Rebellion

"Rebel" redirects here. For other uses, see Rebel (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Rebellion (disambiguation).

A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. It may therefore be seen as encompassing a range of behaviours from civil disobedience to a violent organized attempt to destroy established authority. It is often used in reference to armed resistance against an established government, but can also refer to mass nonviolent resistance movements. Those who participate in rebellions are known as "rebels".

Overview

Throughout history many different groups that opposed powers were called rebels. In the U.S, the term was used for the Continentals by the British in the Revolutionary War and the Confederacy by the Union in the American Civil War. It also includes members of paramilitary forces who take up arms against an established government.

For example, the Boxer Rebellion was an uprising against Western commercial and political influence in China during the final years of the 19th century, and the Jacobite Risings which attempted to restore the deposed Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland were called the Jacobite Rebellions by the government.

Types of rebellion

A violent rebellion is sometimes referred to as an insurgency while a larger one may escalate into a civil war. There are a number of terms that fall under the umbrella of "rebel", though they range from those with positive connotations to those that are considered pejorative. Examples, in rough order from sympathetic to pejorative, are:

• "Nonviolent resistance" or "civil disobedience"
• "Resistance" carried out by freedom fighters, often to an occupying invader
• "Revolution" by revolutionaries, often meant to indicate a desired change in the form of government and/or economic system
• "Uprising" by militants
• "Insurgency" or "insurrection" by insurgents
• "Revolt"- A localized rebellion that, while wanting some form of change they lack the foresight that a revolution has. While they might overpower the local forces they more often then not fail to defeat a major army, if they do it tends to evolve into a full scale revolution.
• "Mutiny" by mutineers, normally of military or security forces to commanders
• "Subversion" by subversives

Famous rebellions and uprisings

Main article: List of revolutions and rebellions

Some of the better known rebellions are:

73 BC - 71 BC	The Roman Slave rebellion
1381	Peasants' Revolt in England
1775 - 1783	American Revolutionary War
1789 - 1815	French Revolution
1798	Irish Rebellion of 1798
1837 - 1838	Rebellions of 1837
1869 - 1870	Red River Rebellion
1885	North-West Rebellion
1900 - 1901	Boxer Rebellion
1905	Russian Revolution
1917	Russian Revolution
1919 - 1921	Irish War of Independence
1940 - 1945	French Resistance
1944	Warsaw Uprising
1946 - 1951	Telengana Rebellion in India
1956	Hungarian Revolution of 1956
1968	May 1968 revolt in France
1987 - 1991	First Intifada
1989	Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
1992	Afghan Northern Alliance
2000 -	Second Intifada
2003 -	Iraqi Insurgency

Famous rebels

Main article: List of famous rebels

Some better known rebels

• Fidel Castro
• Michael Collins
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Che Guevara
• Abimael Guzman
• Martin Luther
• Martin Luther King
• Mao Tse Tung
• William Lyon Mackenzie
• Nelson Mandela
• Subcomandante Marcos
• Vladimir Lenin
• Leon Trotsky
• George Washington
• Louis Riel
• The Unknown Rebel

See also

• Anarchism
• Civil disobedience
• Intifada
• Nonviolent resistance
• Revolution
• Slave rebellions
• List of revolutions and rebellions
• List of famous rebels
• List of fictional rebellions