Chapt

er1–TheFr
enchRev
olut
ion
1.Descr
ibet
heci
rcumst
ancesl
eadi
ngt
otheout
breakofr
evol
uti
onar
ypr
otesti
nFr
ance.

Answer
:

WhenKi ngLoui sXVIwasanoi ntedast henewki ng,hef oundanempt ytreasury.Long

yearsofwarhaddr ainedthef inancialresourcesofFr ance.Ont opoft his, t
herewast he
costofmai nt
aininganext ravagantcour tatthePal aceofVer sai ll
es.Fr ancehadhel ped
thet hirt
eenAmer icancoloniesgai ntheirindependencef r
om t heircommonenemy ,
Brit
ai n.Thewaraddedmor et hanabi l
l
ionl i
vest oadebtt hathadal r
eadyr i
sent omor e
than2bi ll
ionliv
es.Lender swhogav ecr editbegant ochar ge10percenti nter
eston
l
oans.Sot heFrenchGov ernmenthadt ospendani ncr easingper centageofi t
sbudget
onint erestpay ment salone.Tomeeti tsregularexpenses, suchascostofmai nt ai
ning
anar my ,t
hecour t,government aloff
icesandUni versiti
eswer ei ncreasinglybecomi ng
diff
icul t
.Raisingtaxesdi dnotsuf fi
ce,becauset heFrenchsoci etywasdi videdint o3
estatesandonl yt he3rdest atehadt opayt axes.The1stest ateandt he2ndest atedid
notpayanyt axes.Thepopul ationofFr ancewasal sogr owingmassi vely.Thisledt oa
rapidi ncreaseint hedemandf orfoodgr ains.Product ionofgr ainscoul dnotkeeppace
withdemand.Sot hepr i
ceofbr ead,whichwast hest apl edietoft hemaj or i
tyrose
rapidly.Mostwor kerswer eempl oyedasl abourersinwor kshops, whoseownerf ixed
theirwages.Butt hewagesdi dnotkeeppacewi thther iseinpr ices.Sot hegapbet ween
ther i
chandt hepoorwi dened.Al lthesef actorsledt ot heout breakoft heFr ench
Revol ution.

2.WhichgroupsofFr
enchsocietybenefi
tedf
rom t
herevol
uti
on?Whichgroupswere
for
cedtoreli
nqui
shpower?Whi chsecti
onsofsoci
etywoul
dhavebeendisappoi
nted
wit
htheoutcomeoftherevol
ution?

Answer
:

Frenchsocietywasdi vi
dedinto3estates.Thet hirdest at
ebenef i
ttedt
hemost .The
thi
rdest at
econsistedofPeasants,art
isans, Smal l peasants,l
andlessl
abour,serv
ants,
bigbusinessmen, merchants,
courtoffi
cials,lawy ersetc.Thegr oupsthatwereforced
toreli
nquishpowerwer ethepeoplebelongi ngt ot he1stand2ndest at
e.Thesepeople
hadenjoy edcert
ainpriv
il
egesbybirth.Wi t
ht her ev olut
ion,thepeoplei
n1stand2nd
estatelostthei
rpri
vil
eges.Becauseinequal i
tywasoneoft herootcausesofthe
r
evol
uti
on,
ther
evol
uti
ont
ri
edt
obr
ingequal
i
tyt
osoci
ety
.

3.Descri
bethel
egacyoft
heFrenchRev
olut
ionf
ort
hepeopl
esoft
hewor
lddur
ingt
he
ni
neteenthandt
wenti
ethcent
uri
es.

Answer
:

Thei deasofliber
tyanddemocr ati
cright
sarethemosti mpor t
antlegaciesoft heFrench
revoluti
on.Thesespreadfrom FrancetotherestofEuropedur i
ngt henineteenth
century,wherefeudalsy
stemswer eaboli
shed.Coloni
sedpeopl ereworkedt heideaof
freedom from bondageint
ot hei
rmov ementstocreateasov erei
gnnat i
on-state.Ti
pu
SultanandRam MohanRoyar etwoexampl esofindiv
idual
swhor espondedt othe
i
deasor i
ginat
ingfr
om Revoluti
onaryFrance.

4.Drawupal i
stofdemocr
ati
cri
ght
sweenj
oyt
odaywhoseor
igi
nscoul
dbet
racedt
o
theFrenchRevol
uti
on.

Answer
:

Thel
i
stofdemocr
ati
cri
ght
sar
e

1. Fr
eedom ofspeech

2. Fr
eedom ofexpr
essi
on

3. Fr
eedom ofpr
ess

4. Abol
i
tionofcensor
shi
p

5. Ri
ghtt
ovot
e

6. Abol
i
tionofsl
aver
y

7. Ri
ghtt
oli
ber
ty

8. Ri
ghtt
opr
oper
ty

9. Ri
ghtt
osecur
it
y

10.Ri
ghtt
oeducat
ion

11.Di
vor
cel
aws

5.Woul
dyouagr
eewi
tht
hev
iewt
hatt
hemessageofuni
ver
sal
right
swasbesetwi
th
cont
radi
cti
ons?Expl
ain.

Answer
:

Thoughitsays‘Univer
salRights’
,womenwer eunfort
unatelylef
toutf rom thebasic
ri
ghtsthatwerepromised.Theydidnothav eequalri
ghtsthatmenenj oyed.Theydid
nothavetheri
ghttol i
berty
,propert
y,secur
it
yandabov eall,t
heresistancet o
oppressi
on.I
nt heformulati
onoflaws, womendidnothav eanyr epresentati
on.Women
werenotenti
tl
edt oallthehonoursandpublicemployment,accor di
ngt otheirabi
l
iti
es.

6.Howwoul
dyouexpl
aint
her
iseofNapol
eon?

Answer
:

Napol
eonBonapar t
ecr ownedhi mselfEmper orofFrance.Hest ar
tedconqueri
ng
nei
ghbouri
ngcountri
esbywagi ngwar sagainstthem.Hesawhi mselfasamoder ni
zer
ofEur
ope.Heintroducedmanyl aws,suchast heprotecti
onofpr i
vateproper
tyanda
uni
for
m system ofweight sandmeasur esprovidedbythedeci malsystem.Manyofhis
measurescarr
iedtherev oluti
onaryideasoflibert
yandmoder nlawstot heot
herpart
s
ofEur
ope.Thishadaposi tivei
mpactonpeopl elongafterhewasdet hronedasan
emperorwhenhewasf inallydefeat
edi ntheBat t
leofWat er
loo.