WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 1 Some Aspects Of The French Revolution SAQs

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 1 Some Aspects Of The French Revolution Short Answer Questions

Question 1. Why was France called the “Museum of Economic Errors”?
Answer:

France called the “Museum of Economic Errors” because

• British economist Adam Smith described France as the “museum of economic errors” due to many factors
• the extravagant lifestyles of the French monarchs, their corrupt officials, incompetent administration, huge borrowings, and drain of wealth as a result of wars carried out.
• The common gentry was greatly affected by the increased taxation and high rate of inflation.
• The peculiar system of taxation compelled the people of the Third Estates to pay 96% of the government tax while the majority of the land-owning class of France. belonging to the First and Second Estate paid only 4%.

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Some Aspects Of The French Revolution SAQs For WBBSE Political Prison

Question 2. Why was France called a ” Political Prison” before the Revolution?
Answer:

France called a “Political Prison” before the Revolution because

France was called the ” Political Prison “before the revolution by the eminent Historian Georges Lefebvre. The French monarchs of the 17th and 18th centuries became extremely autocratic and entertained no criticism.

People were subject to arbitrary arrest in case of criticized the government or opposing some of the nobles. During the time of Louis XV (around 1,50,000) and Louis XVI (around 14000) royal writs called Lettre de Cachet or sealed letters were issued for arresting any person who was considered a suspect and imprisoned at the fort of Bastille.

Question 3. What is meant by Ancien Regime?
Answer:

Ancien Regime

The word Ancien Regime meant old or primitive rule and it referred to the period before the Revolution of 1789 in France. It described the socio-political structure that was prevalent in France during the 15th century. The period marked the rule of autocratic monarchs accompanied by feudalism and the corruption and tyranny of the clergies and the aristocrats.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 4. What was the nature of the French monarchy before the outbreak of the Revolution?
Answer:

The nature of the French monarchy before the outbreak of the Revolution

The French Monarchs who were devout followers of the Divine Right Theory of Kingship believed that they were ordained with divine powers and represented God on Earth. These monarchs were willful, despotic, and arrogant. The kings ignored the state generals completely and executed the administration without paying any heed to the sufferings of the common people.

Question 5. What was “Lettre de Cachet”?
Answer:

“Lettre de Cachet”

17th and 18th Century France witnessed the rise of French monarchs who were averse to any criticisms or opposition and issued royal warrants of arrests known as “Lettre de Cachet” against any citizen. These letters were signed by the monarchs of France countersigned by one of his ministers and closed with the royal seal. These orders containing arbitrary judgments used to leave no space for further appeal.

Question 6. How was the structure of French society before the Revolution of 1789?
Answer:

Before the Revolution of 1789, French society was divided into three classes or estates.

1. The First Estate comprised the clergy.
2. The Second Estate comprised of the landed people or aristocracy.
3. The Third Estate comprised the bourgeoisie or the common people who were deprived of the special rights and privileges enjoyed by the people of the First and the Second Estates.

Important SAQs From Chapter 1 French Revolution WBBSE John Locke

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 7. Who was John Locke?
Answer:

John Locke was regarded as the “Father of Liberalism” was an English philosopher. His writings had a great influence on Voltaire and Rousseau as well as on the American revolutionaries. In his “Two Treatises of Government,” he opined against the Divine Right Theory of Kingship.

Question 8. Who was Montesquieu ?
Answer:

Montesquieu

Montesquieu was a great French philosopher born on 18th January and died on 10th February 1755. His famous book, The Spirit of the Laws, which stated the separation of power between the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary was a major contribution to the political theory that became the cornerstone of administration in all the Democracies of the world. The French monarchy, the aristocracy, and the social order were criticized by him in his book, The Persian Letters.

WBBSE History Chapter 1 Short Questions And Answers Rousseau

Question 9. Who was Rousseau?
Answer:

Jean Jacques Rousseau born on 28th June 1712 and died on 2nd July 1778, was a Swiss philosopher whose political theories influenced the leaders of the French Revolution and the Romantic generation to a large extent.

He wrote in his famous book, The Contract Sociale or Social Contract to abolish absolute monarchs and appoint the head of the state based on election and government to be formed based on a social contract between the people and their chosen representatives. He is regarded as the “Father of the French Revolution” and some of his other works include, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, General Will, etc.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 10. Who was Voltaire?
Answer:

Voltaire

Francois Marie Arouet known as Voltaire was a famous French philosopher and historian who criticized the Christian Catholic Church and advocated for the freedom of religion and speech. He believed in administrative excellence public welfare and politics to be based on the rule of law. Candide and Philosophical Dictionary were two of his famous books that influenced people to follow the way toward a revolution.

Question 11. Who was Diderot?
Answer:

Diderot

Denis Diderot born in 1713 and died in 1780 was a French philosopher who along with D’Alembert compiled a 35-volume Encyclopedia. In the Encyclopaedia, he wrote on social philosophical literary, and other issues which inspired the French people and made them turn against the old social system of France and rise against the people of the First and the Second Estates. According to him, human beings are the most superior creatures of the animal kingdom who can control their environment.

WBBSE Class 9 French Revolution SAQs For Quick Revision Turgot

Question 12. Who was Turgot?
Answer:

To eradicate the financial crisis of France, Louis XVI appointed Turgot as the Finance Minister in 1774. To improve the economic strength of the country he curved out a detailed program and proposed to bring the clergies and the nobles under the purview of taxation, to control trade and commerce on food items, etc. Turgot’s proposals were not liked by Queen Marie Antoinette and the nobles who opposed him and removed him from office in 1776.

Question 13. Who was Necker?
Answer:

Neck

To solve the economic crisis of France, Louis XVI appointed Necker as the second Finance Minister after Turgot in 1776. During this time France’s participation in the American War of Independence further exhausted the French treasury to such an extent that Necker was compelled to put forward his idea of equal taxation for all classes of people in the society. This infuriated Queen Marie Antoinette who addressed him as a “Miser” and forced King Louis XVI to terminate him in 1781.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 14. Who was Calonne?
Answer:

Neck

Calonne was made the Finance Minister of France in 1783 by King Louis XVI. He took huge loans to manage the deficit finance but soon realized its shortcomings and called for a meeting of the Assembly of Notables which was accepted by the king.

In 1786 he also proposed certain policies like –

1. To impose a land tax on all classes of people
2. Imposition of salt tax or Gabelle
3. Free trade
4. Abolition of Corvee and
5. Stamp duties on government papers.

Question 15. Who was Brienne?
Answer:

Brienne

Brienne who became the Finance Minister of France in 1787 put forward his proposals of taxation at the “Paris Parlement” which was greatly resented by the aristocrats. He also failed to solve the economic problems of France and faced great opposition from the people belonging to the First and the Second Estates.

Question 16. What was the French Parlement?
Answer:

French Parlement

The French parliament was an institution that was entrusted with the task of keeping the royal power under control. The Parlement was the body where the people belonging to the First and Second Estates could put forward their appeals. Before the Revolution of 1789, there were around 13 such Parlement at Paris Toulouse, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Reims, etc.

Question 17. Who were the “Intendants”?
Answer:

Intendants

The “Intendants” were the officials of the administration who worked as the agents of the king in each of the provinces in France and were used to achieve administrative unification and centralization. Their great power made them extremely unpopular and their oppression and economic torture on the people of France was immense. However the powers of the “Intendants” were suppressed in 1789.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 18. What were the different types of taxes that were imposed in France before the Revolution of 1789?
Answer:

The different types of taxes that were imposed in France before the Revolution of 1789

The taxes that were imposed on the people of France before the Revolution of 1789 were – Taille or wealth tax, Capitation or tax on production, Vingtiemes or tax from land, Gabelle or salt tax, Tithes or tax on religion, Aides or tax on wine and Corvee or forced labor.

The French Government divided the taxation system into two categories namely-

1. Direct tax
   • Example: Capitation
2. Indirect tax
   • Example: Gabelle.

Question 19. Who was known as the privileged class in France before the Revolution of 1789?
Answer:

Pre-revolutionary France was comprised of three estates apart from the king at the helm. (First Estate, Second Estate, Third Estate) The people belonging to the First and the Second Estates comprising of the Clergies and the Aristocrats were regarded as the privileged classes who enjoyed exemption from taxes and enjoyed all the benefits of the state by way of their position or birth without having any obligations towards the State. It was the Aristocrats, the members of the Second Estate who first rebelled in France when their privilege of exemption of tax was threatened.

Question 20. What was the “States-General”?
Answer:

States-General

The political and legislative organization to which the three estates of the French society namely the First Estate, Second Estate, and Third Estate sent their representatives was known as the “States General”. Each Estate voted collectively and not individually. The king of France during the Ancien Regime had no power to impose taxes. To impose or pass any order related to the taxes the king of France had to summon a meeting of the “States General”.

Question 21. What was known as the ” Assembly of Notables”?
Answer:

Assembly of Notables

The king of France appointed an assembly of priests, nobles, and magistrates to form a body known as the “Assembly of Notables”. In this Assembly, there was no place for the common people for the members chosen for this Assembly were chosen or appointed by the king himself.

Question 22. What do you understand by the term, First Estate?
Answer:

First Estate

Before the Revolution of France in 1789, French society was divided into three estates beside the king who was at the helm of power. In French society, the clergy which was again divided into two groups namely upper clergy (Abbot, Bishops, etc) and lower clergy (Priest, Vicars) comprised the First Estate and they formed only 1% of the population of France.

They were the privileged members of the society, who owned a large amount of land and wealth, stood above all laws of the state, and were exempted from paying taxes, except for the one they paid voluntarily through the “Contract of Poissey”.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 23. What do you understand by the term, Second Estates?
Answer:

Second Estates

Before the Revolution of 1789, French society was divided into three estates with the king at the helm of power. The Aristocracy comprising of the nobles or landed class forming 1.5% of the total population of France belonged to the Second Estates. They performed no duties towards the state, were exempted from paying taxes, occupied high posts in the government, judicial, and legislative offices, and were considered the privileged class in French society.

Question 24. What do you understand by the term Third Estates?
Answer:

Third Estates

Before the Revolution of 1789, French society was divided into three estates with the king at the helm of power. In France, 97% of the population except those belonging to the First and Second Estates, the middle-class people, the peasants, the workers, and the Sans-culottes belonged to the Third Estates. People belonging to this class were educated, nurtured progressive thoughts and ideologies, and bore the entire burden of taxation but were barred from any privileges and political rights due to a lack of aristocratic connection.

Question 25. What do you understand by the term, Bourgeoisie?
Answer:

Bourgeoisie

The French word Bourgeoisie refers to the prosperous middle-class people of France belonging to the Third Estates residing in towns and earning their livelihood through intellectual skills.

The bourgeoisie class comprised teachers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, etc and they had a common past that their forefathers had earned a fortune through commercial activities. In the pre-revolutionary period, the bourgeoisie and the nobility had no fundamental hostility between them.

Question 26. Who was Marie Antoinette?
Answer:

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette was the Queen of Louis XVI the Bourbon monarch. She was the sister of Leopold II the Austrian emperor and indulged in a life of great extravagance. She exercised great influence on her husband Louis XVI. (Marie Antoinette had two brothers Leopold II and Joseph II, and Leopold was the Austrian Emperor)

WBBSE Class 9 History Chapter 1 SAQs French Revolution Sans-Culottes

Question 27. Who were the “Sans-culottes”?
Answer:

The French word “Sans-culottes’ refers to those people belonging to the Third Estates who were deprived of wealth and depended on daily labor for their livelihood. Unlike the aristocrats who wore knee breeches, they used to wear long trousers and red caps that symbolized liberty. It was the Sans-culottes who began the Food Riots and entered the Royal Palace of Tuileries in 1792.

Question 28. Name a few philosophers who influenced the French Revolution.
Answer:

The French Revolution took place in July 1789. Many eminent philosophers prepared the ground for this revolution. Mention must be made of the philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Diderot who influenced the people of France to a great extent.

Question 29. Who were the serfs?
Answer:

serfs

Before the revolution of France in 1789, eighty percent of her population consisted of peasants. The serfs who formed only 5% of the total belonged to the lowest strata of the French feudal society and lived completely at the mercy of their landlord. They had no rights on the land served the lord’s family for generations and were even denied the right to leave the land without the lord’s permission.

Question 30. What was the Tennis Court Oath?
Answer:

Tennis Court Oath

On 20th June 1789, the members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath under the leadership of Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes. Louis XVI closed the meeting room for the members of the Third Estate and posted soldiers at the entrance for they demanded that the votes be counted individually and the States General be considered as the National Assembly of France.

This created a furor and they gathered at the nearby Tennis Court and took an oath never to be separated until a written constitution had been drafted and established in France and ultimately the king had to agree to the term of one vote for one individual.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 31. What do you mean by “Cahiers”?
Answer:

Cahiers

The word “Cahiers” refers to the grievances or complaints that were enlisted by each of the three Estates in France at the time of the revolutionary situation in 1789. All the members who gathered at the Royal Palace of Versailles on 5th May 1789 brought memorandums stating their respective demands. It was the Bourgeoisie intellectuals who took the leading role in noting down the grievances and complaints.

WBBSE History Chapter 1 French Revolution Solved Questions Bastille

Question 32. What was Bastille? When was it attacked?
Answer:

The fortress prison in the city of Paris in France was known as the Fort of Bastille and it was originally built to save Paris from any invasion. A group of angry people of France both men and women belonging to the Third Estates attacked the Fort of Bastille on 14th July 1789.

Question 33. What was the role of the Paris National Guard?
Answer:

The role of the Paris National Guard

The National Guard that was meant to protect Paris was first formed by the Mayor named Bailly. However the Paris National Guard, a militia was formed after the fall of Bastille by Lafayette. It was separate from the French army, brought about significant changes in the municipal administration, and worked for the middle-class people acting as a military and police force.

Question 34. Why did the fall of Bastille take place?
Answer:

The fortress prison of Bastille in the city of Paris in France became a symbol of the autocratic rule of the Bourbon monarchs, especially Louis XVI. When Necker, the Finance Minister was removed from office by Louis XVI, people belonging to the Third Estate got agitated and aggressive and attacked the fortress, carried away the arms, killed the prison guard De Launay, and set the prisoners free. King Louis XVI’s dissolving of the States General and ordering of the troops to move to Paris also provided the cause for the mob to storm into the Fort of Bastille on 14th July 1789.

Question 35. What do you understand by the term, Aristocratic Revolt?
Answer:

Aristocratic Revolt

Aristocratic Revolt which is regarded as the precursor to the revolution of France in 1789 was a reaction of the French nobility to the reform measures suggested by the Finance Ministers of France namely Calonne and Brienne. The economic bankruptcy of the French government prompted the Finance Ministers of Louis XVI to propose such reforms which might have hampered the privileges enjoyed by the Aristocrats so long.

Louis’s attempt to reform was not approved by the sovereign Parlament of Paris. The king suspended Parlement- the act which infuriated the nobles. To retain their privileges the Aristocrats entered into a conflict with the royal army on 7th July 1788 thus marking the initiation of the French Revolution of 1789.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 36. What was the significance of the fall of Bastille?
Answer:

The significance of the fall of Bastille

The fortress prison in the city of Paris, the capital of France, called Bastille was attacked and destroyed by the agitated mob belonging to the Third Estates on 14th July 1789.

The fall of Bastille marked the end of despotic monarchial rule, the impact of the event horrified the nobles, clergies, and the king as well, the king had to remove the army from Paris, and Finance Minister Necker was reappointed. The “Paris Commune “was formed, the king and the nobles started escaping to England, and the spirit of revolution spread among the villagers.

Girondins WBBSE Class 9 History French Revolution SAQs With Answers

Question 37. Who were the Girondins?
Answer:

The Girondins were a loose group of republican politicians, some of them belonging to the department of Gironde and played an important role in the Legislative Assembly in 1791-92. The Girondins were greatly influenced by the philosophers and economists of the time influenced public opinion and attracted the attention of businessmen, merchants, industrialists, and financiers.

The Girondins were also called Brissotins in honor of their famous spokesman and leader Jacques-Pierre Brissot and it was because of the moderate outlook of the Girondins they were disliked by the Jacobin leader Robespierre on 2nd June 1793 that the Jacobins crushed them completely at the National Assembly.

Question 38. Who were the Jacobins?
Answer:

Jacobins

The Jacobins were the members of a radical political group formed during the time of the French Revolution who planned to bring an end to kingship and give rise to the French Republic. The members of the Jacobins consisted of the bourgeoisie and the sans-culottes and their leader Robespierre unleashed a period of violence in France known as the “Reign of Terror”. On 2nd June 1793, the Jacobins completely crushed their rivals the Girondins at the National Assembly and established their sole authority.

Question 39. Who was Robespierre?
Answer:

Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre born on 6th May 1758 and Guillotined on 28th July 1794 was a French lawyer and leader of a radical political group of France called the Jacobins. He unleashed a period of violence called the ” Reign of Terror” and dominated the Committee of Public Safety in the latter months of 1793. when innumerable persons were guillotined upon the suspect. In 1794 he was overthrown and guillotined in the Thermidorian Reaction.

Question 40. Why was the “Reign of Terror” ushered?
Answer:

The execution of Louis XVI gave rise to protests by the supporters of monarchical power and France also had to face the challenge of the foreign powers like Britain, Austria, Holland, and Prussia who waged a war against the republican government of France. To protect the country from both internal and external threats the National Convention unleashed a period of ruthlessness and terror to suppress any kind of opposition. This period from September 1793 to July 1794 under the leadership of the Jacobin leader Robespierre was known as the “Reign of Terror”.

Question 41. What was the Committee of Public Safety?
Answer:

The “Reign of Terror” was made effective by using three instruments namely

• The Law of Suspects
• The Revolutionary Tribunal and
• The Committee of Public Safety.

This Committee maintained the task of appointing ministers and high-ranking officers of the armed forces. It functioned smoothly in coordination with the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Committee of General Security.

Question 42. Who were the Physiocrats?
Answer:

Physiocrats

The term, Physiocrats refers to the Economists in France who believed in the Laissez-Faire theory as propounded by Adam Smith in his, Wealth of Nations. Francois Quesnay and Turgot formed the Physiocratic School in France and opined against the control of the country’s economy and commerce by a single group in the society. They also propagated the concept of taking into account the views of the people upon whom taxes were imposed.

Law Of Suspects WBBSE Class 9 French Revolution SAQs For Quick Revision

Question 43. What was the Law of Suspects?
Answer:

Law of Suspects was one of the instruments through which the Reign of Terror was made effective by the Jacobins after they assumed total control over the National Assembly.

The Law of Suspects gave power to the local revolutionary committees to arrest those whose conduct, relations, or language written or spoken, displayed partisans of tyranny or enmity to liberalism. In the years 1793-94 around 200,000 citizens were detained under this law.

Question 44. Which incident is known as the “Second French Revolution”?
Answer:

The Jacobins attacked the Palace of Tuileries on 10th August 1792 and held the king hostage for long hours. They also voted to dethrone the king which resulted in turning France into a Republic. Scholars refer to this incident as the “Second French Revolution”.

Question 45. What is the Civil Constitution of Clergy?
Answer:

Civil Constitution of Clergy

On July 12th, 1790 a Civil Constitution of Clergy was framed in France on a national basis to reorganize the Roman Catholic Church and curb the authority of the Pope. By this Constitution, it was decided to confiscate the church properties, elect bishops and priests by the people, and entrust the states to pay their salaries and supervise their duties. This action naturally turned the devout followers of the Catholic faith against the Revolution.

Question 46. What does the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” state?
Answer:

The “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” state

Following the writings of Rousseau in his famous book, “The Social Contract”, on August 1789 the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” was issued. The declaration spoke in favor of freedom and equality of man in the eyes of the law and emphasized the concepts of natural rights to liberty, property, security, and protection. It also stated that the aspirations of the common man must be reflected in the laws that would be formulated by the state.

Question 47. What was the “Thermidorian Reaction”?
Answer:

Thermidorian Reaction

The Parliamentary revolt that took place on 27th July 1794 in France resulted in the fall of Robespierre who was executed on the following day ie, 28th of July, and the subsequent end of the Reign of Terror took place. The reaction that occurred after the death of Robespierre is known as the “Thermidorian Reaction”. The Paris Commune was dissolved, the terrorists were killed, prisoners who were not found guilty were released and the National Guards were reorganized.

Question 48. How was Tipu Sultan related to the Jacobins?
Answer:

Tipu Sultan the ruler of Mysore was a close associate of the Jacobin Club of France and was its founder member in India. In 1797 when the French soldiers wanted to establish the Jacobin club at Seringapatam he supported them wholeheartedly. Further, he also made arrangements and ordered a salute of 2300 canons and 500 rockets to mark the occasion.

Question 49. What was the guillotine? Who was the inventor of the guillotine?
Answer:

Guillotine

A guillotine was a machine used in France for cutting people’s heads off. A French physician Dr Guillotin invented this machine. The machine was named after its inventor.

WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Question 50. Who created the White Terror?
Answer:

The Jacobin regime in France lasted from 1793 to 1794 and the Reign of Terror ended with the execution of Robespierre. This was followed by the White Terror or Thermidorian rule from 1794 to 1795. A general revolution against the Thermidorian rule took place and between May to October 1795, the National Assembly was attacked.

Question 51. What is known as the rule of the Directory?
Answer:

The rule of the Directory

The period between 1795 to 1799 witnessed a new government the “Rule of Directory” in France. A body of five Directors was entrusted with power and authority to execute the proper functioning of the state of France. The Directors were Baras, La Ravelliere, Letourner, Raubel and Carnot.