Violence is inherently flawed. In Gandhi's immortal words, "Victory achieved by violence is equivalent to defeat, because it is momentary." Therefore the most successful strategy for lasting peace and independence is nonviolence. This concept is critical to understanding the history of this time period. Violence and its lack, nonviolence, plays an important role in the unfolding of this chapter. Many question the practicality of nonviolence: “How can it work?” “Why can't armed, powerful adversaries simply kill anyone who disagrees with them?” The answer couldn't be simpler: because the people will rebel. A few thousand oppressors exercising violence simply cannot control several million determined people. This lack of control is illustrated by four events throughout this chapter. First, let's look at an example of nonviolence at work. In March 1917, nearly 200,000 textile workers in Petrograd, Russia, led a citywide strike. Chants like "Down with autocracy!" and “Down with the war!” were heard as all the workers swarmed through the streets. The soldiers, following the tsar's orders, shot down the rioters, but later sided with them. This uprising became known as the March Revolution, an example of nonviolent protest (civil disobedience). The March Revolution is significant because it was a nonviolent way (at least on the part of the protesters) of expressing the belief that Russia should exit the war. Did the dissidents get what they wanted? Well, “the role of civil disobedience is to generate a response”. In this case, the response was exactly what the protesters wanted. The tsar abdicated his throne. The March Revolution deposed the Tsar and was a step towards giving the people what they wanted. This shows t...... middle of paper ......This refers to current events. The United States is currently engaged in the war on terrorism. If this lesson of history were truly taken to heart and heeded, we would not send soldiers; instead, we would send diplomats and negotiators. Force only breeds resentment and we will never truly be able to keep the Middle East under control. Fundamentally, the mechanism that the United States is using for control is flawed, and therefore, as long as these means are used, history says that the United States will never win. To reiterate: violence has failed (as a method of creating a lasting friendship). ) for the totalitarian Joseph Stalin and the Chinese Communist Party. However, nonviolence (as a method of ensuring lasting peace and independence) was enormously successful for the Indian people (led by Gandhi) and for the Russians during the March Revolution. Violence never works.