I guess we have different prototypical ideas of what a revolution is; my prototypes are the Russian revolutions of 1917. It is notable that the two revolutions had distinctly different characters. As I remember it: The February revolution was a true popular uprising - basically it was a bread riot that grew until it brought down the government. The October revolution was very different; the Bolsheviks had been a part of the emerging democracy, but the results of the elections tended to favour Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. This would not do for the Bolsheviks, who drew their sense of legitimacy not from popular support but from Marxist ideology, so they launched a second revolution to seize power. Early on in Bolshevik rule, the results of an election for the Constitutional Assembly were basically ignored - the Assembly was closed down after only one day. The revolution was followed by a long period of civil war.

I'm concious that I'm late for work...