THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

BY-IX E
 WHAT IS REVOLUTION ? WHY DOES
REVOLUTION OCCUR ?
• An action taken by a large group of people who want to try to change the
government of a country , especially by violent action .

• Revolutions happen when two or more groups cannot come to terms within a
normal decision making process traditionally adopted by a given political
system, and simultaneously have enough resources to employ force in pursuing
their goals.
 WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF FRENCH
REVOLUTION ?
• The despotic rule of Louis XVI .
• Division of French society into 3 classes/estates i.e. Clergy , Nobility and 3 rd
estate which included businessmen , merchants , manufacturers peasants ,
labourers etc.
• Rising prices of goods and food .
• Inspiration from the philosophers .
• Role of the middle class etc.
ARE IDEALS OF FRENCH
REVOLUTION
RELEVANT EVEN TODAY
?
 WHAT ARE THE IDEALS OF FRENCH
REVOLUTION ??

EQUALITY
LIBERTY
FRATERNITY
Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive
restrictions imposed by authority on behaviour,or political views.
Equality for French revolutionaries meant specially social and
economic equality after decades of experiencing oppression and
marginalization by the upper strata of the society.
FRATERNITY means the s after the experivense or spirit of
brotherhood that promotes unity and integrity in the nation and binds
its people together.
The Role of Major
Political
Philosophers
 A PROLONGED STRUGGLE

• A sharp increase in the taxes initiated by the king to meet the expenses such as
maintaining the army and court created complications among the people of
different estates, especially among the third estate.
• The society was divided into three estates namely the clergy, nobility and the
common people. The clergy and nobles were exempted from paying taxes. The
nobles, instead extracted feudal dues from the common people such as peasants.
• The population explosion between the years 1715 and 1789, led to an increased
demand for foodgrains. Since the wages couldn’t keep pace with the high grain
price, the gulf of inequality widened. This catastrophe brought about
subsistence crisis.
EMERGENCE OF MIDDLE CLASSES

Hitherto, the peasants and workers participated in revolts

against the discriminatory system of monarchy. However,
they lacked programmes to reform the social and
economic order of the society.
• The middle classes emerged in the eighteenth century,
earning their wealth through overseas trades. These
included educated professionals who believed in a
democratic form of government.
 Political Philosophers

These ideas of equality, freedom and democracy were proposed

by the political philosophers:
John Locke – In his ‘Two Treatises of Government’
contradicted the doctrine of divine and absolute right of the
monarch.

• Jean Jacques Rousseau - He proposed a form of

Government in his book ‘The Social Contract’ ,which
was based on a social contract between people and his
representatives.
• Montesquieu - In ‘The Spirit of Laws’, he suggests a
distinct form of Government where the power was
distributed among the Legislative, Executive and the
Judiciary
 THE SPREAD OF PHILOSOPHERS’ IDEAS

• The political philosophers’ idea of

federalism, fraternity, equality, and freedom
influenced and shaped the minds of people.
• These ideas were frequently proposed in
public speeches, newspapers and books.
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
 THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION
Women have struggled for equality since a thousand of years now,and although some
battles have been won such as- the right to vote and equal access to education, women are
still affected by all forms of violence and discrimination.
From the very beginning women were degraded and suppressed by the men and the
society. It took courageous women to stand up for their rights.
 There were three estates,the women of the first two estates were educated but could’nt
work,whereas the women of the third estate had to work for a living even though they werent that
educated. Women also had to care for their families , that is cook , fetch water along with working,
line up for bread and look after their children.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Today, Wollstonecraft is
regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her
works as important influences.Wollstonecraft is best known for A "Vindication of the Rights of
Woman" (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be
only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as equal
In order to make the people hear the voice of women they started their own political clubs and
newspapers.About 60 women's clubs came up and in different French cities. 'THE SOCIETY OF
REVOLUTIONARY' and 'REPUBLICAN WOMEN' was the most famous of them.Women's
struggle for equal political rights countinued .
During the 'Reign Of Terror', the new government issued laws ordering the clossure
of their clubs. Many women women arrested and a number of them were executed.
 The fight for the women carried out through an international rage movement during the late in nineteenth
century and early twentieth century. The example of the political activities of French women during the
revolutionary years was kept alive as an inspiring memory.
It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.