List of peasant revolts

This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role.

Background

History of peasant wars spans over a period of over two thousand years. A variety of reasons, fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon including:^[1]

• Tax resistance
• Social inequality
• Religious war
• National liberation
• Resistance against serfdom
• Redistribution of land
• External factors such as plague and famine

Later peasant revolts such as the Telangana Rebellion were also influenced by agrarian socialist ideologies.^[2]

The majority of peasant rebellions ended prematurely and were unsuccessful. Peasants suffered from limited funding and lacked the training and organisational capabilities of professional armies.^[3]

Chronological list

The list gives the name, the date, the peasant allies and enemies, and the result of these conflicts following this legend:

      Peasant victory

      Peasant defeat

      Another result (e.g. a treaty or peace without a clear result, status quo ante bellum, result unknown or indecisive)

      Ongoing conflict

Date	Conflict	State	Peasants	Result	Image	References
209-206 BC	Anti-Qin revolts (including Dazexiang Uprising)	Qin dynasty	Peasants under several rebel leaders, including Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, Xiang Yu, and Liu Bang	Qin dissolution		[4]
205–186 BC	Great revolt of the Egyptians	Ptolemaic Kingdom	Native Egyptian peasants and soldiers under secessionist Pharaohs Hugronaphor and Ankhmakis	Suppression of the rebellion		[5]
17-25	Lülin	Xin dynasty	Lülin rebels	Collapse of Xin dynasty; ascendancy of rebel leader Liu Xiu after infighting among Lülin forces
17-27	Red Eyebrows	Xin dynasty	Red Eyebrows rebels	Goal of the rebellion partially achieved, but eventual defeat of the movement by Liu Xiu
172-173	Bucolic War	Roman Empire	Egyptian peasants under Isidorus	Suppression of the rebellion		[6]
184–205	Yellow Turban Rebellion	Han dynasty	Yellow Turban rebels	Suppression of the rebellion, though Han dynasty is severely weakened		[7]
185–205	Heishan bandit movement	Han dynasty	Bandit confederacy of the Taihang Mountains Gongsun Zan's forces	Suppression of the rebellion, though Han dynasty is severely weakened
3rd – 5th century	Bagaudae	Roman Empire	Bagaudae Suebi	Collapse of the Roman Empire
4th – late 5th century	Circumcellions	Roman Empire (until 435) Catholic Church (until 435) Vandal Kingdom (since 435) African landlords	Berber and Roman peasants Donatist authorities Rebellious Roman military under Gildo (in 398)	End of Roman Catholic rule in Africa, but suppression of the rebellion by Vandals and Arian authorities		[8]
611-619	Anti-Sui rebellions	Sui dynasty	Peasants under several rebel leaders Defected military forces under several rebel generals, officials and nobles	Collapse of Sui dynasty; ascendancy of rebel leader Li Yuan after infighting among rebel forces
841–843	Stellinga Uprising	Saxon nobility Frankish military under Louis the German	Stellinga	Suppression of the rebellion
859–860	Rebellion of Ch'iu Fu	Tang dynasty	Chinese peasants and bandits under Ch'iu Fu	Suppression of the rebellion, though Tang dynasty is severely weakened		[9]
874–878	Rebellion of Wang Xianzhi	Tang dynasty	Chinese peasants and bandits under Wang Xianzhi and Shang Junzhang	Suppression of the rebellion, though Tang dynasty is severely weakened		[10]
875–884	Rebellion of Huang Chao	Tang dynasty	Chinese peasants and bandits under Huang Chao	Suppression of the rebellion, though Tang dynasty is severely weakened		[11]
928–932	Basil the Copper Hand Rebellions	Byzantine Empire	Peasants under Basil the Copper Hand	Suppression of the rebellion		[12]
993-995	Da Shu rebellion in Sichuan	Song dynasty	Peasants under Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun	Suppression of the rebellion		[13]
1277–1280	Uprising of Ivaylo	Bulgarian nobility Byzantine Empire Golden Horde	Peasants under Ivaylo	Murder of Ivaylo		[14]
1323–1328	Peasant revolt in Flanders	Kingdom of France	Flemish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1343–1346	St. George's Night Uprising	Teutonic Order Kingdom of Denmark	Estonian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[15]
1351-1368	Red Turban Rebellion	Yuan dynasty Goryeo	Red Turban Armies of White Lotus members, Manichaeans and Chinese peasants	Fall of Yuan dynasty and retreat of the Mongols into Mongolia as the Northern Yuan dynasty; ascendancy of rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang after infighting among rebel forces
1358	Jacquerie	Kingdom of France	French peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1381	Peasants' Revolt	Kingdom of England	English peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1382	Harelle	Kingdom of France	French peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[16]
1401–1404, 1409	Samogitian uprisings	Teutonic Order Švitrigaila's followers	Samogitian peasants Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kingdom of Poland	Goal of the rebellion largely achieved, though disputes over Samogitia continue until 1422
1428	Shocho uprising	Muromachi Shogunate	Japanese peasants	Peasant debts cancelled.
1437	Budai Nagy Antal Revolt	Kingdom of Hungary	Transylvanian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1441	Funen and Jutland Peasant rebellions	Kingdom of Denmark	Danish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1450	Jack Cade Revolt	Kingdom of England	English peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[17]
1450–1451	John and William Merfold's Uprising	Kingdom of England	English peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[18]
1453–1454	Morea revolt of 1453–54	Despotate of the Morea Ottoman Empire	Greek peasants under Manuel Kantakouzenos Albanians under Peter Bua Latin loyalists under John Asen Zaccaria	Suppression of the rebellion		[19]
1462–1472, 1485–1486	Remença	Catalan constitutionalists and nobility (1462–1472) Crown of Aragon (1485–1486)	Catalan peasants Royalists under John II of Aragon (1462–1472)	Goal of the rebellion largely achieved, Sentència de Guadalupe signed		[20]
1478	Carinthian Peasant Revolt	Ottoman Empire	Carinthian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[21]
1482–1511	Yamashiro-ikki uprisings	Ashikaga shogunate	Yamashiro peasant leagues Hatakeyama clan Hosokawa clan Ōuchi clan	Most ikki submit to the shogunate in 1493, though continue to retain autonomy until gradual dissolution of the movement		[22]
1487-1488	Kaga Rebellion	Togashi clan	Ikkō-ikki Motoori clan Yamagawa clan	Decisive victory for the Ikkō-ikki.		[23]
1488–1582	Ikkō-ikki Uprisings	Several major samurai clans (including Oda clan and Tokugawa clan) Nichiren sect Tendai sōhei Jōdo-shū sōhei	Ikkō-shū peasant and ji-samurai leagues Jōdo Shinshū sōhei Mōri clan Azai clan Asakura clan	Destruction of most militant Ikkō-shū leagues; Jōdo Shinshū sect and remaining Ikkō-ikki submit to Toyotomi Hideyoshi		[24]
1498–1878	Opryshky movement	Kingdom of Poland Holy Roman Empire	Ukrainian peasants	Suppression of the movement
1511	Friulian Revolt	Republic of Venice	Friulian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1514	Poor Conrad Rebellion	Duchy of Württemberg	Württemberg peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[25]
1514	György Dózsa Rebellion	Kingdom of Hungary	Hungarian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[26]
1515	Slovene Peasant Revolt	Holy Roman Empire	Slovene peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[27]
1515–1523	Frisian peasant rebellion	Habsburg Netherlands	Arumer Zwarte Hoop Charles II, Duke of Guelders	Suppression of the rebellion
1516–1521	Trần Cảo Rebellion	Lê dynasty	Vietnamese peasants under Trần Cảo and Trần Cung	Suppression of the rebellion, though Lê dynasty is severely weakened		[28]
1524–1525	German Peasants' War	Swabian League	German peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1524–1533	Dalecarlian Rebellions	Sweden	Dalarna peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1525	Palatine Peasants' War	Electoral Palatinate	Palatine peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1534	Skipper Clement's Rebellion	Christian III Kingdom of Denmark	Danish Peasants under Skipper Clement  Christian II	Suppression of the rebellion
1540	Peasant's Rebellion in Telemark	Denmark–Norway	Norwegian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1542–1543	Dacke War	Sweden	Småland peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[29]
1549	Kett's Rebellion	Kingdom of England	English peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1573	Croatian–Slovene Peasant Revolt	Holy Roman Empire	Slovene peasants Croatian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[30]
1596–1597	Cudgel War	Sweden	Finnish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[31]
1606–1607	Bolotnikov Rebellion	Tsardom of Russia	Russian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1626–1636	Peasants' War in Upper Austria	Electorate of Bavaria	Austrian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[32]
1630–1645	Rebellion of Li Zicheng	Ming dynasty (1630–1644) Qing Dynasty (1644–1645)	Peasants under Li Zicheng, Gao Guiying and other generals of the Shun dynasty	Collapse of Ming dynasty, but suppression of the rebellion by Qing dynasty
1630–1647	Rebellion of Zhang Xianzhong	Ming dynasty (1630–1644) Qing Dynasty (1644–1647)	Peasants and bandits under Zhang Xianzhong	Collapse of Ming dynasty, but suppression of the rebellion by Qing dynasty		[33]
1637–1638	Shimabara Rebellion	Tokugawa shogunate Dutch Empire	Christian peasants and rōnin	Suppression of the rebellion		[34]
1651	Kostka-Napierski Uprising	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Polish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[35]
1652	Guo Huaiyi Rebellion	Dutch East India Company Aboriginal Taiwanese	Chinese peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1653	Swiss peasant war of 1653	Republic of the Swiss	Swiss peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[36]
1667–1671	Spepan Razin Rebellion	Tsardom of Russia	Russian peasants Don Cossacks	Suppression of the rebellion		[37]
1669–1670	Peasant Rebellion in Podhale	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Polish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[38]
1705–1706	Bavarian People's Uprising	Habsburg Monarchy	Bavarian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1707–1708	Bulavin Rebellion	Tsardom of Russia	Russian peasants Don Cossacks	Suppression of the rebellion
1730–1769	Peasant revolts for the restoration of the Lê dynasty and land reforms	Trịnh lords Nguyễn lords	Vietnamese peasants Lê dynasty	Suppression of the rebellions and eventual collapse of Lê dynasty, but start of Tây Sơn Revolt
1768–1769	Koliyivshchyna	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Russian Empire	Haidamaka movement	Suppression of the rebellion
1769–1788	Tây Sơn Revolt	Nguyễn lords (until 1776) Nguyễn Ánh's forces (since 1776) Trịnh lords (until 1786) Siam (in 1785) Lê dynasty (1786-1788) Qing Dynasty (1787-1788)	Tây Sơn dynasty	Goal of the rebellion achieved; reunification of Vietnam and introduction of land reforms under Tây Sơn dynasty
1773–1775	Pugachev's Rebellion	Russian Empire	Russian peasants Don Cossacks	Suppression of the rebellion		[39]
1784	Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan	Austrian Empire	Romanian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[40]
1790	Saxon Peasants' Revolt	Saxony	Saxon peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[41]
1793–1796	War in the Vendée	French Republic	Catholic and Royal Army Chouan rebels Émigrés  Great Britain	Suppression of the rebellion
1793–1804	Chouannerie	French Republic	Chouan rebels Catholic and Royal Army Émigrés  Great Britain	Suppression of the rebellion
1794	Kościuszko Uprising	Russian Empire Kingdom of Prussia Polish loyalists	Polish nationalist nobility Kosynierzy Polish Jacobins	Suppression of the rebellion		[42]
1794–1804	White Lotus Rebellion	Qing Dynasty	White Lotus rebels	Suppression of the rebellion
1798	Peasants' War	French Republic	Low countries peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[43]
1809	Tyrolean Rebellion	French Empire  Bavaria Saxony  Napoleonic Italy	Tyrolean peasants  Austria	Suppression of the rebellion
1809	Gottscheer Rebellion	First French Empire	Gottschee German peasants Slovene peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1834	Palestinian Peasant Revolt	Egypt Eyalet	Palestinian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[44]
1846	Galician slaughter	Austrian Empire	Kosynierzy	Suppression of the rebellion		[45]
1850–1864	Taiping Rebellion	Qing Dynasty	Taiping Heavenly Kingdom	Suppression of the rebellion
1858	Mahtra War	Russian Empire	Estonian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[46]
1884	Chichibu Incident	Japan	Japanese peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1894–1895	Donghak Peasant Revolution	Japan Joseon Dynasty	Korean peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1896–1897	War of Canudos	First Brazilian Republic	Canudos inhabitants	Suppression of the rebellion
1905-1908	Maji Maji Rebellion	German East Africa	Matumbi people, Ngoni people, and other Tanganyikans	Suppression of the rebellion		[47]
1907	1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt	Kingdom of Romania	Romanian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1913	Peasant revolt in Northern Shaanxi	Republic of China	Chinese poppy farmers and bandits under a sect leader	Spread of the revolt; poppy plant eradication campaign stopped		[48]
1914	Peasant Revolt in Albania	Principality of Albania Catholic Militia	Muslim peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1916	Urkun	Russian Empire	Kyrgyz and Kazakh peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[49]
1918	Arsk Uprising	Russian SFSR	Tatar peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1920–1921	Tambov Rebellion	Russian SFSR	Green armies	Suppression of the rebellion		[50]
1921	Malabar rebellion	British India	Indian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[51]
1927	Autumn Harvest Uprising	Republic of China	Hunan Soviet	Suppression of the rebellion
1932	Salvadoran peasant massacre	El Salvador	Salvadoran peasants	Suppression of the rebellion
1932	Lesko uprising	Republic of Poland	Polish peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[52]
1932	Peasant uprising against poppy-tax collection in Su County	Republic of China Kuomintang members and allied gentry	Chinese poppy farmers and gentry under Wang Xiaobai and Ma Fengshan	Suppression of the rebellion		[53]
1932	Peasant uprising against poppy-tax collection in Lingbi County	Republic of China	Chinese poppy farmers under Tian Xuemin	Goal of the rebellion achieved		[54]
1944	Peasant revolt in Beichuan County	Republic of China	Chinese poppy farmers of Xiaoyuan and Houyuan	Goal of the rebellion achieved		[55]
1946–1951	Tebhaga movement	Bengal landlords	Bengal peasants (All India Kisan Sabha) Communist Party of India	Goal of the rebellion partially achieved		[56]
1946–1951	Telangana Rebellion	Razakars Hyderabad landlords Hyderabad State	Hyderabad peasants (Andhra Mahasabha) Communist Party of India	Goal of the rebellion achieved		[57]
1950	Cazin rebellion	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Yugoslavian peasants	Suppression of the rebellion		[58]
1959–1965	War against the Bandits	Republic of Cuba	Cuban peasants Batista loyalists DRE  United States	Suppression of the rebellion
1968-1969	Agbekoya	Nigeria	Yoruba peasants	Goal of the rebellion achieved
1970s	1970s peasant revolts in Thailand	Thailand	Thai peasants	Peasant leaders assassinated
1975–1991	Uprisings in Tigray and Eritrea; part of the Ethiopian Civil War	Ethiopia	Tigrayan and Eritrean peasants	Derg overthrown; Eritrean independence		[59]

See also

• Roman Servile Wars
• Peasant movement
• Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe
• Maoism

References

Sources

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