historyrepeatingitself-blog1

[historyrepeatingitself-blog1]

Between February and June the euphoria of the early days of revolution had vanished, and in its place appeared antagonisms largely based on class mistrust. The middle class saw the revolts as their victories, but feared the outcome if lower classes, who had provided the muscle in the fight, were denied a share of the spoils. The nobility feared a loss of political power and economic privilege under middle-class governments that promoted voting rights. And the peasants in the countryside were afraid the middle class would tax them to raise funds to pacify hungry masses primed for revolt in the city. It turned out that toppling governments had been the easy part. Restoring order was proving extremely difficult -- in most places, impossibly so.

Love and Capital by Mary Gabriel, pp. 141-2 in paperback