Deck 7: Revolutionary Change

Question 1

Cubans were shocked by revelations about the "Ochoa affair." What was the Ochoa affair?

A) A number of high-ranking military officials were involved in drug trafficking
B) One of the leading members of the Communist Party politburo was revealed as having an affair with the wife of one of his assistants
C) Several leading Communist Party officials were caught plotting a coup against Fidel Castro
D) Minister of Trade, Roberto Ochoa, took bribes from a German exporter of military aircraft
E) Minister of Trade, Roberto Ochoa, defected to the U.S. after a UN conference in New York

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Charles Tilly argued that for a revolutionary movement to win power it must first establish themselves as "an alternate sovereignty." What does that mean?

A) It must control large portions of the countryside
B) It must issue its own alternative currency
C) It must convince potential supporters that it can be a viable alternative government
D) Its must challenge the government's legitimacy
E) It must offer potential supporters an alternative political ideology

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which one of these was NOT a positive accomplishment of several major revolutions in the developing world?

A) Agrarian reform in China
B) Improving China's relations with the U.S.
C) A major literacy program in Cuba
D) Improvements in Cuba's public health
E) Establishing national sovereignty over oil and other valuable resources in Mexico

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following has been a major accomplishment of most leftist revolutions?

A) Upholding traditional family values
B) Establishing greater democracy
C) Opening additional channels for upward mobility by peasants and workers
D) Emphasizing international trade
E) Facilitating migration of rural peasants to the cities

Question 5

Although different types of peasants-wage laborers,sharecroppers,squatters,and smallholders-are likely to join rebellions or revolutions,they all have something in common.What is that?

A) They resent the government drafting them into the army.
B) They are threatened by the prospect of losing their land or their livelihood.
C) They have been denied the right to vote in free and fair elections.
D) The government has violated their religious principles.
E) They are oppressed by excessive taxes.

Question 6

The 20th century's age of leftist revolutions

A) seems to be continuing in strength in the 21st century.
B) is continuing with the support of Iran.
C) has gained strength as a result of China's growing power.
D) seems to have lost its steam with the collapse of Soviet bloc communism and the introduction of capitalist economic measures in China and Vietnam.
E) has moved towards increasingly radical revolts.

Question 7

Classical Marxist theory (and Marx himself)believed that the first communist revolutions would take place in

A) less developed countries.
B) advanced capitalist nations.
C) rural areas.
D) Southeast Asia.
E) Southern Europe.

Question 8

Which of the following sectors often provides key leadership for the revolutionary cause?

A) The upper class
B) The working class
C) Doctors
D) The middle class
E) The peasantry

Question 9

So-called "elite revolutions" (revolutions from above)are usually led by

A) reform-oriented military officers.
B) the nation's economic elite.
C) disaffected members of the government that is toppled.
D) well-organized political parties.
E) international NGOs.

Question 10

Which of the following "revolutions" fails to meet the definition of revolution offered by Theda Skocpol and many other major scholars?

A) The American revolution
B) The French revolution
C) The Vietnamese revolution
D) The Mexican revolution
E) The Chinese revolution

Question 11

Unlike Karl Marx,Mao Zedong

A) felt that the power of top officers in the PLA (the revolutionary army) should be independent from the communist party.
B) believed that much of the proletariat (working class) was not revolutionary, but rather that only the poorer workers were.
C) believed that Asia, not Europe, would be the locus of future revolutions.
D) believed in maintaining some parts of capitalism after the revolution succeeded.
E) looked to the peasantry as China's primary revolutionary force.

Question 12

Theda Skocpol argued that the most important element causing a revolution to succeed is

A) the discontent of key members of the middle class.
B) the decay of the old regime from war and financial crises.
C) aspects of international trade and finance.
D) the role of the Church.
E) the quality of the revolutionary force's leadership

Question 13

In the view of advocates and supporters of Third World revolutions,which one of the following choices was NOT one of the promised outcomes that attracted them to revolutions?

A) Ending dependency
B) Transforming their nation's political culture
C) Hastening economic growth
D) Politically mobilizing the population
E) Reducing ethnic conflict

Question 14

James Scott talks of the collapse of the "moral economy" that often breaks down prior to a revolution.What is a moral economy?

A) The landlords' contributions to organized religion and the moral authority that those contributions bring
B) The economic sanctions imposed on poor city dwellers who violate contemporary moral codes
C) The crackdown by Islamic "moral police" and the fear it produces
D) The increasing immorality of business deals by banking groups
E) The web of mutual obligations and duties that tied peasants to landlords in pre-capitalist rural society

Question 15

What is a major factor that convinces many peasants to join a revolution?

A) The loss of religious faith
B) The collapse of the "moral economy" that existed between landlords and their peasants
C) Loss of faith in the king or president's divine right to rule
D) The end of commercial contacts with the outside world
E)Disillusionment with long-standing peasant unions

Question 16

What failure of pre-revolutionary governments often leads to their overthrow by revolutionary forces?

A) It has sharply increased taxes
B) The country has been defeated or greatly weakened in a war
C) High-ranking government officials defect to the revolutionary movement
D) The government alienates powerful countries in the region
E) The country has suffered natural disasters such as a drought or flooding

Question 17

What was the Arab Spring?

A) Discovery of underground rivers in Syria and Jordan, which supported a major expansion of agriculture in those countries
B) Egypt and Jordan signing peace treaties with Israel
C) A series of pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world
D) The end of the Palestinian intifada after a "bitter winter" of conflict with Israel
E) A series of mutual support treaties among Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan

Question 18

Which country's revolution caused the death of many thousands of its own people?

A) Egypt
B) Iran
C) Cuba
D) Cambodia
E) Nigeria

Question 19

Which of these is a common failure of most revolutionary governments?

A) In time, party and government officials often become corrupt
B) The ruling party is unable to attract new supporters
C) National literacy rates decline
D) The rural population is forced to resort to barter
E) Ethnic minorities are singled out for persecution

Question 20

Which theory indicates that revolutions and rebellions often take place when an extended period of economic growth is followed by an economic downturn?

A) Tilly's theory of alternative sovereignties
B) Davies' J-curve theory
C) Skocpol's theory of decaying legitimacy
D) Nelson's theory of inverted financial trends
E) Gurr's theory of relative deprivation

Question 21

Where did businessmen play an important role in their nation's revolution?

A) China
B) Vietnam
C) Ghana
D) Chile
E) Nicaragua

Question 22

Classical Marx theory (i.e.,as originally laid down by Marx)argued that either the working class or the peasantry could provide the main participants in communist revolutions.

Question 23

All of the recent pro-democratic uprisings in Tunisia,Egypt,and elsewhere in the Arab world (the Arab Spring)

A) were engineered by those countries' armed forces.
B) were led from the beginning by Islamist militants.
C) were fought overwhelmingly by peasants.
D) received covert support (including arms) from the West.
E) did not meet many of the scholarly definitions of revolutions.

Question 24

Like many revolutionary leaders,Emiliano Zapata (Mexico)and Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam),came from middle-class families.

Question 25

Although Cuba's revolutionary government has "reached out" to the country's large black and mulatto populations,those groups remain underrepresented among those in top leadership posts in both the government and the Communist Party.

Question 26

According to Davies's J-curve theory,many of the governments that have been toppled by revolutions were delegitimized by political corruption.

Question 27

Although Che Guevara was a university-trained,white Argentinean,he managed to win the support of black peasants in Cuba and also the Indian peasants in Bolivia whom he recruited into the revolutionary cause.

Question 28

While revolutionary governments typically broaden political participation,they are rarely democratic

Question 29

Marxist (communist)leadership and ideology played key roles in the revolutions in Cuba,Iran,and Vietnam.

Question 30

Although radical,revolutionary armies in the 20th century were primarily composed of peasants,most of the country's peasants did not join them.

Question 31

"Relative deprivation" is the gap that exists between what people want or expect from life and what they actually get.

Question 32

Although revolutionary governments usually claim to be more honest than the government that they toppled,Transparency International,an independent watchdog group on government corruption,has determined that the communist governments of Cuba and China are considerably more corrupt than the average developing nation's government.

Question 33

Both Turkey and Peru had "revolutions from above" carried out by military officers.

Question 34

Which of the following revolutionary leaders most closely followed Mao's strategy of "people's war"?

A) Nelson Mandela (South Africa)
B) V.I. Lenin (Russia)
C) Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
D) Joseph Stalin (Russia)
E) Fidel Castro

Question 35

To seize power,successful revolutionary movements always have needed to gain the active support of over half the population.

Question 36

Often,but not always,revolutions begin after a country has been defeated in a war.In which of the following did that happen?

A) Russia
B) Cuba
C) Nicaragua
D) Vietnam
E) Mexico

Question 37

Fidel Castro's guerrilla army first developed in an area with a history of marijuana growing and smuggling.

Question 38

No Marxist national government has ever allowed itself to be voted out of office.

Question 39

In some revolutions,such as Cuba's,government corruption undermined the legitimacy of the old regime.However,in other revolutions,such as Nicaragua's,the issue of government corruption played no role in the collapse of the old regime.

Question 40

The Chinese and Cuban revolutions both started

A) in urban areas that were most impacted by early capitalism.
B) in rural areas with traditions of rebellion and/or lawlessness.
C) among ethnic minorities.
D) in areas most influenced by communist propaganda.
E) in areas outside the reach of the armed forces.

Question 41

What are the main arguments for and against revolutionary regimes in the developing world? What are the major strengths and weaknesses of revolutionary governments as compared to democratic developing nations?

Question 42

Discuss James Davies's J-Curve theory of the causes of revolutions.In what ways is his theory supported and/or refuted by other scholars who tested it?

Question 43

The term "revolution" has been defined differently by theorists such as Peter Calvert,Samuel Huntington,Theda Skocpol,and others.Discuss some of the different definitions of what constitutes a revolution.

Question 44

Compare Karl Marx's view of the peasantry's political potential to the actual role of the peasantry's participation in 20th century,Third World revolutions.

Question 45

What causes some Third World peasants to join revolutionary movements? Which type of peasant is most likely to join and which are least likely?