Revolutions & Upheaval

Watch

• What caused the French Revolution? - Tom Mullaney ↗TED-Ed
• How the Industrial Revolution Destroyed the Old World Forever | A Bedtime History Documentary ↗History After Dark
• 24. Refashioning the State, 1688-1714 ↗YaleCourses

Read

• The Anatomy of Revolution ↗This seminal work offers a compelling, if somewhat dated, four-stage model for understanding the predictable patterns of major historical upheavals, from the English Civil War to the Russian Revolution.Crane Brinton
• The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848 ↗A magisterial account of the dual revolution––industrial and political––that reshaped Europe and the world, revealing the profound interconnectedness of economic and social change.Eric Hobsbawm
• Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution ↗A richly detailed and often unsettling narrative that brings the French Revolution to life, emphasizing its human drama, violence, and the complexities of its ideals.Simon Schama
• States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China ↗A landmark structuralist analysis that argues social revolutions are not made by revolutionaries but emerge from specific state structures and international pressures, challenging voluntarist interpretations.Theda Skocpol
• The Causes of Revolutions: New Structural, Cultural, and Historical PerspectivesAn essential overview synthesizing contemporary theories of revolution, offering a nuanced framework for understanding the interplay of structural conditions, cultural factors, and historical contingencies.Jack A. Goldstone
• Revolutions and Collective ActionA concise yet profound essay by a leading scholar, exploring how collective action and state capacity interact to produce revolutionary outcomes, moving beyond simple grievances.Charles Tilly

Voices to follow

• Yuval Noah Harari ↗Known for his sweeping narratives on humanity's past and future, often dissecting the profound shifts that have reshaped societies and power structures.Historian and public intellectual
• Timothy Snyder ↗Offers incisive analysis of historical and contemporary political crises, illuminating the mechanisms of power and resistance during periods of profound change.Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University
• Daron Acemoglu ↗Provides rigorous frameworks for understanding how institutional shifts and political revolutions shape long-term societal trajectories and economic outcomes.Institute Professor of Economics at MIT
• Mary Fulbrook ↗Offers nuanced perspectives on the social and cultural dynamics that underpin revolutionary periods, particularly in the context of 20th-century totalitarian regimes.Professor of German History at University College London

Glossary

• Coup d'étatA sudden, illegal, and often violent takeover of a government by a small group of people, usually from within the military or existing political elite. It's a quick power grab. For example, if the captain of your school's sports team suddenly took over as student council president without an election.
• IdeologyA set of beliefs, ideas, and values that guide a person or group, especially in politics or society. It's like a blueprint for how they think society should work. For example, a group of friends might share an ideology that everyone should help each other with homework, not just focus on their own grades.
• MonarchyA system of government where a country is ruled by a king or queen, who inherits their position. Their power can be absolute (total) or limited by laws. For example, in a fantasy story, a kingdom ruled by a royal family is a monarchy.
• NationalismA strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's own country, often believing it is superior to others. It can unite people but also lead to conflict. For example, feeling super proud when your country's team wins an international sports competition and cheering loudly for them.
• ProtestA public expression of disagreement or disapproval about something. People protest to show they are unhappy and want change, often peacefully. For example, students might hold signs and march outside the principal's office to protest a new uniform policy.
• ReformMaking changes to something, usually a system or law, to improve it. Reforms are often gradual and aim to fix problems without completely overthrowing the existing structure. For example, if your school decides to change the lunch menu to offer healthier options after student feedback.
• RepublicA system of government where the head of state (like a president) is elected by the people, not an inherited position like a king or queen. Citizens have a say in who governs them. For example, India is a republic because its leaders are chosen by its citizens through elections.
• RevolutionA complete and often sudden change in how a country is governed, usually involving violence or a major shift in power. It's like when a whole new system takes over. For example, if your school suddenly changed all its rules, leadership, and even its name overnight because students and teachers demanded it.
• TyrannyCruel and oppressive government or rule. A tyrant is a ruler who uses power unfairly and harshly, often without caring about the rights of the people. For example, if a class monitor uses their power to boss everyone around, make unfair rules, and punish students without reason.
• UprisingWhen a group of people openly resist authority or a government, often through protests or fighting. It's usually a smaller, more local event than a full revolution. For example, if students in one class refuse to do a specific assignment because they think it's unfair.

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Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• Rhetoric & Persuasion Literature

  'Bread, land, peace.' Three words that helped topple an empire. Revolutions happen when a mountain of anger gets squeezed into one phrase small enough for everyone to shout and remember. So the slogan isn't just decoration on the uprising, it's often the spark that convinces people the old rulers have to go.

• The Medium Is the Message Media

  Every revolution seems to ride a brand-new way of spreading messages that the rulers haven't learned to block yet: printed pamphlets in 1789, smuggled cassette tapes in 1979, social media in 2011. The old regime controls the old channels, so rebellion sneaks in through the one it doesn't understand.

• Food & Agriculture Systems Environment

  When the price of bread spikes, governments start to fall. Hunger helped light the fuse of both the French Revolution and the Arab Spring uprisings. It makes brutal sense: when people can't feed their families, the ruling order becomes the very next thing they're willing to break.

• Earth & Planetary Science Science

  A volcano in Iceland helped bring down a king in France. When Laki erupted in 1783, it poisoned the skies and wrecked harvests across Europe, deepening the hunger that helped ignite the French Revolution years later. Sometimes the trigger of a political explosion is buried deep in the Earth.

• Social Psychology Psychology

  Revolutions seem to erupt out of nowhere because almost everyone hides their real opinion, quietly hating the regime while publicly playing along. Nobody knows how many others feel the same. Then a threshold tips, people pour into the streets, and the crowd suddenly discovers it was the majority all along, a hidden truth revealed in a single night.

• Inflation, Deflation & the Business Cycle Economics

  The French Revolution is remembered for grand ideas about liberty, but what actually shoved the crowd into the streets was the price of bread. A failed harvest sent food costs soaring, and hungry people get dangerous fast. Big ideas lit the fuse, but empty stomachs and rising prices were the gunpowder.

• AI in Business & Digital Transformation Business

  Big company makeovers fail the way revolutions do. Grabbing the new tool, like storming the palace, is the easy part. But old habits, loyalties, and power struggles survive underneath and quietly drag everything back to how it was.