If revolution and reform aim for a holistic transformation political system, moreover, covering not a separate region, region, but the whole country, nation, then such a frequently occurring political process as an uprising has significant differences in comparison with them.
Depending on the historical era, social composition participants in the uprising are characterized by great diversity, differ in the degree of intensity, duration, possible success, level of organization, spiritual and psychological impulses that inspire the participants. Every uprising has some level of organization,
big role leaders play here, are nominated certain goals, although they tend to be quite declarative and fuzzy. These goals are justified in a simple program, slogans.
By the presence of a certain degree of organization, purposefulness, an uprising differs from a riot - a mass action that has a very high degree of intensity; activity of its participants, but even more limited time flow, as well as the problem that caused it. A riot is almost always a response to some extraordinary action by representatives of the dominant political groups, government agencies not outgrowing limited resistance tasks separate actions government.
In terms of intensity, emotional tension, a rebellion is close to a rebellion, but unlike it, it has an even more limited number of participants. Rebellion arises as a result of thoughtful, purposeful preparation certain group persons.
It is armed in nature, the stake here is on military force, and the main core of the rebels is usually the army. With the addition of a wider group of participants to its initiators, the rebellion quickly loses the quality of an organized, purposeful action, acquires such features as the extreme breadth of the accusations against society, intolerance towards civilization, any kind of leadership, embarks on the path of total contestation. A person here is completely subordinate to emotions, and his actions are increasingly losing touch with the conditions, real opportunities and needs of the current political situation. The rebellion, with such a logic of its development, quickly acquires the qualities of a rebellion, exhausts its transformative potential and fades.
If the masses do not join the rebels, then it becomes a putsch, i.e. It is expressed in armed actions that do not rely on either broad support, or taking into account the situation, or a well-thought-out program.
LITERATURE
Demidov A.I., Fedoseev A.A. Fundamentals of political science. M., 1995. Ch. 13. § 2.
Camus A. A rebellious man. M., 1990.
Ilyin V.V., Panarin A.S., Akhiezer A.S. Reforms and counter-reforms in Russia. M., 1996.
Lenin V.I. Revolutionary days // Lenin V.I. Full coll. op. T. 9.
Maltsev V.A. Fundamentals of political science. M., 1997. Ch. 19.
Political Science: A Course of Lectures / Ed. N.P. Denisyuk et al. Minsk, 1997. Ch. 14. §1,2.
Engels F. Peasants' War in Germany // Marx K., Engels F. Works. T. 7.
More on the topic 63. Uprising, rebellion, rebellion, putsch as types of political process:
- 61. Revolution and reform as types of political transformations
- China after the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. Changing political life.
- Lecture 10. Democracy as a form of power and means of political process
- Essay 2. On the way to a new political system: from the uprising in Kyiv in 1068 to the Lubech Congress
The history of mankind is full of armed conflicts and confrontations. The man still could not speak properly, did not know writing, and already perfectly learned to kill his own kind. Therefore, it is not surprising that such words as war, revolution, uprising have firmly entered our lexicon. However, many do not quite understand, for example, how a war differs from an uprising. In this article, we will try to explain the meanings of these words as accurately as possible.
- Insurrection- armed uprising against the existing order, the government or some specific actions taken power structures. The synonyms of this word are well known and also widespread: rebellion, rebellion, turmoil, coup. As a rule, such performances are short-lived and have a local character. Sometimes the uprising takes on a prolonged character and captures vast territories. In this case, it passes into another phase - war, or rather, into one of its types: civil, peasant, etc.
- War- in classical form is an armed conflict between at least two states using all available species weapons. Moreover, there are no restrictions on the number of participants, the size of the territories involved in the war. It may be a small war between two small states for a piece of land, in which several hundred or thousands of people participate. Or maybe a confrontation on a planetary scale, in which several dozen countries led by world powers clashed and the human resource is estimated at hundreds of millions of people. There is no need to look far for examples - just remember the 1st and 2nd World Wars.
Wars are also called the consequences of protracted uprisings or revolutions, when they result in full-scale conflicts affecting vast territories, and a huge mass of people participate in them. Examples of this might be October Revolution(1917), which turned into a full-fledged civil war, or Pugachev rebellion(1773), later called the Peasants' War.
To clarify the above definitions, we present a couple concrete examples on this topic.
Spartak is not only a confectionery factory
The armed uprising against slavery, organized by the gladiator Spartacus, is considered a textbook example of a classic uprising. Approximately in 74-71 years. BC e. in the warm Italian town of Capua, several dozen gladiator slaves rebelled against their unenviable lot, killed the guards and fled from the gladiator school. We will not describe in detail subsequent events (those who wish can find a lot of material on this topic both in electronic and paper form). Briefly, we will only say the following - 78 people (this figure is given by historians - contemporaries of Spartacus) in a couple of years turned into a formidable and skillful 120,000-strong army, which made the most powerful power of that time, the Great Roman Empire, tremble.
However, for all their magnitude, these actions do not fit the definition of "war" in any way for a number of signs that you can see in pivot table below. It shows the difference between war and insurrection.
“Today, June 22, at 4 o’clock in the morning, without a declaration of war…”
The brightest and most formidable phenomenon, perhaps, in the entire history of mankind is considered the 2nd World War that broke out in the 20th century. At that time, there were 73 states on the planet - 62 of them took a direct or indirect part in this conflict. It affected almost 80% of the world's population and lasted almost 7 years (1939-1945). For the first time, and I really hope that the last, it was applied nuclear weapon. About 65 million people died in this war, which, according to some historians, is comparable to total losses humanity in all known armed conflicts. Finally, let's summarize the data of our small study about war and rebellion.
comparison table
Immediately make a reservation, in the table we are talking about war classical type(see above).
| War | Insurrection |
| attack from one country to another. As a result, the participation of at least two states. The cadre army of the aggressor invades the territory of the enemy, where it enters into confrontation with the same force. It happens that hostilities begin in disputed territories located hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the participating countries | All events take place within one state and with the participation of only citizens of this country. If there are foreigners, their number is negligible. The very beginning of the uprising can be compared to a fire. Usually there is one source of ignition, from which the fire spreads to neighboring districts and regions. |
| Main goals: capture / return of someone else's / not someone else's, former own territory; economic or political reasons, religious factor, the struggle for hegemony in a particular region or throughout the world; fulfillment of allied obligations. These are the main reasons for the war. Although there were times when wars started because of little things - love for a woman, a misunderstood hint or a sidelong glance. But all this was a very long time ago and in the current realities is perceived as an anecdote | The goals of the uprising: political - replacing the ruling group with one that is not yet in power; restoration of violated justice (in the understanding of the instigators); transfer of the internal territory to an independent format (separatism, example: Spain and the Basques); ethnic or economic oppression certain category citizens held by the authorities. Also very characteristic of the uprisings religious motives. They became more frequent with the emergence of such fundamental religions as Christianity and Islam. |
| Are taking part in the war regular armies opposing states and, as a rule, all types of available weapons (tanks, aircraft, ships, artillery, etc.) are used. it required element. If the war is fleeting, then the above list can be shortened. Opponents simply do not have time to use the entire arsenal | The rebels never use the full range of weapons available in the country. And not because of his kindness, but because of limited access to these military resources. If the insurgents eventually get their hands on a full set of weapons, then this usually happens when the insurrection is already moving to new level- into full-blown war certain type(see above) |
| Consequences of war: winner takes all. Territorial bonuses, the payment of exorbitant indemnities to the defeated enemy, the installation of a political system at the discretion of the winner, all kinds of restrictions and cuts in economic, military, political and social terms. Sometimes wars end in a draw. In this case, the opponents lick their wounds and threaten each other with their fists from a distance, plus they hatch evil plans for inevitable retribution in the distant future. | Rebellions end most of the time total defeat rebels. And this is not surprising. Resist the powerful military vehicle state is not always obtained. After the suppression of the uprising comes the turn of repression. They cut off heads, imprison them far and for a long time. Tighten existing system with which the rebels tried to fight. However, it must be admitted that history knows cases when even a suppressed uprising still achieved its goal. And this was caused not by the repentance of the authorities, but by their fear of new performances. If the rebels won, then everything happened exactly the opposite. Unfortunately, this fact applies to all uprisings in history, no matter how just and noble goals neither declared the rebels |
| War often leads to complete destruction one of the warring countries, the state, the dissolution, and even the disappearance of an entire people. Such wars are known in history as wars of total annihilation of the enemy. This was especially characteristic in the early stage of the formation of mankind (the pre-Christian era). We present one of the most famous examples- Destruction of Carthage by the Romans | Cases where an uprising within a country led to its complete destruction are very rare. If this happened, it was not caused by an uprising, but by the general extremely difficult situation of the state, its decomposition. And the uprising was more of a catalyst this process and not its cause |
Conclusion
You can probably still collect a dozen small and not very facts explaining the difference between a war and an uprising. But they are more related to this topic, and not the main ones. The main differences are shown in the table.
And further. War and uprising should not be confused with civil war. We already mentioned this briefly at the beginning of the article (see note), but we will repeat ourselves more fully. A civil war is an uprising that has taken the form of a full-fledged war between citizens of one country, but the consequences of which are fully consistent with the consequences of the uprising from the table. To verify this, you can analyze civil wars in America (1861-1865) and Russia (1917-1923) using our classification.
Crowds of people besiege the palace of the ruler, break in there, raise the oppressors on spears and carry their leader in their arms, who from the balcony proclaims the beginning of new era. This picture of the revolution is similar to the uprising. However, the names are different. In addition, there are the concepts of revolution from above (as the reforms of Alexander II are sometimes called), industrial revolution, scientific and technological revolution, etc. They certainly cannot be brought closer to the picture described above. This means that the concept of revolution is not limited to pictures, like an assault Winter Palace in the film "October" by Sergei Eisenstein.
It is easiest to distinguish a revolution from a conspiracy. The conspiracy is planned and carried out by a small group, without the participation of the general population. Suffice it to recall the conspiratorial direction of Russian populism - it believed that it would be possible to change Russia through the efforts of small numbers. underground organizations.
Rebellion and rebellion involves the participation of broad populace. By the way, they are difficult to distinguish from each other. Pushkin's phrase about the Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless, weighs more on the second. That is, in this case the main objective- to plunder, the struggle is against something, but the rebels themselves have a poor idea of what they want to build in after their victory.
In the event of an uprising, the fighters imagine what will happen if they succeed. For example, the uprising of William Wallace, which was continued by the uprising of Robert the Bruce: we are talking about Scotland at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. Both leaders understood their goal very well - they sought the renewal of Scotland's independence from England. But as a result of the victory, Scotland became a kingdom, the same as England was, and as Scotland was before the loss of independence.
A revolution differs from an uprising and a riot in that it results in radical changes in the country. This usually concerns social order. In Russia, during the reign of Alexander II, the structure of society changed, the industrial revolution transformed the mode of production. That is, a revolution is necessarily a radical transformation, the emergence of something fundamentally new.
Revolution is also strongly linked to the concept of progress. This is usually the name given to those coups in which attempts were established (or failed) to establish forms of government that were progressive from the point of view of the researchers who gave the name. Generally considered progressive government devices With certain forms popular representation. So the events in the Netherlands in 1566-1609 are considered a revolution, because a republic was established as a result. At the same time, during the Fronde in France in 1648-1653, in fact, the political system. The emerging absolutism withstood a difficult struggle with the aristocratic oligarchy - the power of the princes of the blood and other high aristocrats. However, the Fronde is not considered a revolution, because the opponents of Cardinal Mazarin wanted to return feudal remnants to the country, and not establish a progressive form of government.
Much also depends on another kind of ideology. So in Russian historiography, the events in France in 1848-1849 are considered a revolution. This is not surprising: instead of a monarchy, albeit a constitutional one, a republic was proclaimed in the country. Events in North America in 1775-1783 called American Revolution, or the War of Independence, but not an uprising. This is understandable - the world's first presidential republic was built there. But also on the ground former speech The Commonwealth in 1830-1831 and 1863-1864 wanted not only to free itself from Russian rule, but also to build a republic instead of the monarchy of the Kingdom of Poland; however, we call those events rebellions. It all depends on the position of the researchers who gave the established names.
Thus, a revolution is not just the overthrow of the current government (or the absence of such an overthrow at all, in the case of a revolution from above, an industrial revolution, etc.), but also the construction of something fundamentally new, progressive and ideologically correct from the point of view of researchers, for the first time giving the phenomenon its current name.
Political modernization
In political science, the transition from one type of political system to another is denoted by the term "political modernization". The meaning of modernization lies in the approximation of various fragments and entire political and social systems to the level of their most developed states.
The theory of political modernization originated in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. She went through three stages of formation and evolution.
1. The origin of the concept. In the 1950s and 1960s political modernization was understood as borrowing by countries freed from colonial dependence political structure and political culture Western countries. The following were considered as the main directions: democratization of the political system according to the Western model ( centralized state, parliament, multi-party system, general elections), active cooperation of developing countries with states Western Europe and North America.
2. Since the mid-1960s. the main shortcomings of the first studies were identified. A closer examination of specific political processes in developing countries showed that underestimated domestic political factors in the struggle for power and absolutized foreign policy influence. Attempts to overcome shortcomings and detailed study political development European countries led to a different understanding of the essence of the process of political modernization.
3. In the 1970s and 1980s the concept of political modernization has become a justification general process model development of civilization, the essence of which is to describe the transition from traditional society to rational (modern) (researchers Almond, Willow, Pai, Huntington).
AT modern concept political modernization stands out two historical type modernization:
1. original upgrade- the type is typical for the United States and Western European countries that have made the transition to a rational social organization as a result of long internal development.
2. Secondary modernization- the type is typical for countries that lagged behind in development and tried to catch up with the advanced ones through the use of their experience. This group included developing countries liberated from colonial rule. Today processes in countries are being studied of Eastern Europe, China, CIS. Attention is focused on the difficulties of political development, crisis phenomena.
AT mid-nineteenth in. the law of political development was formulated. Philosophers believed that for a country with a weak and emerging democracy, there is nothing more dangerous than too rapid reforms and changes. Under these conditions, the participation of the masses in politics overtakes the development political institutions in society (parties, etc.), and, as a result, it is not possible to stop the processes that have begun. Intense polarization does not contribute to the introduction of the process that has begun into a democratic framework; “tyranny of the mob” sets in - ochlocracy.
In modern political science, it is customary to distinguish three ways of transition to democracy: evolutionary; revolutionary; military.
Transition stages: 1) the crisis of the authoritarian regime (may be caused by circumstances both internal and external character, a decrease in legitimacy, the emergence of bipolar currents, etc.); 2) the establishment of democracy; 3) consolidation of democracy.
Democracy Transition Models:
Linear(classical) implies a gradual restriction of the rights of power and the expansion of the rights and freedoms of the individual, the loss of electoral qualifications, etc.
cyclic characterized by the alternation of authoritarian and democratic forms of government in certain cycles.
dialectical characterized by instability of transitions political regimes, but the transition to democracy is always carried out only under the pressure of mature prerequisites.
Cooperative has the essential potential of democracy, the transition to it is carried out in the course of the gradual liberalization of the political regime.
Competitive characterized by sharp liberalization, the collapse of the old system and attempts to introduce new political institutions at any cost, may be accompanied by violence and civil war.
Based on the proposed models, the political scientist Przeworski singled out five possible outcomes of the transition to democracy: a) the structure of conflicts is such that no democratic institution can be established, and political systems begin to fight for a new dictatorship; b) temporary consensus of forces; c) the rivalry of opposing political forces hinders the formation of individual democratic institutions; G) political forces accept the unviability of the political structure and oppose the introduction of democratic institutions; e) the introduced democratic institutions are stable.
Revolutions and reforms are aimed at a holistic transformation of the political system, covering the entire country, the nation. In contrast to them, there are political processes of a more local nature revolt, revolt, insurrection, putsch.
Uprisings, depending on the historical era and the social composition of the participants, are distinguished by a variety of goals, the degree of intensity, duration, the possibility of success, the level of organization, the spiritual and psychological impulses that inspire the participants. Uprisings have their own leaders, level of organization, goals (often declarative and vague), programs and slogans.
Rebellion is a mass phenomenon, there is no organization and purposefulness in it, but there is a very high degree intensity, activity of its participants, intensity of passions; rebellion is limited to the flow and the problem that caused it. Riot is almost always responsiveness on any extraordinary actions of representatives of the dominant political groups, state bodies, without outgrowing the limited tasks of resistance to individual actions of the government.
If uprisings are more common in military environment, then riots are for the broad masses of the people.
In terms of intensity, emotional tension, a rebellion is close to rebellion, but a rebellion is characterized by a very limited number of participants. It arises as a result of a thoughtful, purposeful training of a certain group of people, it is armed in nature, the emphasis is on military force, and the main core of the rebels is the army. As soon as wider sections of the population join its initiators, the rebellion loses the quality of an organized, purposeful action, becomes extremely cruel, has lost its purpose and intolerant of everything that it considers alien. The rebel is subject to emotions, his actions lose touch with the real possibilities and needs of the current political situation. With this logic of development rebellion turns into rebellion, exhausts itself and fades.
Mutiny must find support among the masses otherwise it becomes a putsch - an act expressed in military operations relying neither on broad support, nor on the consideration of the situation, nor on a well-thought-out program. If the putsch succeeds, they usually talk about a military coup.
A.A. Prokhanov has a visionary gift to recognize in the political fuss, informational turmoil and any other current public (that's right) fuss, the grains of future fateful events, discover their hidden meaning and give them a name. The writer's intuition did not let him down this time in his comments related to my arrest and imprisonment. Answering the question whether Kvachkov is a revolutionary, A.A. Prokhanov replied that revolutionaries are a different type of people, and I am a rebel. Mystical insight here lies in the fact that Prokhanov subconsciously and instantly caught the most important thing - the generic connection between revolution and rebellion, although in the context of his answer, the revolutionary is clearly opposed to the rebel. Nevertheless, discursively, that is, towards the truth, his thought is absolutely accurate.
Revolt - uprising - revolution . These are inseparable links of one strong-willed and logical chain. Let's start with the logical connection. In order not to get confused in terms, we will conditionally agree that rebellion, uprising and rebellion are relative synonyms, meaning different kinds illegal protests against state power. And we will establish the difference and interconnection of the revolution with them in the course of reflection.
Riot- there is an open spontaneous or insufficiently prepared violent action by a certain group of people against the order established by state power in one place in order to achieve certain political, administrative, socio-economic and other private requirements, and, as a rule, obviously doomed to failure. Successfully continued rebellion cancels the limitations of oneself and turns into rebellion, becoming its beginning.
The threat of a rebellion turning into an uprising can force the authorities to make concessions.
Insurrection- there are trained and (or) self-organizing armed, weakly armed and even unarmed mass demonstrations people united by the goal of either changing the current government in a certain area, or overthrowing state power in general or in part of the country's territory. An uprising, initially aimed at overthrowing state power in the country, is called a revolutionary uprising. The uprising, either expanding and developing, really turns into a revolution, or is suppressed by state power. In some cases, when an uprising starts with separatist goals, it can win in a certain part of the country with the formation of a separate state.
An uprising that does not aim at becoming a revolution is doomed to failure. Therefore, one of the primary tasks of the revolutionary uprising is the formation of a new supreme body government controlled(or its prototype), a declaration of the illegitimacy of the old government and the beginning of the transition of the people and society to a new legality and new statehood.
rebellion represents military variety rebellion or uprising and is always an armed uprising against the authorities. As a rule, a mutiny is raised and started by some military unit, ship or other organizational and staff structure of government troops (forces) under the leadership of their commanders (chiefs) or part of officers, or another initiative group. The rebellion, supported by other military units, formations and associations, goes either to the participation of the Armed Forces and other troops in general popular uprising, or in case independent decision army of the question of the overthrow of power turns into military coup. AT in a certain sense such a coup can be called a military-state coup.
Fundamental changes in the spiritual, political and socio-economic life of the country may occur as a result of the administrative state, or the so-called "palace coup".
Administrative-state coup is to force the higher official and (or) his inner circle in the transfer of power to other persons, as a rule, within the ruling governing bodies and other higher structures of state power and is carried out either directly special services states, or with their decisive participation. An administrative-state coup can be carried out both in a hidden form - without violations of the constitution and other laws visible to society, and in open form putsch, that is, with obvious violations of the current legal procedure for the transfer of state power.
Revolution is the final result successful uprising and consists in overthrowing (arresting, destroying or fleeing) the former government and other highest governing bodies of the country and taking possession of the rebels most important points government controlled; state (nationwide) communication systems and mass media in the capital of the country. The combination of these two factual circumstances - the overthrow of the governing bodies and the seizure of control points - constitute the very event of the revolution, its victory and marks the transfer of state power to the new supreme administrative body of the country.
If a revolutionary uprising began in the capital or metropolitan area and ended there with the victory of the revolution, then the further course of the revolution is essentially a process of passing under control new government regional, regional and other local authorities and control points throughout the country.
If the revolutionary uprising began not in the capital, but in some other place on the territory of the country, then the content of the immediate task, or the first stage of the uprising, becomes the expansion of land and information spaces under the control of the new revolutionary power, the announcement and holding general mobilization, the formation and training of troops and forces necessary to capture the capital, the organization of interaction with underground revolutionary organizations, autonomous groups and other structures in the capital. The content of the second stage, or the subsequent task of the uprising, is to carry out a revolutionary combined-arms special operation to seize the capital and overthrow state power.
Combined-arms character revolutionary operation is determined by the composition of the troops, forces and means involved and consists in the use by the leadership of the uprising of formations and units of all types armed forces and types of troops (motorized rifle, airborne, tank, artillery, missile, aviation, etc., and in coastal areas and fleet forces), acting together with the people's irregular armed formations militia and other rebel troops and forces.
Based on the experience of conducting operations of revolutionary forces in modern military-political conditions, special character revolutionary operation is determined by its goals, objectives, methods of action used and consists in concentrating the main efforts not on the decisive defeat of the opposing government troops, police and other punitive forces in open battles, but on depriving the old state power of the ability to organize resistance by disorganizing energy systems in the capital -, water and gas supply, disruption of the operation of telephone systems, urban traffic and street lighting, disruption of the operation of the metro and other types of urban transport, banning the operation of airports, railway stations and stations by the actions of revolutionary sabotage and reconnaissance groups and small detachments.
In accordance with single purpose and plan in certain time begins a massive penetration and entry into the city with different directions various assault groups and detachments in the composition necessary to defeat close guards and capture key objects of state administration, communications, television, radio and other media. Importance it also organizes communication and maintains interaction with youth and other autonomous groups and urban resistance units operating in the city covertly (underground). In case of a lack of troops, forces and means for the revolutionary uprising to capture key objects of the capital during the first day of the operation, assault squads and groups are fixed in the areas of the city they occupy, starting from the outskirts, gradually removing the encirclement (blocking, isolation) around the objects of state administration, located, as a rule, in the center of the capital, gradually solving the problem of mastering them. The fact of the victory of the revolution can be considered accomplished only after the overthrow of the old government and the seizure of the points of state administration. Until the main control posts are captured, nothing has been done! This is the most dangerous, the most sacrificial, but at the same time the most joyful time of a victorious revolutionary uprising.
In general, an analysis of the course of the revolutionary process forces us to recognize the need for a mandatory increase in the scale of success, a steady expansion of the revolutionary space and an increase in the coverage of active sections and groups of the masses by revolutionary action, which allows us to draw the following conclusion. The revolution, in the essence of its process, is a long or impetuous, but always consistent transition from an initial tactical successful action (rebellion, rebellion, city or district uprising) to successful actions operational scale (uprising in one or more areas), and from them - to the strategic victory of the revolutionary uprising in the capital. But always and everywhere a revolution begins with the first revolutionary impulse coming from a small group of people in some hidden starting point. Even when a revolutionary uprising begins in the capital and ends there with victory within a few hours or days, the revolution still in its development goes or runs up the ladder of success from the initial revolutionary impulse, in one or more places to the capture of key objects and then to full takeover of state power.
act of conquest political power in the country, in essence, means the completion of the revolution and the beginning of the transition to revolutionary transformation spiritual, political and economic spheres human life, family, society and state.
In this last sense - revolutionary changes in the way of life of the nation - indeed "the revolution has a beginning and the revolution has no end." But the revolution itself, as a form and method of conquest of political, state power, can be considered finished. Such, on the whole, is the growing sequence of the logical process of the birth, development and end of the revolution.
