CLASS 9th

FRENCH
REVOLUTI
ON
BestHandwrittenNotes

made with
Shobhit Nirwan
 CHAPTER TIMELINE
In 1774, Louis XVI became the ruler of France.
Around the year 1789, the people of France were feeling very
unhappy. They were struggling because they had to pay a lot
of taxes because of the Old Tax Regime, there wasn't enough
food, and some people had more privileges than others.

On the 5th May 1789, King Louis XVI had to gather

an important meeting called the Estates General.
This meeting was to talk about new taxes.
On June 17, 1789, a group called the Third Estate said, "We're
important too!" and they called themselves the National Assembly.
They wanted to make a new set of rules for the country.

Then, on June 20th, the members of the Third Estate got

together in an indoor tennis court in a place called Versailles.

On 14th July 1789, a big event happened. The people

of Paris were very angry with the king, and they broke
into a place called the Bastille. This was a place that
showed how the king had too much power.

In August 1789, something good happened. The

National Assembly decided that everyone should be
equal and fair. They abolished feudal privileges of taxes.

In October 1789, a group of women walked to Versailles.

They wanted bread to eat, and they also wanted the king
to come back to Paris. They were very determined!

In June 1791, the National Assembly completed the constitution.

They said the king couldn't have all the power anymore. Now
they were a team, and the king had to follow their rules.
In April 1792, things got more complicated. The National Assembly
declares war on Austria and Prussia, leading to internal conflicts.

September 1792, something big happened. They said, "No more king!
We want to run the country ourselves!" France became a Republic.

In January 1793, the king, Louis XVI, had to say goodbye.

He was executed, which means he was sentenced to death.

From 1793 to 1794, a man named Maximilien Robespierre

had a lot of power. He did some scary things, like
punishing people who disagreed with him. This time was
called the ‘Reign of Terror’, and it was a difficult time.

But then, in July 1794, Robespierre was arrested and punished.

That was the end of the Reign of Terror.
In 1794, things started to get better. They made a new
constitution for the country and they called it the Directory.

A bit later, in the year 1804, a famous man named

Napoleon Bonaparte decided he wanted to be the
boss. So, he made himself the emperor of France.
But in 1815, things changed again. Napoleon got into a big
fight and lost. This happened at a place called Waterloo.

And that's the story of how France changed over time,

with different people taking charge and making new
rules.
In 1774, Louis XVI of Bourbon family married to the Austrian Princess
Marie Antoinette.
When he became King, he found an empty treasure.
1774 में शादी की, ऊपर से जब राजा बना तो बेचारे को पता चला की ख़ज़ाना तो पूरा ख़ाली है

But why was the treasure empty?

Ans- Long years of war and maintenance of court of the
Palace of Versailles were the main reason of empty treasure.
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I
French Society During the Late 18th Century
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1. Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonial

to gain their independence from the common enemy, Britain.
2. This war added lots of debt to French government.
3. So, to meet these expenses like maintaining the army
etc, the state was forced to increase the taxes.
4. However this measure was not sufficient as French
society divided into three estates in 18th century
and only members of the third estate paid taxes.
A Society of Estates
This Figure shows how the system of estates in
French Society was organised before 1978. -
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# 1st Estate: I
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I
1. This was the clergy, which included priest, I
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bishops and other religious leaders. I

2. They were part of church and I

held lot of power and influence.
3. They were exempted from paying taxes. !
# 2nd Estate:
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1. The second estate was made up of I

the nobility, which included kings, I

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queens, lords and other aristocrats.
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I I -I
2. They were usually wealthy and had a lot
of privileges. These included feudal dues, !-
which they extracted from the peasants.
-

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# 3rd Estate:
1. The third estate was the largest group and included
common people like farmers, merchant and the workers.
2. The burden of financing of the state through
taxes was borne by third estate alone.
3. Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However,
only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated.
4. About 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the
Church and other Richer members of the third estate.
5. They were forced to work in the house of nobles.
The struggle to survive
1. The population of France rose from about 23
million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789 and this led
to a rapid increase in the demand for foodgrains.
2. As the demand increased, price of breads also increased.
3. But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices.
4. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
5. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the
harvest.
This led to a subsistence crisis, something that
occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime.
A Growing Middle Class:
1. The middle class of eighteenth century became
educated and therefore believed that no group
in society should be privileged by birth.
2. 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.
3. Some philosophers also considered that middle
class was sole responsible for revolution.
4. The ideas of 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.
 5. The news that Louis XVI planned to impose further
taxes to be able to meet the expenses of the state
generated anger and protest against the system.
And this causes the outbreak of revolution.
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The Outbreak of Revolution
.......

1. 5th May 1789- Louis XVI called together a meeting of the

Estates General to pass the proposals for new taxes.
2. The first and second estate sent 300 representatives each,
who were seated in rows facing each other on two sides.
3. While, the 600 members of third estate (represented by its most
educated and prosperous members) had to stand at the back.
4. Voting in the Estate General in the past had been conducted
according to the principle that each estate had one vote.
5. But, members of third estate demanded that voting
now be conducted buy the assembly as a whole,
where each member would have one vote.
6. King rejected this proposal.
7. Members of third estate protested and walked out of
assembly. Which led to formation of National Assembly.

Formation of National Assembly

1. 20th June 1789, members of third estate assembled in the
hall of an indoor tennis court in the ground of Versailles.
2. 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.
3. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyés.
4. Mirabeau born in noble family while Abbé Sieyés was a priest who
wrote a book named “What is third estate”
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The Tennis
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Court I I

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Bastille Revolt
1. While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting the
constitution, the rest of France was filled with intense unrest.
2. Due to severe winter there were poor harvest in
the country which led to crisis.
3. Often bakers exploited the situation by storing the supplies.
4. After spending hours in long queues at the bakery,
crowds of angry women stormed into the shops.
5. On 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and
destroyed the Bastille.
6. In the countryside rumours spread from village to
village that the lords of the manor had hired gang
of robbers to destroy the ripe crops.
7. Due to fear, peasants in several districts attacked the
castle of nobles, looted stored grains and burnt down
documents containing records of manorial dues.
8. Due to all these, Nobles had to flee from their
homes and many migrated.
9. Whole country was in the mood of revolt.
10.As a result, Louis XVI finally recognised the National
Assembly and accepted the constitution.
11. On the night of 4th August 1789, the assembly demolished the
feudal systems of taxes and all the privileges were withdrawn.
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France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy !! I

IW -.............

1. National Assembly completed the draft of the

constitution in 1791.
2. Powers were now separation and assigned to different
institutions and the legislature, executive and Judiciary.
This made France a constitutional monarchy.
3. The National Assembly was elected by a group of electors,
which were chosen by active citizens.
Types of Citizens
Active Citizens ↳ X Passive Citizens

Men above 25yrs who paid taxes equal to at Remaining men and women.
least 3 days of labourer’s wage entitled to
work.
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France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic
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1. Louis XVI secretly planned to overthrow the National

Assembly with the King of Prussia (Germany).
2. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted
in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria.
3. Thousands of volunteers joined the army.
4. They saw this as a war of the people against kings
and aristocracies all over Europe.
5. The patriotic song sung by volunteers was the Marseillaise sung by
poet Roget de L’Isle later became the National Anthem of France.
6. Revolution further demanded greater political
equality i.e. voting rights to the weaker section.
7. Political clubs became an important rallying point
for people who wished to discuss government
policies and plan their own forms of action.
8. The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins’.

I Jacobin Club
1. Got its name from convent of St. Jacob in -------
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Paris.
2. Members of this club were mainly people

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from less prosperous section of society.
3. Leader: Maximilian Robespierre
4. Dress Code: Long striped trousers, they came
to be knows as “sans-culottes” meaning -
people without knee breeches.
5. These sans-culottes men wore red caps to !-----
symbolise Liberty.
Summer of 1792
1. Parisians were angered by short supply and high price of food.
2. On the morning of August 10 they (through Jacobin’s Club)
attacked the Palace of the Tuileries, killed the King’s Guards and
held the king himself as hostage for several hours.
3. Later Elections were held and now all men of 21 years old and
above got the Right to Vote.
4. The newly elected assembly was called the Convention.
5. On 21 September 1792, monarchy was
abolished and France was declared as Republic
6. Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on
the charge of treason (betrayal of own’s country)
Reign of Terror
1. The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to
as the Reign of Terror.
2. This was due to the policy of severe control and
punishment by Robespierre.
3. Ex-Nobles, Clergy, members of other political parties,
even of his own political party who did not agree with
his methods were arrested and imprisoned.
4. If the court found them guilty, they were “guillotined”.
5. Guillotine is a device consisting of two poles
and a blade with which a person is beheaded.
6. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the
cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government.
7. Churches were shut down and their buildings
converted into barracks or offices.
8. Due to the hard policies of Robespierre, even his
supporters left him at the end and finally he was
convicted by court and guillotined in July 1974.
A Directory Rules France
1. The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the
wealthier middle classes to seize power.
2. A new constitution was introduced which denied
the vote to non-propertied sections of society.
3. It provided for two elected legislative councils.
4. These three appointed a Directory, an
executive made up of 5 members.
5. The political instability of the Directory paved the way
for the raise of military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.
6. 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.
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I Women in Revolution I
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Women from the beginning were active

participants and brought many changes in the
French society.
1. Most of the women of the third estate had to work for living,
such as, seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits
and vegetables or were employed as household servants.
2. Most of them did not have access to job or
education and only daughters of nobles or weather
families members of third estate could study.
3. Working women along with the work, had to also care
for their family and perform daily household work.
4. The wages of women were lower than that of men.
5. To raise their interest and voices, they started their
own political clubs and newspaper. As a result,
about 60 clubs came up in different French cities.
6. ‘The Society of Revolutionary and Republic
Women’ was the most famous one.
7. They were disappointed by constitution of 1791 and
demanded some political rights as men, such as right to vote,
to be elected to the assembly and to hold a political office.
8. As a result, revolutionary government did introduce
some laws to help improve their lives, by:
- Creation of state schools and schooling compulsory for all girls.
- They could not be forced to marry against their wish.’
- Divorce was made legal.
- They were allowed to train for job, become
artist or run small business.
9. However their struggle for political rights continues, new
government issued laws ordering closure of women’s
club and banning their political activities. Many prominent
women were arrested and none of them were executed.
10. Their movement for equal political right continued for
the next two hundred years. It was finally in 1946, that
women in France won the right to vote.
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I The Abolition of Slavery
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One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the

Jacob regime was the abolition of slavery in the
French colonies. The slave trade began in 17th
century.

Background:
1. The colonies in the Carribean like Martinique,
Guadeloupe and San Domingo were important
suppliers of tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee.
2. The reluctance of European to go and work in
distant, unfamiliar lands was one of the reason for
shortage of labour on plantations.
3. This problem was solved by triangular slave
trade between Europe, Africa and the America.
4. French merchants bought slaves from local chieftains
of African coast and sold them to plantation owners.
5. This exploitation of slaves made it possible to
meet the growing demand in Europian market.
6. Throughout 18th century there were only a
little criticism of slavery in France.
7. The government did not pass any law fearing opposition from
businessmen whose income dependent upon these slaves.
8. In 1794, they legislated to free all slaves in French
colonies. However, their legislation were short lived.
9. After 10 years, Napoleon reintroduced slavery.
10.It was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.
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I The Revolution and Everyday Life I
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The years following 1748 saw many revolutionary changes with

government passing law that would translate the ideas of liberty
and equality into everyday practice. Another important
revolutionary change was the abolition of censorship .
1. In old regime only those written material and cultural activities-
books, magazine, newspaper, play could be performed after
they had been approved by the censor of the King.
2. After which, declaration of the rights of man and citizen proclaimed
freedom of speech of expression to be a natural right.
3. Newspaper, books, pamphlets, printed picture were now free from
censor which meant opposing views of events could be expressed.
4. Plays, song, festive procession attracted audiences in large
number and bridge the gap between people who could not read
written material- newspaper, pamphlets, magazines etc.
....

I Conclusioni
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1. In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of

France and set out to conquer neighbouring European countries.
2. He saw himself as moderniser of Europe and
introduced many laws such as protection of private
property and a uniform system of weights.
3. Many saw him as a liberator but soon his armies
came to view as invading force.
4. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
5. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were most important
revolutionary of the French were most important revolutionary of the
French Revolution and soon spread to the whole of the Europe.
6. Tipu Sultan and Rajmohan Roy are two examples of individual
who responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.