Top 10 Formidable Revolutionaries Throughout History

Throughout history there were man and women who dared to challenge the status quo in order to change society under their own vision. These kinds of people who strive for socio-political change were called revolutionaries. Such ideas by them were considered to be "unorthodox" and thus were deemed to be threatening by the establishment. The establishment would do anything necessary to prevent them from achieving their goals in order to preserve the "old system". For better or worse.

And on the side note, by formidable I meant that these revolutionaries would go to such length to fight against the establishment often through violent means with such determination. Revolutionaries such as Gandhi or Mandela often resorted to peaceful means.
The Top Ten
1 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

He was surely an admirable man in any other way. First serving in the Ottoman military and led Turkish forces to victory in Gallipoli, he was a war hero in Turkey. After WWI, he and others resisted the Entente's attempt to carve up and weaken Turkey through armed warfare against foreign powers in multiple fronts in the Revolutionary War. After winning the war, he immediately proclaimed Turkey as a republic with an emphasis on secularism and Western modernity. He was known as Father of the Turks.

2 George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732– December 14, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional... read more

The American general who served as America's first president in 1789. Washington led the Continental Army against the British in the Revolutionary War and through his tactical wit he defeated the British in many battles. He devised the structure of the United States as a republican government under rule of law.

Fought the strongest nation on earth and formed a country that lasted, and which in turn became the strongest nation on earth.

3 Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara, commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist.

He was captured in 1967.

Guevara was tied up and taken to a dilapidated mud schoolhouse in the nearby village of La Higuera on the evening of 8 October. For the next half-day, he refused to be interrogated by Bolivian... read more

Who doesn't know Che Guevara? An Argentinian Marxist revolutionary whose world view was shaped by the poor living conditions of 20th Century South and Central America, he was noted for his work in assisting fellow like-minded revolutionaries such as in Cuba together with Fidel Castro and later the rest of the Americas. Only to be killed by Bolivian authorities afterwards in one of his operations. His name and image has become an iconic figure to counter-culture.

4 Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz (7 May 1892, Kumrovec – 4 May 1980, Ljubljana), commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles until his death in 1980. During World War II he was the leader of the Partisans, often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in occupied Europe.

A surely interesting entry into the list; he was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary who led Partisan forces against Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia throughout WWII. He was an excellent military commander and political leader whose resistance forces inflicted a lot of damage to Axis forces in the war. After the end of the war, he effectively became the dictator of the new socialist Yugoslav state only to hold the country together in which he made Yugoslavia one of the most powerful and prosperous countries in Europe. He also dared to challenge Stalin's hegemony in Yugoslavia and won. He is a popular example of a "benevolent dictator" by many.

The only commie that I like and even then he was more of Market Socialist with some Marxist views than an actual Communist(I'm a Social Democrat by the way).-DarkBoi-X

5 Emiliano Zapata

Mexican revolutionary who was the forefront of the peasant revolution in Mexico in the 1900s. He resisted against the landowning elite who were oppressing Mexico's peasantry with his guerrilla forces known as the Zapatistas. He came into conflict with the federal government and was killed in an ambush during the revolution.

6 Simon Bolivar

A Venezuelan military general and political leader who fought against the Spaniards in Venezuela and later liberated the rest of Latin America such as in Colombia, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama with his tactical prowess. Now glorified throughout Latin America as a liberator.

Viva La Gran Columbia!

7 Thomas Sankara

Known as the Che Guevara of Africa, Sankara launched a military coup against the corrupt old regime before him despite at a young age. He immediately became popular among the Burkinabe people for his social reforms that drastically improved the living standards of the impoverished Burkina Faso at the time. He was also known for his modesty and humility which made him stood out from most African leaders. Sankara even refused to have his portrait hanged as stated by him: "There's a million Thomas Sankara in Africa".

8 Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky was a Russian revolutionary, Marxist theorist, and Soviet politician whose particular strain of Marxist thought is known as Trotskyism.

Soviet revolutionary who led the Red Army to victory in numerous battles in the Russian Civil War and that ill-fated war with Poland. Was keen on spreading the communist revolution around the world. Only to be killed by Stalin in his Great Purge.

9 Toussaint L’Ouverture

Led one of the most daunting uprisings ever in the Caribbean, he and the Haitians stood up against their French colonial oppressors and established Haiti afterwards. The story of Haiti starts from there.

10 Giuseppe Garibaldi
The Contenders
11 Wat Tyler
12 Emma Goldman
13 Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.
14 Rosa Luxemburg
15 Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically... read more
16 Huey P. Newton
17 Nestor Makhno

An Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and military commander who established the Free Territory in Ukraine. He established the anarchist state under the ideals of anarcho-communism or Makhnovism and had his forces protect the peasantry. Unfortunately, the Free Territory was invaded by their own Bolshevik ally and he was exiled to Paris where he died there.

Personally, as an anarcho-syndicalist, I adore the Bat'ko very much but there are much more noteworthy figures other than him.

18 Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian dictator, and was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state.
19 Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship.
20 Spartacus Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who, along with the Gauls Crixus, Oenomaus, Castus and Gannicus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
21 William Wallace William Wallace was a freedom fighter and a Scottish Commander during the first Scottish wars of Independence. He defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297, and was was appointed Guardian of Scotland. He served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298... read more
22 Patrice Lumumba
23 Mikhail Bakunin
24 Malcolm X Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African... read more
25 Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and served as the 3rd President of the United States from 1801-1809. He was born on April 13, 1743, and died on July 4, 1826, on the same day 2nd United States President John Adams died.
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