The aftermath of revolutions is always disappointing. Expectations of immediate transformation come up against intractable reality and a deep and debilitating disappointment usually sets in among much of the population. But not among radicals, who typically demand a thoroughgoing renewal of the elites deemed responsible for “betraying” the cause. In France, which set the pattern for many subsequent revolutions, the Jacobins under Maximilien Robespierre called for a republic of virtue to be brought about by terror.Post-Maidan Ukraine has yet to acquire the dangerous “fever” described by Crane Brinton in his Anatomy of Revolution, but some signs are already pointing in …read more
Source: Atlantic Council
