Presented here is the first study in domestic historiography to examine one of the most dramatic episodes of the French Revolution: the civil war in the country's western regions (1793–1796). For Soviet historians, the powerful peasant protest against the policies of the new regime long remained a taboo subject. Drawing upon the insights of historical anthropology and agrarian history, as well as the latest methodological approaches, the author explores the distinctive features of self-identity and self-organization, the modes of economic activity, and the nature of social engagement within rural society during this transitional era between two epochs.