French Revolution

Fort Bastille
Located: Eastern part of the city (Paris).
Used as: Fortress-prison.
Famous as: Despotic power of the king.
Hated by people: It was the symbol of uncontrolled
power of king.
Demolished on: 14 July 1789.

Demolished- How and why

 On 14 July 1789, the king had ordered army to move into the city. Rumours spread that he would soon
order the army to open fire upon the citizens.
 Some 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall and decided to form a peoples’ militia.
 They broke into a number of government buildings in search of arms.
 Finally, a group of several hundred people marched towards the Bastille in search of weapon. it was hated
by all, because it was the symbol despotic power of the king.
 But there were only seven prisoners and no weapon found by angry mob so angry mob demolished the
fort bastille and its stone fragments were sold in the markets to all those who wished to keep a souvenir
of its destruction.
 During the clash between angry mob and guard of bastille, the commander of the Bastille was killed and
the prisoners released.

BOURON FAMILY
King: Louis XVI.
 In 1774, Louis XVI ascended the throne of France.
 On 21 January 1793 Louis XI was executed publicly at the
Place de la Concorde.
Wife of King: Austrian princess Marie Antoinette.

Condition of France when louis XI became king

 Treasury of king was empty.
 France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy,
Britain.
 Huge debt on France.
  Difficult to meet regular expense such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running
government offices or universities
 French society in the eighteenth century was divided

Causes of French revolution

War

 France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy,
Britain.
 The war increases a billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres.
 Lenders began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans.
 French government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments
alone.
 It is difficult to meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running
government offices or universities,
 So state was forced to increase taxes.

French society
 French society was divided into three estates in the 18th century.
First Estate
 It includes clergy.
 They were member of catholic church such as bishops and
priest.
 They enjoyed certain privileges by birth.
 They were exemption from paying taxes to the state.
 They can impose tax(tithes) and run the catholic church
Second Estate
 It consists of nobility of France including member of the
royal family.
 They enjoyed certain privileges by birth.
 They were exemption from paying taxes to the state.
 They enjoyed feudal privileges.
Third Estate
 It consists of 90% of the Population.
 It includes middle class, artisans and peasant.
 Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population.
 only a small number of peasant owned the land they
cultivated.
 Only members of the third estate paid taxes.

Note
 About 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the
Church and other richer members of the third estate.

Old Regime: It is usually used to describe the society and institutions of France before 1789.
Feudal system:
 Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord like
I. to work in his house and fields.
II. to serve in the army.
 III. to participate in building roads.
 Under feudal system, nobles can impose feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants.
Peasants were obliged

Tax: Taxation system of France was very corrupt and exploitative. There was generally three type of taxes in
France.

 Religious Tax:
I. It was levied by Church.
II. Tithe: A tax levied by the church, comprising 1/10 of the agricultural produce.
 Direct Tax:
I. It was called Taille.
II. It was paid directly to state.
 Indirect taxes:
I. It was levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
II. Example: Gabelle (it was salt tax)
 The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.

Increasing Population and harsh winter

 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 food grains.
 Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand. So, the price of bread 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.
 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.

Role Middle class and Scholars

In the Past
 Peasants and workers had participated in revolts against increasing taxes and food scarcity.
 But they could not run this revolt properly due to the lack of leadership.
 This leadership was provided by a new social group, termed the middle class.
Middle class

 What
I. It was new educated social group emerged in 18th century.
II. Middle class includes merchants, manufacturers, professions such as lawyers or administrative
officials.
III. They led the peasant and worker in revolts against increasing taxes and food scarcity.
IV. they 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.
V. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth
and person’s social position must depend on his merit.
Scholars and philosopher: All of these were educated.
 They proposed the ideas of freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all. philosophers such as John
Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
 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.
 Philosophers such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu start questioning against
despotism and provide alternative option of the monarchy.

Locke Rousseau Montesquieu

Book: Two Treatises of Book: Social Contract Book: The Spirit of the Laws
Government Idea: He proposed a form of Idea: He proposed a division of
Idea: He sought to refute the government based on a social power within the government
doctrine of the divine and contract between people and between the legislative, the
absolute right of the monarch. their representatives. executive and the judiciary.
This model of government was
adopted by USA.

The Outbreak of the Revolution

Kings Desire
 Louis XVI wanted to increase tax, but he did not have the
power to impose taxes according to his will alone.
 He had to call a meeting of the Estates General.
 It can pass his proposals for new taxes.

Estate general

 What
I. It was a political body.
II. It consists 300 members from first and second estates each 600 members from third estate.
III. The third estate was represented by its more prosperous and educated members. Peasants,
artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly.
IV. The third estate was represented by its more prosperous and educated members.
V. Peasants, artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly.
 Who can call it
I. Only kings could call a meeting of Estate generals.
II. The last time it was called in 1614.
 III. Kings called the meeting of estate general on 5 May 1789 in the hall of palace of Versailles for
proposals of new taxes.
 Reason for calling it
I. For proposals of new taxes.
 Voting method in the Estates General
I. Old the principle that each estate had one vote.
II. New demand that each member would have one vote (democratic principles).
III. This time too Louis XVI wanted to continue the old practice and he rejected new voting method.
 NOTE
I. Grievances and demands of Peasants, artisans and women were listed in some 40,000 letters
which had brought by their representatives.

Reaction of third Estate

 Members of the third estate demanded each member would have one vote
 This was democratic principle put forward by philosophers like Rousseau in his book The Social Contract.
 But Louis XVI reject this proposal.
 The third estate walked out of the assembly in protest.
 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.
 They decided to draft a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.
 They were led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès. 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 Abbé
Sieyès, originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called ‘What is the Third Estate’?
Reaction of Rest of France
1: In city

 While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution.

 Due to severe winter, crop was destroyed; the price of bread rose, and 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.
2: 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.
 Many nobles fled from their homes, many of them migrating to neighbouring countries.
After Revolt

 Louis XVI finally gave 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.

Result of this Revolt

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

 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 – the legislature, executive and judiciary.
 This made France a constitutional monarchy.
How the new government Run?

 According to the Constitution of 1791, laws was made by in the National Assembly.
 National assembly was indirectly elected.
 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.
 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.
Right provided by 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.
 It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Reason of war against Prussia and Austria

 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.
War against Prussia and Austria

 National Assembly declared war against Prussia and Austria in April 1792.
 Thousands of volunteers joined the army. They think this war against kings and aristocracies all over
Europe.
 Patriotic songs they sang was the Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de L’Isle.
 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.
 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.
Result of war

 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.
 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 clubs were the Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of St Jacob in
Paris.
 Women also formed their own clubs.
Convent – Building belonging to a community devoted to a religious life

Jacobin club

Members: less prosperous sections of society like

I. Shopkeepers,
II. Artisans such as shoemakers, pastry
cooks, watch-makers, printers.
III. Servants and daily-wage workers.
Leader: Maximilian Robespierre.
Dress: Long striped trousers like those worn by dock
workers.
a) It (Long striped trousers) separated
them from the fashionable sections of
society, especially nobles, who wore
knee breeches.
b) 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
(those without knee breeches).
Sans-culottes men wore in addition the red cap that
symbolised liberty.
Women however were not allowed to do so.

Jacobins insurrection
 Why: Jacobins were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food.
 When: On the morning of 10 August 1792
 Where: Jacobins stormed the Palace of the Tuileries.
 What happen:
a) They massacred the king’s guards and held the king himself as hostage for several hours.
b) Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family.
c) Elections were held. From now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the
right to vote.

New government
 The newly elected assembly was called the Convention.
 On 21 September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.
 Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason.
 Louis XI was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde on 21 January 1793. The queen Marie
Antoinette met with the same fate shortly after.
 Meaning of republic:
I. where the people elect the government including the head of the government.
II. There is no hereditary monarchy.
Treason – Betrayal of one’s country or government

The Reign of Terror

What is it:

 The reign of terror was dark and violent period (1793-1794) of time during French revolution.
 Robespierre started the reign of terror.
 During the Reign of terror
I. France was under control of Robespierre.
II. Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment.
III. All those ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own
party who did not agree with the methods and ideology of Robespierre – were arrested,
imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
IV. If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined.
Guillotine

 It is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded.
 It was named after Dr Guillotine who invented it.

Policy during reign of terror

 Robespierre’s government fixed 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.
 The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden. all citizens were required to eat the pain d’égalité
(equality bread), a loaf made of whole wheat.
 Equality was practised through forms of speech and address. Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir)
and Madame (Madam) all French men and women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).
 Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.
Note:

 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

 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.
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
Did Women have a Revolution.
From the very beginning

 Most women of the third estate had to work for a living. They worked as
a) Seamstresses or laundresses
b) Sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the market
c) 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.

women’s clubs
 They involve in revolution to pressurise the revolutionary government to introduce measures to
improve their lives.
 To discuss and voice their interest’s women started their own political clubs and newspapers.
 The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.
 Main demands of Women: Enjoy the same political rights as men.
 They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office.

The revolutionary government and Constitution of 1791

 Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens.
 Some reform of the revolutionary government to improve the lives of women.
a) Together with the creation of state schools,
b) Schooling was made compulsory for all girls.
c) Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will.
d) Marriage was made into a contract entered freely and registered under civil law.
e) Divorce was made legal and could be applied for by both women and men.
f) Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.
During the Reign of Terror

 Government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs and banning their political activities.
 Many prominent women were arrested and several them executed.
Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages

 It was 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.
 It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.
 The life of a revolutionary woman – Olympe de Gouges
(1748-1793)
 She was one of the most important of the politically active
women in revolutionary France.
 She protested against the Constitution and the Declaration of
Rights of Man and Citizen.
 Because it excluded women from basic rights.
 She wrote a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen in
1791.
 She addressed to the Queen and members of the National
Assembly, demanding that they act upon it.
 Olympe de Gouges criticised the Jacobin government for forcibly
closing down women’s clubs In 1793.
 She was tried by the National Convention, which charged her
with treason. Soon after this she was executed.

The Abolition of Slavery

Abolition of slavery: Jacobin Government.
Why did slavery practice

 What was triangular slave trade?

I. The slave trade began in the 17th century.
II. It was trade of slave between Europe, Africa and the Americas.
 Why did slavery practice?
I. The colonies in the Caribbean – Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo – were important
suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee.
 II. Europeans did not want to go and work in distant and unfamiliar lands this led a shortage of
labour on the plantations.
 How did slavery practice?
I. French merchants sailed from the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast.
II. They bought slaves from local chieftains.
III. Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage
across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.
IV. There they were sold to plantation owners.
V. The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in European
markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.
VI. Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing slave
trade.
How did slavery abolish
1. In eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France.
2. The National Assembly
a) It held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects
including those in the colonies.
b) But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on
the slave trade.
3. Robespierre Government
a) It was finally the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas
possessions.
b) But This law was enforced for ten years later,
4. Napoleon
a) He reintroduced slavery.
b) Plantation owners understood their freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes in
pursuit of their economic interests.
Note: Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.
The emancipation of slaves.
 This print of 1794 describes the
emancipation of slaves.
 The tricolour banner on top carries the
slogan: ‘The rights of man’.
 The inscription below reads: ‘The freedom
of the unfree’.
 A French woman prepares to ‘civilise’ the
African and American Indian slaves by
giving them European clothes to wear.

Negroes – A term used for the indigenous people

of Africa south of the Sahara.
Emancipation – The act of freeing
The Revolution and Everyday Life
a) One important law that came into effect soon after the storming of the Bastille in the summer of 1789
was the abolition of censorship.
b) 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.
c) Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a
natural right.
d) Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from where they
travelled rapidly into the countryside.
e) They all described and discussed the events and changes taking place in France.
f) 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.
g) Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.
h) 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.

Conclusion
a) In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.
b) He set out to conquer neighbouring European countries, dispossessing dynasties and creating kingdoms
where he placed members of his family.
c) He introduced many laws such as
d) The protection of private property and
e) A uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
f) Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people.
g) But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invading force.
h) He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
Legacy of the French Revolution
a) The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution.
b) These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems
were abolished.
c) Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a
sovereign nation state.
d) Tipu Sultan and Ram Mohan Roy are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas coming
from revolutionary France.
Reading 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.

Let us try to read these symbols.

The broken chain: The bundle of rods or fasces:

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

The eye within a triangle radiating light:

The all seeing eye stands for knowledge. Snake biting its tail to form a ring: Symbol of
The rays of the sun will drive away the clouds of Eternity. A ring has neither beginning nor end.
ignorance.

Sceptre: Symbol of royal power

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

The winged woman:

Blue-white-red: The national colours of France.
Personification of the law.
The Law Tablet:
The law is the same for all, and all are equal before
it.