Nicki
A Future in Libya
This essay will explore where Libya will be in 5 years by looking back on the French and Russian revolution. The Libyan Ruler, Muammar Gadaffi’s, unfair ruling sparked riots and protests which ignited the Libyan revolution. Libyan citizens killed Gadaffi in 2011, so who is in charge now? The National Transition Council, or the NTC, is now in control until they set up elections to vote for a new leader. The Russian revolution was started when the Russian people wanted rights that were already granted to Americans a while ago, rights to vote. During the French Revolution, the French got caught up in the enlightenment era, which would mean the death of King Louis and Marie Antoinette when riots broke out and the guillotine was created more and more people were sentenced to death and France became a blood bath. By focusing on specific events from past revolutions the future of Libya will become clearer for me to estimate. So the question is, where will Libya be in 5 years? Will it follow Russia and France’s footsteps? Or go on a path of its own?
Louis XVI was the leader of France when the French revolution broke out. Louis promised his country that he would fix many of their issues, and he never did. Much like Louis, Gadaffi made promises he never kept, like the promise to change the contents of the “green book”, which eventually, he never followed through on. The Green Book is a book written by Muammar that contains the rules and living conditions that Libyans MUST go by. However, this green book was not fair towards Libyan’s civil rights. Leading up to Louis XVI’s death, France was in a deep economic crisis because of their involvement and aid in the 7-year war. The King and his wife at the time, Marie Antoinette were very rich and selfish. France was moving into the enlightenment era, which was the idea that everyone was equal. When the guillotine was created, making it easier to kill mass amounts of people very quickly. The guillotine is a device that has was created to kill people quickly and effectively. Maximilien Robespierre started to influence France during the reign of terror, which was a time in France that everyone was being sentenced to death. You couldn’t trust anyone, neighbor was turning in neighbor, family members were turning in family members if you said something disloyal to your country. King Louis was executed on the guillotine, his death was influenced by Robespierre and the majority of the French population wanted him dead. Muammar Gadaffi was killed by his citizens too, (click here to see a video of President Obama pronouncing Gadaffi’s death). The National Transition Council took power of Libya and is still in power until they can set up elections for a new leader. The Libyan people want a democracy. These two events of both the Libyan leader’s death and the leader of France’s death are moments that will never be forgotten by each country. These two events definitely relate to each other and help show how the citizens took power.
The Russian Revolution was sparked by one of the most historical and bloodshed events that took place in Russian history. Bloody Sunday was not only the start to a new revolution, but the beginning of an unsteady economic and political society. The middle class society, worked almost 11 hours a day, in an unsafe, hot factory. As hard as they worked, they got paid minimum wage and the safety conditions were bad. On January 22nd, 1905, 200,000 workers from Russias lower class, went to Czar Nicholas II’s Palace to petition for better personal freedoms, working conditions and free elections. The Czar became overwhelmed by the amount of protestors, he ordered open fire on the crowd. The amount of people that were actually killed is still be argued today but the estimate is around 94-96 innocent civilians. Priest Gorge Gapon, wrote a petition as the voice of the working class. In the petition some of the rights they asked for were eight hour work days and the regulation of over-time. (Click here to see the full petition.) When civilians heard about the Czar killing innocent Russians, it encouraged them to fight even harder for the rights they desired and deserved that were listed in the petition. The same kind of event happened in Libya, on Febuary 15, 2011, Libyan protestors stormed the Benghazi. They were unhappy with the decisions their unfair leader, Muammar Gadaffi was making. These two events are very relatable because both events were the start of each revolution. These events were sparked by the hatred of each countries leader and their actions.
In 5 years I predict that Libya will be in a really good place. The National Transition Council has been doing a good job at keeping the power in Libya. By looking back on the French and Russian revolutions I was able to see that France is doing very well right now. Nicolas Sarzoky is the current President and elections will be taking place very soon. Relating the death of King Louis and the death of Muammar really helped me understand that each of those events was a turning point in each war. Although the Libyan revolution is classified as a civil war because of all of the protests and riots, it is still a revolution because the Libyans revolted against the government. The Libyan citizens kept fighting until they got what they wanted and the death of a unfair leader is just what they had in mind. The Russian revolution helped me understand the violence aspect in each revolution. Russia is not in a very good place right now but their ruler was not killed during the past revolution. I really believe that Libya will be at peace in 5 years and they will have the kind of democracy they want. Looking at the past revolutions really helped me estimate Libya’s fate. Now that Gadaffi is far out of the picture, a new great leader will step in and create a peaceful, thriving country.