When the violent clashes break out, and Bastilles are stormed, few typically ponder about what change occurs after the dust settles, and, typically it doesn’t end up being much. Revolutions unequivocally are only successful to a minor extent. This is because of the continuous trend that the previous tyrannical authoritarian would almost always be exchanged for another, leaving little accomplished and much bloodshed. In particular, the economic and social hardships often deteriorate further in addition to the decline caused by the initial revolution under new rule, leading to potential uprisings once more; continuing the cycle. In French and Egyptian revolutions, both failed to repair the economic situation of the nation, as well as failing to rid the nation of a tyrannical form of rule. Meaning the original goals of the revolt weren’t resolved and another era of authoritarianism plagued the nation.
One reason is that after a revolution occurs, it is often that the new government bears striking similarities to the previous, which defeats the point of the revolt entirely. For example in the French Revolution a main goal was to liberalize the country and rid it of tyrannical, authoritarian rule. At the conclusion of the French Revolution, Napoleon seized the opportunity to establish himself dictator after realizing the weaknesses in the new, democratic, and liberalized French government. This clearly violates the initial goal of liberalizing the French government, effectively replacing the old authoritarian king with the new authoritarian dictator, presenting how this goal of liberalization has failed. Another perfect depiction of this is the Egyptian Revolution. During this time, the previous unpopular government was ousted for the new, democratically elected Muhammed Morsi in 2011. Only 2 years later in 2013, his government became similarly unpopular which resulted in him being overthrown by the military, opting to put general Abdel al-Sisi in power. He was similarly authoritarian and brutal compared to the first regime, showcasing how the revolution failed one of its major goals which was to liberalize the nation and give the people more freedoms. To summarize, a major shortcoming of revolutions is often failing to rid the nation of authoritarian rule.
Another enormous point is that the new government brought in during the revolution often fails to fix the failing economic situation present in the nation. For starters, a main motivator for the French Revolution was the extraordinarily high price of everyday necessities, particularly bread and firewood. However, during the rule of the National Assembly, the prices failed to drop and many still starved due to the unproportional raising of wages and bread pricing due to inflation. Similarly, one of the main reasons that the new Egyptian government under Morsi failed was that he didn’t create new opportunities with unemployment still being extraordinarily high. This would result in his deposing and the military takeover. This issue was present across many nations during the Arab Spring with some nations having unemployment as high as 25%. This displays how the governments that were originally in the favor of the revolutionaries often fail to resolve economic dilemmas and quickly lose the people’s support, leading to a continuation of the revolutionary cycle and the return of absolutism.
Revolutions often bring a great deal of instability that plague a nation for decades. This is blisteringly obvious in Syria, which originally began their civil war in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring. Now in 2025, the war has just come to its end and the nation is decimated. This presents how the initial revolt of the Syrian people resulted in a 14 year bloody civil war with thousands lost. In addition, the constant bombings and bombardments effectively sent the nation back to the dark ages, putting them far behind their westernized neighbors such as Israel, which may take an unprecedented amount of time to recover from. Another example of instability being caused is during the Haitian Revolution. This is due to the French forcing the Haitians to pay hundreds of millions in order to gain their independence in the 1800. This shattered the nation economically and politically with effects still present in the modern era as Haiti’s government is weak with gangs ruling much of the nation, which is among the poorest on Earth. This absolutely shows the idea that although revolutions may lead to independence, they certainly can also bring a great deal of instability and ruin the nation for potentially centuries.
Some may bring up the fact that the French Revolution was successful as it spread enlightened ideas across Europe, resulting in many similar revolts taking place in Italy, Austria, Germany, and the UK from around 1830-1850. Although the statement is factually correct, it certainly does not signify the French Revolution was overall a success. This is due to the fact that the French Revolution brought tens of thousands of deaths via Reign of Terror and economic instability, only to end with another authoritarian leader taking power. Not only did Napoleon seize control, but ironically after his defeat and 20 year rule the other European powers replaced him with King Louis the 16th’s brother as king. In addition to that, the affordability of bread and other necessities failed to occur. This portrays how although the French Revolution was successful in spreading enlightened ideas and the revolution, the core issues with France failed to be resolved, meaning that overall it is impossible to declare the French Revolution a success.
