Abstract
The article identifies a series of questions answering which might explain what a social revolution is. What historically conditions can lead to the maturation of the revolutionary situation? What objective conditions and subjective factors must take place for transition of a revolutionary situation into a real revolutionary process? The opposite question: what circumstances can prevent a revolution when revolutionary ideas, which time has come, captured the minds of people? Does the social revolution consolidate a society? It is proposed to develop guidelines according to which it will be possible to distinguish social revolutionary acts among the variety of historically important social, political, and cultural events. The author has attempted to designate a consistent research field, where it is possible to demonstrate the diversity of theoretical approaches, intellectual traditions and attitudes to understanding of the social revolution as a special phenomenon, which is clearly standing out not only among the ordinary, but also among the most significant events in the history of mankind.