Introduction Revolutions have always been with us throughtout time and always will be. Most of the times, violence is inseperable from them. With time, the concept of revolution has spread over a variety of scientific fields and public discourse, and as a result of the overusage of the term, it is often used incorrectly. Althought the definition of revolution is contested, this essay will work with revolution defined as a sudden, major, and usually violent shift in the governing and related structures. (britannica, n.d.) This seizure of the state is undertaken by the public and not by the elite. Althought there are some peaceful revolutions, most of them are accompanied by violence. Why is that so? According to Thomas Hobbes (1996), conflict and instability are inseparable parts of human nature where there are at least two political entities opposing one another. They exist in a world of anarchy and are subject to the rule and laws of nature which entitle and restrict them in their actions. When they give up their right of nature to do and take what they wish, they will in return achieve security, thus creating a Contract which sets the framework of permissible behaviour. In modern times it means the creation of a state with all the institutions needed to secure that the Contract is observed. If the Contract is not adhered to, conflict and instability are not held in check and are many times followed by violence and revolution. This analytical essay will argue that the reasons for revolutions to be usually violent are the factors which disable the state to contain the conflict under control, leading to instability and to violence itself. Those reasons being: a) the ineffectiveness of state in distributing and sustaining basic pub... ... middle of paper ... ...vement: cycles of protest. In: EL-MAHDI, R. and MARFLEET, P., (eds.). Egypt: The Moment of Change. London, UK: Zed Books, Ltd., pp 87-102 FENBY, J., (2009). The Penguin History of Modern China. Penguin Books Ltd. GLYN, M., (2013) A very brief history of the causes and course of the French Revolution. [Online] Availible from: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/france/histfrev.htm [Accessed 02/01/2014] HOBBES, T., (1996). Leviathan. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., New York LARUS, E. F., (2012). Politics & Society in Contemporary China. United States of America: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. TADROS, S., (2011) The Story of the Egyptian Revolution. [Online] American Thinker. Availible from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/02/the_story_of_the_egyptian_revo.html TROTSKY, L., (2008). History of the Russian Revolution. Canada: Haymarket books. Pp 75-99.
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The fight for change and liberty has been no stranger to this world. Since 2740 BC, over hundreds of revolutions and rebellions have taken place, all of which demanded a reform or a change of some nature. Within the last century many major revolutions have been developing in continents such as Asia and Africa. In the non-fiction book The Political Thought of the American Revolution, written by Clinton Rossiter, Rossiter claims that perhaps modern revolutions, such as these in Asia and Africa, have deviated far from the core foundations of the American Revolution. In this book, Rossiter conveys that the American Revolution was the first revolution to have success from breaking away from another country and government. He believes that many revolutions
In his book, The Anatomy of Revolution, Crane Brinton describes four historically significant revolutions in modern states, the English Revolution of the 1640s, the American Revolution of 1776, the French Revolution of 1789, and the Russian Revolution of 1917, and compares uniform trends and commonalities within those revolutions. Brinton hypothesizes that those revolutions have specific similarities in their inception, manifestation, conduct, and conclusion.
Osborne, Evan. "China's First Liberal." Independent Review 16.4 (2012): 533+. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
Ridel, B, 'The real losers in Egypt's uprising', The Daily Best Online, 13 February 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011< http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-13/al-qaeda-absent-in-hosni-mubaraks-fall-and-egyptian-revolution/>
The purpose for which government has been instituted, according to Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, is “because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.” In an effort to constrain men’s passions, nations and revolutionary groups have tried many forms of government. But the institution of a new government necessitates some form of revolution, either violent or peaceful. In many cases, the onset of this revolution begins with the subjugation of a people, often through the process of colonizing a land which is already inhabited.
Hobbes, as one of the early political philosophers, believes human has the nature to acquire “power after power” and has three fundamental interests which are safety, “conjugal affections”, and riches for commodious lives. (Hobbes, p108, p191) From this basis, Hobbes deducts that in a state of nature, human tends to fight against each other (state of war) to secure more resources (Hobbes,
I decided to do my final assignment in the form of the extended review. I chose the book “Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance: The Power Story” by Eric Selbin, which we covered much later in this semester. Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance: The Power of Story is very different from a lot of the other studies of revolution that came out years before it and also different from the few ones I read in some of my Sociology classes and also history classes. Selbin presents his approach to revolutions different as he use the use of stories to get his message across about revolutions and for the reader can understand them as well. He basically does it this way to answer unanswered questions. They are not necessarily unanswered questions, but they are used to give the reader insight and knowledge of certain things like why do some revolutions happen in one place and not another. Not on places, but it tries to answer why they happen in a certain period of time and not another as well as why do they happen and affect certain people. Selbin touches on three topics: revolution, rebellion, and resistance. These topics are separated into four categories; four different stories that centers around revolution in the world. Three aspects of the stories that are used to relate and connect revolutions are myth, mimesis, and memory. The three words rebellions, revolution and resistance come from some ancient myths. Those myths involve Greco-Roman revolutionary leaders, some local events that are considered legendary and also recent revolutions and social movements that attributed to society. With these different stories and Selbin's focus on society and on culture, Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance offers another perspective on the connection, distincti...
Early 2011 uprisings swept across the Middle East and North Africa, and many rebellions are still going on today. The Arab region has seen revolts and conflict since the 1800‘s, but only recently have these revolts been redirected to the problems of Arab society (Ghannam, J. 2011 pg 4-5)The Arab Spring Uprising was first sparked in Tunisia and eventually struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and then spread to other countries. Citizens throughout these countries were dissatisfied with the rule of their local governments. Issues like human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, dictators...
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
The French Revolution was one of the larger social revolutions. It can be considered a revolution on the political, social, religious, and economic front, although the biggest causes were social. The French Revolution began on July 14, 1789, with the fall of Bastille and continued until the rise of power of Napoleon Bonaparte. The main re...
Causes of the French Revolution On July 14, 1789, several starving working people of Paris and sixty soldiers seized control of the Bastille, forever changing the course of French history. The seizing of the Bastille wasn’t caused by one event, but several underlying causes such as the Old Regime, the raising of taxes, the American revolution, and the idea and beliefs of the philosophers. The immediate causes of the revolution were the rising price of bread and the locking of the third estate out of its meeting hall. Finally, the spark was the ordering of the Swiss guards to Paris by Louis the XVI. The first underlying cause of the French Revolution was the Old Regime.
The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.
In every revolution, there is a goal that each country they are fighting for. First, let’s talk about the Peoples Power Revolution. Filipino people wanted Ferdinand Marcos, former President of the Philippines for almost 20 years to end his dictatorship. What started as a reign of honor later transcended to a reign of horror. What do I mean by that? During his first term as a President of the Philippines, he promised and showed all the hopeful Filipino people to have a prosperous Philippine which he did. However, things started to become messy when he was on his second and third term as a President. He corrupted and putting his own country into big debt. He also declared the Martial law where in the country was under the control of militarist forces, and which the people have no civil rights. Marcos was accused of ordering his troops to shoot his presidency opponent B...