The Glorious Revolution (1688):
Blood less coup in England, Catholic King father replaced with a Protestant Queen daughter, supreme powers of monarchy taken away & an intermediary layer called Parliament added to govern, matters like levies & taxes now had to be routed through parliament, concept of "contractual government" invented.
Note: The parliament was still not elected directly by people, but represented by handpicked knights, wealthy & rich nobles by the King/Queen.
Formed basis of parliamentary democracy in world.
The American Revolution (1775–1783):
13 British colonies of US revolted against the British monarchy over taxes, fought 8 year way in alliance with French (earlier allies with Britain to expel French out of Canada), defeated Britan, signed treaty of Paris, independent.
Having witnessed the negatives of monarchy overlooking the parliament, adopted a different governance model despite both being of same British origins.
A layer of constitution brought in to ensure liberty & human equality, individual freedom.
The French Revolution (1789–1799):
The French army upon returning to France saw dismal condition of France under the King. Fighting for America to establish human freedom while their own population starved.
Result: King executed. Existing feudalism dismantled under the banner Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804):
A sugar rich French colony, took the above declaration literally & revolted against Napolean Bonaparte defeating him to create world's first black republic, world's only successful slave revolt that achieved in establishing an independent country. Napolean the Great?
Desperate & starved of cash, Napolean sold land to US (Louisiana) at 3 cents an acre, doubling the size of the country, which the French fought to liberate.
The Industrial Revolution (c. 1760–1840):
Shift from agriculture farming to factories in England aided by steam & machines. Widespread migration to cities, overcrowding, rich got richer while working class left to manage rising cost of living, lack of facilities. Gave rise to the phenom called Karl Marx whose writings became manuals for future uprisings.
The Russian Revolution (1917):
Widespread corruption, starvation, & casualties due to W.W-I. Revolt by Lenin's Bolsheviks in two stages: abdication of autocractic powers & provisional government setup (February revolution) followed by an official coup (October revolution). Established world's first communist state.
The Chinese Communist Revolution (1945–1949):
Result of devastation from W.W-II, established Mao Zedong, defeated nationalist Kuomintang forces who retreated to Taiwan. Inspired by victory of Communists in Soviet Union.
Why are these 7 major global revolutions important & what did you learn from them?
1. They are all interrelated. Each one triggered the other or inspired the next.
2. Issues can be different based on each country's times, needs & triggers but, when a population feels pain of being in the current setup is greater than the dangerous risks of revolution, they will still always go for the latter.
3. Inequality is just a consequence. It can be in any form. The root of it always is an out-of-touch ruler/government. When they see rich getting richer, favouritism, corruption, wealth concentration at the hands of few, heavy taxation, etc., they don't see inequality, they look at those at helm.
4. Revolt starts brewing when people begin to believe the system is unable to fix itself.
5. Any ideology, howsoever miniscule or failed, if then presented at the right time as an alternate will be accepted by people. It's human nature.
If every dissent is rejected, uprisings in neighbourhood rejected as factors not applicable to us, see abuse as violation but reject seeing underlying frustration of common man fed-up of system, reject ownership by drawing parallels with past wrongs, is fighting a lost battle. 260+ years of above history teaches revolutions are independent of ideology, issue or sect & take away even the best.
Prevention is better than cure.
VidurNeeti.
