Grade IX

Subject: - History_Chapter 1. The French Revolution

Q1. Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
Ans: The outbreak of revolutionary protest in France was a culmination of social, political,
economic, intellectual and other factors:
(i) Social Causes:
a. French society was divided into privileged and non-privileged sections.
b. The first estate and the second estate belonged to the privileged sections. The first estate
consisted of the clergy and the second estate comprised the nobility. These two estates were
exempt from payment of state taxes.
c. The third estate consisted of the lower and middle classes who bore the burden of taxes.
But they did not have any political rights and social status.
(ii) Political Causes:
A. Louis XVI, the king of France was an autocratic, inefficient ruler who led a luxurious life with
his queen Marie Antoinette. People of France became tired of this system of administration
and wanted a change. B. The treasury of the king was empty:
a. on account of long wars,
b. involvement in the American War of Independence,
c. luxurious living of the king and faulty system of taxation.
(iii) Economic Causes:
Subsistence Crisis is an extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.
Subsistence crises was caused in France due to
(i) Rise in population.
(ii) Increase in demand of foodgrains.
(iii) Prices of bread rose rapidly.
(iv)Wages could not keep pace with rising prices.
(v) Gap between rich and poor widened.
(vi)Draught or hail reduced the harvest.
All these reasons led to subsistence crisis in France. Several subsistence crisis in France in the
18th century finally led to the French Revolution.
(iv) Intellectual Causes:
a. Philosophers like Rousseau, John Locke and Montesquieu played a significant role.
b. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and
spread among people through books and newspapers.
(v) Immediate Cause:
a. Forced by financial bankruptcy, King Louis XVI was compelled to call an assembly of the
Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes in 1789.
b. This time, voting method was not accepted by the third estate. They demanded each
member should have one vote.
c. This controversy led to agitation among the people which became the immediate cause of
the French Revolution.

Q2. Explain any five features of the Constitution of 1791, framed by the National Assembly
in France.
Ans: The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution in 1791.
(i) It declared France as a Constitutional monarchy.
(ii) Powers of the king were separated and assigned to different institutions the Legislature,
the Executive and the Judiciary.
(iii) The National Assembly was given the power to make laws.
(iv) To qualify as an elector, member of the assembly, a man had to belong to the highest
bracket of taxpayers.
(v) Only men above 25 years of age, who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a laborers wage
were given the status of active citizen, i.e., voters.

Q3. Evaluate the role of women in France before the revolution.

Ans: The role of the women in France before the revolution was:
(i) All women were classes as passive citizens. They did not have voting powers.
(ii) They worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and vegetables or worked
as domestic servants.
(iii) Their wages were lower than those of men.
(iv) They looked after their children, did the cooking, fetched water and queued for bread.
(v) Most women did not have access to education or job training. Only daughters of wealthy
parents could study at a convent, after which they were married off.

Q4. Which was the important law that came into effect soon after the storming of the
Bastille in the summer of 1789? How did it change the lives of the common people? Explain.
Ans: After the fall of Bastille in the summer of 1789, one important law that came into effect
was the abolition of censorship. Before French Revolution all written material and cultural
activities books, newspapers, plays could be published or performed only after they had been
approved by the censors of the king. This law changed the lives of the common people in the
following ways:
(i) The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and
expression to be a natural right.
(ii) Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from
where they could rapidly reach to the countryside.
(iii) These all discussed events and changes that took place in France.
(iv)Freedom of press meant that opposing views of events could be expressed.
(v) Plays, songs and festive procession attracted common men through which they could
identify the ideas of liberty or justice of the political philosophers.

Q5. What were the reforms introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte in France?

Ans: In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself as the Emperor of France.
(i) In the administrative field he had incorporated many revolutionary principles which made
the whole system more rational and efficient.
(ii) His Civil Code of 1804 (known as the Napoleonic code) did away all privileges based on
birth, established equality before the law and secured the right to private property.
(iii) He introduced a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
(iv) Initially many believed Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people.
(v) Many of his reforms were exported to the regions under French control. These left a long
lasting effect on the society.

Q6. (i) Which groups of French society benefitted from the revolution? (ii) Which groups
were forced to relinquish power? (iii) Which sections of society would have been
disappointed with the outcome of the revolution?
Ans: (i) All the groups which formed the third estate were benefitted from the revolution.
These groups included workers, businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, teachers and
doctors etc.
(ii) The classes which formed the privileged sections of society like the nobility, clergy and
aristocracy were forced to relinquish their executive powers.
(iii) Naturally, the privileged classes, viz, the clergy and the nobles would have been
disappointed with the outcome of the revolution because their privileges were taken away
from them.
Q7. Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the
French Revolution.
Ans: Some of the democratic rights which we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the
French Revolution are given in the Indian Constitution.
(i) Right to Equality The right to equality has its origin in the French Revolution. In the Indian
Constitution, right to equality means equality before law, prohibition of discrimination and
equality of opportunity in matters of employment.
(ii) Right to Liberty or Freedom The origin of this right can also be traced to the French. In the
Preamble to the Indian Constitution, Right to Liberty or freedom means 'freedom of thought,
expression, belief, faith and worship.'
(iii) Encouraging the Spirit of Fraternity, The French Revolution introduced the growth of the
spirit of fraternity and social welfare. In the Indian Constitution the concept of 'fraternity'
abolishes untouchability, local or provincial anti-social feelings.
(iv) Inspiring the Spirit of Democracy The French Revolution inspired the spirit of democracy
which ensured many rights, viz., right against exploitation, right to life, right to vote etc which
we are enjoying today.

Q8.What is the role of philosophers in the French Revolution?

Ans: The revolutionary ideas of philosophers encouraged people to fight for their rights.
(i) John Locke criticized the divine and absolute rights of the monarch.
(ii) Rousseau put forward the idea of formation of a government based on a social contract
between people and their representatives. Men had the right to change their government, if
they were not satisfied with it.
(iii) Montesquieu believed that all powers should not be concentrated in one person's hand.
They should be divided between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The ideas of
these philosophers were discussed by common people in salons and coffee houses and
inspired them to fight for their rights.

Q9. How was slavery abolished in France?

Ans: (i) One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of
slavery.
(ii)An acute shortage of labour in the French Caribbean colonies, Martinique, Guadeloupe and
San Domingo, led to a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and America in the 17th
century.
(iii)The National Assembly held long debates but it did not pass any law to abolish it.
(iv) The Convention in 1794 passed laws freeing slaves in the French overseas possessions but
it lasted for a short term.
(v)After ten years, slavery was reintroduced by Napoleon. Finally, it was abolished in 1848.

Q10. Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the people of the world.
Ans: Ideologically the impact of the French Revolution on the world was immense.
(i) The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French
Revolution. These ideas spread from France to the rest of Europe during the 19th century,
where feudal systems were abolished.
(ii) Colonized people in Africa, Asia and Latin America reworked the idea of freedom from
bondage into their movements to create a sovereign nation state.
(iii) The French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France. A society based on privileges
gave way to a new system of governance.
(iv) The idea that all individual had rights and could claim equality became part of new
language of politics, but in different countries they were reinterpreted and rethought.
(v) Tipu Sultan and Raja Ram Mohan Roy are two Indians who were very much influenced by
the revolution in France.

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