Coup and revolution

Differences between a coup and a revolution

Political changes come into sharp relief when one compares the differences between a coup and a revolution. A coup and a revolution. Yet, these are completely different terms with vastly different people involved and the degree of change varies greatly. Coups and revolutions may intertwine with each other, but they usually don’t represent the same kind of political change. A coup is the forceful removal of the ruling government from power, usually conducted by a small number of people. The instigators of a coup are usually one political party, faction, cult, rebel group or the military, etc. A coup can sometimes represent the popular will but normally coups do not have much popular involvement. In contrast, a revolution is primarily launched by the people. A Revolution is a fundamental change of political power that overthrows the ruling regime. It is the population revolting against the regime en masse. Revolutions may not have universal support among the populace but they are certainly launched by the people, which differs from most the usual coups which are launched by a political faction. The effect of a coup also differs from the effect of a revolution as a coup may change the regime, but it sometimes won’t and some coups may be launched to keep the old regime in place. (Yes, like in Chile in 1973) Revolutions almost always certainly bring fundamental alteration to a country’s political system as a whole.

Coups occur as the result of the sudden, violent or peaceful overthrow of the ruling government by one or multiple political fractions. A coup is normally just a shift in power at the top that merely results in some minor change within the political landscape. A coup itself rarely changes the fundamental social and economic policies of a country, nor does it significantly redistribute power. Nevertheless, the policy after the coup may result in the aforementioned changes. An example of a typical military coup would be the Myanmar coup of 2021. Myanmar’s military, the “Tatmadaw” has always maintained a strong presence in the politics of Myanmar. Ruling the country for decades since the military coup in 1962, the Tatmadaw dictatorship of Myanmar brought economic decline, instability, and a massive expansion of the military's presence in the Myanmar society. Tatmadaw, after its nominal relinquishing of power in 2011, still maintained considerable power in the security, politics, economy, and foreign policy of Myanmar. In essence, Myanmar’s military have, in most of the time, been the king without the crown. Thus, the coup in early 2021 came as no surprise as the elected government tried to use their recent election victory to attempt to limit the power of Tatmadaw. The threatened generals launched their coup to maintain their overwhelming power over the country. As we can see in the example of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw did not enjoy much support among the people and overthrew the government in spite of their lack of popular support. The Tatmadaw also did not change the political landscape of the country. Instead, the Tatmadaw overthrew the government in order to preserve its power, and to even strengthen its influence within the country’s establishment. Thus, the coup in Myanmar is a typical example of a military coup in that coups usually do not involve the populace and sometimes the population does not support the coup.

A revolution is vastly different from a coup.A Revolution is the destruction of the old order and creation of the new one. Revolutions are the complete and violent shift of power launched by the wide populace of a society, usually those in the lower class, that alters the political system and eradicates the overthrown regime. It means the violent end of those representing the overthrown political system. Revolutions will result in a clear cut new society and political system with no place for the old. Usually, a true revolution is a zero sum game for both sides of the rivalry, and it will determine the fate of many. An example of a revolution would be the Haitian revolution. Haiti before the revolution (of 1791) was a contributor to the French colonial wealth (in the form of sugar and coffee) through the repressive system of slavery in French controlled Haiti. The slaves in Haiti revolted mutiple times for their freedom but to no avail. However, when the internal divisions within the white landowners opened up an opportaunity for revolt, British intervention resulted in the revolting slaves allying with the French. (The initial revolution of 1791 was against the white landowners and the mulattos that worked for them. It was followed by the failed British intervention of 1793-97, and French reconquest of the island, and then the British assisting Toussaint’s and Dessalines forces fighting the French) After the French victory, Napoleon decided to reinstate slavery, sparking an all out war of independence in Haiti. The revolting slaves ultimately won as the French retreated due to guerilla warfare, yellow fever plague, and military defeat. The newly independent Haitian republic launched a genocide against the white residents of Haiti with unprecedented cruelty, violently changing the fundamental ethnic make up of Haiti. In the span of dozens of years, Haiti transformed itself from a French colony populated predominantly by African slaves to an independent presidential republic with a clear black identity. The Haitian revolution meant a massive social-economic reorganization from the slave based plantation republic to a yeoman based agricultural economy. Haiti’s society also underwent significant change, from a society dominated by slave-holding plantation owners to a society dominated by independant black cultivators. The revolution in Haiti revolution was a military conflict involving wide populace of black slaves that ended with a complete social alternation. From the example of Haiti, we can see that a revolution has a profound impact on the social and economic fabric of a country that influences it far into the future, alters the country’s demographic structure, and most importantly, is launched by the people against the predominant operating system of the state.

In conclusion, Revolutions and coups, although they change the political landscape, are completely different. Coups are launched by a faction of the elite or a faction of the populace that may or may not enjoy wider popular support. overthrowing the government for their benefit. It will They result in no or minor change in the country’s social fabric although some coups will elevate the beneficiary of the coup to a powerful position. Coups may be instigated for or against the political system as the 1962 Myanmar coup brought massive power to Tatmadaw, while the 2021 coup allowed the Tatmadaw to maintain that power. Revolutions, on the other hand, involve the people rising up and overthrowing the ruling regime and the old system for a new one to be established. Revolutions will also change the social and economic landscape of the country. As seen in the Haitian revolution, the profound change it brought to that tumultuous land lasted a long while after while the social system of the French colonial rule was brought to a violent end.