Class 9 – Rapid Revision: The French Revolution

These flashcards cover the essential events, concepts, key figures, social changes, and global impact discussed in the Class 9 lecture on the French Revolution.

In what year did Louis XVI become king of France?

1774

Name two major wars that drained the French treasury before the Revolution.

The Seven Years’ War (with Britain) and France’s support for the American War of Independence.

Which two privileged estates paid almost no direct taxes under the Ancien Régime?

The First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility).

What direct tax, paid mainly by the Third Estate, was levied on their produce or income?

The taille.

What was the tithe (dîme) in pre-revolutionary France?

A tax of about one-tenth of agricultural produce paid to the Church.

Define a ‘subsistence crisis.’

A situation in which the basic means of survival (food, work, income) become scarce, causing hunger and unrest.

Which social group, enriched by trade and early industrialisation, began to question feudal privileges?

The educated, wealthier middle class of the Third Estate (bourgeoisie).

Which Enlightenment thinker argued against the divine right of kings in ‘Two Treatises of Government’?

John Locke.

Who proposed the social contract theory that sovereignty rests with the people?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Whose book ‘The Spirit of Laws’ advocated separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judiciary branches?

Montesquieu.

What meeting of all three estates did Louis XVI convene in May 1789 to approve new taxes?

The Estates-General.

Why did the Third Estate walk out of the Estates-General and gather at a tennis court?

Because they were given only one vote per estate and demanded voting by head; they took the Tennis Court Oath to draft a constitution.

Which event on 14 July 1789 symbolised the start of the French Revolution?

The storming of the Bastille fortress-prison.

What form of government was established by the Constitution of 1791?

A constitutional monarchy with separated powers.

Who were classified as ‘active citizens’ in the 1791 Constitution?

Men over 25 who paid a minimum amount of taxes; they alone had voting rights.

Which document prefaced the 1791 Constitution, proclaiming natural rights but excluding women?

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Name the most influential radical political club during the Revolution.

The Jacobin Club.

Who led the Jacobins and the Reign of Terror (1793-1794)?

Maximilien Robespierre.

What term describes the harsh period (1793-94) of mass executions and price controls under Robespierre?

The Reign of Terror.

Which French king was tried for treason and executed in January 1793?

Louis XVI.

After Robespierre’s fall, what five-member executive replaced him in 1795?

The Directory.

Who seized power in 1799, ending the Directory era?

Napoleon Bonaparte.

List two reforms introduced by Napoleon’s Civil (Napoleonic) Code.

Uniform laws guaranteeing equality before the law and a standardized system of weights & measures (metric/decimal).

At which 1815 battle was Napoleon finally defeated?

The Battle of Waterloo.

What triangular trade linked Europe, Africa, and America during the 18th-century slave system?

The Atlantic Triangular Slave Trade (manufactured goods to Africa, enslaved Africans to American plantations, raw produce to Europe).

In what year did revolutionary France first abolish slavery, and who reinstated it?

Abolished in 1794 by the Convention; reinstated by Napoleon in 1802.

When was slavery permanently abolished in French territories?

1848.

Name two rights French women gained briefly during the radical phase (1793-94).

The right to education and to obtain divorce of their own accord.

In which year did French women finally secure the right to vote?

1946.

What wider impact did the French Revolution have on global political thought?

It spread ideas of liberty, equality, and democratic rights worldwide, inspiring figures such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Tipu Sultan in India.