Which set of revolutionaries do you have the most respect for?

[ZoboZeWarrior]

Originally posted by MrFun
Right -- it was the slaves' fault that those Frenchie bastards would not give up the island peacefully.

But seriously, you are right -- the Hatian Revolution was one of the more violent revolutions in the Western Hemisphere.
But still it was successful -- and can you really call it genocide?
Are you certain there were no French civilians who were allowed to remain on the island under the new government?

Successfull ? Not a long term. Most of our "out-_of-sea territories" (old settlement) are far more wealthier than Hatia.

[axi]

I forgot to list a few of the revolutionaries I respect:

The Founding Fathers of the US
Adam Smith
Einstein
Darwin

Gandhi
Curizon Aquino
Solidarity
Martin Luther
Simon Bolivar
Ataturk
The Chinese students in 1989--esp. the kid who stood in front of the line of tanks.

You see DaShi.... This is the sort of list that smells fishy to me. The people on those lists have one common element: they are acceptable by the US "system of values". Regarding how much revolutionary they were, see Ataturk side by side with Martin Luther King.

My case rests.

[Az]

But I think you'll agree with me that he wasn't a bad guy , axi.

[axi]

Who Ataturk? He commited genocide for crying out loud!

[MrFun]

Jesus Christ is definitely another revolutionary I respect.


Among the American founding fathers I have most respect for, are George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine.

[axi]

See what I said?

And what have they that makes them so respectable that Marat or Gambetta or Jose Marti or Simon Bolivar or Subcommandante Marcos or Abdullah Ocalan do not have?

[MrFun]

Originally posted by axi
See what I said?

And what have they that makes them so respectable that Marat or Gambetta or Jose Marti or Simon Bolivar or Subcommandante Marcos or Abdullah Ocalan do not have?

I'm proud of my own country's heritage -- so sue me.

Now buzz off.

[Dr. Nick]

Cromwell did a lot in England... he presented to the world the first 'Constitutional' in the best style of the French third Republic, 300 years earlier and probably laid the foundations for legislative democracy.

After death, that is.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

Adam Smith
Einstein
Darwin

Einstein was was a socialist. The other two, however, laid the theoretical foundations for Marxism. Glad to see you're coming of to the light side of the force.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
esp. the kid who stood in front of the line of tanks.

That wasn't a kid. He was a worker.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by ZoboZeWarrior
Our "Revolution" ended when Napoleon self-proclamed Emperor of France.

No it didn't, it changed. Napoleon carried forward the revolution to every place he conquered, by displacing the ancien regime and replacing it with a new bourgeois one. The French revolution ended at Waterloo.

[Boris Godunov]

Axi, you're a chump. There's no logical connection that listing some great American revolutionaries somehow denegrates revolutionaries in other countries. The thread is about ones people personally admire, not which ones are the best at exclusion of all others. Take a chill pill and stop trolling.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Einstein was was a socialist. The other two, however, laid the theoretical foundations for Marxism.

No one is perfect.

[axi]

Well i mush have assumed that one has no point mentioning his countries revolutionaries. If I did that, I could give you a huge list of names from the 1821 revolution and from other instances - people who did admirable stuff and who died as martyrs. There is no point in doing that however; since we are in an international forum, it is good from time to time to express ourselves about things outside the confines of each one's little country.

Btw, I am curious, how many of you know about Ypsilantis, Kolokotronis, Papaflessas, Karaiskakis, Androutsos, Athanasios Diakos, Nikitaras, Miaoulis, Bouboulina, Kanaris, etc?

[Stefu]

If I did that, I could give you a huge list of names from the 1821 revolution and from other instances - people who did admirable stuff and who died as martyrs. There is no point in doing that however; since we are in an international forum, it is good from time to time to express ourselves about things outside the confines of each one's little country.

Another point is that while even most non-Americans know about Jefferson, Washington et al, and their actions not only changed history measurably but also arguably brought around modern democracy and certainly helped in fall of aristocracy, while Greek revolutionaries aren't known anywhere outside Greece and their effects to world history were negligible.

And America, unlike Greece (or Finland) isn't a little country. It's the most influential country in the world and has 250 million people.

I, for instance, don't know a thing about Greek revolution of 1821, apart from it being by Greeks and presumably being against Turkey - I don't even know if it was succesful. I know, however, a bit more about American revolution, and it certainly was a good revolution - it was a last resort, as Americans couldn't influence the taxes Brits put on them, and it is one of the rare cases (perhaps only case?) where armed revolution has led to a democratic government.