Synopses & Reviews
What caused revolution among the last major monarchies of the modern period? Why were Louis XVI, Nicholas II and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi all overthrown and was this the result of their historical background or individual action? This powerful and original book is the first comparative study of the implosion of the monarchical regimes in Bourbon France, Romanov Russia and Pahlavi Iran. Seeking to understand fully the causes and timing of the French, Russian and Iranian revolutions, Shakibi examines the complex interaction between the personality and behavior of the monarchs and the different problems faced by their regimes which turned a potentially revolutionary situation into the revolutions which engulfed France in the eighteenth century, Russia in 1917 and Iran in 1978-8. Drawing on a huge amount of primary and archival research throughout the world, Revolutions and the Collapse of the Monarchy argues that it is human agency which often provides the vital spark which produces revolution. An ambitious and important counter-blast to traditional theories of revolution.
Synopsis
What causes revolution? What brought about the end of the last major monarchies of the modern period? Were Louis XVI, Nicholas II, and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the unwitting victims of historical circumstance, or did their own actions help to bring about the revolutions that overthrew them? This powerful and original book is the first comparative study of the revolutions in Bourbon France, Romanov Russia and Pahlavi Iran. Zhand Shakibi analyses fully the timing and causes of these three revolutions and reveals the important similarities between them. Revolutions and the Collapse of Monarchy argues provocatively that it is often the monarch's own personality that provides the vital spark which produces revolution. This ambitious and important book challenges the Marxist interpretation of history and adds a compelling new perspective to theories of revolution.
About the Author
Zhand Shakibi is a Fellow in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the University of London. He has written widely on the modern history and political ideas of Europe, Russia, the Middle East and the Caucasus and taught and researched at universities in Iran, Russia, Uzbekistean, the USA and Britain.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Structural Variables of Revolution * The making of Monarchs * Louis XVI and the Collapse of the Bourbon State * Nicholas II and the Collapse of the Romanov State * Mohammed Reza Shah and the Collapse of the Pahlavi State * Conclusion