How Russia, China, and Iran Transformed the World Order
Author: Sroush Mehernosh Nikzad
The twentieth century is often referred to by historians as the “age of revolutions”—a period during which several revolutionary transformations not only altered the structure of power within individual countries but also reshaped the balance of forces in global politics. The Russian Revolution of 1917, the Chinese Revolution of 1949, and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 stand out as three prominent examples of these processes. Although they occurred in different cultural and historical contexts, common patterns can be identified in their formation and consequences.
Comparative studies indicate that these revolutions were the result of deep political and social crises—crises to which existing states proved unable to respond. Academic research, including analytical studies published in Nature, emphasizes that twentieth-century revolutions most often occurred in societies undergoing rapid transitions toward modernization. Under such conditions, the gap between the state and society—particularly in the areas of the economy, social justice, and political participation—grew increasingly profound.
In Tsarist Russia, the pressures of the First World War, economic collapse, and widespread dissatisfaction among workers and soldiers severely undermined the legitimacy of the ruling authorities. In China, decades of civil war, foreign occupation, and the weakness of the central government created favorable conditions for the victory of the communists. In Iran, a combination of economic stagnation, political corruption, and severe political restrictions generated broad public opposition to the Pahlavi regime. In all three cases, the crisis of state legitimacy reached a point at which the existing power structure could no longer sustain itself.
Another shared feature of these revolutions was the role of mobilizing ideologies. In Russia and China, Marxism provided both a theoretical and organizational framework for revolutionary movements and successfully transformed social discontent into a coherent political project. In Iran, political Islam played a similar role and, for the first time in the twentieth century, became the foundation for the formation of a new political system. Scholars regard this distinction as one of the unique characteristics of the Iranian Revolution—a revolution that, unlike communist examples, was grounded in religion as its central ideological axis.
These revolutions also differed significantly from those of the nineteenth century in terms of social mobilization. According to historical analyses, twentieth-century revolutions were mass-based phenomena: millions of people from diverse social groups—workers, peasants, students, and clergy—participated directly in them. Alongside this broad mobilization, charismatic leaders played a crucial role—figures such as Lenin, Mao, and Ruhollah Khomeini—who were able to transform fragmented grievances into organized and goal-oriented movements.
The consequences of these revolutions extended far beyond national borders. The Russian Revolution, followed by the Chinese Revolution, led to the formation of the communist bloc and the onset of the Cold War—a bipolar world order that shaped international politics for decades. The Iranian Revolution also altered the balance of power in the Middle East and ushered regional political and ideological dynamics into a new phase. Moreover, many anti-colonial movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America drew inspiration from these revolutions, linking struggles for independence with revolutionary models.
Overall, the revolutions in Russia, China, and Iran demonstrate that, despite cultural and historical differences, a combination of state crisis, social discontent, powerful ideologies, and charismatic leadership can generate transformations that reshape not only the fate of individual countries but also the very structure of the global order. For this reason, scholars view the revolutions of the twentieth century not as local events, but as turning points in world history—transformations whose effects continue to be felt to this day.
