Revolutions have been the means of providing some of the most significant political and social changes the world has ever seen. The communist revolutions in China and Russia changed the face of the world order and ushered in a period where nuclear arms races between the great powers could have brought the world to an end. Some revolutions have brought with them a period of profound social and political change. In both France (1789) and England (1688) the outcome of their revolutions was a more democratic regime through the removal of sovereignty from autocratic monarchs. The American revolution of 1775 meant an end to British colonial rule, now an independent America has become the greatest power on Earth. Revolutions cause historic change, but why do they occur? Why do some states experience revolutions when others do not? In this essay I will attempt to identify the circumstances in which revolution is...