Conspiracies in Government?

[badwolf]

Hell there! I recently started a new writing project with a partner and we're still in the very beginning stages of planning a graphic novel fantasy adventure, set in medieval time. There's been one problem that I can't seem to get around or find a solution to, maybe a few minds on here can offer suggestions?

Basically the government has a very good reign on it's citizens, keeping them in their control. However a rebellion takes place throwing them in civil war. It's not really a government vs. the people situation more like the people all take sides, some not believing or even hearing the reasoning behind the rebellion.

What causes this rebellion? Well I'm not entirely sure. Government is not my strong by any means. What would be something that if the people found out about they would want to out of the control of their government? Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Nihal]

Does it need to be heroic and dramatic, like the evil oppressive government which kills babies was finally taken down, or can it be more realistic?

To use a recent real-world example, few months ago we had some huge scale protests after the bus fare increased. It took a couple of days to any governor make any speech addressing the issue, they just couldn't understand how millions simply decided to take the streets when the population traditionally resign itself and don't complain. The increase was equivalent to 10 cents. Talk about overreaction, uh?

Not. Years after years the public transportation prices raises, but the service's quality doesn't. It wasn't only about the awful public transportation services, we quietly accepted years of corruption, ridiculously high taxes, embezzlement; the gap between the dollar and real has been increasing, making the inflation raise, etc. The revolt at all this situation grew silently over the years. When the fares increase again, something so "small", it became the tipping point to a huge-scale revolt.

What I've learnt from this: Acceptance of a bad situation creates resentment over years, which becomes tension at each new wrong. Add it to an efficient form of communication* and you have the recipe for a bomb.

--
Now, how could a movement over a non-violent reason escalate to a full revolution? Incorrect response by the authorities. Make the police/militia respond violently to a majorly peaceful movement and you'll have scared, furious protestants. In a medieval society they probably won't use only non-lethal weapons, making the revolt quickly escalate to another level, an overthrow-them-or-die situation.




*In our case it was the social networks, what allowed the fast mobilization and the existence of a movement without a leader, something never seen before here.

 

[Guy]

A lot of that is going to depend on the culture. Things one culture is fine with others find intolerable. Usually, if you oppress people enough or take enough of their money, they'll push back. Also, it usually isn't one thing. It's several things that have been building for a while, then one last event sets it off.

 

[Penpilot]

Think about it in simpler/different terms. What makes anyone rebel from authority? Why would a child rebel against the parent? Why would a crew mutiny against a Capitan? Why would somebody tell off their boss?

Think about it along those terms and extrapolate multiple options and pick the one that fits your society best.

 

[Sanctified]

The best examples are drawn from history.

Did the government levy an unreasonable tax on its citizens? (American Revolution)

Did the government outlaw certain religious beliefs? (English Reformation)

Did some nut rise to power via extreme xenophobia? (Nazi Grmany)

Did the aristocracy continue to lead publicly decadent loves while common people starved? (French Revolution)

Those re all simplified reasons, and there are always other factors, but there's usually a central catalyst. Good luck.

 

[badwolf]

Thanks all who replied! Very good advice here.

I think I definitely need to simplify things a bit and brush up on a few history lessons, as well as develop my world a little more before I start freaking out over this.

 

[Bruce McKnight]

I agree with Guy that culture is a huge driver of how it would go down.

I'm a fan of grayer stories and thought it would be interesting to have a government that really takes care of it's people, but two leaders can't agree on a really small topic (or maybe it's a personal issue) and it tears the government apart, eventually dividing the country in civil war. It would avoid the "evil overlord" trope and could make for endless conflict possibilities.

 

[Abbas-Al-Morim]

What I've learnt from this: Acceptance of a bad situation creates resentment over years, which becomes tension at each new wrong. Add it to an efficient form of communication* and you have the recipe for a bomb.

This isn't just true for internal affairs but also on a geopolitical scale. A lot of people think World War I wouldn't have happened if Gavrilo Princip didn't shoot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. It was just the spark in the the powder keg. If he wouldn't have shot the Archduke, something else would have triggered the war. World War I wasn't the consequence of an assassination but of years of political tension and build-up.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

You want mass protests / rebellions and total confusion with no one really understanding who's against the governemt for what reason, look at the economy and say Greece. Economics is usually the most powerful driver in destroying a society. So take away the means for large segments of the population to earn their daily bread - mass unemployment etc. Then throw in some unfairness to cause resentment - say give the rich tax cuts etc. Take away people's liberties to stir up a bit of anger. And sooner or later you'll have a recipe for an anarchist revolution. Everyone will hate the government but not two groups will want to replace it with the same thing.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[CupofJoe]

Communications will play a part too. Before electric let alone electronic methods of communications, it could take days even weeks for news to travel across a country. There will be plenty of opportunities for "chinese whispers" to corrupt the news [without malice] as its passed from person to person. And even more opportunities for people who get news first to take advantage of the situation and twist it to their own end.
I can remember telling my parents about the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 - They'd been on holiday for a week and heard nothing about it... they didn't believe me until I showed them the papers I'd saved... apartently the Dalily Telegraph is more reliable than a son.

 

[badwolf]

So thanks to the responses I think I'm on the right track. Definitely moving from conspiracies to other causes:

Low resources due to high population and poorer citizen's starving and having their crops and livestock heavily taxed on top of that once shortages shortages start to affect the cities.

 

[Lord Ben]

Could simply be an internal power struggle too. Hugely popular general wants to institute reforms, King disagrees.

Kings first wife has an unpopular eldest son, his second wife has a very popular son/daughter, King dies, etc.

A lot depends on how you want the story to be.

One good example from history is the English Anarchy period. King had his sons die so he groomed his daughter to take over yet when he finally died a lot of his noblemen supported the nephew saying he was the eldest male under certain traditions and others supported the daughter saying she was his chosen heir and also the proper heir under other inheritance traditions. There is also the obvious reason to support one side over the other "because faction X is more likely to grant me titles/lands" too rather than a philosophical desire to choose the proper heir.

 

[Nobby]

If your setting is advanced enough, printed propaganda pamphlets (three 'P' s in a row!) could play a part, nothing sows dissent quicker than a sharply penned missive

 

[wordwalker]

Even if it isn't as advanced, consider a picture (with a basic caption for the literate to explain to their towns). And you can mass-produce those with woodblock printing.