BHAVAN’S PUBLIC SCHOOL, DOHA

ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-23

TERM I - IX SOCIAL SCIENCE

Name of Teacher
RADHESH R
Radhesh7@[Link]
HISTORY

Chapter 1 The French Revolution

Introduction: -

1. In 1789, in the wake of early morning, the city of Paris was in a state of

alarm.

2. Rumours spread that the King would open fire upon the citizens.

3. People started gathering and they started breaking a number of

government buildings in search of arms.

4. The commander of the Bastille was killed in the armed fight and the

prisoners were released.

5. People hated the Bastille as it stood for the despotic power of the king.

6. People protested against the high price of bread. A new chain of events

began which led to the execution of the King in France.

Louis XVI, in 1774, ascended the throne of France.

Empty Treasury:-

1. Financial France was drained because of the war.

 2. France, Under Louis XVI, helped the thirteen American colonies to gain

their independence from Britain.

3. The cost of maintaining an army

4. The court

5. The cost of running government offices

6. Luxurious life of the King & the Queen

7. The war added more than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen

to more than 2 billion livres.

8. Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent

interest on loans

French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to the

middle ages.

1. 90 percent of the population was dominated by peasants but only a small

number of them owned the land they cultivated.

 2. 60 percent of land was owned by nobles.

3. Remaining percent of land -The Church and other richer members of the

third estate.

4. The clergy and the nobility, members of the first two estates enjoyed

certain privileges by birth.

5. The clergy and the nobility were exempted from paying taxes and enjoyed

feudal privileges.

6. 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.

Methods Adopted to increase the Source of Revenue

1. Taxes were increased to meet regular expenses

2. New taxes introduced

3. Increase in indirect taxes

The Struggle to Survive

1. Increase in population led to a rapid increase for food grains.

2. Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand due to which

the price of bread rose rapidly.

3. Due to low wages paid to the labourers the gap between the poor and the

rich widened.

4. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.

A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges

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

2. Group of the third estate had become prosperous and had access to

education and new ideas.

3. 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.

4. The third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative

officials. A person’s social position was dependent on their merit.

5. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be

privileged by birth.

6. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit.

7. A new form of government was proposed by Rousseau based on a social

contract between people and their representatives.

8. Similarly, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the

government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

9. 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

1. In France, the monarch didn’t have the power to impose taxes.

 2. 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.

3. Louis XVI, on 5 May 1789, called an assembly to pass proposals for new

taxes.

4. Representatives from the first and second estates were present and the

third estate was represented by its prosperous and educated members.

5. 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.

6. They swore not to disperse till a constitution drafted for France that would

limit the powers of the monarch.

Other causes for the outbreak

1. Due to the severe winter, bread price rose and people had to spend hours

in long queues.

2. Rumours spread that the lords of the manor hired bands of brigands to

destroy the ripe crops.

3. In fear, peasants started looting hoarded grain and burnt down documents

containing records of manorial dues.

4. 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.

 5. 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

1. In 1791, The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution

and its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch.

2. These powers were now separated and assigned to different institutions –

the legislature, executive and judiciary.

3. France became a constitutional monarchy.

4. Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly, but

unfortunately, not every citizen had the right to vote.

5. Men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a

labourer’s wage were entitled to vote.

6. 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.

Political symbols
The majority of men and women in the eighteenth century could not read
or write. So images and symbols were frequently used instead of printed
words to communicate important ideas. The painting by Le Barbier (Fig. 8)
uses many such symbols to convey the content of the Declaration of
Rights.

The broken chain: Chains were used to fetter slaves. A broken chain stands
for the act of becoming free.
The bundle of rods or fasces: One rod can be easily broken, but not an entire
bundle. Strength lies in unity.

The eye within a triangle radiating light: The all seeing eye stands for
knowledge. The rays of the sun will drive away the clouds of ignorance.

Sceptre: Symbol of royal power.

Snake biting its tail to form a ring: Symbol of Eternity. A ring has neither
beginning nor end

Red Phrygian cap: Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free.

Blue-white-red: The national colours of France.

The winged woman: Personification of the law.

The Law Tablet: The law is the same for all, and all are equal before it.

The Reign of Terror

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

1. People, whom Robespierre saw enemies of the republic were arrested,

imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
2. 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.

3. Laws were issued to place a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.

4. Meat and bread were rationed.
5. Expensive white flour was forbidden to use.
6. Equality was practised through forms of speech and address.
7. All French men and women were addressed as Citoyen and Citoyenne
(Citizen).
8. In July 1794, he was convicted by a court arrested and the next day sent
to the guillotine.
A Directory Rules France
1. Fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to
seize power.
2. According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society
denied voting.
3. It provided for two elected legislative councils.
4. The government appointed a Directory, consisting of executives made up
of five members.
5. Political instability paved the way for a military dictator, Napoleon
Bonaparte.

Did Women have a Revolution?

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

The Abolition of Slavery

1. Jacobin regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of
slavery in the French colonies.
2. 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.
3. Slave labour met the growing demand in European markets for sugar,
coffee, and indigo.
4. 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.
5. Napoleon introduced slavery after ten years. In 1848, slavery was
abolished in French colonies.

The Revolution and Everyday Life

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

Conclusion
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France, in 1804 and
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 on the idea of freedom to create a sovereign
nation-state.
Sample Questions/Answers

1. “The inequality that existed in the French Society in the Old Regime became the cause
of French Revolution”. Justify the statement by giving three suitable examples.

The examples are :

1. French Society was divided into three Estates. The First Estate comprised of clergy,
the Second Estate comprised of nobility and the Third Estate comprised of
businessmen, traders, merchants, artisans, peasants and servants.
2. The members of Church and nobility enjoyed certain privileges by birth, the most
important being the exemption from paying taxes to the State.
3. Feudal dues were extracted by nobles from peasants and one-tenth of the
agricultural produce of peasants, in the form of Tithes came to the share of clergy. All
members of the Third Estate including peasants paid taxes, thus, the burden of
financing activities of the the state through taxes was borne by the Third Estate alone
creating heavy discontentment.

2. How did philosophers influence the thinking of the people of France?

Philosophers influence the thinking of the people of France as :

1. Major changes were introduced in the Russian economy and agriculture after the
revolution. Private property was abolished and land became a state property.
Peasants had the freedom to cultivate on state ” – controlled land.
2. A proper system of centralized planning was introduced with the help of five year
plans. It helped in bringing about technological improvements, economic growth and
helped in removing the inequalities in the society.
 3. The revolution acknowledged right to work and identified dignity of labour. Socialist
economy added a new dimension to democracy, by attributing it as a socio-economic
system.

3. What was the role of philosophers and thinkers in the French Revolution? Explain by
giving three examples.

The philosophers and thinkers believed that,no group in a society should be privileged by
birth. They supported a society based on freedom and equal laws.

1. In his Two Treatises of government, John Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the
divine and absolute right of the monarch.
2. Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on a
social contract between people and their representatives.
3. In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the
government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

4. What measures were taken by Robespierre to bring equality in the French Society?
Answer:
Measures are :

1. Robespierre government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and

prices.
2. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by
the government.
3. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat
the quality bread, a loaf made of whole wheat.
4. Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.
5. Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.
6. Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.

5. How did the peasants contribute to the outbreak of the French Revolution? Explain.

Contribution of the peasants to the outbreak of the French Revolution :

1. The peasants had to pay various taxes to the government, to the nobles and to the
Church.
2. They were subjected to forced labour, they had to work free in the land of the nobles
for three days in a week.
3. Crops were trampled by hunting parties of the nobles. About 81% of their income
went to the State, Nobles, Church, 19% of the income was their to live on grass and
roofs and 1,000 peoples of them died due to starvation. As as whole, the
Administration was corrupt.

[Link] the events that led to the formation of the National Assembly.
Answer:
 1. The Estates General was a political body of France to which the three estates sent
their representatives. The voting in it had been conducted according to the principle
that each estate had one vote.
2. This time too when Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, he decided to
continue the same old practice.
3. But the members of the Third Estate demanded that voting now be conducted on the
democratic principle of one person, one vote.
4. When the king rejected this proposal, the members of the Third Estate walked out of
the assembly in protest.
5. They assembled on 20 June, 1789 in the hall of an indoor tennis court in Versailles.
These representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as spokesmen for
whole French nation. They declared themselves a National Assembly.

Important Questions & Answers

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Explain the “Reign of Terror” in brief. [CBSE 2015]

Answer: The following points explain the Reign of Terror:

(a) The period from 1793 to 1794 is called the Reign of Terror because Robespierre followed a policy
of severe control and punishment. Ex-nobles, clergy, members of other political parties and even
the members of his own party, who did not agree with his methods, were arrested, imprisoned and
guillotined.

(b) Laws were issued by Robespierre’s government laws were issued by placing a maximum ceiling
of wages and prices. Meat and bread were rationed.

(c) Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the
government. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat
the equality bread.

(d) Equality was also sought to be practiced through forms of speech and address. Instead of the
traditional Sir and Madam, French men and women were addressed as citizen.

(e) Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices. Finally,
Robespierre was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and the next day, sent to the guillotine.

2. Explain the features of the constitution of France drafted in 1791.

Answer: (a) The constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution in France, created after the
collapse of absolute rule.

(b) Its main aim was to limit the powers of the monarch.
(c) Powers were then divided/separated and assigned to different institutions like legislative,
executive and judiciary.

(d) According to this, active citizens of France elected electors who in turn voted to elect the
National Assembly.

(e) Not all citizens had the right to vote. Only men of 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at
least three days of a labourer’s wage. They were called active citizens.

(f) The remaining men and all women were called the passive citizens.

(g) The National Assembly controlled the king. France became a constitutional monarchy.

3. Describe the incidents that led to the storming of the Bastille.

Answer: (a) While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest of
France was seething with turmoil. A severe winter had meant a bad harvest, the price of bread rose.

(b) The situation worsened When bakers started hoarding supplies.

(c) After spending hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into the
shops. At the same time, the king had ordered troops to move into Paris. On 14 July,1789 the
agitated crowd stormed and destroyed Bastille.

(d) In the armed fight the commander was killed and all the seven prisoners were released. Bastile
was hated by all because it stood for despotic powers of the king.

(e) The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the market to all those who
wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction.

4. Why did slavery begin and why was it abolished in French colonies?

Answer: (a) The slave trade began in the 17th century. The colonies in the Caribbean – Martinique,
Guadeloupe and San Domingo – were important Suppliers of commodities.

(b) But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and unfamiliar lands meant a shortage
of labour on the plantations.

(c) Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The National
Assembly did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on
the slave trade.

(d) It was 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. Napoleon reintroduced slavery.

(e) Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

5. what is a revolution? In what ways did the French Revolution mean different to different people?

Answer: It is an attempt by a large number of people to change the government of a country,

especially by violent action.

It has changed the life of many people in the following manner.

(a) The Third Estate comprising the common men benefited from the Revolution.

(b) The clergy and nobility had to relinquish power. Their land was confiscated. Their privileges were
finished.

(c) The people of lower middle class also benefited. Position of artisans and workers improved.

(d) Clergy, feudal lords, nobles and even women were disappointed.

(e) The revolution did not bring real equality as everyone was not given the right to vote meaning
women who got it finally in 1946.

6. Describe how the new political system of constitutional monarchy worked in France.

Answer: The Constitution of 1791- The new system had many new following changes in the
functioning of government.

(a) 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.

(b) 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 labourer’s wage were given the status of active citizens, that is, they
were entitled to vote.

(c) 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.

7. How did Robespierre propose to bring about equality in the French society?

Answer: Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment to bring about equality in
the French society. He brought many following changes.

(a) He put a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.

(b) Meat and bread were rationed.

(c) Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the
government.

(d) The use of expensive white flour was prohibited. .All citizens were required to eat the equality
bread made of whole wheat.
(e) Equality was also practised through forms of speech and address. All French men and women
were called Citoyen and Citoyenne respectively (citizens).

(f) Churches were shut down and converted into barracks or offices (the church buildings).

8. What are the three important ideas of the French Revolution? How were they guaranteed under
the constitution of 1791?

Answer: The three important ideas of the French revolution was Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

The constitution passed the right of man and citizen and the following rights were established as
‘natural and unalienable’ rights:

(a) Right to life,

(b) Freedom of speech,

(c) Freedom of opinion,

(d) Equality before law

Rights were given by birth and could not be taken away. The duty of the state was to protect each
citizen’s natural rights.

9. What were the causes for the empty treasure of France under Louis XIV? Assess any three causes.

Answer: (a) Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. Under Louis XIV, France
helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy, British.
The war added more than a billion lives to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion lives.

(b) Lenders who gave the state credit began to charge 10 percent interests on loans. So the French
government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments
alone.

(c) The cost of maintaining the army, the court, government officials and universities was very high.

10. ‘‘The inequality that existed in the French society in the Old Regime became the cause of French
Revolution.’’ Justify the statement by giving three suitable examples.

Answer: (a) Peasants constituted about 90 per cent of the population but about 60 per cent of the
land was owned by nobles, the church and richer members of the Third Estate.

(b) The members of the First Estate and the Second Estate, 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.
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–to work in his house and fields,
to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.

(c) The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the Third Estate alone.
Taxes included tithes collected by the church from the peasants and taille, a direct tax, and a
number of indirect taxes which were levied on activities of everyday consumption like salt and
tobacco.

Thus the members of the Third Estate groaned under heavy taxation with no privileges whatever.
This led to a deep sense of resentment among the members of the Third Estate who galvanised and
led the revolution.

11. Why did King Louis XIV conclude to increase taxes? Assess any three points.

Answer: (a) Upon his accession, Louis XIV found the treasury empty. Long years of war had drained
the financial resources of France. France had helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their
independence. Total debt rose to more than 2 billion livres. Lenders began to charge 10 per cent or
more as interest.

(b) Added to this financial burden was the huge cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the
immerse of Versailles

(c) The French government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest
payments alone. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court,
running government offices or universities, the state was forced to increase taxes.

12. Explain the condition which led to the rise of Jacobins.

Answer: (a) The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to the people. Huge
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.

(b) 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.

(c) 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 August 10, they stormed the palace
of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held the king himself hostage for several hours.
Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. The Jacobin regime from 1793 to 1794 is
referred to as the Reign of Terror.

13. How did the peasants contribute to the outbreak of the French Revolution? Explain.
Answer: The peasants constituted the majority of the Third Estate which led the revolution.
Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However, only a small number of them
owned the land they cultivated. They had to bear the burden of taxes. The nobles extracted feudal
dues from the peasants.

Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord–to work in his house and fields and to serve in
the army or to participate in building roads. The exploitation of peasantry and their misery led the
peasants to revolt.

They became the most vociferous section of the Third Estate which led the revolution. Moreover,
the peasants were the worst victims of the Subsistence Crisis which occurred frequently in France
during the Old Regime.

Assignment Questions:-

1. Who was the ruler of France during the revolution?

2. Name the three ‘Estates’ into which the French society was divided before the Revolution.
3. When did the French Revolution occur?
4. To whom was the taxes called Tithes payable by the peasants in the eighteenth century
France?
5. Which philosopher had forwarded the principle of voting by the assembly as a whole,
where each member should have one vote, during the rule of louis XVI?
6. What was the theme of the book ‘The Spirit of the Laws’ written by Montesquieu?
Compare the political rights which the Constitution of 1791 gave to the citizens with
Articles 1 and 6 of the declaration (Source C). Are the two documents consistent? Do the
two documents convey the same idea?

7. Which groups of French society would have gained from the Constitution of 1791? Which
groups would have had reason to be dissatisfied? What developments does Marat (Source
B) anticipate in the future?

8. How did France become Constitutional Monarchy?

9. What incidents led to abolishing of Constitutional Monarchy and France becoming a

republic?

10. Who were Abbé Sieyès and Mirabeau? What was their role in France?

11. Describe the circumstance leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
12. Explain the system of estate in France during the 12th century.
13. Give the reasons for empty treasury during 1789.
14. What measures were taken to find resources for increasing the revenue?
15. How did France become Constitutional Monarchy?
16. Who were the important political philosophers who inspired the people of France to revolt
against despotic rule of Louis XVI?
17. What incidents led to abolishing of Constitutional Monarchy and France becoming a
republic?
18. Discuss the period of Reign of Terror.
19. Explain the directory rule in France.
20. Elucidate on the legacy of French Revolution.
21. Write a brief note on abolishment of slavery in France.
22. Discuss the causes of French Revolution.
23. “Ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French
Revolution”. Explain the statement in the light of French Revolution.
24. Describe the status of the nobles in France before the revolution.

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