Restrain revolutionary in ranks (6)
I believe the answer is:
tiered
'in ranks' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'restrain revolutionary' is the wordplay.
'restrain' becomes 'tie' (tying is a kind of restraining).
'revolutionary' becomes 'red'.
'tie'+'red'='TIERED'
(Other definitions for tiered that I've seen before include "Like some wedding cakes" , "Arranged in layers like big cake" , "Laid out in layers, like wedding cake" , "Constructed in layers, like wedding cake" , "Cunstructed in layers" .)