Common causes and consequences of revolutions: Political revolution often occurs due to people’s dissatisfaction and loss of faith in the government, where the ruler is usually corrupt and the government is usually unable to provide and protect the people, leading to the people’s growing dissatisfaction. Eventually, a group of people started to gather together and revolt against the previous regime to set up a new government with economical, social and political changes. In the Xinhai revolution, people were dissatisfied by the defeat in the Second Opium War and the huge amount of indemnity that China had to pay through the people's taxes which worsened the problem of poverty. furthermore, the corruption of government was serious and more people started to join in the revolution. The rule of Manchu was ended by Sun Yat-Sen, China became more westernised and democratic.
To what extent revolutions brings about change? Uprising movements aim at bringing fundamental changes to the society and bring better lives to the people by replacing the existing system. In the Xinhai revolution, 2000 years of imperial rule were abolished and the republic of China where a president is a representative leader elected by the people instead of a monarch was created. The citizens had more freedom and gained equality by abandoning the traditional concepts. When revolutions are successful, in this case the Xinhai revolution was more than successful, a political ideology a state was functioning under could be completely abolished and a new government would be reestablished to replace the existing government. IN the Xinhai Revolution, nearly 4000 years of Chinese Dynasties were abolished, and a new republic was established in hopes to better the society.
How do revolutions affect ordinary people? After political revolution, although the previous ruler would be overthrown, the lives of ordinary people might not be instantaneously improved, and it might take a long time for the people to become accustomed to the new government and probably even more time for the society to be able to function well again. this happened to the people ruled by the Republic of China. The modernisation of China was probably too rapid due to the need of change in the country. During the establishment of the republic and after many reforms, for a long time the people began to lose hope in the government again, more specifically during President Mao Zedong's rule, when a large number of civilians lost their lives to industrial accidents. China workers suffered from terrible working conditions and low wages under the semi-feudalism and semi-imperialism society. However, we can see that in the long run, revolutions can bring positive impacts to the people's lives. In the Chinese revolution, after Mao's rule and the improvement of the Chinese economy, the people's lives improved significantly, and although corruption in the government is still a significant issue, we can see that the way the people's lives have improved over the years, and that the price the people had to pay for drastic change was worth it.
Are revolutions progressive? Revolutions are very progressive. We can see from the Xinhai revolution, that it probably took place in a span of too little time. Prior to the revolution, there had been nearly 4000 years of Dynasties where the people were ruled by a government, whose head was an emperor. To ensure that a revolution would go smoothly with minimal damage, not only is a strong willed and clear minded leader necessary, intricate planning of the revolution is also an important factor. Had there not been carefully planned out objectives and goals, the revolution would have been a mess and some necessary processes that would have been necessary for the revolution to undergo would have been neglected. The Chinese Revolution was probably not as well planned as it could have been, it was probably a bit rushed and could have taken place in a bigger span of time. Do revolutions necessarily bring about change for the better? Although most of the time, revolutions bring about short term damages to the society, most of the time, successful revolutions tend to have a good impact on the society in the long run. In the Chinese Revolution, the newly established government did not function as well as they had originally hoped and planned, and after many small and large reforms, the people were wary of the government at times, and wether or not the revolution was actually the correct decision. However, we could see that despite the many difficulties they had, including a deep plunge into poverty during Mao's rule as well as the large number of casualties the society encountered during the time, over the years, China has definitely significantly improved over the years as a country, and it would be fair to say that although the revolution came at a high price, at the end, it was more than worth it.