Spring (political terminology)

Political "spring" is a term popularized in the late twentieth century to refer to any of a number of student protests, revolutionary political movements or revolutionary waves. It originated in the European Revolutions of 1848, which was sometimes referred to as the "Spring of Nations" or "Springtime of the Peoples".

• Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1968
• Croatian Spring, a 1971 movement for Croatian language rights and cultural identity in the second Yugoslavia
• Beijing Spring, a period of political liberalization in the People's Republic of China in the late 1970s
• Seoul Spring, a period of democratization in South Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s
• Rangoon Spring, sometimes used to describe the period leading up to the August 8, 1988 "8888" Uprising
• Kathmandu Spring, sometimes used to describe the 1990 People's Movement in Nepal, as well as subsequent democratic movements.
• Tehran Spring, sometimes used to describe the period in Iran during the 1997–2005 presidency of Mohammad Khatami
• Damascus Spring, period in Syria following the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2001
• Cedar Spring was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon (especially in the capital Beirut) triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.
• Harare Spring, sometimes used to describe the period in Zimbabwe after the 2008 power sharing agreement between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai
• Arab Spring, another term for the Middle East—North Africa protest of 2010–2014
• Riyadh Spring, sometimes used to describe the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests.
• The 2012 Quebec student protests movement is also called the 'Maple' Spring, from the French "Printemps Érable" which sounds phonetically similar to "Printemps Arabe" (Arab Spring). "Printemps Québécois" for "Quebec Spring" is also used.
• The 2012 Valencia student protests, also called . In February 2012 the students of the Lluís Vives High school participated in several demonstrations to protest against the cutbacks in the educational budgets of the Valencian Autonomous Community. The police’s performance in those demonstrations was extremely controversial and appeared in many international media. This sparked the interest of Parents Associations and both Student and International organisations, such as Amnesty International and Save the Children. The documentary Spanish Teen Rally collect the testimony of Valencian Spring's students.
• Venezuelan Spring, sometimes used to describe the 2014 Venezuelan protests.
• Russian Spring, sometimes used to describe the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.
• Latin American spring, sometimes used to describe mass protest events that took place in Latin America between 2019 and 2022.
• The "Spring Thunder" is a term used to describe the Naxalbari uprisings in India during the 1960's.
• The Dalit Spring is a term used to describe a contemporary wave of anti-caste activism in India from 2002 to 2018.
• The Asian Spring is a term to describe the revolutions and protests through Asia during the 2020's.

References

1. Merriman, John, A History of Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the Present, 1996, p 715
2. (1998-08-14). "Special Report | 1998 | 08/98 | Burma | Waiting for democracy". BBC News.
3. (2002). "Other Gandhis- Aung San Suu Kyi-Lone Crusader". Gandhi.
4. (May 12, 2011). "The Anatomy of a Spring".
5. "Kathmandu Spring: The People's Movement of 1990". Himal Books.
6. Kunda Dixit. (2006-05-04). "Kathmandu Spring". [[The Times of India]].
7. (2001-01-11). "Shutting down the Tehran Spring". Salon.com.
8. Gardner, David. (2011-02-16). "Tehran Spring haunts guardians of revolution". FT.com.
9. (2011-05-17). ""Harare Spring" fizzles – #Zimbabwe News Daily at your fingertips –". Thezimbabwemail.com.
10. (2008-10-25). "Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Hope fades under Zimbabwe facade". BBC News.
11. "Wide Angle . The Saudi Question . Who's Who: The House of Saud". PBS.
12. "Spanish police clash violently with students: "I don't understand how the situation degenerated so fast"". Observers.
13. Giles Tremlett. (21 February 2012). "Valencia police and students clash over education cuts". the Guardian.
14. Ediciones El País. (22 February 2012). "Thousands take to Valencia streets in protest against police violence and education cuts". EL PAÍS.
15. Time Magazine. "Police beat students in riots in Valencia". Demotix.com.
16. (2012-06-10). "THE RIOTS IN VALENCIA. - Front Page - NYTimes.com". New York Times.
17. (2012-02-21). "BBC News - Spain protest over riot police beatings in Valencia". Bbc.co.uk.
18. (2012-02-12). "Ante la respuesta policial a las manifestaciones estudiantiles en Valencia: Amnistía Internacional Valencia - Derechos Humanos". Es.amnesty.org.
19. "Save the Children pide que se investigue si hubo maltrato policial a menores. Vizcaya". El Correo.
20. (27 February 2012). "Diez días de primavera valenciana". Levante-EMV.
21. Chandra, Amitabha. (1990). "The Naxalbari Movement". The Indian Journal of Political Science.
22. Dowling, David O.. (2020). "Signs of a Dalit Spring: India's Activist Magazine Journalism". Journal of Magazine Media.
23. Sharma, Yashraj. "Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka: Is South Asia fertile for Gen Z revolutions?".