Practically all of what I have learned about the French Revolution focuses on Paris, with brief mentions of the cities that rebelled against the rebellion. But the vast majority of French were poor farmers who lived far from cities. How were they affected?
I'll copy a bit from an old post I made:
Where do you reside? Most specifically, are you from the North or the South? Another question I need to ask is how old are you? What gender are you? Those last two are the most important because, frankly, they determine how likely it is that you live or die. How rich are you, your family? Do you have any royal ties whatsoever? If the answer is yes to the last line this post ends here because you were near guaranteed to be dead flat out as long as you stayed in France.
Let's say you were from the South. The South of France experienced a disproportionately large amount of anti-Revolutionary tendencies and would be considered in "semi-revolt" throughout the 1790's. Mayors were extra corrupt and outright ignored calls for conscription. If you were not old enough to be conscripted (unlikely, you'd have to be in your late 30's, 40's, or 50's by this point along with some kind of medical issue to really seal the deal) you would likely be victim at some point or another of a Revolutionary Army -- sans-culottes. This would be initially paraded by our friend Maximillien Robespierre -- the architect of what is called "The Terror" between '92 and '93. Almost 3/4th's of those killed in 'The Terror' would be people just like you -- regular working class peasants accused of hoarding grain or anti-revolutionary thought. Frankly, these bands were filled with people who felt it safer and more profitable to wage war on defenseless French civilians than to go out and defend the country. It was full of cowards and, I know this is loaded language, terrorists.
You would be visited by these sans-culottes regularly and would see either a family member or a friend in town sent to the guillotine most certainly. You may also have witnessed or fallen victim to noyades -- mass drownings -- or mass shootings if your town was deemed as harboring anti-Revolutionary sentiment. Thankfully though if you would survive this period through about 1794 the Terror would end with Robespierre's fall and the rise of the Directory which would dismantle these Revolutionary Armies and scatter them throughout the regular army. Let me reiterate this -- whether you are in the North or South, if you were not in the military, you were subject to seemingly random and completely unregulated murder by Revolutionary forces in the first few years of the revolution. Your chances of surviving this if you had any aristocratic heritage, any anti-revolutionary sentiment or hoarded any food whatsoever was not very high.
If you were in the North you would experience a life very similar to the South except with slightly less Revolutionary Terror and more death and destruction from war. The North would be subject to constant attacks by the British and Austrians in particular. Remember at this time the area of the Low Countries was held by Austrian nobility and would be a staging area for Austrian offensives into France. Whether it was a British, Austrian, or French army your farm would likely be destroyed entirely. Burned to the ground most likely and all your crops stolen by foraging parties and your soil destroyed by men constantly marching through and fires. I'd also wager it's likely if you have any daughters they would be raped if you were in an area of particular contention.
Basically if you were not drafting into the military your likely options were death, destruction of everything you own, rape and murder of your family, and your town or province being irrevocably destroyed by war or paramilitary Revolutionary forces. It is highly unlikely you would escaped unscathed.
What is far more likely (and far more interesting to talk about) however is that you were drafted into the military. All men between the ages of 18 and 25 were to be forcibly conscripted for military service -- all men. Men into their 30's would also regularly volunteer or be called upon as well though. If you were fighting your first few years in the military would be one of utter disorganization and panic. Revolutionary hype would be ripe and you and your comrades would feel it. Any officers living a little too luxuriously? Mob them and send them to the guillotine. Your NCO being a little too harsh on you and your mates? That doesn't sound like liberty or fraternity, I don't like being drilled! You'd probably be part of a mob that killed him or stripped him of his power. It is very likely you would be witness or a participant in the murder of an individual whose only crime was being a bit rich, an aristocratic heritage, or was being a bit too strict with you.
When you say the frontier, do you mean near the border to another country? If you're thinking something like the American frontier to the wilderness, that hasn't really existed in Europe for hundreds of years.