Do revolutions always need public support in order to succeed long-term?
Upvote:1
In general, do revolutions need the support of the populace to achieve long-term success?
No. Not at all. It's a nice bonus. Nothing more. Plenty of dictatorships ruled with very little popular support. Thailand is not an exception to the rule. It only happens more often than elsewhere.
I can only say: welcome to Thailand! In the 25 years that I live here about 3 successful (military) coups have been committed and several failed (civilian) attempts. In the west children look in winter for the weather forecast, hoping the school might be closed. Thai children watch the news. Perhaps another coup closes the school!
Since 1932 at least 40 coups have been committed. All 'in the name of the people'. Conveniently forgetting the previous military government did exactly the same thing. In Thailand, it is usually the army (sometimes the police, rarely any other branches) who commit coups. The support they have comes from the army. And of course, some of 'the political elites'. Definitely not the people.
Actually, the coup that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 was the first coup in Thai history where the coup-makers gained widespread popularity!
Thaksin himself was the first Thai politician who kept most of his electoral promises to gain popular support. That in itself was unique in Thai history. He was, and still is, very popular amongst the (mainly rural) people. No other politician had done that before him. (Nor after him, for that matter.)
The first coup, the revolution that abolished the absolute monarchy in 1932, was committed by princes and ranking nobles who felt passed over for promotions. All in the name of the people, of course.
The current "civilian" government is the previous junta, who all retired from the army. Premier Chan-o-Cha committed his coup in 2014. He postponed elections many times until 2019. He's ruling 6 years with many to come. Pretty long by Thai standards.
Upvote:1
I am not really sure what your definition of "revolution" is. If what you want is the take-over of power by a formerly marginal minority, then the classical circle of dynasties described by Ibn Khaldun fits quite well.
Basically he describes that people from the margins of an agricultural society (e.g. nomads, people living in unproductive mountain areas - the have-nothings that every proper citizen looks down upon!) have greater social cohesion and are more used to hardship and thus are more effective in combat. When a ruling dynasty grows weak and a charismatic leader emerges, they will overthrow the incumbent regime and install their own one ... which will also grow weak at some point.
Examples include the conquest of the Middle East by the Arabs, the conquest of China and Central Asia by the Mongols, the conquest of China by the Jurchens (twice), and lots of North African and Arabic dynasties mentioned by Ibn Khaldun.
More post
- 📝 How did sugar go from a luxury to a necessity in 18th century?
- 📝 What was the standard spoken language (dialect) in the Three Kingdoms period?
- 📝 What was the role of the Russian Orthodox church in Soviet Russia?
- 📝 Has NATO ever started a war?
- 📝 Did China colonize any countries?
- 📝 Why were universities created in the 11th-12th century?
- 📝 Is Japanese democracy an isolated example?
- 📝 Were Napoleon's chances of being caught after Waterloo high or low?
- 📝 What happened in 1914 that ended the golden age of microbiology?
- 📝 Is there anything to back up Mearsheimer's claims that Roosevelt pushed the Japanese to attack the United States and tried to get the US into WW2?
- 📝 How did the French word 'familier' become associated with the concept of Magical Familiars, historically?
- 📝 How did early adopters of the automobile fill up their cars?
- 📝 Where are the relics of Anthony the Great?
- 📝 What were the neoplatonists' attitude towards Christianity (or religion in general)?
- 📝 Do revisionist historiographies come closer to "unbiased truth"?
- 📝 Are there any archeological finds or primary source drawings of the Chinese "blade shaped" bamboo-copter or rotary fans?
- 📝 Is it correct that many historical resources about Islam are written by Muslims?
- 📝 How many lines did an ancient Greek copyist write per day?
- 📝 How would a 16-year-old girl from Cleopatra's era curse?
- 📝 Has capital penalty ever been a municipal-level decision?
- 📝 Where did Otto von Bismarck say "lying awake all night, hating"?
- 📝 Why did Europe not see Roman-era numbers of men participating in battles until the 17th century?
- 📝 What is the source for exact years of the Hittite/Egyptian state of war?
- 📝 What was the highest ever win for a decision in a nationwide *democratic* voting?
- 📝 Challenges Margaret Thatcher faced as a woman?
- 📝 What was the area of Nazi Germany at its height?
- 📝 Why were the Huns so successful at siege warfare but the Goths were not?
- 📝 Has being a single mother been always stigmatized?
- 📝 How were de jure lands determined during the Middle Ages in Western Europe?
- 📝 What was the last battle fought mainly by sail-powered ships?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Do revolutions always need public support in order to succeed long-term?
- 📝 In the Medieval period, how long would an average swordsmith need to forge an average sword?
- 📝 Why did some people need to pay a bond in the 1700s in order to get married?
- 📝 Did the Soviet Union need both prongs to succeed at the Battle of Stalingrad?
- 📝 What level of public support did Adolf Hitler have in his final year of power?
- 📝 Are there post-1700 examples of large scale long term reductions in living standards?
- 📝 Have there been negative large-scale long term effects from vaccines?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support the claim that the United States was "suckered into WW1" by Zionists, made by Benjamin Freedman in his 1961 speech?
- 📝 Why did Churchill order the destruction of the bombes?
- 📝 Is history always written by the victors?
- 📝 Were Roman public roads built by private companies?
- 📝 Has any country ever diverted an international flight in order to arrest a wanted person?
- 📝 Has an heir ever made the country believe the current ruler died in order to take over the throne?
- 📝 Why did Hitler not order the use of poison gas in combat?
- 📝 When and why did having long hair become associated with women, and short hair with men?
- 📝 Why did it take so long to abandon sail after steamships were demonstrated?
- 📝 When/how did Harry Truman give the order to bomb Hiroshima?
- 📝 Why, in old movies and TV series, do they always use such extremely exaggerated wheel turns when driving a car?
- 📝 How long was a sea journey from England to East Africa 1868-1877?
- 📝 When did the term "Nationality" first come into use? How did ancient civilizations refer to themselves? By ethnicity?
- 📝 Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
- 📝 Why did the term "Byzantine Empire" enter common usage instead of "Eastern Roman Empire" or "Roman Empire"
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the moldboard plow?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the claim that "Taiwan has always been part of China"?
- 📝 How long would it take to cross the Channel in 1890's?
- 📝 Did Hitler really support Subhash Chandra Bose's cause and did he do anything to help Bose?
- 📝 How long did it take for a diplomat to travel between Berlin and Vienna in the 1770's?
- 📝 Was public transportation free in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Does the Catholic church have a long history of child abuse, or is it something that started in our time?