Revolutions: A Whole World To Change

Over the many years of humanity conflicts have been abundant. Some of the most influential conflicts have been a part of revolutions. Revolutions have changed and shaped the world that we live in. They created countries, spread ideas, and so much more. Revolutions always seem to be unique in their own sense but leave it to scientists to analyze  and interpret the way revolutions develop. One theorist by the name of Crane Brinton, who wrote the book anatomy of revolution. Studied some of the 4 biggest uprisings and revolutions ever to occur on the planet; The American revolution, British civil war, Russian revolution, French revolution. After many years of study, he devised 4 major stages that all the revolutions went through. The first stage is generally the longest and least noticeable of all the stages, Crane Brinton refers to it as the incubation stage. The second stage is when the revolution begins to influence the government that holds power. Bronton refers to it as the moderate stage. Intellectuals begin to latch onto the cause of the revolutionaries and the population begins to buy into the revolutionary ideals and ideas. By the time the third stage has come around, the country or state is in full conflict. Extremists have taken control of the revolution and many coin this phase  to be the climax of the revolution. This stage often decides what the government will look like post revolution. More often than not it results in violence and chaos in the country. Immediately following the 3rd stage the fourth and final stage begins. This stage begins a recovery process and moderates begin to control the government and they begin to rebuild the country. In the end the country looks very similar to old regime but with small changes influenced by the revolution. Once the fourth stage is reached it usually will lead to either peace or introduction to wars. For example the French revolution brought war to france following stage 4 but in the Russian revolution it brought peace.

 

How do Revolutions Started by the Different Wealth Classes Affect the Result of the Revolution?

In most revolutions the idea of change is usually made by the lower class. In the Haitian, French, Russian, and many other revolutions, this was the case. However, In a select few it is the people of the upper to mid classes to start the first stage of the revolution. The American revolution was a fantastic example of this type of revolution. After looking into these 2 vastly

different starting points, I began to create my own theory that answered this complicated question. The revolutions that originated from a higher class bracket seemed quite different at the first stage than those which started at a lower wealth bracket. The issues that the high wealth people fought for are very different than the lower class. For instance, the american revolution began over high taxes without representation.Contrast that to the beatings and trauma that took place in the saint-domingue before the haitian revolution. Similarly in the French revolution the lower class wanted lower taxes and were very angry about the nobles being so well off during a time of serious distress. At the second and third stage began this is where I believe that I see the biggest difference between the 2 beginnings. In the case of the upper class revolution, they begin to amass large numbers of supporters, mostly consisting of middle to lower class people. They bring them together by promoting patriotism and distaste to the current regime.

However, in the ones brought forth by the lower class they don’t seem to to recruit the upper class as the majority of them are united to fight to keep their power. This can be seen clearly in both the Haitian and Russian revolutions. In haiti, the white frenchman in power unite as a group and attempt to stop the slaves from revolt. In a much different situation but somewhat similar end result in Russia the upper class fought to keep the provisional government intact so to avoid the lower class to gain more power. Now as the revolution reaches stage 4 The differences are still apparent but this time they have very similar end results. As Crane Brinton discovered the new regime in most revolutions resembles something similar to the old one. Both revolutions started by each class end in the revolutionary leaders and and other prominent moderates sympathetic to the cause take power and create new governments. One important thing to note is that when the lower class takes over the government  the changes are usually much more dramatic whereas in revolutions begun by the upper class create governments very similar to to the old regimes. Overall, the biggest differences are in the first few stages of the revolution when they are started by the different classes

 

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