Revolution, Law And

One of the principal purposes of a system of law is to maintain peace and order in society and thereby to help prevent the kind of radical, violent, rapid change that is characteristic of great revolutions. Moreover, in [Page 1316]the Western legal tradition a major element has been the emphasis on the gradual evolution of law, that is, its incremental growth over generations and centuries. Yet it is precisely in the history of the West, in contrast to other cultures, that the gradual evolution of legal institutions has been interrupted periodically by radical, violent, rapid, revolutionary change. Indeed, every major Western nation traces its legal system back to a great revolution.

One can trace the modern use of the word revolution to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. However, the same word was applied earlier, to the American War of Independence of 1776 to 1783, as well as subsequently, to the Russian Revolutions of February and October 1917. The term also properly applies to the English Revolution of 1640 to 1689, which, however, was called a revolution (“the Glorious Revolution”) only at its conclusion. Likewise, it applies to the German Revolution of 1517 to 1555, which was called at the time the Lutheran Reformation, and to the Papal Revolution of 1075 to 1122, which was called at the time the Gregorian Reformation (after Pope Gregory VII). Each of these six great revolutions was fought violently not only for power but also for great ideas. Each required more than one generation to run its course. Each eventually produced new legal institutions that reflected some but not all of the major purposes of those who originally initiated it and each transformed the Western legal tradition but ultimately remained within it.