We explain the difference between civil war and revolution with table. Every human being is born with basic rights such as the right to freedom and freedom of expression, but sometimes people are suppressed and their basic rights are taken away from them. Then people start to show their true colors, and this can sometimes lead to civil wars, fights between two groups, or when the government passes laws or activities that are not attractive to the people, then people unite to go against it. united government leading to a series of revolutions that mark the history of changes.
Both terms, Civil War and Revolution, are sometimes used interchangeably, but there is a big difference.
The difference between revolution and civil war is that the Civil War is generally fought between two different ethnic and social groups, both with different ideologies. For example, the American Civil War was fought between slave and non-slave groups. Revolutions are fought between the people and the government when some acts or laws that govern them are found obstructing and taking some basic rights, giving rise to protests, civil wars are fought with violence that leads to bloodshed, but the revolution generally it is fought without violence.
Comparison Table Between Civil War and Revolution
| Difference parameters | Civil war | Revolution |
| Definition | A war fought between two different ethnic groups within the same country. | Protest against the government by people who oppose any law or act. |
| Length | No specified length can exceed for decades | It stops in a year as the government has to take action to maintain the economy. |
| Violence | Violence and the use of weapons are involved | Violence is generally not involved |
| Parties involved | Different partner groups | Mobilization of citizens of the country against the government |
| Outcome | It brings a drastic change in the political economic system of the country. | It brings a drastic change in the status quo of the country and the people get their rights. |
What is the Civil War?
The Civil War is also known as intrastate war by the other names. It is a war that is fought between different social, ethnic or religious groups with different opinions to achieve a particular goal.
Civil war is not a very defined term in history books. Still, one of the possible definitions that James Fearon gave is Civil War is a violent conflict within a country that is generally fought between organized groups such groups in a change of existing government policy law or whatever law they may feel like. opposites.
The intensity of any Civil War between countries is calculated by the type of damage caused to the economy or to the country itself and to whom the rights were ultimately assigned.
The Civil War causes many disturbances in the system in the functioning of any country, as it leads to bloodshed, violence and the death of thousands and thousands of people.
There are many possible explanations and reasons why a Civil War takes place. The highly evaluated reasons are the greed that is individual who seeks to maximize profits. The grievance is an unstable social and political balance. And the opportunities are social inequality and the functioning of poverty.
The ultimate goal of achieving a Civil War is different for every ethnic group that has ever fought, for example, the American Civil War that was fought between slave and non-slave groups to abolish slavery.
Civil War begins with the spark when two groups with differences meet. That ultimately leads to the spark growing and leading to a politically unstable equilibrium, a downturn in the economy, bloodshed, violence and even death.
What is a revolution?
Revolution has always been a very complicated term and it has never been explained very well, but one of the most different definitions of Revolution is.
This difficult to define term was very well explained by Aristotle, who was a Greek philosopher.
He defined Revolution as the fundamental change in the state organization that occurs in a short period. And the revolt of the population against the authority or the government, according to him, a political revolution could lead to the modification of the existing constitution or could completely change the political system that has governed the country for decades. Its results include important changes in the cultural economy: sociopolitical standards.
A revolution can begin with violence or non-violence, but revolutions in general had no violence in history. The Revolution is formed between the citizens in general of the country and the government, forming laws or particular acts.
The revolution generally exists within a year and does not go beyond that. The Revolution presents the two possibilities for the government to change the laws, acts or, sometimes, even repeal the constitution due to the type of violence that began to occur in the country or that the government wins with the opposition with many factors such as the use of the military. Revolutions in a dictatorship are widespread because a dictator always acts against the will of the people. Democracies that exist in the past or present have seen very few revolutions occur.
History has seen many revolutions like the war of the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the European Revolution, the Russian Revolution, etc.
Main differences between the civil war and the revolution
- The Civil War was fought between two religious or partner groups, while the Revolution took place between citizens of a country who opposed any law or act approved by the government.
- The Civil War always turned out to be violent and included weapons that led to bloodshed and millions of deaths, while the Revolution was considered non-violent. For example, the satyagraha led by Mahatama Gandhi opposing the laws established by the British government.
- The Civil War always ended with the victory of one of the groups, but that victory also resulted in political instability, bloodshed and violence, while the Revolution was won by the citizens and the laws and acts, in some cases, were taken dissolving the constitution or winning the government. and laws in power
- Civil wars sometimes even last for decades, while revolutions lasted a year to maintain political stability.
Final Thought
From the foregoing it is clear that the Civil War and the Revolution were fought for the same reason that the rulers or the majority groups should not bother.
But the results were always different. The Civil War led to bloodshed, violence and political instability, while a Revolution led to the imposition of new acts or laws and, in cases where the constitution was changed, the Civil War was fought between two different religious or social groups and there was violence while the revolution begins with the change of rules and acts of the government, no violence developed.
History has shown perfect examples of what happens when people are repressed and lead to a series of wars.
