The French Revolution

Question 1

Who is King Louis XVI?

Answer 1

King Louis XVI from the Bourbon family ascended to the throne of France in 1774.He was just 20 and married to Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette.Upon accession he was met with an empty treasury.

Question 2

List a few things that drained French resources.

Answer 2

-Long years of war
-maintaining extravangant courts of palace of versailles
-the king helped the 13 american colonies gain independence from common enemy,britian.This added more than a billion livres to their debt whihc had risen over 2 billion livres.
-Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge
10 per cent interest on loans. So the French government was obliged
to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments
alone.

Question 3

What is a livre?

Answer 3

Livre is unit of French currency.disc.1794

Question 4

Why were taxes increased?

Answer 4

To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining
an army, the court, running government offices or universitieCs, the
state was forced to increase taxes.It did not suffice because out of the 3 estates only the last estate payed taxes.

Question 5

What were the 3 estates?

Answer 5

There were 3 estates in france
1st estate CLERGY
Clergy are people who work in churches
2nd Estate NOBILITY
they had feudal rights.
3rd Estate COMMONERS
-Businessman,lawyers,merchants
-Peasants artisians
-Landless labourers and servants

Question 6

What was the old regime

Answer 6

Old Regime was the term used to describe Society and Instituitions in France before 1789.

Question 7

What about peasants and land

Answer 7

Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However,
only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About
60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other
richer members of the third estate

Question 8

What did the clergy and nobility enjoy?

Answer 8

The members of the first two
estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by
birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to
the state

Question 9

What tax did the nobility extract

Answer 9

The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges. These included
feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. Peasants were obliged
to render services to the lord ñ to work in his house and fields ñ to serve
in the army or to participate in building roads.

Question 10

What tax did clergy extract

Answer 10

The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants.Tithes is a tax levied by the church, comprising
one-tenth of the agricultural produce

Question 11

What tax did state extract

Answer 11

all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state.
These included a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes
which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.

Question 12

Explain 1789 subsistence crisis.

Answer 12

The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28
million in 1789. This led to a rapid increase in the demand for
foodgrains. Production of grains could not keep pace with the
demand. So the price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority
rose rapidly. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops
whose owner fixed their wages. But wages did not keep pace with
the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.
This led to a subsistence crisis,

Question 13

Describe the middle class.

Answer 13

The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups,
termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through an
expanding overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such as
woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by the
richer members of society. In addition to merchants and
manufacturers, the third estate included professions such as lawyers
or administrative officials.

Question 14

Why was middle class needed?

Answer 14

In the past, peasants and workers had participated in revolts against
increasing taxes and food scarcity. But they lacked the means and
programmes to carry out full-scale measures that would bring about
a change in the social and economic order. This was left to those
groups within the third estate who had become prosperous and had
access to education and new ideas.

Question 15

What did the middle class believe?

Answer 15

All of these were educated and believed
that no group in society should be privileged by birth. Rather, a
personís social position must depend on his merit.

Question 16

Philosophers and Books

Answer 16

ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, were put forward by philosophers.
John Locke-Two Treatises of Government,
Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch
Jean Jacques Rousseau-The Social Contract proposed a
form of government based on a social contract between people
and their representatives.
Montesquieu- The spirit of laws proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

Question 17

How did revolutionary idea spread?

Answer 17

The ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all put forward philosophers were discussed intensively in salons
and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and
newspapers. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the
benefit of those who could not read and write.

Question 18

Who is the estates general?When were they last called?

Answer 18

The Estates General was a political body to
which the three estates sent their representatives. However, the
monarch alone could decide when to call a meeting of this body. The
last time it was done was in 1614.

Question 19

How were taxes called in the Old Regime?

Answer 19

In France of the Old Regime the monarch did not have the
power to impose taxes according to his will alone. Rather he had to
call a meeting of the Estates General which would then pass his
proposals for new taxes.

Question 20

When was the meeting called and what happened?

Answer 20

On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates
General to pass proposals for new taxes. A resplendent hall in
Versailles was prepared to host the delegates. The first and second
estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing
each other on two sides, while the 600 members of the third estate
had to stand at the back. The third estate was represented by its more
prosperous and educated members. Peasants, artisans and women
were denied entry to the assembly. However, their grievances and
demands were listed in some 40,000 letters which the representatives
had brought with them.Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too Louis XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the third estate demanded that voting now be conducted by the
assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote. This
was one of the democratic principles put forward by philosophers
like Rousseau in his book The Social Contract. When the king rejected
this proposal, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly
in protest

Question 21

What happened after the 3rd estate stormed out of the meeting?

Answer 21

The representatives of the third estate viewed themselves as spokesmen
for the whole French nation. On 20 June they assembled in the hall
of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles. They declared
themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they
had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of
the monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and AbbÈ SieyËs. Mirabeau
was born in a noble family but was convinced of the need to do away
with a society of feudal privilege. He brought out a journal and
delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at Versailles.AbbÈ SieyËs, originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called
“What is the Third Estate”?

Question 22

What was happening in the other side of France?

Answer 22

A severe winter
had meant a bad harvest; the price of bread rose, often bakers exploited
the situation and hoarded supplies. After spending hours in long
queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into the
shops. At the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris.
On 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille.
In the countryside rumours spread from village to village that the
lords of the manor had hired bands of brigands who were on their
way to destroy the ripe crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants in
several districts seized hoes and pitchforks and attacked chateaux.
They looted hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing
records of manorial dues. A large number of nobles fled from their
homes, many of them migrating to neighbouring countries.

Question 23

What decision did King Louis XVI make?

Answer 23

Louis XVI finally
accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the
principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a
constitution. On the night of 4 August 1789, the Assembly passed a
decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes. Members
of the clergy too were forced to give up their privileges. Tithes were
abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated. As a
result, the government acquired assets worth at least 2 billion livres

Question 24

How did France become a constitutional monarchy?

Answer 24

The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791. Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions ñ the legislature, executive and judiciary.

Question 25

How were new rules made?passive and active citizens?

Answer 25

The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourerís wage were given the status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.

Question 26

What was the declaration of the rights of man and citizen?

Answer 26

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 ënatural and inalienableí rights, that is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of the state to protect each citizenís natural rights.

Question 27

What was considered as a war against kings and aristocracies?

Answer 27

The situation in France continued to be tense during the following years. Although Louis XVI had signed the Constitution, he entered into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia. Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send troops to put down the events that had been taking place there since the summer of 1789. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria. Thousandsof volunteersthrongedfromtheprovincestojointhearmy. They saw this as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe.

Question 28

What is the Marseillaise

Answer 28

Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de LíIsle. It was sung for the first time by volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris and so got its name. The Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France.

Question 29

What did the war bring along?

Answer 29

The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to the people. While the men were away fighting at the front, women were left to cope with the tasks of earning a living and looking after their families. Large sections of the population were convinced that the revolution had to be carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society.

Question 30

What was political clubs

Answer 30

Political clubs became an important rallying point for people who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action. The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of St Jacob in Paris. Women too, who had been active throughout this period, formed their own clubs.

Question 31

What was the jacobins club

Answer 31

The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of society. They included small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and daily-wage workers. Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre. A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn by dock workers. This was to set themselves apart from the fashionable sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches. It was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches. These Jacobins came to be known as the sans-culottes, literally meaning ëthose without knee breechesí. Sans- culottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty. Women however were not allowed to do so.

Question 32

What was the insurrection of the Jacobins

Answer 32

In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned an insurrection of a large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food. On the morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the kingís guards and held the king himself as hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. Elections were held. From now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.
The newly elected assembly was called the Convention. On 21 September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. As you know, a republic is a form of government where the people elect the government including the head of the government. There is no hereditary monarchy.

Question 33

What happened to Louis XVI

Answer 33

Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason. On 21 January 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde. The queen Marie Antoinette met with the same fate shortly after.

Question 34

What is the reign of terror

Answer 34

The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. All those whom he saw as being ëenemiesí of the republic ñ ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his methods ñ were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal. If the court found them ëguiltyí they were guillotined. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named after Dr Guillotin who invented it.

Question 35

What were rules put down by Maximilian Robespierre

Answer 35

• placing maximum ceiling on prices and wages
• meat and bread were rationed
• peasants were to transport grains to the cities and sell it at a fixed price
• use of expensive white flour was forbidden;all citizens were to use pain d’egalite made of wholewheat
• equality expressed through speech and address.People was called citoyen and citoyenne.
• churches were shut down and turned into barracks and offices.

Question 36

What happened Maximilian Robespierre?

Answer 36

Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand moderation. Finally, he was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to the guillotine.

Question 37

A directory rules France

Answer 37

The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power. A new constitution was introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of society. It provided for two elected legislative councils. These then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members. This was meant as a safeguard against the concentration of power in a one-man executive as under the Jacobins. However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them. The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Question 38

Describe the life of women in the French Revolution

Answer 38

From the very beginning women were active participants in the events which brought about so many important changes in French society. They hoped that their involvement would pressurise the revolutionary government to introduce measures to improve their lives. Most women of the third estate had to work for a living. They worked as seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the market, or were employed as domestic servants in the houses of prosperous people. Most women did not have access to education or job training. Only daughters of nobles or wealthier members of the third estate could study at a convent, after which their families arranged a marriage for them. Working women had also to care for their families, that is, cook, fetch water, queue up for bread and look after the children. Their wages were lower than those of men.

Question 39

What did women start to do

Answer 39

In order to discuss and voice their interests women started their own political clubs and newspapers. About sixty womenís clubs came up in different French cities. The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.

Question 40

What were women main demands

Answer 40

main demands was that women enjoy the same political rights as men. Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens. They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office. Only then, they felt, would their interests be represented in the new government.

Question 41

What were some of the measures taken by the revolutionary government for women

Answer 41

In the early years, the revolutionary government did introduce laws that helped improve the lives of women. Together with the creation of state schools, 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 civil law. Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men. Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.

Question 42

What happened under jacobins club

Answer 42

During the Reign of Terror, the new government issued laws ordering closure of womenís clubs and banning their political activities. Many prominent women were arrested and a number of them executed.

Question 43

What about women voting rights

Answer 43

Womenís movements for voting rights and equal wages continued through the next two hundred years in many countries of the world. The fight for the vote was carried out through an international suffrage movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The example of the political activities of French women during the revolutionary years was kept alive as an inspiring memory. It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.

Question 44

What was the most revolutionary reform of the jacobins

Answer 44

One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.

Question 45

What led to the triangle of slave trade

Answer 45

The colonies in the Caribbean ñ Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo ñ were important suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee. But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and unfamiliar lands meant a shortage of labour on the plantations. So this was met by a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Question 46

Describe the process of slave trade

Answer 46

The slave trade began in the seventeenth century. French merchants sailed from the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast, where they bought slaves from local chieftains. Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. There they were sold to plantation owners. The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo. Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing slave trade.

Question 47

When and how was slavery stopped?did it last long?

Answer 47

Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The National Assembly held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects including those in the colonies. But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade. It was finally the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions. This, however, turned out to be a short-term measure: ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery. Plantation owners understood their freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes in pursuit of their economic interests. Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

Question 48

Explain abolition of censorship

Answer 48

One important law that came into effect soon after the storming of the Bastille in the summer of 1789 was the abolition of censorship. In the Old Regime all written material and cultural activities ñ books, newspapers, plays ñ could be pub lished or performed only after they had been approved by the censors of the king. Now the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a natural right. Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from where they travelled rapidly into the countryside. They all described and discussed the events and changes taking place in France. Freedom of the press also meant that opposing views of events could be expressed. Each side sought to convince the others of its position through the medium of print. Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people. This was one way they could grasp and identify with ideas such as liberty or justice that political philosophers wrote about at length in texts which only a handful of educated people could read.h

Question 49

Describe napoleonic reforms

Answer 49

In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. He set out to conquer neighbouring European countries, dispossessing dynastiesandcreatingkingdomswhereheplacedmembersof hisfamily. Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe. He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system. Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people. But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invadingforce.HewasfinallydefeatedatWaterlooin1815.Manyof his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Napoleon had left.

Question 50

What were the effects of French Revolution

Answer 50

The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished. Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a sovereign nation state. Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.