The French Revolution

French Society During the Late 18th Century

 Louis XVI was the king of France at the time when revolution took place.
 He ascended the throne in 1774 at the age of 20 years.
 He was married to Marie Antoinette, the beautiful Austrian princess.
 He was an extravagant ruler, spent lots of states finance on luxuries and maintaining grand court
at Versailles.
 France was involved in wars during the predecessors of Louis XVI which deteriorated the
financial condition of France.
 Louis XVI extended French support to 13 American colonies in their war for independence this
further added 1billion Livre as debt which was already 2 billion livres.
 For the maintenance of court, running administration, paying salaries to the officials, huge
finances were required which was possible to arrange by increasing taxes.
 The French society was divided into three unequal classes namely 1st Estate, 2nd Estate and the
third Estate.
 First Estate consisted of Clergy or the people in the services of the church.
 Second Estate was consisted of nobility.
 Third Estate included common people.
 The members of the first two Estates enjoyed many privileges since birth. The most important
among them was exemption from payment of taxes.
 The members of the third Estate bore the whole burden of taxes. They pay Tithe, a religious tax
to the Church, feudal dues to the nobles and a variety of direct and indirect taxes to the state.
 Taille was a direct tax paid to the state.

 Questions relating to topic

 Write a short note on Louis XVI.
 Describe the causes of the French revolution.
 Describe the social setup of the French society on the eve of the revolution.
 What were ‘Tithes and ‘Taille’?

 The Struggle to Survive

 The population of France rose from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.
 Increase in population increased the demand of food. But the food production did not increase
with the same pace. This led to shortage of food grains in France.
 Shortage of food grains led to increase in their price in the market.
 Most of the workers employed in workshops and their wages did not increase in proportion to
the rising prices of essential goods especially the food grains.
 That’s why people were forced to live at bare subsistence level. Situation was getting even
worse when there was bad harvest due to drought or hail storms.

 Questions relating to topic

 How did French people have subsistence crisis?

 A New Middle class Envisioned a New Society

 During the 18th century a new social group, known as middle class emerged. They were
educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.
 Philosophers like John Locke, Rousseau and Montesquieu enlightened the middle class with
their thoughts.
 In his book, Two Treatises of Government Locke rejected the Divine Rights theory of the
monarch.
 Rousseau in his book Social Contract advocated a government through a contract between
people and their representatives.
 Montesquieu in his book Spirit of Laws put forward the idea of separation of powers between
different organs of the government.

 Questions relating to topic

 Explain the role of philosophers in the Frech revolution.
 Who wrote the books Two Treatises of Government, Social Contract and Spirit of Laws?

 Outbreak of Revolution
 Louis XVI wanted to increase the taxes.
 So, he invited the meeting of the Estates General which was a political body representing the
three Estates.
 Meeting was started on 5 May 1789. First and Second Estates were represented by 300
representatives each and the Third Estate sent 600 representatives. Women and lesser
prosperous sections of the society were not allowed to participate in this meeting.
 Members of the third Estate who were inspired by Rousseau, demanded that the voting should
be conducted assembly as a whole where each member should have one vote. The king rejected
this demand. In protest members of Third Estate walked out of the meeting hall.
 They again assembled on 5 June in an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles, they
viewed themselves as the National Assembly and decided to frame a new constitution for
France which would limit the powers of the monarch.
 The National Assembly had the members like Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes who belonged to the
First and the Second Estates respectively.

 Questions relating to topic

 What do you know about the Estates General?
 What was demanded by the members of the Third Estates?
 Who were the members of the National Assembly not belonged to the Third Estate?

 France becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

 The National Assembly completed the draft of a new constitution in 1791. Its main object was to
limit the powers of the king.
 Powers of the government were now separated between legislature, executive and the
judiciary.
 Legislative powers were given to National Assembly to be elected by the Active Citizens.
 Executive powers with veto were given to the King.
 This was how France became a Constitutional Monarchy.
 Separate judiciary was set up.
 All citizens who were 25 years and above and paying taxes equal to three days wages of a
worker were called active citizens.
 women, peasants and workers were not given the right to vote and were called Passive Citizens.
 Right to Life, Equality before the Law, Freedom of speech, Freedom of opinion, were granted
through Declaration of rights for Man and Citizens.

 Questions relating to topic

 How did France become a Constitutional Monarchy?
 Who were active and passive citizens?
 What were the rights granted by the constitution of 1791?
 Write three chief characteristic features of the constitution of 1791.
 Describe the importance of the declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in France.

 France Abolishes Monarchy and becomes A Republic

 King Louis XVI accepted the constitution of 1791 but he entered into secret negations with the
kings of Austria and Prussia.
 In April 1792 the National Assembly declared war against Prussia and Austria. Thousands of
volunteers thronged to join the French army to fight in this war.
 Volunteers from Marseilles sang the patriotic song Marseillaise, composed by Roget de L’ Isle
which is now the national anthem of France.
 During the period of these revolutionary wars many political clubs were formed. The most
important among them was the Jacobins Club. Its members were from the least prosperous
sections of the society. They wore long striped trousers with red caps and came to be known as
‘Sans Culottes’ means without knee breeches.
 In the summers of 1792, Jacobins planned an insurrection of a large number of Parisians against
the short supplies of bread in the city.
 On 10 August, they attacked the king’s palace at Tuileries, killed the royal guards and held the
king as hostage for several hours.
 Later the National Assembly voted for imprisonment of the royal family.
 Elections were held in which all men of 21 years were given the right to vote.
 The newly elected assembly, called convention abolished monarchy and declared France a
republic on 21 September 1792.

 Questions relating to topic

 Who were Sans Culottes?
 Which is the national anthem of France? Why is it called so?
 How did France become a republic?

 The Reign of Terror

 The period from 1793 to 1794 is known as the Reign of Terror in the history of France.
 During this period Maximilian Robespierre was the head of the government.
 He followed a policy of severe control and punishment. All those whom he saw as the enemy of
republic were arrested, imprisoned and tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
 If found guilty, they were guillotined.
 Robespierre ‘s government fixed the prices of food grains and farmers were forced to bring their
produce in the cities and sell them at the prices fixed by the government.
 Meat and bread were rationed.
 The use of expensive white flour was forbidden.
 All titles were abolished and now all French men and women were Cito yen and Cito Yenne.
 Finally, Robespierre was tried by a court. In July 1794 he was arrested and sent to the guillotine.

 Questions relating to topic

 Which period in France was known as the Reign of Terror and why?
 What were the reforms introduced by Robespierre?

 Did Women have a Revolution?

 Women in France did not avail with a respectable status in the society.
 They did not have an equal access to education.
 Most women from Third Estate worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and
vegetables at the marketplaces.
 They served as domestic servants.
 Women from prosperous families had their education at the convent and then their marriages
were arranged by their fathers.
 To discuss their issues women organized political clubs. The most famous women’s club was The
Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women.
 Women demanded equal opportunities for education and jobs, right to vote and to hold political
offices.
 After revolution, the government took several steps to improve their conditions.
 State schools were opened and 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 the civil law.
 Divorce was made legal and could be applied for by both men and women.
 State arranged training centers to train them into various crafts.

 Questions relating to topic

 Describe the condition of women in the French society.
 What did the revolutionary government do to improve the condition of women in the French
society?

 The Abolition of Slavery

 France had its colonies, Martinique, San Domingo and Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean.
 They supplied tobacco, sugarcane, indigo etc.
 Europeans were reluctant to go there and work on plantations. This created shortage of labor
on plantations.
 This shortage was fulfilled by a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Caribbean
 The French traders from Bordeaux and Nantes sailed to the African coasts, purchasing slaves.
 They were then shackled, branded and sent for three months voyage to the Caribbean.
 After reaching there, they were sold to the plantation owners.
 In 1794 the Convention legislated to end the slavery.
 In 1804, it was reintroduced by Napoleon. It was finally abolished in 1848.

 Questions relating to topic

 How was slavery abolished from France?

 The Revolution and Everyday Life

 The revolutionary ideas of the French Revolution changed the clothes people wore, the
language they spoke and books they read.
 After the revolution in 1789, censorship was abolished.
 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression
to be a natural right. As a result books, newspapers, pamphlets flooded the towns of France
describing and discussing the events and changes taking place in France.
 Freedom of press allowed circulation of opposing view about the revolution, in the society.
 Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large number of people.

 Questions relating to topic

 How did the Revolution affect everyday life the people of France?

 Rise of Napoleon
 Napoleon crowned himself as the emperor of France in 1804.
 He set out to conquer neighboring European countries. The rulers were dispossessed and he
placed members of his family as rulers.
 He introduced many laws such as protection of private property and a uniform system of
weights and measures provided by a decimal system.
 Initially many saws Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people.
 But soon, the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invading force.
 He was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.