CLASS IX

HISTORY CHAPTER-1
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The French Revolution

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. People started gathering and they started
breaking a number of government buildings in search of arms. The commander of the Bastille
was killed in the armed fight and the prisoners were released. People hated the Bastille as it
stood for the despotic power of the king. 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

Louis XVI, in 1774, ascended the throne of France. Financial France was drained because of
the war. France, Under Louis XVI, helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their
independence from Britain. Taxes were increased to meet regular expenses, such as the cost
of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities. The country of
France was divided into three estates in the eighteenth century. The feudal system was part
of the society estates dated back to the middle ages. 90 percent of the population was
dominated by peasants but only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. 60
percent was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate. The
clergy and the nobility, members of the first two estates enjoyed certain privileges by birth.
These groups of members were exempted from paying taxes and enjoyed feudal privileges.
All members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state which included 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
Increase in population led to a rapid increase for food grains. Production of grains could not
keep pace with the demand due to which the price of bread rose rapidly. Due to low wages
paid to the labourers the gap between the poor and the rich widened. Things became worse
whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.
A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges
Peasants used to participate in revolts against taxes and food scarcity. Group of the third
estate had become prosperous and had access to education and new ideas. 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. The third estate included
professions such as lawyers or administrative officials. A person’s social position was
dependent on their merit.
All these groups were educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by
birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. A new form of government
was proposed by Rousseau based on a social contract between people and their
representatives.
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Similarly, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the
legislative, the executive and the judiciary. In the USA, this model of government was put into
force. Louis Louis XVI planned to impose further taxes to meet the expenses.

The Outbreak of the Revolution

In France, the monarch didn’t have the power to impose taxes. 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. Louis XVI, on 5 May 1789, called an assembly to pass proposals
for new taxes. Representatives from the first and second estates were present and the third
estate was represented by its prosperous and educated members. According to the principle
each estate had one vote. But, representatives from the third estate demanded each member
would have one vote. The demand was rejected so members of the third estate walked out
to protest. They swore not to disperse till a constitution drafted for France that would limit
the powers of the monarch.
Due to the severe winter, bread price rose and people had to spend hours in long queues.
Rumours spread that the lords of the manor hired bands of brigands to destroy the ripe crops.
In fear, peasants started looting hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing records
of manorial dues. Nobles fled from their homes. Louis XVI 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 abolishing the feudal system of obligations
and taxes on 4 August 1789. 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

In April 1792, the National Assembly voted for a war against Prussia and Austria. Marseillaise
became the national anthem of France. While men were away fighting at the war, women
took care of their families. 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. Political clubs were formed and among them, Jacobins became the most
successful club. 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. Jacobin members started wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn by
dockworkers. These Jacobins were called the sans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without

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knee breeches’. On August 10 1792, Jacobins stormed the Palace of the Tuileries and held the
king hostage for several hours. Elections were held and all men of 21 years and above got the
right to vote. Monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792 and France was declared a
republic. Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason.
The Reign of Terror
The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. People whom Robespierre
saw enemies of the republic were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary
tribunal. If they were declared guilty by the court then they were guillotined. The guillotine is
a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded, named after
Dr Guillotin. Laws were issued to place a maximum ceiling on wages and prices. Meat and
bread were rationed. Expensive white flour was forbidden to use. Equality was practised
through forms of speech and address. All French men and women were addressed as Citoyen
and Citoyenne (Citizen). In July 1794, he was convicted by a court arrested and the next day
sent to the guillotine.
A Directory Rules France
Fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power.
According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society denied voting. It
provided for two elected legislative councils. The government appointed a Directory,
consisting of executives made up of five members. Political instability paved the way for a
military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Did Women have a Revolution?

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

The Abolition of Slavery

Jacobin regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of slavery in the French
colonies. In the seventeenth century, slavery trade began. 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. Slave labour met the growing demand in
European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo. Throughout the eighteenth century, there
was little criticism of slavery in France. In 1794, the Convention legislated to free all slaves in
the French overseas possessions. Napoleon introduced slavery after ten years. In 1848,
slavery was abolished in French colonies.

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

CHAPTER – 2
SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

The Age of Social Change

After the revolution, individual rights and social power began to be discussed in many parts
of the world including Europe and Asia. Colonial development reshaped ideas of societal
change but everyone was not in favour of the complete transformation of society. Through
the revolution in Russia, socialism became one of the most significant and powerful ideas to
shape society in the twentieth century.
Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives
Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They opposed uncontrolled power of
dynastic rules and argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government, subject to
laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. They
wanted a government based on the majority of a country’s population. Conservatives, after
the nineteenth century, accepted changes but also believed the past needed to be respected
and change should begin slowly.
Industrial Society and Social Change
Industrial Revolution led to changes in social and economic life, new cities came up and new
industrialised regions developed. Men, women and children came to factories in search of
work. But, unfortunately, working hours were long and wages were poor. There was
unemployment during the time of low demand for industrial goods. Liberals and radicals
made wealth through trade or industrial ventures. According to them, society can be
developed if freedom of individuals was ensured, if the poor could labour, and those with
capital could operate without restraint. In France, Italy, Germany and Russia, revolutionaries
overthrow existing monarchs. Nationalists talked of revolutions to create ‘nations’ with equal
rights.
The Coming of Socialism to Europe
Socialism was a well-known body of ideas by the mid-nineteenth century in Europe. Socialists
were against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time. They wanted
to change it and campaigned for it. Robert Owen (1771-1858) sought to build a cooperative
community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA). Louis Blanc (1813-1882) wanted the
government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises. Karl Marx (1818-
1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) added other ideas to this body of arguments.
According to Marx industrial society was ‘capitalist’ who owned the capital invested in
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factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers. Capitalism and the rule of
private property were overthrown. Marx believed that a communist society was the natural
society of the future.
Support for Socialism
By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe and they formed an international body –
namely, the Second International. Associations were formed by workers in Germany and
England to fight for better living and working conditions. The Labour Party and Socialist Party
were formed by socialists and trade unionists, by 1905.

The Russian Revolution

In the October Revolution of 1917, socialists took over the government in Russia. The fall of
monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October were termed as the Russian
Revolution.
The Russian Empire in 1914
In 1914, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II and its empire. The Russian Empire included
current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus,
stretching to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Majority of the population was Russian Orthodox Christianity.
Economy and Society
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russian population was dominated by
agriculturalists, who used to cultivate for the market as well as for their own needs. St
Petersburg and Moscow were prominent industrial areas. Craftsmen undertook much of the
production, but large factories existed alongside craft workshops. In the 1890s more factories
were set up after and foreign investment in industry increased. Large factories were
supervised by the government to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work. Workers
were a divided social group. They were also divided by their skill. Despite divisions, workers
united to stop work when they disagreed with employers about dismissals or work conditions.
Peasants cultivated most of the land but the nobility, the crown and the Orthodox Church
owned large properties. Nobles got power and position through their services to the Tsar. In
Russia, peasants wanted the land of the nobles.
Socialism in Russia
Political parties in Russia were legal before 1914. In 1898, socialists founded the Russian Social
Democratic Workers Party who respected Marx’s ideas. Some Russian socialists felt that the
Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists.
Throughout the nineteenth century, socialists were active in the countryside and formed the
Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900. The party struggled for peasants’ rights and demanded
land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants. The party was divided over the strategy
of organisation. According to Vladimir Lenin in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the
party should be disciplined and should control the number and quality of its members.
Mensheviks thought that the party should be open to all.
A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

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Russia was an autocracy and even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Tsar was not
subject to Parliament. During the Revolution of 1905, Russia along with the Social Democrats
and Socialist Revolutionaries, worked with peasants and workers to demand a constitution.
For Russian workers, bad times started from the year 1904 as prices of essential goods rose
and their real wages declined by 20 per cent. Workers went on strike demanding a reduction
in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in working
conditions. The procession was attacked by the police and the Cossacks when it reached the
Winter Palace. The incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events which
resulted in the 1905 Revolution. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of
an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. After 1905, most committees and unions worked
unofficially, since they were declared illegal.
The First World War and the Russian Empire
In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances – Germany, Austria and Turkey (the
Central powers) and France, Britain and Russia (later Italy and Romania). This was the First
World War. The war became popular and as it continued, the Tsar refused to consult the main
parties in the Duma. Support wore thin. The First World War was different on the easter front
and on the western front. Between 1914 and 1916 Russian army lost badly in Germany and
Austria. Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the enemy from being able to
live off the land. The country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German
control of the Baltic Sea. railway lines began to break down by 1916. For the people in the
cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were
common.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Petrograd city is divided among its people. On the right bank of the River Neva workers
quarters and factories were located and on the left bank located fashionable areas such as
the Winter Palace and official buildings. Food shortages deeply affected the workers’
quarters. On the right bank, a factory was shut down on February 22. Women also led the
way to strikes and it is called International Women’s Day. The government imposed a curfew
as the fashionable quarters and official buildings were surrounded by workers. Duma was
suspended on 25th February. The streets thronged with demonstrators raising slogans about
bread, wages, better hours and democracy. The government called out the cavalry but they
refused to fire on the demonstrators. Soldiers and striking workers gathered to form a ‘soviet’
or ‘council’ in the same building as the Duma met and it is termed as the Petrograd Soviet.
Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.
Russia’s future would be decided by a constituent assembly, elected on the basis of universal
adult suffrage. Petrograd had led the February Revolution that brought down the monarchy
in February 1917.
After February
Under the Provisional Government, army officials, landowners and industrialists were
influential. Liberals and socialists worked towards an elected government. Restrictions on
public meetings and associations were removed. In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir
Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. Lenin demanded three things termed as ‘April Theses’.
He wanted war to end, land to be transferred to the peasants and banks to be nationalised.

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He also emphasised on renaming the Bolshevik Party to the Communist Party. Workers
movement spread throughout the summer. Factory committees formed and trade unions
grew in numbers. When the Provisional Government saw its power reduced and Bolshevik
influence grew, they decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent. In the
countryside, peasants and their Socialist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of
land. Encouraged by the Socialist Revolutionaries, peasants seized land between July and
September 1917.
The Revolution of October 1917
The conflict between the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks grew. On 16 October
1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist
seizure of power. To organise the seizure, a Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed
by the Soviet under Leon Trotskii. The Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its
supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers. By nightfall, the city was under
the committee’s control and the ministers had surrendered. At a meeting of the All Russian
Congress of Soviets in Petrograd, the majority approved the Bolshevik action.
What Changed after October?
Industry and banks were nationalised in November 1917 which meant that the government
took over ownership and management. Land was declared as social property and peasants
were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian
Communist Party (Bolshevik). Elections were conducted in November 1917, to the
Constituent Assembly, but they failed in majority. In January 1918, the Assembly rejected
Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the Assembly. Despite opposition, in March 1918,
the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk. The Bolsheviks participated in the
elections to the All Russian Congress of Soviets, which became the Parliament of the country.
Russia became a one-party state. After October 1917, this led to experiments in the arts and
architecture. But many became disillusioned because of the censorship the Party encouraged.
The Civil War
The Russian Army broke up and their leaders moved to south Russia and organised troops to
fight the Bolsheviks (the ‘reds’). During 1918 and 1919, the Russian Empire was controlled by
the ‘greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and ‘whites’ (pro-Tsarists) backed by French,
American, British and Japanese troops. These troops and the Bolsheviks fought a civil war. By
January 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former Russian empire. In the name of
defending socialism, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists. Most non-
Russian nationalities were given political autonomy in the Soviet Union (USSR) – the state the
Bolsheviks created from the Russian empire in December 1922.
Making a Socialist Society
During the civil war, industries and banks kept nationalised. Peasants were permitted to
cultivate the land. Centralised planning process was introduced. Officials worked on how the
economy will work and set targets for a five-year period. During the first two ‘Plans’ the
government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth (1927-1932 and 1933-1938).
Centralised planning led to economic growth. But, rapid construction led to poor working
conditions. Schooling system developed, and arrangements were made for factory workers
and peasants to enter universities. For women workers, crèches were established in factories

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for the children. Cheap public health care was provided. Model living quarters were set up for
workers.
Stalinism and Collectivisation
The period of the early Planned Economy led to disaster of the collectivisation of agriculture.
By 1927- 1928, the towns in Soviet Russia faced an acute problem of grain supplies. Stalin
introduced firm emergency measures. In 1928, party members toured the grain-producing
areas, supervising enforced grain collections, and raiding ‘kulaks’ – the name for well to-do
peasants. After 1917, land had been given over to peasants. From 1929, the Party forced all
peasants to cultivate in collective farms (kolkhoz). Peasants worked on the land, and the
kolkhoz profit was shared. Between 1929 and 1931, the number of cattle fell by one-third.
The government of Stalin allowed some independent cultivation, but treated such cultivators
unsympathetically. In spite of collectivisation, production did not increase immediately and
due to bad harvests of 1930-1933 over 4 million people died. Throughout the country,
accusations were made, and by 1939, over 2 million were in prisons or labour camps.

The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR

In many countries, communist parties were formed, like the Communist Party of Great Britain.
Non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the Peoples of the East
(1920). The Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist
parties). Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global
face and world stature. The USSR became a great power and its industries and agriculture had
developed and the poor were being fed. By the end of the twentieth century, the international
reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined.

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