The French Revolution PDF

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. Ru...

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  Fig.10 – Nanine Vallain, Liberty. This is one of the rare paintings by a woman artist. The revolutionary events made it possible for women to train with established painters and to exhibit their works in the Salon, which was an exhibition held every two years. The painting is a female allegory of liberty – that is, the female form symbolises the idea of freedom. Activity Look carefully at the painting and identify the objects which are political symbols you saw in Box 1 (broken chain, red cap, fasces, Charter of the Declaration of Rights). The pyramid stands for equality, often represented by a triangle. Use the symbols to interpret the painting. Describe your impressions of the female figure of liberty. 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 sans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches’. Sans- culottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty. Women however were not allowed to do so. Revolution 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. Elections were held. From now French 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 The 21 September 1792 it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. As you know, a republic is a form of government where the people elect the government including the head of the 15  government. There is no hereditary monarchy. You can try and New words find out about some other countries that are republics and investigate when and how they became so. Treason – Betray al of one’s country or government Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason. On 21 January 1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde. The queen Marie Antoinette met with the same fate shortly after. 3.1 The Reign of Terror 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 Source D republic – ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with What is liberty? Two conflicting views: his methods – were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a The revolutionary journalist Camille revolutionary tribunal. If the court found them ‘guilty’ they Desmoulins wrote the following in 1793. He was executed shortly after, during the Reign were guillotined. The guillotine is a device consisting of two of Terror. poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named ‘Some people believe that Liberty is like a after Dr Guillotin who invented it. child, which needs to go through a phase of being disciplined before i t attains maturi ty. Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling Quite the opposite. Liberty is Happiness, on wages and prices. Meat and bread were rationed. Peasants Reason, Equality, Justice, it is the Declaration were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at of Rights … You would like to finish off all your enemies by guillotining them. Has prices fixed by the government. The use of more expensive white anyone heard of something more senseless? flour was forbidden; all citizens were required to eat the pain Would it be possible to bring a single person d’égalité (equality bread), a loaf made of wholewheat. Equality to the scaffold without making ten more enemies among his relations and friends?’ was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address. Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame On 7 February 1794, (Madam) all French men and women were henceforth Citoyen Robespierre made a speech at the and Citoyenne (Citizen). Churches were shut down and their Convention, which was buildings converted into barracks or offices. then carried by the newspaper Le Moniteur Robespierre pursued his policies so relentlessly that even his India and the Contemporary World Universel. Here is an supporters began to demand moderation. Finally, he was extract from it: convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day ‘To establish and consolidate democracy, to sent to the guillotine. achieve the peaceful rule of constitutional laws, we must first finish the war of liberty Activity against tyranny …. We must annihilate the enemies of the republic at home and abroad, or else we shall perish. In time of Revolution Compare the views of Desmoulins and Robespierre. How does a democratic go vernment ma y rely on terror. each one understand the use of state force? What does Terror is nothing but justice, swi ft, sever e Robespierre mean by ‘the war of liberty against tyranny’? How and inflexible; … and is used to meet the does Desmoulins perceive liberty? Refer once more to Source C. most urgent needs of the fatherland. To curb the enemies of Liberty through terror is the What did the constitutional laws on the rights of individuals lay right of the founder of the Republic.’ down? Discuss your views on the subject in class. 16  Fig.11 – The revolutionary government sought to mobilise the loyalty of its subjects through various means – one of them was the staging of festivals like this one. Symbols from civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome were used to convey the aura of a hallowed history. The pavilion on the raised platform in the middle carried by classical columns was made of perishable material that could be dismantled. Describe the groups of people, their clothes, their roles and actions. What impression of a revolutionary festival does this image convey? 3.2 A Directory Rules France The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power. A new constitution was introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of society. It provided Revolution for two elected legislative councils. These then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members. This was meant as a safeguard against the concentration of power in a one-man executive as under the Jacobins. However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them. The political instability French of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte. Through all these changes in the form of government, the ideals of The freedom, of equality before the law and of fraternity remained inspiring ideals that motivated political movements in France and the rest of Europe during the following century. 17  4 Did Women have a Revolution? Fig.12 – Parisian women on their way to Versailles. This print is one of the many pictorial representations of the events of 5 October 1789, when women marched to Versailles and brought the king back with them to Paris. From the very beginning women were active participants in the events which brought about so many important changes in French society. They hoped that their involvement would pressurise the revolutionary government to introduce measures to improve their lives. Most women of the third estate had to work for a living. They worked as Activity seamstresses or laundresses, sold flowers, fruits and vegetables at the India and the Contemporary World market, or were employed as domestic servants in the houses of Describe the persons represented in Fig. 12 – their actions, their postures, the prosperous people. Most women did not have access to education or objects they are carrying. Look carefully to job training. Only daughters of nobles or wealthier members of the see whether all of them come from the third estate could study at a convent, after which their families same social group. What symbols has the arranged a marriage for them. Working women had also to care for artist included in the image? What do they their families, that is, cook, fetch water, queue up for bread and stand for? Do the actions of the women look after the children. Their wages were lower than those of men. reflect traditional ideas of how women In order to discuss and voice their interests women started their own were expected to behave in public? What political clubs and newspapers. About sixty women’s clubs came up do you think: does the artist sympathise with the women’s activities or is he critical in different French cities. The Society of Revolutionary and of them? Discuss your views in the class. Republican Women was the most famous of them. One of their 18 main demands was that women enjoy the same political rights as men. Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens. They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office. Only then, they felt, would their interests be represented in the new government. In the early years, the revolutionary government did introduce laws that helped improve the lives of women. Together with the creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsory for all girls. Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will. Marriage was made into a contract entered into freely and registered under civil law. Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men. Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses. Women’s struggle for equal political rights, however, continued. During the Reign of Terror, the new government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs and banning their political activities. Many prominent women were arrested and a number of them executed. Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages continued through the next two hundred years in many countries of the world. The fight for the vote was carried out through an international suffrage movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 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. Source E The life of a revolutionary woman – Olympe de Gouges Revolution (1748-1793) Olympe de Gouges was one of the most important of the politically active women in revolutionary France. She protested against the Constitution and the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen as they excluded women from basic rights that each human being was French entitled to. So, in 1791, she wrote a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen, which she addressed to the Queen and to the members of the National Assembly, demanding that they act upon it. In 1793, Olympe de Gouges criticised the Jacobin government The for forcibly closing down women’s clubs. She was tried by the National Convention, which charged her with treason. Soon after this she was executed. 19  Source F Some of the basic rights set forth in Olympe de Gouges’ Declaration. 1. Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. 2. The goal of all political associations is the preservation of the natural rights of woman and man: These rights ar e liberty, property, security, and above all resistance to oppression. 3. The source of all sovereignty resides in the nation, which is nothing but the union of woman and man. 4. The law should be the expression of the general will; all female and male citizens should have a say either personally or by their representatives in its formulation; it should be the same for all. All female and male citizens are equally entitled to all honours and public employment according to their abilities and without any Activity other distinction than that of their talents. Compare the manifesto drafted by Olympe de 5. No woman is an exception; she is accused, arrested, and detained in Gouges (Source F) with the Declaration of the cases determined by law. Women, like men, obey this rigorous law. Rights of Man and Citizen (Source C). Source G In 1793, the Jacobin politician Chaumette sought to justify the closure of women’s clubs on the following grounds: ‘Has Nature entrusted domestic duties to men? Has she given us breasts to nurture babies? No. India and the Contemporary World She said to Man: Be a man. Hunting, agriculture, political duties Fig.13 – Women queuing up at a bakery. … that is your kingdom. She said to Woman: Be a woman … the things of the household, the sweet duties of motherhood – those are your tasks. Activity Shameless are those women, who wish to become men. Have not duties been fairly Imagine yourself to be one of the women in Fig. 13. Formulate a distributed?’ response to the arguments put forward by Chaumette (Source G). 20 5 The Abolition of Slavery One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. The colonies in the Caribbean – Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo – were important suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee. But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and unfamiliar lands meant a shortage of labour on the plantations. So this was met by a triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas. 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. 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 Fig.14 – The emancipation of slaves. This print of 1794 describes the emancipation in the French overseas possessions. This, however, turned out to be of slaves. The tricolour banner on top carries a short-term measure: ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery. the slogan: ‘The rights of man’. The inscription below reads: ‘The freedom of the Plantation owners understood their freedom as including the right unfree’. A French woman prepares to ‘civilise’ to enslave African Negroes in pursuit of their economic interests. the African and American Indian slaves by Revolution giving them European clothes to wear. Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848. Activity New words Record your impressions of this print French Negroes – A term used for the indigenous people of Africa (Fig. 14). Describe the objects lying on the south of the Sahara. It is a derogatory term not in common use ground. What do they symbolise? What any longer attitude does the picture express towards Emancipation – The act of freeing non-European slaves? The 21  6 The Revolution and Everyday Life Can politics change the clothes people wear, the language they speak or the books they read? The years following 1789 in France saw many such changes in the lives of men, women and children. The revolutionary governments took it upon themselves to pass laws that would translate the ideals of liberty and equality into everyday practice. One important law that came into effect soon after the storming of the Bastille in the summer of 1789 was the abolition of 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. 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. Freedom of the press Activity also meant that opposing views of events could be expressed. Each side sought to convince the others of its position through the medium Describe the picture in your own words. What of print. Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers are the images that the artist has used to communicate the following ideas: greed, of people. This was one way they could grasp and identify with ideas equality, justice, takeover by the state of the such as liberty or justice that political philosophers wrote about at assets of the church? length in texts which only a handful of educated people could read. India and the Contemporary World Fig.15 – The patriotic fat-reducing press. This anonymous print of 1790 seeks to make the idea of justice tangible. 22  Fig.16 - Marat addressing the people. This is a painting by Louis-Leopold Boilly. Recall what you have learnt about Marat in this chapter. Describe the scene around him. Account for his great popularity. What kinds of reactions would a painting like this produce among viewers in the Salon? Conclusion In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. He set out to conquer neighbouring European countries, dispossessing dynasties and creating kingdoms where he placed members of his family. Revolution Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe. He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system. Initially, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people. But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an French invading force. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815. Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Napoleon had left. The The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution. These spread from France to the Fig.17 – Napoleon crossing the Alps, painting rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems by David. 23  were abolished. Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom from Box 2 bondage into their movements to create a sovereign nation state. Tipu Raja Rammohan Roy was one of those who Sultan and Rammohan Roy are two examples of individuals who was inspired by new ideas that were spreading through Europe at that time. The French responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France. Revolution and later, the July Revolution excited his imagination. ‘He could think and talk of nothing else when he heard of the July Revolution in France in 1830. On his way to England at Cape Town he insisted on visiting frigates (warships) flying the revolutionary tri-colour flag though he had been temporarily lamed by an accident.’ Susobhan Sarkar, Notes on the Bengal Renaissance 1946. Activities 1. Find out more about any one of the revolutionary figures you have read about in this chapter. Write a short biography of this person. 2. The French Revolution saw the rise of newspapers describing the events of each day and week. Collect information and pictures on any one event and Activities write a newspaper article. You could also conduct an imaginary interview with important personages such as Mirabeau, Olympe de Gouges or Robespierre. Work in groups of two or three. Each group could then put up their articles on a board to produce a wallpaper on the French Revolution. Questions 1. Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France. ? India and the Contemporary World 2. Which groups of French society benefited from the revolution? Which groups were forced to relinquish power? Which sections of society would have been disappointed with the outcome of the revolution? 3. Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 4. Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the French Revolution. 5. Would you agree with the view that the message of universal rights was beset with contradictions? Explain. 6. How would you explain the rise of Napoleon? 24 Socialism in Europe and Chapter ll the Russian Revolution 1 The Age of Social Change In the previous chapter you read about the powerful ideas of freedom and equality that circulated in Europe after the French Revolution. The French Revolution opened up the possibility of creating a dramatic change in the way in which society was structured. As you have read, before the eighteenth century society was broadly divided Revolution and the Russian Revolution into estates and orders and it was the aristocracy and church which controlled economic and social power. Suddenly, after the revolution, it seemed possible to change this. In many parts of the world including Europe and Asia, new ideas about individual rights and who controlled social power began to be discussed. In India, Raja Rammohan Roy and Derozio talked of the significance of the French Revolution, and many others debated the ideas of post-revolutionary Europe. The developments in the colonies, in turn, reshaped these ideas of societal change. Not everyone in Europe, however, wanted a complete transformation of society. Responses varied from those who accepted that some change was necessary but wished for a gradual shift, to those who wanted to restructure society radically. Some were ‘conservatives’, others were ‘liberals’ or ‘radicals’. What did these terms really mean in the context of the time? What separated these strands of politics and what linked them together? We must remember that these terms do not mean the same thing in all contexts or at all times. Europe We will look briefly at some of the important political traditions of the nineteenth century, and see how they influenced change. Then we will focus on one historical event in which there was an attempt inthe Russian at a radical transformation of society. Through the revolution in Russia, socialism became one of the most significant and powerful Socialism in Europe and ideas to shape society in the twentieth century. Socialism 1.1 Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives One of the groups which looked to change society were the liberals. Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. We should remember that at this time European states usually discriminated in 25  favour of one religion or another (Britain favoured the Church of England, Austria and Spain favoured the Catholic Church). Liberals also opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers. They wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals against governments. They argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. However, they were not ‘democrats’. They did not believe in universal adult franchise, that is, the right of every citizen to vote. They felt men of property mainly should have the vote. They also did not want the vote for women. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s population. Many supported women’s suffragette movements. Unlike liberals, they opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. They were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few. Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals. After the French Revolution, however, even conservatives had opened their minds to the need for change. Earlier, in the eighteenth century, conservatives had been generally opposed to the idea of change. By the nineteenth century, they accepted that some change was inevitable but believed that the past had to be respected and change had to be brought about through a slow process. Such differing ideas about societal change clashed during the social and political turmoil that followed the French Revolution. The various attempts at revolution and national transformation in the nineteenth century helped define both the limits and potential of these political tendencies. India and the Contemporary World 1.2 Industrial Society and Social Change These political trends were signs of a new time. It was a time of profound social and economic changes. It was a time when new cities came up and new industrialised regions developed, railways expanded and the Industrial Revolution occurred. Industrialisation brought men, women and children to factories. Work hours were often long and wages were poor. Unemployment was New words common, particularly during times of low demand for industrial goods. Housing and sanitation were problems since towns were growing Suffragette movement – A movement to rapidly. Liberals and radicals searched for solutions to these issues. give women the right to vote. 26  Fig.1 – The London poor in the mid-nineteenth century as seen by a contemporary. From: Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, 1861. Almost all industries were the property of individuals. Liberals and radicals themselves were often property owners and employers. Having made their wealth through trade or industrial ventures, they felt that such effort should be encouraged – that its benefits would Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution be achieved if the workforce in the economy was healthy and citizens were educated. Opposed to the privileges the old aristocracy had by birth, they firmly believed in the value of individual effort, labour and enterprise. If freedom of individuals was ensured, if the poor could labour, and those with capital could operate without restraint, they believed that societies would develop. Many working men and women who wanted changes in the world rallied around liberal and radical groups and parties in the early nineteenth century. Some nationalists, liberals and radicals wanted revolutions to put an end to the kind of governments established in Europe in 1815. In France, Italy, Germany and Russia, they became revolutionaries and worked to overthrow existing monarchs. Nationalists talked of revolutions that would create ‘nations’ where all citizens would have 27  equal rights. After 1815, Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian nationalist, conspired with others to achieve this in Italy. Nationalists elsewhere – including India – read his writings. 1.3 The Coming of Socialism to Europe Perhaps one of the most far-reaching visions of how society should be structured was socialism. By the mid - nineteenth century in Europe, socialism was a well-known body of ideas that attracted widespread attention. Socialists were against private property, and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time. Why? Individuals owned the property that gave employment but the propertied were concerned only with personal gain and not with the welfare of those who made the property productive. So if society as a whole rather than single individuals controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests. Socialists wanted this change and campaigned for it. How could a society without property operate? What would be the basis of socialist society? Socialists had different visions of the future. Some believed in the idea of cooperatives. Robert Owen (1771-1858), a leading English manufacturer, sought to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA). Other socialists felt that cooperatives could not be built on a wide scale only through individual initiative: they demanded that governments encourage cooperatives. In France, for instance, Louis Blanc (1813-1882) wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises. These cooperatives were to be associations of people who produced goods together and divided the profits according to the work done by members. India and the Contemporary World Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) added other ideas to this body of arguments. Marx argued that industrial society was ‘capitalist’. Capitalists owned the capital invested in factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers. The conditions of workers could not improve as long as this profit was accumulated by private capitalists. Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property. Marx believed that to free themselves from capitalist exploitation, workers had to construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society. He was convinced that workers would Activity triumph in their conflict with capitalists. A communist society was the natural List two differences between the capitalist society of the future. and socialist ideas of private property. 28 1.4 Support for Socialism By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe. To coordinate their efforts, socialists formed an international body – namely, the Second International. Activity Workers in England and Germany began forming associations to Imagine that a meeting has been called in fight for better living and working conditions. They set up funds to your area to discuss the socialist idea of help members in times of distress and demanded a reduction of working doing away with private property and hours and the right to vote. In Germany, these associations worked closely introducing collective ownership. Write the with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and helped it win parliamentary speech you would make at the meeting if you seats. By 1905, socialists and trade unionists formed a Labour Party in are: Britain and a Socialist Party in France. However, till 1914, socialists never ! a poor labourer working in the fields succeeded in forming a government in Europe. Represented by strong ! a medium-level landowner figures in parliamentary politics, their ideas did shape legislation, but ! a house owner governments continued to be run by conservatives, liberals and radicals. Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Fig.2 – This is a painting of the Paris Commune of 1871 (From Illustrated London News, 1871). It portrays a scene from the popular uprising in Paris between March and May 1871. This was a period when the town council (commune) of Paris was taken over by a ‘peoples’ government’ consisting of workers, ordinary people, professionals, political activists and others. The uprising emerged against a background of growing discontent against the policies of the French state. The ‘Paris Commune’ was ultimately crushed by government troops but it was celebrated by Socialists the world over as a prelude to a socialist revolution.The Paris Commune is also popularly remembered for two important legacies: one, for its association with the workers’ red flag – that was the flag adopted by the communards ( revolutionaries) in Paris; two, for the ‘Marseillaise’, originally written as a war song in 1792, it became a symbol of the Commune and of the struggle for liberty. 29  2 The Russian Revolution In one of the least industrialised of European states this situation was reversed. Socialists took over the government in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917. The fall of monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October are normally called the Russian Revolution. How did this come about? What were the social and political conditions in Russia when the revolution occurred? To answer these questions, let us look at Russia a few years before the revolution. 2.1 The Russian Empire in 1914 In 1914, Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire. Besides the territory around Moscow, the Russian empire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It stretched to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The majority