Test: The French Revolution - 2 - UPSC MCQ

The political body of France was known as Estates General. In the old regime,France was divided into three estates-Clergy and nobility which were privileged classes and third estate which represent the majority of the people.

The Bastille represented the despotic power of king. Power can never be despotic but it's accumulation is despotic. it was built by Charles v. it was said to be holding a despotic power because all the king's used it for their own interests rather than thinking for others . Moreover, at that time Louis xvi was the despotic ruler who had been known as the responsible for empty treasury . due to the long years of war had drained France from it's financial resources and added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles. the government needed money to maintain the court , the army , the government offices etc. under Louis xvi , the third estate had to pay higher taxes and also pressuried them to do harvest in the bad season also . Due to the above reasons the Bastille represented despotic power.

The french society was divided into three estates. The first estate-clergy, the second estate- nobility and the third estate- commoners .

- In the context of the French Revolution, the privileged class consisted of the clergy and the nobility.
- The clergy included the religious leaders and the nobility comprised the aristocracy.
- These two groups held significant power, wealth, and privileges in society.
- The First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate was the nobility, and the Third Estate was everyone else.

Therefore, during that period, the privileged class was made up of the clergy and the nobility.

The Middle Class were educated and believed that no group in the society should be privileged by birth.Rather a person's social position must depend on his merit.

John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau were key philosophers who promoted the idea that social position should depend on an individual's merit rather than inherited privilege. They advocated for a society where freedom and equal opportunities were available to all, challenging the existing social hierarchies based on birthright.

John Locke was inspired by the humanistic and enlightened viewpoint that all humans are equal. So he refuted the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch in his book 'Two Treatises of Government'.

The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained seven inmates at the time of its storming.

Louis XVI, born Louis-Auguste, was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as Citizen Louis Capet during the four months before he was guillotined.

The Social Contract, originally published as On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Rights (French: Du contrat social; ou Principes du droit politique) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is a 1762 book 

Voting in the Estates General in  the past had been conducted. 

- According to the principle of having one vote per estate. 
- Third Estate members requested that the assembly as a whole now hold elections, where each member will have one vote. 
- This was in line with the Democratic values put forth the book, the social contract, by philosophers like Rousseau. 

In Versailles, France, the deputies of the Third Estate, which represent commoners and the lower clergy, meet on the Jeu de Paume, an indoor tennis court, in defiance of King Louis XVI’s order to disperse.

The third estate was led by Mirabeau, a noble and Abbé Sieyès, a priest who assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles.

Chains were used to fetter slaves.

A broken chain stands for the act of becoming free.

The wings of the woman are 'The personification of law' .
It symbolizes the royal powers of the nobility, including those of making laws.

Bundle of rods,fasces: Symbolised strength lies in unity.One rod can be easily broken, but not an entire bundle.

The legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was as follows — 
(i) Ideas of equality and democratic spread from France to other European countries and feudalism was abolished. 
(ii) Colonial people reworked the idea of freedom from bondage info their movements to create sovereign nation states. 
(iii) It was the first movement to adopt the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. 

France was ruled by the Directory, an executive made up of five members. 
(i) However, the Directors often clashed with the Legislative Councils, who then sought to dismiss them.
 (ii) The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

The first and second estate included the clergy and nobility, which enjoyed certain privilages by birth.

A is the correct option.Peasants paid a tax called tithes to the church. The third estate paid a direct tax called taille. In direct tax on salt and tobacco were also levied.

When Louis XVI acceded to the throne in 1774, he was nineteen years old. He had an enormous responsibility, as the government was deeply in debt, and resentment of "despotic" monarchy was on the rise. He himself felt woefully unqualified to resolve the situation.

In the summer of 1792 the members of jacobin club , the most successful political club that consisted mainly of the members of the less prosperous sections of the society , planned an insurrection . on the morning of august 10 they stormed the palace of tuileries massacred the king's guard and held the king himself as a hostage. later the national assembly voted to imprison the royal family . elections were held and from then on all men of 21 years and above regardless of wealth got the right to vote . the newly elected assembly was called the convention . on 21 september 1792 it abolished monarchy and declared france as republic . louis XVI was sentenced to death on 21 january 1793 he was executed publicly by charging treason.

Red Cap was worn by Sans Culottes in France as an image of Liberty. 

It was in 1794 that the Convention passed a law to free all slaves in French overseas possessions. But this lasted only for 10 years because when Napoleon Bonaparte became the emperor of France in 1804, he reintroduced slavery. In 1848, Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies.

The period from 1793 to 1794 was referred to as the ‘Reign of Terror’ because of the following reasons:

• Maximilian Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment. Any person who did not agree with his policies was guillotined.
• Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices. Peasants were forced to sell their grains at prices fixed by the government.
• Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address. Robespierre followed his policies so obstinately that he began to loose support of the people.