The peasantry was also aggrieved, and between 1846 and 1848 opposition to Sturdza intensified. The commercial and industrial associations of Iaşi (the capital city) in 1846 protested against the prince's plan to raise taxes again; in several rural areas small and middle-size landlords objected to paying additional taxes; and the summer of 1847 saw sharp contests in several "judeţe" by liberal "boyars" for seats in the general assembly. Peasants in Moldavia and Wallachia refused to perform labour services, with violence and flight abroad increasing in autumn 1847 and the next spring. Eager for change, intellectuals were roused by the February revolution in Paris, where a number of them were studying.