Timeline of civil disobedience

This is a timeline of civil disobedience, a form of protest or resistance in which individuals deliberately and openly violate certain laws or regulations that they consider unjust or morally objectionable.

Big picture

Time period	Development summary	More details
1819–1879	From moral articulation to early mass noncooperation	Civil disobedience emerges as a recognizable modern idea and begins to appear as organized practice. Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy (1819) helps articulate nonviolent moral resistance, while Thoreau (1849) formalizes the principle that conscience can justify breaking unjust laws. Across the Atlantic world, abolitionist networks and fugitive-law resistance operationalize conscience-driven lawbreaking in defense of human freedom. In Europe, early labor and democratic movements (Chartism, strikes, tax resistance) demonstrate that collective noncooperation can pressure state and employer authority. These decades establish the core repertoire—tax refusal, illegal assemblies, boycotts, and principled defiance—while still lacking the later standardized doctrine and global diffusion.
1880–1949	Mass movements and the globalization of civil disobedience (anti-colonial, labor, and conscience)	Civil disobedience scales from localized protest into mass politics. Late-19th-century labor struggles and boycotts show how strikes, mass assemblies, and economic disruption become durable tools. Suffrage campaigns and prison hunger strikes normalize deliberate lawbreaking coupled with willingness to accept punishment as a moral strategy. The Gandhi-led development of Satyagraha in South Africa and its later application in India (Salt March, Civil Disobedience Movement) establish civil disobedience as a systematic method for challenging colonial rule. Interwar and World War II contexts broaden the concept: conscientious objection resists conscription, while civil resistance under occupation demonstrates noncooperation under extreme repression. By the late 1940s, civil disobedience is widely understood as a mass-capable political technology, not merely an individual moral gesture.
1950–1989	High era of organized nonviolent resistance: civil rights, anti-apartheid, and anti-authoritarian dissent	Civil disobedience becomes central to postwar struggles over rights, democracy, and state legitimacy. In the United States, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Birmingham, Selma, and campus movements institutionalize tactics such as mass arrest, disciplined nonviolence, and targeted disruption to dismantle segregation and expand voting rights. In South Africa, pass-law resistance, the Defiance Campaign, prison noncooperation, and later rent and school boycotts embed civil disobedience in long-duration anti-apartheid strategy. Simultaneously, anti-authoritarian movements (Charter 77, Solidarity, and other dissident networks) use illegal publishing, strikes, and public defiance to undermine communist regimes. Peace and environmental campaigns (e.g., Greenham Common, Greenpeace actions) add transnational and media-conscious dimensions. The period culminates in nonviolent mass mobilizations that help transform political systems and accelerate democratic transitions.
1990–2024	Networked, transnational, and issue-diversified civil disobedience (globalization, digital leaks, climate, and algorithmic governance)	After the Cold War, civil disobedience diversifies into new arenas—globalization, corruption, migration, surveillance, climate, and platform labor—while inheriting earlier repertoires (occupations, blockades, strikes, refusal to comply). Protest cycles increasingly coordinate across borders (Seattle WTO, Genoa G8, global anti-Iraq War mobilization) and adopt digital organizing. Whistleblowing and leaks (Manning, Snowden) push civil disobedience into information governance and secrecy regimes, raising contested questions about legitimacy and harm. Mass occupations (e.g., Occupy) revive sustained public-space control as a tactic. Climate movements escalate from symbolic disruption to systematic blockades (XR, school strikes, Just Stop Oil), emphasizing urgency and media leverage. Pandemic-era and vaccine-mandate defiance introduces boundary disputes where public health externalities complicate classic civil-disobedience narratives. By 2024, civil disobedience also targets algorithmic management and platform rules, reflecting conflict over governance in digitally mediated economies.

Full timeline

Year	Event type	Details	Country/location
1819		English writer Percy Bysshe Shelley, writes political poem The Masque of Anarchy in response to the Peterloo Massacre. It is considered one of the earliest articulations of nonviolent resistance. The poem remains unpublished during Shelley's lifetime, only appearing in 1832 through Edward Moxon with a preface by Leigh Hunt, who initially withholds it, believing the public is not ready to appreciate its message. The title varies between Mask and Masque, and the 372-line poem is mainly composed of quatrains. Its themes emphasize hope, justice, and truth, advocating moral and peaceful resistance to oppression and tyranny.	United Kingdom
1831	Language and cultural civil disobedience	Polish educators and intellectuals refuse to comply with Russian-imposed language and curriculum policies following the November Uprising. Illegal schools and underground teaching networks emerge as acts of civil disobedience to preserve national culture.	Poland
1833–1840	Abolitionist civil disobedience	Abolitionists in the United States openly violate laws supporting slavery by aiding enslaved people through the Underground Railroad, refusing to comply with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Participants knowingly face fines and imprisonment, framing their actions as moral resistance to unjust law and laying early groundwork for conscience-based civil disobedience.	United States
1836–1848		Chartism emerges as a working-class movement in Britain that combines mass petitioning, peaceful assemblies, strikes, and organized noncooperation to demand political reform. Through repeated rejected petitions, large rallies, work stoppages (including the 1842 Plug Plots), and refusal to accept exclusion from the franchise, Chartists practice sustained civil disobedience aimed at expanding democratic rights. While leaders often stress nonviolence, authorities interpret these actions as threats to order, revealing the movement’s challenge to political legitimacy without armed revolt.	United Kingdom
1837		In a Commons debate on church rates, the Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges widespread public resistance to compulsory church levies, citing numerous parishes where rates are refused, unenforceable, or provoke sustained dissent. The debate frames church-rate nonpayment as a growing national problem undermining social peace and highlights organized resistance by Dissenters and reformers, reinforcing calls for legislative reform.
1838–1848	Religious civil disobedience	Members of the Nonconformist movement in Britain refuse to comply with laws privileging the Church of England, most notably through non-payment of compulsory church rates and resistance to Anglican control over marriage, burial, education, and civic office. Framing obedience as a matter of conscience, they accept legal penalties to expose religious inequality. This sustained, nonviolent defiance helps mobilize liberal reform, leading to the abolition of church rates (1868) and the gradual dismantling of church–state coercion.	United Kingdom
1848	Revolutionary noncooperation	During the Revolutions of 1848, mass civil disobedience erupt across German lands as students, workers, and citizens defy absolutist rule through street demonstrations, petitions, barricades, and armed resistance. In Vienna and Berlin, crowds demand constitutions, parliaments, press freedom, and national unity, forcing temporary concessions and the fall of Metternich. The Frankfurt Assembly embodies this challenge by asserting popular sovereignty. Although monarchies ultimately repress the movements, 1848 marks a decisive moment of coordinated, conscience-driven defiance against restoration authoritarianism.	Europe
1849	Literature	American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau publishes essay Resistance to Civil Government, arguing that individuals have a moral obligation to follow conscience rather than obey unjust laws. Opposing slavery and the Mexican–American War, he criticizes passive obedience and maintains that governments often perpetuate injustice. Thoreau advocates nonviolent refusal and personal moral responsibility as legitimate forms of political action. The essay would later become a foundational text for civil disobedience, strongly influencing figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.	United States
1850	Fugitive law resistance	Under the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act requires U.S. Marshals to return escaped enslaved people, provoking strong opposition and rescue efforts by Northern abolitionists. Despite widespread resistance, the law is enforced as a constitutional obligation. In the twentieth century, U.S. Marshals would again act to enforce constitutional mandates, this time protecting the civil rights of Black Americans. They escort students, support voting rights, and enforce desegregation orders, reflecting the federal role in upholding constitutional law.	United States
1857	Anti-colonial resistance and noncooperation	During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, segments of the population engage in refusal to cooperate with British administration, including boycotts and withdrawal of labor. The uprising marks a major turning point in colonial relations. Beginning with sepoy mutinies, it spreads across northern India and reflects deep grievances over cultural interference, economic exploitation, military discrimination, and political annexation. The conflict combines military revolt and popular resistance and is followed by severe repression. Its aftermath ends East India Company rule and transfers authority to the British Crown.	India
1872	Prison-based civil disobedience	Susan B. Anthony, a leading advocate of woman suffrage, deliberately votes in the 1872 U.S. presidential election in Rochester, New York, challenging laws that exclude women from the electorate. She is arrested, indicted, and tried for illegal voting. At her June 1873 trial, Anthony condemns the proceedings as unjust and is convicted, receiving a fine and court costs. The case draws national attention and frames civil disobedience as a strategy for advancing women’s political rights.	United States
1877	Labor civil disobedience	The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 erupts after repeated wage cuts by major U.S. railroads amid economic depression. Workers respond with strikes, blockades, and seizure of rail infrastructure, spreading nationwide and briefly paralyzing commerce. Although much action involves noncooperation, violence breaks out in major cities, prompting states to deploy militias and federal troops. Over one hundred people are killed. Though suppressed within weeks, the strike becomes a landmark in U.S. labor history, shaping later industrial conflicts.	United States
1879–1882	Peasant tax resistance	During the Irish Land War, tenant farmers engage in organized peasant tax resistance through rent strikes, collective nonpayment, and boycotts of landlords and their agents. Facing falling agricultural prices and insecure tenancies, tenants deliberately withhold rents and coordinate mass noncooperation, often resisting evictions collectively. Led by the Irish National Land League, these tactics exert sustained pressure on British authorities, contributing to major land reforms that expand tenant rights, regulate rents, and ultimately enable widespread transfer of land ownership to farmers.	Ireland
1886	Labor demonstration and repression	The Haymarket affair arises from mass labor civil disobedience in Chicago, centered on a May Day general strike demanding an eight-hour workday. Tens of thousands of workers strike and march peacefully. After police violently repress strikers at McCormick Works, anarchists organize a protest rally at Haymarket Square. A bomb thrown during a police advance triggers lethal chaos. Authorities prosecute anarchist leaders for their speech rather than actions, turning civil disobedience into a criminal conspiracy and exposing severe limits on dissent.	United States
1891	Labor and consumer boycotts	The United Kingdom begins the official collection of strike statistics, marking a turning point in how labor conflict is recorded and understood. Although workers had long used strikes to withhold labor for better pay and conditions—most notably during the Chartist-inspired actions of the 1830s and 1840s—1891 establishes systematic state recognition of strikes as a recurring feature of industrial relations. From this point onward, labor disputes become a documented and influential force shaping British economic and social policy.	United Kingdom
1895	Military conscription resistance	The Doukhobors—a pacifist Christian sect in the Russian Empire—openly resist conscription by refusing military service and, in a symbolic act of nonviolent defiance, destroying their weapons. Authorities respond with arrests, beatings, and exile, and many Doukhobors are dispersed to remote regions. International supporters publicize the repression and assist their eventual emigration, especially to Canada. The episode becomes a prominent example of religiously motivated civil disobedience against coercive state militarization.	Russian Empire
1898	Anti-imperial civil resistance	After Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay, U.S. leaders move from seizing the Philippines to debating permanent control. The December 1898 Treaty of Paris and the Senate’s February 1899 approval trigger fierce anti-imperialist resistance in the United States, arguing conquest betrays republican ideals. In the islands, Filipinos who seek self-government resist the new occupation through organized noncooperation and, soon after, open revolt, forcing Washington to impose martial law and build a colonial administration while extending authority across the archipelago.	Philippines
1905	Anti-colonial boycott	The Swadeshi Movement emerges in British India as the first organized mass anti-colonial campaign. Triggered by the partition of Bengal, it links political protest to economic noncooperation. Activists promote indigenous goods and institutions while boycotting British products, schools, and administration. Though the movement declines by 1908 and fails to end colonial rule, it successfully embeds self-sufficiency and boycott as nationalist tools and profoundly shapes later Gandhian strategies of noncooperation and nonviolent resistance.	India
1906–1914	Anti-colonial civil disobedience	In South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi inaugurates a sustained campaign of civil disobedience by openly defying racist anti-Asiatic laws and accepting imprisonment. Through what he later names satyagraha, Indians refuse registration, violate pass laws, strike illegally, and court arrest to expose injustice. Emphasizing nonviolence, moral force, and self-suffering, Gandhi transforms resistance into a disciplined mass practice. These campaigns establish a durable model of civil disobedience later applied in India and worldwide.	South Africa
1909		British suffrage activists promote “constitutional” militancy through passive resistance. The Women’s Tax Resistance League adopts the slogan “No vote, no tax,” arguing that women should not fund a state that denies them representation; refusals to pay taxes lead to arrests, fines, and bailiffs seizing property. Allied groups such as the Women’s Freedom League also boycott state participation, including the 1911 census (“No vote, no census”), using noncooperation to expose women’s exclusion from citizenship and power, and demand equality nationwide.	United Kingdom
1911	Educational boycott	In Sichuan province, protests erupt after the Qing government announces the nationalization of privately financed railways to raise funds for Boxer Protocol reparations. Local investors and activists form the Railway Protection Movement, organizing strikes and public demonstrations in Chengdu and other areas to resist the policy. When provincial authorities respond with arrests and troop deployments, the confrontation escalates, leaving dozens of protesters killed.	China
1913	Hunger strike as civil disobedience	Suffragettes imprisoned in Britain use hunger strikes to protest denial of political rights and prison conditions. Their refusal to eat constitutes a form of bodily civil disobedience, leading authorities to respond with force-feeding and later the controversial “Cat and Mouse Act.”	United Kingdom
1917	Anti-war civil disobedience	Conscientious objectors in multiple countries refuse military service during World War I, openly violating conscription laws on moral and religious grounds. Many face imprisonment or forced labor. Their resistance establishes conscientious objection as a recognized ethical and legal category in later international law.	Worldwide
1919	Labor mass disobedience	The Winnipeg general strike involves tens of thousands of workers engaging in illegal work stoppages and mass noncooperation. The strike demonstrates civil disobedience as a collective labor strategy challenging state authority.	Canada
1919–1920	Anti-colonial noncooperation	Egyptians engage in mass strikes, refusal to cooperate with colonial authorities, and illegal demonstrations during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. The campaign of civil disobedience pressures Britain to grant partial independence, illustrating nonviolent resistance outside the Anglo-American sphere.	Egypt
1920	Anti-colonial noncooperation	Irish nationalists engage in widespread refusal to recognize British courts, boycotts of state institutions, and establishment of parallel governance during the Irish War of Independence. These acts demonstrate civil disobedience as a strategy for delegitimizing colonial authority.	Ireland
1927	Religious–state civil disobedience	Mexican Catholics engage in illegal worship and refusal to comply with anticlerical laws during the Cristero War. While armed conflict occurs, widespread nonviolent defiance highlights civil disobedience rooted in religious conscience.	Mexico
1929	Anti-colonial civil disobedience	Nigerian women organize mass protests, refusal to pay taxes, and occupation of administrative centers during the Aba Women's Riot, challenging colonial governance through collective noncooperation.	Nigeria
1930 (March–April)	Mass civil disobedience	Gandhi leads the Salt March, a 240-mile march to the Arabian Sea to openly violate British salt laws. The act sparks nationwide civil disobedience, including illegal salt production, boycotts, and refusal to pay taxes. Tens of thousands are arrested. The campaign becomes one of the most iconic examples of nonviolent resistance and accelerates the Indian independence movement.	India
1932	Anti-colonial mass disobedience	Gandhi launches the Civil Disobedience Movement (India) following British repression of earlier protests. Millions refuse to pay taxes, boycott British goods, and violate colonial laws. The campaign represents the largest sustained civil disobedience movement of the colonial era.	India
1933	Press and academic defiance	German academics and journalists covertly continue banned publications and teaching following Nazi censorship laws, engaging in early civil disobedience against authoritarian cultural control.	Nazi Germany
1935	Anti-colonial civil disobedience	Ethiopian civilians engage in boycotts and refusal to cooperate with Italian occupying forces following Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Though overshadowed by armed resistance, noncooperation plays a role in undermining colonial administration.	Ethiopia
1936–1939	Anti-fascist civil resistance	During the Spanish Civil War, anarchist and pacifist groups engage in noncooperation, refusal of forced conscription, and grassroots self-organization in areas under authoritarian control. Although overshadowed by armed conflict, these actions represent civil disobedience within revolutionary and counter-revolutionary contexts.	Spain
1937	Labor sit-down strikes	Industrial workers in the United States occupy factories during the Flint sit-down strike, refusing to leave despite court orders. The tactic of illegal occupation secures union recognition and reshapes labor relations.	United States
1939	Anti-conscription civil disobedience	Pacifists in multiple countries refuse military service at the outbreak of World War II, openly violating conscription laws despite severe penalties.	Worldwide
1940	Neutrality civil disobedience	Citizens in Ireland refuse compliance with British wartime regulations affecting trade and transport, asserting national neutrality through noncooperation.	Ireland
1942–1945	Civil resistance under occupation	Citizens in Nazi-occupied countries carry out civil disobedience by refusing collaboration, hiding persecuted populations, producing illegal publications, and defying occupation authorities. Notable examples include the Danish resistance movement, which uses nonviolent noncooperation alongside sabotage to protect Jewish citizens and undermine Nazi rule.	Denmark, Europe
1946	Prison-based civil disobedience	In the Royal Indian Navy mutiny, sailors refuse orders and stage strikes against colonial authority. While involving military personnel, the action includes organized noncooperation and mass refusal of duty, contributing to the weakening of British control in India.	India
1947	Anti-colonial mass disobedience	The Quit India Movement involves widespread refusal to obey British authorities, illegal assemblies, and strikes demanding immediate independence. Despite repression, the movement demonstrates the scale and political leverage of coordinated civil disobedience.	India
1948	Gandhian civil disobedience	Gandhi undertakes fasts and calls for nonviolent noncooperation during communal violence following Indian independence, framing civil disobedience as a moral force even against one’s own state and community.	India
1949	Religious civil disobedience	Clergy and believers in communist Eastern Europe openly violate bans on religious instruction and worship, holding illegal services and teaching. These actions assert freedom of conscience under authoritarian regimes.	Eastern Europe
1950	Anti-pass law resistance	South African activists begin sustained refusal to carry passbooks required under apartheid, establishing everyday noncompliance as a mass civil-disobedience tactic.	South Africa
1952	Anti-apartheid civil disobedience	The Defiance Campaign against apartheid laws is launched by the African National Congress and allied organizations. Protesters deliberately violate segregation laws, curfews, and pass requirements, resulting in mass arrests. The campaign marks the first large-scale, coordinated civil disobedience movement in South Africa.	South Africa
1955–1956	Civil rights civil disobedience	The Montgomery bus boycott is launched after Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. African American residents boycott public buses for over a year, deliberately violating segregation norms. The boycott leads to a Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional and propels Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence.	United States
1956	Anti-Soviet civil resistance	Hungarian students and workers engage in strikes, illegal assemblies, and refusal to comply with Soviet-imposed authority during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. While armed conflict ensues, nonviolent civil disobedience dominates early stages.	Hungary
1958–1960	Prison-based civil disobedience	Anti-apartheid activists imprisoned in South Africa engage in hunger strikes, refusal of prison labor, and coordinated noncooperation to protest racial segregation and detention without trial. These actions expand civil disobedience into carceral settings.	South Africa
1959	Anti-colonial civil resistance	Tibetan monks and civilians engage in nonviolent protests and refusal to cooperate with Chinese authorities during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. While armed conflict occurs, widespread civil disobedience highlights resistance rooted in religious and cultural autonomy.	Tibet
1960	Student civil disobedience	African American students initiate the Greensboro sit-ins by occupying segregated lunch counters and refusing to leave. The tactic spreads rapidly across the southern United States, leading to thousands of arrests. Sit-ins become a central method of nonviolent civil disobedience in the American civil rights movement.	United States
1961	Freedom rides	Integrated groups of activists known as the Freedom Riders ride interstate buses into the segregated southern United States, deliberately violating segregation laws. The riders face violence and arrest, prompting federal enforcement of desegregation rulings.	United States
1962	Academic freedom protest	University professors and students in Francoist Spain engage in illegal assemblies and strikes to oppose censorship and state control of universities.	Spain
1963	Coordinated civil disobedience	The Birmingham campaign employs mass sit-ins, marches, and deliberate lawbreaking to challenge segregation. Protesters, including children, face police dogs and fire hoses, generating global media attention. The campaign directly contributes to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.	United States
1964	Student civil disobedience	The Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley involves sit-ins, building occupations, and refusal to comply with university restrictions on political speech. The movement establishes campus civil disobedience as a central tactic in later student activism.	United States
1964–1966	Tax resistance	Large numbers of activists refuse to pay taxes used to fund the Vietnam War, engaging in deliberate tax resistance and public refusal statements. This form of civil disobedience reframes opposition to war as personal moral noncooperation with state violence.	United States
1965	Voting-rights civil disobedience	The Selma to Montgomery marches involve deliberate defiance of segregation laws and court orders to demand voting rights. Violent repression of peaceful marchers accelerates passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.	United States
1967	Anti-dictatorship civil disobedience	Greek students and intellectuals organize illegal assemblies and underground publications opposing the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. Sustained noncooperation helps erode regime legitimacy.	Greece
1968	Anti-war civil disobedience	Large-scale civil disobedience against the Vietnam War includes draft resistance, refusal to pay war taxes, campus occupations, and mass demonstrations. Activists deliberately violate laws to oppose conscription and military policy, reshaping public opinion and political discourse in multiple countries.	United States, worldwide
1969	Indigenous occupation	Native American activists occupy Alcatraz Island in defiance of federal authority, asserting treaty rights and Indigenous sovereignty through sustained nonviolent civil disobedience.	United States
1969–1971	LGBTQ+ civil disobedience	Following the Stonewall riots, LGBTQ+ activists engage in sit-ins, illegal marches, and open defiance of laws criminalizing homosexuality. These acts transform queer resistance from clandestine survival to public civil disobedience.	United States
1971	Anti-nuclear civil disobedience	Activists occupy and block construction at nuclear power sites, notably at Wyhl in Germany. Protesters deliberately trespass and refuse evacuation orders. These actions catalyze the modern anti-nuclear movement and influence energy policy across Europe.	Germany
1972	Environmental civil disobedience	Activists engage in illegal protests and site occupations during early anti-pollution campaigns, linking environmental protection with deliberate lawbreaking.	United States, Europe
1973	Prison hunger strike	Irish republican prisoners engage in hunger strikes to protest removal of political-prisoner status. Refusing food and prison regulations, prisoners frame their actions as moral resistance to criminalization. Hunger strikes become a recurring form of civil disobedience in carceral settings.	Northern Ireland
1974	Democratic transition via civil resistance	Portuguese civilians engage in mass strikes, refusal of obedience, and occupation of public spaces during the Carnation Revolution. Nonviolent civil resistance plays a central role in ending authoritarian rule.	Portugal
1975	Prisoner rights civil disobedience	Incarcerated people in multiple countries engage in coordinated hunger strikes and refusal of prison labor to protest conditions and legal status, expanding civil disobedience into penal systems beyond nationalist causes.	Worldwide
1976	Language-rights civil disobedience	Students in South Africa engage in school boycotts and refusal to comply with Afrikaans-language education mandates during the Soweto uprising. While violence occurs, widespread educational noncooperation remains central.	South Africa
1977	Disability rights civil disobedience	Activists occupy federal buildings during the 504 Sit-in, refusing to leave until regulations enforcing disability rights are signed. The prolonged occupation becomes one of the longest nonviolent sit-ins in U.S. history and secures implementation of disability protections.	United States
1977–1980	Nonviolent opposition	The Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia involves intellectuals and dissidents openly defying state restrictions on speech and association. By publicly demanding compliance with human rights agreements, signatories knowingly expose themselves to repression, exemplifying civil disobedience under authoritarian rule.	Czechoslovakia
1980	Labor civil disobedience under dictatorship	Brazilian workers organize illegal strikes and factory occupations during the final years of military rule, contributing to democratization through sustained noncooperation.	Brazil
1980–1989	Labor and political civil disobedience	The Solidarity (Polish trade union) movement engages in strikes, illegal organizing, and mass noncooperation against the communist government. Despite martial law and repression, sustained civil disobedience contributes to negotiated political reform and the eventual collapse of communist rule in Poland.	Poland
1981	Hunger strike and prison protest	Irish republican prisoners conduct hunger strikes to protest criminalization and prison conditions. While politically controversial, the deliberate refusal of food is framed by participants as civil disobedience grounded in moral protest.	Northern Ireland
1983	Nuclear disarmament civil disobedience	Protesters at Greenham Common engage in repeated trespass, blockades, and refusal to comply with military exclusion zones to oppose nuclear weapons deployment. The movement becomes a landmark in feminist and peace-oriented civil disobedience.	United Kingdom
1984	Indigenous language resistance	Māori activists occupy land and defy regulations to establish language-immersion schools (Kōhanga Reo), framing civil disobedience as cultural survival.	New Zealand
1985–1994	Anti-apartheid noncooperation	Sustained civil disobedience in South Africa includes illegal strikes, rent boycotts, school boycotts, and refusal to comply with apartheid laws. Combined with international pressure, these actions contribute to negotiations that end apartheid and establish multiracial democracy.	South Africa
1986	Environmental civil disobedience	Activists from Greenpeace deliberately violate national borders and maritime exclusion zones to protest nuclear testing and whaling. These actions involve intentional arrest and legal consequences to draw attention to environmental harms and international law violations.	Worldwide
1886	Labor demonstration and repression	Workers participate in illegal strikes and assemblies during the Haymarket affair, deliberately violating public-order laws to demand labor reforms. Although violence occurs, the broader movement relies heavily on civil disobedience tactics.	United States
1987	Housing civil disobedience	Activists and homeless communities in Western Europe occupy vacant buildings in defiance of property laws during the Squatting movement. Squatting becomes a sustained form of civil disobedience highlighting housing shortages and urban inequality.	Netherlands, Europe
1988	Pro-democracy civil disobedience	Students and monks in Myanmar organize illegal demonstrations and strikes during the 8888 Uprising, deliberately defying military bans. Although violently suppressed, the movement becomes a foundational reference for later nonviolent resistance.	Myanmar
1989	Nonviolent mass resistance	The Velvet Revolution consists of strikes, demonstrations, and refusal to comply with authoritarian directives. Sustained nonviolent civil disobedience leads to the peaceful overthrow of the communist regime and the establishment of democratic governance.	Czechoslovakia
1989 (April–June)	Pro-democracy protest	Student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 include hunger strikes, illegal assemblies, and occupation of public space. Protesters deliberately defy government bans to demand political reform. The movement is violently suppressed, highlighting both the power and vulnerability of civil disobedience under authoritarian regimes.	China
1991	Civil resistance and state collapse	Nonviolent mass disobedience, including strikes and refusal to follow orders, contributes to the failure of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, accelerating the dissolution of the Soviet Union.	Soviet Union
1992	Indigenous civil disobedience	Indigenous groups in Brazil occupy land and block infrastructure to resist deforestation and state-backed development projects, using nonviolent lawbreaking to assert land rights.	Brazil
1994	Indigenous land resistance	The Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising includes nonviolent civil disobedience such as refusal to recognize state authority and creation of autonomous zones. While involving armed elements, parallel civil resistance emphasizes community noncooperation and self-governance.	Mexico
1996	Anti-austerity civil disobedience	Citizens in France engage in strikes, transport blockades, and refusal to comply with labor reforms during mass protests against welfare-state retrenchment.	France
1997	Anti-corruption civil resistance	Citizens in South Korea engage in mass demonstrations, strikes, and refusal to accept political authority during protests leading to institutional reforms and prosecutions of political leaders.	South Korea
1999	Globalization protest	Protesters at the Seattle WTO protests engage in mass civil disobedience by blocking streets, occupying buildings, and defying police orders to disrupt World Trade Organization meetings. The events bring global attention to critiques of neoliberal globalization and revive large-scale protest tactics in the Global North.	United States
2000	Electoral civil disobedience	Citizens in Serbia engage in mass strikes, road blockades, and refusal to recognize election results during the Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević. Coordinated nonviolent resistance forces regime change.	Serbia
2001	Anti-globalization summit protests	Activists engage in mass civil disobedience, including blockades and illegal assemblies, during Genoa G8 summit protests, highlighting tensions between globalization and democratic accountability.	Italy
2003	Anti-war civil disobedience	During the U.S.-led war in Iraq, some military personnel refuse deployment or redeployment on grounds of conscience, arguing that the war violates just-war principles, including just cause and protections for civilians. The U.S. government and military courts reject claims of selective conscientious objection, viewing them as political rather than moral. Similar debates arise internationally, highlighted by a 2004 German court ruling that upholds an officer’s right to refuse indirect support for the Iraq war on conscience grounds.	Worldwide
2004	Digital infrastructure protest	Activists in multiple countries engage in coordinated website blockades and online sit-ins to protest corporate and government policies, extending civil disobedience into cyberspace.	Worldwide
2005	Judicial legitimacy protest	Lebanese citizens engage in illegal demonstrations and strikes following political assassinations, using civil disobedience to demand judicial accountability and sovereignty.	Lebanon
2006	Immigration civil disobedience	Millions of undocumented immigrants and allies in the United States participate in strikes, school walkouts, and refusal to work or attend classes during the 2006 United States immigration reform protests. Participants openly defy labor and immigration norms to demand legal reform.	United States
2008	Digital-coordinated civil disobedience	The Anti-FARC marches in Colombia combine online mobilization with mass street demonstrations, strikes, and illegal assemblies, illustrating the integration of digital tools into civil-disobedience organizing.	Colombia
2009	Electoral protest and civil disobedience	Demonstrators in Iran engage in illegal marches, strikes, and refusal to accept election results during the Green Movement, framing disobedience as defense of electoral legitimacy.	Iran
2010	Whistleblowing as civil disobedience	Chelsea Manning leaks classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, intentionally violating secrecy laws to expose alleged war crimes and government misconduct. Supporters frame the act as civil disobedience motivated by conscience, while critics dispute the classification.	United States
2010	Transport network civil disobedience	French workers engage in illegal strikes and blockades against pension reforms, deliberately disrupting transport infrastructure as a form of civil disobedience.	France
2011	Mass protest and civil resistance	The Arab Spring involves waves of civil disobedience, including strikes, occupations, and refusal to obey authoritarian laws. While outcomes vary by country, nonviolent resistance plays a central role in the early phases of uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.	Middle East, North Africa
2012	Student civil disobedience	University students in Quebec engage in illegal strikes, mass demonstrations, and defiance of emergency legislation during the 2012 Quebec student protests. The movement leads to repeal of tuition hikes and restrictive laws.	Canada
2013	Digital civil disobedience	Edward Snowden reveals mass surveillance programs by leaking classified documents, intentionally violating secrecy laws to expose government practices. The disclosures trigger global debate over privacy, state power, and whether whistleblowing constitutes civil disobedience.	United States, worldwide
2014	Digital-age civil disobedience	The Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong involves prolonged occupation of public spaces and refusal to disperse, demanding democratic reforms. Protesters deliberately violate public order laws, marking a shift toward digitally coordinated civil disobedience in highly surveilled urban environments.	Hong Kong
2015	Refugee solidarity civil disobedience	Activists across Europe deliberately violate border controls and asylum regulations to assist refugees during the European migrant crisis, framing civil disobedience as humanitarian obligation.	Europe
2016	Indigenous-led civil disobedience	The Dakota Access Pipeline protests involve Indigenous communities and allies engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience, including encampments on disputed land and defiance of court orders. The movement highlights the intersection of environmental protection, Indigenous sovereignty, and civil disobedience.	United States
2017	Anti-corruption civil disobedience	Citizens in Romania participate in sustained illegal demonstrations, strikes, and refusal to comply with emergency decrees undermining judicial independence. The protests force repeal of proposed legal changes.	Romania
2018		Extinction Rebellion (XR) is founded to address the Climate and Nature Emergency, calling for urgent action to prevent ecological collapse. XR launched with a Declaration of Rebellion, advocating Nonviolent Direct Action, citizen participation, and system change. Its three core demands are: telling the truth about the climate crisis, acting immediately to achieve net-zero emissions by 2025 and protect nature, and deciding together through participatory governance like Citizens’ Assemblies. XR emphasizes decentralization, inclusivity, and a regenerative culture, mobilizing people globally to challenge governments, corporations, and fossil fuel interests.	United Kingdom
2018	Education and language rights	Students and teachers in Catalonia engage in illegal school openings and defiance of central government orders during political unrest, linking civil disobedience to language and regional autonomy.	Catalonia, Spain
2018	Housing and urban protest	Movements opposing short-term rental platforms engage in illegal demonstrations and blockades, framing civil disobedience as a response to housing commodification and displacement in global cities.	Europe, worldwide
2019	Pro-democracy civil disobedience	The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests feature large-scale acts of civil disobedience, including unauthorized marches, sit-ins, strikes, and infrastructure blockades. Protesters openly violate public order laws to oppose proposed extradition legislation and defend political autonomy.	Hong Kong
2019	Environmental school strikes	Students worldwide engage in mass school walkouts inspired by Greta Thunberg, deliberately violating compulsory education laws to demand climate action.	Worldwide
2020	Pandemic-era civil disobedience	Business owners, religious groups, and activists in multiple countries deliberately violate COVID-19 lockdowns and public health orders, framing their actions as resistance to perceived unjust or disproportionate restrictions. The events spark debate over the boundaries of civil disobedience in public health crises.	Worldwide
2020	Racial justice civil disobedience	In addition to mass protest, activists engage in curfew violations, highway blockades, and occupation of public spaces during global Black Lives Matter demonstrations, reinforcing civil disobedience as a tactic against systemic racism.	Worldwide
2020 (May 25)		George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, is killed when a white officer kneels on his neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds. Floyd’s death, recorded by bystanders, sparks widespread protests across the US and globally, addressing police brutality, systemic racism, and white supremacy. Protests are linked to Black Lives Matter, open to all, and spread despite COVID-19 risks. Demonstrations lead to arrests of the officers, policy proposals like the Justice in Policing Act, local police budget cuts, and legislative changes, including ‘Breonna’s Law.’ Protesters use slogans, kneeling, and murals to demand justice and systemic reform.	United States, worldwide
2021	Digital platform resistance	Online communities and workers coordinate mass refusals to comply with platform rules, including coordinated logoffs and service disruptions, marking civil disobedience in algorithmic governance.	Worldwide
2021	Vaccine-mandate civil disobedience	Protesters in multiple countries deliberately violate vaccine mandates and public health regulations, framing refusal as resistance to perceived unjust state coercion. The actions provoke debate about civil disobedience limits in biomedical governance.	Worldwide
2022	Civil disobedience under occupation	Ukrainian civilians engage in nonviolent resistance in Russian-occupied areas by refusing cooperation, organizing protests, and removing occupation symbols. These actions demonstrate the continued relevance of civil disobedience in contemporary geopolitical conflicts.	Ukraine
2022	Climate escalation tactics	Groups such as Just Stop Oil engage in disruptive civil disobedience, including blocking roads, gluing themselves to infrastructure, and targeting cultural institutions to demand rapid fossil fuel phase-out. The tactics mark an escalation in climate-related civil disobedience strategies.	United Kingdom, Europe
2023	Judicial protest and civil disobedience	Mass protests against judicial reforms in Israel include refusal by reservists to report for duty, strikes, and illegal demonstrations. Participants frame their actions as civil disobedience to defend democratic norms and judicial independence.	Israel
2024	Algorithmic and labor resistance	Gig economy workers engage in coordinated app shutdowns, illegal strikes, and refusal to accept algorithmic management, challenging platform labor rules through collective noncooperation. These actions signal the emergence of civil disobedience in algorithmically governed workplaces.	Worldwide

Meta information on the timeline

How the timeline was built

The initial version of the timeline was written by Sebastian Sanchez.

Funding information for this timeline is available.

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What the timeline is still missing

• Civil disobedience
• Examples of civil disobedience
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