Podcast Summary: "The Great Fear of 1789"

Stuff You Missed in History Class – iHeartPodcasts
Hosts: Tracy V. Wilson & Holly Frey
Release Date: November 3, 2025

Overview

This episode explores The Great Fear ("La Grande Peur") of 1789, a wave of panic, conspiracy, and rural uprising that swept across much of France in the early period of the French Revolution. Tracy and Holly detail the underlying social and economic crises, how rumors of aristocratic plots fueled mass paranoia, and the ways this episode changed both the course of the Revolution and the rural landscape of France. They also discuss recent scholarly research on how misinformation spread during the Great Fear and its parallels to the modern age.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Precarious State of Rural France

(02:27 – 10:16)

• Longstanding Hardship: Most poor and working-class French people lived in constant precarity: "If everything went well, most people got by, but only barely. And if anything happened to throw things off balance, people quickly went from kind of making ends meet to basically starving." (Tracy, 04:09)
• Bread as Sustenance: Even small fluctuations in bread or grain prices could spark riots: “For a lot of people, bread was their biggest source of nourishment in a day. Consequently, even a tiny increase in bread prices could lead to food riots.” (Holly, 04:43)
• Land Ownership Complexities: While peasants controlled a third of French land, land divisions over generations left most with plots too small to subsist on (05:19–06:20).
• Socio-Economic Hierarchies: Both landowners and landless people faced a tangled web of feudal dues to local “seigneurs,” church tithes, and local courts (06:20–08:01).

2. Factors Fueling Crisis and Unrest

(09:16 – 12:09)

• Population Growth: Lower adult mortality increased competition for scarce land and food (09:45).
• Natural Disasters & Trade Disruptions: Bad harvests (influenced in part by Iceland's Laki volcanic eruption), economic fallout from continental wars, and unfavorable trade policies devastated the market and jobs, especially in textiles (10:16–11:58).

3. Immediate Lead-up to the Great Fear

(16:34 – 24:21)

• Financial Crisis & Political Stalemate: France’s attempt to tax the wealthy failed, leading to the assembling of the Estates General (16:34–17:25).
• Revolution Ignites: Disagreements about voting representation led the Third Estate (commoners) to proclaim itself the National Assembly, followed by iconic actions like the Tennis Court Oath and the storming of the Bastille (19:03–19:41).
• Information Gaps: News traveled slowly and inconsistently through rural France, filtered by local officials and further distorted by illiteracy and dialect barriers (20:44–22:07).
• Conspiracy Theories: Rooted in the "pacte de famine," widespread belief in an aristocratic plot to starve and repress the poor gained traction, fueled by previous experiences like the “Flour War” of 1775 (22:07–24:21).

4. Spark and Spread of the Great Fear

(24:53 – 39:58)

• Rumors of Brigands & Aristocratic Plots: “Rumors also spread that mobs of brigands were marauding all around the countryside ... people thought these brigands were being sheltered or enabled by the aristocracy.” (Tracy, 24:53)
• Local Militias & Panic: Villagers began arming themselves, frequently mistaking neighbors, travelers, and even authorities for hostile forces (26:47–27:11).
• The Tipping Point—July 19 Incident: The explosion at Château de Quincey, likely accidental, spread as a rumor of aristocratic treachery, triggering uprisings in the region (32:09–33:10).
• Cycle of Alarm & Violence: Standardized reactions followed: ringing alarm bells ("tocsin"), sending runners, arming militias, mutual attacks, and escalating rumors (34:09–35:58).
• Targets and Outcomes: Attacks focused on manorial records, feudal infrastructure, and symbols of aristocratic power; however, actual violence against landlords was limited—only three landlords were killed (35:58).

5. Impact on Society and Revolution

(39:58 – 42:25)

• Reforms Forced by Crisis: The National Constituent Assembly issued the August Decrees, abolishing the feudal system and noble privileges (38:58).
• Social and Organizational Shifts: The Great Fear united villages in self-defense, shaping subsequent revolutionary organization and administration (39:58).
• Swift Conclusion: “By August 6th, two days after the 1st of the August Decrees, the Great Fear had basically ended. But the communities where it had taken place had also changed.” (Tracy, 39:58)
• Uneven Justice: Most participants faced no repercussions, but in regions where troops were present, some faced execution or forced labor (41:27).

6. Research on Misinformation and the Great Fear

(42:25 – 44:54)

• Epidemiological Models Applied: Recent research used disease-spread modeling to chart how rumors traveled, finding a “viral” R0 of 1.5—meaning each person spread the rumor to 1.5 others on average (43:00).
• Factors in Rumor Spread: Risk was highest in larger, more literate, and wealthier communities—particularly those with significant land ownership and high wheat prices (43:43).
• Modern Parallels: The researchers compare the rumor-driven Great Fear to modern viral misinformation and uprisings, showing similar contagious networks, despite modern instant communication (44:12–44:54).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the ease of famine and panic:
  “If everything went well, most people got by, but only barely. And if anything happened to throw things off balance, people quickly went from kind of making ends meet to basically starving.”
  — Tracy V. Wilson (04:09)

• On rumors as a contagion:
  “They found that the quote viral misinformation that was driving this really did spread a lot like an actual infectious disease. It had an R naught value of 1.5 ... Like a contagious illness, the misinformation spread largely along main roads and postal routes.”
  — Tracy V. Wilson (43:00)

• On the transformation of rural France:
  “By August 6th, two days after the 1st of the August Decrees, the Great Fear had basically ended. But the communities where it had taken place had also changed.”
  — Tracy V. Wilson (39:58)

• Chilling violence in Paris:
  “[Foulon]’s rumored to have said that if people had no bread, then they could eat hay, much like Marie Antoinette supposedly having said, let them eat cake ... The crowd unsuccessfully tried to hang him, then beheaded him, and they paraded his head around with his mouth stuffed with hay and excrement.”
  — Holly Frey (37:30)

Important Timestamps

• 02:27–04:43: Rural precarity and crises
• 10:16–11:58: Weather and trade shocks
• 16:34–19:41: Estates General and early Revolution
• 22:07–24:21: Rise of conspiracy and proclamations of aristocratic plots
• 32:09–34:09: The July 19th explosion and start of widespread panic
• 35:58–36:40: Scale and selectivity of violence during uprisings
• 38:58: August Decrees and their immediate impact
• 43:00–44:12: Scientific study on the spread of rumors

Tone & Style

Throughout the episode, the hosts maintain a sympathetic and analytical tone, blending narrative storytelling with keen social analysis. They balance measured humor with seriousness around the violence and suffering, and they frequently reference prior episodes and research for context.

Conclusion

The Great Fear of 1789 emerges here as both a product of deep-seated structural problems and a dramatic example of how fear, rumor, and structural inequity can drive rapid, widespread change. The episode not only recounts a pivotal moment in French history but offers a thought-provoking lens on how rumors and panic travel—then and now.

For further exploration:

• Georges Lefebvre, La Grand Peur de 1789
• Recent Nature journal article applying epidemiological models to the spread of the Great Fear

(Listener mail with adorable cat photos closes out the show; contact info and credits at 45:02–51:38.)