Revolutions are a commonly studied but only vaguely understood historical phenomenon. This clear and concise text extends our understanding with a critical narrative analysis of key case studies: the 19101920 Mexican Revolution; the 19441954 Guatemalan Spring; the 19521964 MNR-led revolution in Bolivia; the Cuban Revolution that triumphed in 1959; the 19701973 Chilean path to socialism; the leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua in power from 19791990; failed guerrilla movements in Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru; and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela after Hugo Chávezs election in 1998. Historian Marc Becker opens with a theoretical introduction to revolutionary movements, including a definition of what revolution means and an examination of factors necessary for a revolution to succeed. He analyzes revolutions through the lens of those who participated and explores the sociopolitical conditions that led to a revolutionary situation, the differing responses to those conditions, and the outcomes of those political changes. Each case study provides an interpretive explanation of the historical context in which each movement emerged, its main goals and achievements, its shortcomings, its outcome, and its legacy. The book concludes with an analysis of how elected leftist governments in the twenty-first century continue to struggle with issues that revolutionaries confronted throughout the twentieth century.

Revolutions are a commonly studied but only vaguely understood historical phenomenon. This clear and concise text extends our understanding with a critical narrative analysis of key case studies: the 1910¿1920 Mexican Revolution; the 1944¿1954 Guatemalan Spring; the 1952¿1964 MNR-led revolution in Bolivia; the Cuban Revolution that triumphed in 1959; the 1970¿1973 Chilean path to socialism; the leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua in power from 1979¿1990; failed guerrilla movements in Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru; and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela after Hugo Chávez¿s election in 1998. Each case study provides an interpretive explanation of the historical context in which each movement emerged, its main goals and achievements, its shortcomings, its outcome, and its legacy. The book concludes with an analysis of how elected leftist governments in the twenty-first century continue to struggle with issues that revolutionaries confronted throughout the twentieth century.

Preface1 Theories of RevolutionBiography: José Carlos Mariátegui, 18941930Document: José Carlos Mariátegui, On the Indigenous Problem, 19282 Mexican Revolution, 19101920Biography: Emiliano Zapata, 18791919Document: Emiliano Zapata, Plan of Ayala, 19113 Guatemalan Spring, 19441954Biography: Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, 19131971Document: Decree 900, 19524 Bolivias Nationalist Revolution, 19521964Biography: Juan Lechín Oquendo, 19142001Document: The Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB),Pulacayo Theses, 19465 Cuban Revolution, 1959Biography: Fidel Castro, 19262016Document: First Declaration of Havana, 19606 Chilean Road to Socialism, 19701973Biography: Salvador Allende Gossens, 19091973Document: Popular Unity Government: Basic Program, 19707 Nicaraguan Sandinistas, 19791990Biography: Carlos Fonseca Amador, 19361976Document: The Historic Program of the FSLN, 19698 Guerrilla WarfareBiography: Che Guevara, 19281967Document: Che Guevara,Guerrilla Warfare, 19609 Venezuelas Bolivarian Revolution, 1999Biography: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, 19542013Document: Hugo Chávez, World Social Forum, 200510 Socialisms of the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesGlossaryIndex