little criticism of
slavery in France.
3. In 1794, the Convention legislated to free all slaves in the French
overseas possessions.
4. Napoleon introduced slavery after ten years.
5. In 1848, slavery was abolished in French colonies.

The Revolution and Everyday Life

1. France during 1789 saw changes in the lives of men, women and
children.
2. Abolition of censorship happened in the summer of 1789.
3. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of
speech and expression to be a natural right.
4. Freedom of press meant opposing views of events could be expressed.
5. Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.

Conclusion
1. Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France, in 1804 and
introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a
uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
2. Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
3. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy
of the French Revolution.
4. Colonised peoples reworked on the idea of freedom to create a sovereign
nation-state.