Quick Revision Notes: Class 9 Social Science

Chapter: The French Revolution (History)

Outbreak of the Revolution: The French Revolution began with the storming of the fortress-prison, the Bastille, on 14 July 1789.
Key Figure: Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France in 1774. He was married to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette.

Society in France was divided into three estates:

First Estate: Clergy (Church officials). Exempt from paying taxes.
Second Estate: Nobility (Lords and aristocrats). Enjoyed feudal privileges and were exempt from taxes.
Third Estate: Comprised 95% of the population. Included businessmen, merchants, lawyers, peasants, artisans, and landless labourers. They bore the burden of all taxes.

Tithe: A tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce.
Taille: Direct tax paid directly to the state.
Indirect Taxes: Levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.

Subsistence Crisis: An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered. Caused by a rapid increase in population leading to a high demand for food grains, resulting in soaring bread prices while wages remained fixed.
Role of the Middle Group: Emergence of the philosophers and thinkers who inspired the people:
- John Locke: Wrote Two Treatises of Government, refuting the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Proposed a social contract between people and their representatives (The Social Contract).
- Montesquieu: Proposed the division of power within government between the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary (The Spirit of the Laws).

5 May 1789: Louis XVI called an assembly of the Estates General (political body) to pass proposals for new taxes. The Third Estate walked out in protest against the voting system (voting was traditionally conducted estate-wise, one vote per estate).
20 June 1789: Members of the Third Estate assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court on 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 monarch's powers (Led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès).
4 August 1789: The Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes.
1791: The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution, turning France into a constitutional monarchy.

April 1792: The National Assembly voted for a war against Prussia and Austria.
Jacobin Club: The most successful political club of political leftists, led by Maximilien Robespierre. Members were called sans-culottes (meaning 'those without knee breeches').
21 September 1792: The monarchy was abolished, and France was declared a Republic.
January 1793: Louis XVI was sentenced to death on charges of treason. Queen Marie Antoinette met the same fate shortly after.
The Reign of Terror (1793–1794): The period ruled by Maximilien Robespierre characterized by severe control and punishment. Anyone considered an 'enemy' of the republic was arrested, tried, and guillotined (executed using the Guillotine, a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded).
Fall of Jacobins: Robespierre was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested, and sent to the guillotine.

The Directory: A five-member executive body that ruled France after the fall of the Jacobins, designed to prevent concentration of power in one man's hands (as happened under Robespierre). However, political instability paved the way for a military dictator—Napoleon Bonaparte.
Role of Women: Women were active participants from the beginning. Most women of the Third Estate worked for a living. They demanded equal political rights, voting rights, and the right to hold office.
Abolition of Slavery: One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in the French colonies, which was finally abolished in 1848.

1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. He set out to conquer neighbouring European countries.
Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804): Introduced protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.
Defeat: Initially seen as a liberator, his armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invading force. He was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Estate: A subdivision of society consisting of people with similar social status (e.g., Clergy, Nobility, Commoners).
Tithe: Tax levied by the church.
Taille: Direct tax paid to the state.
Subsistence Crisis: An acute crisis where basic means of livelihood are under threat.
Emigres: Noblemen who fled France during the revolution.
Guillotine: A device for beheading people, named after inventor Dr. Guillotin.
Treason: Betrayal of one's country or government.