Anarchangel: WP Start

2011-02-24T04:03:08Z

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''The events yet to transpire in North Africa and the Middle East as of Feb 2011 may change some information in this article and even its outlook considerably''
{{Wikipedia}}
A '''revolutionary wave''' is a series of [[revolution]]s [[Wikipedia:revolution|WP)]] occurring in various locations. In many cases, an initial revolution inspires other "affiliate revolutions" with similar aims.<ref>Mark N. Katz, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pLrnRMI2tmgC&client=firefox-a ''Revolution and Revolutionary Waves''], Palgrave Macmillan (October 1, 1999)</ref>

The concept is important to [[Marxist]]s [[Wikipedia:Marxist|WP)]], who see revolutionary waves as evidence that a [[world revolution]] [[Wikipedia:world revolution|WP)]] is possible. For [[Rosa Luxemburg]] [[Wikipedia:Rosa Luxemburg|WP)]], "The most precious thing...in the sharp ebb and flow of the revolutionary waves is the proletariat's spiritual growth. The advance by leaps and â€“ bounds of the intellectual stature of the proletariat affords an inviolable guarantee of its further progress in the inevitable economic and political struggles ahead."<ref>[[Rosa Luxemburg]] [[Wikipedia:Rosa Luxemburg|WP)]], ''Gesammelte Werke'', quoted in [[Wikipedia:Tony Cliff]] [http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1985/patterns/part1.htm#s2 Rosa Luxemburg, 1905 and the classic account of the mass strike] in ''[http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1985/patterns/index.htm Patterns of mass strike]'', International Socialism 2:29, Summer 1985, p.3-61.</ref>

Examples given of revolutionary waves include:

*The wave of [[Wikipedia:Atlantic Revolutions]] occurring at the end of the eighteenth century, including the [[Wikipedia:American Revolution]] (1776), the [[Wikipedia:French Revolution]] (1789) and the [[Wikipedia:Haitian Revolution]] (1791).
**The [[Wikipedia:Latin American revolutions|Latin American Wars of Independence]], including the various [[Wikipedia:Spanish American wars of independence]] of 1810â€“1826. These revolutions are often seen as inspired at least in part by the American and French Revolutions in terms of their [[Wikipedia:classical liberalism|liberal]] [[Wikipedia:Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] ideology and aims, are counted as the second part of the Atlantic Wave.
*The [[Wikipedia:Revolutions of 1830]], most notably the neighboring [[Wikipedia:July Revolution]] in [[France]] [[Wikipedia:France|WP)]] and the [[Wikipedia:Belgian Revolution]].
*The [[Wikipedia:Revolutions of 1848]].
*The [[Wikipedia:Revolutions of 1905-1911]] in the aftermath of the [[Wikipedia:Russo-Japanese War]], including the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]] [[Wikipedia:Russian Revolution of 1905|WP)]], the [[Wikipedia:Argentine Revolution of 1905]], the [[Wikipedia:Persian Constitutional Revolution]], the [[Wikipedia:Young Turk Revolution]], the Greek [[Wikipedia:Goudi Revolt]], the [[Wikipedia:Monegasque Revolution]], the [[Wikipedia:Portuguese Revolution of 1910]], the [[Wikipedia:Mexican Revolution]], and the [[Wikipedia:Chinese Revolution of 1911]] involved [[nationalism]] [[Wikipedia:nationalism|WP)]], [[Wikipedia:constitutionalism]], [[Wikipedia:modernisation]], and/or [[Wikipedia:republicanism]] targeting autocracy and traditionalism.
*The [[Wikipedia:Revolutions of 1917-23]] in the [[Wikipedia:aftermath of World War I]], including the [[Wikipedia:Bolshevik Revolution]] in [[Russia]] [[Wikipedia:Russia|WP)]] and the emergence of an international [[Wikipedia:communist party]] alliance in the [[Wikipedia:Soviet]]-led [[Wikipedia:Comintern]], the collapse of the major territorial empires of continental [[Europe]] [[Wikipedia:Europe|WP)]] as well as [[Wikipedia:nationalist]], [[Wikipedia:populism|populist]] and [[Wikipedia:socialist]] uprisings and protests worldwide.
*A more minor (or at least, more complicated) wave in the early and mid-1930s, in general response to the global effects of the [[Wikipedia:Great Depression]] and fears of communist revolution, including the rise of the [[Wikipedia:fascist]] movements and regimes in [[Wikipedia:Europe]]. [[Wikipedia:Communist parties]] began debuting the [[Wikipedia:popular front]] strategy, making coalitions with other [[Wikipedia:leftist]] and even some [[Wikipedia:center-right]] groups in an effort to shape politics, particularly after [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Wikipedia:Adolf Hitler|WP)]] [[Wikipedia:Nazi]]s seized power in [[Germany]] [[Wikipedia:Germany|WP)]] in 1933. Despite the alliances of the [[Wikipedia:Far left|radical left]] with moderate [[Wikipedia:socialist]]s and [[Liberalism|liberal]]s [[Wikipedia:Liberalism|liberals|WP)]], the divisions over [[idology]] [[Wikipedia:ideology|WP)]] and [[Wikipedia:political parties]] were rife and the movements did not lead to [[Wikipedia:communist revolution]]. Rather, they largely ended in either outright military and political defeat, as in the [[Wikipedia:Spanish Civil War]] and the other collapsing democracies of the interwar era, or electoral cooption and compromise, as exemplified by the ascendancy of [[Wikipedia:social democratic]] parties over [[Wikipedia:communists]] in many places, like the [[Wikipedia:Front populaire]] in [[France]] [[Wikipedia:France|WP)]] and the [[Wikipedia:Democratic Party (U.S.)]] through its [[Wikipedia:New Deal coalition]].
*A wave (or perhaps a series of waves) occurring at the end of [[World War II]] [[Wikipedia:WWII|WP)]] and throughout the [[Cold War]] [[Wikipedia:Cold War|WP)]] (see below).
**Arguably, especially in the case of [[Wikipedia:communist revolution]]s, there has been a regional wave following each successful seizure of power in a given area of the world. For example,
***Two major waves swept [[Wikipedia:East Asia]] and [[Wikipedia:Southeast Asia]]. The first (1940s-1950s) wave grew after World War II [[Wikipedia:WWII|WP)]] and was epitomized by the 1949 victory of the [[Wikipedia:Maoist]]s in decades-long [[Wikipedia:Chinese Civil War]], includes the establishment of a [[Wikipedia:communist state]] in [[North Korea]] [[Wikipedia:North Korea|WP)]] and the subsequent [[Korean War]] [[Wikipedia:Korean War|WP)]], a similar trajectory of the [[Wikipedia:Viet Minh]] and the communist [[Wikipedia:North Vietnam]]ese regime through the [[Wikipedia:First Indochina War]], as well as failed uprisings by the [[Wikipedia:Huks]] in the [[Phillipines]] [[Wikipedia:Philippines|WP)]] and by communists in the [[Wikipedia:Malay Emergency]], and the [[Wikipedia:popular front]]-style alliance that led and triumphed in the [[Wikipedia:Indonesian War of Independence]]. Another 1960s-1970s wave parallels the [[Wikipedia:Chinese Cultural Revolution]] (1966-1976 and the [[Viet Nam War]] [[Wikipedia:Vietnam War|WP)]] (or Second Indochina War), which extended beyond [[Wikipedia:Vietnam]] and encompassed the [[Wikipedia:Cambodian Civil War]] and [[Wikipedia:Laotian Civil War]], while the wave would include the efforts of the [[Wikipedia:New People's Army]] in the [[Philippines]].
***Two major waves of [[Wikipedia:guerrilla warfare]] in [[Latin America]] [[Wikipedia:Latin America|WP)]]: one after the triumph of the [[Cuban Revolution]] [[Wikipedia:Cuban Revolution|WP)]] in 1959 inspiring legions of emulators pursuing rural-based [[foco]][[Wikipedia:foco|WP)]] and/or [[urban guerrilla warfare]] [[Wikipedia:urban guerrilla warfare|WP)]]; another wave following the eventual victory of one such [[Wikipedia:Central America]]n [[Wikipedia:Castroite]]/[[Wikipedia:Guevarist]] movement in the [[Wikipedia:Nicaraguan Revolution]] in 1979 reinvigorated another generation of [[Wikipedia:vanguard party]] militancy, [[Wikipedia:popular front]]s and armed [[insurrection]]s [[Wikipedia:insurrection|WP)]].
***A substantial wave in [[Africa]] [[Wikipedia:Africa|WP)]], cresting in the 1970s, including the [[communist revolution]] [[Wikipedia:communist revolution]]s and pro-[[Wikipedia:Soviet]] military [[coup d'Ã©tat]]s [[Wikipedia:coup|(WP)]]s in [[Wikipedia:Somalia]], [[Wikipedia:Congo-Brazzaville]], [[Wikipedia:Dahomey]]/[[Wikipedia:Benin]] and [[Wikipedia:Ethiopia]]; the fight of the [[Wikipedia:communist parties]] allied under [[Wikipedia:CONCP]] against the [[Wikipedia:Portuguese Empire]] in the [[Wikipedia:Portuguese Colonial War]]; as well as the anti-[[Wikipedia:apartheid]] struggle, the [[Wikipedia:South African Border War]] and the [[Wikipedia:Rhodesian Bush War]] (in what is now known as [[Wikipedia:Zimbabwe]]).
***The [[Wikipedia:Protests of 1968]], including the May 1968 events in France, in a [[New Left]] [[Wikipedia:New Left|(WP)]] echo of the contemporary waves elsewhere during the [[Cold War]] [[Wikipedia:Cold War|(WP)]].
*The worldwide [[Wikipedia:Civil rights movement]] from the 1950's to 80's.
*The rise of [[Wikipedia:Islamism]], particularly its acceleration since the outbreak of the [[Wikipedia:Lebanese Civil War]] in 1975, of the [[Wikipedia:Afghan Civil War]] after 1978, and of the [[Wikipedia:Iranian Revolution]] in 1978-1979.
*The world money market pressuring its every financial move, the [[Wikipedia:Russian Mafia]]'s [[Wikipedia:black market|(WP)]] eroding its finances, the [[Wikipedia:Arms race]], the [[Wikipedia:Space race]], and quite probably all manipulated or aided by further CIA manipulation, led to a USSR that quite simply gave up. All this despite having a GDP-to-debt ratio 10 or more times that of the USA, having made it to superpower status from being 40 years behind the rest of the Industrial Revolution countries, and having a climate that more resembles Canada (not a superpower) than the USA. After 70 years of anti-communist propaganda, a populace that had come to believe what we think of as Fox News propaganda led the [[Wikipedia:Revolutions of 1989]] against the [[communist]] [[Wikipedia:communist]] and [[Soviet Union]] (USSR) [[Wikipedia:Soviet Union|(WP)]] sphere of influence.
*The [[Wikipedia:Color Revolution]]s, starting in 2000 with the [[Wikipedia:5th October (Serbia)|Bulldozer Revolution]] in [[Wikipedia:Serbia]].
* The [[Wikipedia:2010â€“2011 Middle East and North Africa protests]], starting in [[Wikipedia:2010â€“2011 Tunisian revolution|Tunisia]] in December 2010 and spreading to [[Wikipedia:2011 Algerian protests|Algeria]], [[Wikipedia:2011 Bahraini protests|Bahrain]], [[Wikipedia:Egyptian Revolution of 2011|Egypt]], [[Wikipedia:2011 Jordanian protests|Jordan]], [[Wikipedia:2011 Libyan protests|Libya]], [[Wikipedia:2011 Moroccan protests|Morocco]], [[Wikipedia:Djibouti|Djbouti]], [[Wikipedia:2011 Iranian Protests|Iran]] and [[Wikipedia:2011 Yemeni protests|Yemen]] by February 2011. (''see: [[Wikipedia:Tunisia Effect]]'')

==See also==
*[[Tunisia effect]] (redirected on WP, so not easily available at [[Wikipedia:Tunisia effect]]; try the little blue link at the top left corner, and look in the edit history for previous versions)
*[[Wikipedia:Waves of democracy]]
*[[Domino theory (political hypothesis)]]
*[[Wikipedia:Domino theory]] which accepts it as a theory, and where it has become, in equal parts, discussion of the hypothesis and a Wikipedia:WP:COATRACK for anti-communist critique

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[[Wikipedia:Justin Raimondo]], [http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/01/27/the-revolutionary-wave/ The Revolutionary Wave: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen â€“ is the West next?], [[Antiwar.com]], January 28, 2011.
*Deborah Jerome, [http://www.cfr.org/democracy-and-human-rights/can-tunisia-spark-revolutionary-wave/p23810?cid=rss-analysisbrief-can_tunisia_spark_a_revolution-011811&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+publication%2Fdaily_analysis+%28CFR.org+-+Publications+ Can Tunisia Spark a Revolutionary Wave?], [[Council on Foreign Relations]] analysis brief, January 18, 2011.

{{Marxist & Communist phraseology}}
[[Category:Revolution terminology]][[Category:Marxist terminology]][[Category:Revolution]][[Category:Articles in need of attention]]
[[es:Ciclos revolucionarios]][[pt:Onda RevolucionÃ¡ria]]

Revolutionary wave - Revision history

Anarchangel: WP Start