Revolution

A rapid, fundamental change in a society’s political or economic order, often involving the overthrow of established institutions and the creation of new ones.

Revolutionary situation: A political crisis in which state authority weakens and organized challengers can mobilize against it. It describes the opening in which established rule becomes vulnerable to revolutionary challenge.
French Revolution: A period of political upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and transformed state and society. It became a defining case of revolution, from popular uprising to radical political transformation.
Theda Skocpol: An American sociologist known for comparative studies of revolutions and states. Her account emphasizes state breakdown and international pressures in major social revolutions.
Coup d'état: The sudden, often military, seizure of government by a small group within the state. A coup changes who governs without necessarily transforming the wider social or economic order.
Nation-state: A sovereign state whose political identity is associated with a nation. Revolutionary movements have helped establish and redefine modern nation-states.
Collective action: Coordinated action by people pursuing a shared goal. Revolutionary movements depend on people overcoming the costs and risks of acting together.
Haitian Revolution: A successful uprising of enslaved people and their allies that founded independent Haiti in 1804. It overturned slavery and colonial rule, making it a landmark anticolonial revolution.
Barrington Moore Jr.: An American sociologist who compared paths to modernity and the origins of democratic and authoritarian regimes. His comparative history links class relations and agrarian change to revolutionary outcomes.
Rebellion: Organized resistance against an established authority, which may or may not seek to replace it. A rebellion can remain limited in aims, while revolution seeks fundamental change to the order.
Abolitionism: A movement to end slavery and the institutions that sustain it. Revolutionary upheavals, especially in Haiti, made the abolition of slavery a central political struggle.

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