ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the way in which the idea of 'revolution' has emerged within Europe. Writing soon after the Russian Revolution, Elton recognized the crucial point that at the heart of the revolutionary idea is a revolutionary method. Understanding the revolutionary idea is central to understanding of Europe. The French Revolution is generally acknowledged not only as the defining moment of revolution in Europe, but also as one of the key watersheds in European history. French ideas and institutions were given a European dimension by the wars which lasted until Napoleon's defeat in 1815. Speck thus comments that 'In the seventeenth century the word "revolution" did not have the significance which it has acquired since 1789. Feudalism was never uniform in its expression across Europe; its collapse was likewise highly variable in pace and character. Revolutions have thus occurred against political authority associated with feudal, capitalist and communist economic systems.
