Revolution
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Revolution. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a fundamental change in government, or in the political constitution of a country, effected suddenly and violently, and mainly brought about by internal causes; a revolt against the constituted authority successfully and completely accomplished. In most revolutions there are three turns of the wheel. First there is a moderate movement forward, then, after a time, a second forward movement. The extreme party who now come into power create a reaction against the revolution, and the wheel moves backward. In the great French Revolution first there were the Girondists, then the Jacobins, then the reaction to monarchy under the first Napoleon, and in due time again to the Bourbons. In the United States the term Revolution is applied specifically to the American War for Independence, which began in 1775 with the irregular running fight popularly known as the battle of Lexington, and practically ended with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Va., to the combined forces of the French and Americans, in the year 1781. The English Revolution was that revolution in England by which James II. was driven from the throne in 1688. The Russian Revolution was that of 1917 which led to the triumph of the Bolsheviki over the moderates, and the development of Soviet power. The German Revolution was that of 1918, by which the German Emperor and the kings and other reigning princes of the various sovereign German states were driven from their thrones. In astronomy: (1) The motion of a planet around the sun, or of a satellite around a planet. The point to which it returns is called annual, anomalistic, nodical, sidereal, or tropical, according as it has a relation to the year, the anomaly, the nodes, the stars, or the tropics. (2) See ROTATION. In geometry, when one line moves about a straight line, called the axis, in such a manner that every point of the moving ng line generates a circumference of a circle, whose plane is perpendicular to the axis, that motion is called revolution, and the surface is called the surface of revolution. Every plane through the axis is called a meridian plane, and the section which this plane cuts from the surface is called a meridian curve. Every surface of revolution can be generated by revolving one of its meridian curves about the axis. The revolution of an ellipse round its axis generates an ellipsoid; the revolution of a semicircle round the diameter generates a sphere; such solids are called solids of revolution.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a radical change in government or in social affairs. An unsuccessful military uprising is termed usually a rebellion. A successful attempt to overturn the government is a revolution. The English Revolution of 1688 was a comparatively bloodless affair. It resulted in the driving of James II , the last of the Stuarts, from the English throne, and the coronation of William and Mary. The American Revolution is called also the War of American Independence. Hostilities began with the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, and closed with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, October 19, 1781. A peace guaranteeing the independence of the American colonies was concluded with Great Britain in 1783. The French Revolution , the last of the three great revolutions of modern history, may be said to have begun with the convocation of the States-General in 1789. It resulted in the downfall of French feudalism, the practical destruction of the French monarchy, the substitution of the Empire of Napoleon for that of Louis XVI , and the ultimate establishment of the French republic. All three revolutions resulted in distinct gains for the cause of popular government. The change from the domestic to the factory system of manufacturing is known in Great Britain as the Industrial Revolution . See French Revolution