Off the shelf
The many roads of revolution
V. N. Datta

Themes in World History: Revolutions in World History
by Michael D. Richards. Routledge, New Delhi and London. Pages 104. £ 13.

THE author says that revolution is one way of doing politics and resolving at least some of the crucial issues relating to it. It is difficult to say when revolution begins or ends. However, revolution becomes embedded in the history of a nation, and is used or misused in varied circumstances.

The word revolution, distinct from revolt or rebellion, is susceptible to various interpretations. In this study, revolution is the subversion or overthrow of an established social, economic and political order and making in its place, a new one.

The crux is a fundamental change in the structure of society by use of force, and the aim sought is the enhancement of the material and moral quality of human life.

The sense of revolution was strengthened by social movements which brought a clear distinction between revolutionary and evolutionary socialism—in the former, there is a violent overthrow of the social order, and in the latter, peaceful and critical change.

Revolutions, their ideologies, their leaders and their successes or failures have determined the course of history. Michael D. Richards, a specialist in European history, Samford Professor of History in Sweet Briar College, Virginia, focuses on five major cases, beginning with the English revolutions in the 17^th century, and continuing with the Mexican, Russian, Vietnamese and Iranian revolutions. This work raises questions about motivation and ideologies, and examines the effectiveness of these revolutions. This study offers a comparative evaluation of some of the revolutionary movements and estimates their merits and demerits.

The 20th century was filled with revolutions in every quarter of the globe. No one anticipated the collapse of the East European communist regime in 1989. The basic aim of the revolution is not merely to seize power, but to go beyond it. For the attainment of goal, we have to determine what price to pay.

The author traces the events of the 1640s and 1680s in the British Isles that had led to the British revolution, called the Glorious Revolution because minimum force was used in it by the participants. The critical political, social and economic issues, the constitutional battle between the monarchy and parliament, the breakdown of the political and financial system, and rebellion in Ireland rallied the forces against the government.

The country was thrown into the vortex of civil war. The King, Charles I, was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell’s dictatorial rule did not mend matters. No class-conscious capitalist class emerged victorious over the feudal world. Richards shows how the British by their sense of compromise and adjustment, succeeded in restoring a limited monarchy based on constitutional rights, the Anglican Church as the established Church and prescribed the House of Lords as a locus of power.

The American Revolution was the rationalisation of a system derived from the British and the French Revolution had other sources in addition to the British revolution.

The Mexican Revolution (1910-20) is the first great political and social revolution of the 20^th century, and its striking features were bloodshed, betrayal, cruelty and bitter class struggle. Both idealism and opportunism characterised it. A product of history, the revolution was a response to a particular situation created by the regime of Porfirio Diaz. By 1970, it seemed as though things were moving in the right direction, but after 1940, the revolution lost its way, and endured as a form or rhetoric

One of the debilitating factors was the US intervention in Mexico. The cost Mexico paid was high, as in the struggle for a nation of 15 million, between 1.5 and 2 million died, and many heads executed, and yet there was no growth or development of political process. The Mexican Revolution was an utter failure.

Richard regards the Russian revolution as the most seminal of all the revolutions. It triggered various anti-imperial movements in the world.

The success of the revolution lay in constructing a highly industrialised and urbanised society capable of defending and extending the revolution. For its rise and success, various factors are highlighted, such as the misery of the people, the feudal oppression, the tsarist regime, the impact of World War I in 1914 and the brilliant leadership of Lenin for the mobilisation of masses.

Conceding that the communist system produced a powerful state that had defeated the Nazi Germany, the author argues that the state created was badly managed and was bloodier and more repressive than the Mexican state. Thus, the Russian Revolution is seen in this work as a costly, flawed, and utopian project based on a fundamental misreading of human nature.

Richards regards the Vietnamese Revolution as a study in endurance and perseverance. The Vietnamese fought the French between 1946 and 1954 to liberate themselves from their rule, and then a South Vietnamese regime backed by the United States between 1960 and 1975. Victory came only at the end of along and brutal struggle. Initially Richards sees the Vietnamese Revolution as a primary example of post-world war II national liberation movement, which had a major international impact.

The Vietnam war, which the Vietnamese call the American war, played a vital role in causing the Americans to question not only government policy but also basic principles of American life. Vietnam was engulfed in a national tragedy of immense dimension. There is obviously a growing difference between the south, where capitalism seems to hold again, and the north.

Finally, Richard deals with the Iranian Revolution, in which religion played a major role and became the defining issue. The author emphasises that the Cold War context was a major factor in the Iranian Revolution.

The American military aid to Shah Reza Khan aroused the wrath of the populace which the Ulema exploited to mobilize strong opposition to the monarchy with the object of creating an Islamic state on the principles of Shariah. The Islamic Republic, a theocracy, was set up.

The Iraq-Iran war brought with it a strict conformity to Islamic principles and a kind of Islamic unity. It remains to be seen what direction the Iranian Revolution will take in the future. According to the author, Islamic Republic of Islam remains a disappointment to the millions of Iranians, a repressive regime that has failed to improve the quality of life for many Iranians. This is a valuable introduction to the study of revolutions.

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