Appendix 7- The Entropy of Victory

Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Appendix seven, the entropy of victory. Last week, we ended with victory for the revolution and defeat for the now former sovereign. This was the moment when one of our great idiots of history step forward and managed to screw things up so badly that despite every material, political, social, and ideological advantage, still managed to get overthrown. I mean, you have to be pretty incompetent to allow this to happen. And yet, here we are. It came down to that final test of strength. The regime failed it and was transformed by the mystical trifecta of loss of faith, loss of trust, and loss of will from a regime into an ASEAN regime. Now as we discussed last time, one of the truly remarkable things about our great idiots is how they managed to unite so many different people with so many different interests against them. Nobles and commoners, owners and workers, landlords and peasants, university professors and illiterate laborers. They all came to share a belief that the sovereign was an obstacle. An obstacle to what? Didn't matter. Whatever it is the heart desired. And so, this vast revolutionary coalition full of people with almost as many interests as there were individuals in the coalition came together to do this one thing, remove the obstacle. Well, now that unifying obstacle has been removed, which brings us today to one of the great recurring themes of the revolutions podcast. It has happened in every revolution, to every class of revolutionary, and every class of revolution. The entropy of victory. When unity of shared purpose turns almost immediately into the chaos of factional conflict. Now, at first, there is naturally a real wave of optimism and euphoria that follows the departure of the sovereign. The drinking is fueled now by joy rather than rage. Toast to victory are raised in palaces and cafes and dormitories and out in the streets. And whether people are drinking expensive champagne or grog from a communal barrel, It's all singing and dancing and handshaking and backslapping and partying. We've done it. The bad old regime has been overthrown. Viva La Revolution. In the parties and parades and events that follow, the defecting opposition part of the ruling class, the people who are about to step into the uppermost ranks of power and like the executive ministry, pledged to the people that they will do all that the revolution promised. The people in the street greet this with cheers and say, yes, yes, it is good now that you are in charge. Hooray. Please go do the things we expect the revolution to do. Everyone agrees that everything is great. But when the booze wears off and the sober and hungover light of day intrudes, our oh so recently unified revolutionaries gaze upon each other with fresh eyes. The naive only belatedly realized after the fact that the revolutionary coalition will not hold after revolutionary victory. The more savvy and …