2.
“In the 1920’s and 1930’s, a number of historians and
sociologists surveyed the most famous revolutions in the
West: the English Revolution of 1640, the American
Revolution of 1776, the French Revolution of 1789, and
the Russian Revolution of 1917. These writers wanted to
identify common patterns of events in the major
revolutions. They succeeded in finding a remarkable
correspondence among the major events in each of these
revolutions. Several of their observations on the “natural
history” of revolutions have proven valid so often that
they appear to be law-like empirical generalizations:”
3. 1. “Prior to a revolution, the bulk of the “intellectuals”—
journalists, poets, playwrights, essayists, teachers, members of the
clergy, lawyers, and trained members of the bureaucracy—cease to
support the regime, write condemnations, and demand major
reforms.”
In France plays of Voltaire and Beaumarchais
In England Puritan preachers
Russian Nobles demand parliament
Why is intellectual support so important to the
formation of a revolution?
4. 2. “Just prior to the fall of the old regime, the state
attempts to meet criticism by undertaking major
reforms.”
Reforms of Louis XVI in France
Stolypin reforms in Russia
Boxer reforms in China
“If the necessity for [reforms] comes in troubled
times, you are too late for harsh measures; and mild
ones will not help you, for they will be considered as
forced from you, and no one will be under any
obligation to you for them.” - Machiavelli
5. 3. “The actual fall of the regime begins with an acute
political crisis brought on by the government’s inability to
deal with some economic, military, or political problem
rather than by the action of a revolutionary opposition.”
State bankruptcy
Weakened command of military forces
Revolutionary leaders long powerless, suddenly find
themselves able to act.
6. 4. “Even where revolutionaries have united solidly
against the old regime, following its collapse their
internal conflicts eventually cause problems.”
Brief period of jubilation followed by turmoil
Development of factions:
conservatives, moderates, and radicals
“The results of such disunity among revolutionaries
range from coups to civil war.”
7. 5. “The first group to seize the reins of state
are moderate reformers.”
Bazargan in Iran
Moderates rarely hold power for long…
8. 6. “While the moderates seek to reconstruct rule on the
basis of moderate reform and often employ organizational
forms left over from the old regime, alternative, more radical
centers of mass mobilization spring up with new forms of
organization.”
France: Girondin assembly versus Jacobins
America: moderate critics of King George versus the
Sons of Liberty
Why do moderate reforms often fail?
9. 7. “The great changes in the organization and ruling ideology of
a society that follow successful revolutions occur not when the old
regime first falls, but when the radical, alternative, mass-
mobilizing organizations succeed in supplanting the moderates.”
Because moderates seek continuity they often fail to
make sufficient changes.
“The success of radicals generally comes from their
willingness to take extreme measures, both in
dealing with pressing problems and in securing their
rule.”
However, in examples of “colonial liberation” (i.e.
America 1776, Indonesia 1945, Algeria 1962) where
the ruling body is external, fairly moderate groups
can maintain control.
10. 8. “The disorder brought by the revolution and the
implementation of radical control usually results in
forced imposition of order by coercive rule.”
The “Terror” in France
The gulag in Russia
Police state in Communist China
Control is maintained through fear…
11. 9. “The struggles between radicals and moderates and
between defenders of the revolution and external enemies
frequently allow military leaders to move from obscurity to
commanding, even absolute, leadership.”
America - George Washington
England - Oliver Cromwell
France - Napoleon
China - Mao
12. 10. “The radical phase of the revolution eventually
gives way to a phase of pragmatism and moderate
pursuit of progress within the new status quo.”
Fall of Robespierre in France
Khrushchev's rejection of Stalin in Russia
What factors lead to rejection of radicalism?
