View source for Revolutions of 1917–1923

{{Short description|Series of political upheavals in the aftermath of World War I}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title   = '''Revolutions of 1917–1923'''
| partof  = [[opposition to World War I]] and<br/>the [[aftermath of World War I]]
| image   = [[File:1917-1923 Revolutions.png|250px]]
| caption = European countries involved in revolutions of 1917–1923
| date    = [[February Revolution|{{Start date|1917|3|8|df=y}}]] – {{Circa|}} [[Treaty of Lausanne|{{End date|1923|7|24|df=y}}]]
| place   = Worldwide (mainly in Europe and Asia)
| causes  = * [[World War I]]
* [[Russian Revolution]]<br/>{{Small|(outside Russia)}}
| goals   = * [[World communism]]
* [[World revolution]]
* [[Socialist patriotism]]
* [[Wars of national liberation|National liberation]]
* [[Constitutionalism]]
* [[Irredentism]]
* [[Left nationalism]]
| result  = [[International relations (1919–1939)|Political upheaval]] ([[Fascism in Europe]] {{Small|(theorized)}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schmitt |first=Hans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnLI8ooHHPgC&q=1917%E2%80%9323+wave&pg=PA238 |title=Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23 |date=1988 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-1153-3 |access-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref>
* '''Collapse of the Russian Empire'''
** [[Russian Revolution]]
*** [[February Revolution]]
*** [[October Revolution]]
**** ([[Russian Civil War]])
** Independence of [[Independence of Finland|Finland]], [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], [[Lithuanian Wars of Independence|Lithuania]], [[Latvian War of Independence|Latvia]], [[Estonian War of Independence|Estonia]]
** Temporary establishment of [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], [[Ukrainian State]], [[Belarusian People's Republic]], [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]], [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]], [[First Republic of Armenia]], [[Alash Autonomy]]
* '''End of the German Empire'''
** [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|November Revolution]]
** Creation of temporary Soviet Republics across Germany
** [[Spartacist Uprising]]
** [[Kapp Putsch]]
** [[Ruhr Uprising]]
* '''Collapse of Austria-Hungary'''
** [[Aster Revolution]]
** [[Hungarian Soviet Republic|Revolution of 1919]]
** [[Hungarian–Romanian War]]
** Temporary establishment of [[Slovak Soviet Republic]]
* '''Overthrow of the [[Bogd Khanate of Mongolia]]'''
** [[Mongolian Revolution of 1921|Revolution of 1921]]
* '''[[Partition of Ireland]], and the creation of the [[Irish Free State]]'''
** [[Irish War of Independence]]
*** ([[Irish Civil War]])
* '''End of the [[Ottoman Empire]]'''
** [[Turkish War of Independence]]
** Transformation of Turkish society via [[Atatürk's reforms]]
* '''Rise of Fascism in Italy'''
** [[Italian Regency of Carnaro|Fiuman Revolution]]
** [[Biennio Rosso]]
** [[March on Rome]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Revolutions of 1917–1923}}
{{Campaignbox Aftermath of World War I}}
The '''revolutions of 1917–1923''' were a [[revolutionary wave]] that included political unrest and armed revolts around the world inspired by the success of the [[Russian Revolution]] and the disorder created by the [[aftermath of World War I]]. The uprisings were mainly [[Socialism|socialist]] or anti-[[Colonialism|colonial]] in nature. Most socialist revolts failed to create lasting [[socialist state]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Motadel |first=David |date=April 4, 2011 |title=Waves of Revolution |url=http://www.historytoday.com/david-motadel/waves-revolution |access-date=May 5, 2015 |website=History Today}}</ref> The revolutions had lasting effects in shaping the future European political landscape, with, for example, the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|collapse of the German Empire]] and the [[dissolution of Austria-Hungary]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bouton |first=Stephen |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39563 |title=And the Kaiser Abdicates: The German Revolution, November, 1918-August, 1919 |date=2019 |publisher=Wentworth Press |isbn=978-0-5262-0394-9 |pages=Chapter XI}}</ref>
[[World War I]] mobilized millions of troops, reshaped political powers and drove social turmoil. From the turmoil outright revolutions broke out, massive strikes occurred, and many soldiers mutinied. In [[Russian Empire|Russia]], the [[Emperor of all the Russias|Tsar]] [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] abdicated during the [[February Revolution]]. The short-lived liberal [[Russian Provisional Government]] was formed, but it was overthrown by the [[Bolsheviks]] in the [[October Revolution]], which triggered the bloody [[Russian Civil War]]. Many [[French Third Republic|French]] soldiers [[1917 French Army mutinies|mutinied in 1917]] and refused to engage the enemy. In [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Aleksandar Stamboliyski#Radomir Rebellion (1918)|many troops mutinied]], and the [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Bulgarian Tsar]] stepped down. Mass strikes and mutinies occurred in [[Austria-Hungary]], and the [[Habsburg monarchy]] collapsed. In [[German Empire|Germany]], the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|November Revolution]] led to the end of the German Empire. [[Italian Empire|Italy]] faced various mass strikes. [[Turkey]] experienced a successful [[Turkish War of Independence|war of independence]]. Ireland was [[Partition of Ireland|partitioned]] and the [[Irish Free State]] was created. Across the world, various other protests and revolts occurred.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 8, 2014 |title=Revolutions |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/revolutions |access-date=August 25, 2019 |website=International Encyclopedia of the First World War}}</ref>
==Communist revolutions in Europe==
===Russia===
{{Main|Russian Revolution|Russian Civil War}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| total_width = 300
| image1 = Lenin in 1920 (cropped).jpg
| caption1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]], founder of the [[Soviet Union]] and the leader of the [[Bolshevik party]].
| image2 = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R15068, Leo Dawidowitsch Trotzki.jpg
| caption2 = [[Leon Trotsky]], founder of the [[Red Army]] and a key figure in the [[October Revolution]].
}}
[[File:The people's war book; history, cyclopaedia and chronology of the great world war (1919) (14595451159).jpg|alt=|thumb|235x235px|[[October Revolution]] in [[Moscow]], [[Soviet Russia|Russia]] (1917).]]
In war-torn [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]], the [[Liberalism in Russia|liberal]] [[February Revolution]] toppled the monarchy. A period of instability followed, and the [[Bolsheviks]] seized power during the [[October Revolution]]. The ascendant [[Bolsheviks]] soon withdrew from the war with large territorial concessions by the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] and fought their political rivals during the [[Russian Civil War]], including the [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|invading forces from the Allied Powers]]. In response to [[Vladimir Lenin]], the Bolsheviks and the emerging [[Soviet Union]], [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] forces from a broad assortment of ideological factions fought against the Bolsheviks, particularly by the [[counter-revolutionary]] [[White movement]] and the peasant [[Green armies]], the [[Pro-independence movements in the Russian Civil War|various nationalist movements]] in [[Ukraine after the Russian Revolution|Ukraine]] and other would-be new states like those in Soviet [[South Caucasus|Transcaucasia]] and [[Soviet Central Asia]], the [[Anarchism in Russia|anarchist]]-inspired [[Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks|Third Russian Revolution]] and the [[Tambov Rebellion]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Abraham |last=Ascher |title=The Russian Revolution: A Beginner's Guide |publisher=Oneworld Publications |date=2014}}</ref>
By 1921, exhaustion, the collapse of transportation and markets and threats of starvation made even dissident elements of the [[Red Army]] revolt against the [[communist state]], such as during the [[Kronstadt rebellion]]. However, the anti-Bolshevik forces were uncoordinated and disorganised, and all operated on the periphery. The Red Army, operating at the centre, defeated them one at a time and regained control. The complete failure of [[Communist International|Comintern]]-inspired revolutions was a sobering experience in Moscow, and the Bolsheviks moved from [[world revolution]] to [[socialism in one country]], Russia. Lenin moved to open trade relations with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] and other major countries. Most dramatically, in 1921, Lenin introduced the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP) which allowed private individuals to own small and medium-sized enterprises. In that process of revolution and counter-revolution, the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR) was [[Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|officially created]] in 1922.<ref>Rex A. Wade, "The Revolution at One Hundred: Issues and Trends in the English Language Historiography of the Russian Revolution of 1917." ''Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography'' 9.1 (2016): 9–38.</ref>
===Grand Duchy of Finland and the Finnish Civil War===
{{Main|Finnish Civil War}}
{{Incomplete list|date=February 2022|reason=Missing sources}}
Following the February Revolution, the [[Social Democratic Party of Finland]] organized the [[Red Guards (Finland)|Red Guards]], made up of a motley crew of labor union activists, anarchists and left-wing activists. The Social Democrats had won an absolute majority in the Finnish parliament with 103 of 200 representatives in the parliamentary elections in [[1916 Finnish parliamentary election|July 1916]]. The spring of 1917 was relatively peaceful, although there was a serious food shortage and severe inflation, that angered both businesses and the working class. The anti-socialist political and social groups, especially the [[Finnish nationalism|nationalists]] in the [[Young Finnish Party]] had funded and secretly supported the [[Jäger Movement|Finnish Jäger Movement]], where hundreds of young Finnish students covertly enlisted in the [[Imperial German Army|German Army]] to fight the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]]. The [[July Days]] in Petrograd aggravated the situation in Finland, and there were tens of thousands of Russian troops in Finland as coastal defence forces, who had organized their own [[Soviet (council)|workers', sailors' and soldiers' councils]] across Finnish coastal cities like Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri.
Contrary to the Finnish left, the political Finnish right and anti-socialist politics were split into several factions, with tenant farmers, rural folk and the agrarian base supporting the [[Centre Party (Finland)|Agrarian Union]], teachers and the liberal city middle class supporting the Young Finnish Party, more conservative and appeasement-minded Finns (regarding the [[Russification of Finland|Russification policies]]), some with many financial ties to Petrograd and Russia supporting the [[Finnish Party]] and Finnish Swedes and some nobles supporting the [[Swedish People's Party of Finland|Swedish Folks' Party]].
Following Alexander Kerensky's rise to the premiership in the summer of 1917, the end of the Romanov monarchy and chaos in Petrograd, the Finnish parliament tried to establish a law known as "valtalaki", "powers act", which would formally move the role of the now abolished Russian monarch and the Governor General as the Supreme Executive of the Finnish State to either a three-man parliamentary executive council or the [[Senate of Finland|Finnish Senate]] (essentially the Cabinet of the Parliament). The law was debated intensely and no consensus could be established. The more pro-revolution Social Democrats were split before October 1917. Some wanted the law to pass so that the Social Democratic majority in the Finnish Parliament could establish Finland as an independent socialist state, but the problems persisted, such as the Russian military presence, of which thousands were pro-Bolshevik.
In August 1917, the Kornilov Coup severely shuffled the pack in terms of the Helsinki-Petrograd relations. A consensus between the social democrats and the bourgeoisie blocks was established, and they decided to hold new elections in October 1917 as a sort of "first elections" following the abolishment of the Romanov monarchy. In the October elections, the bourgeoisie coalition united and won the majority in parliament. This splintered the internal divide within the SDP even more, as the October revolutions was within weeks of happening and several pro-revolution Finnish Social Democrats were in active conversations with the Bolsheviks in Petrograd, such as [[Otto Wille Kuusinen]], [[Kullervo Manner]] and [[Karl Wiik]]. The Parliament declared confidence for the bourgeoisie Svinhufvud Senate, which would later ratify [[Finnish Declaration of Independence|Finland's declaration of independence]] on December 6, 1917. The speech for the declaration was already given by Svinhufvud to the parliament on December 4.
Partly following anger and rising tensions after the October elections, the Social Democrats called a general strike; one of Finland's only three in history. Otto Ville Kuusinen and Kullervo Manner, as members of the SDP's internal executive council favored revolution now and the SDP's council voted against the decision for revolution in November by only one vote – later Kuusinen regretted this, as he had already named several pro-revolution figures to the council and had support for more. Additionally, tensions were increased when a massacre occurred in Mommila, in which an independent Bolshevik detachment of Russian soldiers stormed a Finnish mansion murdering Finnish businessman [[Alfred Kordelin]]. Future president [[Risto Ryti]] and his wife [[Gerda Ryti|Gerda]] escaped the events at Mommila by mere minutes, fleeing to a nearby forest.
The White Guards started mobilizing following the attack and declared their support for Svinhufvud's Senate.
By mid-January, the country had plunged to chaos. General-Lieutenant Carl Mannerheim had arrived from discharge from Odessa to Petrograd to Vaasa to organize a Finnish army. In mid-January the Svinhufvud Senate declared the White guard to be the legal and official army of the Finnish state. Several members of parliament loyal to the republic and Svinhufvud senate departed to Vaasa, where the White Army's headquarters were to be located. Additionally, the money printing machines of the Bank of Finland were evacuated to Vaasa to continue the production of currency for the Finnish state.
By January 27, 1918, the Red Guards lit the flames atop the [[Paasitorni|Helsinki Workers' House]] signifying the revolution had begun. The White Army organized in Vaasa managed to disarm thousands of Russian soldiers (with Bolshevik sympathies) in Seinäjoki and Vaasa on January 26 and 27. By February, the Finnish Jägers from Germany had returned to Finland and arrived in Vaasa. By February–March 1918, Reds were in a tough state, as German negotiators (with active contacts by the White Finnish government) during the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty negotiations essentially forced the Bolsheviks to give up rights to Finland, stop supporting the Reds and completely disarm the rest of the Russian soldiers stationed in Finnish land still controlled by the Reds.
In March–April, German forces landed in Hanko, Åland and East Uusimaa region and with a three-pronged attack from the West, North and East, captured Helsinki with Finnish troops. The war essentially ended by May 15, 1918, and the Whites held a [[Valkoisten Voitonparaati|victory parade]] in [[Helsinki]] on May 16.
===Western Europe===
{{Main|German Revolution of 1918–1919|Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)|Biennio Rosso}}
[[File:Berlin.revolution1918.statue.jpg|thumb|Statue of a revolutionary soldier; memorial to the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution]] in [[Berlin]]]]
The [[Leninism|Leninist]] victories also inspired a surge in revolutionary action to achieve [[world communism]]: the larger [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution]] and its offspring, like the [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]], the neighbouring [[revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)|Hungarian Revolution]] and the [[Biennio Rosso]] in Italy in addition to various smaller uprisings, protests and strikes, all of which proved abortive.
The German Revolution however proved decisive in abdication of the [[German Emperor|German Kaiser]], as well the end of the [[German Empire]] and as such came to shape the political future of Europe.<ref name=":0"/> It also helped convince lawmakers in the U.K. to start lifting the crippling embargo on the country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Douglas|url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203148.001.0001/acprof-9780198203148|title=British Policy and the Weimar Republic, 1918–1919|chapter=In Fear of a Second German Revolution, December 1918-March 1919 |date=1997-07-24|pages=318–373 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-820314-8|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203148.003.0007}}</ref>
The Bolsheviks sought to coordinate this new wave of revolution in the Soviet-led [[Communist International|Comintern]], and new [[Communist party|communist parties]] separated from their former socialist organisations and the older moderate [[Second International]]. Lenin saw the success of the potential German revolution as being able to end the economic isolation of the newly formed Soviet Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=White|first=James D.|date=1994|title=National Communism and World Revolution: The Political Consequences of German Military Withdrawal from the Baltic Area in 1918–19|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/152767|journal=Europe-Asia Studies|volume=46|issue=8|pages=1349–1369|doi=10.1080/09668139408412233|jstor=152767|issn=0966-8136}}</ref> Despite ambitions for world revolution, supporters of [[Socialism in one country]] led by [[Joseph Stalin]] came to power in the soviet state, instituted [[bolshevization]] of the [[Communist International|Comintern]], and abolished it in 1943.<ref>Kevin and Jeremy Agnew, ''The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin'' (Macmillan, 1996).</ref>
After the [[World War II|Second World War]], the [[Red Army]] occupied most of [[Eastern Europe]], and communists came to power in the [[Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states (1944)|Baltic states]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[East Germany]].<ref>Robert Service, ''Comrades!: A History of World Communism'' (2010).</ref>
===Italy===
The aftermath of the First World War in Italy resulted in great levels of unemployment and an economic crisis. For example, by the end of 1920, the Italian lira was worth only one-quarter of its 1914 value and in the first half of 1921, the cost of living for an average working-class family was 560% higher than it had been in 1914.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ledeen |first= Michael|title= The First Duce: D'Annunzio at Fiume |date= 1977|publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press |page= 40 |isbn= 0-8018-1860-5}}</ref> These factors helped cause the [[Biennio Rosso]] (or the Two Red Years) which was a period of intense social conflict between Communist revolutionaries and the Italian Kingdom. The rise in working class support for Socialism in this period was rapid and very significant as the Italian Socialist Party increased its membership to 250,000, the major Socialist trade union "The General Confederation of Labour", reached two million members, while the anarchist Italian Syndicalist Union saw up to 500,000 affiliates join.
This period of revolutionary activity was characterised by the creation of factory councils under the control of Communist revolutionaries and Anarcho-Syndicalists.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWhiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 | title=Warfare and Welfare: Military Conflict and Welfare State Development in Western Countries | isbn=978-0-19-108509-3 | last1=Obinger | first1=Herbert | last2=Petersen | first2=Klaus | last3=Starke | first3=Peter | date=21 June 2018 | publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>  Class conflict also emerged in the countryside, with strikes and clashes across the Northern [[Po Valley]].
Despite the rising support for revolution in Italy, the revolutionaries were not able to capitalise on the growth of their movement, which resulted in a desire for social change slowly waning and paved the way for [[March on Rome]].
===Hungary===
After the First World War, [[Austria-Hungary]] was dissolved. Its replacement in Hungary was the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]], a socialist state established in March 1919. It was dissolved in early August following defeat in the [[Hungarian–Romanian War]].
==Non-communist revolutions==
{{Expand section|date=March 2022}}
===Ireland===
{{Main|Irish War of Independence}}
In Ireland, then part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], the [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] [[Easter Rising]] of 1916 anticipated the [[Irish War of Independence]] (1919–1921) within the same historical period as this first wave of [[communist revolution]]. The [[Irish republicanism|Irish republican]] movement of the time was predominantly a nationalist and [[Populism|populist]] form of [[Classical radicalism|radical-republicanism]], and although it had left-wing positions and included socialists and communists, it was not communist. The Irish and Soviet Russian Republics, nevertheless, found common ground in their opposition to the [[British Empire]] and established a trading relationship. However, the British historian [[E. H. Carr]] later commented that "the negotiations were not taken very seriously on either side".<ref>Carr, EH The Bolshevik Revolution 1917–23, vol 3 Penguin Books, London, 4th reprint (1983), pp. 257–258.</ref> Both the [[Irish Republic]] and the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] were [[pariah state]]s that were excluded from the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]]. The resulting [[Irish Free State]] was founded in 1922.
===Greece===
The clash between radical republicanism and conservative monarchism was also at the heart of political conflict in [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]. In the years leading up to the war, Greece had participated in [[Balkan Wars]] against neighbouring states on nationalist and irredentist grounds. The Great War, by bringing Greece into the victorious side against its old rival, [[Ottoman Empire]], had brought to a head existing tensions between two loose camps of Greek political elites that is known as the [[National Schism]]. On the left, the [[Venizelism|Venizelists]], led by [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], was [[radicalism (historical)|liberal]], [[republicanism|republican]], progressive and nationalist; favoured France and Britain in foreign policy and sought profound democratising reforms influenced by the [[Radical Party (France)|Radicals]] of the [[Third French Republic]] and by British Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]]. On the right, the monarchists were conservative, clerical and traditionalist; favoured Germany in foreign policy, and supported a powerful political role for the king. Between 1919 and 1922, Greece pursued [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|war with Turkey]] to take advantage of the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]] and acquire territory inhabited by ethnic [[Greeks]]. Greece's disaster at the [[Battle of Dumlupınar]] prompted the discrediting of its conservative and monarchist establishment: the army mutinies and popular uprisings in 1922 led to initially a military coup by republican army officers, followed by the forced abdication of King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]] in 1923 and the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the [[Second Hellenic Republic]] in 1924. That period of instability carried on for the rest of the interwar period, with General Pangalos installed as dictator in the military coup of 1925, a return to democracy under Venizelos in 1928 and the restoration of the monarchy by a [[1935 Greek coup d'état attempt|military coup]] in 1935.
===Spain===
{{Main|Spanish crisis of 1917}}
Spain, despite its [[Spain during World War I|neutrality during the war]], was also affected by turmoil between radical [[Republicanism in Spain|republicanism]] and traditionalist [[Monarchy of Spain|monarchism]]. The [[Restoration (Spain)|Restoration Monarchy]] of 1874 was a parliamentary regime but a conservative one that underrepresented popular classes and gave the monarch a major political role. A democratising revolution was attempted in 1917 by an alliance of radical republicans, socialists and disaffected [[Spanish Armed Forces]] officers, but it soon failed. After the war, however, critics of the constitutional monarchy grew as the international climate proved favourable to republican or democratising institutional change, and the [[Restoration (Spain)|Restoration]] state proved unable to resolve a series of challenges brought on by the war, notably a postwar economic slump and renewed anti-imperial action in the colonies. Strike movements proliferated between 1919 and 1923, leading notably to an escalating paramilitary conflict between worker and employer movements in cities such as [[Barcelona]]. Meanwhile, Spain [[Rif War|went to war in 1920]] to maintain control over the last remnants of its [[Spanish Empire|colonial empire]], which culminated in a disastrous [[Battle of Annual|defeat at Annual]] in 1921, which discredited the constitutional monarchy. Repeated elections failed to produce working majorities in parliament for either establishment party, the [[Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)|Fused Liberal Party]] or the [[Conservative Party (Spain)|Liberal-Conservative Party]], to address the crises. In the face of widespread social unrest and institutional paralysis, General [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]] demanded power, and was appointed head of government with dictatorial powers by King [[Alfonso XIII]]. The revolutionary and democratising movements of 1916–22 were forestalled by the installation of a [[Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera|military dictatorship]] that would last until the [[Second Spanish Republic|Second Republic]] of 1931.
===Mexico===
{{Main|Mexican Revolution}}
The [[Mexican Revolution]] (1910–1920) degenerated into factional fighting among the rebels by 1915, as the more radical forces of [[Emiliano Zapata]] and [[Pancho Villa]] lost ground to the more conservative "Sonoran oligarchy" and its [[Constitutional Army]]. The [[Felicistas]], the last major group of counterrevolutionaries, abandoned their armed campaign in 1920, and the internecine power struggles abated for a time after revolutionary General [[Álvaro Obregón]] had bribed or slain his former allies and rivals alike, but the following decade witnessed the assassination of Obregon and several others, abortive [[coup d'état|military coup]] attempts and a massive traditionalist uprising, the [[Cristero War]], against the government's persecution of [[Catholic Church in Mexico|Roman Catholics]].
===Malta===
The [[Sette Giugno|Sette Giugno of 1919]] was a revolt characterised by a series of riots and protests by the Maltese population, initially as a reaction to the rise in the cost of living in the [[aftermath of World War I]] and the sacking of hundreds of workers from the dockyard. That coincided with popular demands for [[Self-governance|self-government]] that resulted in a National Assembly being formed in [[Valletta]] at the same time of the riots. That dramatically boosted the uprising, as many people headed to Valletta to show their support for the Assembly. The British forces fired into the crowd, killing four local men. The cost of living increased dramatically after the war. Imports were limited, and as food became scarce prices rose, which made the fortune of farmers and merchants with surpluses to trade.
===Egypt===
{{Main|Egyptian revolution of 1919}}
A countrywide revolution against the [[Sultanate of Egypt|British occupation of Egypt]] and [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan|Sudan]] was carried out by [[Egyptians]] and Sudanese from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of the revolutionary leader [[Saad Zaghloul]] and other members of the [[Wafd Party]] in 1919. The revolution was countered, but nevertheless led to Britain initiating the [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Milner Mission]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/currenthistory/article-abstract/11_Part-2/3/489/190657/Egypt-and-the-Milner-MissionDemands-of-the?redirectedFrom=PDF|title=Egypt and the Milner Mission|publisher=University of California Current History (1920) 11_Part-2 (3)|date=March 1, 1920|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/100-years-ago-egypt-is-declared-to-be-an-independent-sovereign-state/|title=100 years ago: 'Egypt is declared to be an independent sovereign State'|first=Dr. Juliette|last=Desplat|publisher=U.K. National Archive|date=17 March 2022|accessdate=2 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/after-the-first-world-war-the-1919-egyptian-revolution|title=After the First World War: the 1919 Egyptian Revolution|first=John|last=Slight|publisher=[[Open University]]|date=18 January 2019|accessdate=2 June 2024}}</ref> This in turn led to Britain's [[Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence|recognition of Egyptian independence]] in 1922 and the implementation of a new [[Egyptian Constitution of 1923|constitution in 1923]]. Britain, however, maintained great influence over the newly created [[Kingdom of Egypt]]. Britain retained control of the [[Suez Canal|Canal Zone]] and [[Sudan]]. King [[Fuad I of Egypt|Fuad]] died in 1936, and [[Farouk of Egypt|Farouk]] inherited the throne at only 16. Alarmed by the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]] during which [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] invaded [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]], he signed the [[Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936|Anglo-Egyptian Treaty]], which required Britain to withdraw all troops from Egypt by 1949 except at the Suez Canal. During World War II, [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops [[Egypt in World War II|used Egypt]] as a major base for its operations throughout the region. The [[British Armed Forces]] were withdrawn to the Suez Canal area in 1947, but nationalist anti-British sentiment continued to grow after the war.<ref>P.J. Vatikiotis, ''The History of Modern Egypt'' (4th ed., 1992).</ref>
===Iraq===
{{Main|Iraqi Revolt}}
The Iraqi Revolt began in [[Baghdad]] in the summer of 1920 with mass demonstrations by [[Iraqi people|Iraqis]], including protests by embittered officers from the old [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman Army]], against the British who published the new land ownership and the burial taxes at Najaf. The revolt gained momentum when it spread to the largely tribal [[Shia Islam|Shia]] regions of the middle and lower [[Euphrates]]. Sheikh [[Mehdi Al-Khalissi]] was a prominent Shia leader of the revolt. Using heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, the uprising was suppressed by the British.
[[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and Shia religious communities cooperated during the revolution as well as tribal communities, the urban masses, and many Iraqi officers in [[Syria]]. The objectives of the revolution were independence from British rule and the creation of an Arab government. The revolt achieved some initial success, but by the end of October 1920, the British had suppressed the revolt, although elements of it dragged on until 1922. Although the British won militarily, the Iraqis achieved a political victory. Greater autonomy was given to Iraq, with [[Faisal I of Iraq]] installed as [[King of Iraq]]. Also, the [[British Mandate for Mesopotamia]] was cancelled.
===Turkey===
{{Main|Turkish War of Independence}}
Following the surrender of the Ottoman Empire in the [[Armistice of Mudros]] and the subsequent [[Treaty of Sèvres]], resistance to both the Ottoman Sultanate and foreign occupying forces ramped up through the formation of the [[Kuva-yi Milliye]], irregular militias that fought against the French in what became the Southern Front of the war. Following the occupation of Izmir by Greek forces, the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly]] (GNA) was formed as a counter-government led by [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]]. The GNA continued to fight against occupying forces, especially the Greeks who marched further into Anatolia, but halted their advance at the [[Battle of the Sakarya]]. This was followed by the start of the [[Great Offensive]] which pushed the invading Greek forces out of Anatolia.
The aftermath of the war of independence saw the [[abolition of the Ottoman sultanate]], ending 623 years of Ottoman rule and the sovereignty of the Grand National Assembly over Turkey. On October 29, 1923, a Republic was declared in Turkey with Atatürk as its president, who introduced [[Atatürk's reforms]]. These were a series of reforms and policies that completely overhauled Turkish society, economy, and government.
==List of conflicts==
[[File:Europe in 1923.jpg|thumb|600px|Map of Europe in 1923, after the revolutions.]]
===Communist revolutions that started 1917–1924===
* [[Russian Revolution]] (1917)
** [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]]
** [[Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] (1918)
** [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (1919)
** [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia]]
** [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1919)]]
** [[Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic]]
** [[Commune of the Working People of Estonia]]
** [[Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic]]
* In Spain:
** [[Spanish crisis of 1917|Revolution of 1917]]
** '[[Bolshevik triennium|Red Triennium' of 1918–1921]]
* [[Jungle Movement of Gilan]] (1915/17–1920)
** [[Persian Socialist Soviet Republic]] (1920–1921)
* [[Austro-Hungarian strike of January 1918]] (1918)
* [[Makhnovshchina]] (1918)
* [[Aster Revolution]] (1918)
* [[Red Week (Netherlands)]] (1918)
* [[Finnish Civil War]] (1918)
* [[Darwin rebellion]] (1918)
* [[1918 Swiss general strike|Swiss general strike]] (1918)
* [[Political violence in Germany (1918–1933)]]
** [[German strike of January 1918]] (1918)
** [[German Revolution of 1918–19|German Revolution]] (1918–1919)
*** [[People's State of Bavaria]] (1918–1919)
*** [[Bremen Soviet Republic]] (1919)
*** [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] (1919)
*** [[Würzburg Soviet Republic]] (1919)
** [[Ruhr uprising]] (1920)
** [[March Action]] (1921)
** [[Hamburg Uprising]] (1923)
** [[German October]] (1923)
* [[Brussels Soldiers' Council]] (1918)
* [[Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)]]
** [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]]
** [[Slovak Soviet Republic]] (1919)
* [[Fascist and anti-Fascist violence in Italy (1919–1926)]]
** [[Biennio Rosso]] (1919–20)
** [[Labin Republic]] (1921)
** [[Proština rebellion]] (1921)
* [[Tragic Week (Argentina)|Tragic Week]] (1919)
* [[Limerick Soviet]] (1919)
* [[Canadian Labour Revolt]] (1919)<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/2600|title=1919: The Canadian Labour Revolt|last=Kealey|first=Gregory|date=1984|journal=Labour / Le Travail|volume=13|pages=11–44|doi=10.2307/25140399|jstor=25140399|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407091523/http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/2600|archive-date=April 7, 2016}}</ref>
* [[1920 Georgian coup attempt|Georgian coup attempt]] (1920)
* [[Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee]] (1920)
* [[Patagonia Rebelde]] (1920–1922)
* [[Mongolian Revolution of 1921]]
* [[Rand Rebellion]] (1921–22)
* [[September Uprising]] (Bulgaria) (1923)
* [[Tatarbunary Uprising]] (1924)
* [[1924 Estonian coup d'état attempt|Estonian coup d'état attempt]] ("Tallinn Uprising") (1924)
* [[Luxembourg rebellions]] (1918–1919)
===Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks===
* [[Left SR uprising]] (1918)
* [[Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks]] (1918–1922)
* [[Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict]] (1920–1921)
* [[Tambov Rebellion]] (1920–1921)
* [[Kronstadt rebellion|Kronstadt Rebellion]] (1921)
* [[August Uprising]] (Georgia) (1924)
===Counter-revolutions against USSR that started 1917–1921===
* [[White movement]] (1917–1923)
* [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (1917–1921)
* [[Ukrainian State]] (1918)
* [[Belarusian Democratic Republic]] (1918–1919)
* [[Kuban People's Republic]] (1918–1920)
* [[Almighty Don Host]] (1918–1920)
* [[Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus]] (1917–1920)
* [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] (1918–1921)
* [[First Republic of Armenia]] (1918–1920)
* [[Republic of Mountainous Armenia|Mountain Republic of Armenia]] (1921)
* [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]] (1918–1920)
* [[Republic of Prekmurje]] (1919)
* [[1923 Bulgarian coup d'état|Bulgarian coup d'état]] (1923)
* [[1923 Spanish coup d'état|Military Coup of 1923]] (Spain)
===Soviet counter-counter-revolutions that started 1918–1919===
* [[Russian Civil War]] (1917–1923)
* [[Red Terror]] (1918)
* [[Polish–Soviet War]] (1919–1921)
===Other===
* [[Champaran Satyagraha]] (1917)
* [[1917–1919 Brazil strike movement|Brazilian strike movement]] (1917–1919)
** [[1918 Rio de Janeiro anarchist insurrection|Rio de Janeiro anarchist insurrection]] (1918)
* [[Rice riots of 1918]] (1918)
* In Poland:
** [[Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)]]
** [[Komańcza Republic]] (1918-1919)
** [[Lemko Republic]] (1918-1920)
** [[Republic of Gniew]] (1919-1920)
** [[Republic of Ostrów]] (1918)
** [[Republic of Tarnobrzeg]] (1918-1919)
** [[Republic of Zakopane]] (1918)
** [[Sejny Uprising]] (1919)
** [[Silesian Uprisings]] (1919–1921)
* [[Turkish War of Independence]] (1919–1923)
** [[Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence]] (1919–1923)
* [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] (1919)
* [[Irish War of Independence]] (1919–1921)
* [[Iraqi Revolt]] (1920)
* [[Kapp Putsch]] (1920)
* [[Uprising in West Hungary]] (1921)
* [[Bondelswarts Rebellion]] (1922)
* [[Irish Civil War]] (1922–1923)
* [[Beer Hall Putsch]] (1923)
==See also==
{{Portal|Anarchism|Communism|Socialism|Organized Labour}}
* [[Aftermath of World War I]]
* [[Diplomatic history of World War I]]
* [[International relations (1814–1919)]]
* [[International relations (1919–1939)]]
* [[Political history of the world]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Gerwarth, Robert. "The central European counter-revolution: Paramilitary violence in Germany, Austria and Hungary after the great war." ''Past & Present'' 200.1 (2008): 175–209. [https://ceulearning.ceu.edu/pluginfile.php/397243/mod_resource/content/0/Gerwarth%20PastPresent%202008%20copy.pdf online]
==External links==
* [http://maps.omniatlas.com/europe/19190409/ Maps of Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316070309/http://maps.omniatlas.com/europe/19190409/ |date=2015-03-16 }} showing the Revolutions of 1917–23 at omniatlas.com
{{Revwave}}
{{Revolutions of 1917–1923}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolutions of 1917-23}}
[[Category:Revolutions of 1917–1923| ]]
[[Category:Global politics]]
[[Category:Anarchism in Europe]]
[[Category:History of socialism]]
[[Category:1910s conflicts]]
[[Category:1920s conflicts]]
[[Category:20th-century revolutions]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialism]]
[[Category:Anti-fascism]]
[[Category:Anti-capitalism]]
[[Category:Communist revolutions]]
[[Category:Anarchist uprisings]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Left-wing politics]]
[[Category:History of liberalism]]
[[Category:Labour movement]]
[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Internationalism]]
[[Category:Peasant revolts]]
[[Category:Rebellions against empires]]
[[Category:Revolutionary waves|1917–23]]
[[Category:Subsidiary conflicts of World War I]]