The Road to Rebellion: Rural Uprisings and State-Building in the Run-Up to the French Revolution

Abstract

Early modern European powers were beset by episodic unrest as they sought to consolidate authority and build empires. We examine how growing state communication networks and increased state activity impacted rural unrest by combining original and detailed parish-level data from pre-revolutionary France on the expansion of the horse-post relay network with rural rebellion in this period. Using a staggered difference-in-differences framework, we find that new horse-post relays are associated with more local rebellion. We argue that the main mechanisms are the material consequences of state efforts at monopolization. New horse-post relays are associated with more rebellion against high-profile state agents—the military, police, and judiciary—that conscripted civilians, enforced taxes and laws, and increasingly monopolized roads. We find no evidence that relays fostered broader rebellion against the nobility or Church, or that the effects stem from informational or infrastructural changes occurring contemporaneously. Our findings have implications for the scholarly understanding of the co-evolution of states and violence.

Victor Gay

Assistant Professor of Economics

Assistant professor at Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), University of Toulouse 1 Capitole.