Modern Revolutions

-         What methods did the groups use to express their frustration and ultimately lead to a revolution? The protest started with a march of students in memory of Hu Yaobang who died weeks before the protest. In China the people did not use violence, they tried to make it a non-violence protest but as days went by the government couldn’t take the people protesting against the government  so the army killed and arrested most of them. They lost the fight for freedom and democracy. Demonstrators, mainly students, had occupied Tiananmen Square for seven weeks, refusing to move until their demands for democratic reform were not met. Although about 3,000 students and participants were killed and around 1,500 were injured.

-         How your revolution is similar and or different to one of the revolutions previously studied? The Tiananmen protest was similar to the People Power protest in the Philippines because it was both a protest to change the government to Make the country better. The Tiananmen protest was not successful because the army reacted and took action although the People Power protest was a non-violent protest. The Tiananmen protest was to try to change the government into a democracy, although that task failed.

-What was the eventual outcome of the revolution, and did the nation people become better due to the revolution?    Today China hasn’t had a protest since 1989. Due to the strong Chinese government censorship including Internet censorship, the news media is forbidden to report anything related to this subject. That part of history disappeared in most of the Chinese media including the Internet. No one is allowed to make any web sites related to The Tiananmen Square Protest. -           Was the revolution justified? Would other methods have worked? The revolution was justified because it was for a good reason. If the revolution succeeded, then the results would be good for the whole country because all this revolution was asking for was a better government, meaning a better way of running the country.  The revolution wanted the government to give a little more freedom to the people of China. I think that the method of protesting on the main streets of China was very strong, even though it did not work. The people of China could have used a better method but those methods would not be right and would cause more death and injuries. Some of these methods could be bribing the government officials, protesting more until the government does give up, and maybe making a new government as suggested in Brinton cranes anatomy.

 

-           Does your revolution fit the Brinton Cranes Anatomy of a revolution framework? The Brinton cranes anatomy of a revolution framework does fit our revolution, but not perfectly.

 

Phase 1:  Symptoms

 

1. The middle class loudly expresses its anger over economic restraints placed upon it by the government. This is the escalation of the anger felt by the restrictions are not overbearing; they are enough to cause extreme anger.
2. The government is ineffective and can not is unable to effectively manage the country. This could be due to an inept leader or to a chronic money shortage within the government.
3. Eventually, the ruling party is deserted by the intellectuals, who also speak out against the government.

 

This begins in phase one, part two. The government is actually controlling the country. But who it cannot control are the students and other educated members of the country. The rest of phase one seems to fit into our revolution.  

Phase 2:  The Rising Fever

 

1. Middle class. The people rise up against the government.
2. The uprising culminates in a climatic battle, and the current governmental structure can not repress the rebellion.
3. The moderate, or political center, then forms a new government.
4. The new moderate government becomes overwhelmed with the challenges of managing the nation, raising money to support itself, and the drafting a new constitution.

 

At phase two of Brinton cranes anatomy, the first two stated points are similar with our revolution. But the last two points do not. It states that the moderates create a new government. The Tiananmen revolution does not have any new government created within the country.   

Phase 3: Crisis

 

1. The revolution reaches a head when the moderates, inept at the job of ruling a country, are forcibly and violently removed from power by the radicals, or the political left.
2. There is a lot of violence and efforts to spread the ideals of the revolution. Opposition is squashed.
3. The revolution is fragile because popular support is needed and economic conditions are poor.

 

Next is phase three. The last section of the phase states that the economic conditions are poor. China, is a well known to the country to economically very high throughout the years. So China does not face an economical down turn or face any economic problems, as mentioned in the anatomy. 

Phase 4: Convalescence

 

1. The revolution ends and the country enters a period of recovery.
2. A strong ruler comes to power and the new government begins the process of stabilizing the country.
3. The moderates are generally granted amnesty while the radicals are punished.
4. Life in the country begins to return to normal.

          Lastly, phase 4. This section is completely unfit for our revolution because the government refuses to recognize the revolution. Therefore, the revolution is a failure and the country goes back to normal.

 

 

Bibliography:

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573064/Tiananmen_Square_Protest.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_2496000/2496277.stm http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/prc.html

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/index.html

 

 

 

 

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