Typically, the winner is determined by (1) might (overwhelming scale), (2) surprise (unexpected violence or betrayal), or (3) weak point leverage (fulcrums or flexibility).
Given the goal of a revolution, you will not have the numbers to win, so the revolutionary must use (2) surprise and/or (3) weak points. This is called terrorism or guerilla warfare.
To attempt a pacifist rebellion is to protest from inside your moral strictures: we can only beg for concessions and policy tuning from a violent state. Further, in our clamoring, disruptive asking, we are verifying the state’s power to give and our subordinate status.
If you protest but do not dare, you lose perpetually.
from Ward Churchill, Pacifism as Pathology