COURSE EXPECTATION TOPIC:
The State and its institutions;
development of state, democracy, post-imperialism, nationalism.
Complete Topic Question and Extensive Question Dissection:
"A social order in favor of a new system" "benefited the people" "In support and against revolutions"
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Have revolutions ever made the world a better place? Examine two revolutions in support of your view.
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"The people/citizens" "Inspect; Investigate"
"A social order in favor of a new system" "benefited the people" "In support and against revolutions"
^ ^ ^
Have revolutions ever made the world a better place? Examine two revolutions in support of your view.
^ ^
"The people/citizens" "Inspect; Investigate"
Paraphrased Question:
Has a forcible overthrow of a government ever benefited the people of that area? Use two revolutions to show they have made a positive impact on an area, then use two examples demonstrating revolutions that have impacted an area negatively.
Has a forcible overthrow of a government ever benefited the people of that area? Use two revolutions to show they have made a positive impact on an area, then use two examples demonstrating revolutions that have impacted an area negatively.
Two Differing Viewpoints:
While there are many different outcomes after civil warfare, these outcomes can generally be classified as either positive or negative.
One viewpoint is that revolutions are necessary and clearly make the world a better place.
Another is that revolutions are a cancer in our society that only leads to more bloodshed and hardships.
While there are many different outcomes after civil warfare, these outcomes can generally be classified as either positive or negative.
One viewpoint is that revolutions are necessary and clearly make the world a better place.
Another is that revolutions are a cancer in our society that only leads to more bloodshed and hardships.
Revolutions that Resulted in Positive Outcomes
The American Revolution
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Non-cooperation Movement
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The Warsaw Uprising
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The French Revolution
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Revolutions that Resulted in Negative Outcomes
The Nicaraguan Revolution
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Red October
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Arab Spring
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The Somali Revolution
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Source Information for Positive Outcomes
The American Revolution
The American Revolution (1775-83) also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, is a conflict that rose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.
Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence.
France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1779, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783.
Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years after the war's end, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict.
British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris.
At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.
The American Revolution (1775-83) also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, is a conflict that rose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.
Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence.
France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1779, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783.
Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years after the war's end, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict.
British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris.
At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution, though it seemed a failure in 1799 and appeared nullified by 1815, had far-reaching results.
In France, the bourgeois and landowning classes emerged as the dominant power.
Feudalism was dead; social order and contractual relations were consolidated by the Code Napoleon, while The Revolution unified France and enhanced the power of the national state.
The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars tore down the ancient structure of Europe, hastened the advent of nationalism, and inaugurated the era of modern, total warfare.
Although some historians view the Reign of Terror as an ominous precursor of modern totalitarianism, others argue that this ignores the vital role the Revolution played in establishing the precedents of such democratic institutions as elections, representative government, and constitutions. The failed attempts of the urban lower middle classes to secure economic and political gains foreshadowed the class conflicts of the 19th century.
While major historical interpretations of the French Revolution differ greatly, nearly all agree that it had an extraordinary influence on the making of the modern world.
The French Revolution, though it seemed a failure in 1799 and appeared nullified by 1815, had far-reaching results.
In France, the bourgeois and landowning classes emerged as the dominant power.
Feudalism was dead; social order and contractual relations were consolidated by the Code Napoleon, while The Revolution unified France and enhanced the power of the national state.
The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars tore down the ancient structure of Europe, hastened the advent of nationalism, and inaugurated the era of modern, total warfare.
Although some historians view the Reign of Terror as an ominous precursor of modern totalitarianism, others argue that this ignores the vital role the Revolution played in establishing the precedents of such democratic institutions as elections, representative government, and constitutions. The failed attempts of the urban lower middle classes to secure economic and political gains foreshadowed the class conflicts of the 19th century.
While major historical interpretations of the French Revolution differ greatly, nearly all agree that it had an extraordinary influence on the making of the modern world.
The Non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi and was supported by the Indian National Congress.
After the Jallianwala Bagh incident, Gandhi started the Non-Cooperation movement. It aimed to resist British occupation in India through nonviolent means. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the Indian values of honor and integrity.
The ideals of Ahimsa and nonviolence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer 1920, they feared that the movement might lead to popular nonviolence.
After the Jallianwala Bagh incident, Gandhi started the Non-Cooperation movement. It aimed to resist British occupation in India through nonviolent means. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the Indian values of honor and integrity.
The ideals of Ahimsa and nonviolence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer 1920, they feared that the movement might lead to popular nonviolence.
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The Uprising was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces.
However, the Soviet advance stopped short, enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.
However, the Soviet advance stopped short, enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.
Analysis:
Without these four revolutions, the life, culture, and overall infrastructures of these societies would be in total shambles today, if not entirely nonexistent. These revolutions helped to solidify basic civil rights for citizens, as well as creating powerful and capable centralized governments. If these revolutions were to have never taken place, the life and future of these citizens and governments would be impacted severely in an extremely negative way.
Source Information for Negative Outcomes
The Nicaraguan Revolution
For two decades, the hemispheric policy of the United States has been haunted by the specter of "another Cuba." The fear that Cuba's revolutionary upheaval might be repeated elsewhere energized the Alliance for Progress and, when progress gave way to order, that same fear justified providing counterinsurgency assistance to a continent increasingly dominated by military dictatorships.
The collapse of the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua has made this fear more palpable than ever. The United States labored mightily over the past year to prevent the accession of a Sandinista government in Nicaragua, but in the end was reduced to reluctantly arranging the terms of transition from Somoza to a provisional government appointed by the guerrillas. Preoccupied with isolating the Sandinistas, Washington policymakers consistently under-estimated their strength and exaggerated that of Somoza. Now that he is gone, the Cuba specter still hovers, threatening to obscure U.S. understanding of the dynamics of post-Somoza politics just as it obscured the dynamics of his collapse..
The Somoza dynasty rested upon two pillars of support: the National Guard, transformed by patronage into a personalistic instrument of political repression, and the backing of the United States, ensured by the Somozas' anti-communism and their ability to maintain order. Though their reign did little to alleviate the tremendous poverty of one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, the Somozas proved adept at personal enrichment. At the end, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, son of the Guard's first commander, controlled an economic empire estimated to be worth nearly a billion dollars, including one-third of the nation's arable land and many of the major industries. So complete was his economic control that foreign investors avoided Nicaragua for want of any reasonable investment opportunities.
Founded in 1962, the FSLN, the Sandinistas, were one of the many guerrilla organizations spawned in Latin America by the example of the Cuban Revolution. It had scant success during its first decade, being routed by the National Guard in its only two serious military ventures. Though it gained strength in the rural north after the earthquake, in 1974 it still had fewer than one hundred members. Then, on December 27, 1974, 25 FSLN guerrillas invaded a Managua Christmas party, capturing 12 of Nicaragua's most prominent business and political leaders. The guerrillas exchanged their hostages for 14 political prisoners, one million dollars in ransom, and safe passage to Cuba. The boldness of the Christmas operation brought the FSLN national recognition, just as Fidel Castro's abortive 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks elevated him to national prominence in the struggle against Batista.
Somoza's embarrassment over the Christmas raid led him to embark upon a war of extermination against the FSLN. He declared a state of siege, created an elite counterinsurgency force within the National Guard, and obtained an 80 percent increase in U.S. military aid. The National Guard then proceeded to conduct a reign of terror in the northern departments of Zelaya, Matagalpa and Segovia, where the FSLN had been most active. For two years, peasants in those areas were subjected to a systematic campaign of torture and mass execution. To deprive the FSLN of support, 80 percent of the rural population was uprooted and herded into resettlement camps. The countryside then became a free-fire zone.
Such gross violations of human rights appalled Nicaragua's moderates and earned the Somoza government well-deserved international opprobrium. In January 1977, Nicaragua's Roman Catholic bishops joined in a pastoral letter accusing the National Guard of "humiliating and inhuman treatment ranging from torture and rape to summary execution." Reports by both Amnesty International and the U.S. Department of State confirmed the bishops' charges.
Then, in October 1977, the supposedly defunct FSLN launched a series of small-scale attacks on National Guard garrisons in five cities. Though the attackers were easily driven off, the assaults shattered the myth of Somoza's invulnerability and provided additional fuel to the burgeoning opposition's moderate and radical wings. Coincident with the attacks, 12 prominent Nicaraguan professionals exiled in Costa Rica (el Grupo de Los Doce) praised the Sandinistas' "political maturity," and asserted that the FSLN would have to play a role in any permanent solution to Nicaragua's problems.
For two decades, the hemispheric policy of the United States has been haunted by the specter of "another Cuba." The fear that Cuba's revolutionary upheaval might be repeated elsewhere energized the Alliance for Progress and, when progress gave way to order, that same fear justified providing counterinsurgency assistance to a continent increasingly dominated by military dictatorships.
The collapse of the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua has made this fear more palpable than ever. The United States labored mightily over the past year to prevent the accession of a Sandinista government in Nicaragua, but in the end was reduced to reluctantly arranging the terms of transition from Somoza to a provisional government appointed by the guerrillas. Preoccupied with isolating the Sandinistas, Washington policymakers consistently under-estimated their strength and exaggerated that of Somoza. Now that he is gone, the Cuba specter still hovers, threatening to obscure U.S. understanding of the dynamics of post-Somoza politics just as it obscured the dynamics of his collapse..
The Somoza dynasty rested upon two pillars of support: the National Guard, transformed by patronage into a personalistic instrument of political repression, and the backing of the United States, ensured by the Somozas' anti-communism and their ability to maintain order. Though their reign did little to alleviate the tremendous poverty of one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, the Somozas proved adept at personal enrichment. At the end, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, son of the Guard's first commander, controlled an economic empire estimated to be worth nearly a billion dollars, including one-third of the nation's arable land and many of the major industries. So complete was his economic control that foreign investors avoided Nicaragua for want of any reasonable investment opportunities.
Founded in 1962, the FSLN, the Sandinistas, were one of the many guerrilla organizations spawned in Latin America by the example of the Cuban Revolution. It had scant success during its first decade, being routed by the National Guard in its only two serious military ventures. Though it gained strength in the rural north after the earthquake, in 1974 it still had fewer than one hundred members. Then, on December 27, 1974, 25 FSLN guerrillas invaded a Managua Christmas party, capturing 12 of Nicaragua's most prominent business and political leaders. The guerrillas exchanged their hostages for 14 political prisoners, one million dollars in ransom, and safe passage to Cuba. The boldness of the Christmas operation brought the FSLN national recognition, just as Fidel Castro's abortive 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks elevated him to national prominence in the struggle against Batista.
Somoza's embarrassment over the Christmas raid led him to embark upon a war of extermination against the FSLN. He declared a state of siege, created an elite counterinsurgency force within the National Guard, and obtained an 80 percent increase in U.S. military aid. The National Guard then proceeded to conduct a reign of terror in the northern departments of Zelaya, Matagalpa and Segovia, where the FSLN had been most active. For two years, peasants in those areas were subjected to a systematic campaign of torture and mass execution. To deprive the FSLN of support, 80 percent of the rural population was uprooted and herded into resettlement camps. The countryside then became a free-fire zone.
Such gross violations of human rights appalled Nicaragua's moderates and earned the Somoza government well-deserved international opprobrium. In January 1977, Nicaragua's Roman Catholic bishops joined in a pastoral letter accusing the National Guard of "humiliating and inhuman treatment ranging from torture and rape to summary execution." Reports by both Amnesty International and the U.S. Department of State confirmed the bishops' charges.
Then, in October 1977, the supposedly defunct FSLN launched a series of small-scale attacks on National Guard garrisons in five cities. Though the attackers were easily driven off, the assaults shattered the myth of Somoza's invulnerability and provided additional fuel to the burgeoning opposition's moderate and radical wings. Coincident with the attacks, 12 prominent Nicaraguan professionals exiled in Costa Rica (el Grupo de Los Doce) praised the Sandinistas' "political maturity," and asserted that the FSLN would have to play a role in any permanent solution to Nicaragua's problems.
The October Revolution, officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution, and commonly referred to as Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a seizure of state power instrumental in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917.
It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 (by the Julian or Old Style calendar, which corresponds to 7 November 1917 in the Gregorian or New Style calendar).
It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 (by the Julian or Old Style calendar, which corresponds to 7 November 1917 in the Gregorian or New Style calendar).
The Somali Revolution
The Somali Revolution started in 1986, when President Siad Barre began attacking clan-based groups opposed to his rule with his special forces, the "Red Berets" (Duub Cas).
The dissidents had been gaining strength for nearly a decade following his abrupt switch of allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States and the disastrous Ogaden War of 1977-1978. When Barre was injured in an automobile accident on May 23, 1986, rivals within Barre's own government and revolutionary groups became bolder and entered into open conflict.
Barre, who had seized power in a military coup October 21, 1969 was toppled on January 26, 1991.
Subsequently, Somalia descended into Civil War as competing warlords carved out zones for themselves. Two regions of the country declared unilateral independence. Although they are not recognized by the international community, they do have functional governments.
A chronic lack of resources continues to fuel conflict as clans compete for a share of what is insufficient to meet everybody's needs.
The United Nations was involved on the ground in Somalia from 1992 until 1995, protecting humanitarian operations and trying to create conditions conducive to achieving reconciliation and peace between the competing factions. Loss of life led to a complete UN withdrawal in March, 1995.
Subsequently, the UN has encouraged Djibouti and other African nations to mediate and to pursue a peace plan. Although the United Nations remains involved, from a distance, in the peace-process, the international community has become increasingly reluctant to commit peace-keeping troops in situations where an agreement is not already in place between different parties to arrive at a workable solution.
Only when the causes of conflict in Somalia are addressed, followed by an equitable distribution of resources across all the communities, will peace become possible.
The Somali Revolution started in 1986, when President Siad Barre began attacking clan-based groups opposed to his rule with his special forces, the "Red Berets" (Duub Cas).
The dissidents had been gaining strength for nearly a decade following his abrupt switch of allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States and the disastrous Ogaden War of 1977-1978. When Barre was injured in an automobile accident on May 23, 1986, rivals within Barre's own government and revolutionary groups became bolder and entered into open conflict.
Barre, who had seized power in a military coup October 21, 1969 was toppled on January 26, 1991.
Subsequently, Somalia descended into Civil War as competing warlords carved out zones for themselves. Two regions of the country declared unilateral independence. Although they are not recognized by the international community, they do have functional governments.
A chronic lack of resources continues to fuel conflict as clans compete for a share of what is insufficient to meet everybody's needs.
The United Nations was involved on the ground in Somalia from 1992 until 1995, protecting humanitarian operations and trying to create conditions conducive to achieving reconciliation and peace between the competing factions. Loss of life led to a complete UN withdrawal in March, 1995.
Subsequently, the UN has encouraged Djibouti and other African nations to mediate and to pursue a peace plan. Although the United Nations remains involved, from a distance, in the peace-process, the international community has become increasingly reluctant to commit peace-keeping troops in situations where an agreement is not already in place between different parties to arrive at a workable solution.
Only when the causes of conflict in Somalia are addressed, followed by an equitable distribution of resources across all the communities, will peace become possible.
The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and surroundings.
While the wave of initial revolutions and protests had expired by mid-2012, some refer to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to aftermath of revolutions and civil wars post mid-2012 as the Arab Winter.
While the wave of initial revolutions and protests had expired by mid-2012, some refer to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to aftermath of revolutions and civil wars post mid-2012 as the Arab Winter.
Analysis:
Due to these various revolutions that have taken place in these destitute and broken nations, the once prideful and powerful countries of Nicaragua, Somalia, and the entire Middle East is now on the brink of total anarchy. With these revolutions came only bloodshed, poverty, and disparity, and only managed to make matters worse. Russia is the exception, as it is one of the greatest superpowers in the world. However, after Red October took place, Russia was transformed into the cold, heartless, communistic society it is today, and as a result, its people are heavily oppressed and persecuted.