The French Revolution was a fight against feudalism. It sought to abolish the old rules, privileges of the nobles, taxes and other remnants of the feudal system. After turbulent times, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on August 4, 1789, signing a document which is often called ‘the death certificate of the old order’. This is known as the August Decrees.
The August Decrees abolished the privileges of the Second Estate and the levies collected by the First Estate.
The reforms were expedited by a series of spontaneous uprising of peasants across France. In the countryside, peasants intimidated the property owners by refusing to work. They also caused damages to their properties. Some even assaulted the nobility. The weeks of revolt and destruction in rural areas that followed came to be known as the Great Fear.
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