Test: The French Revolution- 1 - UPSC MCQ

- Option A: Sceptre - Symbol of royal power
The sceptre is a traditional symbol of royal authority and power. It has been used historically to represent the governing power of a monarch.

- Option B: Red Phrygian cap - Symbol of unity
This is incorrect. The Red Phrygian cap is a symbol of liberty or freedom, not unity. It was worn by freed slaves in ancient times and adopted during the French Revolution as a symbol of emancipation.

- Option C: The Law Tablet - Symbol of ignorance
This is incorrect. The Law Tablet symbolizes that the law is the same for all and that all are equal before it, not ignorance.

- Option D: The bundle of rods or fasces - Symbol of freedom
This is incorrect. The bundle of rods or fasces symbolizes strength through unity, not freedom. It indicates that while a single rod can be broken, a bundle of rods is much stronger.

Thus, the only correctly matched pair is Option A: (a) Sceptre - Symbol of royal power.

Topic in NCERT: Reading political symbols

Line in NCERT: "Sceptre: Symbol of royal power."

The correct answer is: b) If both Assertion and Reason are true and Reason is the correct explanation of Assertion.

Explanation:

• Assertion (A) is true: The sans-culottes, a revolutionary group in France during the French Revolution, wore long striped trousers (often referred to as "culottes") to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy and the wealthy, who typically wore knee breeches.

• Reason (R) is also true: The choice of attire was a deliberate symbolic act to signify a rejection of the aristocratic class and its fashion, marking the end of the influence held by the wealthy, who wore knee breeches. It was a way for the sans-culottes to represent the working class and their revolutionary ideals.

Therefore, both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason explains why the sans-culottes made this choice of attire.

Topic in NCERT: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Line in NCERT: "A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long striped trousers similar to those worn by dock workers. This was to set themselves apart from the fashionable sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches. It was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches."

• Assertion (A) Correctness: The assertion is correct. Robespierre did indeed implement a policy of severe control and punishment during the Reign of Terror, targeting those he perceived as enemies of the republic.
• Reason (R) Correctness: The reason is correct. Robespierre believed that using terror was necessary to establish and consolidate democracy and to swiftly deal with the enemies of Liberty.
• Explanation: The reason provides a logical explanation for the assertion. Robespierre's belief in using terror to swiftly and severely deal with perceived enemies aligns with his actions during the Reign of Terror, where many individuals were arrested and guillotined. This aligns with his vision of curbing threats to the republic promptly.

Topic in NCERT: Source D: What is liberty? Two conflicting views:

Line in NCERT: "To establish and consolidate democracy, to achieve the peaceful rule of constitutional laws, we must first finish the war of liberty against tyranny. We must annihilate the enemies of the republic at home and abroad, or else we shall perish. In time of Revolution a democratic government may rely on terror. Terror is nothing but justice, swift, severe and inflexible; and is used to meet the most urgent needs of the fatherland. To curb the enemies of Liberty through terror is the right of the founder of the Republic."

- Assertion Correctness: The assertion is correct. Women in revolutionary France indeed demanded political rights equal to men, including the right to vote and hold political office.
- Reason Correctness: The reason is also correct. Women were disappointed by the Constitution of 1791, which reduced them to passive citizens, leading to their continued struggle for equal political rights.
- Explanation: The reason provided does logically explain why the assertion is true. The disappointment of women due to being reduced to passive citizens after expecting equal political rights justifies their continued struggle for equality.

Topic in NCERT: A Directory Rules France

Line in NCERT: "main demands was that women enjoy the same political rights as men. Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens. They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office."

The burden of financing the state's activities through taxes fell on the Third Estate alone because:

- The First Estate comprised clergy exempt from most taxes.
- The Second Estate included nobility with significant tax exemptions.
- The Fourth Estate refers to the press, not associated with historical tax burdens.
- The Third Estate, made up of commoners, bore the brunt of taxes, leading to social discontent culminating in the French Revolution.

Topic in NCERT: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone."

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen aimed to establish fundamental rights such as liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression as natural and inalienable rights, ensuring that these rights belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.

Topic in NCERT: The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen

Line in NCERT: "The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man; these are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression."

Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason during the French Revolution.

Topic in NCERT: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Line in NCERT: "Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason."

- Option A: (a) 1st estate - Nobility
Incorrect. The 1st estate comprises the Clergy, not the Nobility.
- Option B: (b) 2nd estate - Clergy
Incorrect. The 2nd estate comprises the Nobility, not the Clergy.
- Option C: (c) 3rd estate - Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, etc.
Correct. The 3rd estate includes big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, peasants, artisans, landless laborers, and servants.
- Option D: (d) 3rd estate - Nobility
Incorrect. The Nobility is part of the 2nd estate, not the 3rd estate.

Topic in NCERT: French Society in the Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates, and only members of the third estate paid taxes."

- Option A: Arthur Young - French revolutionary leader: This is incorrect. Arthur Young was an Englishman who traveled through France and wrote detailed descriptions of his observations from 1787 to 1789, but he was not a French revolutionary leader.
- Option B: Louis XVI - Called the Estates General in 1789: This is correct. Louis XVI, the King of France, called together an assembly of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 to pass proposals for new taxes, marking the beginning of significant events leading to the French Revolution.
- Option C: Mirabeau - President of the National Assembly: This is incorrect. Although Mirabeau was a prominent leader and orator of the Third Estate and played a significant role in the early stages of the French Revolution, he was not the President of the National Assembly. Jean-Sylvain Bailly was the President during the Tennis Court Oath.
- Option D: Abbé Sieyès - Leader of the peasant revolts: This is incorrect. Abbé Sieyès was a clergyman and political writer who authored the influential pamphlet "What is the Third Estate?" He was a key figure in the early stages of the French Revolution but was not the leader of the peasant revolts.
Thus, the correctly matched pair is Louis XVI - Called the Estates General in 1789.

Topic in NCERT:  French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "1789 Convocation of Estates General, Third Estate forms National Assembly, the Bastille is stormed, peasant revolts in the countryside."

Both the Assertion and Reason are true.
- The French nobility and clergy did indeed enjoy exemptions from paying taxes to the state.
- The first two estates in French society, the clergy and the nobility, were indeed entitled to certain privileges by birth, including tax exemptions.
- Therefore, the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

Topic in NCERT: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state."

A subsistence crisis signifies an extreme situation where the fundamental means of livelihood are at risk, often due to factors like food scarcity, rising prices, or weakened production, as depicted during certain periods in French history.

Topic in NCERT: The Struggle to Survive (New Words)

Line in NCERT: "Subsistence crisis - An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered"

The storming of the Tuileries Palace in August 1792 by enraged Parisians, leading to the massacre of the king's guards and the subsequent imprisonment of the royal family, triggered the declaration of war by the National Assembly against Prussia and Austria in April 1792.

Topic in NCERT: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Line in NCERT: "Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria."

A coup d'état, or simply a coup, is the sudden and illegal seizure of government power, typically by a small group of individuals, such as military leaders or politicians. During the French Revolution, various coups and uprisings were instrumental in changing the political landscape, including the notable coup that marked the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Topic in NCERT: The French Revolution

Line in NCERT: "In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned an insurrection of a large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food."

The national anthem of France, sung for the first time by volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris, is "La Marseillaise."

Topic in NCERT: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Line in NCERT: "Among the patriotic songs they sang was the Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de L'Isle. It was sung for the first time by volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris and so got its name. The Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France."

Both the Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason is the correct explanation of Assertion.
Assertion (A) states that Louis XVI had to call a meeting of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes because he did not have the power to impose taxes according to his will alone. This is accurate as the monarch could not levy taxes unilaterally; he required the approval of the Estates General, which was the political body representing the three estates of French society.
Reason (R) explains that in France of the Old Regime, the monarch alone could decide when to call a meeting of the Estates General. This is also true, as the king had the authority to summon the Estates General, which had not been convened since 1614 before Louis XVI called it in 1789 to address the financial crisis facing the kingdom.Thus, since both statements are true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion, the correct choice is option 2.

Topic in NCERT:The Outbreak of the Revolution

Line in NCERT: "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."

- Option A: Tithe - Tax paid directly to the state: This is incorrect. Tithe was a tax levied by the Church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce.
- Option B: Clergy - Group of persons invested with special functions in the Church: This is correct. The Clergy refers to the group of persons invested with special functions in the Church.
- Option C: Taille - A tax levied by the Church: This is incorrect. Taille was a direct tax to be paid to the state.
- Option D: Livre - A tax on agricultural produce: This is incorrect. Livre was a unit of currency in France, discontinued in 1794.
Correct Pair: Clergy - Group of persons invested with special functions in the Church

Topic in NCERT: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century (New Words)

Line in NCERT: "Clergy Group of persons invested with special functions in the church"

Assertion is correct: French society did face significant financial challenges in the eighteenth century due to a variety of reasons outlined in the assertion.

Reason is correct: The reasons provided in the reason statement are accurate in explaining the financial crisis faced by the French government.

Reason is the correct explanation of assertion: The reason effectively explains why the financial difficulties detailed in the assertion came about, establishing a logical connection between the two statements.

Topic in NCERT: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "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 to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres."

Under the Old Regime in France, only members of the third estate were required to pay taxes. One of the direct taxes paid to the state was called taille.

Topic in NCERT: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Line in NCERT: "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."

- Option A: (a) Robespierre - Guillotine inventor
Incorrect. The guillotine was named after Dr. Guillotin, who invented it, not Robespierre. Robespierre used the guillotine during the Reign of Terror but did not invent it.

- Option B: (b) Louis XVI - Executed on 21 January 1793
Correct. Louis XVI was indeed executed on 21 January 1793.

- Option C: (c) Pain d'égalité - White flour bread
Incorrect. Pain d'égalité translates to "equality bread" and was made of wholewheat, not white flour. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden during Robespierre's rule.

- Option D: (d) Directory - Seven member executive body
Incorrect. The Directory was indeed an executive body made up of five members that ruled France after the fall of the Jacobin government.

Topic in NCERT: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

Line in NCERT: "Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason. On 21 January 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde."

The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror, during which Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment, with many perceived enemies of the republic being arrested, tried, and executed by guillotine.

Topic in NCERT:  The Reign of Terror

Line in NCERT: "The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment."