Scottish Covenanter Party

We are inclined to of revolutions as being historical events that disrupt the order of the world, eras that rewrite the history of their times and transform the cultures of the places. And of course the great revolutions of the world do indeed do all of these things. But simply because the historical effect of revolutions is such a radical transformation of the world, we should not therefore be lured into seeing revolutions as arising from disjunctures in the social fabric. Revolutions are not like a meteor crashing into the body politic and changing the way in which things are done in an abrupt and external fashion. The English Civil War, like other revolutionary battles, was fought along long-standing cultural, economic and religious faultlines.

Rather, revolutions are like earthquakes: While they may seem to come out of nowhere and while they certainly shake the world, they arise...
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