Ideas! Ideas! Ideas!

After speaking with Mr Bradbury this lesson i've been able to work out a specific direction I can take regarding my revolution topic, which is good because broad research without a purpose can make me rather frustrated. After previously looking at Crane Brinton I had the idea that I could look at the theories behind revolution rather than just a number of revolutions that I will be comparing. Obviously, I will still be comparing revolutions, but comparing them in terms of what they are and the factors that have contributed to either their success or failure. As mentioned in my previous post, I think it will also be interesting to look at what distinguishes a rebellion from a revolution, I think that could even become, somewhat, what my question will ultimately be. So far I have found a number of historians and revolutions I could potentially use.

Historians

• Crane Brinton - The Anatomy of Revolution 
• H. R. Cowie - Modern revolutions, their character and influence (YAY COWIE)
• Theda Skocpol - States and social revolutions
• Louis Auguste Blanqui
• Perez Zagorin - Theories of Revolution in Contemporary Historiography

These are the five I am going to begin with, in terms of my research. They'll probably begin to change once I get into it, but they're a good bunch to start with. Zagorin (as mentioned above), also names a few scholars who have considered theories regarding revolution including Plato and Aristotle. So far my historians are just handpicked, not randomly, but the first couple I could find. It would be brilliant to have a historian from each particular era to perhaps demonstrate how the ideas regarding revolution and the distinguishing features of a 'revolution' (which separate it from a rebellion or a revolt), have changed over time. 

Of course, i'll also investigate these ideas through looking at four major revolutions and attempting to link these ideas with literal revolutions that have taken place. Here i'll investigate the factors for revolution and then see how they measure up to the ideas that the historians have documented.
My revolutions will be the following:

The America's - The American Revolution

So far i've found a good source regarding this topic, and it is the 'following'. I must admit, I don't know that much regarding the American revolution (most of my information has come from a little game I like to call 'assassins creed'). Pretty much all I know is that Britain was being a stinky poo bum and wanting to have all the land in the world, so when America decided it didn't want any more of Britain's bull****, it wanted to declare independence. But then Britain, being all greedy as it was decided to have a war over some land that wasn't even theirs in the first place (It wasn't entirely the colonists either, but that's another story...). THEN, the colonists decided to be all smart and they threw a bunch of Britain's tea in the water. 

That's all I got. So it will obviously be a good idea to research this topic, since it is very much a 'major revolution', and an important one too. 

Asia - The Chinese Revolution

I'm going to come out here and say I know pretty much nothing. All I know is that it was an overthrow of the Emperor (or the man that was in charge) and then the implementation of some communist party that isn't really that much communist (what are you doing to me china!?). But I think I will enjoy learning some asian history as I really don't know that much at all. It will be good for me. 

Europe - The French Revolution (probably)

The French revolution is cool and I also know some good background on it. It was quite similar to the Russian revolution in the sense that there was a monarchy that was rather oblivious to the struggles that were being endured by the peasants and the lower class peoples (or the third estate), and as a result, well, in simple terms they got cranky and decided they'd had enough and overthrew the monarchy (and chopped off their heads). OH I REMEMBER A GOOD MEME ABOUT THAT! I put it to the side. Look. I like it, its like a crossover between batman and the French revolution, anything that does that is pretty cool. Funnily enough, whilst there's supposed to be humour behind the meme, it's an interesting thought regarding the French having a revolution and then 'losing their heads', or having a revolution and erupting into chaos, before setting down again into an order that wasn't overly different from the previous one. And it poses the question; what was it all for? If a revolution is supposed to be a 'change' in the established order, or if it is supposed to be beneficial in a sense, then how is the French revolution considered to be one? This will be quite interesting to research. 

Africa - (not entirely sure)

Africa have had a lot of wars and rebellions. Of that I am sure. Somewhere they must have had revolutions. I mean, as it can even be seen in my previous research on imperialism, all these countries were once dominated by European powers, and now pretty much all of them are free. It will be interesting to see if there was ever any 'revolutions' or struggles to gain this independence. Either way, however, it will be interesting. 

Overall, I think this is a pretty good start to my research and what will be my question eventually. I am extremely excited to get into the research for these topics! VIVA LA REVOLUTION!