ble price for its mistake.

Another assumption on which the advocates of violence act is that the
use of physical force in a noble cause inevitably brings about the
triumph of that cause. History gives us no basis for such an assumption.
There is much evidence that force sometimes fails, even when it is used
on the "right" side. Although the sense of fighting in a righteous cause
may improve the morale and thus increase the effectiveness of an army,
actually wars are won by the _stronger_ side. It is a curious fact that
on occasion both opposing armies may feel that they are fighting on the
side of righteousness. Napoleon summarized the soldier's point of view
when he said that God was on the side of the largest battalions. During
the uncertain process of violent conflict, the destruction of human
life--innocent and guilty alike--goes on.

Just as there is evidence that violence used in a righteous cause is not
always successful, there is evidence that non-violent methods sometimes
succeed. Without attempting to give the final answer to the question
whether violence creates so much destruction of human values that its
apparent successes are only illusory, we can say that the success or
failure of both violence and non-violence is determined by the
conditions under which both are used, and attempt to discover the
circumstances under which they have been effective.

(1) No great social movement can arise unless the grievance against the
existing order is great and continuous, or the demand for a new order is
so deeply ingrained in the minds of the people in the movement that they
are willing to expend great effort and undergo great sacrifices in order
to bring about the desired change.

(2) The group devoted to the idea of change must be large enough to have
an impact on the situation. This is true whether the group desires to
use violent or non-violent methods. In any case there will be a
balancing of forces between those desiring change and those who oppose
it. All of the non-violent techniques we have considered require
sufficient numbers so that either their refusal of cooperation, their
participation in politics, or their practice of positive goodwill has a
significant effect upon the whole community.

(3) The group that has a strong desire to bring about social change may
be augmented in strength by the support of other elements in the
population who do not feel so strongly on the issue. The less vigorous
suppo