# Great Fear (1789)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1789-great-fear
Location: French countryside

Rural panic and peasant attacks on feudal records spread across much of France. Within the broader French Revolution period, The Revolution dismantled legal privilege and absolute monarchy, declared new rights and created a republic. War, popular mobilization, civil conflict and political terror repeatedly transformed the revolutionary state. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is Louis XVI (King of France). Great Fear mattered because collective action and political conflict altered the relationship between society and governing authority. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
Great Fear mattered because collective action and political conflict altered the relationship between society and governing authority.

Ruler at the time: [Louis XVI](https://history-france.com/rulers/louis-xvi)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Great Fear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Great+Fear&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Great Fear](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Great+Fear)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)