This is a living post. I’ll be adding revolutions as I learn of them.
Revolutions shape countries and in many cases, the broader world. They give meaning to the often-repeated Margaret Mead quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” With that said, I wouldn’t say that all of those behind the revolutions I summarized were thoughtful with respect to general human well-being.
I’m highlighting revolutions that were both successful and launched by small, self-organized groups (e.g., Mao’s Cultural Revolution doesn’t count but Castro’s Cuban Revolution does).
Significance: made Canada an independent government in the British commonwealth.
Elites from Britain governed the colonies of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). In general, people were frustrated that laws and tax collection were dominated by representatives from Britain. Further political unrest developed in Upper Canada due to attempts to emulate a British social class of elites who lived off land rents, debate over whether former US citizens (after the war of 1812) should be allowed to own property or hold political office, and most importantly, elites using tax revenues to enrich themselves. Further political unrest developed in Lower Canada due to the belief of the French-speaking, Catholic majority that the English-speaking, Protestant governors of the colony wanted to destroy their way of life, an increase in non-French immigrants (especially when these immigrants were blamed for outbreaks of cholera and typhoid), falling grain prices, continually smaller divisions of farmland, and increases in dues paid to landlords. Lawyers and journalists served as the base of early reformers. Conflict took place in Lower Canada after the leader of Lower Canada’s reform movement, Louis Joseph Papineau, was arrested. Afterwards, a brief conflict occurred in Upper Canada. Both conflicts weren’t successful but they highlighted the need to reform Canada’s constitution. In 1841, the British government united the two colonies of Canada into a single Province of Canada. The success of the Industrial Revolution led to free-trade liberalism and a desire to dismantle the colonies. In the 1850s and 1860s, Canada’s economy grew, primarily due to increased trade with the US that replaced some trade with Britain. By the 1860s, the British government was eager to allow Canada to govern itself and to be rid of its obligation to defend them. In 1867, the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas (Ontario & Quebec) were united as four provinces, which created Canada and its own government. Other provinces joined later (command+f “a country in 13 parts” to see when each province joined, link).
back to the topSignificance: fall of Qing Dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China.
Western governments had constructed most railroads in China. To help local governments retain railroad earnings, the Qing Dynasty (a monarchy that ruled China from 1644 - 1912) allowed provinces to build their own railroads. But, the companies established to create these railroads were corrupt and poorly managed, which led to lots of construction delays. Frustrated with the provinces’ slow progress and having to pay huge debts due to the Boxer Protocol (after an unsuccessful attempt to remove foriegn powers from China, eight countries demanded what would be $10b in 2018 USD paid in indemnities), Qing authorities returned to working with foreigners by nationalizing provincial railroad ventures and selling them to foreign financiers (e.g., JP Morgan, CitiBank, HSBC). In Sichuan province, people were particularly unhappy with the nationalization order. As stockholders in a now nationalized railroad, their payout was much less than stockholders of railroads in other provinces. Students and merchants protested. The Governor-General of Sichuan arrested leaders of this protest. As protestors demanded their release, troops fired, killing 32 protestors. These deaths further enraged protestors. Meanwhile, the media in Hubei and Hunan criticized Qing authorities for bending to the will of foreigners (frustration over financing from foreigners wasn’t an isolated event; many Chinese were tired of years of colonialist pressure from Westerners and the wealth of Chinese elites). Confidence in the Qing Dynasty fell. On 10 October 1911, the New Army (an army established by the Qing Dynasty but was filled with Tongmenghui revolutionists) attacked the residence of the Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan Provinces. Revolutionists took control of Hubei and other cities. They negotiated with Qing military leaders and on February 12, 1912, the Empress abdicated the throne.
Significance: formation of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Treaty of Versailles allowed Japan to control Chinese land that Germany was forced to surrender after WW1. The Republic of China did nothing to prevent this, which sparked student protests that became the May Fourth Movement in 1919. During this period, intellectuals, primarily at Peking University, wanted to move away from Confucianism and towards western-style democracy and science. There was a growing belief that the Republic of China wasn’t addressing China’s problems. At Peking University, Marxist study groups were organized (Mao Zedong was a member), which led to the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921.
Significance: fall of the Republic of China and establishment of the Communist Party of China.
After China’s second war with Japan (ending in 1945 with Japan’s surrender due to pressure from the Allies of WW2) China entered the second phase of a civil war between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party (i.e., the Republic of China). The communists received financial aid from the Soviets and the nationalists from the USA. Ultimately, the communists defeated the nationalists and Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The communists won by utilizing guerilla warfare and enlisting the support of Chinese peasants through propaganda that highlighted the ROC’s failure to constrain hyperinflation and depicted the ROC as enemies of the common people of China. Nationalists retreated to Taiwan and held control of its government until 2000.
back to the topSignificance: end of Spanish rule over Cuba and establishment of the Republic of Cuba.
Cuba fought for independence from Spain over three wars. The reason for multiple wars is because Spain didn’t honor the reforms they promised Cuba at the end of each war. Cubans were frustrated with high taxes, lack of political rights, and trade restrictions. On October 10, 1868, a plantation owner named Carlos Manuel de Céspedes started the Ten Years’ War by proclaiming independence from Spain. Guerilla warfare was the fighting method of choice. The war ended after the Cubans signed the Pact of Zanjon, which promised various reforms (e.g., end of slavery). But, these reforms weren’t upheld. In 1879, Calixto García, a revolutionary leader who did not sign the Pact of Zanjón, led a new war against Spain; the Little War, which is seen as a continuation of the Ten Years’ War. But, the revolutionists lacked experienced leaders, weapons, foreign allies, and Cubans were exhausted from the prior 10 years of fighting. In September 1880, the revolutionists were defeated. Again, the reforms that Spain offered (representation in the Spanish parliment and abolishment of slavery) did little to change anything.
Cuban writer, José Julián Martí, drafted plans to recapture Cuba while living in exile in the US and gained support from the exile community in Florida. In April 1895, frustrated with more taxes and trade impositions, Cubans launched the Cuban War of Independence. Similar to past wars, the Cubans used guerrilla warfare to compensate for their lack of supplies and soldiers. Within months, revolutionists captured the eastern region. By 1897, revolutionists controlled most of the island, thanks in part to outmaneuvering the Spanish and winning the support of most Cubans (not all Cubans originally sided with the revolutionists; many of the soldiers in Spain’s army were volunteer Cubans). In February 1898, the USS Maine sank in Havana’s harbor, which sparked the Spanish-American war. By August, the US and Spain signed a preliminary peace treaty. Spain withdrew from Cuba. The US maintained an occupation force in Cuba until Cuba’s new constitution incorporated provisions of the Platt Amendment, which maintained that Cuba must allow a US naval base, US intervention in Cuba if necessary, avoid debt, and limit transacting with countries other than the US. In May 1902, the Republic of Cuba was created (albeit, under the eye of the US).
Significance: overthrow of a military dictatorship, establishment of Castro’s communist party, and beginning of the US embargo.
After the Republic of Cuba was created in 1902, Cuba went through many periods of corrupt presidents, isolated revolts, and US intervention. In 1952, Fulgencio Batista (a military leader and President of Cuba from 1940 - 1944) was running for President. Anticipating his defeat, he closed Congress and pushed elections to 1954. He was elected to a term set to begin in February 1955. But, around this time the US sharply cut sugar imports from Cuba. Uncertainty around sugar exports caused support for Batista to collapse. Anti-Batista groups denied the validity of the 1955 election. Among these groups was Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement. In 1952, two years after graduating from law school, Castro was a candidate for the Cuban People’s Party, but Batista’s coup preempted the election. As an alternative means of challenging the dictatorship, Fidel led ~160 men in an unsuccessful raid on a Santiago army barracks on July 26, 1953. He hoped the attack would ignite a general uprising against Batista, but most of the attackers were killed and Fidel and his brother Raúl were imprisoned. In 1955 the Castro brothers were released. Fidel went to Mexico, where he began organizing an invading force of Cuban exiles. The Castro brothers and 81 men entered Cuba on December 2, 1956, but most of the group was quickly killed or captured. Among the dozen who escaped were the Castro brothers and Che Guevara, who then began a guerrilla campaign against Batista in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
In 1957, Cuba entered a civil war. In March, a group of revolutionists (composed mostly of students who were independent from Castro) attempted to assassinate Batista and overthrow the government. Trade unionists attempted a general strike. In September, an uprising in Cienfuegos took control of the city’s naval station. In 1958, the revolution continued at huge economic cost; plantations were burned, bombings in Havana hurt tourism, and rebel activity in Oriente hurt the mining industry. In response, the US imposed an arms embargo on Cuba in mid-March. Batista postponed the June 1958 presidential election by almost eight months, citing increasing violence as the reason. Batista’s military then attacked Castro’s fighters but were quickly defeated. The rescheduled election of 1958 had three main candidates: Andrés Rivero Agüero, Batista’s chosen successor; Carlos Márquez Sterling, who was supported by moderates; and Ramón Grau San Martín, the candidate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Castro threatened violence against both candidates and voters in the days before the election. Unsurprisingly, the rebel-controlled provinces of Oriente and Las Villas had low voter turnout. When the results were announced, it was clear that the election was fraudulent. The moderate Márquez Sterling was awarded victory in the four provinces where legitimate voting had taken place, but Rivero Agüero was declared the overall winner thanks to ballot-stuffing by Batista (had Sterling won the election, the revolution may have played out differently but by interfering, Batista assured his own downfall).
After the election, support for Batista dropped. Although the army remained loyal, it wasn’t effective due to ammunition shortages from the US arms embargo. Castro’s forces (having successfully utilized guerilla warfare for years) could now match the army in pitched battle and often had better equipment (obtained from foreigners). In December 1958, Che Guevara captured a train filled with arms that were desperately needed by the army. Batista realized he was screwed. He relinquished the presidency on January 1, 1959, gave power to the commander in chief of the army, and fled to the Dominican Republic and then to Portugal. On January 8, Castro arrived in Havana and a new provisional government was established with Castro as prime minister.
back to the topSignificance: overthrow of the French monarchy, establishment of many semi-democratic transitional governments, and ending with Napoleon’s authoritarian rule that allowed for many revolutionary reforms.
Prior to the revolution, France was in deep debt (7 years’ war; aiding the US in American War of Independence), had poor grain harvests, and was home to ideas of the Enlightenment. This combination of poor, hungry, inquisitive citizens served as the base of the revolution. The Estates General (France’s parliament/congress) had three bodies -- the clergy, nobility, and commoners -- with the clergy and nobility able to override the vote of the commoners, despite commoners having vastly more representatives. Prior to the revolution, the last time this assembly met was in 1614. But, people demanded change, so the monarchy organized a meeting of the assembly in May 1789. Prior to this meeting, commoners created grievance lists that their region’s delegate would use to advocate on their behalf. Commoners’ delegates won greater control of votes and established themselves as the National Assembly. Then in July 1789, commoners stormed the Bastille (a prison that represented the monarchy’s abuse of power since many were imprisoned without trial; Voltaire was imprisoned for his Enlightenment writings). In August 1789, the Assembly abolished feudalism (taxes levied by and privileges given to elites in the monarchy and church) and published a civil rights document that gave some rights to men. In October 1789, 7,000 women stormed the Palace of Versailles protesting bread shortages and demanding the monarchy move to Paris as a signal that they were intent on addressing poverty; the King agreed.
Over the next few years, liberals and conservatives fought over political reforms (conservatives being clergymen/nobles/bishops who wanted their status preserved and commoners who wanted to preserve tradition and the church). In June 1791, the King felt the safety of the royal family was at risk, so they fled Paris for Austria. But, while approaching the Austrian border, the King was recognized, arrested, and returned to Paris. After this attempt to flee Paris, the people of France increasingly saw the King as weak and as a counter revolutionist. In April 1792, France declared war on Austria (Prussia would come to Austria’s side in July). Liberals thought war would undermine the monarchy, conservatives thought it would strengthen the monarchy, and the King figured France would lose the war (allowing him to be rescued since his wife, Marie Antoinette, had backchannels to her brother, the Emperor of Austria). The war fueled support for a republic and when it became clear that the King wanted to lose, the flaws of the monarchy were further exposed. In August 1792, the French invaded the monarch’s palace and arrested the King. In September 1792, under pressure from the government of Paris (Paris Commune), the new law-making authority of France, the National Convention, abolished the monarchy and declared France a Republic. In January 1783, the King was executed for treason.
In the spring of 1793, the French lost land they controlled in Belgium and the Rhineland to a new coalition between Britain, Austria and Prussia. During this time, beyond war with Europe (French motivation for war was part wanting to capture other lands, part wanting to spread revolutionary ideas to countries they considered oppressed), French revolutionists faced a civil war brought upon by counter revolutionists who were angry with conscription, the declining significance of the church, and social laws like price controls. In an attempt to preserve the revolution, the French government began arresting and executing those who were suspected to be counter revolutionaries (the government was able to do this by suspending the Constitution and instituting dictatorship by committee). This period from September 1793 to July 1794 became known as The Terror. However, conscription (one of the trigger points of counter revolutionists) enabled France to assemble an army large enough to defeat the Austrians in June 1794. This victory ended The Terror. The man who initiated The Terror, Maximilien Robespierre, was turned on by other members of the National Convention and executed; they were worried that Robespierre would turn on them if they didn’t turn on him first.
The National Convention began writing a new constitution and abolished price controls. Prices soared. This led to the Prairial Uprising where people rioted in the streets of Paris for better bread rations, the freeing of patriot prisoners, and the constitution of 1793. But, the uprising lacked clear leadership and was suppressed after a few days. In November 1795, a new constitution was written (for the third time in four years) that created a new government called The Directory. It gave all adult men voting rights but all real power was given to electors. These electors would attend electoral colleges and choose the deputies. Only the richest taxpayers could become electors. In essence, with the 1795 constitution the government decided to sacrifice some of France's new equality for social order. This crumbling idealism signalled that the revolution had grown older. Revolutions get their power from the myth of eternal youth, of creating the new by destroying the old. But after the terror, many recognized that the revolution was tired and needed to stop. Ending a revolution is tough. Every revolution in history seems to struggle with that moment; how to return to ordinary life and peaceful politics after the initial revolutionary enthusiasm has worn off.
In 1975, France was making more progress in the war with Europe. In addition to occupying Holland and the Rhineland, the following regions negotiated for peace: Tuscany, Prussia and Spain. In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte quickly captured Sardinia (region in Italy). In 1797, Austria negotiated for peace. In 1798 and 1799, France captured Switzerland, the Papal States (region in Italy), and Naples. Many of the countries that France occupied were set up as sister republics. The French saw themselves as spreading revolutionary ideas to the people of these regions and in return, required that these regions pay the French for having liberated them.
Throughout all of this, England was still at war with France. Napoleon decided to threaten Britain in India by occupying Egypt. This would make British travel to India more difficult and establish another base from where France could attack. But Napoleon’s forces in Egypt were defeated by the British navy in August 1798. Surprised by the progress of the French revolution, a new coalition was formed comprising Austria, Russia, Turkey, and Britain. This coalition drove back the French armies during the spring and summer of 1799. Napoleon returned to France to set up a coup to overthrow the Directory. Abbé Sieyès, a member of the Directory and in cahoots with Napoleon, spread rumors that extreme revolutionists were plotting against the Directory. He advised the Directory to move from Paris to the former royal palace at Saint-Cloud and have Napoleon protect them with 6,000 troops. The next day, Napoleon surrounded the palace with his troops and intimidated members of the Directory. In December 1799, a new constitution was written that gave Napoleon full executive power; five years later he was made Emperor of France. The rise of Napoleon signalled the end of the revolution. The French accepted an Emperor after the revolution since he ensured stability, secured many revolutionary reforms (e.g., secular state, clearly codified/unified law, defence of property, equality of men, no taxes paid to the church) and simply a lack of better alternatives (France's political options didn’t seem so infinite; many were afraid of a return to a monarchy or the Terror).
back to the topSignificance: abolishmnet of slavery in Haiti and establishment of the Republic of Haiti.
France earned a lot of money trading sugar, coffee, and cotton that was grown in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). African-born slaves worked in these plantations. The population of Saint-Domingue consisted of approximately 500,000 slaves, 32,000 European colonists, and 24,000 “free people of color” (people of mixed African and European descent). In the early 1790s, a series of conflicts arose due to frustration with the racist society, brutality of slave owners, and changing sentiment created by the French revolution (i.e., the French revolution supported the slaves’ own thoughts of revolution). Vincent Ogé, a free person of color, lobbied the French government for his right to vote, but this was rejected, so he led an unsuccessful uprising in late 1790. In May 1791, French citizenship was granted to wealthy free people of color but Europeans in Haiti disregarded it. In August 1791, thousands of slaves arose in rebellion. Within weeks they had killed thousands of Europeans and destroyed hundreds of plantations. The slaves set up camps in areas they captured and began farming the fields for food (not cash crops like coffee and sugar).
In April 1792, France granted political rights to all free men of color with the hope that doing so would mitigate the slave revolt. In the summer of 1792, France sent a commissioner named Léger-Félicité Sonthonax to create alliances with revolution leaders. During this time, France entered war with much of Europe (Britain, Spain, Austria, Prussia). Spain recruited slave revolutionists by offering them land and freedom from slavery. Sonthonax, an abolitionist, wrote a letter asking the French government to help the slaves. He highlighted the similarity of the slaves’ desires to those of French revolutionists but the French government did nothing. In the summer of 1793, with threats from Spain, slave revolutionists, and a new French governor in Saint-Domingue that distrusted him, Sonthonax offered freedom to slaves who joined his army. In August, increasingly anxious for the military support of more slaves, Sonthonax abolished slavery but required former slaves to stay on plantations and work for pay. In the winter of 1794, the French government officially abolished slavery throughout France’s colonies (slaves would have the rights of French citizens). But, due to the economic success of the plantations, a mixture of emancipation and coerced labor was enacted. Over the next 6 years, a wealthy free person of color who led slave revolts named Toussaint Louverture, took control of virtually all of Saint-Domingue. In January 1801, Louverture put the common people to work on the plantations under military rule. In December, Napoléon attempted to restore the old regime of slavery and French rule by sending an army. Louverture eventually agreed to an armistice in May 1802 but the French broke the agreement and imprisoned him. Some of Louverture’s lieutenants continued fighting the French. This fighting, yellow fever, and a renewal of fighting between France and Britain in 1803 led to France’s surrender. On January 1, 1804, the entire island was declared independent under the name of Haiti.
back to the topSignificance: end of British rule over Ireland and establishment of Ireland as a self-governing state within the commonwealth.
Over the week of Easter in April 1916, groups of revolutionists (the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Citizen Army, and Cumann na mBan) took control of strategically important buildings in Dublin like the post office and declared an Irish Republic. The British fought back by surrounding and attacking the captured buildings. With more soldiers and weapons, the British defeated the revolutionists after a week of street fighting. The leaders of the rebellion were executed by the British. While the rebellion itself wasn’t popular among the Irish, the executions sparked growing contempt with the British, which led to greater support for Irish independence. In December 1918, the republican party, Sinn Féi, won a landslide victory over the moderates, the Irish Parliamentary Party, which had governed since the 1880s. It was the first election that working-class men and most women could vote. On January 21, 1919, the Sinn Féi founded a separate parliament and declared an Irish Republic. Over the next seven months the Irish Republican Army freed imprisoned republicans and gathered arms.
In September 1919, the British denounced the new parliament, which prompted the IRA to attack British soldiers. By mid-1920, the British lost control in southern and western Ireland. On the morning of “Bloody Sunday” (November 21, 1920), 14 British intelligence operatives were killed and in the afternoon the British army opened fire on a crowd at a Gaelic football game, killing 14 civilians. One week later, the IRA killed 17 British troops. The British declared martial law in southern Ireland. Violence continued to escalate over the next seven months. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on 11 July 1921. This led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921, which ended British rule in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland). After 10 months of a provisional government, the Irish Free State was created as a self-governing Dominion (ie, a semi-independent government in the British commonwealth). This treaty led to a civil war in Ireland, as Irish republicans saw it as an abandonment of the ideal of a Republic; supporters of the treaty won. Ireland eventually became a Republic in 1949.
back to the topSignificance: end of Spanish rule in Venezuela and beginning of independence.
Note: this was one of many wars of independence fought against Spain by countries in South America in the early 1800s.
In 1808, France invaded Spain and made Napoleon’s brother king. The French struggled to establish a stable government in Spain, which drained their power over Spanish colonies in South America. The municipality of Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas, overthrew the Spanish Governor, Vicente Emparán. A military group was established in Caracas. Cities across Venezuela decided whether to side with the independence movement or remain loyal to the Spanish. Civil war ensued. A movement proposing independence won. This movement was led by Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar, both of whom were influenced by Enlightenment ideas and the French Revolution. The Republic of Venezuela was established on July 5, 1811. But in 1812 the new republic had little money and was hit by an earthquake. The Spanish attacked and defeated the Venezuelans. In July 1812, an armistice was signed.
In 1813, Bolívar joined an army in what would later be modern day Columbia (this region had recently become independent from Spain). He got the approval of their Congress to liberate Venezuela. At the same time, a Venezuelan revolutionist named Santiago Mariño led another liberating force in Venezuela. The two forces defeated the Spanish. But, a Spanish populist started a movement against the revolutionists by drawing on contempt for the urban elites who led the independence movement. This prevented revolutionists from receiving widespread support. The Spanish began recovering territory and defeated Bolivar’s forces in 1814. The revolutionists fled to eastern Venezuela and Bolivar to modern day Columbia.
After the Napoleonic Wars ended, the king of Spain reclaimed his power. In 1816, Spain sent troops to modern day Columbia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela. With little prospects, some locals who previously supported the Spanish now joined the revolutionists. The revolutionists also received support from Haiti but continued to be pushed back by the larger Spanish army. In 1819, the revolutionists invaded modern day Columbia (which had been controlled by the Spanish since 1816) and defeated the Spanish. The Congress of Angostura was assembled by Bolivar and declared the union of modern day Columbia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela (primarily as a means to strengthen forces against the Spanish). In 1921, this new united army of revolutionists invaded Venezuela and took control after defeating the Spanish at the Battle of Carabobo. On July 24, 1923, the revolutionists ended all Spanish rule of Venezuela after defeating the Spanish at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. The region that encompassed Venezuela was now independent. Venezuela became its own country in 1831 when it left the union due to differences in attitudes towards political governance.
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