PrintSuccessful revolutions tend to go poorly
Successful revolutions, both violent and peaceful, tend to result in tyrannical rule with very few exceptions. The history of revolutionary governments proves that history does repeat itself.
From ancient Greece to Venezuela, a bloody path of brutality has almost always been left in the wake of new governments coming to power. They either cast off the entirety of the old governments or leave some small remnants for show. In both cases, countless billions have suffered.
With Rome, the Senate became a puppet to Caesars who had absolute power. And more often than not, cruelty from the likes of Nero and Caligula were carried out on Romans.
The French Revolution led to the complete removal of government and a replacement by mob rule. It was the psychopath, Robespierre, who controlled the mob. The mob brutalized and murdered anyone he wanted them to target without question.
The French Revolution created nothing but chaos. When anyone who had any idea about running government was killed or in hiding, very little got done. The chaos ended up with Robespierre’s head being severed, and after a shambling interval, Napoleon taking power.
A tyrant replaced a psychotic tyrant, who replaced a tyrant. The average French people were no better off under any of them.
The October Revolution led to Lenin coming to power in Russia. He put in place the early instruments that Stalin would use to terrorize the Russian people, and beyond. Lenin was a tyrant who left everyone under Soviet control worse off than they were before. When people who know how to run a government are slaughtered, it becomes impossible to govern effectively.
The Nazis' "peaceful" revolution ended up with Hitler keeping the appearance of the government that existed, without any power. Hitler was a modern-day Caesar who ruled with brutality over the German people and many more.
Venezuela was another relatively peaceful revolution where, like Rome and Germany, some of the vestiges of "democracy" were left in place, without the people who knew what they were doing in power to effectively govern.
The Venezuelans have been suffering and starving ever since.
Look at just about any successful revolution. The same thing happens almost every time. Regardless of tyrant being in power prior to their rise, tyranny almost always follows.
There are outliers in history that prove a rare exception to the brutality of successful revolutions.
The American Revolution was one of those rare instances where no tyrant rose to power. They did not just keep the vestiges of government for show. They were kept because that could be used to prevent a tyrant from taking power. The revolutionaries did not want complete destruction of all that came before, leaving a power vacuum to be filled.
The American revolutionaries were made up of varying political beliefs that included moderates who were already in colonial government, like George Washington. Washington was a moderate in Virginia. Any other revolution and Washington would have been targeted by the revolutionaries.
Since American revolutionaries used existing politicians to lead the revolution, they already knew how to govern. And how to put protections in place to prevent a tyrant from coming to power.
There was also the strong leadership of George Washington who never succumbed to the temptations of absolute power, which he had throughout the war. Had it been a morally weaker man leading the military, America easily could have ended up with a tyrant.
The reason successful revolutions so often end up poorly for the majority who suffer following victory is the tendency to kill off those who know how to govern or limit their power to make them worthless. Most importantly is a leader who cannot resist temptation of power due to moral weakness.
Revolutionaries tend to follow charismatic leaders who fill the void of power, and almost never let that power go. Power is a corrupting force that almost no one can resist.
Bob Ryan is a writer who has an MBA. He is an American Christian Zionist who staunchly supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. He has been a weekly blogger at the Times of Israel since 2019.
