Social Education 76(1), pp 38 ©2012 National Council for the Social Studies Helping Students Analyze Stephen Armstrong and Marian Desrosiers

visitor to a random sampling of Modern World History classes in the United ics of revolutions that can be usefully States will find that the subject of “” is a favorite for many students. applied to subsequent and contemporary A Reading about and researching individuals and topics such as Tsar Nicholas revolutions. II, Rasputin, Marie Antoinette and guillotines is never boring. Unfortunately, in too many classrooms, revolutions are studied in complete isolation of each other; What Is a Revolution? a student might study the near the beginning of the school year Before we can even begin to compare and the several months later and make absolutely no connection revolutions or theories of revolution, it between the two events. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, numerous political is important to identify what the term scientists and historians have written about the connections between various revolu- “revolution” actually means. By virtually tions, discovering common patterns, structures, and characteristics of both historical every definition, a revolution is more and contemporary revolutions. than just a change of a single leader, even if that leader is removed by violent This article will review important To assist teachers to compare and con- means. Crane Brinton (whose theory general theories of revolution written trast the French, Russian, and Chinese of revolution will be analyzed shortly) in the modern era that have influenced revolutions in class, this article includes states that in a revolution there is a “dras- the study of revolutions. They will be a three-page section on pp. 41–43 pre- tic, sudden substitution of one group in presented in a format that enables any senting seven important aspects of each charge of the running of a territorial po- Modern World History teacher to un- revolution—the economic crisis imme- litical entity by another group hitherto derstand them and utilize them with his diately preceding the revolution; the not running that government.” By this or her classes without much difficulty. It relationship between the elite and other definition, the entire government, and is critically important that, when study- classes; the spread of ideas not just the single leader, would have to ing history, students should make con- among the intelligentsia; the goals of the be replaced for a genuine revolution to nections across historical time; the ma- revolution and major ; the take place. This is accomplished by vio- terial presented in this article will help establishment of a revolutionary dictator- lence; Brinton notes that a revolution “if them do that. ship; national mobilization in response not made by actual violent uprising, is Another goal of this article is to com- to foreign hostility; and the main legacy made by coup d’état, Putsch, or some pare and contrast the Russian and Chi- of the revolution. Although the details in other kind of skullduggery.”1 nese revolutions of the twentieth century this section are necessarily brief, it offers By Brinton’s definition, a revolution with the French Revolution of 1789. A information and themes for inquiry that can be purely political in nature; other number of Modern World History stu- can prompt and guide students as they historians and political scientists write dents study the French and Russian rev- conduct their own research into the rev- of social revolutions, during which the olutions in great detail; in many classes olutions. Students can be divided into entire of a country is the Chinese revolution is studied in far groups, each of which studies a different altered. Samuel P. Huntington writes less detail. Sociologist aspect of the revolutions. By sharing their that “a revolution is a rapid, fundamen- compares these three revolutions in findings, students will help each other to tal, and violent domestic change in the her important book States and Social identify the kinds of crises that have led dominant values and myths of a , Revolutions, which will be discussed in to revolutions, and classes can acquire in its political institutions, social struc- this article. a greater understanding of the dynam- ture, leadership, and government activi-

Social Education 38 People in the city of Beijing raise their clenched fists in a welcoming salute for Chinese Communist Forces entering the city after driving out the Nationalist Forces, Feb. 5, 1949. The center portrait behind them is of General . (AP Photo)

ties and policies.”2 In Huntington’s view, first published in 1938; it was revised discussed by Brin- a revolution does much more than sim- in 1952, and revised and expanded in ton might be done in one or two days. It ply alter the leadership of a country. In 1965. should be remembered that in the era addition, virtually all students of revo- Brinton’s work established common when Brinton was writing, the impact lution agree that either urban or agrar- patterns in the English Revolution of the of British history on American thinking ian unrest is a central component of any 1640s, the Russian Revolution of 1917, (and on American social studies cur- revolution. As Lenin states: “Revolu- the French Revolution, and the Ameri- riculum documents) was far greater than tions are the festivals of the oppressed can Revolution (although, the Ameri- it is today. and the exploited. At no other time are can Revolution does not fit together What patterns does Brinton see in the the masses of the people in position to as neatly as the other three do). When revolutions he describes? He begins by come forward so actively as creators of a explaining Brinton’s work to students, describing revolutions “as a kind of fe- new social order.”3 you should discuss how the time period ver.” In the pre-revolutionary era (the in which he was writing influenced his period that Brinton and many others Crane Brinton’s The Anatomy of ideas. Brinton wrote the first edition of term the “old regime”), symptoms of the Revolution the book when Stalin was in power; he disturbance can be found. At some point, In the 1920s and 1930s a number of his- discusses “the recent—or present—rev- the “full symptoms” reveal themselves, torians attempted to determine patterns olution in Russia.”4 Brinton had no idea and that is when the actual revolution in the events of important revolutions. that in would col- takes place. The fever reaches a crisis It should be remembered that for these lapse or that democracy would ever be- point; in a revolution, this is usually the historians the 1917 Russian Revolution come commonplace in the Soviet Union. most violent phase. After a while, the fe- was more a “current event” than history; American high school students today ver subsides and the patient feels more many were fascinated (and horrified) by would find it odd that Brinton spends like himself again; this is when the revo- this most-recent revolution and were as much time on the English Revolution lution subsides, and the political system attempting to place it in the context of of the 1640s as he does on the French, reverts to somewhat “back to normal.”5 other famous revolutions. The most fa- Russian, and American revolutions; in In a general sense, Brinton sees the mous book on revolutions to come out many world history classes today, weeks revolutions in question moving through of this period was Crane Brinton’s The might be spent on the French and Rus- “a progression, from internal breakdown Anatomy of Revolution. This book was sian revolutions while analysis of the of the old regime, through moderate re-

January/February 2012 39 form, to the rise of extremism (“Reigns been obtained relatively peacefully. 8 the terror: he notes that in every case of Terror and Virtue”), followed by 3. Initially, moderates were in con- a series of troubles prepared the way an inevitable reaction against this vio- trol at the beginning of each revolution. and created a “habit of violence.” In lence” which Brinton calls a “Thermi- During the rule of the moderates it is addition, these extremist governments dorian Reaction.” The extremes of the soon apparent that there are ideologi- all felt the pressures of foreign and revolution are now curtailed, and “a cal divisions among the “winners” of civil wars. Acute economic struggles more stable government emerged….” the revolution. Moderates attempt to and class struggles exerted pressure on The new government is dominated by govern, but are soon on the defensive; these governments; all of these factors a previous military commander, or a radicals were critical that moderates made terror an almost inevitable policy dictator, or both (Cromwell, Napo- were attempting to kill the “true goals” choice for the extremists in charge.12 leon, Washington, and Stalin).6 of the revolution. Extremists are better At some point, countries decided A brief description of the stages organized, and are continually on the that the Terror had gone too far. Brin- described by Brinton will follow. De- attack against the moderates. A dual ton calls this period the Thermidor- tailed descriptions of what happens sovereignty develops: there is an of- ian Reaction; he states that in in each of the stages in the countries ficial government and an “unofficial” this occurred with the fall of Robe- described by Brinton can be found in government that many radicals are spierre and in the Soviet Union when his text (or can be researched by your loyal to (the Provisional Government Lenin introduced the New Economic students). vs. the Soviets in Russia, for example). Policy (N.E.P). The Terror ceases to 1. Under the Old Regime, the coun- Moderates are increasingly identified be widespread, amnesty is given to try exhibits serious economic and with the “old regime.” According to former moderates, and former extrem- political structural weaknesses. In the Brinton, moderates “are not haters, are ist leaders are executed (Robespierre, years before the revolutions in ques- not endowed with the effective blind- Trotsky). Writing in the mid-twentieth tion, every country exhibited severe ness which keeps men like Robespierre century Brinton wonders if Russia ac- economic difficulties (remember the and Lenin undistracted in their rise to tually exists in a stage of “permanent events leading to the calling of the Es- power.”9 revolution”; did the Terror associated tates General in France). Brinton makes 4. The accession of the extremists with the Russian Revolution really end the point that it is the government that to power is accomplished through the with the N.E.P. or was Stalin a continu- is in financial difficulty, not the society power of the illegal governments dis- ation of that Terror? 13 itself. Another critical characteristic of cussed above. The extremists are few this pre-revolutionary era is that some in number; many people drop out of Beyond Brinton: States and Social economically powerful groups feel that politics when the extremists come to Revolution by Theda Skocpol the system as it exists is preventing power. Extremists are fanatical and dis- Historians in the 1960s and 1970s economic growth. The government is ciplined, and follow their leaders with- continued to study revolutions; many perceived as inefficient. Intellectuals out question. Extremists clamored for increasingly found Brinton’s analysis in society become opponents of the liberty and toleration when they were of revolutions incomplete. Brinton is government. Social tensions between in the opposition; when they get into only describing the stages of revolu- classes increase.7 power they turn very authoritarian.10 tion; there is no discussion in his text 2. During the first stages of the Government becomes centralized un- of how and why revolutionary events revolution the government helps der the extremists. take place. Historians, political scien- cause a crisis by attempting to col- 5. In every case Brinton analyzes tists, and sociologists increasingly saw lect money from groups who refuse reigns of terror and virtue that occur the importance of China as a presence to pay. There is violence between the under the rule of the extremists. There on the world stage; where in the 1930s party of the old regime and the party were efforts to destroy remnants of the Brinton was drawn to study the rela- of revolution. Brinton emphasizes that past (thus the changes in calendars and tively-recent Bolshevik Revolution, in each case those in power attempt to street and city names). Brinton com- many turned in the 1960s and 1970s use force against their opponents, but pares “true believers” during this era to the revolution in China, which was do this badly. The ruling classes act with religious zealots; he states that completed in 1949. Theda Skocpol’s ineptly during this period. Discussion “the Terror is in some sense overcom- seminal States and Social Revolution about revolution turns into action. At pensation for the inability of the ex- compares the Russian, Chinese, and some point (after the fall of the Bastille tremists to carry their ordinary broth- French Revolutions, and demonstrates or the abdication of the tsar) there is a ers along with them. The Terror is a how state structures, class relations, “honeymoon period,” where it appears desperate overshooting of the mark.”11 that the goals of revolutionaries have Brinton offers several explanations of continued on page 44

Social Education 40 The French Revolution (1789)

1. The economic crisis immediately preceding the revolution: of radicals who ended the constitutional and silenced The monarchy’s mismanagement of the country’s finances was their enemies. Lafayette tried to maintain constitutional monar- compounded by financial problems arising from the country’s chy and free the King from prison; unsuccessful, he fled to the wars; the 1778 alliance with the U.S. supporting the revolution Netherlands and was imprisoned by the Austrians for five years against Britain, although successful, ended in a huge debt. At- (1792–1797). Thomas Paine was imprisoned by Robespierre for tempts at tax reform failed, and 60 per cent of the collections his views, and freed only through the assistance of James Mon- never reached Paris. The tax burden was unequal; farmers and roe, the American minister to France. The King was executed in shopkeepers in society continued to pay the village’s property January 1793. A period of revolutionary strife ensued. The radi- tax, or taille, and the personal income tax, paying more than cal Marat was assassinated and Robespierre and the wealthy nobles or wealthy churchmen. In the year 1788, drought pushed through the Law of Suspects in September 1793, which and poor crops caused and led to a rising tide of discon- led to a Reign of Terror with over a year of guillotine use on tens tent among workers. In the many years before the taking of the of thousands from all classes. Many of Robespierre’s Girondist op- Bastille there were seven jacqueries, or major peasant outbreaks ponents were executed, as well as some of his former of violence. In 1789, the King had to convene the Estates General comrades, like Danton, before the guillotine felled Robespierre (legislature) to obtain money for the empty treasury. in July 1794, and the Reign of Terror ended. Nobleman DuPont Nemours, a leader in the Assembly and outspoken opponent of 2. The elite and other classes: The nobility represented a tiny executing the monarch, was slated for the guillotine until Robe- percentage of the French population; they ran the government spierre was executed. DuPont left for the U.S. Napoleon eventu- but were exempt from the land tax. The middle class (merchants, ally stabilized France through his authoritarian rule from 1799 to lawyers, businessmen), whose economic activities were increas- 1814, declaring himself Emperor in 1804. ing French wealth, were taxed but had few economic, political, or social rights. French peasants labored under a heavy burden of 6. National mobilization in response to foreign hostility: In rent, dues and tithes paid to landowners and the Church, as well August 1792, fear of an attack by Austria and Prussia to restore as taxes collected by the monarchy. The urban lower classes had the powers of Louis XVI led the Assembly to conscript an army of a precarious, -stricken existence. 1 million soldiers. When England, Spain and Holland joined Aus- tria and Prussia to invade France, war united the French, though 3. Spread of revolutionary ideas among the intelligentsia: many nobles became émigrés who conspired with foreign powers The American Declaration of Independence combined with the to overthrow the revolution. Although the French suffered initial writings of the philosophes: Voltaire called for popular govern- reversals in the Netherlands, Napoleon eventually defeated the ment and freedom of speech; Montesquieu discussed the three Austrians; war dragged on for 23 years, as Napoleon succeeded forms of government; Rousseau wrote about the social contract. in defeating neighboring countries, acquiring territories and All these ideas appealed to the middle class, who were often edu- dominating Europe until his conflicts with other powers eventu- cated and affluent, but had no privileges in the army, church or ally led to France’s military defeat and the re-establishment of a government. As U.S. Minister to France, Thomas Jefferson lent his constitutional French monarchy in 1815. support to the revolution until his departure in September 1789. 7. Main legacy of the revolution: Socially, the Revolution helped 4. Goals of the revolution and major revolutionaries: The rev- establish legal equality by abolition of feudal rights and inherited olutionary slogan was liberty, equality and fraternity. Deputies in privileges. The days of absolute monarchy ended. Politically, the June 1789 took an Oath at the Tennis Court to require all three es- Revolution opened opportunities to those of all classes to serve tates (clergy, nobles, commoners) to meet as one legislature with in government. French revolutionary political and social ideas all groups equal. The king must give up dictatorial powers. All affected subsequent worldwide revolutions. The French state were to be taxed equitably. In July, a crowd stormed the Bastille became secular, and the confiscation of lands belonging to the Prison, a place for commoners sent by lettres de cachet, warrants Church and their sale to pay back the national debt diminished that did not have specifics. Peasant revolts erupted in many rural its religious influence. As for economic development, the Revolu- areas. In August, the Assembly abolished feudal privileges, and tion established a metric system and standards for weights and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man proposed by Lafay- measures, as well as a uniform civil law code that helped pave ette. The March of the Women (6000 strong) went the distance the way for the . Napoleon’s occupation of of 15 miles with Lafayette to Versailles in October 1789, calling Italian and German territories provoked a rise of nationalism in for food from their King and Queen. They returned 30,000 strong Italy and Germany. Although Napoleon’s coup d’état of Novem- to Paris, accompanied by the monarchs. In 1792, the Marseillaise ber 1799, ended liberal democracy, it did not end the revolution- united the nation. aries’ belief that a nation was not a group of royal subjects but a society of equal citizens. 5. Establishment of : After initially establishing a constitutional monarchy, the revolution came under the control

January/February 2012 41 The Russian Revolution (1917)

1. The economic crisis immediately preceding the revolution: Two women revolutionaries were: the wife of Lenin, Nadezhda Russia was the poorest of the major European countries, with vast Krupskaya, who actively promoted the right of women to vote inequality between rich and poor. In World War I, Russia lacked and have equal positions in the trade unions; and Alexandra Kol- the industry to support its war effort and did not have a railroad lontai, who led the important citywide laundry workers’ strike in system that could get supplies to the front. Lack of equipment, 1917 and went on to serve as the only woman in an executive ammunition and supplies led to the loss of two million men and leadership position in the new government. the occupation of significant west Russian territories by Germa- ny. Fifteen million peasants were in the army and not producing 5. Establishment of dictatorship: The Bolsheviks agreed to elec- food on their farms. Military defeats and food shortages set the tions in 1917, but when only 25% of voters supported them, they stage for demonstrations. In Petrograd in 1917, 150,000 workers arrested the opposition leaders, and dissolved the Constituent marched in the bitter January cold and then massed again in Assembly. A dictatorship of the was established. Many March calling for food and reforms; this went on for days. Wom- of the intelligentsia who welcomed the 1917 Revolution became en stood in breadlines. When the Czar ordered the Duma (par- its victims in the cellars of Lubyanka prison, Moscow. Under com- liament) to go home and commanded the city garrison to fire munist rule, land and livestock were confiscated from owners. on the strikers, the soldiers refused and declared their solidarity Rail, mines, communications, stores, factories, and banks became with the rioters. The Duma created a Provisional Government led government controlled without compensation to their previous by Kerensky in defiance of the czar. These events led to the col- owners. Peasants eventually became state workers on state land. lapse of the monarchy. Religious activities were limited. Lenin set up the Cheka to com- bat counter revolutionaries. members made 2. The elite and other classes: Russia was a country character- the political decisions. After a dreadful famine killed nearly five ized by great inequality between most of the population and the million and necessitated the acceptance of food from America, landed and business elites. Class tensions were exacerbated by Lenin called for a New Economic Policy in 1921, disbanding the deprivation due to the war. Kerensky’s Provisional Government Food Requisitioning Detachments, which had been confiscat- promoted political freedom and reforms, but lost control as peas- ing peasant production; Lenin allowed peasants to choose their ants in the provinces killed landlords to take over their lands. Two form of land tenure: communal or individual. Lenin also allowed million soldiers deserted from the Russian Army, many returning limited . Stalin later reversed Lenin’s policies, but his to assist fellow peasants. The Tsar’s autocratic rule meant that the collectivization of agriculture led to the 1932-33 famine in which interests of most Russians were unrepresented in government as millions died. “Stalinist rule” became a phrase meaning intense the costs and defeats of World War I devastated the country. and of suspected dissidents and opponents. The concrete result of the revolution of 1917 was the 3. Spread of revolutionary ideas among the intelligentsia: institution of for most of the 20t h century until, For over a century, dissidents protested aristocratic ownership of after Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost, Russians claimed their land, the oppression of peasants, low wages, lack of universal suf- freedom in 1991 and established a form of capitalism coexisting frage and education, and political repression by the Czars. Lenin, with communism. Trotsky and Stalin were steeped in the writings of 19th century Russian revolutionaries and Marxist thought. Each had been a 6. National mobilization in response to foreign hostility: revolutionary since his youth, suffered imprisonment in Siberia, In 1918, seeking to protect their investments and loans, the and experienced exile. Under Kerensky’s general amnesty of French, British and Americans landed in Murmansk, Archangel, 1917, all three returned to Petrograd to use words and violence and other parts of Russia. They helped the White Russians, who to achieve . were led by landlords, aristocrats, conservatives, and capitalists opposed to the communists. The communists rallied the coun- 4. Goals of the revolution and major revolutionaries: In his try against this foreign intervention. Trotsky organized the Red April Theses of 1917 upon his return to Russia, Lenin called for Army of three million, which defeated the occupying forces and Peace, Bread and Land: ending the war against Germany; using their White allies. The Czar and his family were executed in 1918 state resources to feed hungry workers; and taking land from to ensure that no one would rally around the royal family. the nobility and giving it to the peasants. The Bolsheviks used concise slogans: All Power to the Soviets and Freedom for non- 7. Main legacy of revolution: From the ascendancy of Stalin in Russian Nationalities. Lenin aimed to undermine the Kerensky 1928 until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russians lived government. In his view, workers could not do this unaided, and under a command economy, in a country known for its military the revolutionary intellectual must lead the way. Trotsky returned might, prowess in space, and state sponsored sports teams, but from New York to be a mastermind of the revolution, developing few consumer goods. Education, health care and housing were plans to organize the armed soviets and control the postal, tele- free; men and women had equal access to services and jobs. graph and rail services. On October 24, 1917 at 9:00p m , the Aurora The practice of religion, the expression of opinion and political and the Peter and Paul Fortress began to open fire with blanks on freedom were suppressed by a state apparatus in which political the palace. The Bolshevik revolutionaries stormed the Winter Pal- decisions were made by the Party elite. ace with support from the armed Red Guards, their factory militia.

Social Education 42 The Chinese Revolution (1949)

1. The economic crisis immediately preceding the revolu- small cities, then larger ones, until it seized power in the entire tion: The Chinese Revolution of 1949 was the outcome of pro- country. put great emphasis on the idealism of a class- longed strife that followed a modernizing, nationalist revolu- less society with equality for workers, soldiers, and farmers. tion in 1911 against the Qing dynasty. Throughout this period, most Chinese were peasants, often living in deep poverty, and 5. Establishment of dictatorship: Although the 1911 revolu- subject to abuse by landowners, health problems, and low life tion had sought the establishment of constitutional rights, the expectancy. Land rent and taxes went to the owners. Acute Kuo Ming Tang (KMT) failed to guarantee political and eco- poverty also existed among the urban poor. The Kuo Ming Tang nomic rights, and Jiang Jishi, supported by the army, ruled au- nationalist party dominated China between 1927 and 1949 tocratically from 1927 to 1949. When Mao declared the People’s under the leadership of General Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang Jieshi), Republic of China after the Communist victory of 1949, he but a between the Kuo Ming Tang and the Chinese established a strong single-party dictatorship controlling the Communist Party during much of this period drained nation- state, military and media. Mao dominated the Communist Party al economic resources. China’s economy was also ravaged by until his death in 1976. A radical reorganization of China be- Japanese invasions in 1931 and 1937, resulting in Japanese oc- gan with reigns of terror to root out the old. However, the 1958 cupation of a large part of China. Although the Kuo Ming Tang Great Leap Forward, which experimented with new collective and Communist Party joined forces against the invasion until techniques of farming, resulted in the deaths of about 30 mil- Japan was defeated, civil war resumed until the Communist vic- lion in the Great Famine. Leaders who dissented were purged, tory in 1949. and Mao’s Little Red Book became the authoritative source for Chinese communist beliefs and the basis of a personality cult. 2. The elite and other classes: The Kuo Ming Tang was allied In the 1960s, Mao supported the in an at- with the Chinese business and landed elite. It was centered in tempt to restore revolutionary virtue to China. People were Chinese towns and supported by the army. Both in rural and persecuted in factional struggles across the country. Although urban areas, Chinese society was characterized by extreme many Chinese economic and political leaders were ousted, the inequality and underdevelopment, and the Chinese Commu- pendulum swung against the radicals before Mao’s death, and nist Party was able successfully to mobilize peasant discontent the “Gang of Four” was forced out soon after he died. Supported with landowners. The sense that China had been humiliated by Zhou Enlai, became First Vice Premier in 1974, by foreign powers was also widespread. China’s business elite and eventually became the autocratic leader who moved China had close ties with Western businesses, and the Kuo Ming Tang into a new era with major economic reforms. was backed during the civil war by Western countries, which increased the cleavage between the Chinese elite and a popu- 6. National mobilization in response to foreign hostility: Af- lation resentful of foreign influence. ter the Communist victory in 1949, the new regime faced great hostility from the western powers. The United States refused to 3. Spread of revolutionary ideas among the intelligentsia: recognize Communist China, instead recognizing the Kuo Ming From education and travel overseas, Chinese intellectuals early Tang, which had retreated to Taiwan (Formosa), as China’s le- in the 20t h century urged a new era of political participation gitimate government. The Communists rallied nationalist senti- for China and a reemergence of her role in Asia. Sun Yat Sen ment by denouncing this as a U.S. attempt to determine China’s (1866-1925) wrote a Manifesto in 1905 promoting the princi- future. In 1950, when U.S. and allied forces in the Korean War ples of nationalism, democracy and social welfare. Intellectuals crossed the 38t h parallel, China sent more than 200,000 troops and students became increasingly interested in , espe- to support communist North Korea. Appealing to Chinese na- cially after the 1917 Russian Revolution made it the tionalism, the Chinese leadership built up a strong army, and of a major world power. The co-founders of the Chinese Com- developed advanced weapons systems. munist Party in 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao (Mao Zedong’s mentor), were Chinese intellectuals familiar with contemporary 7. Main legacy of the revolution: China became a single party international currents of political thought. Revolutionary Qui state with central planning. Mass literacy campaigns in the cit- Jin (1875–1907) pushed for women’s rights in the new China. ies and countryside were organized throughout the 1950s and included reading, math, and political education. There was an 4. Goals of the revolution and major revolutionaries: Led by emphasis on using the arts to promote revolution. The literacy Mao and Zhou Enlai, the communists sought societal change rate for girls and women rose sharply as more schools were built with major land reforms. Mao Zedong planned a People’s War and they were required to attend. There was greater equality that mobilized the peasants through a guerrilla strategy. The of higher education for all classes after the end of the old na- Long March (1934–35) was a 6000 mile retreat of the commu- tionwide exam system ended; millions of women received a nists into the North West to rebuild their base after defeats by share of property and left the household to work for the first the Kuo Ming Tang. As the revolutionary base grew in power, time, helped by the nationwide establishment of nurseries and it expanded its influence, becoming the governing power of kindergartens. Women were recruited for the Communist Party. nearby regions and initiating land reform, killing the landown- Marriage laws made bride prices illegal. One-child policies were ers, and redistributing the land to peasants. Finally, it encircled imposed by law.

January/February 2012 43 Analyze Revolutions from page 40 of modernization. They occurred tary machineries; (2) widespread in agrarian bureaucratic peasant , and (3) mar- and international factors all have im- situated within, or newly incor- ginal elite political movements. portant roles in explaining these revo- porated into, international fields What each social revolution mini- lutions. dominated by more economically mally “accomplished” was the As Skocpol explains: modern nations abroad. In each extreme rationalization and cen- case, social revolution was a con- tralization of state institutions, the Social revolutions in France, Rus- juncture of three developments: removal of a traditional landed sia, and China occurred during (1) the collapse or incapacitation upper class from intermediate (re- the earlier world-historical phases of central administrative and mili- gional and local) quasi-political supervision of the peasantry, and the elimination or diminution of the economic power of the landed upper class.14

Skocpol begins her analysis by not- ing that there were political crises in France from 1787-89, in Russia in the first half of 1917, and in China early in the twentieth century that “not only undermined autocratic regimes but also disorganized centrally coordi- nated administrative and coercive con- trols over the potentially rebellious lower classes. The revolutionary crises developed when the old-regime states A Free, Interactive Online Curriculum For Middle and High School Students became unable to meet the challenge of evolving international situations.”15 www.comingofagenow.org China was assaulted by imperialist na- tions, France had undergone a series Use this curriculum to teach about the Holocaust through the powerful of major wars, and Russia was unable stories of young people who survived. Students will learn to connect to cope with the crisis of World War this history to the world today, exploring themes of identity and personal I. Skocpol states that all three agrarian responsibility. states found themselves in competition with states that “possessed relatively The website integrates: much greater and more flexible power based upon economic breakthroughs • First-person videos and narratives of Holocaust survivors to capitalist industrialization or agri- • Artifact Explorations or commerce.”16 The result was • Student Projects that “revolutionary crises emerged • Online Discussions precisely because of the unsuccessful Produced by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York, Coming attempts of the Bourbon, Romanov, of Age is aligned with the National Standards for World History and NCTE Standards for the English and Manchu regimes to cope with Language Arts for Middle and Secondary Schools, as well as Common Core Learning Standards. foreign pressures.... the upshot was the Coming of Age in the Holocaust, Coming of Age Now is a project of the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York in collaboration with Yad LaYeled – The Ghetto Fighters’ Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum in Israel, made possible by generous grants disintegration of centralized adminis- from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany: The Rabbi Israel Miller Fund for Shoah Research, Documentation and Education. trative and military machineries that Additional support is made possible by The Shlomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation, Inc. had theretofore provided the sole uni- fied bulwark of social and political or- der. No longer reinforced by the pres- NEW YOrk, NEW YOrk tige and coercive power of autocratic 646.437.4290 monarchy, the existing class relations WWW.COMINgOFAgENOW.Org became vulnerable to assaults from below.”17

Social Education 44 Many analyses of revolution (see the did the peasantry become able to for the consolidation of revolution- writings of and others) see achieve long-implicit insurrec- ary state power. And the result was a the revolt of urban workers as being tionary goals. The conjunctural revolutionary New Regime uniquely the cornerstone of the revolutionary result was a social revolution.19 devoted to fostering widespread par- experience. To Skocpol, peasant in- ticipation and surprisingly resistant surrections played an absolutely criti- The Results: How States Changed to routinized hierarchical domination cal role in the social revolutions she as a Result of These Social by bureaucratic officials and profes- analyzes; in her view, “peasant revolts Revolutions sional experts.”23 Skocpol notes that have been the crucial insurrectionary Skocpol states that the organized elites the Chinese Revolution could only be ingredient in virtually all actual (i.e., who ended up ruling in France, the So- completed when “some revolutionary successful) social revolutions to date, viet Union and China eventually creat- leaders learned to tap the enormous in- and certainly in the French, Russian ed more centralized, rationalized, and surrectionary, productive, and politi- and Chinese Revolutions.”18 Without bureaucratized state institutions; this cal energies of the peasant majority.”24 the breakdown in central authority was necessary, she notes, to fend off Their strategies guided the revolution described in the previous paragraph, “counterrevolutionary threats at home to success. China is the most obvious however, Skocpol points out that peas- and abroad, peasant anarchist tenden- example of what Skocpol says is one of ant revolts would not have taken place; cies, and the international crises faced the most profound changes of the social they took advantage of situations where by their societies.”20 The structures revolutions in question: the landed up- the government could not deploy its of the new governments created after per classes lost their control, and “the usual repressive power. the revolutions were very different. In peasantry and the urban lower classes Skocpol states: France, a very bureaucratized “modern were directly incorporated into now state” was created: the officer core of truly national polities and economies, In all three Revolutions, the revo- the French army was professionalized institutionally and symbolically.”25 lutionary political crisis of the and the staff of central ministries rose autocratic state itself occasioned from 420 in 1788 to 5,000 in 1796.21 In This article has provided two differ- by national and international de- Russia, a revolution based on “equal- ent ways to compare and contrast criti- velopments quite independent ity” soon transformed the country into cal revolutions that should be studied of the peasantry—was also a cru- a “highly centralized and bureaucratic in any Modern World History class: cial cause. The political factor party-state, which eventually became Crane Brinton’s comparison of the interacted with the structurally committed to propelling rapid national stages of the English, Russian, French, given insurrectionary potential industrialization by command and ter- and American revolutions and Theda of the peasantry to produce the ror.” Skocpol explains some of the rea- Skocpol’s analysis of the motivating full-blown social-revolutionary sons why this took place: “….revolu- forces behind the social revolutions situation that neither cause alone tionary state-builders in Russia faced in China, Russia, and France. There could have produced. It was the more demanding tasks—at first of sheer are many other approaches to revolu- breakdown of the concerted re- revolutionary defense, and then of tion: social scientists study the anti- pressive capacity of a previously state-propelled industrialization—un- communist -1991, unified and centralized state that der far more threatening domestic and revolutions against , and finally created conditions directly international conditions. The result various Marxist revolutions. Some po- or ultimately favorable to wide- was a Russian New Regime broadly litical scientists specialize in what hap- spread and irreversible peasant similar to the French in its political pens to societies after revolutions take revolts against land-lords. If simi- centralization and urban-bureaucratic place. There are scholars who study the lar agrarian class and local politi- basis, yet also qualitatively different impact of gender on revolution. In the cal structures had not previously from the French New Regime in its past year, there has been an increased given rise to the pattern of peasant dynamic orientation toward national interest in the study of revolution. revolts, it was because the missing industrialization under party-state Were the events of the the ingredient was a world-historical control.”22 beginnings of true social revolutions development in the affairs of the According to Skocpol, China provid- in the Middle East? In America, many dominant class. As soon as—and ed a very different model. In China, a speak of the 1% vs. the 99%: some only when—that class, under in- “mass-mobilizing party-state” was cre- wonder if Marx is being validated in ternational pressure in a modern- ated; in China, the peasants provided contemporary society.26 Are members izing world, had backed itself into “both the revolutionary insurrectionary of the Occupy Wall Street movement a revolutionary political crisis, force and the organized popular basis the of some new revolution-

January/February 2012 45 ary movement? The topic of revolu- Eisenhower Academy tion should continue to be a vital topic An Institute for Teachers • July 8–13, 2012 in any present and future social studies curriculum. The Eisenhower Academy for teachers, held at Gettysburg College in historic Gettysburg, PA, focuses on 1950s America and the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Professional Education credits and three graduate credits are Notes 1. Crane Brinton, The Anatomy of Revolution (New available for attending. York: Vintage Books, 1965), 4. 2. Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing • Field trips, lecture, and discussion on the Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). 1950s including the Cold War, civil rights, Cited in Theda Skocpol, Social Revolutions in the economics, and popular culture. Modern World (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997), 133. • Effective strategies for teaching the 3. Stephen T. Possony, ed., The Lenin Reader (Chicago: Cold War era in the classroom. Henry Regnery Company, 1966). Cited in Skocpol, • New scholarship on the Eisenhower 133. Presidency. 4. Brinton, 7. 5. Ibid., 16-17. • A visit to the Eisenhower National 6. Marion Elizabeth Diamond, “Crane Brinton, Egypt, Historic Site for an intimate glimpse into and the Anatomy of Revolution”, http://learnearnan- Eisenhower's life and times. dreturn.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/crane-brinton- • Opportunities to learn about and use primary egypt-and-the-anatomy-of-revolution/ source documents, film, video, and the 7. Brinton, 27-66. Internet as research tools. 8. Ibid., 67-91. 9. Ibid., 146. • Interviews with Eisenhower associates and family members. 10. Ibid., 164. Sponsored by 11. Ibid., 190. The National Park Service, 12. Ibid., 198-204. For more information contact: Gettysburg College, and 13. Ibid., 205-236. (717) 338-9114 ext. 4411 [email protected] The Eisenhower Society 14. Theda Skocpol, Social Revolutions in the Modern World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Eisenhower Academy, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100, Gettysburg, PA 17325 • www.nps.gov/eise 1979), 135. 15. Ibid., 47. 16. Ibid., 50. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid., 112-113. 19. Ibid., 117. 20. Ibid., 157. 21. Ibid., 196-199. 22. Ibid., 206. 23. Ibid., 236. 24. Ibid., 236-237. 25. Ibid., 158. 26. See Terry Eagleton, Why Marx Was Right (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011) & Chris Harman, Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2010).

Stephen Armstrong is vice-president of National Council for the Social Studies. He is a department surpervisor in the West Hartford, Con- necticut, public schools and an adjunct instructor in the history department at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Conn.

Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D. is an adjunct history professor, Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island. She is on the NCSS Exec- utive Board and has 27 years of secondary school experience. She was Fulbright Scholar in Russia in 2009. She can be reached at marian.desrosiers@ salve.edu.

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