THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

FRENCH SOCIETY DURING LATE 18TH CENTURY

What happened in 1774?
In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family, 20 years old and married to the Austrian princess Marie
Antoinette, ascended the throne of France. Upon his accession the new king found empty treasury.

Reasons for empty treasure in France

The five causes for the empty treasury in France under Louis XIV were:
1. long years of war had drained the financial resources of France.
2. High cost of maintenance of immense palace of Versailles and court.
3. 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.
4. Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the
common enemy, Britain which added more than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more
than 2 billion livres.
5. Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 percent interest on loans.

French division of society in 18th Century

• 1st Estate: Clergy (Group of persons involved in church matters)
• 2nd Estate: Nobility (Persons who have high rank in state administration)
• 3rd Estate: (Comprises of Big businessmen, merchants, court officials,
lawyers, Peasants and artisans, landless labour, servants)
First two classes were exempted from paying taxes. They enjoyed privileges by
birth. Nobility classes also enjoyed feudal privileges. Only the members of the
third estate had to pay taxes to the state.

Types of Taxes
 Tithe – A tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural
produce
 Taille – Tax to be paid directly to the state
 A number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco

The Struggle to survive

Subsistence Crisis: An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered.
Reasons:
1. Rapid increase in the demand for foodgrains.
2. Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand.
Impact:
Decline in production + Drought or Hail

 The Price of bread which was the  Further reduced the harvest.
staple diet of the majority rose
rapidly.
 Wages did not keep pace with the
rise in prices.
 Gap between the poor and the rich
widened.
A growing middle class envisages an end to privileges.
Peasants and Workers Participated in revolt against increasing taxes and food scarcity. But only a section
within the third estate became prosperous and educated.
Prosperous
▪ Merchant, traders, lawyers, manufacturers, etc.
▪ Overseas trade and from the manufacturing of goods.
Educated
▪ They believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.
▪ A person’s social position must depend on his merit.
▪ Society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all.
The 18th century witnessed the emergence of social groups, termed the middle class, who earned their
wealth through an expanding overseas trade and form 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 merchant
and manufacturers, the third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative officials. All
of these 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. These ideas envisaging a society based on freedom
and equal laws.

Role of Philosopher’s
1. John Locke: ‘Two treatises of government’ Sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and absolute
right of the monarch.
2. Jean Jacques Rousseau: ‘Social Contract’ Form of government based on social contract between
people and their representatives. Equal voting, democratic government.
3. Montesquieu: ‘The spirit of the laws’ Division of power within the government between the
legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

Impact of their Ideas

• The ideas of these 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.

THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION

For increasing taxes, Louis XVI had to call a meeting of the Estates General which would then pass his
proposals for new taxes.
[Link] of Estate General: The Estates-General was an assembly comprising of the clergy of the
French nobles and the middle class. It was in 1614 that the Estates-General was last called. Before the
French Revolution, which took place in 1789, the general assembly was recognized as the Estates
General.

2. Meeting at Versailles
• The first and second estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing. each other
on two sides.
• 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.
• 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.

3. Outcome of the meeting: The king rejected this proposal. Members of the third estate walked out of
the assembly in protest. The representatives of third estate assembled in the half of an indoor tennis court
in the ground of Versailles. They declared themselves a National Assembly. Swore not to disperse till
they had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.

Events at the Countryside

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.

Impact and result of the events

• Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the 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.

France becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

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 – the legislature, executive and judiciary. This made
France a constitutional monarchy.
1. Elections
• National assembly was indirectly elected.
• Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly.
• Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote.
a) Active Citizens
▪ 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.
▪ They were entitled to vote.
b) Passive Citizens
▪ The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens.
▪ They were not entitled to vote.
▪ To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the
highest bracket of taxpayers.
2. Constitution
• 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.
• They belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.
• It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

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 uses many such symbols to convey the content of the Declaration of Rights.

1. The broken chain

• Chains were used to fetter slaves.
• A broken chain stands for the act of becoming free.

2. The bundle of rods or fasces

• One rod can be easily broken, but not an entire bundle.
• Strength lies in unity.

3. 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.

4. Sceptre
• Symbol of royal power.

5. Snake biting its tail to form a ring.

• Symbol of Eternity.
• A ring has neither beginning nor end.

6. Red Phrygian cap

• Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free.

7. Blue-white-red
• The national colours of France.

8. The winged woman

• Personification of the law.

9. The Law Tablet

• The law is the same for all, and all are equal before it.
 FRANCE ABOLISHES MONARCHY AND BECOMES A REPUBLIC
War against Prussia and Austria
Thousands of volunteers thronged from the provinces to join the army.
• They saw this as a war of the people against kings andaristocracies all over Europe.
• Among the patriotic songs they sang was the Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de Lisle.
• 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.
• 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.

Emergence of Jacobin club

• 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.

Jacobin club
• 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, watchmakers, printers,
as well as servants and daily-wage workers.
• Their leader was Maximilien Robespierre.
• A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn
by dock workers.
• These Jacobins came to be known as the sans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches.
• Sans Culottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolizes liberty. Women however were not
allowed to do so.

Incidents 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 king’s 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 Reign of Terror

• The period from 1793 to 1794 Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and
punishment.
• All those whom he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic – ex-nobles and clergy, members of other
political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his methods, were arrested,
imprisoned, and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
• If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined.

Steps taken by Robespierre’s Government

• Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices. Meat and
bread were rationed.
• Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government.
• Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.
• Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men and women were
henceforth Citizen and Cito Yenne (Citizen).
• Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.

Result
• Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand moderation.
• He was convicted by a court in July 1794.
• Arrested and on the next day sent to the guillotine.

A Directory Rules France

• 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.

DID WOMEN HAD A REVOLUTION?

Role of women in the revolution and their demands
• Women played a very significant role in the French Revolution.
• Most of the women belonging to the third estate worked for a living and their occupations included
dress makers, laundry workers, flowers vendors etc. Sometimes worked as maid servants in the houses
of the rich.
• Women in France were disappointed with the Constitution of 1791, which reduced them to passive
citizens who had no political rights. They demanded political rights viz, right to vote, to be elected to
Assembly and to hold political office.
• To express their own views and demand women started their own political clubs and newspapers.
About 60 women's Clubs came up in different cities of France.
• Amongst them The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was most famous. Their demand
was that women enjoy the same political rights as men.

Political situation of the women

• Women demanded same political rights as men.
• In order to discuss and voice their interests’ women started their own political clubs and newspapers.
• The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.
• 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.
Steps taken by Government to improve the Conditions of women
• With the creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsories 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.
• Women’s struggle for equal political rights, however, continued.
• During the Reign of Terror, the new government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs and
banning their political activities.
• Many prominent women were arrested and a number of them executed.
• They were denied voting rights and equal wages.

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
Reasons for Slavery
• The colonies in the Caribbean - Martinique, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo – 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 [Link] Trade
• 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.

Abolition of Slavery
Old regime
• Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France.

National Assembly
• Debates to abolish slavery were held but national assembly did not pass any laws, fearing
opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.

Convection
• Finally, the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions.

Napoleon Rule
• In 1804, 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.
THE REVOLUTION AND EVERYDAY LIFE
The revolutionary governments took it upon themselves to pass laws that would translate the ideals
of liberty and equality into everyday practice.

Abolition of censorship
• In the Old Regime all written material and cultural activities - books, newspapers, plays - could be
published or performed only after they had been approved by the censors of the king.
• After the storming of Bastille, 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.
Abolition of censorship = Freedom of the press
• 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 [Link] 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.

Conclusion
 In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France• He set out to conquer neighbouring
European countries, dispossessing dynasties and creating kingdoms where he placed members of his
family.
• Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of [Link] introduced many laws such as the protection of
private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
 However, he also placed his successors on the throne of the countries which he invaded.
He thus came to be regarded as an invader.

The ideas of liberty, equality and democratic rights were the greatest gifts of the French Revolution to
the world.
In India, Tipu Sultan and Raja Ram Mohan Roy keenly observed the French Revolution and exalted the
ideals of the French Revolution