29. Mass Panic Caused by False Rumors and Fake News Saved the French Revolution
The 1789 French Revolution is often viewed through the lens of Paris, the dramatic events that took place there, and the key figures who grabbed the limelight in the French capital. However, without support from the peasants – the bulk of France’s population – or at least their consent to doing away with the aristocratic order, the revolution would probably have fizzled. Ironically, peasant support did not result from their understanding and approval of what was going on in Paris. Instead, it was caused by a flood of fake news and rumors that drove them into a panic. To wit, the elites were putting the final touches on the Famine Plot.
The peasants believed that, in order to force them back into submission and obedience, the aristocrats had already engineered grain shortages to starve and debilitate them. That was not enough, however. To speed things up, the nobility had also summoned foreigners to burn the peasants’ crops, and hired bandits to loot their meager possessions, abuse and have their way with the women, murder the men, and burn their houses. The peasants might not have understood the Enlightenment ideals and issues being debated in Paris in 1789. They understood, however, the fear of evil elites plotting to harm them. So they acted, and in so doing, supercharged and saved the French Revolution.