Piggy-backed Revolutions

James G

Gone Fishin'
In 1917, there were two revolutions in Russia with the first in February and the second in October. The Bolsheviks took charge after the Tsar had been overthrown by those who rebelled for freedom.
The way I understand it, the same happened in Iran in 1978-79 too with a democratic revolution first than an Islamist movement piggy-backing the first one to launch a second one afterwards.

Where and when else did this happen? Post 1900, of course.
Where else could it have happened too? One revolution of people power and then a select group of hardliners moving in afterwards to launch a second revolution when a strong internal control over a state was taken down leaving it open.
 
Hungary had the Aster Revolution in 1918, which overthrew the old regime and created a democratic republic; a few months later it was transformed into the Hungarian Soviet Republic.


That said, it's not always possible to draw a clear line of "people power" vs "hardline" (whatever that may mean). The Tsar was not overthrown by some kind of organized rebellion with a clear vision of the future. He faced broad but not very coherent protests and stepped down. The February Revolution was for freedom, alright; but people's concepts of what this "freedom" means greatly varied (and not everybody's idea of the "freedom" excluded the Bolsheviks).
And if the situation in Russia was still mostly clear, with the "legitimate" February Revolution and the illegitimate, minority-driven October Revolution - the situation in Iran was not clear at all. Islamism and the anti-Shah movement were very intertwined; the Iranians who were revolting for freedom and democracy by no means excluded Islamism from their vision of "freedom" and "democracy". You could go as far as to say that there was only one revolution in Iran, the Islamist quasi-democratic revolution; and that the other part was an ultra-short and irrelevant sideshow without popular support.
 
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