Can Revolutions Affect Economies?

Revolutions, forcible overthrows to enact change, are usually seen changing history, governments, or laws, but can they also affect economies? Well, there is a debate between individuals if revolutions lead to market growth, or if they lead to economic consequences. Today, we will be looking at how the French, American, and Chinese Communist Revolutions all affected their respective economies.

The French Revolution

The 1789 French Revolution can be seen as both beneficial and detrimental to France’s modern-day society. Some believe that the events during the French Revolution led to its current economy, legal system, and more freedom in industry and commerce. 

On the other hand, conservative individuals of this time gave light to the fact that France was mostly agricultural until around the start of World War I. They believed that the French Revolution was “anti-capitalist,” and that this is what led to France remaining in agriculture until over a century later.

The American Revolution

If we look at the consequences of the American Revolution, we can also see that it affected its economy. When the American Revolution ended, the Articles of Confederation were written, specifically in 1781. One of the biggest consequences was the ending of mercantilism, which was a form of nationalism where restrictions were put on trading to increase prosperity. The British had imposed many restrictions on trading and manufacturing, which were replaced with new markets when the revolution ended.

Even though the end of the American Revolution helped the economy, equality was not given to many individuals, like women or people of color. Since many of the Native Americans had sided with the British instead of the land-hogging Americans during the time, when the Americans won the war, the last of the Native Americans' independence was destroyed.

The Chinese Communist Revolution

20 years after the Chinese Communist Revolution, there was a myriad of social and economic transformations. The end of the revolution led to an extreme burst of economic growth and industrialization. Its population increased drastically, leading it to become the largest socialist state by population at the time. 

On the other hand, the Chinese Civil War (1926-1949) led to millions of casualties. The economy collapsed due to hyperinflation and corruption. Even though it recovered after the Chinese Communist Revolution ended, they still had a depleted and unstable economy and nation.

Growth and Change

From what we have seen, we can now determine that revolutions will most likely lead to an economy’s growth. Although it may not be seen entirely as beneficial, like with the French Revolution, helped equality, like shown with the American Revolution, or was entirely stable, like the Chinese Communist Revolution, they all forced change. The revolutions all took place to experience change, and that is what they received, bad or good. All of these countries today are wealthy, high-income nations, so maybe, just maybe, the revolutions in their countries were a part of that.