The Great Fear Essay

In July 1789, a wave of terror and disaster known as "The Great Fear" mainly affected Paris and Versailles. Peasants used the town and homes of the aristocracy as a big rage room and burnt them down. They broke into offices and destroyed certificates and papers that listed their obligations to the lords. Why go crazy though? Was their peasant life not enough? Though the actions are bizarre, their reasoning and outcome of events are defensible. Due to social inequality, taxes and rumours the peasants began the Great Fear, which paved the way for the end of feudalism. Estates and social classes were ways for how someone lived, but it was not all equal. The French used a feudal system in which lords were provided with land by their ruler. Peasants;

The three estates-- the first estate for the clergy, the second estate for the nobility, and the third estate for everyone else, also played a role in social classes. Peasants, who made up the third estate, were the only ones who had to pay a large amount of taxes, And they were worn out from living in miserable conditions and working for little money. Therefore, the social classes of French society were social inequality and upsetting. As already stated, the peasants were poor. The Queen, Marie Antoinette, made life even more difficult for the poor by spending the majority of France's money on herself; in response, the poor was enraged and despised the high taxes. Everywhere there was a tax, and salt smugglers would go from farm to farm and tax for salt. Violence was one of the many outcomes, and it didn't turn out well. The loss of crops made matters worse; a natural disaster ruined the majority of farms, and the price of bread rose dramatically. None of the peasants appreciated any of these events, it was unfair and made people even more

The peasants went most definitely crazy, and as a result, the royal prison and fortress known as "the Bastille" was bombarded by citizens. This event is known as "The Fall of The Bastille." The King was alarmed by the events and ordered his soldiers away. Residents of Paris created the "National Guard," a new army, in an effort to maintain order. The majority of the revolution had taken place in Versailles and Paris, but its ideas quickly spread. Although they were uneasy, peasants in the countryside were aware of the tremendous changes that were taking place. They believed that the King’s soldiers and nobility would put an end to the uprising, so the "Great Fear," was sparked by these emotions, and quickly spread through parts of France, but not everywhere. Groups of alarmed peasants were attacking the countryside, and the National Assembly figured that this was certainly not in their best interests. They met and decreed the abolition of feudalism, and introduced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen. On the whole, this was extraordinary to the people and one of the most significant achievements of the revolution. The Great Fear, in conclusion, was started by the peasants because of social inequality, taxes, and rumours, and essentially led to the end of