Spark
It’s black and white and grey. It’s dry and dull. It’s continuous and endless. It is all-encompassing. It is overwhelming. It is a reminder and it is a warning. As students in grade school we all have had to take history- American history, World history, European history, French, Spanish, ancient, and modern. Therefore, reading a history textbook is something that we are all familiar with. Reading boring chapter after chapter of events in the distance and present past is a sentence we have all be forced to undergo.
However, history should not be dull. It should not be grey scaled and dry. It should be fast-paced. Events and facts should be fired into your head with the precision and speed of English long-bow men during the 100 years war. You should be out of breath. You should be completely taken in by the wonders and horrors of mankind. When a student reads about a war, any war, their head should be filled with the cries of the soldiers, the wailing of equipment, and the darkness of a world lost in war. And in a passage of a revolution, spirits should be raised. Problems should be brought forth and solutions should be found.
A revolution by its very fabric is an awe-inspiring battle. It is a group of people fighting solely for a belief, fighting under a cause that is intangible. It is a group of people fighting for their definition of what is right. They are fighting for their homes, their families, and the idea that tomorrow will somehow be better. It is a pure form of violence. It is something that draws people in even without them meaning to. It is something that nations crumple over. It is something that nations are born in. It changes and twists the fate of society. Revolution changes the world. Revolution makes history.
It starts with a spark. It starts with the idea of something being unfair. It starts with money or government or rights being stolen. It starts with something so small that eventually poisons the mind until that small idea is every thought and breathe. Until every thought and breathe is full of anger and resentment that curdles the citizens and forces a rebellion. Revolution starts small and grows until it brings the government to it knees. It grows until the rebels are satisfied with the outcome. Until the anger can be quietened and the resentment blown away on the breeze.
Not all revolutions are violent. Some revolutions are in the form of internet blogs and angry protests. Some are in the form of camp sites and petitions. However, the most powerful ones take place in a bloody field with mountains of dead. The most powerful revolution forcibly make people listen. The most powerful revolutions sacrifice everything to the cause. The most powerful are not afraid of the consequences because for the rebels, there is no life if the revolution is not successful. For the most powerful, the world is already too far gone for there to be any other solution. The citizens are starving and too poor to buy food, the citizens are under threat from other nations and cannot build an army, the citizens are chained by their government and cannot breath against the collar. These rebellions work because there is no turning back. There is no future. And the past cannot continue.
Revolution is for winners. It is for the successful. It is for those left alive to write the history books. It is for those make their own nation and alter the social norms of what is correct and proper. If the group of citizens rise up and are torn down, then it is merely a rebellion. Rebellions are black spots. They are the ink blots of the history textbooks. They do nothing except make the books longer. Rebellions make the living conditions worse and the problems more pronounced as the governments tightens the collar around the citizens neck. Rebellions bring the issues to the table but cannot follow through. Revolutions, however, are unstoppable. Revolutions are like a fire raging in a building. They are like a wild-fire in California that can be compromised with but cannot be halted. Revolutions make and break nations and take what they want and give nothing back. They are a necessity in the world to keep the world changing and becoming better.
Caroline, 
aog5478, 
Adam Rastatter and 2 others are discussing.
Caroline 1:46 pm on February 7, 2014 Permalink
Can you teach me history? This is much more fun to read than any high school class. Also, what would your revolution be? You seem super into them, and they are pretty cool, so what do you think would be a good cause? or is there already one going on that you like?
aog5478 1:45 pm on February 7, 2014 Permalink
I like the way you describe revolutions and how they work, especially the pure rebellion that they represent, but I feel like revolution being a pure form of violence is a little bit too extreme. While revolutions do often have significant elements of violence, the underlying goal is so very important to the whole thing. However, I like the passion with which you write about the different revolutions – it really stands out.
Adam Rastatter 1:45 pm on February 7, 2014 Permalink
Such a passionate blog! I thought it was interesting that you said the most powerful revolutions were those fought on bloody fields. I always considered the passive aggressive revolutions such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King to be the most successful but revolutions involving war are by far more interesting for history buffs.
Michael Geitner 1:43 pm on February 7, 2014 Permalink
This post points out a lot of the common ground that exists between all revolutions. Looking at the Arab Spring, there have been widely varying results and much is yet to be determined, but the principles underlying the actions that the rebels took are largely the same between nations.
Susan Nahvi 1:42 pm on February 7, 2014 Permalink
Wow! You certainly do have a flair for bringing the excitement into historical events! You write so passionately and descriptively about the causes of revolution. I definitely think you’ll be able to speak from the point of view of the different revolutionists you’ll be talking about in this blog. Captivating!