Rebellion
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