Ruled by France excessively, after uprising at ground level (9)
I believe the answer is:
underfoot
'at ground level' is the definition.
'ruled by france excessively after uprising' is the wordplay.
'ruled by' becomes 'under' (as in a country under a government or leader).
'france' becomes 'f'.
'excessively' becomes 'too' (synonyms).
'after uprising' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'too' back-to-front is 'oot'.
'under'+'f'+'oot'='UNDERFOOT'
(Other definitions for underfoot that I've seen before include "on the ground" , "Little babies often are" , "How things are trodden" .)