(( Fitzgerald has guns but no soldiers, I have guns and soldiers so in that regard I kinda win.
But rebels are always in that position, the problem being that a rebel does not have a big flag above his head that says I'm a rebel.
It's always better to have a back up plan, if you do it nicely first then violence is always available as a fall back, start with violence and your only option is to keep ramping it up until you've killed everybody who resists, which will just make more people resist, or until you self destruct.
Unless you want to make me commander of all armies in which case I fully support whichever option you choose and have no issues shooting a few thousand idiots for not agreeing with me

. I'm an adaptable man when it involves military power in my hands. ))