| Description |
1 online resource (ix, 171 pages) |
| Contents |
Revolution as tragedy -- Incompetence, chaos, and extremism : how more moderate forces lost control in France, Russia, Iran, and Germany -- Reaction, war, invasion, and revolutionary terror -- The tyranny of idealistic certitude and imagined utopias -- Revolutions betrayed : autocratic corruption and the end of idealistic third worldism -- Peaceful revolutions? : interpreting conservative and liberal successes and failures -- Are there lessons for us to learn? |
| Summary |
"This book poses the question of why revolutions--from the French Revolution through the Russian and more recent revolutions--tend to produce tragic outcomes. As the author puts it: 'I have become intrigued with the idea of writing a short book on why so many revolutions turn into bloody catastrophes. Though a huge amount has obviously been written about revolutions, I think a good short review of why they so often disappoint so badly could find a good audience. Of course the planned book would not please those with different views. I want to insist on the contingent nature of what happened rather than seeing revolutions in a Marxist way as necessary and inevitable steps toward world historical progress. I also believe that key individuals make a big difference, so the purely structural analyses that predominate in sociology and political science lack an important element. Then, too, the age of revolutions is far from over, and while I don't really think that history repeats itself, there are recurrent patterns to watch out for.' Chirot proceeds by exploring the combination of extremism and incompetence that characterize most revolutionary movements, the effects of counter-revolutionary forces in complications post-revolutionary regimes, the often tyrannical application of idealistic norms on societies experiencing revolutionary change, and the corruption and oppression that often characterize post-revolutionary regimes. He plans to end the book with a chapter on what can be learned from his study with respect to future revolutionary movement"-- Provided by publisher |
| Analysis |
Asian history |
|
Bolsheviks |
|
Bolshevism |
|
Communism |
|
Cuban Revolution |
|
Cultural Revolution |
|
Egypt |
|
English Revolution |
|
European history |
|
Hitler |
|
Khmer Rouge |
|
Khomeni |
|
Lenin |
|
Mao |
|
Napoleon |
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Nazi |
|
Nazis |
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Nazism |
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Reign of Terror |
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Stalin |
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Syria |
|
Third World revolution |
|
Tunisia |
|
civil war |
|
corruption |
|
counterrevolution |
|
democratic revolution |
|
dictatorship |
|
global history |
|
history of revolution |
|
history of revolutions |
|
lessons of revolutions |
|
radical utopianism |
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repression |
|
revolution stages |
|
revolutionary stages |
|
theory of revolutions |
|
violence |
|
violent |
|
world history |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed |
| Subject |
Revolutions -- History
|
|
Revolutions -- Philosophy.
|
|
HISTORY -- Revolutionary.
|
|
Revolutions
|
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Revolutions -- Philosophy
|
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books
|
|
History
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| LC no. |
2021701956 |
| ISBN |
9780691199900 |
|
0691199906 |
|
