CBSE : Grade 10 2023-24 Board: CBSE
Class - IX
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Submitted By : Baishnab Padhee
1. FRENCH REVOUTION: A SHORT BACKGROUND -
1774 Louis XVI of Bourbon family ascended to throne (at the age 20) and married to Marie Antoinette
inherited empty treasure drained financial resources High Cost to maintain immense palace of Versailles
Helped 13 American colonies gain independence from Britain
War added debt to more than 2 billion livres
Lenders charged 10%interest rate
90 % of population were peasants- only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated possessed very
less land
Nobles, Churches & Rich owned 60% land
Clergy and Nobility enjoyed privileges by birth
Only 3rd Estate required to pay taxes
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.
Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants tax 1/10th of agricultural produce
There was a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday
consumption like salt or tobacco.
The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.
2. THE FRENCH SOCIETY DURING THE LATE 18TH CENTURY -
Three Estates
, The Struggle to Survive -
The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789- led to a rapid increase in the
demand for food grains.
Production of grains fell short of demand The price of bread, the staple diet of the majority, rose rapidly.
Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops and most owners fixed their wages. But wages did not
keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. This led to a subsistence crisis, something
that occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime.
The Growing Middle Class- New Wave -
This estate was educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.
These ideas were put forward by philosophers such as Locke English philosopher and Rousseau French
philosopher.
Locke - “Two Treaties of Government”- he refuted divine and absolute rights of monarch
Rousseau- “Social Contract” between people and representatives
Montesquieu- “The Spirit of Laws”- division of powers between organs of Government.
The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example of political theories
of France.
These ideas were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people through books and
newspapers.
3. THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION -
1770s-1780s Economic declines: French Government in deep debt.
1774 Louis XVI becomes king of France, faces empty treasury and growing discontent within society of the Old
Regime
1788-1789: Bad harvest, high prices, food riots.
May 5, 1789 Estates-General convened, demanded reforms.
June 20, 1789 Tennis Court Oath Members of the Third Estate gathered in a tennis court at the Palace of
Versailles
July 14, 1789 National Assembly formed. Bastille stormed. French Revolution started.
August 4, 1789 the night of August 4 ends the rights of the aristocracy, the surrender of feudal rights.
August 26, 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man
1790 Civil Constitution of the Clergy nationalizes the Church.
1791 Dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly. A constitution is framed to limit the powers of the king
and to guarantee basic rights to all human beings.
1792 France became republic after overthrowing king. A newly elected Assembly was formed called the
convention.
1793 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed.
1793 Reign of Terror started because of extreme Policies followed by Robespierre. Austria, Britain, the
Netherlands, Prussia, and Spain are at war with France.
1794 Robespierre is executed. The Reign of Terror ends.
1795 National convention dissolved. a Directory- a committee of five men ruled.
1804: Napoleon becomes emperor of France, annexes large parts of Europe.
1815: Napoleon defeated at Waterloo.
Class - IX
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Submitted By : Baishnab Padhee
1. FRENCH REVOUTION: A SHORT BACKGROUND -
1774 Louis XVI of Bourbon family ascended to throne (at the age 20) and married to Marie Antoinette
inherited empty treasure drained financial resources High Cost to maintain immense palace of Versailles
Helped 13 American colonies gain independence from Britain
War added debt to more than 2 billion livres
Lenders charged 10%interest rate
90 % of population were peasants- only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated possessed very
less land
Nobles, Churches & Rich owned 60% land
Clergy and Nobility enjoyed privileges by birth
Only 3rd Estate required to pay taxes
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.
Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants tax 1/10th of agricultural produce
There was a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday
consumption like salt or tobacco.
The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.
2. THE FRENCH SOCIETY DURING THE LATE 18TH CENTURY -
Three Estates
, The Struggle to Survive -
The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789- led to a rapid increase in the
demand for food grains.
Production of grains fell short of demand The price of bread, the staple diet of the majority, rose rapidly.
Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops and most owners fixed their wages. But wages did not
keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. This led to a subsistence crisis, something
that occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime.
The Growing Middle Class- New Wave -
This estate was educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.
These ideas were put forward by philosophers such as Locke English philosopher and Rousseau French
philosopher.
Locke - “Two Treaties of Government”- he refuted divine and absolute rights of monarch
Rousseau- “Social Contract” between people and representatives
Montesquieu- “The Spirit of Laws”- division of powers between organs of Government.
The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example of political theories
of France.
These ideas were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people through books and
newspapers.
3. THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION -
1770s-1780s Economic declines: French Government in deep debt.
1774 Louis XVI becomes king of France, faces empty treasury and growing discontent within society of the Old
Regime
1788-1789: Bad harvest, high prices, food riots.
May 5, 1789 Estates-General convened, demanded reforms.
June 20, 1789 Tennis Court Oath Members of the Third Estate gathered in a tennis court at the Palace of
Versailles
July 14, 1789 National Assembly formed. Bastille stormed. French Revolution started.
August 4, 1789 the night of August 4 ends the rights of the aristocracy, the surrender of feudal rights.
August 26, 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man
1790 Civil Constitution of the Clergy nationalizes the Church.
1791 Dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly. A constitution is framed to limit the powers of the king
and to guarantee basic rights to all human beings.
1792 France became republic after overthrowing king. A newly elected Assembly was formed called the
convention.
1793 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed.
1793 Reign of Terror started because of extreme Policies followed by Robespierre. Austria, Britain, the
Netherlands, Prussia, and Spain are at war with France.
1794 Robespierre is executed. The Reign of Terror ends.
1795 National convention dissolved. a Directory- a committee of five men ruled.
1804: Napoleon becomes emperor of France, annexes large parts of Europe.
1815: Napoleon defeated at Waterloo.
