Sample “9” Comparative Paper
Directions: Locate and label all parts of the rubric on this perfect paper!!!!
Compare and contrast the goals and outcomes of the revolutionary process in TWO of the following countries, beginning with the dates specified: Mexico (1910), China (1911), or Russia (1917).
Thesis addresses all aspects of the prompt.
Discusses both similarities and differences.
Provides global, historical context.
Makes at least two direct comparisons
Explains a reason for a similarity or difference.
Provides 5 specific pieces of evidence.
The early twentieth century saw revolutions in both Mexico and Russia. While both countries hoped revolutions would end in a government which supported the working class, the method of revolution and final government outcomes differed.
Both Mexico and Russia faced social unrest in the lower classes in the early 1900’s. The reason in both cases was government corruption, which largely meant unfair labor laws and a growing gap between the rich and poor. This led both countries to hope to gain more equality between classes as a result of the revolution. In the end, both countries succeeded in instating land redistribution policies to try to lessen the rich-poor gap. However, Russia’s new government was a more radical attempt at a classless society than Mexico’s. The reasons for this were that Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution loosely followed ideas of Marxism, which proposed a classless society and complete equality. On the other hand, Mexico’s revolution did not want to instate Marxism, only a more fair class-based society.
Russia’s revolution also differed in that Russia wanted to escape from World War I, whereas Mexico was not fighting any foreign powers at the time of its revolution. An explanation for this was Mexico’s natural geographic isolation from the war in Europe. Mexico’s revolution was also led by several people, such as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, while Russia’s Bolshevik revolution was consolidated under just Vladmir Lenin. The reason for this was Mexico’s political disunions; Zapata and Villa both opposed the corrupt president Porfirio Diaz, but their aims were not the same. Russia’s Bolshevik party under Lenin did not hold a majority but were not opposed by any other leaders as powerful as Lenin.
Despite the rise of the peasant class in both Russia and Mexico, final governmental outcomes were not the same, Mexico overthrew Diaz but went through a series of other leaders before finally settling down around 1920. However, although land, educational, and religious reforms took place, Mexico remained a republic governed by a president. Its corruption did not completely disappear either, as the PRI party in Mexico dominated politics through the twentieth century. However, Russia’s government underwent drastic change. Its former capitalistic global trade economy changed to a largely isolated Marxist economy. The reason Mexico did not change governmental forms while Russia did is that Mexico’s leaders recognized Diaz as the source of its problems, while Russian Bolsheviks saw capitalistic economies as the source of its problems rather than certain individuals.
While Russia and Mexico both managed to undergo successful revolutions based on improving conditions for the working class, twentieth century events later showed these two countries to be nothing alike in the aftermath of their respective revolutions.