Class X

The French Revolution Q. What compelled Louis XVI to raise taxes in France? Answer: Wars and Economic Crisis : In 1774, when Louis XVI ascended the throne, he found and empty treasure. The nation had gone into deep dept because of the fighting in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the Revolutionary War in America under Louis XVI. In this war, France helped the 13 American colonies to gain their independence from Britain. The war added more than a billion livers to a dept that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres. Debt Trap: Lenders who gave the state credit, now began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments alone. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities the state was forced to increase taxes. Extravagant Court: France under various kings had a extravagant court at the immense palace of...

  Democracy Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. Features of Democracy (i) Major decisions are taken by elected leaders.   (ii) In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf led a military camp in October 1999 and overthrew a democratically elected government and became the chief executive of the country.   (iii) Later, he changed his designation to president.   (iv) In 2002, he issued a “Legal Framework Order” that suggested that the President could dismiss the national or provincial assemblies.   (v) The work of the civilian cabinet was supervised by National Security Council which was dominated by military officers.   (vi) Elections were held to the National and State Assemblies  (vii) The elected leaders had some powers. But the final power rests with the military officers and General Musharral.   (viii) So, Pakistan under General Musharraf cannot be called a democracy. Because the elected rulers cannot take...