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History Class 9 Chaoter 1 Notes

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History Class 9 Chaoter 1 Notes

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Chapter 1: The French Revolution

I•) Introduction:

• On 14 July, 1789, in the wake of early morning, the city of Paris was in a
state of alarm.

• Rumors spread that the King would open fire upon the citizens.

• More than 7000 people started gathering, and they started breaking
down 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 also protested against the high price of bread.

• A new chain of events began, which led to the execution of the King in
France.

II•) French Society During The Late Eighteenth Century:

• Louis XVI, in 1774, ascended the throne of France who was married to an
Austrian Princess Marie Antoinette.

• 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, and 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’s estates dating 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.

• A number of indirect taxes, were also levied on articles of everyday


consumption like salt or tobacco.

III•) The Struggle To Survive:

• The increase in population led to a rapid increase in the requirement for


food grains.

• Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand, due to which
the price of bread rose rapidly.

• Due to the 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.

IV•) A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges:


• Peasants used to participate in revolts against taxes and food scarcity.

• The 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.

• Similarly, in ‘The Spirit Of Law’ 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 XVI planned to impose further taxes to meet the expenses.

V•) 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 was drafted for France that
would limit the powers of the monarch.

• Due to the severe winter, bread prices rose, and people had to spend
hours in long queues.

• Rumors 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.

VI•) 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,


and equality before the law were established as ‘natural and inalienable’
rights; that is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not
be taken away.

VII•) 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 in 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 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.

• The 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.

VIII•) The Reign Of Terror:

• The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror.

• People whom Robespierre saw as 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 practiced 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.

IX•) A Directory Rules France:

• The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes
to seize power.

• According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society were


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.

• Through all these changes in the form of government, the ideals of


freedom, of equality before the law and of fraternity remained inspiring
ideals that motivated political movements in France and the rest of
Europe during the following century.

X•) Did Women Have A Revolution:


• Women were active participants from the beginning, which brought
important changes in the country of 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 was 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.

XI•) The Abolition Of Slavery:

• Jacobin’s regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of


slavery in the French colonies.

• In the seventeenth century, the slavery trade began.


• Slaves were brought from local chieftains, branded and shackled and
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.

XII•) The Revolution And Everyday Life:

• France during 1789 saw changes in the lives of men, women and
children.

• The 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 the press meant opposing views of events could be expressed.

• Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.

XIII•) Conclusion:

• Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804.

• He also introduced many laws, such as the protection of private property


and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal
system.
• Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

• The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important
legacy of the French Revolution.

• Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom to create a sovereign


nation-state.

XIV•) Important Dates

1774:

Louis XVI becomes king of France, faces empty treasury and growing
discontent within society of the Old Regime.

1789:

Convocation of Estates General, Third Estate forms National Assembly, the


Bastille is stormed, peasant revolts in the countryside.

1791:

A constitution is framed to limit the powers of the king and to guarantee basic
rights to all human beings.

1792-93:

France becomes a republic, the king is beheaded.


Overthrow of the Jacobin republic, a Directory rules France.

1804:

Napoleon becomes emperor of France, annexes large parts of Europe.

1815:

Napoleon defeated at Waterloo.

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