The French Revolution Important QUESTION ANSWER

CLASS IX IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWER FOR THE CHAPTER 1THE FRENCH REVOLUTION SUBJECT HISTORY

1. The French Revolution
1. Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
Who was the ruler of France during the revolution?
Answer:
Louis XVI of the Bourbon family was the ruler of France.
Question 2.
Name the three ‘Estates’ into which the French society was divided before the Revolution.
Answer:
 The First Estate — Clergy
 The Second Estate — Nobility
 The Third Estate — Common people.
Question 3.
When did the French Revolution occur?
Answer:
14th July, 1789.
Question 4.
What was tithes?
Answer:
It was a tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce.
Question 5.
What was taille?
Answer:
It was a direct tax to be paid to the State.
Question 6.
Who formed the National Assembly in France in 1789?
Answer:
Third Estate
Question 7.
To whom was the taxes called Tithes payable by the peasants in the eighteenth century
France?
Answer:
Church.
Question 8.
Which class of society in France was behind the French Revolution?
Answer:
Middle class.
Question 9.
What was the slogan of the French revolutionaries?
Answer:
Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.

2. Question 10.
On what charges was Louis XVI of France sentenced to death?
Answer:
Treason.
Question 11.
What was feudal system?
Answer:
It was a system under which land was granted to landlords in return for military or labour
services.
Question 12.
Which philosopher had forwarded the principle of voting by the assembly as a whole, where
each member should have one vote, during the rule of louis XVI?
Answer:
Rousseau.
Question 13.
In which book did Rousseau mention the idea of one person, one vote?
Answer:
The Social Contract.
Question 14.
Give the titles of the books written by :
(a) Rousseau
(b) Charles Montesquieu
Answer:
(a) The Social Contract,
(b) The Spirit of the Laws.
Question 15.
What was the theme of the book ‘The Spirit of the Laws’ written by Montesquieu?
Answer:
Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislature, the
executive and the judiciary.
Question 16.
Which book has proposed a division of power within government?
Answer:
‘The Spirit of the Laws’.
Question 17.
Who proposed a division of power within government?
Answer:
Montesquieu.
Question 18.
Name any four French philosophers who inspired the French people to revolt.
Answer:
 Jean Jacques Rousseau
 Montesquieu
 Voltaire
 Maximilian Robespierre.

3. Question 19.
Why was Bastille hated by the French people?
Answer:
Bastille was hated because it stood for the despotic power of the king.
Question 20.
Which Battle sealed the Fate of France in 1815?
Answer:
Battle of Waterloo.
Question 21.
When did France abolish the monarchy and became republic?
Answer:
21st September, 1792.
Question 22.
Name any one class that did not belong to Jacobin Club?
Answer:
Nobles.
Question 23.
Who was the leader of the Jacobin Club?
Answer:
Maximilian Robespierre.
Question 24.
Which period of Famce’s history is known as ‘the Terror’.
Answer:
The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign cn terror.
Question 25.
Name the most popular political club started by the French women.
Answer:
Society of Revolutionary Republican women.
Question 26.
Which law was introduced by revolutionary government in France as help to improve the lives
of women? HOTS
Answer:
Schooling was made compulsory for girls.
Question 27.
Who abolished slavery in France?
Answer:
The Jacobin Clubs.
Question 28.
‘The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution in 1791’. Mention any two
features of the Constitution.
Answer:
 It vested the power to make laws in the hands of National Assembly,
 It limited the powers of the monarch. Now powers were decentralised and assigned to
different institutions.

4. Question 29.
Who wrote the ‘Two Treatises of Government’?
Answer:
John Locke.
Question 30.
What does the Red Cap worn by Sans-Culottes in France symbolize?
Answer:
Liberty.
Question 31.
Name the political body to which the three estates of the French society sent their
representatives? [HOTS ]
Answer:
The Estates General was a political body to which the three estates sent their representatives.
2. Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
“Ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French
Revolution”. Explain the statement in the light of French Revolution.
Answer:
 People of Third Estate demanded a society based on freedom and opportunities to all.
 The National Assembly was formed in 1791 with an object to limit the powers of the
monarch.
 The Constitution framed in 1791 began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizens.
 Censorship was abolished in 1789.
Question 2.
Explain the impact of the French Revolution on the life of people of French.
Answer:
 Divorce was made legal, and could be applied by both women and men. Women could be
now trained for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.
 The Constitution of 1791 began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. It
proclaimed that Freedom of speech and opinion and equality before law were natural
rights of each human being by birth. These could not be taken away.
 Newspapers, pamphlets and printed pictures appeared steadily in the towns of French.
From there, they travelled into the countryside. These publications described and
discussed the events and changes taking place in the country.
Question 3.
What compelled Louis XVI to raise taxes in France?
Answer:
 Wars and Economic Crisis : In 1774, when Louis XVI ascended the throne, he found
and empty treasure. The nation had gone into deep dept because of the fighting in the
Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the Revolutionary War in America under Louis XVI. In
this war, France helped the 13 American colonies to gain their independence from Britain.
The war added more than a billion livers to a dept that had already risen to more than 2
billion livres.
 Debt Trap: Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest
on loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its

5. budget on interest payments alone. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of
maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities the state was
forced to increase taxes.
 Extravagant Court: France under various kings had a extravagant court at the immense
palace of Versailles.
Question 4.
Describe the status of the nobles in France before the revolution.
Answer:
The clergy and the nobles led a life of luxury and enjoyed numerous privileges. On the other
hand, the peasants and workers lived a wretched life. They groaned under heavy taxes and
forced labour. The middle-class comprising of lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc also suffered
humiliation at the hands of the clergy and the nobles. This state of social inequality was the
chief cause of the French Revolution.
Question 5.
“The inequality that existed in the French Society in the Old Regime became the cause of
French Revolution”. Justify the statement by giving three suitable examples.
Answer:
The examples are :
 French Society was divided into three Estates. The First Estate comprised of clergy, the
Second Estate comprised of nobility and the Third Estate comprised of businessmen,
traders, merchants, artisans, peasants and servants.
 The members of Church and nobility enjoyed certain privileges by birth, the most
important being the exemption from paying taxes to the State.
 Feudal dues were extracted by nobles from peasants and one-tenth of the agricultural
produce of peasants, in the form of Tithes came to the share of clergy.
 All members of the Third Estate including peasants paid taxes

 Question 6.
How did philosophers influence the thinking of the people of France?
or
What was the role of philosophers and thinkers in the French Revolution? Explain by
giving three examples.
Answer:
 The philosophers and thinkers believed that,no group in a society should be privileged by
birth. They supported a society based on freedom and equal laws.
 In his Two Treatises.of government, John Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the divine
and absolute right of the monarch.
 Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on a social
contract between people and their representatives.
 In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the
government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
Question 7.
What measures were taken by Robespierre to bring equality in the French Society?
Answer:
Measures are :
 Robespierre government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.
 Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the
government.

6.  The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat the
quality bread, a loaf made of whole wheat.
 Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.
 Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.
 Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.
Question 8.
How did the peasants contribute to the outbreak of the French Revolution? Explain.
Answer:
Contribution of the peasants to the outbreak of the French Revolution :
 The peasants had to pay various taxes to the government, to the nobles and to the
Church.
 They were subjected to forced labour, they had to work free in the land of the nobles for
three days in a week.
 Crops were trampled by hunting parties of the nobles. About 81% of their income went to
the State, Nobles, Church, 19% of the income was their to live on grass and roofs and
1,000 peoples of them died due to starvation. As as whole, the Administration was
corrupt.
Question 9.
State the events that led to the formation of the National Assembly.
Answer:
 The Estates General was a political body of France to which the three estates sent their
representatives. The voting in it had been conducted according to the principle that each
estate had one vote.
 This time too when Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, he decided to
continue the same old practice.
 But the members of the Third Estate demanded that voting now be conducted on the
democratic principle of one person, one vote.
 When the king rejected this proposal, the members of the Third Estate walked out of the
assembly in protest.
 They assembled on 20 June, 1789 in the hall of an indoor tennis court in Versailles.
These representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as spokesmen for whole
French nation. They declared themselves a National Assembly.
Question 10.
Trace the event which led to the fall of Bastille.
Answer:
 On 20th June the representatives of the Third Estate assembled in the hall.
 While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution,
 After spending hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into
the shops. At the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris.
 On 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille.
Question 11.
Write three main features of the French Constitution of 1971.
Answer:
 Powers of the National Assembly: The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make
laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a
group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly.
 Right to Vote: Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of
age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were given the status of

7. active citizens, that is they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were
classed as passive citizens.
 Basic Rights: All the citizens were given some basic rights such as right to life, freedom of
speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law. It was the duty of the state to protect
each citizen’s natural rights.
Question 12.
Trace rights which we are enjoying today had origin in the French Revolution.
Answer:
The following fundamental rights, given in the Indian constitution can be traced to the French
Revolution :
 The right to equality.
 The right to freedom of speech and expression.
 The right to freedom from exploitation.
 The right to constitutional remedies.

Question 13.
What was the significance of ‘The Tennis Court Oath’ in the French Revolution?
Answer:
 The Tennis Court Oath was a significant event in the French revolution. The Oath was
taken on 20th June in the hall of an indoor court in the grounds of Versailles.
 The members declared themselves as the National Assembly and swore not to disperse
till they had drafted a Constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.
 The National Assembly drafted the new Constitution which laid the foundation of Republic
of France.
Question 14.
What was the Convention? Describe its role in France.
Answer:
The elected assembly formed in France in 1792 was called Convention.
Role in France :
 It abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.
 Hereditary monarch Louis XVI and his wife were sentenced to death Robespierre was
elected President of the National Convention. He followed the policy of severe control and
punishment. The French Revolution 19
Question 15.
Describe how abolition of slavery became possible in France.
Answer:
Abolition of slavery became possible in France by the following ways :
 The salve trade began in the 18th century. The National Assembly held long debates
about the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects including those in the
colonies.
 Convention legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions. .
 However, Napoleon reintroduced slavery. Finally slavery was abolished in 1848.
Question 16.
Discuss the impact of abolition of censorship in France.
Or
Describe the effects of abolition of law of censorship on France.
Answer:

8.  France before censorship: In the Old Regime all written material and cultural activities,
books, newspapers, plays could be published or performed only after they had been
approved by the censors of the king.
 Freedom of Speech: Now the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed
freedom of speech and expression to be a natural right. Newspapers, pamphlets, books
and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from where they travelled rapidly into the
countryside. They all described and discussed the events and changes taking place in
France.
 Debate and Discussion: Freedom of the press also meant that opposing views of events
could be expressed. Each side sought to convince the others of its position through the
medium of print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they
shaped the nature of debate. Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large
numbers of people. This was one way they could grasp and identify with ideas such as
liberty or justice.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
How was the French society organized? What privileges did certain sections of the society
enjoy? Describe.
Or
‘Social disparity was one of the major causes of the French Revolution.’ Justify by giving
examples.
Answer:
(i) Division of the society into three Estate :
 The First Estate: It consisted of the clergymen and church-fathers.
 The Second Estate: It consisted of landlords, men of noble birth and aristocrats.
 The Third Estate: It consisted of the vast majority of the common masses, the landless
peasants, servants, etc.
(ii) Heavy Burden of Taxes on the Third Estate: The members of the first two Estates were
exempted from paying taxes to the state. So all the taxes were paid by the people of the Third
Estate.
(iii) Wide Gap between People of Different Estates: Most of the people of the Third Estate were
employed as labourers in workshops with fixed wages. The wages failed to keep pace with the
rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened.
(iv) No Political Rights: Out of the total population, the first and the second Estates had share of
2%. The remaining people belonged to the Third Estate. Although the upper two classes made
up only a small fraction of the total population, yet they were the people who controlled the
political and economic system of the nation. They enjoyed all the rights and privileges. The
entire machinery of the government was designed to protect their interests and privileges.
(v) Unequal Distribution of Wealth : In the French society, peasants made up about 90% of the
population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60%
of the land was owned by nobles, the church and other richer members of the Third Estate.
Question 2.
Explain the role of thinkers and philosophers in the French Revolution.
Answer:
(i) Influence of the Philosophers and Writers: There were many French philosophers and
thinkers like John Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire and Mirabeau, who exposed the
evils prevailing in the system. They infused people with the idea of liberty, equality and
fraternity.
(ii) Charles Montesquieu (1689-1775): A nobleman by birth, he became a lawyer and a judge.
In his book, “The Spirit of Laws”, he criticised autocracy and praised the democratic republic.

9. (iii) Francis Aronet Voltaire (1694-1778): Voltaire was another outstanding philosopher of the
Revolution. He wanted the people to think about their material life on earth, and forget about
heaven. He condemned the Church which supported the privileged class, and ignored the poor.
(iv) Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): Rousseau is regarded as the architect of the French
Revolution. He gave the slogan “Man was born free, yet he is everywhere in chains”. In the
famous book, “The Social Contract”, he proved that the government was the result of a social
contract between the people on the one hand, and ruler on the other. So if the ruler did not fulfil
the contract, the people had the right to withdraw their loyalty to him, and bring down the
tyranny of the ruler, by revolting.
(v) John Locke: He was also a great political thinker. He wrote ‘Two Treatises of Government’
in which he sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and the absolute right of the monarch.
Question 3.
Explain the events that led to the insurrection of 1792 in France.
Answer:
(i) Assembly of the Estates: On 5th May, 1789 Louis XVI called together an assembly of the
Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. Voting in the Estates General in the past had
been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too, Louis
XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the Third Estate demanded
that voting now should be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would
have one vote. When the king rejected this proposal, members of the Third Estate walked out
of the assembly in protest.
(ii) National Assembly : The representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as
spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20th June, they assembled in the hall of an indoor
tennis court in 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 powers
of the monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieye’s.
(iii) Turmoil in France : While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting the
Constitution, the rest of France seethed with turmoil. Due to bad harvest, there was shortage of
food, and there was also rumour that bands of brigands were on their way to destroy the ripe
crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants started attacking nobles. Under all these
circumstances, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly.
(iv) Storming the Bastille : On the morning of 14th July, 1789 the agitated crowd stormed and
destroyed the Bastille. Under all these circumstances, Louis XVI finally according recognition to
the National Assembly.
(v) France became a Republic : In 1792 the Jacobians held the king hostage and declared to
form a new government. The newly elected Assembly was called the Convention. On 21st
September, 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France as a republic.
Question 4.
Explain the role of Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieye’s in the French Revolution. HOTS
Answer:
 Both Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieye’s were great political thinkers.
 They were the leaders of the National Assembly which was formed in 1789 after the
failure of the meeting of the Estate General.
 Mirabeau was born in a noble family but was convinced of the need to do away with a
society of feudal privilege.

10.  He brought out a journal, and delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at
Versailles.
 Abbe’ Sieye’s originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called, ‘What is the Third
Estate?’
Question 5.
Explain triangular slave trade carried on during 18th and 19th century.
Answer:
 The triangular slave trade was carried between Europe, Africa and America.
 The slave trade began in the seventeenth century. French merchants sailed from the
ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to the African coast, where they bought slaves from local
chieftains.
 Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long
voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. There they were sold to plantation owners.
 The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in
European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.
 Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing
slave trade.
Question 6.
Evaluate the importance of the following years in concern with French Revolution, 1774, 1789,
1791, 1804 and 1815.
Answer:
The importance of the following years in concern with French Revolutions :
(i) 1774: Louis XVI ascended the throne of France. He believed in the Divine Right Theory of
Kings.
He had no respect for the freedom of liberty. Because of his empty treasure he began to
impose heavy taxes which were disliked by his own people.
(ii) 1789: French Revolution began in 1789. It started with the convocation of the Estates
General in May. The first year of revolution proclaimed the Tennis Court oath, assault on the
declaration of rights of man an citizen. Estates General was called together by Louis XVI to
pass proposals for new taxes.
(iii) 1791: The constitution of 1791 also established a short lived constitutional monarchy. The
Third Estate which assumed the name of the National Assembly framed a new constitution for
France in 1791. The Assembly nationalized church lands to pay off the public debt. It also
abolished the rights of privileged classes. Declaration of the rights of man and citizen was also
a feature of this year.
(iv) 1804: Napoleon became the emperor of France. He set out to conquer neighbouring
Europeon countries. He conquered Europe and saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.
(v) 1815: The French Revolution appeared nullified by 1815. The land owning classes and the
bourgeois emerged as the dominant power. Napoleon was defeated in the battle of Waterloo.
Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modem laws to other
parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Naopleon had left.
Question 7.
Explain the circumstances under which Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National
Assembly.

11. (i) Assembly of the Estates: On 5th May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the
Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes. Voting in the Estates General in the past had
been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too, Louis
XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the Third Estate demanded
that voting now should be conducted by the assembly as whole, where each member would
have one vote, When the king rejected this proposal, members of the Third Estate walked out
of the assembly in protest.
(ii) National Assembly: The representatives of the Third Estate viewed themselves as
spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20th June, they assembled in the hall of an indoor
tennis court in 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 powers
of the monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbe’ Sieye’s.
(iii) Turmoil in France: While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting the
Constitution, the rest of France seethed with, turmoil. Due to bad harvest, there was shortage of
food, and there was also rumour that bands of brigands were on their way to destroy the ripe
crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants started attacking nobles. Under all these
circumstances, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly.
(iv) Storming the Bastille: On the morning of 14th July, 1789, the agitated crowd stormed and
destroyed the Bastille. Under all these circumstances, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to
the National Assembly.
(v) France became a Republic: In 1792 the Jacobians held the king hostage and declared to
form a new government. The newly elected Assembly was called the Convention. On 21st
September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France as a republic.
Question 8.
Explain how the new political system of Constitutional monarchy (1791) in France worked.
Or
Explain any five features of the Constitution drafted in 1791.
Answer:
 The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which
was indirectly elected.
 With the new Constitution the powers of govern the country were assigned to different
institutions, i.e., the legislature, executive and the judiciary.
 The judiciary and the legislature were elected by the people. Only men above 25 years of
age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were given the status of
active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote.
 Under this system the powers of the monarch were limited. Most of the powers were in
the hands of legislatures.
 The ministers were also answerable to the legislature. The king enjoyed the veto power.
Question 9.
What was the role of Jacobins during the French Revolution?
Or
Explain the role of Jacobins in the French Revolution.
Answer:
(i) Middle Class: The members of the Jacobins club belonged mainly to the less prosperous
sections of society. They included small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry
cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and daily-wage workers. Their leader was
Maximilian Robespierre.

12. (ii) Different Clothes: 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 knees breeches. It was a way of
proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches. These Jacobins
came to be known as the sansculottes, literally meaning — those without knee breeches.
Sansculottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty.
(iii) Carrying the Revolution: They were the people who believed that the revolution had to be
carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of
society.
(iv) Storming the King’s Palace: 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.
On the morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s
guards and held the king himself as hostage for several hours. Later the Assembly voted to
imprison the royal family.
(v) France became a Republic: Elections were held. From now 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 the monarchy and declared France a republic.
Question 10.
How was slavery abolished in France?
Answer:
 One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of
slavery in the French colonies.
 Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism of slavery in France. The
National Assembly held long debates about whether the rights of man should be extended
to all French subjects including those in the colonies. But it did not pass any laws, fearing
opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.
 It was finally the Convention which in 1794 legislated to free all slaves in the French
overseas possessions.
 This, however, turned out to be a shorterm measure : ten years later, Napoleon
reintroduced slavery.
 Plantation owners understood their freedom as including the right to enslave African
Negroes in pursuit of their economic interests. Slavery was finally abolished in French
colonies in 1848.
Question 11.
Describe the conditions of women during the period of French Revolution.
Answer:
Conditions of women during the period of French Revolution are :
 From the very beginning women were active participants in the events which brought
sfbout major changes in the French Society.
 Most women of the Third Estate had to work for a living as seamstresses or laundresses.
They even sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the market.
 They were employed as domestic servants in the house of prosperous people.
 They started their own political clubs and newspapers in order to voice their interests.
 They demanded the right to vote to be elected to the Assembly and hold political office.
 They did not have access to education or job training. Only daughter wealthier members
of the Third Estate could stay at convent.
 Working women had also to take care of their families. Their wages were lower than those
of men.

13. Question 12.
Who was Robespierre? Describe any four steps taken by him to bring equality.
Answer:
Maximilian Robespierre was the leader of Jacobin Club.
 The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed
a policy of severe control and punishment.
 All those whom he saw as being ‘enemies’ of the republic-ex-nobles and clergy, members
of other political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his
methods were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a revolutionary tribunal. If the court
found them ‘guilty1 they were guillotined.
 Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.
Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities
and sell it at prices fixed by the government.
 Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.
Question 13.
Explain any five features of the Constitution of 1791 framed by the National Assembly in
France.
Or
Highlight any five features of the constitution of 1791 in France.
Answer:
Features of the Constitution of 1791 :
 It declared France a constitutional monarchy.
 Powers of the king separated and assigned to the executive, the legislature and the
judiciary.
 Laws to be made by the National Assembly.
 Only men above 25 years of age, who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s
wage, were entitled to vote.
 Many rights were given to the people.
 To qualify as an elector and as member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to highest
bracket of taxpayers.
Question 14.
Compare the political, economic and social conditions of France before and after the revolution.
Answer:
Before Revolution After Revolution
Political Conditions :
(i)
France was under the rule of a monarch, Louis
XVI.
France became a Republic.

14. (ii)
All the political powers were in the hands of
the first two Estates.
Political powers were given to the Third Estate.
Economic Conditions :
(i)
All the taxes were paid by the people .of the
Third Estates.
Taxes were levied according the to income and
wealth. The right to votewas linked to taxes.

(ii) The government was under heavy debt. The economic condition of government improved.

Social Conditions :
(i) People of Third Estate were discriminated. All were given equal rights irrespective of the Estate.
(ii)
All the written materials and cultural activities
could be published or performed only after an
approval from the king.
The censorship on written materials and cultural activities
was lifted. Now all were free to write and speak.