Varying Forms of Violence in Revolutions from 1776 to 1990

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Varying Forms of Violence in Revolutions from 1776 to 1990

The term revolution in its original meaning was a synonym for “restoration” of a political system which meant a return to some prior state of affairs. Only after the French Revolution did this definition change. Today we understand it as an overthrow and transformation of a political regime caused by popular rebellions or insurrections. This overthrow usually involves violent means. Some scientists even call a revolution the “most consequential and (frequently) violent form of political conflict in history”(1) and state that violence is an essential characteristic of revolutions. Most revolutions in fact were characterized by a large degree of violence among the government and oppositional groups. Violence in revolutions simply occurs because governments are usually not willing to transfer power to a new group of people. This of course creates tensions. Social movements, rebellions, riots, coups d’etat, and other political conflicts have often been closely connected with revolutions or revolutionary situations.
There are basically four major forms of violence we can distinguish between. The first and most frequent one is direct violence against the regime and its leaders. In this case government officials, politicians, or in former times nobles are attacked by the common people. Closely connected to this is violence against the police in a state. This is a rather modern phenomenon in which the police embodies the government because leaders are protected by special security agencies. A third form of violence is directed against large portions of the public. This can be carried out either by the original government as a response to rebellions or by new groups who seized power during the revolution. These new governments might now feel that they have to stabilize the new regime and therefore use force to keep further uprisings down. Good examples for this type of violence are the French and Russian revolutions. A forth form of violence is the symbolic one. In this case there is no physical harm done to any persons. [...]
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(1) See Anarchism – Topics & Definitions – Revolutions