History Class IX PDF

Foreword The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, recommends that children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, home and communi...

Foreword The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, recommends that children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, home and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantly further in the direction of a child-centred system of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986). The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals and teachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own learning and to pursue imaginative activities and questions. We must recognize that, given space, time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are ignored. Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we perceive and treat children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge. These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour in implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of teaching days are actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching and evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making children’s life at school a happy experience, rather than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to address the problem of curricular burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different stages with greater consideration for child psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance this endeavor by giving higher priority and space to opportunities for contemplation and wondering, discussion in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience. NCERT appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committee responsible for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of the Advisory Group on Social Science, Professor Hari Vasudevan and the Chief Advisor for this book, Professor Neeladri Bhattacharya for guiding the work of this committee. Several teachers contributed to the development  of this textbook; we are grateful to their principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and organisations, which have generously permitted us to draw upon their resources, material and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development under the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G. P. Deshpande, for their valuable time and contribution. As an organisation committed to systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which will enable us to undertake further revision and refinement. Director New Delhi National Council of Educational 20 December 2005 Research and Training iv History and a Changing World As we live our life in the present and read about the happenings around the world in newspapers, we do not usually pause to think about the longer history of these events. We see change before our eyes, but do not always ask, why are things changing? Very often we do not even notice that things were not the same in the past. History is about tracking these changes, understanding how and why they are taking place, how the present world in which we live has evolved. The focus of the history books of Classes IX and X is on the emergence of the contemporary world. In earlier classes (VI – VIII) you have read about the history of India. In the next two years (Classes IX and X) you will see how the story of India’s pasts is related to the larger history of the world. We cannot understand what was happening within India unless we see this connection. This is particularly true about a world in which economies and societies have become increasingly inter-connected. History cannot be always contained within defined territorial boundaries. In any case there is no reason to think of national territorial boundaries as the only valid unit of our study. There are times when a focus on a small region - a locality, a village, an island, a desert tract, a forest, a mountain - helps us understand the rich variety in people’s lives and histories that make up the life of the nation. We cannot talk of the nation without the people, nor the locality without the nation. Borrowing from the statement of a famous French historian, Fernand Braudel, we may also say: it is not possible to talk of the nation without the world. The textbooks you will read in the next two years will combine these different levels of focus. We move between a close focus on particular communities and regions to the history of the nation; between the histories as they unfold in India and Europe to the developments in Africa and Indonesia. Our focus will shift according to themes. What are these themes and how are they organised? What is the logic behind the choices of themes? All too often in the past, the history of the modern world was associated with the history of the west. It was as if change and progress happened only in the west. As if the histories of other countries were frozen in time, they were motionless and static. People in the west were seen as enterprising, innovative, scientific, industrious, efficient and willing to change. People in the east - or in Africa and South America - were considered traditional, lazy, superstitious, and resistant to change. For many years now these notions have been questioned by historians. We know now that every society has had its history of change. So in understanding the making of the modern world we have to look at the way different societies experienced and  fashioned these changes. We have to see how the histories of these different countries were inter-linked. Changes in one society shaped the other; developments in India and other colonies impacted on Europe. The contemporary world was not shaped by the west alone. So the history of the contemporary world is not only about the growth of industries and trade, technology and science, railways and roads. It is equally about the forest dwellers and pastoralists, shifting cultivators and small peasants. All these social groups in diverse ways have played their part in making the contemporary world what it is. And it is this varied world which you will learn about this year. The textbooks of Classes IX and X have eight chapters each, divided into three sections. We hope you will enjoy reading all the chapters. But you are requried to read only five chapters: two each from Sections I and II, and one from Section III. Section I, in both books, focuses on some of the events and processes that are critical to the understanding of the modern world. This year you will read about the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and Nazism in this section. Next year you will know about nationalism and anti-colonial movements, in India and elsewhere. Section II will move from dramatic events to the routines of people’s lives – their economic activities and livelihood patterns. You will see what the contemporary world has meant for forest people, pastoralists and peasants; and how they have coped with and defined the nature of these changes. Next year you will read more about the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation, capitalism and colonialism. Section III will introduce you to histories of everyday life. You will read about the history of sport and clothing (Class IX) and about printing and reading, novels and newspapers (Class X). Why should we study the history of sport and clothing, you might ask. Do we not read about them every day in newspapers and magazines? True, we read a lot about such issues. But what we read does not tell us about their histories. They give us no idea of how things have evolved and why they change. Once we learn to ask historical questions about all that is around us, history in fact acquires a new meaning. It allows us to see everyday things from a different angle. We realise that even seemingly ordinary things have a history that is important for us to know. To know how the contemporary world has evolved we will therefore move from India to Africa, from Europe to Indonesia. We will read both about the big events and important ideas, as well as everyday life. In the process of these journeys you will discover how history can be exciting, how it can help us understand the world in which we live. Neeladri Bhattacharya Chief Advisor - History vi Textbook Development Committee CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY GROUP FOR TEXTBOOKS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE FOR THE SECONDARY STAGE Hari Vasudevan, Professor, Department of History, Calcutta University, Kolkata (Chapter 2). CHIEF ADVISOR Neeladri Bhattacharya, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Chapters 5 and 6). Members Monica Juneja, Professor, Maria-Goeppert-Mayer Guest Professor, Historisches Seminar, University of Hanover, Germany (Chapter 1). Vandana Joshi, Lecturer, Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, New Delhi (Chapter 3). Nandini Sundar, Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi(Chapter 4). Mukul Kesavan, Professor, Department of History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (Chapter 7). Janaki Nair, Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata (Chapter 8). Rekha Krishnan, Head of Senior School, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi Rashmi Paliwal, Eklavya, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. Ajay Dandekar, Visiting fellow, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Pritish Acharya, Reader, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Member–Coordinator Kiran Devendra, Professor, Department of Elementary Education, NCERT, New Delhi. Acknowledgements This book is the result of a collective effort of a large number of historians, teachers, and educationalists. Each chapter has been written, discussed and revised over many months. We would like to thank all those who have participated in these discussions. A large number of people have read individual chapters of the book. We thank in particular the members of the Monitoring Committee who commented on an earlier draft; Narayani Gupta and Kumkum Roy who provided constant encouragement and support, and Richard Evans who read the Chapter on Nazism. We have tried to incorporate most of the suggestions that have been made on the manuscript. Illustrating the book would have been impossible without the help of many institutions and individuals. The Maasai Association, the North Dakota State University Libraries, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the UNESCO PARZOR project and the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi provided photographs and reproductions from their archive at very short notice. Some of the pictures have been accessed from the collections of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland, Rabindra Bhawan Photo Archives, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan. Sanjay Barnela, Mukul Mangalik, and Vasant Saberwal allowed generous access to their large collection of photographs of pastoralists and forest dwellers. We turned to Malvika Karlekar for help in acquiring some of the pictures for the chapter on clothing, and to Ram Guha for photographs on cricket. Anish Vanaik helped in our photo research. Shalini Advani did several rounds of copy editing with care, and ensured that the text was accessible to children. Shyama Warner has done more than proof reading. We thank them both for meeting our impossible deadlines and being so involved with the project. We have made every effort to acknowledge credits at the end of the book; but we apologise in advance for any omissions that may have inadvertently taken place. Contents Foreword iii History and a Changing World v Section I: Events and Processes 1-74 I. The French Revolution 3 II. Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution 25 III. Nazism and the Rise of Hitler 49 Section II: Livelihoods, Economies and Societies 75-138 IV. Forest Society and Colonialism 77 V. Pastoralists in the Modern World 97 VI. Peasants and Farmers 117 Section III: Everyday Life, Culture and Politics 139-178 VII. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 141 VIII. Clothing: A Social History 159 CREDITS 179  SECTION I EVENTS AND PROCESSES In Section I, you will read about the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the rise of Nazism. In different ways all these events were important in the making of the modern world. Chapter I is on the French Revolution. Today we often take the ideas of liberty, EVENTS AND PROCESSES freedom and equality for granted. But we need to remind ourselves that these ideas also have a history. By looking at the French Revolution you will read a small part of that history. The French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France. A society based on privileges gave way to a new system of governance. The Declaration of the Rights of Man during the revolution, announced the coming of a new time. The idea that all individuals had rights and could claim equality became part of a new language of politics. These notions of equality and freedom emerged as the central ideas of a new age; but in different countries they were reinterpreted and rethought in many different ways. The anti-colonial movements in India and China, Africa and Revolution South America, produced ideas that were innovative and original, but they spoke in a language that gained currency only from the late eighteenth century. In Chapter II, you will read about the coming of socialism in Europe, and the dramatic events that forced the ruling monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, to give up power. The Russian French Revolution sought to change society in a different way. It raised the question of economic equality and the well-being of workers and peasants. The chapter will tell you about the changes that were initiated by the new Soviet government, the problems The it faced and the measures it undertook. While Soviet Russia pushed ahead with industrialisation and mechanisation of agriculture, it denied the rights of citizens that were essential to the working of a democratic society. The ideals of socialism, 1  however, became part of the anti-colonial movements in different countries. Today the Soviet Union has broken up and socialism is in crisis but through the twentieth century it has been a powerful force in the shaping of the contemporary world. Chapter III will take you to Germany. It will discuss the rise of Hitler and the politics of Nazism. You will read about the children and women in Nazi Germany, about schools and concentration camps. You will see how Nazism denied various minorities a right to live, how it drew upon a long tradition of anti-Jewish feelings to persecute the Jews, and how it waged a relentless battle against democracy and socialism. But the story of Nazism’s rise is not only about a few specific events, about massacres and killings. It is about the working of an elaborate and frightening system which operated at different levels. Some in India were impressed with the ideas of Hitler but most watched the rise of Nazism with horror. The history of the modern world is not simply a story of the unfolding of freedom and democracy. It has also been a story of violence and tyranny, death and destruction. India and the Contemporary World 2  Chapter I The French Revolution On the morning of 14 July 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm. The king had commanded troops to move into the city. Rumours spread that he would soon order the army to open fire upon the citizens. Some 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall and decided to form a peoples’ militia. They broke into a number of government buildings in search of arms. Finally, a group of several hundred people marched towards the eastern part of the city and stormed the fortress-prison, the Bastille, where they hoped to find hoarded ammunition. In the armed fight that followed, R e v o l u t i o n the commander of the Bastille was killed and the prisoners released – though there were only seven of them. Yet the Bastille was hated by all, because it stood for the despotic power of the king. The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the markets to all those who wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction. The days that followed saw more rioting both in Paris and the countryside. Most people were protesting against the high price of bread. Much later, when historians looked back upon this time, they saw it as the beginning of a chain of events that ultimately led to the execution of the king in France, though most people at the time did not anticipate this outcome. How and why did this happen? F rR e ev o l unt i ocn h T h T eh e French Fig.1 – Storming of the Bastille. Soon after the demolition of the Bastille, artists made prints commemorating the event. 3  1 French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France. He was 20 years old and married to the Austrian 1st estate princess Marie Antoinette. Upon his accession the new king found Clergy an empty treasury. 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 2nd estate XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their Nobility 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 3rd estate billion livres. Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So the French government was obliged Big businessmen, merchants, court to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments officials, lawyers etc. alone. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining Peasants and an army, the court, running government offices or universities, the artisans state was forced to increase taxes. Yet even this measure would not have sufficed. French society in the eighteenth century was divided Small peasants, landless labour, into three estates, and only members of the third estate paid taxes. servants The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to the middle ages. The term Old Regime is usually used to describe the Fig.2 – A Society of Estates. society and institutions of France before 1789. Note that within the Third Estate some were rich and others poor. Fig. 2 shows how the system of estates in French society was organised. Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate. The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by India and the Contemporary World birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state. The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges. These included feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. Peasants were obliged New words to render services to the lord – to work in his house and fields – to serve in the army or to participate in building roads. Livre – Unit of currency in France, discontinued in 1794 The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants, Clergy – Group of persons invested with and finally, all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. special functions in the church These included a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes Tithe – A tax levied by the church, comprising which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. one-tenth of the agricultural produce The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne Taille – Tax to be paid directly to the state by the third estate alone. 4  ‘This poor fellow brings everything, grain, fruits, money, salad. The fat lord sits there, ready to accept it all. He does not even care to grace him with a look.’ Activity Explain why the artist has portrayed the nobleman as the spider and the peasant as the fly. ‘The nobleman is the spider, ‘The more the devil has, the more he wants.’ the peasant the fly.’ Fig.3 – The Spider and the Fly. An anonymous etching. Revolution 1.1 The Struggle to Survive The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789. This led to a rapid increase in the demand for foodgrains. Production of grains could not keep pace with the French demand. So the price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops New words whose owner fixed their wages. But wages did not keep pace with Subsistence crisis – An extreme situation where The the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor and the rich widened. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest. the basic means of livelihood are endangered This led to a subsistence crisis, something that occurred frequently Anonymous – One whose name remains unknown in France during the Old Regime. 5  1.2 How a Subsistence Crisis Happens Bad The poorest can no harvest longer buy bread Disease epidemics Fig.4 – The course of a subsistence crisis. Activity Fill in the blank boxes in Fig. 4 with appropriate terms from among the following: 1.3 A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges Food riots, scarcity of grain, increased In the past, peasants and workers had participated in revolts against number of deaths, rising food prices, increasing taxes and food scarcity. But they lacked the means and weaker bodies. programmes to carry out full-scale measures that would bring about a change in the social and economic order. This was left to those groups within the third estate who had become prosperous and had access to education and new ideas. The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups, India and the Contemporary World termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through an expanding overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such as woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by the richer members of society. In addition to merchants and manufacturers, the third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative officials. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. These ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, were put forward by philosophers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his Two Treatises of Government, Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and absolute right 6 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. This model of government was put into force in the USA, after the thirteen colonies declared their independence from Britain. The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example for political thinkers in France. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and newspapers. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the benefit of those who could not read and write. The news that Louis XVI planned to impose further taxes to be able to meet the expenses of the state generated anger and protest against the system of privileges. Source A Accounts of lived experiences in the Old Regime 1. Georges Danton, who later became active in revolutionary politics, wrote to a friend in 1793, looking back upon the time when he had just completed his studies: ‘I was educated in the residential college of Plessis. There I was in the company of important men … Once my studies ended, I was left with nothing. I started looking for a post. It was impossible to find one at the law courts in Paris. The choice of a career in the army was not open to me as I was not a noble by birth, nor did I have a patron. The church too could not offer me a refuge. I could not buy an office as I did not possess a sou. My old friends turned their backs to me … the system had provided us with an education wi thout however offering a field where our talents could be utilised.’ 2. An Englishman, Arthur Young, travelled thr ough France during the years from 1787 to 1789 and wrote detailed descriptions of his journeys. He often commented on what he Revolution saw. Source ‘He who decides to be served and waited upon by slaves, ill-treated slaves at that, must be fully aware that by doing so he is placing his property and his life in a situation which is very different from that he would be in, had he chosen the services of free and well- treated men. And he who chooses to dine to the accompaniment of his victims’ groans, should not complain i f during a riot his daughter gets kidnapped or his son’s throat is slit.’ French Activity What message is Young trying to convey here? Whom does he mean when he speaks of‘ ‘slaves’? The Who is he criticising? What dangers does he sense in the situation of 1787? 7  2 The Outbreak of the Revolution Louis XVI had to increase taxes for reasons you have learnt in the previous section. How do you think he could have gone about doing Some important dates this? In France of the Old Regime the monarch did not have the 1774 Louis XVI becomes king of France, faces power to impose taxes according to his will alone. Rather he had to empty treasury and growing discontent call a meeting of the Estates General which would then pass his within society of the Old Regime. proposals for new taxes. The Estates General was a political body to 1789 Convocation of Estates General, Third which the three estates sent their representatives. However, the Estate forms National Assembly, the monarch alone could decide when to call a meeting of this body. The Bastille is stormed, peasant revolts in the countryside. last time it was done was in 1614. 1791 A constitution is framed to limit the powers On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates of the king and to guarantee basic rights to General to pass proposals for new taxes. A resplendent hall in all human beings. Versailles was prepared to host the delegates. The first and second 1792-93 France becomes a republic, the king is estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing beheaded. each other on two sides, while the 600 members of the third estate Overthrow of the Jacobin republic, a Directory rules France. had to stand at the back. The third estate was represented by its more 1804 prosperous and educated members. Peasants, artisans and women Napoleon becomes emperor of France, were denied entry to the assembly. However, their grievances and annexes large parts of Europe. 1815 demands were listed in some 40,000 letters which the representatives Napoleon defeated at Waterloo. had brought with them. 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 be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote. This was one of the democratic principles put forward by philosophers like Rousseau in his book The Social Contract. When the king rejected India and the Contemporary World this proposal, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly in protest. Activity The representatives of the third estate viewed themselves as spokesmen Representatives of the Third Estate take the for the whole French nation. On 20 June they assembled in the hall oath raising their arms in the direction of of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles. They declared Bailly, the President of the Assembly, themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they standing on a table in the centre. Do you had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of think that during the actual event Bailly the monarch. They were led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès. Mirabeau would have stood with his back to the was born in a noble family but was convinced of the need to do away assembled deputies? What could have with a society of feudal privilege. He brought out a journal and been David’s intention in placing Bailly delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at Versailles. (Fig.5) the way he has done? 8 Fig.5 – The Tennis Court Oath. Preparatory sketch for a large painting by Jacques-Louis David. The painting was intended to be hung in the National Assembly. Abbé Sieyès, originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called ‘What is the Third Estate’? While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest of France seethed with turmoil. A severe winter had meant a bad harvest; the price of bread rose, often bakers exploited the situation and hoarded supplies. 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. In the countryside rumours spread from village to village that the lords of the manor had hired bands of brigands who were on their way to destroy the ripe crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants in Revolution several districts seized hoes and pitchforks and attacked chateaux. They looted hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing Regions not affected by the Great Fear Areas of agrarian revolt early 1789 Epicentres of main panic movements records of manorial dues. A large number of nobles fled from their The spread of the Great Fear homes, many of them migrating to neighbouring countries. Fig.6 – The spread of the Great Fear. The map shows how bands of peasants spread Faced with the power of his revolting subjects, Louis XVI finally from one point to another. French accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a New words constitution. On the night of 4 August 1789, the Assembly passed a Chateau (pl. chateaux) – Castle or stately The decree abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes. Members of the clergy too were forced to give up their privileges. Tithes were residence belonging to a king or a nobleman abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated. As a Manor – An estate consisting of the lord’s result, the government acquired assets worth at least 2 billion livres. lands and his mansion 9  2.1 France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791. Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary. This made France a constitutional monarchy. Fig. 7 explains how the new political system worked. Judiciary Executive Legislature CONTROL Judge King National Assembly (745 members) VETO L RO VOTE ONT C Ministers Electors (50,000 men) V O T E VOTE Active citizens: entitled to vote. About 4 million of a population of 28 million Passive citizens: no voting rights. About 3 million men Women, children and youth below 25. Fig.7 – The Political sytstem under the Constitution of 1791. India and the Contemporary World 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. 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 active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers. 10  Fig.8 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, painted by the artist Le Barbier in 1790. The figure on the right represents France. The figure on the left symbolises the law. Source C The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen 1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. 2. The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man; these are liberty, pr operty, securi ty and r esistance to oppression. 3. The source of all sovereignty resides in the nation; no group or individual may The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man exercise authority that does not come and Citizen. Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, from the people. freedom of opinion, equality before law, were established as ‘natural 4. Liberty consists of the power to do and inalienable’ rights, that is, they belonged to each human being whatever is not injurious to others. by birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of the state to 5. The law has the right to forbid only actions that are injurious to societ y. protect each citizen’s natural rights. 6. Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to participate in its formation, personally or through their representatives. All citizens are equal before it. Source B 7. No man ma y be accused, arrested or detained, except in cases determined by Revolution The revolutionary journalist Jean-Paul the law. Marat commented in his newspaper 11. Every citizen may speak, write and print L’Ami du peuple ( The friend of the freely; he must take responsibility for the people) on the Constitution drafted by abuse of such liberty in cases determined the National Assembly: by the law. ‘The task of representing the people 12. For the maintenance of the public has been given to the rich … the lot of force and for the expenses of French the poor and oppressed will never be administration a common tax is improved by peaceful means alone. Here indispensable; it must be assessed equally we have absolute proof of how wealth on all citizens in proportion to their means. influences the law. Yet la ws wi ll last only as long as the people 17. Since pr operty is a sacred and inviolable agree to obey them. And when they have managed to cast off The right, no one may be deprived of it, unless the yoke of the aristocrats, they will do the same to the other a legally established public necessity owners of wealth.’ requires it. In that case a just Source: An extract from the newspaper L’Ami du peuple. compensation must be given in advance. 11  Box 1 Reading political symbols The majority of men and women in the eighteenth century could not read or write. So images and symbols were frequently used instead of printed words to communicate important ideas. The painting by Le Barbier (Fig. 8) uses many such symbols to convey the content of the Declaration of Rights. Let us try to read these symbols. The broken chain: Chains were used to fetter slaves. A broken chain stands for the act of becoming free. The bundle of rods or fasces: One rod can be easily broken, but not an entire bundle. Strength lies in unity. The eye within a triangle radiating light: The all- seeing eye stands for knowledge. The rays of the sun will drive away the clouds of ignorance. India and the Contemporary World Sceptre: Symbol of royal power. Snake biting its tail to form a ring: Symbol of Eternity. A ring has neither beginning nor end. 12 Red Phrygian cap: Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free. Blue-white-red: The national colours of France. Activity 1. Identify the symbols in Box 1 which stand for liberty, equality and fraternity. 2. Explain the meaning of the painting of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (Fig. 8) by reading only the symbols. 3. Compare the political rights which the Constitution of 1791 gave to the citizens with Articles 1 and 6 of the Declaration (Source C). Are the two document s consistent? Do the two documents convey the same idea? Revolution The winged woman: Personification of the law. 4. Which groups of French society would have gained from the Constitution of 1791? Which groups would have had reason to The Law Tablet: The law is the same for all, be dissatisfied? What developments does and all are equal before it. Marat (Source B) anticipate in the future? French 5. Imagine the impact of the events in France on neighbouring countries such as Prussia, Austria-Hungary or Spain, all of which were The absolute monarchies. How would the kings, traders, peasants, nobles or members of the clergy here have reacted to the news of what was happening in France? 13  3 France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic The situation in France continued to be tense during the following years. Although Louis XVI had signed the Constitution, he entered into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia. Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send troops to put down the events that had been taking place there since the summer of 1789. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria. Thousands of volunteers thronged from the provinces to join the army. They saw this as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe. 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. The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to the people. While the men were away fighting at the front, women were left to cope with the tasks of earning a living and looking after their families. Large sections of the population were convinced that the revolution had to be carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society. Political clubs became an important rallying point for people who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action. The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of St Jacob in Paris. Women too, who had been active throughout this period, formed their own clubs. Section 4 of this chapter will tell you more about their activities and demands. India and the Contemporary World The members of the Jacobin 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. 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 New words Convent – Building belonging to a community devoted to a religious life Fig.9 – A sans-culottes couple. 14