Vive Le Revolution!
What Do You Need to Have a
Revolution?
The Five A’s Necessary For A
Revolution To Occur

At least two opposing sides
 Access to weapons
 Aims expressed in a slogan
 Accomplished leaders
 Ailments present socially, economically,
and politically
What goes into a Revolution?

Conditions (Ailments)
1-Political
2-Social
3-Economic
Aims (Goals or Philosophy)
Must be clearly defined or made into a slogan.
Leaders (Accomplished
Leaders)
*They need to be convince people to rise up
against the current leadership.
*People need a framework for a new
government.
*Too much opposition is not good.
Stages of the Revolution
1-Incubation Stage
*The intellectuals desert the existing system
*There is sharp criticism of the authorities
*Faith in the system is lost
*The ruling class becomes more incompetent
Stages Cont.
At least one class is on the rise economically.
*The class begins to demand participation in
government.
*The upper class locks them out, and the
ranks of aristocracy close.
*Class distinctions become more hardened.
Stages Cont.
Government suffers serious financial and
economic problems.
2. Moderate Stage
*Moderates rise to prominence and challenge
existing authority.
*As authority is challenged, some acts of violence
occur.
*Government fails to use force effectively.
* Moderates win the day and get power. Honeymoon
period where the revolution seems to be over.
Moderate stage continued
*Pressure from extremists grows.
*Moderates are overthrown.
3.Crisis/Radical Stage
*Reign of terror and executions
*Use of secret police
*Foreign threat to revolution
*Class struggle
*Economic crisis
4.Recovery Stage
*Things revert back to normal (reign of terror
over)
*Government resorts to pre-revolution form
of government.
*Peace is made with neighboring countries
The End Result
There are two possibilities at this point…
#1 Stability returns because of reform
#2 Revolution begins again.
For a Revolution to be
Successful

The aims need to be defined and
propagandized (Some sort of slogan)
 The leaders must have a social and
educational background that allows them to
hold the government together.
 They must be able to produce a framework
and a coalition for a new government.
…
The degree of the opposition can’t be too
great, or too strong.
 The problems present for the revolution to
occur must be resolved.
