A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ...

France

The word "counterrevolutionary" originally refers to thinkers who opposed themselves to the 1789 French Revolution, such as Joseph de Maistre or Louis de Bonald. Henceforth, it is used in France to qualify political movements that refuse the legacy of the 1789 Revolution, which historian René Rémond has referred to as légitimistes. Thus, monarchists supporters of the Ancien Régime following the French Revolution were counterrevolutionaries, and so were the monarchies that put down the various Revolutions of 1848. The royalist legitimist counterrevolutionary French movement survives to this day, albeit marginally. It was active during Vichy France, though, which has been considered by René Rémond not as a fascist regime but as a counterrevolutionary regime, whose motto was Travail, Famille, Patrie ("Work, Family, Fatherland"), which replaced the Republican motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Liberty Leading the People, a painting by Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 but which has come to be generally accepted as symbolic of French popular uprisings against the monarchy in general and the French Revolution in particular. ... Joseph de Maistre (portrait by Karl Vogel von Vogelstein, 1810) Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre (April 1, 1753- February 26, 1821) was a French-speaking Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher. ... Louis Gabriel Ambroise, vicomte de Bonald (October 2, 1754 - November 23, 1840), French philosopher and politician, was born at Le Monna, near Millau in Aveyron. ... René Rémond (born in 1918) is a French historian and political economist. ... Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy. ... Ancien Régime means Old Rule or Old Order in French; in English, the term refers primarily to the social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. ... Liberty Leading the People, a painting by Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 but which has come to be generally accepted as symbolic of French popular uprisings against the monarchy in general and the French Revolution in particular. ... It has been suggested that The Gathering Storm: Before the Revolutions of 1848 be merged into this article or section. ... Legitimists are those Royalists in France who believe that the King of France and Navarre must be chosen according to the simple application of the Salic Law. ... Presidential flag of Vichy France For other uses of Vichy, see Vichy (disambiguation). ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Republicanism is the idea of a nation being governed as a republic. ...

In France before World War I, people who "opposed democratic ideas, parliamentary government, trade-unions, or socialism" were often considered counterrevolutionary by their opponents. The White Army and its supporters who tried to defeat the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution, as well as the German Freikorps who crushed the German revolution of 1919, were also counterrevolutionaries. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First... White army may refer to: The military arm of the White movement, a loose coalition of anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian Civil War The Saudi Arabian National Guard The National Guard of Kuwait This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... Leaders of the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International, a painting by Malcolm McAllister on the Pathfinder Mural in New York City and on the cover of the book Lenin’s Final Fight published by Pathfinder. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution or November Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... This article describes the November 1918 revolution in Germany. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Americans counterrevolutionaries

More recently, the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion into Cuba was conducted by counterrevolutionaries who hoped to overthrow the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro. In the 1980s, the United States sponsored Contra-Revolución rebels fighting to overthrow the revolutionary Sandinista government in Nicaragua. In fact, the Contras received their name precisely because they were counterrevolutionaries. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Combatants Cuban militia Cuban exiles trained by the US Commanders Fidel Castro Grayston Lynch Pepe San Roman Erneido Oliva Strength 51,000 1,500 Casualties 2,200; estimated 115 dead 1,189 captured Cuban poster warning before invasion showing a soldier armed with an RPD machine gun. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) has been the head of Cuba since 1959, when he commanded the attack that overthrew Fulgencio Batista. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... The Contras (Spanish contrarrevolucionario, counter-revolutionary) were the armed opponents of Nicaraguas Sandinista National Liberation Front Government Junta of National Reconstruction following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle and the ending of the Somoza familys 43-year rule. ... Sandinista! is also the name of a popular music album by The Clash. ...

Some counterrevolutionaries are former revolutionaries who supported the initial overthrow of the previous regime, but came to differ with those who ultimately came to power after the revolution. For example, some of the Contras originally fought with the Sandinistas to overthrow Anastasio Somoza, and some of those who oppose Castro also opposed Batista. This article is in need of attention. ... Anastasio and Luis Somoza Debayle in 1959 Anastasio Somoza Debayle (December 5, 1925–September 17, 1980) was officially the forty-fourth and forty-fifth President of Nicaragua from May 1, 1967 to May 1, 1972 and from December 1, 1972 to July 17, 1979. ... Batista may refer to: Fulgencio Batista - Cuban dictator Miguel Batista - Dominican baseball player Norkys Batista - Venezuelan actress Dave Batista - professional wrestler This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

Far right uses of the word

The word is often used interchangeably with reactionary; however, some reactionaries (like the Nazis and Italian fascists) used the term counterrevolutionary to describe their opponents - even if those opponents were advocates of a Marxist revolution. Similarly, the clerics who took power following the Iranian Revolution would describe all those who opposed them as counterrevolutionary, even though some were Communists. The term, therefore, should be understood in a relative sense politically, rather than as an absolute concept. Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet typically applied to conservatism. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

See also

• revolutionary syndicalism
• Anti-Soviet agitation and Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)
• Recontra, the Contras who did not accept the new government after the ejection of revolutionary Sandinists.

Syndicalism refers to a set of ideas, movements and tendencies which share the avowed aim of transforming capitalist society through action by the working class on the industrial front. ... Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA) (Антисоветская агитация и пропаганда (АСА)) was a criminal offence in Soviet Union. ... Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on February 25, 1927 to arrest those suspected guilty of counter-revolutionary activities. ...

References

(1) Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France (1815-1870), Prof. J. Salwyn Schapiro, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., NY, l949. pg 364.