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Revolutions and Their Success

By Mohammed Rashed
Passages 1
1/23/17
Mr Garvey Passage Teacher
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“Liberty, freedom, or death” are words echoed during a revolution. These words

represent change within a country. When people question the rules and do not find justice

this is when a calling for a revolution happens and throughout the course of history this

world has experienced the rise and fall of many civilizations through revolutions. Starting

off on that note let us first define what revolution means. The dictionary defines it as ​a

forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. This essay

will explain what makes a revolution successful ,which revolution during history is

considered the most successful and why. It will then be compared to the French Revolution

,Haitian Revolution and the arab spring. At first thought these revolutions seem to be all

very successful but were they really that successful? And was it a success after a long time

or did it deteriorate the country. ​Analysis of a revolution’s success will be done using the

following criteria: 1) set goals 2) control or influence of media 3) strongest military force

4) stands the test of time 5) control over economy and 6) willingness to risk. life

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.”

quoted by Che Guevara. (Brainyquotes par1) Che’s idea of a revolution is a very common

philosophy and that is that people have to go out of their lane and struggle to make it

happen it is the people’s job to enforce the falling of the apple. The main point of this quote

is that justice is never served to you that you have to struggle and work hard for that justice.

Now every revolution is different, no two revolutions are exactly the same and that is what

makes each single one of them produce a different outcome. The success of a revolution
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might not be achieved right away but if the people remained determined and hold steadfast

on their beliefs success will make its way towards its seekers. That is the first lesson in the

path of a successful revolution is setting an objective, agenda or goal that one is trying to

achieve. The second components of a successful revolution is simply that revolutions take

time. Nothing happens overnight and especially not a revolt. The American Revolutionary

War was fought from 1775 to 1783. That lasted about eight years before things started

settling down. Even after the war America's fate was not really in place until the civil war

which was around 1861. It took that long for the colonists to acknowledge who were their

opposers and to organize the revolt. It takes a lot planning and execution to start a

revolution, and expecting immediate results is foolish. In fact if you were always given the

immediate results of revolutions you would think that no revolution was ever successful.

This is why time is one of the most important steps towards achieving a successful

revolution. The time span just depends on what the cause and the people who are revolting.

The third component of a successful revolution is to gain some control over the nation's

economy. One prominent way that would be effective is strikes. This is because the

government relies on certain jobs to get things done but when there is a strike you have

now not only captured the government's attention but also made them realize that if no

action is gonna be taken it will lead to bigger issues Strikes are the backbone of the

revolutionary movement. They are also a factor in uniting the people. Once certain jobs go

on strike others will be soon to join. This causes a community united all protesting for the

same reason and have the same goal. During the American Revolution when Britain was

heavily taxing the colonists to make up for its debts, the colonist started boycotting British
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goods like clothings, tea, and fabrics and finally they began striking. Now this led to a

different outcome than normal but this is what eventually led to the revolution. By that I

mean instead of the government caving in to the needs of the colonists it led to the

revolutionary war. Another way you could impact a country's economy is gaining control

of its exports or imports. This would cause the country's economy to fail because once

businesses realize that their products or produce is in jeopardy they will withdraw their

products and their money from the country in fear of losing it. However, before you know

it other country's will also decrease trade between them. An example of this can be viewed

during the Haitian revolution when the slaves stopped working in the plantations which

affected the colonizers economy from the lack of imports considering that because slaves

were the backbone of Haiti’s economy

The fourth component of a successful revolution is the ability to influence and

manipulate the media. During the Egyptian revolution when Prime Minister ​Ahmed Shafiq

decided to step down from office in fear of being tried, he did not announce it to the press

or in front of a large crowd instead he announced it via Facebook. (USC Social Media and

World Revolutions infographic) This just stands to prove how media is now so influential

in today's society. Media whether it be newspapers, televised news or social media changes

the perspective of millions of viewers and readers. The participants and planners of some

revolutions used media to discuss plots and make arrangements. According to a study done

by University of Southern California about the media's influence on revolutions

“Surprisingly almost 49% of ukrainians learned about protest via facebook” (USC social

media and world revolutions infographic) The hashtag #Feb17 was started to inform people
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about the Libyan revolution. In Thailand they used drones to take Aerial footage of the

protest that were occurring and led to many news channels airing their story live. (USC

social media and world revolutions infographic) Social media allows important figures and

protest leaders to connect with their followers more directly and also in a faster manner.

“Ramy Raoof was a digital activist who resided in Egypt when the revolution broke out he

used Facebook and Twitter to spread news and organize protests”. (USC social media and

world revolutions infographic) This would lead in thousands uniting to protest one cause.

Social media also allows for the international community to act for those in need of help. In

more than one case, an international government intervened to help protect the citizens

security. For example, in the Libyan revolution the President Muammar Al Gaddafi was

using airfare as means of inflicting harm on his people. This led to a worldwide coalition to

produce a no fly zone over Libya which limited his power and concluded in the fall of his

regime (Pulham,Blight,Torpey Guardian) . During the Arab spring people began tweeting

and taking to social media so much that it earned the nickname “the twitter revolution”

which led the average being informed about our international community. (USC social

media and world revolutions infograhic) To understand how important social media is

when it comes to revolts we have to look at the time when social media did not exist.

Revolutions were a lot harder to start that is because one was not able to reach a large

amount of people and convince them about your idea of a revolution before being caught

by the government. One were also known as a person not like in our times today where you

can hide behind a computer screen. This raised the risk immensely and always made people

think twice about their ideas and settle down to avoid bringing themselves or family harm.
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Also, one was not able to get aid from other countries just because it would take so long to

receive it and also the government might find you before even gaining international

attention.

Lastly, there needs to be a strong almost relentless willpower and determination in

order to carry out a successful revolution. Now who would want to sacrifice such a heavy

price for just some change in the government. The reason of the revolt needs to be

convincing and attractive. Give the people a reason to rebel. Once the motivation and

willpower surpasses death than you have earned one of the greatest revolutions of all time.

Many people, of course, fear death or the death of their loved ones but once the price of

freedom is even higher than bloodshed, it will result in a strong revolt. One of the most

famous examples of this willpower was shown during the student led protests at Tiananmen

Square In response to the protest the students are faced with army tanks driving its way to

the square. As soon as some people saw it they ran away except for one man who stood in

front of the tanks asking for his right whether it costed him his life or not. He stood there in

front of the tanks and when they tried to deviate him he would only scoot over to come in

front of the tank again. That is the amount of determination and the love for liberty in order

to achieve a successful revolution. So having a determined goal, inspecting the timing of a

revolution, creating strikes, achieving military control, gaining impact on the country’s

economics, and lastly to have a strong willpower are the main 5 steps that lead to

successful revolution in the past and will eventually lead future revolutions to success. It is

a lot more complicated to carry out a full on successful revolution than just these steps but
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these are the traits that most of the successful revolutions share. This can seen during the

French revolution.

The French Revolution is one of the most well known and influential revolutions of all

time proving its success and failures at the same time. Its impact lasted throughout history

and remains a point of reference for future revolutions. However, was the french revolution

as successful as many people perceive it be. The French revolution began for many

reasons. The first reason is King Louis XVI was held responsible for poorly managing the

country's economy leaving an immense national debt that could not be managed. There was

very little food with an increasing rate of poverty. Harvest was weak and the transporting

system was unreliable. All this led to the rise and growth of tension between the upper

noble classes and the lower classes. The nobles lived as if there was no problem and

hunger. They did not dare associate themselves with the lower classes. They had what they

wanted did not care for the rest of the people. Eventually people were fed up and could not

stand it anymore. They organized themselves and marched to the Bastille prison and thus

the revolution truly began. (Bloy 1) Now the French revolution took over 10 years to

finally come to peace and rest after experiencing a strong whiplash from the revolt. The

French Revolution itself was surprisingly both a success and a failure. You see the French

revolution claimed over 40,000 lives, most being executed by the guillotine. (A&E 3) It

failed to provide security and authority to the people. Falling into the hands of Maximilien

De Robespierre. Born on May 6, 1758 he grew up to be a radical Jacobin leader and

became one of the most notorious figures of the French Revolution. On July 27, 1793

Robespierre was elected to the committee of public safety and to oversee the government
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with a dictatorial control. Facing many political opponents, across 11 months 300,000

people were arrested under the suspicion of being enemies of the revolution. Over 17,000

of those prisoners were executed in a bloodbath now known as the “Reign of Terror”.

Robespierre was able to eliminate most of his opponents that way until he himself was

executed by the guillotine. After the coup the committee of public safety lost its credibility

the revolution became less radical but it saw the return of corruption and military

failures.(A&E 2-7)

​One of the five steps to a successful revolution is to have some control of the military

but when it came to this France faced an issue. In the French revolutions case this army

was shattered but there was one person who used to fight for the army saw it as a chance to

unify the army. This man went on to lead many successful battles and gain fame all over

Europe. This man is Napoleon Bonaparte. At the time neighboring monarchies wanted to

invade France and contain the revolt and regain the monarch system. On March 2, 1786

Napoleon is given command of the French army leading in him launching many military

campaigns which brought France prestige and money. All seemed to well for Napoleon he

was winning almost every battle but there was one force that he could not beat. That force

is the British Navy. Losing against them in the battle of Trafalgar and Waterloo this was

the end to Napoleon Bonaparte. By now the french revolution seems to be losing its

motives and goals. Violence and chaos were two of the main characteristics of this

revolution. Other than the Reign of terror and Napoleon's military campaigns there were

revolts by rural peasants against the lords and ladies which were the aristocratic noble part

of society. Such examples are the Bread Riots by the Sans Culottes, The September
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Massacre and on top of all this France was having tensions with the neighboring countries.

It also fell into immense debt again for helping out the colonists against Britain. This led to

the Colonists buying the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The French Revolutions also failed to

establish a constitutional monarchy or an equally representative government. It started in

1789 with an absolute monarchy of Louis XVI and eventually led to Napoleon Bonaparte's

military dictatorship. In between this conflicted time period there were numerous elected

legislative bodies. This proved to be a problem when most of these bodies became more

radical as the revolution progressed. These corrupt leaders used the national assembly for

their own personal gain.(SparkNote on Napoleon Bonaparte.)

As much as it has failed it also succeeded. A compelling fact about the French

revolution is that before they had the actual political revolution there was an intellectual

revolution. One of the keys to a successful revolution is to have a set goal and once

thinking about this the french began to experience change of a mindset before the change of

the government in order to have their set goal. This surprisingly happened to the French

people. This was known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was started by

philosophers that visited England and developed their own ideas on natural sciences and

philosophy. They believed that man had certain rights of life. ​ ​This led to the increased

faith in humans and in each other. Philosophers such as john locke wrote books about

natural rights which included life, liberty, and property. (Powell 1-3) These ideas were

feared by monarchies especially frances considering that it was dominated by hereditary

aristocracy siding with the catholic church which attempted to control and dictate the lives

of french citizens. The French Enlightenment philosophers used natural law and human
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reason as a way to overthrow the old authority. The French revolution also proved

successful by ending King Louis XVI monarchy although it also did not establish one it

was the first time the citizens felt a sense of Freedom, Liberty, unity, and equality. It did

last briefly but it was enough to get the French citizens on the edge which made them push

forward until they finally achieved a republic. It also forged a sense of national pride that

has not existed before and that is also another key component of a successful revolution in

part of the strong yearning determination to have a united country.These ideas would echo

throughout the revolution and eventually play an important part during the nineteenth and

twentieth century.

Another reason why the French revolution proved to be successful was its continuous

control and use of the media. Around 40,000 prints and pamphlets were printed during the

period of the revolution. (Mesquitic 1) Often written anonymously authors would write of

controversial topics and motivate the citizens to open their eyes to the unjust system around

them. They would tend to talk about the old aristocratic system and pushed for change and

reform. Even more than by the prints, the French Revolution was sustained by the

explosive growth of the press. As the hunger and demand news grew so did the printing

presses. The media continued to influence many people's thoughts throughout the

revolution. The printing press also helped diffuse the idea of the Enlightenment. It was also

the cause of creating a new tradition of dialogue and debating. This led to all social norms

and values to be re-evaluated and to be a topic of discussion of the public who started

reasoning things. (Mesquitic 4) These books and pamphlets criticized the morality of the

noble and those who read these books started voicing their questions and confusion.
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(Mesquitic 5)Pasion was developed the anger replaced the hunger in their stomachs, The

minds of the French citizens were focused on one thing and that is liberation. The irony

here is that they are fighting for something they have never felt, experienced, or enjoyed.

Yet they put these goals in front of their lives. Which leads us to the last point to a

successful revolution that the motivation, the determination, the will power needs to be

stronger than any other fore. Stronger than the force or hunger, thirst , or death. That is the

cost of freedom and it can be agreed on that this price was certainly paid during the French

revolution. It is that which made the protestors march towards Bastille to arm themselves

with weaponry. Paintings were drawn about this. This is one of the more known paintings

depicting a woman grabbing the French flag. Tired dirty sweaty she would not let this flag

fall even though her dress is falling off exposing her body she did not seem to care about it.

This lady represents the passion of the people. A young woman standing on the battlefield

could have been at home safe and protected but what good is that going to bring to these

people. This is the only reason why the French Revolution was written down in history as

one of the most influential revolutions of all time.

All in all the French revolution defied the rules proving them wrong and right at the same

time. As long as historians prevail the success of this notorious revolution will be debated.

We can all agree that this revolution not only shaped France's history but also the world's

history. In the end the outcome of this revolution paved the way to a republic government

to France. France turned itself 180 degrees launching itself into economic and political

prosperity. All because of the day when tyranny could no longer be tolerated. Realizing

that it led France into a rollercoaster of turmoils yet all this proved to be a good thing
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comparing it to what it is right now. Yet the question still remains was it successful.

Frankly it differs from person to person but comparing it to the success factor the French

revolution would score an 80% out of 100 and it is still up for change.

The French revolution was not the only revolution that shook the world at that time. On

an island far from France in the Caribbean there was a slave revolt that took place against

their white masters. Leading to the burning and destruction of many plantations, this

revolution is known as the Haitian revolution which lasted from 1796 to 1801. (Sutherland

1) In those years the island of Haiti would experience a change like nothing it had seen

before. Yet with all this reform the Haitian revolution is regarded as one of the most

successful revolutions of all time. The Haitian revolution has been described as one of the

largest and most successful slave revolts in the world. They not only succeeded in

abolishing slavery but also ending the French control over the island. It consisted of many

smaller revolts building into one vast one. The Haitian Revolution was inspired and mainly

influenced by the French Revolution which brought upon new philosophies such as human

rights, equality for all, voicing of one's opinion, and the individual participation in

government. The revolution was led by a former slave Toussaint l'Ouverture. Toussaint

first rebelled against the plantation owner, then proceeded to promote many other

rebellions. In August, 1791 the rebels gained control of one third of the island. ​Regardless

of the constant reinforcement from France the slave rebels gained more land and grew in

number and power. Now all this did not come without suffering even before the rebellion

was over 100,00 out of the 500,000 slaves and 24,000 out of 40,000 French were killed.

However, these numbers did not affect the success of the revolution. They managed to fight
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and keep out the French and British forces, who attempted to reconquer the island in 1793.

By 1801 l'Ouverture was able to expand this slave rebellion beyond the borders of Haiti,

reaching nearby islands of like the Dominican Republic.These successes led him to be able

to abolish slavery and declare himself a Governor-General for the rest of his life across the

whole island of Hispaniola. (Sutherland 2-6)

This slave rebellion had such a great impact on the occupiers that it led France and

Britain to abolish slavery fearing another uprising and rebellion. By the year 1794, slavery

was totally abolished in France and any other territory under the French occupation. But

really the first country to totally abolish slavery is Haiti itself. It abolished slavery three

years before England did. It is surprising that the Haitian revolution succeed when its

chances were extremely slim. Considering that they were slaves, they were unarmed, they

were illiterate. We can attribute the success of the revolution to their strong will for

freedom, and their strategic use of strikes and protests. Also, having l’Ouverture as their

appointed general helped reinforce the success of the Haitian Revolution as he served the

revolution by providing military guidance. However, in the year of 1799 Napoleon

Bonaparte rose to power and promised to restore the French control of the colonies. The

fighting began in 1799 and lasted till May 1800 that is when the French army decided to

pull out of the island and wrote a new law prohibiting any representation for them in the

French Government. Even though the Haitians did defeat the colonial powers, they were

defenseless in front of the combined naval power. Which was extremely rare but the

colonial powers saw the Haitian Revolution as a threat and needed to be eliminated once

and for all. This led to the combined forces of Britain, France, Spain, United States to
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create an economic naval blockade and part time siege. Now this blockade was put into

effect from the moment of the Haitian independence and lasted for about 60 years. Haiti

was left without the ability to trade of these countries who had previously been Haiti’s

largest consumers were no longer buying tobacco, cotton, coffee, sugarcanes. This all

happened supposedly because allegedly Haiti did not pay its insurance of almost 150

million Francs to the government of France. Also, because of the destruction to the French

property on the island during the revolution. It did not stop there even the Vatican took the

decision to withdraw their priests and missionaries. Due to all these issues the countries

refused to acknowledge the independence of Haiti. Not until the year 1861 did the United

States decide to recognize Haiti’s independence which occurred during Abraham Lincoln's

time in office. (Alam 3-8) Yet the revolution lived on to becomes a story of the past and a

lesson for the future.

The Haitian Revolution was one of a kind. One of the only revolutions to overcome

such a great resistance from some of the strongest and most powerful countries at the time.

This was because of the ultimate desire of freedom, the ultimate desire of their

rights.”According to the haitian proverb,’All food is fit to eat but not all words are fit to

speak” (Benett 3) Quotes like these were

demonstrate what pushed the Haitians to

revolt, and that not everything the French did

to them was acceptable. Images similar to this

one which depicts a slave who seems to be

begging for basic needs since he upholds

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himself as a brother and a man. They start to appear and made the Haitians to question

themselves if it was time for change and it certainly was. Haitian Revolution proves to be

as definitely one of the most successful Revolutions of all time since they established

control over the economy by striking and burning down plantations which made up most of

Haiti’s economy. They also gained control over the military and being able to defeat the

French in many battles. Lastly the media they controlled was able to influence many of its

readers and followers to join the call for freedom

The Haitian and French revolution both occurred during the 18th century. In order to

fully understand the perspective of a successful revolution we need to look at a revolution

during the modern era. This though bring us forward three decades and that is when the

world began to witness a series of revolutions that spread across the Middle East and

Northern Africa like wild fire, these series of revolutions are best known as the Arab

Spring. Although the events are still developing, we can still analyze its events and predict

its outcome. It is believed that the Arab spring started off on December 18, 2010 in Tunis,

Tunisia. (Blight, Pulham, Torpey 1) That is when a man who was part of the lower class of

society was selling vegetables from his cart when authorities seized his cart. This man

found no way out but suicide so he ended up lighting himself on fire and burned to death.

This and also the critiquing of the Tunisian regime promptly led the young Tunisians to

take to the streets protesting reform in their government. Shortly after the Tunisian military

forces showed up and started breaking up the protests using bats and tear gas. As civil

unrest grew in Tunisia their president Zein Al Abidin stepped out and promised job

creation and economic growth, however that still was not enough for the people of Tunisia.
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By January 9th 2011 the protest escalated to riots, Cars were burned windows were

smashed and stones were being thrown at the authorities. It was not until January 14, 2011

that the government fully caved in to the wants and needs of the people it was also the

same day Zein Al Abidin resigned from office and flew to Saudi Arabia (Blight, Pulham,

Torpey 1-7). As the Tunisian protest came to an end the torch of freedom was passed onto

the next country which was Egypt.

Similar to the start of the Tunisian revolution a man set himself on fire in front of the

parliament building in protest of the economic and political situation in his country.

Although he was rushed to the hospital he did not make it. Mohamed ElBaradei, an

Egyptian decent warned the country of Tunisian-style protests turning quickly into riots.

On the day January 25, 2011 was the first ultimate planned protest in the capital city of

Cairo. In response to this the government send in military forces and tanks onto the streets

and also bans twitter and cuts off the internet on Egypt. By January 28, 2011 Hosni

Mubarak shows up on TV and promises change but ultimately refuses to step down. 25

people have already died and the military is not showing any signs of compassion as they

continue to fire tear gas and water cannons at the protestors. By the end of January the

death toll had risen to 200 and Mubarak still refused to step down. The army thankfully

changed its position on the revolution and took the protestors side aiming to protect them

and serve their duty to the people. Within 9 days Egypt has lost over one billion dinars in

tourism and funding. February 15 Egypt’s new cabinet anounces an increase in 15% in

wages and salaries yet the protesters are unmoved. Finally on February 11, 2011 the vice

president declares that Hosni Mubarak has resigned from office and gave leadership to the
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people’s military. The significant thing about the Egyptian revolution is the control over

the media. Many hackers around the world teamed up to provide Twitter and internet

secretly to the people of Egypt. This allowed the youth who played a huge role in the

revolution to spread news and occurrences to news networks around the world. This was

also the first time since the Arab Spring started, that the world really started looking to the

Middle East and acknowledging the rapidly growing protests. (Blisht, Pulham, Torpey

7-13)

At this time the torch of freedom was passed on to the next country which was Libya.

Libya lived under the dictator Muammar Al Gaddafi regime for over 42 years in which he

ruled brutally killing and kidnapping anyone who would even be suspected of plotting a

revolution. He turned Libya into a military dictatorship forcing everyone to join the army

and dragged Libya into numerous wars. On February 17, 2011 the protests have finally

began in the second largest city, Benghazi. Lasting only a few hours before authorities tried

to break up the protest only to be met with another mob of loyalists. The two groups

clashed resulting in over 20 deaths. This ignited the eight month long civil war in Libya.

Only three days has passed and Gaddafi's forces hired mercenaries who shot at the

demonstrators resulting in 230 dead. The international community decides to impose a no

fly zone over Libya. Gaddafi’s forces had gathered all their military strength to march and

storm the city of Benghazi. As the tanks were nearing Benghazi, NATO took action and

started bombing Gaddafi’s artillery. The death toll now is around 1,000. On the 26th of

February the United Nations called upon colonel Gaddafi to the international crimes court

for his multiple crimes against humanity. By mid March Gaddafi’s forces start using
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chemical weapons to stop the advancement of the rebels. By August 21 the Capital Tripoli

has fell into the hands of the rebels signaling the nearing end to Gaddafi’s regime and by

October 23 Muammar Al Gaddafi was captured and killed. The Libyan revolution proved

to be significant the fact that it was the first revolution to spring into a full class

revolutionary war resulting in over 50,000 deaths and billions of dollars worth of

destruction. It was also the first time protesters fought back with weapons and artillery.

(Blight, Pulham, Torpey 13-18)

The torch is passed further on to Syria. Now for Syria one can not really talk

about the success of it because it is not yet over and neither is it anywhere near being over.

Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the revolutions Syria’s took a different route and

approached it differently which is the main cause why it fell into a civil war. Also Tunisia,

Egypt, and libya’s citizens share the same culture and mostly the same sector of religion as

for Syria there is over 15 different sectors of one religion each branching off into different

political parties. So in Syria’s situation there is no common goal to be achieved. There is no

common enemy to defeat its almost as if it is every man for himself. Which has turned

Syria into a state of nature. Allowing it to be a safe haven for criminals and war gangs such

as ISIS. Although we cannot really speak for Syria we are able to analyze the rest of the

arab spring and if it is considered successful and why would it be.

The Arab spring is a definite success. This is because the Arab Spring proved to reach its

objective of overthrowing the previous rule and better than most it was able to do it in a

short time span. It also proved successful in that it brought a new sense of democracy into

the Middle East. It was forbidden to voice your opinion as dictators made and played the
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rules. This was the first time the people stood up to take matters into their own hands. It is

the first time to protest, to riot, to even fight. It proved successful when it was able to unite

most of its citizens under one flag, one slogan, and one goal. It was successful when the

protesters were able to gain control of the media and provide insights to the world that they

would have not seen without it. With it the international community was able to act in favor

of the protestors. This allowed the protesters to gain control of the military such as in Libya

and Syria where they created their own military. In Egypt’s case the military itself joined

the people. Although it did have its downfalls and failures it attained its ultimate goal and

that is what determines the success of a revolution.

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