Strategem of Revolution

1776 was not only a revolution in war, it was a revolution in ideals.

For thousands of years people had been governed by kings and queens and those who claimed to be god himself (or herself?).

Their command was irrefutable, their decrees unchallengeable and their authority unquestioned. Those who would dare to challenge these ‘laws-unto-themselves’ were quickly repudiated, punished, thrown into dungeons and often killed.

The authority of the rulers by the ruled was a concept that could not, and would not, be allowed. To rule was to command, to dissent was to die.

This happy form of government would be unchallenged (except for those pesky Greek city-states) for over 4,500 years. Until 1776.

The revolution of 1776 did not begin as a revolution, it began simply as a means to an end, as a form of protest against unreasonable taxes and a way to be heard by the distant seat of government.

The colonists originally sought representation in the royal halls of legislation in order that the voice of the people may be heard, their griefs considered and their counsel recognized. But the people were ignored.

It wasn’t until 1778 that cries of “Independence!” began to be heard throughout the American colonies.

Wars do not begin without caution nor are they entered into lightly. The colonists of America knew full well the dangers they faced from what was then the sole superpower in the world — Great Britain.

They had sought peaceful means, they had written petitions, they had sent letters, representatives traveled to the royal courts of London; but all to no avail.

In the modern world, we have seen where displays of civil disobedience have changed policy or toppled governments; Martin Luther King Jr, and the civil rights movement in the United States and Mahatma Gandhi in India. But in the harsh reality of life in the 18th century, civil disobedience was a form of protest that remained far in the future.

In 1700’s America, the only means of governmental representation would be the way of the gun. Many decades would pass before this would change. Civil disobedience was ineffective when regimes are harsh and successful dissent was a dream.

History herself has revealed the truth: the policy of passive resistance by civil disobedience succeeds only when the repressive governments against whom it is addressed are:

1. Primarily a government in occupation of a foreign territory and/or
2. When said government maintains a high moral conviction and the military and police arms it directs share that conviction and are also highly disciplined.

When the above two criteria are absent or when point two alone is absent or mutated beyond recognition, the repressed citizenry have no other choice to gain their rights and civil liberties, to obtain justice or to make their voices known than that of force of arms.

History has also shown us the necessary ingredients for a successful Revolution:

1. A leader emerges from the masses or is brought in from outside and assumes the persona of the masses.
2. The masses recognize their chains.
3. Hope and Faith. When the masses experience hope and faith. Hope for an eventual victory and a better tomorrow and faith that their cause is just and eventual victory certain.
4. When the masses have determined a means of escape from their repression; such means often presented to them by their leader.
5. When the masses acquire the necessary material resources to fulfill their means and attain their goals.
6. Support from no less than 33% of the population and resistance from no more than 33% of the population.

In this day of 140 character tweets, 10 second soundbites, apps, blockchains and distributed networks, any one of the above points, especially the first, may have modified almost beyond recognition. But logic would seem to dictate that the majority of these points, if not all of these points, remain virtually unchanged from the above to effect the goal of successful Revolution.

As this is written, the drums of war are again beginning to be heard once more, but when that war will occur or what form of war it shall be, perhaps cyberwar or conventional war, a Revolution or a civil war, will be written on the pages of history.