The revolution, July-October 1789: developments in the country

Developments in the country:

Across France, towns and cities copied Paris and set up revolutionary committees and a National Guard to maintain order and to prevent counter-revolution by royalists. The king`s intendants abandoned thier posts as royal authority collapsed.

The Great Fear:

In the countryside there was violent unrest in response to high food prices, due to the bad harvest of 1788. The calling of the Estates-General raised hopes and kept violence in check until July. The news of the king`s surrender and the defeat of the nobility triggered the Great Fear - rumours spread that gangs of brigands had been hired by fleeing nobles to take revenge by destroying the harvest. Peasants armed themselves and attacked the hated symbols of feudal power. Chateaux and documents recording feudal obligations were burned but few people, nobles or their agents, were killed.

The abolition of feudalism:

News of the violence reached National Aseembly deputies - they wanted to crush the rural revolt but didn`t want to use royal troops in case those troops were used against them. They decided to gain the support of the peasants by giving them what they wanted - the abolition of feudalism.

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