Examples of the revolution in Russia and France

Revolutions, as a way to influence the radical change of the existing order, begin to worry the foremost minds from the end of the XVIII century. As a rule, the major revolutions, called great ones, marked the transition from monarchical form of government to republican one. This way of coup d'etat is fraught with numerous victims. All known examples of the revolution are a tragic part of the history of any country. We will analyze the most popular coups and try to answer the question whether the deaths of people who gave their lives for the idea were in vain or not.

Revolution: definition of the concept

To begin with, it is necessary to define the term "revolution", because this is not just a transformation, but a radical change, characterized by transience. In general, this concept belongs not only to history. There are revolutions in science (some major discovery), in nature (a drastic change of any parameters, most often geological ones), in social development (industrial or cultural revolution).

It is necessary to distinguish this process from similar according to the results, but different in methods and terms. So, the term "evolution" means a gradual, very slow change. A little faster is the process of reform, but it has no lightning effect, and the changes are not so significant.

The terms "revolution" and "coup d'état" should be distinguished. Etymologically, they are related, because revolutio is translated from Latin and means "coup". However, the concept of revolution is more extensive, it concerns changes in all aspects of public life, whereas a coup d'état, in fact, is only a change of power of one ruler to another.

The causes of revolutions

Why are there revolutionary movements? What pushes people to get involved in such a tragic event, which takes thousands of lives? The reasons are dictated by many factors:

1. Discontent of the bureaucratic apparatus and the elite by the reduction of economic flows. It occurs against the backdrop of economic decline.
2. Internal struggle between the elites. So it happens that the highest layers of society are rather closed structures, sometimes dividing power. This struggle can turn into a real riot, if any of the elites enlist the support of the people.
3. Revolutionary mobilization. Public unrest caused by the discontent of all segments of society - from the elite to the very bottom.
4. Ideology. Should reinforce any revolution that has an application for success. In the center can stand a civil position, religious teaching or another. Common will be the fight against the injustice committed by the present authorities and the state system.
5. Positive dynamics in foreign policy. Allied countries refuse to accept and support the existing power.

Thus, in the presence of these five points, the revolution can be considered successful. Examples of revolutions make it clear that all five points are not always observed, but most take place in such an unstable environment.

Specificity of Russian Revolutions

Cardinal changes in the socio-economic order are inherent in many states. Examples of the revolution can be found in almost every European country, in the United States. However, nowhere did she bring such tragic consequences as in Russia. Here, every Russian revolution could abolish not only the state system, but also the country itself. What are the reasons?

First, the special relationship between the steps of the hierarchical ladder. Between them there was no "linkage", power and the elite existed completely apart from the people. Hence the overestimated economic demands of the authorities for the lower strata, most of whom were below the poverty line. The problem was not in the excessive self-interest of the upper strata, but in the impossibility of tracing the life of the "lower classes" because of an imperfect administrative apparatus. All this led to the fact that the "top" of the authorities had to subordinate the people by force.

Secondly, the advanced intelligentsia, nurturing revolutionary ideas, represented the subsequent device too utopian due to lack of management experience.

It is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the mentality of the Russian man, who is capable of tolerating oppression for a long time, and then "explode" at the same time.

These are all features and became the springboard of the formed Bolshevism, to which the Russian revolution led.

1905: The First Revolution

The first revolution in Russia happened in January 1905. It was not very fast, it ended only in June 1907.

Prerequisites were a decline in the economy and industrial pace, a crop failure, a huge public debt accumulated to huge proportions (the war with Turkey is guilty of this). Everywhere reform was required: from administrative management on the ground to making changes to the state system. After the abolition of serfdom, the system of industrial management required recycling. The work of the peasants was poorly motivated, because there was a mutual guarantee, communal land and a constant reduction of allotments.

It should be noted that the 1905 revolution received good funding from outside: sponsors of terrorist and revolutionary organizations appeared during the war with Japan.

This revolt has engulfed all strata of Russian society - from the peasantry to the intelligentsia. The revolution was designed to cut off any remnants of the feudal-serf system, to strike the autocracy.

Results of the revolution of 1905-1907

Unfortunately, the revolution of 1905 was suppressed, it entered the annals of history as unfinished, but it led to important changes:

1. It gave impetus to Russian parliamentarism: this body of state administration was established.
2. The power of the emperor was limited by the creation of the State Duma.
3. According to the Manifesto of October 17, democratic freedoms are given to citizens.
4. The situation and working conditions of the workers have changed for the better.
5. The peasants became less attached to their land.

The February Revolution in 1917

The February Revolution of 1917 was the continuation of the events of 1905-1907. In the autocracy, not only the lower strata (workers, peasants) are disappointed, but also the bourgeoisie. These sentiments were greatly aggravated by the imperialist war.

As a result of the coup in the public administration, significant changes are taking place. The 1917 revolution was bourgeois-democratic in nature. However, there was a special identity in it. If we take examples of a revolution of the same kind in European countries, we see that the working people were the driving force, and the monarchical system preceding the capitalist relations was overthrown (they began to develop immediately after the change in statehood). And the working people were the engine of the process, but the power passed to the bourgeoisie.

In the Russian Empire, everything was different: along with a provisional government headed by immigrants from the upper class of the bourgeoisie, an alternative government arose-Soviets formed from the class of workers and peasants. This dual power existed until the events of October.

The main result of the revolution of February 1917 was the arrest of the royal family and the overthrow of the autocracy.

The October Revolution in 1917

Examples of the revolution in Russia are undoubtedly headed by the Great October Socialist Revolution. It radically changed the course not only of the history of Russia, but of the world. After all, one of its results is a way out of the imperialist war.

The essence of the revolution-coup was as follows: the Provisional Government was shifted , and the power in the country passed to the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs. At the head of the coup was VI Lenin.

As a result, there was a redistribution of political forces: the power of the proletariat became supreme, the lands were given to the peasants, and the factories were managed by the workers. There was also a sad, tragic result of the revolution - a civil war that split society into two warring fronts.

Revolutionary movement in France

Just as in the Russian Empire, in France the movement to overthrow the autocracy consisted of several stages, the country went through its great revolutions. In total, there were 4 of her stories. The movement began in 1789 with the Great French Revolution.

In the course of this coup, it was possible to overthrow the absolute monarchy and establish the First Republic. However, the resulting revolutionary-terrorist Jacobin dictatorship could not last long. Her power ended with another coup in 1794.

The revolution in July 1830 is usually called "Three glorious days." She installed on the reign of the liberal monarch Louis-Philippe I, the "citizen-king," who finally abolished the King's unchanging right to pass laws.

The Revolution of 1848 establishes the Second Republic. It happened because Louis-Philippe I gradually began to move away from the original liberal beliefs. He renounces the throne. The revolution of 1848 allowed democratic elections in the country, during which the people (including workers and other "lower" strata of society) chose Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of the famous emperor.

The third republic, which ended forever the monarchical way of society, was established in France in September 1870. After a protracted crisis of power, Napoleon III decides to surrender (then there was a war with Prussia). The decapitated country holds elections on an urgent basis. Power passes alternately from monarchists to Republicans, and only in 1871, legislatively, France becomes a presidential republic, where the elected ruler of the people has been in power for 3 years. Such a country existed until 1940.