Cheat sheet · Class 9 · CBSE Social Science
History: The French Revolution cheat sheet
The whole chapter on one page: key formulas, facts and the points to remember, for quick revision before a test.
CBSE Class 9 · Social Science
Cheat sheet
History · Chapter 1The French Revolution
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
1. Causes
- Louis XVI (Bourbon) took the throne in 1774; empty treasury after wars (incl. helping American independence)
- Three Estates: 1st – clergy, 2nd – nobility (exempt from taxes); 3rd – everyone else, paid taille (direct tax) and tithes (to church)
- Subsistence crisis: population grew, bread prices rose
- Growing middle class; ideas of Locke (Two Treatises), Rousseau (Social Contract), Montesquieu (The Spirit of the Laws – separation of powers)
2. Outbreak (1789)
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 5 May 1789 | Estates General met; 3rd Estate demanded one vote per member |
| 20 June 1789 | Tennis Court Oath – National Assembly (Mirabeau, Abbé Sieyès) |
| 14 July 1789 | Storming of the Bastille |
| Aug 1789 | Feudal privileges abolished; Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen |
| 1791 | Constitution: constitutional monarchy; only "active citizens" (tax payers, men 25+) voted |
3. France Becomes a Republic
- Jacobin Club (Robespierre); sans-culottes
- 1792: Convention; France a Republic; Louis XVI executed (Jan 1793)
- Reign of Terror (1793–94): Robespierre's harsh rule; guillotine; he was executed in 1794
- Directory (five-member executive) → Napoleon Bonaparte (1804 emperor; defeated at Waterloo 1815)
4. Legacy
- Women's clubs – Olympe de Gouges; women got the vote only in 1946
- Slavery abolished 1794, reintroduced by Napoleon, finally abolished 1848
- Censorship abolished (1789); spread of ideas of liberty and democratic rights
- Inspired Tipu Sultan and Rammohun Roy
5. Key Points to Remember
- 14 July 1789 – Bastille stormed.
- Third Estate paid all taxes.
- Tennis Court Oath formed the National Assembly.
- 1792 – France a republic.
- Reign of Terror under Robespierre.
- Napoleon crowned emperor in 1804.
Remember: 1774 · 1789 · 1791 · 1792 · 1793–94 · 1804
History: The French Revolution: questions and notes
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