The peasants in Brittany were royalist and opposed the new government. Prieur sought to implement the authority of the Convention by arresting suspected counter-revolutionaries, removing the local authorities of Brittany, and making speeches. In Vannes, there was an unfavorable attitude towards the Revolution with only 200 of the city's population of 12,000 accepting the new constitution. Prieur declared Brittany's countryside overcome by fanaticism in order to justify terror as the new order. Prieur then infiltrated cities with troops and conducted house searches to locate and silence rebellious aristocrats and peasants. While arrests were the first defense of the newly established government against counter-revolutionaries, fear quickly mounted concerning the power of this group. Quickly, leaders such as Carrier had moved from ordering arrests to ordering executions of anyone found guilty of treason against the state.