French Revolution Short Notes

Outbreak of the Revolution: Storming of the Bastille

• 14 July 1789, Paris was alarmed by rumors that the king would order troops to fire on citizens.
• Approximately 7,000 men and women gathered, forming a peoples’ militia, and broke into government buildings for arms.
• A large group stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison, hoping to find ammunition.
• The commander of the Bastille was killed, and its seven prisoners were released.
• The Bastille – a symbol of the despotic power of the king.
• It was demolished, and its stone fragments were sold as souvenirs.
• Widespread rioting followed in Paris and the countryside, primarily protesting the high price of bread.
• Historians later identified this period as the beginning of events leading to the execution of the king.

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French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century (Old Regime)

• In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family ascended the French throne, finding an empty treasury.
• This debt was caused by long years of war and the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at Versailles.
• France’s aid to the thirteen American colonies in gaining independence from Britain added over 1 billion livres to an existing debt of over 2 billion livres.
• Lenders began charging 10% interest on loans, forcing the government to spend an increasing budget on interest payments.
• To meet expenses, the state needed to increase taxes.
• French society was divided into three estates as part of the feudal system, referred to as the Old Regime (before 1789).
• The First Estate (clergy) and Second Estate (nobility) enjoyed privileges by birth, most importantly exemption from paying taxes to the state.
• Nobles also extracted feudal dues from peasants, who were obliged to render services.
• Peasants constituted about 90% of the population, but only a small number owned land.
• About 60% of the land was owned by nobles, the Church, and richer members of the Third Estate.
• The Church levied a tax called tithes (one-tenth of agricultural produce) from peasants.
• All members of the Third Estate had to pay taxes to the state, including a direct tax called taille and indirect taxes on consumption items like salt or tobacco.
• The entire burden of financing the state through taxes was borne by the Third Estate alone.

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The Struggle to Survive and the Rise of the Middle Class

• France’s population grew from 23 million (1715) to 28 million (1789), leading to increased demand for foodgrains.
• Production could not keep pace, causing the price of bread (the staple diet) to rise rapidly.
• Workers’ wages did not keep up with prices, widening the gap between the poor and the rich.
• Droughts or hail worsened harvests, leading to a subsistence crisis, where basic means of livelihood were endangered.
• Peasants and workers had previously revolted against taxes and food scarcity, but lacked the means for large-scale social change.
• The eighteenth century saw the emergence of a middle class within the Third Estate.
• This class gained wealth from overseas trade and manufacturing (e.g., woollen and silk textiles).
• It included professions like lawyers and administrative officials, who were educated.
• They believed that social position should depend on merit, not birth privileges, advocating for freedom, equal laws, and opportunities.
• Philosophers like John Locke (refuted divine right of monarchs in Two Treatises of Government), Jean Jacques Rousseau (proposed social contract government in The Social Contract), and Montesquieu (advocated division of power into legislative, executive, judiciary in The Spirit of the Laws) influenced these ideas.
• The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights, after the US declared independence from Britain, served as an important example for French thinkers.
• These ideas spread through salons, coffee-houses, books, and newspapers.
• The news of Louis XVI’s plan to impose further taxes fueled anger against the system of privileges.

Questions & Answers:

The Estates General and Formation of the National Assembly

• Under the Old Regime, the monarch could not unilaterally impose taxes; he had to call a meeting of the Estates General.
• The last meeting before 1789 was in 1614.
• On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates General in Versailles to propose new taxes.
• The First and Second Estates sent 300 representatives each, while the Third Estate sent 600 members (mostly prosperous and educated).
• Peasants, artisans, and women were denied entry to the assembly, though their grievances were listed in 40,000 letters.
• Historically, voting in the Estates General was by the principle of one vote per estate.
• The Third Estate demanded voting be conducted by the assembly as a whole, with each member having one vote – a democratic principle put forth by Rousseau.
• When the king rejected this, members of the Third Estate walked out in protest.
• On 20 June, they assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court at Versailles.
• They declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse until they had drafted a constitution that would limit the monarch’s powers.
• They were led by Mirabeau (a noble convinced of abolishing feudal privilege) and Abbé Sieyès (a priest who wrote ‘What is the Third Estate’?).

Questions & Answers:

Revolutionary Upheaval and Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1791)

• While the National Assembly drafted the constitution, France was in turmoil due to a severe winter, bad harvest, and rising bread prices.
• Angry women stormed bakeries, and on 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille.
• In the countryside, rumors of brigands (known as the Great Fear) led peasants to attack chateaux, loot grain, and burn manorial dues records.
• Many nobles fled their homes.
• Faced with revolt, Louis XVI recognized the National Assembly and accepted that his powers would be checked by a constitution.
• On 4 August 1789, the Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes.
• The clergy were forced to give up privileges, tithes were abolished, and Church lands were confiscated, acquiring government assets worth 2 billion livres.
• The National Assembly completed the constitution draft in 1791, aiming to limit the monarch’s powers.
• Powers were separated into the legislature, executive, and judiciary, making France a constitutional monarchy.
• The National Assembly (legislature) was indirectly elected.
• Only active citizens – men over 25 who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a laborer’s wage (~4 million of 28 million) – had the right to vote.
• The remaining men, all women, children, and youth below 25 were classified as passive citizens.
• The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
• It established ‘natural and inalienable’ rights like the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, and equality before law, which belonged to every human by birth.
• It was the state’s duty to protect these rights.
• Revolutionary journalist Jean-Paul Marat criticized the Constitution for empowering the rich and not adequately helping the poor, suggesting that laws would last only as long as people obeyed them.

Questions & Answers:

Symbols of the Revolution

• Due to widespread illiteracy, images and symbols were commonly used to communicate important ideas.
• Snake biting its tail: Symbol of Eternity.
• Sceptre: Symbol of royal power.
• Eye within a triangle radiating light: Stands for knowledge; rays of sun drive away ignorance.
• Bundle of rods or fasces: Represents strength in unity (one rod breaks easily, a bundle does not).
• Broken chain: Stands for the act of becoming free (chains fettered slaves).
• Red Phrygian cap: Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free.
• Blue-white-red: The national colours of France.
• The winged woman: Personification of the law.
• The Law Tablet: Signifies that the law is the same for all, and all are equal before it.

Questions & Answers:

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

• The situation remained tense; Louis XVI entered secret negotiations with the King of Prussia.
• Other neighboring rulers planned to send troops to suppress the revolution.
• In April 1792, the National Assembly declared war against Prussia and Austria.
• Thousands of volunteers joined, viewing it as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies.
• The Marseillaise, composed by Roget de L’Isle, was sung by volunteers from Marseilles and became the national anthem of France.
• Revolutionary wars caused losses and economic difficulties.
• Dissatisfaction grew because the 1791 Constitution gave political rights only to the richer sections.
• Political clubs became crucial for discussing policies; the most successful was the Jacobin club.
• Jacobins primarily came from less prosperous sections: small shopkeepers, artisans, servants, and daily-wage workers.
• Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.
• They wore long striped trousers to distinguish themselves from nobles in knee breeches, earning them the name sans-culottes (“those without knee breeches”).
• Sans-culottes men wore the red cap symbolizing liberty.
• In August 1792, Jacobins planned an insurrection due to food shortages and high prices.
• On August 10, they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards, and held the king hostage.
• The Assembly imprisoned the royal family, and elections were held where all men 21 and above, regardless of wealth, gained the right to vote.
• The newly elected assembly, called the Convention, abolished the monarchy and declared France a Republic on 21 September 1792.
• A republic is a form of government where people elect the head of government, without hereditary monarchy.
• On 21 January 1793, Louis XVI was publicly executed at the Place de la Concorde on charges of treason.
• Queen Marie Antoinette was executed shortly after.

Questions & Answers:

The Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

• The period from 1793 to 1794 is known as the Reign of Terror.
• Robespierre implemented a policy of severe control and punishment.
• Those deemed ‘enemies’ (ex-nobles, clergy, political opponents, and even dissenting Jacobins) were arrested, imprisoned, and tried by a revolutionary tribunal.
• If found ‘guilty’, they were guillotined. The guillotine was a beheading device named after its inventor, Dr. Guillotin.
• Robespierre’s government imposed a maximum ceiling on wages and prices, and meat and bread were rationed.
• Peasants were forced to sell grain at government-fixed prices, and expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens had to eat pain d’égalité (equality bread) made of wholewheat.
• Equality was also enforced through forms of address; traditional ‘Monsieur’ and ‘Madame’ were replaced by ‘Citoyen’ and ‘Citoyenne’.
• Churches were shut down and converted into barracks or offices.
• Robespierre’s relentless policies eventually led his own supporters to demand moderation.
• In July 1794, he was convicted by a court, arrested, and guillotined the next day.
• There were conflicting views on terror: Journalist Camille Desmoulins saw liberty as happiness and justice, criticizing guillotine as senseless and enemy-making. Robespierre, however, argued that in times of revolution, a democratic government may rely on terror as “justice, swift, severe and inflexible” to curb enemies of Liberty.

Questions & Answers:

A Directory Rules France

• The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power.
• A new constitution was introduced that denied the right to vote to non-propertied sections of society.
• It established two elected legislative councils.
• These councils appointed a five-member executive called the Directory.
• This system was intended to prevent the concentration of power in a single person, as seen under the Jacobins.
• However, the Directors frequently clashed with the legislative councils, who tried to dismiss them.
• This political instability ultimately prepared the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.
• Despite these changes, the ideals of freedom, equality before the law, and fraternity continued to inspire political movements in France and Europe.

Questions & Answers:

Did Women Have a Revolution?

• Women were active participants from the beginning, hoping their involvement would lead to improved lives.
• Most Third Estate women worked as seamstresses, laundresses, vendors, or domestic servants, earning lower wages than men.
• They also managed household duties and childcare.
• Only daughters of nobles or wealthy Third Estate members had access to education.
• Women formed their own political clubs and newspapers to discuss and voice their interests; about sixty such clubs emerged.
• The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous.
• Their main demand was equal political rights as men, including the right to vote, be elected to the Assembly, and hold political office.
• They were disappointed that the 1791 Constitution made them passive citizens.
• Early revolutionary government laws did improve women’s lives: compulsory schooling for all girls, fathers could not force marriages, marriage became a civil contract, and divorce was made legal for both sexes.
• Women could now train for jobs, become artists, or run businesses.
• However, the struggle for equal political rights continued, and during the Reign of Terror, women’s clubs were closed, political activities banned, and many prominent women arrested or executed.
• Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages continued globally for the next two centuries, with the international suffrage movement drawing inspiration from French women’s activities.
• French women finally won the right to vote in 1946.
• Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) was a key revolutionary woman who protested the exclusion of women from basic rights.
• In 1791, she wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen, addressed to the Queen and National Assembly.
• She criticized the Jacobin government for closing women’s clubs and was subsequently tried for treason and executed in 1793.
• Jacobin politician Chaumette (1793) justified closing women’s clubs by arguing that nature assigned domestic duties and motherhood to women, while political duties belonged to men.

Questions & Answers:

The Abolition of Slavery

• One significant social reform of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in French colonies.
• French Caribbean colonies like Martinique, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo were crucial suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar, and coffee.
• A shortage of labor on plantations led to the triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, which began in the seventeenth century.
• French merchants from Bordeaux or Nantes bought slaves on the African coast, transported them across the Atlantic (a three-month voyage), and sold them to plantation owners.
• This slave labor fueled the demand for sugar, coffee, and indigo in Europe, bringing economic prosperity to port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes.
• Throughout the eighteenth century, there was little criticism of slavery in France.
• The National Assembly debated extending human rights to colonial subjects but feared opposition from businessmen reliant on the slave trade.
• The Convention finally legislated to free all slaves in French overseas possessions in 1794.
• This measure was short-lived; Napoleon reintroduced slavery ten years later.
• Plantation owners interpreted their freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes for economic gain.
• Slavery was definitively abolished in French colonies in 1848.

Questions & Answers:

• Q: Which French government first abolished slavery in the colonies?
  • A: The Jacobin regime, specifically the Convention in 1794.
• Q: What was the “triangular slave trade”?
  • A: A trade route that transported slaves between Europe, Africa, and the Americas to address labor shortages on plantations.
• Q: Who reintroduced slavery after it was first abolished?
  • A: Napoleon.
• Q: When was slavery finally abolished in French colonies?
  • A: In 1848.

The Revolution and Everyday Life

• The years after 1789 brought many changes to daily life in France.
• Revolutionary governments passed laws to implement ideals of liberty and equality.
• A key law was the abolition of censorship after the storming of the Bastille in 1789.
• Under the Old Regime, all written and cultural material required approval from the king’s censors.
• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression as a natural right.
• Newspapers, pamphlets, books, and printed pictures proliferated, discussing events and changes.
• Freedom of the press allowed opposing views to be expressed, with each side trying to persuade others.
• Plays, songs, and festive processions helped large numbers of people grasp and identify with abstract political ideas like liberty and justice.

Questions & Answers:

Conclusion: Legacy and Napoleon

• In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.
• He aimed to conquer neighboring European countries, replace dynasties, and establish kingdoms for his family.
• Napoleon viewed himself as a modernizer of Europe.
• He introduced laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures based on the decimal system.
• Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator, but his armies soon became viewed as an invading force.
• He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
• Despite his defeat, many of his measures, which carried revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe, had a lasting impact.
• The most important legacy of the French Revolution was the ideas of liberty and democratic rights, which spread across Europe, leading to the abolition of feudal systems.
• These ideas also inspired anti-colonial movements globally, prompting colonized peoples to strive for sovereign nation-states.
• Individuals like Tipu Sultan and Raja Rammohan Roy were inspired by the ideas from revolutionary France.
• Raja Rammohan Roy was particularly excited by the French Revolution and the July Revolution of 1830.

Questions & Answers:

📘 Napoleon & French Revolution Legacy – FAQs

Q: When did Napoleon Bonaparte become Emperor of France?

A: In 1804.

Q: What were some key reforms Napoleon introduced?

A: Protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures (decimal system).

Q: What was Napoleon’s ultimate fate?

A: He was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

Q: What is considered the most important legacy of the French Revolution?

A: The ideas of liberty and democratic rights, which spread globally and influenced anti-colonial movements.

Q: Name two individuals from other parts of the world inspired by the French Revolution.

A: Tipu Sultan and Raja Rammohan Roy.