Philosophies behind Succesful Revolutions

Philosophies behind Successful Revolutions

February, Saturday 19th 2011

The chronicles of great revolutions that have had great impacts not only on the history of their people but on the history of the people all over the world have been spontaneous reactions between philosophers and people who set the first sparks of these revolutions on a background of awareness that represents the pot where the thoughts of philosophers and the minds of the revolutionists have been mingled together to secrete a range of principles aiming at prospective future of justice, equality, fraternity, plurality where all creative thoughts pour in one path that leads to progress and welfare of humankind. Disregarding the circumstances in which a revolution breaks out and despite the misconducts of revolutionaries and the anti-revolutionaries and even the mishaps of the transitional era, the philosophy behind a revolution eventually merges with the ambitions and hopes of its makers. On a spectacular overview of the British, French and American revolutions, we can detect an unlimited impact of political philosophers, thinkers and social reformers who have created the revolutionary cardiac pulses in the hearts and minds of the people who have caused the revolutionary onset to sparkle. Voltaire, Montesquieu, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and ةmilie du Châtelet are some of several Enlightenment figures whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of all the British, American and French Revolutions.

Not only in England but also all over the world is Philosopher John Locke considered the father of liberalism. His Two Treatises established the liberal idea that (government acquires consent to rule from the governed, not from the supernatural authorities). He is the early messenger of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 that brought about the Parliament ultimate success in establishing a limited constitutional monarchy considerably long after the civil war that led to the execution of King Charles 1 in 1649. These landmark events had their deep roots of early liberal ideology. The impact of this British revolution can be obviously detected in the works of the two historians Colton and Palmer who characterize the period as a new era; “The unique thing about England was that Parliament, in defeating the king, arrived at a workable form of government. Government remained strong but came under parliamentary control. This determined the character of modern England and launched into the history of Europe and of the world the great movement of liberalism”.

The sweeping wave of the intellectual journey of liberalism did not stop or end in England but it continued beyond Locke with the Enlightenment which was characterized by such a profound intellectual vitality that investigated and questioned old laws, traditions, customs and beliefs and turned them upside down in a conclusion which confirmed the result that laws, traditions, customs and beliefs are created for man, not man for the laws, traditions, customs or beliefs. The ideas of Enlightenment influenced several European monarchies of the 18th century and extended to France and North America.

In North America, people were dissatisfied with the lack of representation in the governing parliament overseas after having been loyal British subjects for decades; with the result that in 1776 they declared independence from the rule under the monarchy. Their dissatisfaction manifested itself when they considered the British taxation policies imposed on them as a violation of their constitutionally guaranteed rights as Englishmen. Thus the American Revolution originally started as a civil political uprise which later developed into escalated military engagements in 1775 that were extensively ripe feat by 1781. After the victory a new nation sprouted in a concrete shape with the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to resolve problems concerning confederation, and as a result the Constitution of the United States emerged and confirmed the republic with federal entity. In 1789 the United States Bill of Rights which guaranteed natural rights mandatory to liberal ideals was enacted turning America into an oasis and dreamland for those who are scorched by the fire of persecution, bias or prejudice of any kind, and a home for those who have no home.

The American Revolution with its drastic socio-political changes had its strong echo across the Atlantic especially in France whose Revolution is regarded by historians as one of the most important events in the human history and the revolution onset in 1789 is a landmark of the human chronicle as an end of the early modern period and the dawn of the modern era. It is the event when the ideals of liberals began to fulfill even though some were controversial about its consequences. The fall of the Bastille and the Declaration of Human Rights and of the Citizen mark its first year’s achievements. The following years witnessed tensions between liberals on one side and conservatives who intended to thwart major reforms on the other side until 1792 when a republic was proclaimed. Yet, the external conflicts and internal squabbling radicalized the revolution, culminating in Reign of Terror. The Directory the “five directors of the executive power” controlled France from 1795 to 1799 when it was replaced by the Consulate under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte who ruled as the first consul for about 5 years as he centralized and streamlined bureaucracy along the way. Napoleonic wars that lasted for a decade (from 1805-1815) through most of Europe was the main spade of demolishing most European monarchies and abolishing laws, systems and institutions and brought liberal ones instead. Some historians suggest that Napoleon was the first to use the word “liberal” in a political sense when he wrote that "the peoples of Germany, as of France, Italy and Spain, want equality and liberal ideas" while others described his regime as "civilian dictatorship," which "drew its legitimacy from direct consultation with the people, in the form of a plebiscite".

In conclusion it is noticeable that although liberalism is, politically and intellectually, a modern phenomenon that started in the 17th century there had been some liberal philosophical ideas in ancient times concurrent with ancient Greece and Roman Empire. Philosophers of Liberalism were the roots and stems on which leaves and flowers of liberal revolutions have been fed and supported in Britain, North America, France and most of Europe, to finally yield the fruit of human freedom, equality, justice hence welfare and prosperity.

References:

1- Online Wikipedia
2- dams, Ian. Ideology and politics in Britain today. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-7190-5056-1
3- Alterman, Eric. Why We re Liberals. New York: Viking Adult, 2008. ISBN 0-670-01860-0
4- Gray, John. Liberalism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8166-2801-7
5- Johnson, Paul. The Renaissance: A Short History. New York: Modern Library, 2002. ISBN 0-8129-6619-8
6- Lyons, Martyn. Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution. New York: St. Martin s Press, Inc., 1994. ISBN 0-312-12123-7
7- Manent, Pierre and Seigel, Jerrold. An Intellectual History of Liberalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-691-02911-3

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