Wars and Revolutions - Do You Have Them in Your Stories?

[Tangle Shine]

I have been intrigued by conflicts in stories, specifically real open conflicts. I love how wars or revolutions can reshape society and bring unprecedented changes to a story's setting. It is interesting to think out a series of events that can influence how characters interact with the world surrounding them. A war can alter character's decisions, so do the fate of the story's timeline. What kind of wars or revolutions do you all have in your own stories? If there is any, do you all mind to share them?

 

[RedAngel]

I personally love the idea of having war(s) in my stories. There is so much you can do with them and I fully intend to make the most of changing goals, drives, mental states, locations, civilizations, religions, etc. I will have three wars in my writing. Though for the most part I am much more interested in the effects afterwards.

The first war is a war of genocide waged upon the elves by the humans which triggers the fall of many civilizations much like the end of the bronze age when the elves stop manipulating the weather and monsters are now raiding to survive the massive drought that sweeps across continents.

The second war is a crusade against a god who is brought back into existance.

The third is a war of different pantheons of gods from around the world.

 

[Gurkhal]

The way I use wars is that they are most often extensions of conflict between characters and I try to avoid having impersonal reasons drive wars, but link them to traits of characters. That way the wars become essentially another way for characters to interact with each other and create new situations and develop relations with characters around them. Because from my own reading and what I've heard from authors that I admire, characters and personal motives are the foundation of engrossing writing and reading.

In the two VIP projects I have going right now, and which I hope to FINALLY be able to finish, are one war between two duchies in a feudal and medieval setting and one war between three bronze-age/early iron-age city-states of Mesopotamian style, regarding a dynastic dispute to the kingship over a city. In both cases personal motivations and ambitions are the moving forces while impersonal political considerations are at best secondary to what decisions are taken.

 

[skip.knox]

Well my novel has a war but that's because goblins have invaded the empire. So, nothing very profound there. Just a horde of monsters. And yes, the invasion changes the lives of the characters, as they face a thing no one has ever had to face before (first appearance of goblins).

 

[Rkcapps]

I'm a bit different to everyone, I don't have a war (which I like how it changes characters) but a battle. An insecure, jealous warlord seeks to destroy his competition so he mobilisises an army to wipe his competition off the face of world. First he sends assassins though.

 

[Insolent Lad]

Wars in some of them. The Donzalo's Destiny 'epic' is largely about intrigues meant to prevent a major war and presents minor skirmishes only. But the folk of my Mora/Malvern books are constantly engaged in tribal conflict, sometimes breaking into full war. There are invasions, rebellions, civil wars. When I think about it, the threat of war usually plays a larger role in my stuff than war itself.

 

[LRFrancis]

I have war that has been going for centuries, people vs creatures trying to enter there lands, they must keep fighting to keep them back. It has become part of normal life, people are paid to fight, typically for young adults it is the best way to earn a good wage to support family back home, if they come back.

This is all still work in progress, but my story is more on the what happens when the war is finally over, what will the people do and more importantly, who else was fighting them and are now free to expand in to now territory.

 

[SaltyDog]

I have a massive, ancient war going on between the races of my land. The fighting has been going on for over three centuries, and is taking a terrible toll over the people and countries. Basically, it's a world war. My writing takes place near the end of the war, as one side is gradually losing.

 

[Tangle Shine]

I personally love the idea of having war(s) in my stories. There is so much you can do with them and I fully intend to make the most of changing goals, drives, mental states, locations, civilizations, religions, etc. I will have three wars in my writing. Though for the most part I am much more interested in the effects afterwards.

The first war is a war of genocide waged upon the elves by the humans which triggers the fall of many civilizations much like the end of the bronze age when the elves stop manipulating the weather and monsters are now raiding to survive the massive drought that sweeps across continents.

The second war is a crusade against a god who is brought back into existance.

The third is a war of different pantheons of gods from around the world.

It sounds like the world of your story will get to be reshaped completely after these three massive wars, both physically and ideologically.

The way I use wars is that they are most often extensions of conflict between characters and I try to avoid having impersonal reasons drive wars, but link them to traits of characters. That way the wars become essentially another way for characters to interact with each other and create new situations and develop relations with characters around them. Because from my own reading and what I've heard from authors that I admire, characters and personal motives are the foundation of engrossing writing and reading.

In the two VIP projects I have going right now, and which I hope to FINALLY be able to finish, are one war between two duchies in a feudal and medieval setting and one war between three bronze-age/early iron-age city-states of Mesopotamian style, regarding a dynastic dispute to the kingship over a city. In both cases personal motivations and ambitions are the moving forces while impersonal political considerations are at best secondary to what decisions are taken.

I see. Perhaps someday I will chase for Game of Thrones series (or its more delicate novel series) for this type of politically dynastic warfare for reference in enhancing my work.

Well my novel has a war but that's because goblins have invaded the empire. So, nothing very profound there. Just a horde of monsters. And yes, the invasion changes the lives of the characters, as they face a thing no one has ever had to face before (first appearance of goblins).

So, is it some kind of well-thought context for your more interesting storyline and plot/character arc?

I'm a bit different to everyone, I don't have a war (which I like how it changes characters) but a battle. An insecure, jealous warlord seeks to destroy his competition so he mobilisises an army to wipe his competition off the face of world. First he sends assassins though.

It is like a threat of war. A secretive war, where espionage and undercover missions rule the stage. Somehow, I admire this kind of conflict whereas there will be open exploitation on certain characters to turn the table both politically and personally. Family members of a main character are sometimes involved in the secretive conflict, for example the rival will threaten his family for some deals, and so on. There are many possibilities behind this kind of luscious battle.

Wars in some of them. The Donzalo's Destiny 'epic' is largely about intrigues meant to prevent a major war and presents minor skirmishes only. But the folk of my Mora/Malvern books are constantly engaged in tribal conflict, sometimes breaking into full war. There are invasions, rebellions, civil wars. When I think about it, the threat of war usually plays a larger role in my stuff than war itself.

Is your story also narrating about the atmosphere and mood of the prewar world? Like the status quo (instability) before these conflicts occurred?

I have war that has been going for centuries, people vs creatures trying to enter there lands, they must keep fighting to keep them back. It has become part of normal life, people are paid to fight, typically for young adults it is the best way to earn a good wage to support family back home, if they come back.

This is all still work in progress, but my story is more on the what happens when the war is finally over, what will the people do and more importantly, who else was fighting them and are now free to expand in to now territory.

Have you ever considered more about the key aftereffects during and after this long-lasting war? I would like to hear more about your general thoughts, very interesting. It somehow portrays one of the key features of my revolution+war world.

I have a massive, ancient war going on between the races of my land. The fighting has been going on for over three centuries, and is taking a terrible toll over the people and countries. Basically, it's a world war. My writing takes place near the end of the war, as one side is gradually losing.

Can it be severe enough to usher on a new era of something?

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I personally thank you all for providing me some insights about how to deal with conflicts in story. It is really mesmerizing to see other writers putting effort on this.

 

[ThinkerX]

My stories are set in a large empire reeling from the aftermath of a devastating, decades long invasion by another power. The Empire triumphed, though just barely, and to secure that victory, had to resort to social and technological innovations. Several of the major characters are veterans of this conflict, attempting to find their place in a changing society.

The biggies:

Because the imperial coffers were effectively empty at the wars end, the veterans were rewarded with land and citizenship for themselves and their immediate families (brothers, sisters, offspring) instead of coin. This automatically tripled the size of the miniscule 'middle class.' A major faction of the aristocracy is highly annoyed at this.

Bicycles. Prior to the war, these contraptions were a curiosity, found almost exclusively in a single province. During the war, bicycle legions outran and outflanked enemy forces. Now, they're everywhere, giving ordinary folk unprecedented mobility, and the concept of 'pedal power' is seeing other uses. Things like stationary machines, boats, and pedi-cabs.

Other emergency war-time technological gains include greatly improved farming equipment (far fewer peasants needed in the fields) and improved food preservation methods. Signal towers spanned the empire before the war, allowing imperial missives to be sent thousands of miles in a couple days, but now merchants and even commoners are making great use of the system.

While merchants and daring opportunists prosper, a major faction of the aristocracy has taken an immense hit, being reduced to little more than commoners with meaningless titles.

 

[Gurkhal]

I see. Perhaps someday I will chase for Game of Thrones series (or its more delicate novel series) for this type of politically dynastic warfare for reference in enhancing my work.

I think it would be a good thing for you to read them. Its in my humble opinion the finest works of fantasy created so far since the works of Tolkien.

 

[pmmg]

I do have wars in some, and political intrigue in others. Not so much a revolution, unless getting defeated and having to rebuild counts as revolution, cause I suppose it is of a sort...

In the current one the war is kind of lifelong, and the powers involved have different levels of commitment, and allegiance to each other. Since the POV focus of the book is mostly along the lines of only what the character knows, it is mostly centered on the battles they are involved in, or other characters who have POV scenes. So there is no over arching explanation of the war and the lands taken, and what it means. There are powers that would know the real objectives, but the characters are not privy to them. Many think the war can be contained, but not truly won. They are kind of unaware of how completely their strings are being pulled. It will break open though, and the war will become one that threatens the existence of all of them.


I did do one novel, where the MC was a general, and his war plans were pretty much well laid out and explained, as well as what he thought of the war and was trying to achieve. However, as they say, if you see a plan explained on screen, that means it wont go the way they planned, and if they don't let you see the explanation then it will all go according to plan.

 

[JonSnow]

I think it would be a good thing for you to read them. Its in my humble opinion the finest works of fantasy created so far since the works of Tolkien.

IMO it's a greater work than LOTR, The Hobbit, etc. I know that's heresy among fantasy fans, as Tolkien is the virtual pioneer of the entire genre. And I'm saying this as someone who has adored Tolkien's works since I was a teenager. But GRR Martin changed everything, made it darker, more true to actual human character (with a touch of magic thrown in), and brought to the forefront the conflicting moral choices that EVERY person (both good and evil) must make. And how even the "good" characters aren't always good, and the "bad" characters aren't always bad. Even Cersei Lannister, terrible as she is, has redeeming qualities such as unbreakable love for her children.

Obviously not everybody is going to agree with me here, which is fine. But back to the topic of conversation here... all wars are fought over family, religion, vengeance, and money/power. And the psychological warfare between rival families, or secret wars of men like Varys and Littlefinger can be as, or more intriguing than bloody battles in the field fought by hulking men in plate armor. And it's a lot more difficult to write the subtle/clandestine warfare than giant battle scenes. But the payoff is greater, too.

 

[ChasingSuns]

I absolutely love the conflict that wars and revolutions can provide for a story. There's also a ton of potential to really put your characters through some tough stuff. I have a series of wars in the current series that I'm writing. They get kicked off by the events in the first book, and start happening pretty much back to back (the way they play out causes them to lead into each other). Eventually most of the continent is destroyed because of these wars (which sets up the setting for the next series that I am writing, which takes place in the same world but much later in the future).

 

[Aryth]

One of my stories has a war and revolution inspired by the "Dirty War" that occurred in Argentina from 1976-1983. I was lost in the land of Pinterest when I saw a list of different types of governments, one of them being "junta," which I'd never heard of before. I looked it up and came across Argentina's bloody, sad political history. I had to have a story like it.

Reference: Dirty War | Argentine history | Britannica.com

I had never even heard of this war before, which frustrated me. Why, American education system, why are you so ethnocentric?!

 

[pmmg]

Love to learn about Argentina, but I fear I must defend our nation a little bit. I grew up in the 70's and 80's, and I knew a little of Argentina's politics. Certainly, a lot of us learned a bit about it just due to the popularity of Evita. But you know, there are a lot of wars going on in the world, and while I am sure they are all tragic, I am not sure it is a requirement for us to know a lot about all of them. In the 70's and 80's I think many of us were aware that were conflicts in many of our southern neighbors. Guerilla forces against corrupt government types, about drugs, and about socialism and capitalism, and about strong men and money, and about the Cold war. I am not sure that any of that was any direct concern of the US. The US after all was in its own wars and dealing with its own Cold War adversaries. I don’t know a lot about the Hutu and the Tutsis either, but I know its a bad place to be. If I had a magic wand, I would certainly want to fix all these things, and not have people doing such terrible things to each other, but that wand we have comes with a lot of effort, a lot of lives, a lot of money, and does not necessarily change for the better the lives of the people we would use it on.

I am not sure if Ethnocentric is the right word. The US has its problems too, and sometimes stuff going on other places is just not where our focus lies, or needs to lie. Its not necessarily right or wrong, its just a thing. I am not sure, even today, there is a great deal of value in studying Argentina history as it relates to the US, over say China, or Russia or Europe. Those other areas seem to have more of an impact on US and the world at large than Argentina as things currently stand. I am not sure there are many Argentinian’s who know a lot about the US in the 70’s and 80’s either.

 

[Aryth]

Thanks for your response, ppmg. I'm a bit younger and grew up in the 90's so I didn't get to learn about it as it was occurring. You're right that what happened in Argentina probably didn't affect us as a nation that much if at all. I suppose I just wish that I had learned more than just European and American history over and over again, and had learned from different perspectives. I used ethnocentric because I feel that our education system has a history of focusing on one culture and one voice (White European) while ignoring others. I'm seeing a shift out here in California, though, at least at the college level which is good! I've recently been trying to challenge my own biases and perspectives, so that's where I'm at right now. I realize I've gotten off topic, sorry about that! I'm actually really nervous to post this...

 

[Antaus]

With one of the stories I've been working on, there are quite a few wars. The current story is set in the world's forth age, and there has been quite a bit of conflict in the past. I'll even give a small example of the timeline I made.

First Age

5,000.1 – The Men of the World settle in the south forming the first five cities after the Great War, Trego, Hadok, Oyost, Frebin, and Bohamon. Each grows in strength, power, and prosperity, as well as developing their own unique traditions and cultures. These five cities, remembering how terrible the Great War was, live in peace and harmony.

4,300.1 – The Great Expansion takes places. After seven centuries of living in their five cities and small surrounding towns, they can no longer support all the people. Many settlers move out across the land taming nature and making homes for themselves, sometimes far from the five cities.

3,100.1 – More than a thousand years have passed since the Great Expansion, and the face of Charinium is home to many great towns and cities. Far and wide they dot the land with people of all different cultures, beliefs, and traditions, but all is not well. Nearly two millennia have passed since the founding of the first cities, and many have forgotten the horrors of war.

2,900.1 – King Dariak the Terrible of Trego is the first to rally an army since the Great War, and sends it out against a village of his neighbor King Bimar of Hadok, seeking to take their lands and riches for himself. This results in an entire village of people being slaughtered, and leads to a grievous war between the two.

2,889.1 – King Lobin of Bohamon sides with Dariak, seeking land and riches through conquest. Kings Raba of Frebin and Fygo of Oyost side with Bimar resulting in what history now knows as the War of the Five Kingdoms. Dariak and Lobin's forces are defeated after a long and bloody conflict lasting 11 years. Dariak is killed in the final battle while Lobin commits suicide as his castle is breached by the forces of the three kings. The war comes to an end and the lands of Lobin and Dariak are peacefully divided up amongst the remaining kings, thus two of the original five kingdoms, Trego and Bohamon, fade from history.

 

[Tangle Shine]

With one of the stories I've been working on, there are quite a few wars. The current story is set in the world's forth age, and there has been quite a bit of conflict in the past. I'll even give a small example of the timeline I made.

First Age

5,000.1 – The Men of the World settle in the south forming the first five cities after the Great War, Trego, Hadok, Oyost, Frebin, and Bohamon. Each grows in strength, power, and prosperity, as well as developing their own unique traditions and cultures. These five cities, remembering how terrible the Great War was, live in peace and harmony.

4,300.1 – The Great Expansion takes places. After seven centuries of living in their five cities and small surrounding towns, they can no longer support all the people. Many settlers move out across the land taming nature and making homes for themselves, sometimes far from the five cities.

3,100.1 – More than a thousand years have passed since the Great Expansion, and the face of Charinium is home to many great towns and cities. Far and wide they dot the land with people of all different cultures, beliefs, and traditions, but all is not well. Nearly two millennia have passed since the founding of the first cities, and many have forgotten the horrors of war.

2,900.1 – King Dariak the Terrible of Trego is the first to rally an army since the Great War, and sends it out against a village of his neighbor King Bimar of Hadok, seeking to take their lands and riches for himself. This results in an entire village of people being slaughtered, and leads to a grievous war between the two.

2,889.1 – King Lobin of Bohamon sides with Dariak, seeking land and riches through conquest. Kings Raba of Frebin and Fygo of Oyost side with Bimar resulting in what history now knows as the War of the Five Kingdoms. Dariak and Lobin's forces are defeated after a long and bloody conflict lasting 11 years. Dariak is killed in the final battle while Lobin commits suicide as his castle is breached by the forces of the three kings. The war comes to an end and the lands of Lobin and Dariak are peacefully divided up amongst the remaining kings, thus two of the original five kingdoms, Trego and Bohamon, fade from history.

The periodization of your fictional history does resemble one of the Elder Scrolls, simply love the way you put epochs to differentiate major events one from another. I also have a similar approach to this, but the events were somehow metaphysical in nature for the first two known periods.

Note: Well, I think I need to open a new thread regarding this topic specifically.

I called each division of historical periods as Times, where there are roughly 4 Times:
- Beyond Times (BT)
- Ancient Times (AT)
- Old Times (OT)
- New Times (NT)

For example, a year may be named as OT 398.

The description for one of the Times, Beyond Times is as follows:

Beyond Times
The pre-time world simply known as the Canvas existed simply. Whose ancient being disputably the Canvian sought to rediscover the proper ways of rebuilding the realm once deemed flawed in the previous attempt. They assembled each other to congregate a convention, the Prime Covenant of Canvas; where they discussed telepathically about how to utilize the given blank workspace (the Canvas) to produce something corporeally perfect.

Some Canvians agreed to create something which could last forever and so remain the current realm in-progress as perpetually perfect, so that the world has no need to be rebuilt once and for all. Some Canvians agreed to create something which could alter according to external influences and so shape the current realm in-progress as perpetually imperfect, so that the world has reasons to be rebuilt and learnt from the mistakes.

The two agreements of their own proposals led to the Conflict, when both sides disagreed with each side's intention. The Conflict whom Canvians caused escalated further; when the newly-formed quasi-faction: the Lopsang (lawp-sang; Changer), broke the cage of Time hence Time flows chaotically. Another quasi-faction: the Gagan (gah-gun; Stasis), was enraged by the doings of Lopsang that they created Space to contain the escaping Time.

Unfortunately, the Time flowed too fast that the Gagan could not contain all of Its influences across the chaotic Canvas. They could only expand the Space further and further so that the Time could be trapped completely. They did succeed, however, they were also entrapped themselves within the boundary of Time. They cannot escape their own undoings henceforth the stage was set.

In later times, Time was fully established inside the Space. The laws and natures of the realm were set in stone. Changer humiliated the Stasis by dominating the overall observance and construction of the Time-filled Canvas. Stasis could not do anything but to watch the world being formed by those fierce celestials, unwillingly. The Conflict was over.

Then thing happened, some Canvians started to appear corporeally physical. The First Revelation had come, they were becoming mortals to live in this flawed world, again. Some traces of the Canvas started to tear down as well, manifesting themselves physically to accommodate the mortal Canvians. In this incomplete yet spherical land, they declared themselves as Divine Mortals, the Yaws; and declared their footing world as Mutual Struggle, the Yura. In the final moments of their declarations, the Changer silently observed. "Interesting." one of the members telepathically whispered.

The Times ended and Ancient Times began.

Anyway, this can be said as some sort of fourth dimensional revolution.