Question

What was the slogan of the French Revolution?

• A. peace, bread, and land
• B. unity, strength, and justice
• C. freedom, solidarity, and prosperity
• D. liberty, equality, and fraternity

Answer 1

Answer:

D. liberty, equality, and fraternity

The French Revolution

• "In France, nine-tenths of the population died of hunger and one tenth of indigestion"

• It is clear from this that while the majority in France lived in misery a minority, including the rulers, led a life of luxury and extravagance.

• The French society was divided into three strata and they were known as the Estates.

• The luxurious life and squander of the Bourbon kings, clergy and lords and the frequent wars they waged, along with the frequent spells of drought and crop failure, brought France to the brink of bankruptcy

• The financial and military assistance given to American colonies in the American War of Independence also aggravated the financial crisis in France.

• To levy new taxes upon commoners, Louis XVI summoned the States General, the legislative assembly of the representatives from all the three estates, in 1789.

• Each Estate would vote as a group and had one vote. As a result, the nobility and the clergy could always overrule the Third Estate.

• The first two Estates argued for Estate-wise single voting system, while the Third Estate (the Commons) demanded individual vote for each member of all the three estates.

• While the arguments went on, the members of the Third Estate declared themselves as the National Assembly of France. They assembled in the tennis court nearby, and swore not to leave until they had framed a constitution of France. This event is known as the 'Tennis Court Oath'.

• 14 July 1789 Revolutionaries stormed with the slogan 'liberty, equality, and fraternity', demolished the Bastille prison, the symbol of Bourbon monarchy. This event is considered as the commencement of the French Revolution

• 12 August 1789 The National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

• September, 1792 The National Convention, formed as per the new constitution, proclaimed France as a republic.