Seeing as it is the last history class of the year, I figured it would be beneficial to reflect on what we've learned throughout the year. I wanted to try to determine the common threads between all revolutions, an eventually try to determine the answer to "What makes something a revolution?"
First of all, revolutions begin with a "spark" or idea, something that the people want to change. This is usually prompted by a core problem in the gorvernment. The people see the need for progress, and if they have enough conviction, they will stand up for their cause( freedom, liberty, equality, self-determination, democracy),even if it is a risk to their well being. Many revolutions occured due to conflicted opinions and beliefs within the country, usually and borrow previous ideas from previous revolutions; old ideas are recycled and are modernized to fit the time period.

For example, in the French Revolution, the revolutionaries saw the success of the American revolution, seeing how they were able to obtain autonomy from the oppressive british dictators. The ideals promoted in the French Revolution were still french, but were inspired by the american ambitions. Upon seeing the french revolt in 1848, europe was set ablaze with rebellion, sparking revolutions in Hungary, Romania, Poland and many others.

In more modern times with the onset of technology, ideas spread faster, adding fire to fuel a revolution. This is seen with the recent Tunisian Revolutions, which is said to have inspired the Egyptian Revolution that successfully toppled the government of Egypt. This can be considered a "revolutionary wave" effect.