Life is full of all types of examples in which people, have to at one time or another, comply with another, simply because not to do so, will result in the usage of force, violence, punishment, or a form of constraint of which none of these things are desirable, so that person, young or old, small or big, complies. For example, a small child, doesn't have a lot of good options when parental authority rears its fearsome head, and will comply, with or without tears or bellyaching, because not to do so, will have very negative consequences. So too, protestors in all of their various forms when confronted by police officers in full riot gear, that are armed to the teeth with lethal as well as other accouterments of their trade clearly can create real havoc on citizens, who will often comply, reluctantly or not, again because of the consequences of not doing so, could be catastrophic.
The fact that people in all sorts of situations comply with authority, legitimate or not, has more to do with the physical or psychological punishment that they could receive if they do not comply, and little to nothing to do with actually agreeing that their compliance is legitimate and not coerced. This means that those that believe that overwhelming force is the way to lead the world or society and are able to signify its effectiveness by showing that this force compels people and countries to drop to their knees in submission, are missing the most important and vital point of the whole matter, which is that individuals and societies are not foolish when submitting, if by doing so, they maintain their integrity and typically the higher moral ground.
The fact of the matter is that submission or compliance with authority in all of its many guises, does not mean, and often does not represent, an agreement or a belief in the validity of whatever that authority symbol is representing, although, of course, sometimes, it might. In the cases in which there is harmony between those that exert force and those that comply, that harmony represents a respect for either the entity applying the force or a general agreement that the force is legitimate in that particular case, or, it could be simple cowardice. In other cases, compliance can be an expedient to minimize damages to the person or society in the hope that by providing such compliance, privileges will be extended in the future or consideration of such compliance will be looked upon favorably.
The thing that those that apply force seem to forget or not to recognize, is that those applying force cannot do so indefinitely, without themselves continuing to fully believe in its rightness and legitimacy, as well as, those that are submitting, are often submitting while calculating their options for future responsive actions. Everyone has been that child that has been bullied, and within their mindset, there is often a defiant plot of revenge, waiting for the right circumstances, or triggered at some other party that is actionable within their sphere. Citizens that are being abused, browbeaten, and manipulated by their government, are also plotting their revenge, in one form or another, because they will at some point, not take it anymore.
It's not that difficult to get most anybody to submit to force, it is, on the other hand, far more difficult, to get people to submit to you purely out of respect, because that calls upon the qualities of: forbearance, love, wisdom, integrity, fairness, and goodness.