WELCOME

EVENTS AND PROCESSES•Today we often take the ideas of liberty, freedom and

equality for granted. But we need to remind ourselves that these ideas also have a history.

•The French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France. A society based on privileges gave way to a new system of governance. The Declarations of the Rights of Man during the revolution, announced the coming of a new time. The idea that all individuals had rights and could claim equality became part of a new language of politics. These notions of equality and freedom emerged as the central ideas of a new age; but in different countries they were reinterpreted and rethought in many different ways. The anti-colonial movements in India and China, Africa and South-America, produced ideas that were innovative and original, but they spoke in a language that gained currency only from the late eighteenth century.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

A REVOLT OR REVOLUTION FOR EQUALITY, LIBERTY AND FRATERNITY

FRENCH SOCIETY IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY-•THE THREE ESTATES-• Before the revolution the French society was divided into three parts-1. The first estate - the clergy.

2. The second estate - the nobility (nobles).

3. The third estate - * big businessmen, court officials, merchants, lawyers etc. * Peasants and artisans etc. * Small peasants, landless Labour, servants etc.Here legally the first two estates enjoys many privileges by birth, mainly the tax exemption. Only third estate gave all taxes

•The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to the middle ages. The term Old Regime is usually used to describe the society and institutions of France before 1789.

•Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However,only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate.

•Also clergy and nobles extracted feudal dues from the peasants

•The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants, and finally, all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included 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.

THREE ESTATES OF FRANCE BEFORE 1789

CLERGY

NOBILITY (NOBLES)

THIRD ESTATE

ROYAL PALACES OF VERSAILLES

LOUIS XVI •Louis XVI was born on August 23rd 1754 at Palace of Versailles, France. He belongs to Bourbon family of kings. His first name was Louis-auguste then named as louis xvi after his grandfather louis xv.

•In 1774, Louis (dauphin of France) ascended thethrone of France to his son Louis XVI. He was 20 years old and married to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette. Upon his accession the new king found an empty treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. Added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles.

•Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy, Britain. The war added more than a billion livres (currency of France at that time) to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres. Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So 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.

Louis xviDied on January 21 1793

at Palace de la concorde, France

MARIE ANTOINETTE•Marie Antoinette, an Archduchess (daughter of the

emperor of Austria) of Austria, was the fifteenth and second youngest child of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.

•In April 1770, upon her marriage (at the age of 14 years and 5 months) to Louis-auguste, heir to the throne of France, she became Dauphine of France. On 10 May 1774, when her husband ascended the throne as Louis xvi, upon the death of his grandfather Louis xv, she became queen of Austria and Navarre, a title she held until September 1791, when, as the French Revolution proceeded, she became Queen of the French, a title she held until 21 September 1792.

•Born on November 2 , 1755 at Vienna, Austria.

Marie AntoinetteDied on October 16 1793 at 8th arrondissement of

Paris, Paris, France.

THE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE•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 which was the staple diet of the majority 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. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.

A GROWING OF MIDDLE CLASS ENVISAGES AND END TO PRIVILEGES•In the past, peasants and workers had participated in revolts

againstincreasing taxes and food scarcity. But they lacked the means andprogrammes to carry out full-scale measures that would bring abouta change in the social and economic order. This was left to thosegroups within the third estate who had become prosperous and hadaccess to education and new ideas.

•The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups,termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through anexpanding overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such aswoollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by thericher members of society. In addition to merchants andmanufacturers, the third estate included professions such as lawyersor administrative officials. All of these were educated and believedthat no group in society should be privileged by birth. Rather, aperson’s social position must depend on his merit.

CARICATURE (PICTURE RELATED TO ANY STRUGGLE) OF THE THIRD ESTATE CARRYING CLERGY AND NOBILITY ON HIS BACK

SOME PHILOSOPHERS WHO HELPED TO BRING EQUALITY IN FRANCEI. JOHN LOCKE-• John Locke was born on 29th August 1632 was an

English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of  Enlightenment  thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United states declaration of independence. He wrote many books like  Two Treatises of Government, A Letter Concerning Toleration etc.. In his book ‘Two Treatises of Government’ he sought to prove the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch. He died on 28 October 1704.

II. Beron De La Brède et de Montesquieu-• Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu born on 18th January

1689, generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French lawyer, man of letters, and political philosopher who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon. He wrote many books like The Spirit of the Laws, The Temple of Gnidos, Gleanings etc.. In his book ‘The Spirit of Laws’ proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. This model of government was put into force in the USA, after the thirteen colonies declared their independence from Britain. The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example for political thinkers in France. He died on 10th February 1755.

Beron De Montesquieu

III. Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Jean-Jacques Rousseau 28th June 1712 was

a Francophone Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.

•Rousseau's novel Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. Rousseau's autobiographical writings — his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought.

•He died on 2nd July 1778

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Outbreak of the Revolution

• In France of the Old Regime the monarch did not have the power to impose taxes according to his will alone. Rather he had to call a meeting of the Estates General which would then pass his proposals for new taxes. The Estates General was a political body to which the three estates sent their representatives. The last time it was done was in 1614. On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. A resplendent hall in Versailles was prepared to host the delegates. The first and second estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing each other on two sides, while 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. However, their grievances and demands were listed in some 40,000 letters which the representatives had brought with them. Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted 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.

•The representatives of the 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 and swore not to disperse till they had drafted 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.

STORMING OF THIRD ESTATE PEOPLE ON BASTILLE IN 1789 •Jacques Necker - Jacques Necker 30th September 1732

was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789. By this time, Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette, the King's younger brother Comte d‘ Artois, and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. On 11th July 1789, after Necker published an inaccurate account of the government's debts and made it available to the public, the King fired him, and completely restructured the finance ministry at the same time.

Jacques Necker. He died on 11th July 1789

• On 14 July, the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which was also perceived to be a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a ceasefire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behaviour, and a murder suspect) the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the Ancient Regime. Returning to the Hotel de Ville (city hall) the mob accused the mayor Jacques de Flesselles of treachery and butchered him. The King, alarmed by the violence, backed down, at least for the time being. The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris. Jean-Sylvain Bailly, president of the Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath, became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the commune. The King visited Paris, where, on 17th July he accepted a tricolour cockade, to cries of Vive la Nation and Vive le Roi ("Long live the King").

SOME PHOTOS OF ROYAL FORT BASTILLE BEFORE THE REVOLT

Abolition of feudalism and France becomes constitutional monarchy• On the night of 4th August 1789, the National Constituent Assembly

abolished feudalism (numerous peasant revolts had almost brought feudalism to an end) in the Auguste Decrees, sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes (a 10% tax for the Church) gathered by the First Estate. During the course of a few hours nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies and cities lost their special privileges.

• The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in1791. Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. Thesepowers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person,were now separated and assigned to different institutions – thelegislature, executive and judiciary. This made France a constitutionalmonarchy.

• The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in theNational Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizensvoted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Notall citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 yearsof age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wagewere given the status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled tovote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passivecitizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.

• The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Manand Citizen. Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech,freedom of opinion, equality before law, were established as ‘naturaland inalienable’ rights, that is, they belonged to each human beingby birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

JEAN PAUL MARAT•JEAN-PAUL MARAT was a revolutionary journalist born on 24th

May 1743 at Boudry, Switzerland who wrote many articles in the famous newspaper of France at that time - L’Ami du peuple (The friend of the people). His articles were like which tells government about the state of people and tells the government how to improve the law system indirectly.

•He in his newspaper on the Constitution drafted by the National Assembly:

• ‘The task of representing the people has been given to the rich … the lot of the poor and oppressed will never be improved by peaceful means alone. Here we have absolute proof of how wealth influences the law. Yet laws will last only as long as the people agree to obey them. And when they have managed to cast off the yoke of the aristocrats, they will do the same to the other owners of wealth.’

Died on 13 July 1793 killed by Jacques-Louis David

SOME POLITICAL SYMBOLS OF FRANCE WHICH WE HAVE TO KNOW•LIBERTY CAP (PHRYGIAN CAP)

This cap used as a style cap as a symbol of revolutionary France or Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free

•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 entirebundle. 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 (which never ends). A ring has neither beginning nor end.

•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.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

• In Revolutionary France, the Legislative Assembly votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the First Republic. The measure came one year after King Louis XVI reluctantly approved a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power.

• 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. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare 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 and aristocracies all over Europe.

• Everybody sings La Marseillaise in many groups. Now this song is the national anthem of France. This song was written by poet  Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle on 1792 in Strasbourg, Alsace, France.

• The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficultiesto the people. While the men were away fighting at the front,women were left to cope with the tasks of earning a living andlooking after their families.

• The Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society.

• Political clubs became an important rallying point forpeople who wished to discuss government policies and plan theirown forms of action. The most successful of these clubs was that ofthe Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of StJacob in Paris. Women too, who had been active throughout thisperiod, formed their own clubs.

• The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the lessprosperous sections of society. They included small shopkeepers,artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers,as well as servants and daily-wage workers. Their leader wasMaximillian Robespierre. A large group among the Jacobins decidedto start wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn bydock workers. This was to set themselves apart from the fashionablesections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches. was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by thewearers of knee breeches. These Jacobins came to be known as thesans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches’. Sans-culottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty. Women however were not allowed to do so.

•The newly elected assembly was called the Convention. On21 September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. As you know, a republic is a form of government where the people elect the government including the head of the government. There is no hereditary monarchy.

• You can try and find out about some other countries that are republics and investigate when and how they became so. Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason (helped another country in a war). On 21 January 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde. The queen Marie Antoinette met with the same fate shortly after.

The Reign of Terror•The Reign of Terror (6 September 1793 – 28 July 1794), also known as The Terror, was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between two rival political factions, the Girondins and The Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris), and another 25,000 in summary executions across France. 

• Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was born on 6th May 1758 Arras, Artois, France. 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 arevolutionary tribunal. If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined.

• 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. 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 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 Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen). Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices. Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand moderation. Finally, he was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to the guillotine.

Died on 28th July 1794 as a prisoner and killed under guillotine.

GUILLOTINE•If the court found them ‘guilty’ they were guillotined. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named after Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotine who invented it on 10th October 1789.

•The guillotine (called the "National Razor") became the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions - King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Girondins, Maximillian Robespierre, Philippe Égalité , and Madame Roland, and others such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lost their lives under its blade. 

Dr Guillotine

A DIRECTORY RULES FRANCE•The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier

middleclasses to seize power. A new constitution was introduced whichdenied the vote to non-propertied sections of society. It providedfor two elected legislative councils. These then appointed a Directory,an executive made up of five members. This was meant as a safeguardagainst the concentration of power in a one-man executive as underthe Jacobins. However, the Directors often clashed with the legislativecouncils, who then sought to dismiss them. The political instabilityof 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 offreedom, 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.

Paul Barras, the only Director to serve during the entire term of the Directory. He was born on 30th June 1755 and died on 29th January 1829. he established directory on 2nd November 1795 and disbanded on 10th November 1799.

Did Women have a Revolution?

• From the very beginning women were active participants in the eventswhich brought about so many important changes in French society.They hoped that their involvement would pressurise the revolutionarygovernment to introduce measures to improve their lives. Mostwomen of the third estate had to work for a living. They worked asseamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at themarket, or were employed as domestic servants in the houses ofprosperous people. Most women did not have access to education orjob training. Only daughters of nobles or wealthier members of thethird estate could study at a convent, after which their familiesarranged a marriage for them. Working women had also to care fortheir families, that is, cook, fetch water, queue up for bread andlook after the children. Their wages were lower than those of men.

• The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them. One of their main demands was that women enjoy the same political rights as men. Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reducedthem to passive citizens. They demanded the right to vote, to beelected to the Assembly and to hold political office. Only then, theyfelt, would their interests be represented in the new government.

OLYMPE DE GOUGES(A REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN)•Olympe de Gouges was born on 7th May 1748 at Montauban,

France 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 as they excluded women from basic rights that each human being was entitled to. So, in 1791, she wrote a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen, which she addressed to the Queen and to the members of the National Assembly, demanding that they act upon it. In 1793, Olympe de Gouges criticised the Jacobin government for forcibly closing down women’s clubs. She was tried by the National Convention, which charged her with treason. Soon after this she was executed.

She was died on 3rd November

1793 at Place de

la Concorde, Paris,

France.

THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY

•One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. 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 Americas. 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. Slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

•Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The National Assembly held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects including those in the colonies. But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade. It was finally 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: ten years later, 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.

HORRIBLE KILING OF NEGROES

(MASSACRE)

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE • Napoléon di Bonaparte was born on 15th August 1769 at  Corsica, France

in a small nobility family. was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. He also remains one of the most celebrated and controversial political figures in history. Napoleon had an extensive and powerful influence on the modern world, bringing liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled, especially the Low Countries, Switzerland, and large parts of modern Italy and Germany. He implemented fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western Europe. His lasting legal achievement, the Napoleonic Code, has been highly influential. 

•Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe. He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system. Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people. But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invading force. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815. Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Napoleon had left.

CONCLUTION•The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished. Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a sovereign nation state. Tipu Sultan and Ram Mohan Roy are two examples of individuals who responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.

Died on May 5,

1821, Longwood, Saint Helena,

Ascension and Tristan da

Cunha, UK(present

day)

CARLO BONAPARTE (FATHER OF NAPOLEON

BONAPARTE) WAS A COURT

REPRESENTATIVE.

THANK YOU

•A.SHANTANU•CLASS- ix-B• ROLL NO.- 27•Subject- SST (FRENCH REVOLUTION)•SCHOOL-K.V. Berhampur, ganjam.