Links to the Past: Course Sites for Dr. Christopher Lovett

updated as of 9 Feb 03

Yahoo! Groups TASK Teachers

An Introduction to Revolutions

Age of Revolutions

Spring 2003

Undergraduate Students

What Do We Mean?

� Defining Revolutions mean different things to different folks.

� But what do we mean when we use the term?

� What do you consider to be a revolution?

Are These Revolutions?

� The Great French Revolution.

� The American Revolution.

� The Revolution in Haiti.

� The Industrial Revolution.

� The Russian Revolution.

� The Educational Revolution.

� The Computer Revolution.

� The Chinese Revolution.

The Most Common Meaning

� Often it means �Change.�

� But what kind of change?

� Violent change?

� A Reversal of the rulers and the ruled?

� We may also include violence and terror.

� One problem with the noun �revolution� is that is so �charged.�

Classic Definition of Revolution

Refining our Definition

� Society � The consciousness and mechanics of communal solidarity, for instance, tribal, peasant, kinship, and national.

� Regime � The Constitutional structure � democracy, oligarchy, monarchy.

� Government � The specific political and administrative institutions.

Exclusive vs. Inclusive

� The previous is the Inclusive view.

� The broad use of the term.

� Some historians, like the late great historian, Crane Brinton favored a more limited use to �The Great Revolutions� in the political and social sense.

� Brinton and others favor a more restrictive use of the term.

How do Americans Feel About Revolutions?

� When Americans hear the Bolshevik Exhortation �Workers of the World Arise� They think its Time for the coffee break.

� In the 1930s, it was common to hear your great grandparents say, �evolution, not revolution.�

� What does that mean?

� But Americans are generally fearful of revolutions.

� Especially of the left-wing type.

Absolutes and All That Jazz

� Nothing is �absolute� or �exact.�

� Ascertaining causation is often difficult.

� And models have to be developed to come to some form of understanding of the phenomena.

Systemic Problems in Studying Revolutions

� What sort of revolutions are we dealing with?

� What do we mean when we say �popular� or �democratic?�

� What is a territorial-nationalist revolution?

� What is an �abortive revolution?�

� Why does that happen?

� What is a �palace� or �harem� revolution?

� Are revolutions expansive?

� Do everyone become involved?

What About Trotsky?

� What did he mean when he spoke of �permanent revolution?�

� What impact would the Bolsheviks play in our understanding of revolutions?

� Are revolutions only on the left?

� Or can they be also on the right?

The Career of Lawrence Stone

� English historian who taught at Princeton.

� **He is also the author of the Causes of the English Revolution, 1529-1642.**

� He was fascinated by revolutions and other social events and took for a model that could be used to explain their causation.

� In doing so, he examined thoroughly the reasons for such mass social events.

� In doing so, he agrees with another scholar, Chalmers Johnson that Revolutions come in many different forms.

Chalmers Johnson Typology

� Jacquerie � Spontaneous peasant uprising carried out under the traditional authority figures, the church and crown.

� Millenarian Rebellion � similar to the first, but driven by feature of a planned utopia.

� Anarchistic Rebellion � Reaction to change.

� Jacobin Communist Revolution � Occurs in highly centralized states and the target is the government, regime and society.

� Conspiratorial Coup D�Etat � led by a small, dedicated elite.

� Militarized Mass Insurrection � Common in the 20^th Century.

What Then Makes Revolutions Possible?

� Many factors contribute to the outbreak of revolutions.

� Those may include an advancing economic society.

� Growing class and status antagonisms.

� An Alienated intelligentsia.

� Psychologically and inept ruling class.

� A government financial crisis.

Intended or Unintended

� Sometimes governments act in the best of intentions and things just go wrong.

� For example look at Parliament and the need to raise taxes.

� Or Louis XVI and his decision to call the Estates General into session.

� Or even the Nobles desire to restore their special perks.

� Sometimes things happen that were not intended.

Stone and the English Revolution Model

� Stone, after much thought, develop an interesting way to explain social conflict.

� He broke revolutions down to three distinct periods � the Preconditions � the long-term tensions that make revolutions possible.

� The Precipitants � those factors that make revolutions likely.

� The Triggers � the single event or events that led to the onset of a revolution.

An Introduction to Revolutions

Age of Revolutions

Spring 2003

Undergraduate Students

What Do We Mean?

� Defining Revolutions mean different things to different folks.

� But what do we mean when we use the term?

� What do you consider to be a revolution?

Are These Revolutions?

� The Great French Revolution.

� The American Revolution.

� The Revolution in Haiti.

� The Industrial Revolution.

� The Russian Revolution.

� The Educational Revolution.

� The Computer Revolution.

� The Chinese Revolution.

The Most Common Meaning

� Often it means �Change.�

� But what kind of change?

� Violent change?

� A Reversal of the rulers and the ruled?

� We may also include violence and terror.

� One problem with the noun �revolution� is that is so �charged.�

Classic Definition of Revolution

Refining our Definition

� Society � The consciousness and mechanics of communal solidarity, for instance, tribal, peasant, kinship, and national.

� Regime � The Constitutional structure � democracy, oligarchy, monarchy.

� Government � The specific political and administrative institutions.

Exclusive vs. Inclusive

� The previous is the Inclusive view.

� The broad use of the term.

� Some historians, like the late great historian, Crane Brinton favored a more limited use to �The Great Revolutions� in the political and social sense.

� Brinton and others favor a more restrictive use of the term.

How do Americans Feel About Revolutions?

� When Americans hear the Bolshevik Exhortation �Workers of the World Arise� They think its Time for the coffee break.

� In the 1930s, it was common to hear your great grandparents say, �evolution, not revolution.�

� What does that mean?

� But Americans are generally fearful of revolutions.

� Especially of the left-wing type.

Absolutes and All That Jazz

� Nothing is �absolute� or �exact.�

� Ascertaining causation is often difficult.

� And models have to be developed to come to some form of understanding of the phenomena.

Systemic Problems in Studying Revolutions

� What sort of revolutions are we dealing with?

� What do we mean when we say �popular� or �democratic?�

� What is a territorial-nationalist revolution?

� What is an �abortive revolution?�

� Why does that happen?

� What is a �palace� or �harem� revolution?

� Are revolutions expansive?

� Do everyone become involved?

What About Trotsky?

� What did he mean when he spoke of �permanent revolution?�

� What impact would the Bolsheviks play in our understanding of revolutions?

� Are revolutions only on the left?

� Or can they be also on the right?

The Career of Lawrence Stone

� English historian who taught at Princeton.

� He is also the author of the Causes of the English Revolution, 1529-1642.

� He was fascinated by revolutions and other social events and took for a model that could be used to explain their causation.

� In doing so, he examined thoroughly the reasons for such mass social events.

� In doing so, he agrees with another scholar, Chalmers Johnson that Revolutions come in many different forms.

Chalmers Johnson Typology

� Jacquerie � Spontaneous peasant uprising carried out under the traditional authority figures, the church and crown.

� Millenarian Rebellion � similar to the first, but driven by feature of a planned utopia.

� Anarchistic Rebellion � Reaction to change.

� Jacobin Communist Revolution � Occurs in highly centralized states and the target is the government, regime and society.

� Conspiratorial Coup D�Etat � led by a small, dedicated elite.

� Militarized Mass Insurrection � Common in the 20th Century.

What Then Makes Revolutions Possible?

� Many factors contribute to the outbreak of revolutions.

� Those may include an advancing economic society.

� Growing class and status antagonisms.

� An Alienated intelligentsia.

� Psychologically and inept ruling class.

� A government financial crisis.

Intended or Unintended

� Sometimes governments act in the best of intentions and things just go wrong.

� **He is also the author of the Causes of the English Revolution, 1529-1642.**

� Militarized Mass Insurrection � Common in the 20^th Century.