Social revolutions

[Christensen]

I've been wondering a bit about social revolutions (please note that there are a difference between revolutions, rebellion and social revolutions). So I ask the members of this forum: What (in your mind) determines the outbreak of a social revolution and perhaps more important, what factors have an influnce of how they turn out? For instance, why did the social revolution in France turn into democracy while in Germany gave it birth to fascism/nazism and in Russia communism?

 

[Cadell]

I tend to ascribe to Dialectical Materialism as a way to analyze events in history. Obviously all these social revolutions were caused by material deprivation of the masses. That is to say that the working classes were suffering from a depressed economy, and were willing to turn to any solution, even a bad one. As for why they turned to different systems, it is almost random, and differing factors affected each event. If Hitler had never existed, or had become and accepted artist in Vienna, Germany probably would have turned to Socialism.

 

[Edgewaters]

For instance, why did the social revolution in France turn into democracy while in Germany gave it birth to fascism/nazism and in Russia communism?

Don't forget that in France, it really didn't start out that way. They had the Reign of Terror, then a short dictator bent on global conquest.

 

[Lucius]

Perhaps the ease with which a hereditary-type absolutist state changes to a democracy has something to do with the attitude of hereditary monarch toward that change. Take for example, Denmark and Russia. And didn't Japan insist upon being bombed into democracy?

Perhaps each country has it's own idiosyncrasy which is the sum of all the idiosyncrasies of the people in it?

 

[PADDYBOY]

Perhaps the ease with which a hereditary-type absolutist state changes to a democracy has something to do with the attitude of hereditary monarch toward that change. Take for example, Denmark and Russia. And didn't Japan insist upon being bombed into democracy?

Perhaps each country has it's own idiosyncrasy which is the sum of all the idiosyncrasies of the people in it?

GOOD POST ! I think