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American, French, and Russian revolutions
History of revolutions essay
American, French, and Russian revolutions
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This essay examines revolutions in order to find reasons for their success and failure. To prevent having a narrow view or making false conclusions, I will use a wide range of different failed and successful revolutions from different regions and different eras. This will inevitably limit the depth of analysis of a specific case study.
To properly determine the factors affecting success or failure of a revolution, it is first necessary to clearly define what is meant by ‘revolution’. Robert Dix defines revolution as “a process intended by its initiator to win power by violent means, in order to effect a radical restructuring of a country's polity, economy, society, and external relationships.” (Dix 1983, 423) Skocpol furthermore says that “[T]he word ‘revolution’ [has a] modern connotation of a fundamental socio-political change accompanied by violent upheavals from below.” (Skocpol 1988, 151) Both of these definitions take violence as a necessary part of a revolution. That, however, is too narrow a view. It is possible for revolutionaries to use other means, such as strikes and n...
Brinton posits that revolutions are born in during times of unusual economic unrest and political upheaval. Such societies which produce revolutions aren’t those where there are “no expressions of discontent with the government or with existing institutions, in which no laws are ever
Revolutions have occurred throughout history. The evolution of revolutions might be comparable to the different stages of an illness. Similar to a sickness, revolutions can be studied in stages. The different stages of an illness included the inoculation, symptomatic, crisis, and convalescence stages. In each of the stages, events occurred that may lead to the next stage in the development of the disease. Resembling an illness, revolutions also happened in stages. The revolutions stages are comparative to the stages of an illness like the flu. The fever model could be used to show the progression of the Haitian and the Gran Colombian Revolutions.
Many revolutions have taken place throughout history, ranging from the unremarkable to the truly memorable, such as the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution and the American Revolution. Through an examination of the social, cultural, economic and political causes of the American Revolution, an exploration of key arguments both for and against the American Revolution, and an analysis of the social, cultural, economic and political changes brought about by the American Revolution it can be demonstrated unequivocally that the American Revolution was indeed truly revolutionary.
By observing the recurring trends throughout history, an individual can conclude that the modern world has evolved through a series of revolutionary eras. Revolutions have occurred since the beginning of mankind and continue to progress into the future. Ranging from a sharp change in political organization or structure, to social divisions within society, all the way to forward-thinking innovations, revolutions have impacted the course of history in numerous ways. Although many revolutions are titled with a specific name to identify the precise location or particular group of people involved, such as the American Revolution or the French Revolution, there are many occurrences in which a revolution is simply identified with a categorization term. However, among all the revolutions that have occurred in known history, there is a specific revolutionary period that has aided in the progress of humanity in addition to establishing the early concepts that shape our modern world. Originating in Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution has transformed the lifestyles of people around the world. However, the progressive transformation introduced a series of outcomes contrary to the prior regime. The Industrial Revolution triggered the growth of Great Britain’s economy, reset the social class divisions, and led to the formation of political reformation.
A revolution, by definition, is the overthrow of one government followed by replacement with another. The American Revolution against the British during 1775 to 1783 and the French Revolution pitting the French people against their own government during 1789 to 1799 were both very important political and social turnovers. This movement towards the establishment of a constitutional government influenced political thought throughout the world. By closely examining three of the main causes of these revolutions, it is clear that although the two revolutions have their differences, the basis of cause for the revolutions have, overall, much stronger similarities.
French and Russian Revolutions Both the French and Russian revolutions occurred for two main reasons. Both of these revolutions were the direct result of bad leadership and a bad economy. These two reasons, along with other factors, caused both of these revolutions. Although they were both similar, they also had differences. A difference between the two is that the Russians had an unsuccessful "pre-revolution" in 1905.
Revolutions are effected by the morals of the country. Depending on where the country stands morally, what they considered to be right and wrong, will affect how a revolution will processed. The morals of the leaders will effect a revolution. Where these leaders stand on their morals will affect the direction that the people wish to go. People by nature go with the flow, and if their leader is going in one direction, wither good or bad, that is the directions the people will go. Maximilion de Robespierre was the leader of the French Revolution. He said, “The Revolution is the war of liberty against its enemies.” The liberty that Robespierre was picturing was one of his own making with bloodshed, and violence against the French people. His revolution ended up killing the King and Queen of France, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette his queen, by beheading them. Robe...
On Revolution, a book Hannah Arendt published in 1963, after Eichmann’s trial. The book didn’t gain a lot of popularity at first due to the remarkable Eichmann in Jerusalem notability. On Revolution is a work of dichotomies. Arendt compared and differentiated between the French and the American Revolution. How one was successful and how the other was less successful according to her perspectives. To begin with, Arendt defines revolution as a new beginning, a novelty, an irresistible force, something that is unprecedented that cannot be controlled. She also stressed further more on this point that a revolution should have the ability to create something new that would result in more space of freedom. Arendt does not favor the liberal view of freedom, as it is the case in the American model: “pursuit of happiness”. Freedom, according to Arendt, is the freedom of participating in the political life, being an active member in politics instead of being partially active during the elections only. Arendt observed these revolutions and wanted to know what they signify. On Revolution is a narrative of the French and the American revolutions. The book received criticism and Arendt’s historical account came under-attack by historians and experts from the both side. The fact that she referred to the American Revolution as a revolution instead of calling it the war of independence stunned many. Hence not only her views and claims were problematic to some but also the title. In this paper, I’m going to argue and point out the differences between the French Revolution and the American Revolution in line with Arendt’s theory of revolution.
Revolutions are a prevalent part of world history and have shaped our world into what it is today. The French and the Bolshevik revolutions serve as just two examples of the many revolutions throughout history that have brought about changes to their respective countries. Both of these revolutions had distinct causes and were stimulated by other revolutions in the past. Since these two revolutions happened many years apart, with the French Revolution in the late sixteenth century and the Bolshevik Revolution in the early twentieth century, the ideologies behind them were somewhat different. The people went the extremes in both countries to bring about the desired changes. The revolutions were both radical because of the shortage of food and the uprising of the people. In both revolutions, there is a quest for change and the citizens were willing to go as far as they needed to go to make that change, even if it meant the people had to overthrow their leaders.
The Age of Revolutions was a period of time in which many global revolutions took place, especially within America and Europe. A revolution is an overthrow of government or social order in favour of political change. There were many revolutions that took place between 1760 and 1840, most notable being the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783, and the French Revolution beginning in 1789 and ending in 1799. These, along with the Napoleonic Empire, which carried on from the French Revolution and lasted until 1815; all greatly transformed the Atlantic world. This occurred through these global revolutions, which inspired another revolution within the slave island of Haiti. The focus of this essay will be on the aforementioned revolutions,
A great revolutionary once said, “The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” The revolutionary in this quote, Che Guevara, epitomizes the notion that revolutions are not a random occurrence but rather a continuous push for a fundamental change. In the framework of revolutions that have occurred in the world, most notably those that have occurred in Britain, America, France, and Haiti; one realizes that the elements of competition and mass mobilization are intrinsic to understanding the successes of each revolutionary movement. Yet, the catalysts and societal implications for each of these revolutions provides different venues of implementation that separates it from others.
Historical Essay: The role of internal and external forces in the collapse of the Tsar
1789 marked a historic year in the struggles against slavery in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. The French Revolution played an important part in influencing the Haitian Revolution of 1791; it gave way to the Haitian Revolution which consisted of many other separate revolutions that occurred at the same time. Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti, had the most wealth in terms of crops that could be excavated by black slaves. Toussaint l’Overture was a former black slave who was forced to pick up these crops; little did he know he was the person who sparked the Haitian Revolution. Toussaint, the leader of the Revolution, was the first person to strike. He took on a white planter who was controlling slaves, on August 21, 1791. Many people during this time period wondered how and why this revolution took place, Michel-Rolph Trouillot even stated that it was unthinkable. In his book, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, Trouillot argues that the Haitian Revolution was and remains unimaginable today; the ideas of race and slavery are challenged, along with the ostracism of Haiti.
The Revolutions of 1848 have been described as the “greatest revolution of the century”1. From its mild beginnings in Palermo, Sicily in January 1848, it did not take long to spread across the rest of Europe (Britain and Russia were the only countries not to experience such revolutions). “In 1848 more states on the European continent were overcome by revolution than ever before and ever since”2. The Revolutions became more radical but after June 1848 these revolutionary events began to overlap with those of counterrevolutionary actions, thus enabling the old regimes to return to power. 1848 was described as “a sunny spring of the peoples abruptly interrupted by the winter of the princes”3.
“Revolutions are the locomotives of history” (Karl Marx). The concept of how far we’ve progressed in the past couple of centuries is hard to grasp. A revolution is defined as an instance of revolving and I think this quote from Karl Marx sums up the significance of revolutions in relevance to us as the human race; they pull us forward and allow us to progress. It’s whether or not these progressions are beneficial or not that makes or breaks the usefulness of a revolution. Although the industrial revolution in Britain had its ups and downs, it ultimately paved the road for Britain to become the world power it is today. There is much discussion about how, or why, the Industrial revolution started in Britain. I contribute this to three main attributes of Britain; the scientific and agricultural revolution, the cheap energy economy, and their social structure.