HIST362: Modern Revolutions

Watch this lecture. Focus on the ways in which the Industrial Revolution changed the lives of various social groups throughout Europe. Why do you think Merriman uses the plural concept of "revolutions" rather than a single "revolution" to characterize this period? Write a brief paragraph to answer this question.

Watch the introduction to this lecture, to the 5-minute mark, and then watch from 24:00–34:00. Thomas O'Brien distinguishes between spontaneous uprisings, rebellions inspired by a new vision of society, and military coups. What are the most important distinctions between these three types of revolutionary change?

Read this article. What were the most important characteristics of the late nineteenth-century rebellion against the established traditions and conventions of Western thought? Do you think it useful to compare intellectual and political moments of revolutionary change? Why, or why not?

Watch the second part of this lecture, from 34:00 to the end, and focus on understanding the competing analytical models historians have used to explain revolutionary change. Thomas O'Brien discusses several models which make connections between revolutions and the following factors: Marxist theory, political centralization, modernization, intellectuals, and the international context. As you listen to the lecture, make sure you can discuss each of these, and identify the most important theorist associated with each approach. More broadly, consider the following questions: what are the advantages of building conceptual models to characterize revolutions? What are the drawbacks of using conceptual models to understand history?

Read this article. Rejaee presents a short review of political theorist Hannah Arendt's book On Revolution. In this book, Arendt argues that political revolutions are a necessary part of fostering liberty and a sense of freedom and equality in modern societies. Rajaee critiques Arendt's ideas and asserts that she fails to account for non-altruistic motivations in her arguments about the origins and causes of revolutions. What do you think are the most important factors that motivate individuals to participate in revolutionary events?

Read this article, focusing on the similarities and differences between violent and nonviolent revolutions. What definitions of revolutions do you find in this article? How do these compare to the definitions provided by O'Brien?

Read this brief text to better understand the political structure of pre-revolutionary France. Examine the portraits and pictures of French kings to understand how power was represented at this time.

Watch this lecture, focusing on understanding the ways in which the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) influenced state-building in France and England. As you watch, focus on the following aspects of pre-revolutionary societies: the institution of kingship, the role of religion, and the mechanisms of taxation.

Read this paper to understand the practice of "tax farming" in France.

Watch this lecture, which discusses how and why both England and Holland rejected absolutist rule.

Read this brief essay to get an overview of the conflicts between religion and the English state before the English Civil War.

Watch this lecture. Focus on the different meanings of the Enlightenment among the intellectual elites and in popular culture. What did the Enlightenment thinkers focus on? What did they critique? How was the influence of the intellectuals different from that of the "street"?

This 1784 essay is one of the most important texts of the European Enlightenment. As you read it, ask yourself: what does Kant mean by "emergence from self-incurred immaturity"? What is the relationship between thinking for oneself and obedience to political authority? What do you think is revolutionary about this text?

In "The Social Contract" Rousseau articulated the concept of the 'general will', an idea which was often evoked by revolutionaries in France and in later eras. Read this selection of excerpts from Rousseau's influential text to understand what he meant by the concept of the general will.

Read this 1794 essay and analyze its tone. As you read, ask yourself why Condorcet is so unshakably convinced of the necessity of progress? What does he mean by progress? What is his understanding of history?

Read this text, paying particular attention to how the author characterizes modernity and how he distinguishes between traditional modes of life and the modern era.

Various notions of equality and inequality are essential in discussions of both revolutions and modernity. Study this article carefully, focusing on distinctions between formal and substantive equality and their various meanings in different socio-political contexts.

Read this article. Note how it characterizes modernity and modernization. What does modernization theory say about the relationship between Europe and the rest of the world? What are some alternative ways of configuring this relationship? Compare this article to the article on "Modernity and History". What are the features of modernity suggested by these two articles?

Read the final section of this essay, "Part C. State, Bureaucracy, and Law in the Age of Modernity", focusing on how Weber defined the relationship between violence and the modern state.

Watch this lecture and make a list of long-term causes of the English Revolution. Pay particular attention to the ways in which religion and politics were in conflict in seventeenth-century England. 

Read this essay and timeline. Make your own list of events which were most important.

Read this lecture. What were the most important sources of conflict between the Parliament and the Monarchy? What were the most important turning points of the English Civil War?

Watch this lecture and focus on the chronology of the English Revolution, the political gains of each phase of revolutionary activity, and the distinctions O'Brien draws between revolution and civil war.

Read this page, which provides a chronological overview of the Protectorate.

Read this page, which analyzes Oliver Cromwell's leadership in its historical context. After you finish reading write a paragraph that summarizes Kevin A. Creed's argument, and provides your evaluation of his essay. You may wish to consider the following questions: do you find the argument compelling? What evidence is used in this essay? How does this essay help you better understand Cromwell's role in seventeenth-century English history?

Read this document to better understand the causes and consequences of the so-called "Glorious Revolution".

Read this document, focusing on the kinds of rights guaranteed for the citizens. Write a paragraph about ways in which this document helps to explain the difference between a traditional monarchy and a constitutional monarchy.

Watch this lecture, which links the Revolutionary experience in England and John Locke's two Treatises on Government. Focus on the second half of the lecture (starting with minute 19) and be sure you can discuss the logic of Locke's thinking about the powers and role of government in modern societies. Try to summarize Locke's ideology in a few sentences.

Read this 1689 document to understand how Locke sees the relationship between politics and religion. Where does he draw the boundaries of tolerance? How does he justify this choice?

Read this essay. What interpretations of the relationship between religion and the English state does the article describe? Do you find its argument convincing? Why, or why not?

Read this essay. As you read focus on the following questions: what are the most important features of a Marxist interpretation of revolutionary change? How does Christopher Hill characterize the causes and the outcomes of the English Revolution? 

Read this essay. It analyzes the various traditions that influenced the writing of the US Constitution, and mentions the English Bill of Rights among the most important influences. How does the analysis provided here compare with your own reading of the English Bill of Rights? What are the most important ways in which this document paved the way for the Constitution of the United States?

Watch this lecture from 13:00 to the end, and focus on how Freeman proposes to analyze the revolutionary events in America. How does she relate facts and interpretations? Where does she suggest the student's primary focus should be?

Read this article, which provides an overview of the Revolutionary Era. Before delving into the dynamics and ideals of the American Revolution, it is important to have a basic understanding of its chronology and historical context. The works in this subunit will help you understand the timeline of the most important events. As you read, identify the most important themes and questions concerning the American Revolution.

Study this timeline of the American Revolution carefully. If there are any events you are not familiar with, be sure to read more about them.

Watch this lecture to understand what it was like to live in the colonies in the eighteenth century. 

Read this essay carefully to understand the logic of the changes in British policy toward the American Colonies in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War.

Watch this lecture and take notes as you listen. At the end of the lecture, try to answer the following questions: why did the American colonists resist British rule? What were their most important aims?

Study this article and its analysis of the American Revolution. Compare this text with Freeman's lecture about the logic of the Colonists' resistance against England. Ask yourself whether you think the Revolution was inevitable? If so, why? If not, what other scenarios do you think might have taken place?

Watch this lecture. Focus on how O'Brien characterizes Republicanism. What does he identify as the most important causes of the American Revolution? How does he characterize the transition from early resistance to more radical political claims and eventual independence of the Colonies?

• 1775–1777
• 1778–1783

Study these narrations of the Revolutionary War carefully, and write a paragraph, describing the most important turning points in the conflict. 

The American Constitution was the outcome of much debate between statesmen with competing visions of the new American state. Study this text carefully to understand how the Constitution was created and what compromises had to be made to reach agreement about the structure of American government.

This is a brief lecture in which Carol Berkin compares the Federalists and the Antifederalists. Carefully listen to the 4-minute lecture, and write a few sentences that note the most important ideological differences between the two groups. 

This is one of the most important pamphlets of the American Revolution. Read the introduction and parts I–IV. Pay attention to how Paine argues for independence from Britain. What are his most important claims? What does he say about religious diversity in the new nation? How does he envision equal representation?

Read this document and examine how it shows the "logic of resistance", which Freeman discussed in the lecture you studied in subunit 4.4. In addition, refer back to the various meanings of equality that you studied in subunit 2.3.3, in order to analyze how the "Declaration of Independence" defines and envisions equality. Which groups of citizens were included in its vision of equality? Who was excluded and how?

Read the American Bill of Rights, and compare it with the English Bill of Rights you studied in subunit 3.3.1. What are the most important differences between the two documents? What do you think accounts for them?

Watch this lecture. How does Freeman define a revolution? What does it take for a revolution to end? What are the most important legacies of the American Revolution.

Watch this video. The French Revolution began in May 1789 with the meeting of the Estates-General – a general assembly representing the three French estates of the realm: the nobility, the church, and the common people. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June 1789 but came to an impasse as the three estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the Revolution. On July 14 of that same year, the Bastille – a medieval fortress and prison which represented royal authority in the center of Paris – was stormed by a mob that demanded the arms and ammunition stored there.

Study this text to gain a basic understanding of the most important causes of the French Revolution. As you read, write a paragraph on the distinctions between economic, political, cultural, and sociological causes of revolutionary change.

This lecture provides a more extensive analysis of the causes of the French Revolution. As you watch, and consider the following questions: what were the structural, long-term causes of the French Revolution? What were the most important events that precipitated the outbreak of the revolution in 1789? How do historians relate long-term and short-term causes of this and other revolutions? What are the most important difficulties that arise in the process of linking long-term and short-term historical factors?

Read this article and focus on the relationships among the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, democracy, and totalitarian political systems. Do you agree with the argument presented here? Why, or why not?

This essay provides a thorough overview of French society on the eve of the revolution. It also outlines how various social groups participated in the earliest phase of revolutionary events. Read it carefully, focusing on understanding the stratification of French society and the claims and needs of the different social groups in Paris and in the countryside.

This text contrasts a view which favors gradual change (Edmund Burke's) against one which supports a revolutionary break with the past (Thomas Paine's). What arguments are presented in favor of each of these viewpoints?

Study this chronology of French Revolution carefully. As you study, create your own shorter chronology, selecting the events that seem most important to you. After listening to the lectures and reading the texts assigned in this unit, you will have a chance to return to your chronology and modify and extend it.

Watch this lecture. Pay particular attention to the first 30 minutes, in which O'Brien describes the early phase of the French Revolution.

Read this essay to understand the political and economic situation of the French monarchy in the years leading up to the Revolution. Make sure to read all four pages of the essay.

Read this French document of 1789 carefully, and compare it with the English Bill of Rights and the American Bill of Rights. What common ideas do you notice? What are the most important differences between these documents?

Read this document carefully to understand what rights were extended to individual Jews in 1791. What is the most important distinction between individual rights and communal rights?

Compare the previous document with de Gouges' argument for extending women's rights. What arguments does she use? Where does she focus on gender equality and where on gender differences?

• Paris and the Politics of Revolution
• The Monarchy Falls

Read both of these essays to understand the political changes in France between 1791 and 1795. Make sure to read all four pages of each essay.

This is the constitution of the first French Republic. Study it carefully and compare it to the American Declaration of Independence. What similarities and differences do you perceive between the two documents? How do these reflect the different social and historical contexts of the American and the French Revolutions?

Watch this video, which discusses the second stage of the French Revolution. After Louis XV and his wife tried to escape Paris in 1791, the French revolutionary wars began soon thereafter; however, fighting soon went badly and prices rose sky-high. In August 1792, a mob assaulted the Royal Palace in Paris and arrested the King. In September, the Assembly abolished the monarchy and declared a republic.

Read this essay to understand how fears of counter-revolution fueled revolutionary violence. Make sure to read all five pages of the essay.

Listen to this lecture starting from 8:30 until the end. Focus on the how Merriman characterizes revolutionary terror. How does he describe Robespierre's role in the revolution?

Watch this video on the "Reign of Terror", a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine and another 25,000 in summary executions across France.

Read this primary source document to understand how fears of counter-revolution fueled revolutionary violence.

• Brumaire, Bonaparte's Justification
• The Napoleonic Experience

Read Napoleon's justification of his coup d'état, focusing on the ways in which he describes his relationship to the revolution. Then, read the essays about the Napoleonic era to understand how French political life changed after Napoleon came to power. Make sure to read all four pages of "The Napoleonic Experience".

Watch this video, which discusses the last stages of the French Revolution and how Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate. Napoleon rose to power under the French First Republic, which formed at the end of the French Revolution, proclaimed himself dictator, and eventually, emperor under the First French Empire in 1804.

Read this brief text from 1804. These excerpts from the French Civil Code focus on the private sphere. How do they represent the relationship between men and women? How does this compare to the vision of women's rights proposed by Olympia de Gauges in her "Declaration of the Rights of Woman"?

Read this essay. Compare this essay to the final section of O'Brien's lecture, where he discusses the outcomes of the French Revolution. Compare the social and political outcomes of the French Revolution to the outcomes of the American Revolution. How would you account for both the similarities and the differences?

Watch both of these lectures. How was France organized politically and administratively after the Congress of Vienna in 1815? What were the most important causes of the Revolution of 1830?

Watch this video. What were the most important causes of the 1848 revolutions in Europe? How were these revolutions related to the French Revolution? Why was there no Revolution in Britain?

This is a learning module, which contains the timeline and documents of the Paris Commune. First, read the "Timeline of Events". Then, read two or three of the primary sources in "Documents of the Commune" to understand the political program of the Communards.

Read this article. These excerpts from the French Civil Code focus on the private sphere. How do they represent the relationship between men and women? How does this compare to the vision of women's rights proposed by Olympia de Gauges in her "Declaration of the Rights of Woman"?

Watch this lecture by Steven Volk to understand the causes of the Latin American independence movements and their relationship to the French Revolution. In addition, write a few sentences that compare this lecture with the text about the state and its use of violence which you read earlier.

Watch this lecture by Steven Volk to understand the political situation in Latin America at the end of the eighteenth century. Were internal or external events more important in triggering Latin American independence movements? What evidence could you provide to support your argument? What were the most important social and political differences between North and South America in the final decades of the eighteenth century?

Read this chronology. What relationships do you notice between developments in Europe and those in South America?

Read this text to learn about the Spanish-American War and the end of the Spanish Empire.

Watch this lecture. Focus on Mexico's history and on the differences between the "old regime" in Mexico and France. Write a paragraph that highlights these differences.

Read this essay to understand how the political transformations of the nineteenth century affected Mexican peasants, most of whom belonged to the indigenous population of the area.

Read this essay to understand how industrialization proceeded in Mexico and how it changed the structure of society.

Watch this lecture by Steven Volk to understand the political changes in Mexico in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Watch this lecture by Steven Volk, focusing on the reasons for the longevity of the Diaz regime, its successes in the eyes in the foreign observers, its approach to modernization, and the social cost of modernization during this time.

Watch this lecture by Steven Volk. What are the four phases of the Revolution identified by Volk? What are the five themes of the revolution which he discusses?

Watch this lecture. The first half of the lecture focuses on the grievances of the various social groups which took part in the revolution, while the second half (around 37:00) turns to the revolutionary events themselves. As you listen, consider answering the following questions: what was the role of peasants, the working class, and intellectuals in the Mexican Revolution? What similarities do you perceive between the Mexican Revolution and the French and American Revolutions? What was unique about the Mexican historical context and revolutionary events?

This is a detailed chronology of the Mexican Revolution. Read it and make a shorter timeline of the most important events after you have listened to O'Brien's lecture.

Read this article to understand how the transfer of power took place in 1911.

Read this article to better understand Francisco Madero's background, his political goals, and his vision of the Mexican state.

This is a study of Emiliano Zapata's "Plan of Ayala". Read it carefully to understand the historical context in which the document was written.

Read this document from November 28, 1911, focusing on how it represents the Mexican population, how it delineates the needs and rights of peasants, and how it criticizes Madero's government.

Read this article to obtain a basic outline of Huerta's coup.

Read this article to understand competing interpretations of the Huerta regime.

• The Constitution of 1917
• Carranza's Presidency
  

Read these articles, focusing on the debates about the Mexican Constitution. Write a brief paragraph summarizing this debate.

Read Articles 1–26 of this Chapter of the Mexican Constitution. Compare them with the Bill of Rights in the American Constitution and with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. What are the unique elements of the "Individual Guarantees" of the Mexican Constitution? What do these guarantees share with earlier revolutionary documents?

Read Title VI of Mexico's Constitution of 1917. How does this document specify the rights of workers? Why were the rights of workers so important in the Mexican Revolution? In what ways was this different from attitudes toward labor in the American Revolution?

Read this text and note the ways that President Obregón sought to enact the political changes contained in the 1917 Constitution.

Read this article, focusing on the following questions: what is Curley's most important claim about the role of Catholicism in the Mexican Revolution? What evidence does he use to support this argument?

Find "religion", "religious", and other similar words in the text of the Constitution. Write a paragraph to answer the following question: how does the Constitution treat the relationship between politics and religion?

This lecture by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas provides a useful overview of the Mexican Revolution. Watch the lecture to review the material you learned in this unit. Focus especially on the final section of the lecture (from 33:00 to the end) to understand Cárdenas' assessment of how the Revolution influenced twentieth-century Mexican politics.

• The Calles Presidency, 1924–48
• The Maximato
• Cardenismo and the Revolution Rekindled
• Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

Read these texts to understand the reasons why they Institutional Revolutionary Party became so influential in Mexican politics in the twentieth century.

Read this article, which provides an overview of the Mexican Revolution and identifies they ways in which both the Revolution and the First World War influenced the history of twentieth-century Latin America.

Watch this lecture to understand how a new genre of political songs arose in the Mexican Revolution. You may also read the transcript of the lecture.

Watch this lecture. As you listen, focus on the following questions: how was Imperial Russia in the nineteenth century different from seventeenth-century England and eighteenth-century France? What were the most important similarities between pre-revolutionary regimes in these three states? How did the close ties between the Russian government and the Orthodox Church affect the evolution of Russian politics before 1917?

Read the following sections: "Economic Developments", "Reforms and Their Limits, 1855–92", and "Witte and Accelerated Industrialization". As you read, keep the following questions in mind: How did industrialization affect the Russian population in the latter part of the nineteenth century? Which social groups benefited? Which were subject to exploitation? What were the most important social groups in the late Russian Empire? What were the most important sources of conflict among them?

Read this essay, focusing on the reasons why an over the course of Russian history an unusually close relationship developed between the Orthodox Church and the Russian state. 

Read the section titled "Foreign Affairs after the Crimean War". As you read, keep the following questions in mind: How did the Crimean War change Russia's relationship to the European powers? How did Russia's political alliances shift between 1856 and the 1890s?

Read the section titled "Imperialism in Asia and the Russo-Japanese War". As you read, keep the following questions in mind: why did Russia seek influence in Asia? What did the Japanese victory in 1905 signal about Russia's political power in Europe?

This is a comprehensive chronology which shows key nineteenth-century developments in Russia's politics, as well as the revolutionary events of 1905 and 1917. Study it carefully to get an overview of the various phases of the revolution.

This is an authoritative English translation of Marx and Engels' "Communist Manifesto". It was originally published in German in London, in 1848, shortly before a wave of revolutions swept through Europe. Marxist theory was fundamentally important for Lenin and other Russian Revolutionaries and reading the Manifesto will give you insights into some of the key claims, problems, and contradictions that characterize Marxist theory. Read both the "Preamble" and "Chapter I: Bourgeois and Proletarians", focusing on the following questions: how do the authors characterize these social classes? What do they claim is the role of the bourgeoisie in world history? What role do the proletarians play? Does individual human will matter in history? Can one predict a sociopolitical system's future?

Read this article to get a more extensive understanding of the Revolution of 1905 and of the ways in which it affected the Tsarist regime in the years leading up to the First World War. Focus especially on the question of authority: who had the authority to govern? Could the Duma carry out reforms?

Read the program of the Bolshevik party carefully; as you read, take notes on their most important claims and demands.

Read this document describing the Menshevik Party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Bolshevik party, and reformism. After you read, write a brief paragraph describing the most important differences between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.

Read this brief text. This is the Manifesto issued by Tsar Nicholas II in response to the demands put forward by the revolutionary coalition. Compare it with the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" put forward by the French revolutionaries in 1789. What are the most important similarities and differences between the two documents?

This is an interactive chronology which allows you to explore in detail the revolutionary events that took place throughout 1917. Read the instructions at the bottom of the page, and then explore both the events and the activities of the various social groups and revolutionary leaders.

Watch this lecture by Professor Lynn Hunt. Focus on understanding the transitions between the different phases of the revolution and the goals of the competing parties in February 1917.

Read "February Revolution" and "The Period of Dual Power". What were the competing visions of the Russian state which emerged during this time?

Lenin's "April Theses" was a crucially important document that outlined the aspirations of the Bolshevik Party. Read it, and compare it to the Communist Manifesto. What are the most important ways in which Lenin departs from the Communist Manifesto?

Read "The Bolshevik Revolution". Study the text carefully to understand how the Bolsheviks came to power in Saint Petersburg.

This declaration, published in January 1918, outlines the key rights which are to obtain in the new Soviet state. Compare it with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the English Bill of Rights, and the American Bill of Rights. What common themes and values do you notice? What is unique about this document when compared to earlier revolutionary declarations?

Read "Civil War and War Communism". Study the text carefully to understand how the outbreak of the Civil War changed the actions and ideological commitments of the revolutionary leaders. What was the effect of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on the Russian Revolution?

Read this document and compare counter-revolutionary measures in 1917 Russia with those in Paris during the Jacobin Republic.

Read this crucial revolutionary text from 1918. What does Lenin mean by the "withering away of the state" and the "dictatorship of the proletariat"?

Watch this lecture from 28:00 to the end. It will provide you with a narrative of the consequences of the Russian Revolution after 1920.

Read this essay and compare its analysis of the emergence of the Soviet Union with the analyses provided earlier.

Read the first part of this lecture (17A), Parts I through III. Focus on the creation of the Soviet Bloc and the ways in which the Soviet Union controlled Eastern European politics and economies.

Read this presentation to better understand the history of the nuclear arms race and the Soviet-American rivalry, which developed after 1945.

Read this page, and carefully study the chronology at the bottom of the page.

Listen to this lecture. O'Brien provides the historical background necessary to understand political transformations that took place in China in the twentieth century. As you listen, focus on the following questions: what were the most important attempts to centralize China's government? How did the agrarian nature of Chinese society influence the forms of government that developed over time?

You will have to create an account with edX if you wish to view this lecture. If you do not wish to do so, you may skip this lecture. This lecture explains what models of government were of interest to Chinese politicians and political activists in the early twentieth century.

• The Republican Revolution of 1911
• Republican China

Read both articles.

Listen to this lecture, focusing on the origins of the conflict between the nationalists and the communists.

Read this text to better understand the conflicts between the communists and the nationalists. 

Read the introduction and the "Longer Selection" part of this 1918 text starting on p.3. How does Sun Yat-sen define various stages of a revolution?

Read both the introduction and the primary texts provided on this page. What were the most important goals and ideals of the cultural movement that came in the wake of the failed liberal revolution?

Read both the introduction and the primary texts provided on this page. What do these texts tell you about the experiences and mentality of Chinese Communists?

Read this article to learn more about the Japanese Invasion of China.

Read this article to learn about the final phase of hostilities between the Nationalists and the Communists.

• The People's Republic of China
• The Transition to Socialism, 1953–57

Read these two articles. They provide the historical context of the establishment of the People's Republic of China and describe its early years. 

Read this text to better understand Mao Zedong's personal background and his most important political goals.

Read the four selections from Mao Zedong's writings. How do the values in these texts compare with values expressed in Marxist texts you read while studying the Russian Revolution in Unit 7? 

Read this page, focusing on the ways in which religious and secular worldviews came into conflict during the Chinese Revolution.

Read this essay. What is the main argument proposed here regarding the breakdown of Soviet and Chinese in 1966? What historical sources does the author analyze to support his argument?

Read this article. How was violence used by the Chinese government? How did Mao Zedong justify the use of violence against the Chinese people? How was his justification of violence different from that of other revolutionaries you studied in this course?

Read this text. What differences and similarities do you perceive between Chinese and Soviet versions of planned economy?

Read this article to better understand how Communism came into conflict with traditional Chinese culture.

Read this article. What is its main argument? What evidence is offered in support of this argument? Do you find the argument convincing?

Watch this lecture. What long-term causes of the Iranian Revolution does O'Brien identify? What were the immediate triggers that precipitated the outbreak of the Revolution? How does the situation in pre-revolutionary Iran in the 1970s compare to pre-revolutionary France in the late 18th century and pre-revolutionary Mexico in the early 20th century? What are the most important differences?

Listen to this lecture and focus on the following questions: how does Bulliet situate Iran in the Middle East? How does he characterize the commonalities between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? Why are these commonalities important in understanding the Iranian Revolution in the broader regional context?

Read this essay, focusing on the tensions between religion and politics in the years leading up to 1979.

Read this essay and focus on the following questions: what was the structure of Iranian society in the decades leading up to the revolution? How did tensions among social groups contribute to the eruption of the revolution?

Shi'a Islam in Iran is only one among many currents in the Muslim world, and it is essential to understand it in a broader context. Think about the diversity of Muslim beliefs and religious practices. Be sure you understand the "Eight Major Islamic Tendencies". How do they differ from one another?

Watch this lecture to understand the most important events and turning points of the revolution in Iran.

Listen to this analysis, which focuses less on the revolutionary events themselves and more on a broad analytical framework of the revolution. According to Bulliet, why was the revolution in Iran an Islamic one?

• The Coming of the Revolution
• The Bakhtiar Government
  

• The Revolution
• The New Constitution
• The Bani Sadr Presidency
  

Read these essays, focusing on the process whereby power passed into the hands of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council. 

• Terror and Repression 
• Consolidation of the Revolution
  

Read these essays. Were there similarities between the use of violence in revolutionary Iran and during the French and Bolshevik Revolutions? How was the use of violence justified in each case?

Read pages 29–35 from "The Form of Islamic Government". How does the vision of government presented here differ from that advocated by the French and the American Revolutionaries? 

Read pages 33–37. How does Khomeini describe women in relation to men? How does he define their rights?

Read this essay. Then, write a paragraph that identifies the four factors the author sees as crucial in ending the Cold War.

Read the introduction by Michael Jay Friedman on pages 2–4 and "Paths to 1989" by Fritz Stern on pages 5–12.

Read the first part of this lecture (up to and including the paragraph which starts with the words "By early May 1992...") to understand how the Soviet Union was changing in the post-Stalin era. Read the links that discuss communist officials and dissidents to learn more about their role in Soviet politics.

Read parts A and B of this lecture. Lecture 17A has a section entitled "The Revolts of 1956", which is particularly important to understand. As you read this section, ask yourself the following question: what were the most important differences between the revolts in Poland and Hungary? As you study lecture 17B, focus on both the origins and the outcomes of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. 

Read this lecture to understand the goals and tactics of Eastern European dissidents active before 1980. Review your lecture notes from 10.1.1 to analyze how the changing policies of the Soviet Union were related to the internal situations of the countries examined by the works in this subunit. 

Read this lecture to understand the goals and tactics of Eastern European dissidents active before 1980. Review your lecture notes from 10.1.1 to analyze how the changing policies of the Soviet Union were related to the internal situations of the countries examined by the works in this subunit. 

Read this lecture.

Read the final part of this lecture (starting with the paragraph that begins with the words "Outside the Soviet Union..."). As you read, consider the following questions: what were the most important reasons for popular protest in the Soviet Bloc in the 1980s? What role did economic, cultural, and international factors play? Which do you think were most important?

Read this lecture. Focus on the following questions: why did communist authorities decide to negotiate with the dissidents in various Eastern Bloc states in 1989 and 1990? What were the most important aims of the dissidents? Which aims were shared across the Soviet Bloc and which aims were specific to each country? Why did the revolution turn violent in Romania and not elsewhere in the region?

Read this interview. Focus on the reasons why Solidarity sought to avoid a violent confrontation with the communist regime.

Read this document. What are Orban's most important claims about the possibility of a stable transition away from Communism?

Read these excerpts from the Bonn Embassy cable, focusing on the way in which this document envisions the process of reunifying Germany.

Read this article on pages 21–26, paying attention to the values and ideals implicit in Michnik's statements. What connections do you see between these and the values of the American and the French Revolutionaries?

Read Havel's New Year's Presidential Address. As you read, consider the following questions: how does Havel assess the effects of communist rule on Czechoslovak society? What does he see as the most important tasks ahead?

This letter was written by Romanian Communist party members to Nicolae Ceauşescu. Read it, and consider the following questions: how does their dissent differ from liberal democratic dissent? What similarities do you notice?

Read this article. Focus on the following questions: what were the most important problems of making the transition from communism to democracy? What policies did the new governments implement to enable the transition from planned to market economy? What were the most important social problems in the aftermath of 1989? What difference did it make that the 1989 Revolutions were nonviolent? To answer this last question, compare the outcomes of 1989 to outcomes of the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Watch this lecture from 4:00 until the end. Pay particular attention to the models of revolutionary change which were discussed at the outset of the course. How has your understanding of each of the models evolved during this course? Consider which of the models you find particularly compelling now that you have a more extensive understanding of the historical realities of revolutions.

Listen to the first part of this lecture, stopping at 34:47. O'Brien talks about the possibility of revolutionary change in the twenty-first century; the lecture was recorded before the eruption of protests now known as the Arab Spring. Write a paragraph based on the following prompt. Consider how having studied the historical revolutions in this course helps you make sense of the revolutionary transformations that have been taking place in North Africa and the Middle East since December 2010.