A revolution in its purest form is a shocking thing. To learn about it in a classroom is one thing, to live at a time where there is one happening is another thing. To live through one would be a whole other story. There are three famous and brilliantly significant European revolutions that happened centuries ago that can still be used to explain the world in which we inhabit today. With the change in monarchy upcoming it is interesting to explore the idea of living in a republic and just what our world would look like if that ever happened and questioning how far away we are from the reality?
Revolutions are rarely unfounded. They usually stem from political and or social unrest when there is agitation between social classes or another perceived minority. The best example of this is the Russian Revolution, which could be summed up as a revolution of class, although that would be a fairly sweeping statement. But, however sweeping it is it doesn’t make it not true. The key catalyst for the Russian February Revolution was lack of political freedoms, intensified by huge class gaps and unfair treatment of the peasantry and working class. Today we talk a lot about the 1% and the way in which they continue to benefit while others struggle to afford basic commodities such as food, shelter and healthcare. For many it feels that the government may no longer be addressing these problems or using their power to serve all of their people. Examples of this can also be seen in the French Revolution. Unrest stemmed from the sheer size of the class difference that there was between those who could hardly afford to eat let alone afford luxury items and the nobility who lived lavish lifestyles which almost directly influenced intricate art and design around the rest of Europe. The English Revolution however, is not entirely like this, however it is not exactly a far cry from this. The English Revolution can be seen as a revolution of religion at surface level. Although the protestants weren’t a small group of people they felt marginalised and oppressed at the time causing them to act out on who they believed to be their Catholic-sympathetic King. Furthermore, conditions in Tudor English were far from perfect and it would be a long time before England had solid political freedoms and dealt with the problem of poverty in its largest cities for example to capital, London. Although religions are no longer activley persecuted against by the government there is also no use ignoring unconscious bias that we see from people in power, who consciously and unconsciously condemn foreigners, refugees and ethnic minorities.
However, as we have established trying to sum up a whole Revolution in one statement can be a little general. Another factor that often adds fuel to the fire is war or military instability. For example, England who were using military forces in Ireland and continually had difficult relations with Empires abroad, including difficulties both keeping and expanding their own. While this was not the most paramount threat that England had ever faced the greed of government began to stretch them thinner and thinner. This was a strain on finances and made rebellions popping up within England much more difficult to quash. However, a more clear cut example is Russia who were struggling in The Great War or World War One. Russia went from being expected to wipe out the German Army quickly and efficiently simply due to the sheer number of men that they had to losing the most amount of men out of any other country fighting in the war. This was not only a great tragedy but it also rippled back home and caused economic problems as there was a growing lack of able-bodied workers. On top of this war is expensive and even if the endeavour was to be successful it would come at some great personal cost. While the military instability could be viewed as another economic problem it it’s also problematic as it distracts leaders. During wartime it’s seen to be pretty difficult to spread recourses across fighting the enemy and caring for people at home. Even France had dedicated men, supplies and aid to the fight happening across the Atlantic in America. Not only did this alienate the British who owned the colonies in America but it also meant that France were sinking a lot of money into battle. The difference here is that they were ultimately successful. However, in order to be successful they still had to invest enough money to beat the English who at the time had the largest naval army in the world by a lot. Furthermore, this distracted from the tenuous relations between Austria and France, who at the time had an uneasy alliance with one another.
However, one of the most significant and interesting factors that seem to tie these three revolutions together is not only unpopular leaders, be those minsters or the Kings themselves but an unpopular Queen. Whether this is sexism or just a bad run of queens it’s not entirely easy to say. Queen Henrietta Maria was a Catholic. She was therefore perceived by Protestant enemies as a threat, as they believed that she would sway the king to impose harsh reforms on Protestants, despite the English reformation leaning decidedly in favour of Protestants. No plotting did ever come to fruition, however, it was not helped by fears of European persecution as Protestants were still routinely massacred and killed in foreign powers such as France and Spain. Furthermore, Marie Antoinette was an Austrian. This made her very unpopular at the time as the Austro-Hungarian Empire was, prior to the marriage between her and Louis, France’s greatest enemy. And still the marriage didn’t provide the greatest of support for the alliance. It could be perceived that no matter how she asserted herself at court she was doomed to be unpopular because of where she came from. In addition to this, the same could be said of Tsarentina Alexandria. The Tsarentina was a German, similar to the French Queen she was foreign at a time of European difficulties. Being seen as a Germanophiliac was something dreadful and dangerous, at a time where Russia was fighting a brutal battle against Germany and losing. The reckless way in which she conducted herself while her husband was distracted by the war, was also not helped as rumours quickly began to spread that the Tsarentina was having an affair with famed Rasputin. Again, whether these rumours were founded or whether she was simply judged too harshly because of her gender and difficult to tell.
Although its not history’s biggest surprise that these revolutions are all linked together in some way and another, in the coming years as more and more radical groups are predicted to emerge on both sides of politics, it is beneficial to understand the patters of history and how they affect our lives living in a supposedly democratic country. It is interesting to see if you can spot any of the same problems emerging that people hundreds of years ago were faced with as well.
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