Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: revolutio, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's state, class, ethnic or religious structures.[1][2][3] A revolution involves the attempted change in political regimes, substantial mass mobilization, and efforts to force change through non-institutionalized means (such as mass demonstrations, protests, strikes, or violence).[1]
"Political revolution" redirects here. For Trotskyist concept, see Political revolution (Trotskyism). For other uses, see Revolution (disambiguation) and Revolutions (disambiguation).
Revolutions have occurred throughout human history and vary widely in terms of methods, success or failure, duration, and motivating ideology.[1][4] Revolutions may start with urban insurrections and the collapse of a regime or they may start in the periphery through guerilla war or peasant revolts.[1] Regimes may be vulnerable to revolutions due to military defeats, affronts to national pride and identity, repression and corruption.[1] Revolutions may prompt counter-revolutions that seek to prevent a revolution or reverse the course on an ongoing or successful revolution.[5]
The international system may diffuse ideologies and models of governance, such as nationalism, self-determination, republicanism, liberalism, democracy, fascism and socialism, that inspire revolutions.[6]
Notable revolutions in recent centuries include the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the French Revolution (1789–1799), the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1826), the European Revolutions of 1848, the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Chinese Communist Revolution of the 1940s, the Decolonisation of Africa, the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the European Revolutions of 1989.
Etymology[edit]
The word "revolucion" is known in French from the 13th century, and "revolution" in English by the late fourteenth century, with regard to the revolving motion of celestial bodies. "Revolution" in the sense of representing abrupt change in a social order is attested by at least 1450.[7][8] Political usage of the term had been well established by 1688 in the description of the replacement of James II with William III. This incident was termed the "Glorious Revolution".[9]
There are many different typologies of revolutions in social science and literature.[16]
Alexis de Tocqueville differentiated between:
One of several different Marxist typologies[18] divides revolutions into:
Charles Tilly, a modern scholar of revolutions, differentiated between;
Mark Katz[21] identified six forms of revolution;
These categories are not mutually exclusive; the Russian Revolution of 1917 began with the urban revolution to depose the Czar, followed by rural revolution, followed by the Bolshevik coup in November. Katz also cross-classified revolutions as follows;
A further dimension to Katz's typology[23] is that revolutions are either against (anti-monarchy, anti-dictatorial, anti-communist, anti-democratic) or for (pro-fascism, communism, nationalism etc.). In the latter cases, a transition period is often necessary to decide on the direction taken.
Other types of revolution, created for other typologies, include the social revolutions; proletarian or communist revolutions (inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with Communism); failed or abortive revolutions (revolutions that fail to secure power after temporary victories or large-scale mobilization); or violent vs. nonviolent revolutions.
The term revolution has also been used to denote great changes outside the political sphere. Such revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed in society, culture, philosophy, and technology much more than political systems; they are often known as social revolutions.[24] Some can be global, while others are limited to single countries. One of the classic examples of the usage of the word revolution in such context is the Industrial Revolution, Scientific Revolution or the Commercial Revolution. Such revolutions also fit the "slow revolution" definition of Tocqueville.[25]
A similar example is the Digital Revolution.