A Brief Survey Of Human History Part Ii

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LAOCOON

A fine piece of sculpture which very welksymbolises the
Ordeal of Humanity

A BRIEF SURVEY

OF

HUMAN HISTORY

l»ART II

BY

S. R. SHARMA, M. A.

Professor of History, Willingdon College, Sangli,

Author of ' Mughal Empire in India’, 1 The Crescent in India’.

KARNATAK PUBLISHING HOUSE

BOMBAY 2

Part 1 published June 1933.

Printed by M. N. KoutAwn at the Kaknatak Printing Pkess, dura Bazar,
Bombay, and published by him at the Karnatak Publishing House,
Chira Bazar, Bombay 2.

CONTENTS

Pages

Section Three (Descriptive Note) . 249

Ch. XV. The Rise of Islam : . 251—262

Commencement of the Modem Age.

Prophet Muhammad. Caliphates of
Bagdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. Conquests
of the Crescent: West and East. The
Legacy of Islam .

Ch. XVI. Towards Better Order in Europe : .. 263—272

Fall of the Roman Empire: the Dark
Age in Europe. Frankish Kingdom in the
West. Charlemagne and his successors.

Otto the Great and his successors.

Struggles between Emperors and Popes.

No Imperial way out of the chaos.

Ch. XVII. The Sway of the Cross : .. .. 273—284

Roman Catholic Church the sole cham¬
pion of order and civilisation. The
power of the Popes. Monastic Orders.

The Crusades.

Ch. XVIII, Medieval Life in Europe : .. .. 285—299

Feudalism : its characteristics. Knight-
errantry and the Age of chivalry. Monas¬
teries, Manors, and Towns. Education
and Literature. The Great Florentines.

Ch. XIX. The East in Medieval Times : .. 300—313

Tang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties of
China. Pre-Mughal Muslim and Hindu

dynasties of India. Population move¬

ments : Mongols and Turks. Marco Polo,

Al-Biruni, and Ibn Battuta,

IV

CONTENTS

Pages

314—328

Ch. XX. The Age of Expansion :

Renaissance. Continuity of civilisation.

Intercourse between East and West. Geo¬
graphical discoveries. Intellectual expan¬
sion. Art and Architecture.

Ch. XXI. The Reformation in Europe : .. 329—341

Reactions against autocracy and cor¬
ruption. John Wycliffe ‘Morning Star
of the Reformation.’ Erasmus and ‘ The
Praise of Folly.' The Lutheran protest.

Zwingli and Calvin. Counter-Reforma¬
tion.

Chronology : Section Three . 342—345

Section Four (Descriptive Note) . 347

Ch. XXII. The Spell of Grand Monarchy : . . 349—364

Monarchy: history, use and abuse.

Alfred the Great to Elizabeth Tudor in
England. French monarchy to Louis
XIV. Hapsburgs to Joseph II. The
Mughals in India.

Ch. XXIII. Fall of the Old Order : .. 365—377

The tyranny of Divine Right. Spanish
Fury in the Netherlands. The Stuart
catastrophe in England. Revolution in
France. Failure of the Mughals in India.

Ch. XXIV. The Making of Modern Europe : . . 378—392

The Thirty Years’ War. Utrecht to
Vienna. Austrian Succession and Seven
Years’ Wars. The rise of Prussia. The
Romanoffs. The menace of France and
Legitimism.

CONTENTS

Pages

393—404

Ch. XXV. The Expansion of Europe :

Norsemen, Portuguese, and Spaniards.

The Dutch, English, and French rivalries.

Expansion in America, Africa and Asia.

The Industrial Revolution and its conse¬
quences.

Ch. XXVI. Awakening of the East : .. 405—419

First awakening in India. China under
the Manchus. European scramble in the
‘ Far East/ The Meiji Era in Japan.

Ch. XXVII. The World To-day : . 420-439

The old Imperialisms. Bismarckian
Prussia to the Great War. * Victory
without peace/ The legacy of Versailles.

Russian Revolution. Post-war India and
Turkey. The new menace of Japan and
the Dictatorships.

Ch. XXVIII. Past, Present, and Future : .. 440—457

Grand resume. Progress in Antiquity.
Contributions of East and West. Mate¬
rial and Spiritual advancement. Religion,

Politics, Industry, and Science. Destruc¬
tive War or Constructive Peace ?

Epilogue : . 458—459

The meaning and significance of our Brief
Survey of Human History .

Chronology : Section Four . 460—464

Appendicies : . 465—473

A. Cost of the Great War : Men and

Money.

B. Expenditure on Armaments: Post-

War.

C. Fighting Forces of the Powers To-day.

D. The League of Nations: Covenant

475—493

Index :

ILLUSTRATIONS

Laocoon

The Empire of Islam

Medieval Europe
The Empire of Napoleon
The Empire of Britain
Modern Asia
Modem Europe

Frontispiece
Facing page 255
„ 272

„ „ 374

„ „ 404

„ 419

„ „ 429

SECTION THREE

Herein is described the transition from;
the Ancient to the Modern world :
Chapter XV deals with The Rise of Islam
which vitally affected the history of both
Asia and Europe. In Chapter XVI are
revealed the unsuccessful efforts Towards
Better Order in Europe made by the Holy
Roman Emperors, leading to the histone
rivalry between Church and State. Chapter
XVII shows The Sway of the Cross through
the power of the Popes, the Monastic
Orders, and the Crusades. Medieval Life in
Europe in all its phases is described in
Chapter XVIII, while Chapter XIX throws
a flood of light on The East in Medieval
Times, particularly China, India, and Greater
India. The great discoveries and intellectual
movements in The Age of Expansion form
the subject matter of Chapter XX, and their
culmination in The Reformation in Europe
is dealt with in Chapter XXL

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE RISE OF ISLAM

Islam prevailed because it was the best social
and political order the times could offer...It
was the broadest, freshest, and cleanest political
idea that had yet come into actual activity
in the world, and it offered better terms than any
other to the mass of mankind.—H. G. Wells

The transition from the Ancient World to the Modem is
difficult to express in definite chronological terms. But the
line, however arbitrary, must be drawn somewhere. In the
history of Europe the capture of Constantinople by the Turks
(1453) is taken as a dear turning point. In the history of
India, the commencement of Mughal rule (1526) is consider¬
ed by some as a suitable stage from which to begin our
‘modem’ period. However, both these happenings in the
history of the World had their beginnings in the Rise of
Islam, which therefore may be taken, for all practical pur¬
poses, as the ‘ watershed ’ which divides the two streams in
World History. Geographically, the home of Islam affords
a corridor between Europe and Asia; while culturally also
it shares the characteristics of more than one dvilisation.
Though Arabia played no direct part in the history of hu¬
manity so far traced by us, that peninsula was the reservoir
from which the various brandies of the Semitic race, the
Babylonians, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, etc., ‘moved exit
and vitally affected the course of human history. Arabia

252 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

had also been, though only nominally, a province of several
Empires in succession, viz., of Egypt, Persia, Macedonia,
Rome, and Constantinople. But it was now her turn to build
up an Empire of her own which would challenge comparison
with the greatest. This was due to the sudden rise of a new
religion.

For centuries before Muhammad preached Islam (622-632
a.d. » the people of Arabia had stagnated in the back-waters
of their desert peninsula. They led a wild and nomadic life
of unrelieved tribal struggles, except during a part of the
year when, as in ancient Greece during the Olympic festivities,
the ‘ truce of God ’ was proclaimed to enable all the Arabs
to meet in Mecca for worship at the shrine of Kaaba. This
comprised a cubical black stone, which was believed to have
fallen from Heaven, and supplied the only unifying factor
in an otherwise chaotic world. For the rest of the year the
Arabs worshipped their own tribal deities, indulged in their
blood-feuds, or revelled in their incontinent orgies. Music
was the only elevating influence in their lives. It was in
such a world that the Prophet Muhammad was bom (c. 570
a.d. ). He belonged to the distinguished clan of Qureishis,
who controlled the sacred shrine of Kaaba , though his family
was rather poor in worldly possessions.

Nothing eventful happened to Muhammad until he was
forty years of age, unless it be his marriage with a rich
widow named Kadijah who was by several years his senior.
Then came his great * conversion ’ when the Angel Gabriel
brought to him the message of Allah. After this revelation
Muhammad boldly proclaimed his famous gospel : There
is no god but God , and Muhammad is His prophet .” Although
this formula has become to-day the creed of about
300,000,000 people (of whom over one-fifth are in India),
the Prophet was not honoured at first in his own land. Like

THE RISE OF ISLAM

233

most reformers he was persecuted by his own people in Mec¬
ca, and had to seek shelter in another city since named Me¬
dina—Madinat-un-Nabi or the Prophet s City. His flight
or Hijrah took place in 622 a.d. and marks the first year of
the Muslim Era. After the decisive battle of Badr, Muham¬
mad returned victorious to Mecca and, before his death in
632 a.d., made himself the master over the entire peninsula.

The successors of Muhammad in leadership were called
the Caliphs. Within a century of the Prophet’s death they
carried his message to thousands of people in the three con¬
tinents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Though in course of
time, they split up into the three corresponding Calipha¬
tes of Cairo in Africa, Cordoba in Europe, and Bagdad in
Asia, for a hundred years they acted as one inspired man.
Islam meant 4 submission to God \ and those who accepted
this creed had above all to submit tc the five disciplines of
the faith: (1) Belief in the Om God and Muhammad as His
prophet; (2) the duty of praying five times daily ; (3) giv¬
ing alms to the poor; (4) fasting in the whole month of
Ramzan; and (5) making a pilgrimage to Mecca. The
teachings of Muhammad were collected in a volume called the
Koran. This and the Hadis or ‘traditions’ constitute the
scripture of the Muhammadans. The Prophet during his
lifetime was both their spiritual leader and temporal ruler.
Hence Islamic society to begin with was a Theocracy. Soon
after Muhammad’s death a dispute arose as to the succes¬
sion. Some were for the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali; others
for electing the Caliph. The former, called the Shiites , were
defeated ; and the latter, known as the Sunni, triumphed.
This rent Muslim society for all time into two hostile camps,
though there are no fundamental differences of creed between
them. Arabia represents the latter, and Persia the former.
In India there are representatives of both the sects. For the

254

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

purpose of this history however, we might regard the Mus¬
lims as one homogeneous community.

The spirit of Islam in the early days, when the ferocious
and fanatical Turks had not yet been converted, is well
represented in the following words of Abu Bekr, the first
Caliph, cited by Gibbon :

“ In the name of the most merciful God, to the rest of the true
believers. Health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing
of God be upon you. This is to acquaint you that I intend to-
send the true believers into Syria to take it out of the hands of.
the infidels. And I would have you know that the fighting for
religion is an act of obedience to God.

“ Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the-
verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of
paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression ; consult with your
brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your
troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves
like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory
be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no*
palm-trees, nor bum any fields of com. Cut down no fruit-trees,,
nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When.
you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good
as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons
who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to*
serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor'
destroy their monasteries : and you will find another sort of
people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shavem
crowns : be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter
till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute.”

With the conversion of the Turks and other savage peoples,
Islam tended to follow more and more the closing part of
this message rather than its nobler portions. The tribute ex¬
acted from the infidels was called the Jiziyc. The Jews and
the Christians were treated with con si deration as ' the people
of the Book ’ as Muhammad drew much of his own theology
from their traditions. “We believe in God”, declares the

THE EMPIRE OF ISLAM.

THE RISE OF ISLAM

255

Koran , “ and in what hath been sent down tc us and what
hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and
Jacob and the tribes, and in what was given to Moses and
to Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no
■difference between them ; and to Him we are resigned ; and
who so desireth any other religion than Islam, it shall by
no means be accepted from him, and in the next world he
will be among the lost/’ (iii., 78-79).

The conquests of Islam were very rapid. They extended,
:in about a century, over the whole of Arabia, Asia-Minor,
North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic, the Iberian penin¬
sula, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, and Sind. This was
partly due to the innate driving force of the new faith, and
partly owing to the weakness of Europe and Persia. The
Eastern Roman Empire under Heraclius and Persia under
the Sassanian Khosroes II had exhausted each other by
•incessant war. They could offer no effective resistance against
the new force. In the West, however, the Islamic thrust
■across the Pyrenees into Gaul was checked by Charles Martel
at the battle of Tours in 732 a.d. In the East, already in
717 A.D. they had failed to carry Constantinople by storm,
■but in 737 at the battle of Kadessia Persia was subjugated.

At* the dose of the first century of the Hegira ”, Gibbon
observes, “the caliphs were the most potent and absolute
monarchs of the globe.” Though we may not enter into the
•chequered history of the Caliphate we must at least describe
here its glory under the most famous of the Caliphs, viz.
Haroun -al -Raschid of the Arabian Nights , who died in 809
,a.d. In this time, according to Sir Mark Sykes,

“ The Imperial Court was polished, luxurious, and unlimitedly
^wealthy; the capital, Bagdad, was a gigantic mercantile dty
surrounding a huge administrative fortress, wherein every depart¬
ment of state had a properly regulated and well-ordered public

256 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

office ; where schools and colleges abounded ; whither philosophers,,
students, doctors, poets, and theologians came from all parts of

the civilized globe.The provincial capitals were embellished

with vast public buildings, and linked together by an effective
and rapid service of posts and caravans; the frontiers were
secure and well garrisoned, the army loyal, efficient and brave ;
the governors and ministers honest and forbearing. The empire
stretched with equal strength and unimpaired control from the
Ciiician gates to Aden, and from Egypt to Central Asia. Chris¬
tians. Pagans, Jews, as well as Moslems, were employed in the
government service.... Traffic and wealth had taken the place of
revolution and famine.... Pestilence and disease were met by
imperial hospitals and government physicians. ... In government
business the rough-and-ready methods of Arabian administration
had given place to a complicated system of Divans, initiated
partly from the Roman, but chiefly taken from the Persian system
of government. Posts, Finance, Privy Seal, Crown Lands, Justice
and Military Affairs were each administered by separate bureaux
in the hands of ministers and officials ; an army of clerks, scribes,
writers and accountants swarmed into these offices and gradually
swept the whole power of the government into their own hands
by separating the Commander of the Faithful from any direct
intercourse with his subjects.

“ The Imperial Palace and the entourage were equally based
on Roman and Persian precedents. Eunuchs, closely veiled
‘ harems' of women, guards, spies, go-betweens, jesters, poets, and
dwarfs clustered around the person of the Commander of the
Faithful, each, in his degree, endeavouring to gain the royal favour
and indirectly distracting the royal mind from affairs of business
and state.

" Meanwhile the mercantile trade of the East poured gold into
Bagdad, and supplemented the other enormous stream of money
derived from the contributions of plunder and loot despatched to
the capital by the commanders of the victorious raiding forces
which harried Asia Minor, India, and Turkestan. The seemingly
unending supply of Turkish slaves and Byzantine specie added
to the richness of the revenues of Irak and, combined with the
vast commercial traffic of which Bagdad was the centre, produced
a large and powerful moneyed class, composed of the sons, of
generals, officials, landed proprietors, royal favourites, merchants,.

THE RISE OF ISLAM

JO<

and the like who encouraged the arts, literature, philosophy, and
poetry as the mood took them, building palace^ for themselves,
vying with each other in the luxury of their entertainments, sub¬
orning poets to sound their praises, dabbling in philosophy, sup¬
porting various schools of thought, endowing charities, and, in
fact, behaving as the wealthy have always behaved in ail ages." 1

The above description indicates a great change in the Arabs
brought about by their successes. In the first place, the wild
but simple Bedouins of the desert were now pampered with
soul-destroying luxury. Secondly, the democratic spirit of
the earlier days of Islam had given place to an insupport¬
able autocracy. And thirdly, the Empire of the Crescent
having grown to unwieldy proportions split up into several
regional and dynastic kingdoms. The last blow to the totter¬
ing Caliphate of Bagdad came from the Turko-Mongolian
invasions. The glorious capital of the Commander of the
Faithful, proudly described by an Arab historian as “the
eye of Iraq, the seat of Empire, the centre of beauty, culture
and arts,” was destroyed by the Mongols in 1258 a.d. Before
that catastrophe Bagdad had been the cultural capital of
the Middle East where flocked the great savants of all coun¬
tries from East and West alike. Not the least important
of these were from India, and in the opinion of Mr. E. B.
Havell, “ It was India, not Greece, that taught Islam in the
impressionable years of its youth, formed its philosophy and
esoteric religious ideals, and inspired its most characteristic
expression in literature, art, and architecture.” Without
being so partisan we might believe that the Arabs built up
an eclectic civilisation drawing the best from the various parts
of their far-flung dominions, and fusing everything in the fire
of their new bom zeal.

1. Cited by H. G. Wells in The Outline of History.

258 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Bagdad, however, was not the only centre of Islamic
culture. Cairo and Cordoba were of equal importance. Leav¬
ing the story of the further fortunes of Islam in the East
to another chapter, we might here say something about Spain
where the Arab civilisation outlived the misfortunes of the
Abbasids in the East. The Arabs first established themselves
in the Iberian peninsula in 711 a.d. Their leader TaricL
gave to their landing place its name of Jabal-ut-Tariq (Gib¬
raltar) or the Rock of Tariq. Though checked by the
Franks in the north, their kingdom in Spain endured for
five hundred years till the capture of its capital, Cordoba,
in 1236 a.d. by the Christian king of Castile. Even them
the Arab kingdom of Granada in the south held out for
another two hundred and fifty-six years when it was finally
extinguished in 1492 a.d. During all these seven hundred
and eighty years, the Moors] as the Muslims were called irn
Spain, organised a wonderful kingdom, “which was the
marvel of the Middle Ages, and which, when all Europe was
piuhged in barbaric ignorance and strife, alone held the torch,
of learning and civilization bright and shining before the-
westem world.”

Cordoba itself in the tenth century is spoken of as “ the*
most civilised city in Europe, the wonder and admiration of'
the world.” It had seventy libraries and 900 public baths.
Whenever the Christian rulers of Leon, Navarre or Barcelona:
required a surgeon, an architect, a dress-maker, or a singing-
master, it was to Cordoba that they applied; while the
ModinatU’l-Zqhar, the summer palace in the vicinity of
Cordoba struck the imagination of travellers as if it were the-
dream palace of the Arabian Nights. “ It cannot be denied,”
writes Mr. J. B. Trend, “ that while Europe lay for the most
part in misery and decay, both materially and spiritually^,
the Spanish Muslims created a splendid civilization and am

THE RISE OF ISLAM

259

organized economic life. Muslim Spain played a decisive
part in the development of art, science, philosophy, and
poetry, and its influence reached even to the highest peaks
of the Christian thought of the thirteenth century-, to Thomas
Aquinas and Dante. Then, if ever, Spain was 4 the torch
of Europe.’

In the field of philosophy alone two names are famous
throughout Europe, viz. Avicenna and Averroes. The for¬
mer whose real name was Abu 4 AlI-al-Husavn ibn Sina : 980-
1037 a.d. ) was one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic
world. Though primarily a philosopher he made valuable
contributions to medicine and science as well. His Canon
of Medicine was an encyclopaedia dealing with general medi¬
cine, simple drugs, diseases affecting all parts of the body,
special pathology and pharmacopoeia. It was greatly in
demand in its Latin translation down to the seventeenth
century. “ Probably no medical work ever written has been
so much studied,” writes Dr. Max Meyerhof, “ and it is
still in current use in the Orient.” 1 2 The name of Averroes
was Abu ’l-Walid ibn Rushd (1126-98 A.D.). “Averroism
continued to be a living factor in European thought until
-the birth of modem experimental science.” 3

The Golden Age of Islamic science and medicine was from
.about 900 a.d. to about 1100 a.d. The,jil : Iidwi or 4 Compre¬
hensive Book’ by Rhazes (c. 865-925 a.d.) may be cited
for illustration. It is considered as perhaps the most exten¬
sive work ever written by a medical man. For each disease
Rhazes first cites all the Greek, Syrian, Arabic, Persian, and
Indian authors, and at the end gives his own opinion and
^experiences, and he preserves many striking examples of his

1. The Legacy of Islam , p. 5

2. Ibid., p. 330.

.3 Ibid., p. 275.

260 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

clinical insight. The following observations by him on small¬
pox and measles are interesting :—

The outbreak of small-pox is preceded by continuous fever,
aching in the back, itching in the nose and shivering during sleep.
The main symptoms of its presence are : back-ache with fever,
stinging pain in the whole body, congestion of the face, sometimes
shrinkage, violent redness of the cheeks and eyes, a sense of
pressure in the body, creeping of the flesh, pain in the throat and
breast accompanied by difficulty of respiration and coughing, dry¬
ness of the mouth, thick salivation, hoarseness of the voice, head¬
ache and pressure in the head, excitement, anxiety, nausea and
unrest. Excitement, nausea and unrest are more pronounced in
measles than in small-pox, while the aching in the back is more
severe in small-pox than in measles. 1

The name of al-Birunl (973-1048) is familiar to readers
of early Muslim history in India. He came to India with
Mahmud of Ghazni. But few, perhaps, realise the nature
of his contributions to various branches of knowledge. Fami¬
liarly known as ‘the master’ ( al-ustadh ) he was a physi¬
cian, astronomer, mathematician, physicist, geographer and
historian. In physics his greatest achievement is the nearly
exact determination of the specific weight of eighteen pre¬
cious stones and metals. But, by far the most important of
Muslim scientists of this age was Abu ‘ Ali al-Hasan ibn al-
Jfaytham (Alhazen) of^ Basra, (965 ad.). Though his
original work in Arabic, On Optics , is lost, it has survived
in Latin translation. In it he opposes the theory of Euclid
,and Ptolemy .that the eye sends out visual rays to the object
of vision. He discusses the propagation of light and colours,
optic illusions and reflection, with experiments for testing
the angles of incidence and reflection. In examining the re¬
fraction of light-rays through transparent mediums “he

1. The Legacy of Islam , pp. 323-24.

THE RISE OF ISLAIsI 231

comes very near to the theoretical discovert- of magnifying
lenses, which was made practically in Italy three centuries
later, while more than six centuries were to pass before the
law- of sines was established by Snell and Descartes. Roger
Bacon • 13th century 7 ) and all medieval Western writers on
optics—notably the Pole Witelo or Vitellio base their optical
works on Alhazen’s Opticae Thesaurus. His work also in¬
fluenced Leonardo da Vinci and Johann Kepler. 1

As often we have done in previous chapters we must reluc¬
tantly bring this chapter also to a close, with a sense of in¬
completeness. For a fuller survey of Muslim, particularly
Arabic, civilisation we must refer the reader to The Legacy
cj Islam (Oxford University Press). In architecture they
produced a wonder of the world like the Alhambra in
Granada. In the minor arts too they made valuable contri¬
butions, too numerous to be described here. “ In manufac¬
tures/* one writer has pointed out, “ they surpassed the world
in variety and beauty of design and perfection of workman¬
ship. They worked in all the metals—gold, silver, copper,
bronze, iron, and steel. They made glass and pottery of the
finest quality. They knew the secrets of dyeing. They had
many processes of dressing leather and their work was
famous throughout Europe. They made tinctures, essences,
and syrups. They made sugar from the cane and grew many
fine kinds of wine. They practised farming in a scientific
way. They had good systems of irrigation. They knew the
value of fertilizers. They fitted their crops to the quality
of the ground. They knew how to graft and were able to
produce some new varieties of fruits and flowers. They
introduced into the West many trees and plants from the
East.” They also built hospitals with trained physicians and

1. Ibid p. 334.

262

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

nurses. They produced a number of versatile and profound
scholars. They made permanent contributions to European
science and vocabularies (e.g. words like sofa, tariff, algebra,
etc.). Omar Khayyam who is celebrated as a Persian poet
wrote in Arabic a book of the first rank on Algebra. Sum¬
ming up the scientific contributions of the Arabs, Baron
Carra de Vaux observes :

“ They taught the use of ciphers, although they did not invent
them, and thus became the founders of the arithmetic of everyday
life; they made algebra an exact science and developed it con¬
siderably and laid the foundation of analytical geometry; they
were indisputably the founders of plane and spherical trigono¬
metry which, properly speaking, did not exist among the Greeks.
In astronomy they made a number of valuable observations.
They preserved for us in their translations a number of Greek
works, the originals of which have been lost... .for which services
we cannot be too grateful to them. Another reason for our in¬
terest in Arab science is the influence it has had in the West.
The Arabs kept alive the higher intellectual life and the study
of science in a period when the Christian West was fighting des¬
perately with barbarism. The zenith of their activity ma y be
placed in the ninth and tenth centuries, but it was continued down
to the fifteenth. From the twelfth century every one in the West
who had any taste for science, some desire for light, turned to
the East or to the Moorish West. At this period the works of
Arabs began to be translated as those of the Greeks had previously
been by them. The Arabs thus formed a bond of union, a con¬
necting link between ancient culture and modern civilization.
When at the Renaissance the spirit of man was once again filled
wrth zeal for knowledge and stimulated by the spark of gpm,™
it it was able to set promptly to work, to produce and invent,
it was because the Arabs had preserved and perfected various
branches of knowledge, kept the spirit of research alive and eager
and maintained it pliant and ready for future discoveries.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE

Out of the energetic movement of the
Frankish Empire Europe emerges in its medi¬
aeval shape. Over against the Greek world
ruled from Byzantium, and the Saracen world
governed from Bagdad and Cordova, is the vast
territory of Latin Christianity stretching from
the Ebro to the Carpathians acknowledging
rule of Ihe Frankish Empire and the Pope of
Rome. — H. A L. Fisher

The fall of the Roman Empire is characterised by Gibbon
as “ the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the his¬
tory of mankind.” We have described earlier how the
Dark Age followed or rather synchronised with that catas¬
trophe. Europe took long to recover from the protracted
agony of the barbarian invasions. They poured into Europe
from the North and the East and seemed to destroy the
entire order created by Rome. The division of the Roman
Empire was a sign of weakness rather than a measure of
administrative convenience. The Western Empire was vir¬
tually extinguished, as we have noticed, in 476 A.D., when
Odoacer drove away Romulus Augustulus. The Eastern
Empire survived, at least in outward appearance, for an¬
other thousand years (1453) no doubt. But in reality the
whole of Europe was sunk in chaos. It was owing to this
weakness that Islam in the course of a century, could deve¬
lop into the mightiest power in the Mediterranean. However,

264 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

all this was only a temporary relapse. The effective resis¬
tance offered to the Arabs at Tours (732) in the West and
at Constantinople (717) in the East indicated the reviving
strength of Europe. The two active agents in the recovery
of Europe were the barbarians and Christianity. We shall
see in the course of this chapter how Europe was moving
towards a better order in all .phases of her life.

The most successful of the barbarians in the West were
the Franks. They dominated the whole of Western and
Central Europe from the fifth to the ninth centuries, and
were instrumental in bequeathing to Europe traditions of
unity and orderly government originally derived from Rome.
They occupied the territories now differentiated as Germany,
Austria, and France, which at that time formed parts of
the common Frankish Empire. Then there was neither
French nor German, but only West Frank and East Frank,
The greatest of their rulers was the celebrated Charlemagne
or Charles the Great (768-814). He deserved the title, as
we shall see, more than most others in history. His ideal
was not mere conquest, but organisation and enlightenment
as well. He was a worthy friend of the great Caliph Haroun-
al-Raschid about whom we have read already.

We need go no farther back into the history of the Franks
than Charles Martel, who drove away the Arabs at the battle
of Tours (732), in order to realise the value of the services
rendered by them to European civilisation. Some have
regretted that the Arabs did not win in that famous engage¬
ment. For instance, Professor Robinson says, “had they
been permitted to settle in Southern France they might have
developed science and art far more rapidly than did the
Franks.” 1 But the verdict of subsequent history has been

1* J. H. Robinson, The Ordeal of Civilization , p. 81.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 265

unmistakable. Had the Muslims instead of the Christians
(for the Franks had become Christians by then) been victo¬
rious at Tours, the character of European civilisation would
certainly have been different.

Charles Martel died in 741. He hadr been
virtually ruler over a vast territory, though nomi¬
nally he was only “ Mayor of the Palace ” under the effete
Merovingian kings. His son and successor Pepin was there¬
fore anointed by Pope Stephen and recognised as king “ by
the grace of God.” This inaugurated the Carolingian dy¬
nasty of which Charlemagne was the greatest ruler. In
return for the Papal recognition Pepin had been called upon
to rescue the States of North Italy from the domination of
the Lombards. Their restoration to the sovereignty of the
See of St. Peter was the beginning of the “Roman Question,”
—one of the naughtiest problems created by the Medieval
Ages. Its confirmation was secured when Charles the Great
was actually crowned, under very similar circumstances in
800, by Pope Leo III. The Pope had been accused of high
crimes, by his domestic enemies, and beaten and imprisoned.
Charles who was Leo’s most powerful supporter restored and
exonerated him. His reward was his coronation as “ Charles
Augustus, crowned of God, the great and peace-loving
Emperor of the Romans.” The legacy of this pompous
heritage to Europe was an age-long dispute between Pope
and Emperor for hegemony over the faithful. To this aspect
of that epoch-making event we shall revert later. Before
doing so we must assess the work of Charlemagne himself.

During his long reign Charles had to lead several hard
campaigns against the Danes, Saxons, Slavs, Avars, and
Lombards. In subduing or breaking them he was creating
order out of the chaos of the Dark Ages. But, however

266 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

arduous, this was not his greatest or noblest work. In the
words of Professor Fisher :

“He was bold yet deliberate, genial and yet exact, popular
and yet formidable. A vast appetite for animal enjoyment was;
combined in him with the cardinal gifts of statesmanship, a spa¬
cious vision, strong common sense, a flawless memory, and a
tenacious will. It was part of his strength that he attempted
nothing impossible, and asked no more of his people than they
were able to accomplish. To his Frankish warriors he was the
ideal chief, tall and stout, animated and commanding, with fla¬
shing blue eyes and aquiline nose, a mighty hunter before the
Lord. That he loved the old Frankish songs, used Frankish
speech, and affected the traditional costume of his race—die

high-laced boots, the cross-gartered scarlet hose, the linen tunic,
and square mantle of white or blue—that he was simple in his
needs, and sparing in food and drink, were ingratiating features
in a rich and wholesome character. Yet in the habits of
daily life he was a Frank to the marrow; in all matters pertain¬
ing to culture and religion he was prepared to obey the call
and extend the influence of his Roman priests.... It is one of'
the highest titles of Charlemagne to fame that he used his great
authority to promote the revival of intellectual life on the illite¬
rate continent of Europe... .What is important to notice is the
new place which, with the advent of Charles, learning and edu¬
cation are made to take in the life of the court and the country,
the concentration of foreign men of learning round the person
of the king, the travelling academy or school of the palace which
follows him even on his campaigns, the equal terms with which
he associates with his scholar friend, his strong insistence on
literacy as a qualification for a clerical career and for prefer¬
ment in the church, the establishment of diocesan and monas¬
tic schools, and the encouragement given to the multiplication,
^rrection, ^d gathering together of books... .The earliest copies
^ iwelve of the great Latin classics are due to the scribe? of
the Carohngian Renaissance/* 1

1. H. A. L. Fisher, A History of Europe, pp. 156-161.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 267

According to another writer, “with Charlemagne the
building of the modem world begins.” With him the long
spell of barbarism and anarchy seemed to have come to a
dose. His capitularies or statutes revealed his masterful
administrative abilities, and his personality was powerful
■enough to regulate the conflicting interests between the reli¬
gious and secular powers ; while the cultural and intellectual
interest of Charles indicated a revival, not only of ordered
government, but also of civilisation. But his Empire could
not escape from the bane of all strong monarchies, viz. weak
•successors.

We need not study in detail the events that followed.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious, and
he by his three sons Lothaire, Charles, and Louis,—but not
without a war of succession. At the treaties of Verdun
(843) and Mersen (870) the vast dominions of Charle¬
magne were divided into three kingdoms. Charles got the
West-Frankish territories (constituting modem France), and
Louis the East-Frankish territories (comprising modern Ger¬
many). To Lothaire was left the hinterland which has
•ever since been the bone of contention between France and
‘Germany. The former was thoroughly Latinised and the
latter remained Teutonic. Meanwhile the whole of the
Frankish dominions were tending to be more and more
■disrupted, until a fresh effort was made towards union under
the leadership of Otto the Saxon (East Frank or German).

This was the beginning of the famous “Holy Roman
Empire” (962). It lasted, in anything like its original idea,
only three centuries; but centuries of continual struggle
between Pope and Emperor, during the first of which (962-
1056) the Emperor prevailed, and during the last two—the
period of the Crusades (1056-1254)—the Pope triumphed.
After this, though the imperial title was retained by Teuton

268

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

monarchs, the Empire in its original form was at an end.

From the point of view of the restoration of order in
Europe, which is the only significant viewpoint for us here,
the dynastic history of Otto’s successors may be very briefly
told. The outstanding figures are those of Henry IV (1056-
1106) and Frederick Barbarosa (Red Beard, 1152-1190),
though the latter belonged to a different family,— th e
Hohenstaufen. The reigns of both were marked by the
titanic struggle with the Popes. Frederick failed where
Henry had at least partially succeeded. The two together
indicate the trend of medieval European civilisation.

Otto the Great like Charlemagne had received the imperial
crown! from the Pope (962). But unlike Charles the Great
his relations with the head of the Roman Church were fraught
with dire consequences. They reached a climax under
Henry IV and continued to trouble Europe for several gene¬
rations. Briefly put, the German monarchs considered
themselves thereafter as Roman Emperors no less (or perhaps
even more) than German kings. This made them concen¬

trate on dominating over Italy instead of maintaining orderly
government in their own country. While such a policy
resulted in postponing the day of German unification, it also
set to Europe one of its toughest problems. Feudal anar¬
chy throve in Central Europe while the Emperors distracted
themselves with futile quarrels with the Popes. The rans *
of the struggle,, though it might appear trivial now, was con¬
sidered most vital by both parties in those times. In effect
it was the question whether the Pope or the Emperor should
be regarded as supreme in Christendom. Both were trying
to arrogate to themselves the myth of a bygone age, viz.
the ideal of Theocracy.

of

There may be little doubt about the secular sovereignty
the Emperor and the spiritual sovereignty of the.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 269

Pope. But unfortunately society, especially in me¬
dieval Europe, was incapable of such dichotomy. Each
party was desirous of exclusive authority and none prepared
to accept a compromise. Indeed, conflict was inevitable
owing to overlapping jurisdictions, and an impartial tribunal
was lacking. Under the circumstances the logic of Pope
Gregory VII seemed arrogant and presumptuous in the eyes
of Henry IV and his supporters, and irreproachable in the
eyes of the orthodox. ‘ He explained, kindly but firmly, to
William the Conqueror, that the papal and kingly powers
are both established by God as the greatest among the
authorities of the world, just as the sun and moon are the
greatest of the heavenly bodies. But the papal power is
obviously superior to the kingly, for it is responsible for it;
at the Last Day Gregory would have, he urged, to render
an account of the king as one of the flock intrusted to his
care.' 1

The difficulty was not one of merely accepting theoretical
claims to superiority but of enforcing actual authority in the
field of administration. The Church had acquired vast
estates through gifts from the faithful, and these were
administered by the bishops and other Church dignitaries.
Though it was the practice for these officials to be elected,
as holders of property it was of utmost interest to the
king as to who was elected. There were also a number of
bishops and archbishops who were armed noblemen holding
lands on feudal terms, and hence subject to their overlord
the king. Some priests hadj become so worldly-minded that
they married and got interested in making provision for their
families. The practice of “simony” or selling spiritual,
offices “ for a consideration ” had also come into vogue.

1. Robinson, op. cit., p. 126.

270

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The king therefore naturally thought that the cloak of
clericalism could not give immunity from temporal obli¬
gations. Nay, in the heat of rivalry, he even claimed appoint¬
ing authority, from the bishop to the Pope himself. Thus
the right of “ investiture ” became the crux of the quarrel.
Were the Church officials to be invested with authority
by the Pope or the Emperor ? The Pope rebutted the claims
of the Emperor by attempting to appoint the person of his
own choice to the imperial office. The dispute soon degene¬
rated into a series of unseemly attacks and counter-attacks
by both parties. Each tried to win over to itself the alle¬
giance of the adherents of the other party. Gregory declared
Henry excommunicated and deposed ; Henry got the German
clergy to deny the authority of Gregory. Rival Popes and
Emperors were sought to be set up. On one occasion Henry
in a penitent mood humiliated himself before the Pope at
Canossa and admitted himself in the wrong. But the recon¬
ciliation was only temporary. Tempers again flared up,
and finally Henry besieged Gregory in his very palace, and
the greatest of the medieval Popes died with the words “ I
have loved justice and hated- iniquity, therefore I die in
exile M on his lips.

This was only the climax and not the end of the struggle.
However, a workable compromise was reached under Henry
V (1106-25) and Pope Paschal II. By the Concordat of
Worms (1122) the controversy over investitures in Germany
-was settled. The Emperor renounced his claim to invest
the clergy with the religious emblems of the ring and the
crosier, and promised not to interfere with Church elections.
But the elections were to be held in the Emperor’s presence
and the bishop or abbot elected was to hold the fiefs and
administrative powers under the Emperor, which was sym¬
bolised by a touch of the sceptre.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 27 L

But matters again reached a crisis when Fredrick Bar-
barosa (1152—90) came to the throne. He was the most
famous of the medieval Emperors after Charlemagne. He-
was ambitious to restore the glory and power of the Roman.
Empire, and claimed to be the successor of the Caesars as
well as of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. He declared
that his office was bestowed upon him/ by God no less than
was the Papal See. This brought him into conflict with the
Pope. The old struggle revived. But the flourishing towns
of North Italy (about which we shall learn more later)
were now on the side of the Church. They hated the Ger¬
man Emperor no less than the Pope did. They formed a
powerful union known as the Lombard League to oppose
Frederick, and refused to pay taxes to a foreign ruler from
across the Alps. At the end of a series of expeditions all
that Barbarosa succeeded in achieving was to make the
Lombard League merely acknowledge his overlordship, lea¬
ving its members free to act as they liked.

As a counterpoise to the defection of the Northern cities,
Frederick tried to secure a hold upon South Italy by marry¬
ing Constance, the heiress of Naples and Sicily, to his son.
But the Pope being the feudal lord of these cities, this in¬
troduced a fresh complication into the struggle. Finally,
worn out by some forty years of fighting in Germany and
Italy, Frederick sought to divert himself by going on a
Crusade. This proved his last venture, for he lost his life
on his way to the Holy Land.

Meanwhile, his son (who had married the heiress of South
Italy) too was carried away by fever, leaving an infant
heir to the troublesome inheritance. This was Frederick II
(1212—50). Though he developed into a contemptible
figure, he possessed marvellous ability and extraordinary-
energy. “ He drew up an elaborate code of laws for his.

272 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

southern realms and may be said to have founded the
first modem well-regulated state, in which the king was
indisputably supreme.” 1 In his earlier years he was the
contemporary of Innocent III, one of the greatest of the

Popes. Though he had been brought up under the

Muslim Culture of Sicily (the island was under the

Saracens from 827—1060) Frederick II had pro¬

mised Innocent III to go on a Crusade some¬
time. In the fulfilment of this undertaking Frederick
proved eminently successful, for he actually brought the
Holy City (Jerusalem) under Christian rule and was him¬
self declared its king. But this was a shortlived triumph.
The Popes were not to be appeased. Their rivalries once
again revived, and Frederick like Henry IV was excommuni¬
cated and deposed. After his death, in 1250, Sicily was
lost to the Hohenstaufens. The Pope bestowed the island
upon its French conquerors under Charles Anjou, the brother
of St. Louis. Thus ended the German attempt to revive
the glories of the Roman Empire. Europe, particularly
Central Europe, continued to welter in anarchy, though Ger¬
man kings pompously proclaimed themselves Emperors.
A confused group of duchies, counties, bishoprics, arch¬
bishoprics, abbacies, free towns, and all manner of feudal
estates, asserted each its practical independence of the nomi¬
nal kings. There was to be no imperial way yet out of the
chaos of the Middle Ages.

1* Robinson, op. tit., p. 136.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

The imperial government in the West was soon
overthrown by the barbarian conquerors, but the
Catholic Church converted and ruled these con¬
querors. When the officers of the Empire desert¬
ed their posts, the bishops stayed to meet the
oncoming invader. They continued to represent
the old civilization and ideas of order.

—J. H. Robinson

Throughout the Middle Ages in Europe there was only
one unifying force and that was the Roman Catholic Church.
It was the one central light which continued to shine
brightly through the medieval darkness. It triumphed over
all obstacles and became the only refuge of civilisation where
everything else seemed to succumb to the barbarians. It
survived the shock of the Hunnish invasions from the East
as well as the German and other invasions from the North.
It outlived the Roman Empire, both Western and Eastern,
and became the champion of European society, religion, and
culture when they were threatened by the rise of the Mamie
power, from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. In spite
of schisms and defections it has survived to this day as one
of the most potent forces coming down to the modem world
from the past. Such a tenacious movement in human his¬
tory deserves to be studied with dose attention, though such
a study may be beset with some difficulties.

274 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The principal difficulty is, of course, of partisan views.
It is not easy to deal with the history of Christianity with¬
out knocking against some orthodox or heretical sentiments.
However, religious controversy is no part of our scheme, and,
as we did with Islam so also here, we shall concern ourselves
rather with the positive contributions of the Church as a
whole than dabble in doctrinal polemics.

We have already referred to the birth of Christianity and
its fortunes under the Roman Empire. From being an
obscure and bitterly persecuted Jewish sect, it had come to
be a well established, universal, and civilising force in Europe
‘during the early centuries of the Christian era. The land¬
marks in its victorious career were the conversion of Con¬
stantine among the Roman Emperors, and Clovis among the
barbarian monarchs. Already, in 311 A.D., the Emperor
Galerius had issued a decree placing Christianity on a/ basis
of legal equality with the Roman faith, but Constantine's
personal conversion gave it a new prestige. In this respect
the baptism of the West Frankish king Clovis in 496 ren¬
dered a similar service to Christianity in Western Europe.
As it had happened with many another prince the conver¬
sion of Clovfe had been preceded by that of his wife. The
pagan husband had pledged to Jesus Christ that he would
become a faithful Christian if he was victorious over his
•enemies; and the Cross had triumphed.

By the code of Theodosius, which was completed in 438,
the Christian Church had been specially protected. As a
mark of respect for the sacred character of the Christian
•clergy, they were exempted alike from some irksome public
duties and taxes to which all other citizens were liable. They
were also allowed to receive bequests, which made the
Churches rich, and the Emperors themselves provided
magnificent buildings for them. But what gave them pres-

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

275 -

tige as well as power was the privilege of trying their own
law cases in their own Church courts. In the field of religion
this proved a powerful weapon in the hands of the Church,
and later gave rise to many abuses and oppressions. In
England, for example, even rogues and charlatans sought the
protection of the Church and tried to evade the clutches of
the public law, in the days of Henry I and Henry II. On
the other hand the Church came to exercise the right of
trying and punishing “heretics”, which gave rise to the
hateful persecutions of the Inquisition. “Whoever sepa¬
rates himself from the Church,” St. Cyprian had declared
as early as the third century, 1 “ is separated from the pro¬
mises of the Church.... He is an alien, he is profane, he
is an enemy ; he can no longer have God for his father who
has not the Church for his mother. If anyone could es¬
cape who was outside the Ark of Noah, so also may he
escape who shall be outside the bounds of the Church.”

St. Paul and St. Peter, “ the two most glorious apostles,”'
may be considered the founders of the Catholic Church even
as Jesus Christ was the founder of the faith. In the esti¬
mation of Lord Birkenhead, “ Of all men who may claim
to have changed the course of the world’s history, St. Paul
must surely take the first place. He altered the basic ideas
of Western civilization : the whole of our history bears the
marks of that busy career of impassioned teaching which
the Jewish tent-maker undertook after his conversion to faith
in Jesus Christ.” 2 About the importance of St. Peter we
have the testimony of Christ Himself: “And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

1. He died in 258 a.d.

2. Turning Points in History , p. 21.

276 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

it. And I will give unto thee Keys of the Kingdom of
Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in, Heaven.”

Peter was the First Pope (Latin, papa=father ) or
Bishop of Rome. Both on this account and because of
the prestige that Rome enjoyed throughout Europe as the
imperial capital, the See of St. Peter became naturally the
Head of the Roman Catholic (Universal) Church. It was
for this reason that the Emperor Valentinian III, in 455,
officially confirmed the supremacy of the Pope over Chris¬
tendom. He made the decrees of the Pope binding on all
other bishops and required imperial governors to enforce
them. When, in 476, Odoacer extinguished the Western
Roman Empire, the Pope’s prestige was further pnhan™^
The Church of Rome became the sole bulwark of civilisa¬
tion against the rising tide of barbarism. ‘The Eastern
emperor was far away, and his officers, who managed to hold
a portion of central Italy around Rome and Revenna, were
glad to accept the aid and counsel of the Pope. In Rome
the Pope watched over the elections of the city officials and
directed the manner in which the public money should be
spent. He had to manage the great tracts of land in dif¬
ferent parts of Italy which from time to time had been given
to the bishopric of Rome. He negotiated with the Germans
and even gave orders to the generals sent agains t them.’ 1 -
We witnessed in the previous chapter how the Popes had
grown powerful enough to crown the Emperors. One of
the greatest among them was Gregory VII, the Pope who
declared Henry IV excommunicated and deposed. Under
his successors the Hohenstaufens were similarly treated.

1. J. H. Robinson, op. cit p. 60.

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

277

Indeed with Gregory, as Robinson has put it, we leave behind
us the Rome of Caesar and Trajan and enter upon that of
the Popes. In the centuries that followed, the Popes were
supreme, though they called themselves merely the servants
of the servants of God.

Next to the Popes, who were the head of the official hier¬
archy of the Catholic Church, there was the unofficial army
of monks who greatly influenced the shaping of Christian
life in the Middle Ages. On account of their lives being
very strictly regulated, they 1 were called the “ regulars/' and
the official clergy were distinguished from them as the
“ seculars ” or persons still connected with the world
( saeculum ). Monasticism was a philosophy which consi¬
dered the normal life in the world miserable and sinful, and
therefore to be redeemed through severe discipline. It was,
however, not peculiar to medieval Europe. It corresponds
to the Hindu idea of scmnyasa and the Buddhist ideal of
asceticism which was carried to excess by the Jains in India.
It is better, some thought, to undergo voluntarily the maxi¬
mum of suffering in this world and earn merit in Heaven,
rather than sinfully enjoy here and earn the torments of
hell later as the wages of sin. Though all may not agree
in this, the monasteries, in the Middle Ages, rendered an
undoubted service to civilisation. They became the reposi¬
tories of whatever was worthy of being saved from the
wreckage of the past. “It would be difficult/' observes
Professor Robinson, “ to overestimate the influence that the
monks and other religious orders exercised for centuries in
Europe. The proud annals of the Benedictines, Francis¬
cans, Dominicans, and Jesuits contain many a distinguished
name. Eminent philosophers, scientists, historians, artists,
poets, and statesmen may be found in their ranks. Among
those_are ‘The Venerable Bede', Boniface, Thomas

278 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Fra Angelico, Luther, Erasmus—
all these, and many others who have been leaders in various
branches of human activity, were, or had been, members
of religious orders.” 1 Only a brief account of their way
of life may be here given.

Though the movement had begun much earlier, St. Bene¬
dict was the first, about 526 a.d., to draw up a regular-
constitution for his order, which became the model for most
others that followed. He had his monastery at Monte
Cassino in South Italy :

He founded here his convent and his rule
Of prayer and work, and counted work as prayer ;

The pen became a clarion, and his school
Flamed like beacon in the midnight air.

According to the rules which he framed no-
one was allowed lightly to take the vows of the
Order. One had necessarily to pass through a rigorous
novitiate . The abbot or head of the monastery was to be
elected by the brethren who were its members. Besides read¬
ing and writing—-particularly copying old manuscripts—
and! constant prayers, the monks did all that was necessary
for a self-supporting life such as growing their own com
and vegetables, cooking and washing, etc. The three vows
which every monk had to take were obedience, poverty, and
chastity. But Benedict, like Buddha, recommended mode¬
ration in all things. He asked his followers to avoid excessive
self-mortification which might destroy their health and come
in the way of a truly spiritual life. The importance of the
Benedictines may be gauged from the fact that they supplied
no less than twenty-four Popes, and forty-six hundred
bishops and archbishops. They also produced about six-

1. J. H. Robinson, op . cit ., pp. 62-3.

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

279

teen thousand writers including among them men of great
distinction. In the safe retreats of their monasteries they
unostentatiously carried on very useful work but for which
many of the most valuable treasures of the ancient world
might have been irretrievably lost to us. According to one
writer, “ the monasteries were the schools, the libraries, the
publishing houses, the literary centres, the hospitals, and the
workshops of medieval times.” They were also the inns and
asylums to the weary travellers and the forsaken or care¬
worn people.

Not the least important work done by the monastic orders
was the spreading of the message of Jesus Christ. Gregory
the Great had himself been a monk before he became Pope.
Then he had been struck by the appearance of a few Angle
lads brought to the slave market in Rome. When he became
Pope one of the first things he did was to send a mission
to England under Augustine, which resulted in the conver¬
sion of the English to the Christian faith. Another great
example of the missionary work done by the monks is
that of St. Boniface, in 718. He was an Englishman and
he undertook at great personal risk to convert some of the
remotest German tribes. He lived- to be the Archbishop of
Mainz in 732.

Still another type of monasticism was represented by the
Franciscans and Dominicans. The former order was found¬
ed by the Italian St Francis of Assisi, and the latter by the
Spanish St. Dominic. The Franciscans laboured to serve
4 the poorest, and lowliest, and lost'; while the Dominicans
concentrated on fighting heresies. Both produced distin¬
guished scholars like Thomas Aquinas (a Dominican) and
Roger Bacon (a Franciscan), and both received official
recognition under Innocent III (1198—1216), the Pope who
excommunicated and deposed King John of England. The

280 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

spirit of the two orders may be represented in terms of the
exhortations of their respective founders: “ I, little brother
Francis,” declared the humble saint of Assisi, “desire to
follow the life and poverty of Jesus Christ, persevering there¬
in until the end; and 1 I beg you all and exhort you to per¬
severe always in this most holy life of poverty, and take
good' care never to depart from it upon the advice and tea¬
chings of any one whomsoever.” The spirited Dominic de¬
clared, “ I have exhorted you in vain, with gentleness, prea¬
ching, praying, and weeping. But according to the proverb,
of my country, ‘where blessing can accomplish nothing,
blows may avail .’ We shall rouse against you ^princes and
prelates, who, alas, will arm nations and kingdoms against
this land... .and thus blows will avail where blessings and
gentleness have been powerless.” Francis may very well
remind us of our gentle Tukaiiam, and Dominic of the
sturdy Dayanand.

Lastly, we must deal here with the Crusades. The gentle¬
ness of Jesus and Francis, indeed, could not prevail against
the ruthless enemies of the Cross,—the Turks and Saracens.
The menace of the militant Crescent demanded the spirit
of Charles Martel, Dominic, and Peter the Hermit.

The Holy Places of Christianity, particularly Jerusalem,
had long fallen into the hands of the Muslims. The tole¬
rant Arabs had been succeeded by the bigoted Turks, and
pious Christian pilgrims could no more find immunity in the
East. Jerusalem was occupied' by the Seljuk Turks in
1076, and the effect was soon visible in the disgraceful
treatment of the Patriarch of the Holy City. He was
dragged through the streets by the hair, beaten and im¬
prisoned, and rdeased only on payment of a heavy ransom.
Consequently Christian pilgrims flocked back to Europe
spreading in every country harrowing tales of their .perse-

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

281

cution and misery. Peter the Hermit was the most celebra¬
ted among them. In the glowing words of Gibbon, “ He
preached to innumerable crowds in the churches, the streets,
and the highways; the Hermit entered with equal confi¬
dence the palace and the cottage ; and the people were impe¬
tuously moved by his call to repentance and to arms. When
he painted the sufferings of the natives and the pilgrims of
Palestine, every heart was melted to compassion;
every breast glowed with indignation when he
challenged the warriors of the age to defend
their brethren and rescue their Saviour/’ The Eastward
flow of arms that this fervent appeal released from all parts
of Europe is known as the Crusades. They continued with
varying fortunes until the capture of Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453.

The history of these Crusades, though interesting in it¬
self as a tale of adventures, must be summarily told here.
They started in 1095 with the meeting of the great Council
of Clermont under Pope Urban II. “ It is the will of God ”
echoed through the frenzied crowds as they were harangued
in the open air, as no building could contain them. The
First Crusade was composed almost entirely of Frenchmen.
Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless were among its
leaders. A motley crowd of armed peasants formed the bulk
of the “army of God” that relied more on the medieval
belief in miracles than in their own power
to win. Nevertheless, the miracle, though qualified,
did happen, of capturing and losing Antioch on the way and
finally reaching Jerusalem. This was due more to the weak¬
ness of the enemy than the strength of the Crusaders. Yet,
hardly a tenth of the 30,000 that had set out had the satis¬
faction of walking through the streets of the Holy City
(1099). The captured territories were formed into the king-

282 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

dom of Jerusalem with Godfrey of Bouillon as its king.
This king died in 1101 and the kingdom relapsed into feu¬
dal anarchy. The Holy Places had to be consequently de¬
fended by bodies of volunteers such as the Orders of the
Templars, the Hospitalers, and the Teutonic Knights.

The Second Crusade was provoked by the massacre of
30,000 Christians at Edessa by the Turks in 1147. It was
led by Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France,
and yet it ended in a fiasco. Jerusalem was again captured
by the brilliant Saladin in 1187. This called forth “the most
famous of the long series of Crusades,” for it was led by the
Emperor Frederick Barbarosa, Philip II of France, and
Richard Cceur-de-Lion of England. Frederick was
drowned, Philip and Richard quarrelled on the road to
Palestine, and only the last remained till the final stage.
Though minor conquests, like the taking of Cyprus and
Acre, were effected, even Cceur-de-Lion fell far short of the
cultured and brilliant Saladin in leadership.

The Fourth Crusade started in response to the appeal of
Pope Innocent II (1202-4). Instead of directly concentrat¬
ing on their main objective the misguided Crusaders attack¬
ed Christian places like Zara and Constantinople on their
way. For the time being the so-called Latin Empire was
established in the East. But Constantinople was again cap¬
tured by the Greeks with the assistance of the Genoese, about
sixty years later. They held it till 1453.

The re m aini n g Crusades were even more inglorious than
those we have already described. The most memorable
•among them was the Children’s Crusade (1212). The fail¬
ure of many a Crusade was attributed to the sinfulness of
the Crusaders. So it was believed that an army of inno^
cents would be certainly invincible : “Out of the mouths,
of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength.” No less

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

283

than 20,000 children were mobilised for this infantile move¬
ment. But most of them partook of the mercy of God
long before they could reach the Holy Land. Others
were kidnapped and sold into slavery by unscrupulous
Genoese and Venetian merchants. The remaining were
sent back to their homes under safe custody by the Pope
Innocent III who took pity on them.

The clash of the Cross and the Crescent had been attend¬
ed with great carnage on both sides. When Jerusalem
was first captured by the Crusaders it lasted for a full
week, and according to a French eye-witness, “under the
portico of the mosque the blood was knee deep and reached
the horses’ bridles.” Yet the direct results of two centu¬
ries of constant fighting were not, perhaps, worth more than
a single campaign. The importance of the Crusades is,
however, to be seen in their indirect but lasting effects.
In the words of G. M. Trevelyan, “ The Crusades were the
military and religious aspect of a general urge towards the
East on the part of the reviving energies of Europe. The
prize that Europe brought back from the Crusades was not
the permanent liberation of the Holy Sepulchre or the po¬
tential unity of Christendom, of which the story of the Cru¬
sades was one long negation. She brought back instead
the finer arts and crafts, luxury, science, and intellectual
curiosity—everything that Peter the Hermit would most
have despised.”

The exact extent of the influence of the contact with
the East brought about by the Crusades will ever remain
a subject of controversy among scholars. In the following
passage the maximum claim is sought to be summarised :—

‘ In the religious sphere they diminished the prestige of the
Papacy, irretrievably affected monastidsm, and encouraged the
growth of heresy. In the social and economic sphere they led

284 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

to a greater equality of classes, the growth of a free peasantry
and of guilds of artisans, and the development of trade and
industry’. In the field of politics they were followed by the
rise of the system of Estates, by a growing centralization of
government, and by the appearance of written law and a regular
judicial administration. In the great world of culture, philo¬
sophy developed its greatest thinkers after the Crusades and the
connexion with the Arabs which they brought : even mysticism
assumed a scientific character : the study of the ancient lang¬
uages grew in extent and fertility : historiography and geogra¬
phy acquired a new vigour: a vernacular poetry arose-:
Gothic architecture succeeded: a Romanesque, and a' finer
taste appeared in sculpture and painting/ 1

1. The Legacy of Islam , p. 51.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

To-day the historian is interested in the social
life of the past and not only in the wars and
intrigues of princes. —Eileen Power

In the two preceding chapters we saw how Europe—
particularly Western Europe—was struggling to evolve
order out of the chaos brought about by the fall of the Ro¬
man Empire. The catastrophe was the outcome of the in¬
ternal weaknesses and the external attacks of the barbarians.
Then an attempt was made to restore the Roman order by
the secular agency of the Frankish Charlemagne and the
German Otto and his successors who built up the Holy
Roman Empire, and the spiritual agency of the Pope.
While the success of the former was only temporary and
local, the influence of the latter proved more lasting as
well as widespread. The struggle for supremacy that en-
«sued between the Empire and the Papacy only served to
establish the prestige of the Church in a world left still
anarchical by the failure of political authority.

The outstanding features of this period of transition
from the ancient to the modem world are summed up in
the word “ Feudalism.” There is greater agreement regar¬
ding its characteristic features than its chronological li¬
mits. But roughly we might consider the millennium from
the fifth century a.d. to the fifteenth century ad. as com¬
prising the Middle Ages, of which the earlier half consti-

286 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

tuted the Dark Age of barbarian invasions and the later
half that of medieval feudalism and chivalry. Having
described the former already in an earlier chapter, here we
must concentrate upon the latter. We may note that feu¬
dalism was strongest during the eleventh and twelfth cen¬
turies in Western Europe; then new forces and tendencies
began to manifest themselves. These culminated in the
Renaissance of the fifteenth century which ushered in the
modem times.

Feudalism was a very complex organisation of society
based upon the holding of land-tenures with specified obli¬
gations of service. In the words of Bishop Stubbs, “ It
may be described as a complete organisation of society
through the medium of land tenure, in which, from the king
down to the lowest land-owner, all are bound together by
obligation of service and defence : the lord to protect his
vassal, the vassal to do service to his lord ; the defence and
service being based on and regulated by the nature and
extent of the land held by the one of the other. In those
states which have reached the territorial stage of develop¬
ment, the rights of defence and service are supplemented by
the right of jurisdiction. The lord judges as well as defends
his vassal; the vassal does suit as well as service to his lord.
In states in which feudal government has reached its utmost'
growth, the political, financial, judicial, every branch of
public administration is regulated by the same conditions.
The central authority is a mere shadow of a name.”

When the strong arm of the central authority had been
palsied by the barbarian invasions at first, and then by the
Normans and Danes in the North, the Slavs and
Hungarians in the East, and the Saracens and
Moors in the South, the spiritual influence of the
Church alone was hot sufficient to 4 hold Euro*

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

287

pean society together. For the protection of life and property
as well as the undisturbed conduct of normal social acti¬
vity it was necessary to improvise a new system. This was
secured by the distribution and localisation of all the func¬
tions of government, which also necessitated a like distri¬
bution of authority. However, it is necessary to point out
that this reorganisation of society was spontaneous and
natural, and not the result of deliberate planning by any
great statesman. It was derived partly from Roman and
partly from Teutonic sources.

In the provinces of the Roman Empire agriculture was
carried on for centuries by free tenants known as the coloni.
But during the period of confusion these coloni tended to
depend more and more upon some strong local landowner,
and virtually sold their independence in return for security.
Likewise, the Teutonic custom of Commending oneself to
a mighty chief, served to bring about a social system of
dependence and protection. The anarchy during the ninth
and tenth centuries was so great that no price was considered
too big to pay for security. Indeed, even in insular Bri¬
tain, the daily prayer happened to be—“ from the fury of
the ’Northmen, good Lord, deliver us.”

Land, which was the source of all wealth and power in
those days, came to be divided and distributed for protec¬
tion as well as cultivation. In theory it was owned by one
supreme overlord, the king; in practice it was divided and
subdivided and held by a gradation of landlords and tenants.
The terms on which the estates or fiefs granted by the lord
to the tenant or by the tenant to the sub-tenants (vassals),
were of service, both military and civil. The vassal was to
fight for his lord in times of war, and to cultivate the land
for him in times of peace. The latter included
not merely working on one’s own farm, but also

288 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

compulsory service in the master’s demesne and
other obligations such as aids , relief, etc. The
contributions that the vassal was called upon to make to¬
wards the expenses of the marriage of the lord’s daughter, or
the accession to knighthood of the lord’s son, constituted the
“ aids ” ; the fee that was to be paid by a tenant’s heir for
succession to the fief comprised the “ relief.” Besides these
the vassal’s holding was liable to escheat on failure of heirs
or forfeiture for disloyal conduct. If the lord was taken
captive in war by an enemy his vassals were to pay ransom
for his release. When so required the tenants with their
retainers were to render military service being fully equipped
at their own cost. In short, the tenant was to be his land¬
lord’s man : he was to live, work, and die for his master in
return for such justice, protection, and privileges as the
times and the tenure guaranteed to him.

In the absence! of any effective central government, justice
was administered by the feudal (from feud—fief) lord in
his manorial court. The manor was his estate. On it stood
his great castle or fortified residence. The surrounding lands
were held by his tenants or subtenants. The former held
from him directly; the latter through their intermediate
superiors. Below all were the serfs and slaves who, indeed,
formed the major portion of the population. The serfs
were superior to the slaves, and were attached to the soil
They could not be killed or alienated with impunity. Lands
were given to them for cultivation on very exacting terms.
They could not forsake their farms and run away ; but if
they did and were not discovered for a year and a day they
were free. They were to work on their master’s farm for
three days in the week throughout the year, except during
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. Each serf was to give
to his lord, in one typical case, ‘ one bushel of wheat, eighteen

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

289

sheaves of oats, three hens, one cock yearly, and five eggs
at Easter.’ Conditions varied, for better or for worse, in
different places, but serfdom survived in Western Europe
until the French Revolution (1789) and further east until
more recent times.

In those rough times there was no sovereign law that was
universally recognised, except the canon law of the Church.
In secular matters custom and tradition ruled. Ordeal and
battle decided disputes which could not be otherwise settled.
The accused person had very often to prove his innocence
by tests of fire or water. In the last resort the disputants
would be allowed to fight each other according to rules and
justice was declared to be on the side of the victor; for it
was considered to be the judgment of God.

Knight-errantry was a typical institution of the Middle
Ages. It was governed by the highly developed code of
chivalry. The free landlords took to it as the most
honourable profession. The Crusades afforded a very
congenial atmosphere for its development and refinement.
Where no other just cause was to be found the knights
fought each other for sheer entertainment. Individual jousts
and group tournaments were very common in medieval times.
They were the survivals of the Greek games and the Roman
circuses. But unlike the brutal gladiators the knights mostly
combated each other with blunt weapons when it was not
a real fight. The barbarians were used to fighting on foot.
But the contacts of the Saracens had established the superior¬
ity of the horse. The knight was a mounted warrior armed
cap-a-pie. The term “ chivalry ” is itself derived from the
French word for horse. A vivid portrayal of this medieval
atmosphere is to be found in Scott’s Ivanhoe.

The feudal system, though it was the natural outcome of
the circumstances obtaining in the Middle Ages and rendered

290

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

good service then, was not without its defects. Private
warfare was one of its most outstanding evils. This acted
as the enemy of all established order. “ The man’s man
was not the lord’s man ” was the principle which obtained in
the continent of Europe. Hence, however powerful a lord
might consider himself in theory, he could not in practice
depend upon the co-ordinated loyalties of all who shared
his lands. Very often the vassals proved stronger than their
masters, and well integrated national kingdoms could not
arise under such circumstances. To this England was the
earliest exception. On account of her geographical isolation
die could develop well along her own lines. The Normans
under William the Conqueror, profiting by continental ex¬
perience, tried to counteract the feudal anarchical ten dpnei ffl
by insisting upon all classes of vassals that they could swear
allegiance to their immediate superiors only “ saving the faith
that I owe to our lord the King.” Yet the centrifugal forces
continued to assert themselves, though with di minishing effect,
until the establishment of the strong Tudor monarchy in the
fifteenth century. On the continent feudalism was liquefied
only gradually. It vanished, however, in the wake of the
invention of gun-powder, the growth of commercial towns,
and above all of the Renaissance. But it is not to be for¬
gotten that in its own time it had functioned well “ as a
military measure to organise local defence; economically, to
safeguard cultivation of the soil; and politically, to provide
machinery for local administration of justice.” 1 Its moral and
cultural influences were also considerable. It gave courage
to the barons in 1215 to extort the Magma Carta from King
John of England, and its traditions of gallantry and romance

p. 62 A ' F ' Hattersley ’ A Short Histor y of Western Civilization,

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

291

inspired many a writer and poet to produce gems of roman¬
tic literature. It was the age of wandering minstrels and
troubadours.

The growth of towns which gave a deathblow
to feudalism was the dominating characteristic of the later
Middle Ages. While feudalism throve in the rural parts
urban centres developed a different kind of life. Here com¬
merce and industry rather than agriculture were the decisive
factors. Guilds and corporations of merchants, and manu¬
facturers not only brought prosperity to the towns, but also
imparted to them a spirit of independence. Under their
aegis too, as under the fostering industry of the monasteries,
culture was preserved and developed.

Up to the eleventh century the population of Europe, like
that of India today, was essentially a rural population. But
once the barbarians who upset the old order and prosperity
settled down and became civilised, towns began to revive.
They were a replica of the old- Roman towns which had been
centres of great activity. In medieval Europe there were
three institutions of such civilising importance : they were
the monasteries, the feudal manors, and the organised towns.
We have said something already about the first two. The
last alone will engage our attention here. The monasteries
planted often in out-of-the-way places and far off wilder¬
nesses acted as farflung outposts of civilisation. The fortified
castles and their surrounding self-contained manors served to
preserve society from the disrupting forces of anarchy. The
towns, which too were fortified in the Middle Ages, were so
many islands of peaceful industry in a sea of constant war¬
fare. They were also the arteries through which flowed the
commerce of the times. Though they were units linked up as
fiefs in the feudal system, they were too powerful to be
swallowed up by the encircling forces. They either bought

292

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

out or valiantly fought for their liberties and thereby earned
an important place among the “ estates ” of the realm. Their
citizens, the burghers or burgesses, were the creators of the
commons of modem democracies.

Internally, the towns organised professional guilds, and
externally, they formed leagues with other cities for purposes
of commerce as well as defence. The craft-guilds were unions
of workers which secured monopolies for their special indus-
jkrij&f afforded training for their apprentices, laid down condi-
r-tfons for efficiency, and protected their members
much as trade-unions do today. There were
unions of shoemakers, bakers, weavers, dyers, etc.
The most famous of the leagues of commercial towns was
the Hanseatic League of North Germany. Hansa in
old German meant a confederation or union. The Hanseatic
League included about eighty of the principal cities of
Northern Europe. It established trading colonies of its mem¬
bers in London, Bruges, Bergen, and Novgorod. It lost its
importance only with the new geographical discoveries of
the fifteenth century and the consequent shifting of the
highways of world commerce.

The greatest of the cities of Southern Europe were con¬
centrated in Italy. They were Venice, Genoa, and Florence.
Venice had her beginning in the fifth century when the
refugees from the attacks of Attila the Hun sought shelter
among her marshes. In course of time, owing to the natural
advantages of her position at the head of the Adriatic, as
well as the enterprise of her daring citizens, she became the
mistress of the Mediterranean as once Athens, Carthage, and
Rome had been. In the immortal words of Byron_

A thousand years their cloudy wings expand

Around me, and a dying Glory smiles

O'er the far times, when many a subject land

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

293

Look’d to the winged Lions marble piles,

Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles !

She looks a sea cybele, fresh from ocean,

Rising with her tiara of proud towers
At airy distance, with majestic motion,

A ruler of the waters and their powers :

And such she was;—her daughters had their dowers
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East
Pour’d in her lap all gems in sparkling showers.

In purple was she robed, and of her feast
Monarchs partook, and deem’d their dignity increased.

In 1177, in recognition of her importance as well as
services rendered to the Church, Pope Alexander III bestowed
on her Doge a ring and said : “ Take this as a token of
dominion over the sea, and wed her every year, you and
your successors forever, in order that all may know that
the sea belongs to Venice and is subject to her as a bride
is subject to her husband.” This annual “wedding of the
Adriatic” continued to be one of the most gorgeous cere¬
monies of the Middle Ages. Genoa became a rival, par¬
ticularly after 1261, when she demonstrated her power by
assisting! the Greeks in the overthrow of the Latins at Con¬
stantinople. For a long time their reckless rivalries ec¬
lipsed the ascendancy of the two Italian cities, until both
were overwhelmed by the triumphs of the Crescent in the
East.

Florence, the city of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ma-
chiavelli, Michael Angelo, Lenardo da Vinci, Galileo, Ame¬
rigo Vespucci, and the Medici, was “ the most illustrious and
fortunate of Italian republics.” Despite the handicaps of her
inland situation, Florence still became, “ through the skill, in¬
dustry, enterprise, and genius of her citizens, the great manu¬
facturing, financial, literary, and art centre of the later me¬
dieval centuries... .indeed', as respects the number of her

294

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

great men, Florence is perhaps unrivalled by any city of the
ancient or modem world save Athens.” 1

Incomplete as this survey of medieval life in Europe must
remain (for obvious limitations of space) we cannot con¬
clude the chapter without a few lines on the education and
literature of the Middle Ages. 2 We have already observed
how the monasteries kept the torch of learning bright
through the Dark Ages, by preserving such of the ancient
knowledge as was accessible to them. Much of the Greek
wisdom, except that of Aristotle, had been temporarily lost
to Western Europe. Even the writings of Aristotle were fa¬
miliarised through Arabic translations rendered into Latin
in the Spanish universities. Thanks to the teachings of
Muhammad, the early Muslims had cultivated learning with
the same zeal as they felt for their religion. The Prophet
had declared, “ Acquire knowledge, it will enable you to dis¬
tinguish right and wrong, it will light the way to heaven,
it will be your friend in the desert, your society in solitude,
your companion in loneliness, your guide to happiness, the
sustainer of your misery, the ornament among your friends,
and the armour against your enemies.” Arab scholarship
in the universities of Cordoba and Toledo in Spain demon¬
strated that the Moors had fully imbibed the spirit of this
exhortation.

Among the Christian princes we have noted too the ser¬
vices rendered to education by Charlemagne. One writer
has justly observed, “ Herein he (Charles the Great) takes

1. Myers, General History , p. 436.

2. For a fuller treatment of various aspects of medieval
life read The Legacy of the Middle Ages (Oxford U. Press),
Medieval Contributions to Modern Civilisation (Harraps), and
Medieval People by Eileen Power (Pelican Books).

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

295

a foremost place among the benefactors of humanity, as a
man who, himself imperfectly educated, knew how to value
education, in others; as one who, amid the manifold haras¬
sing cares of government and of war, could find leisure for
that friendly intercourse with learned men which far more
than his generous material gifts cheered them on in theii
arduous and difficult work; and as the ruler to whom per-'
haps more than to any other single individual we owe the
fact that the precious literary inheritance of Greece and
Rome has not been altogether lost to the human race.
Every student of the history of the texts of the classical au¬
thors knows how many of our best manuscripts date from
the ninth century, the result unquestionably of the impulse
given by Charles and his learned courtiers to classical stu¬
dies.” The degree of personal attention bestowed upon the
education of the young, by Charlemagne, is illustrated by
the rebuke he administered to the easy-going lads of a
school started under his own patronage: “ You young
nobles”, he said, “you dainty and beautiful youths, who
have presumed upon your birth and your possessions to des¬
pise mine orders, and have taken no care for my renown;
you have neglected the study of literature, while you have
given yourselves over to luxury and idleness, or to games
and foolish athletics. By the King of Heaven, I care no¬
thing for your noble birth and your handsome faces, let
others prize them as they may. Know this for cer¬
tain, that unless ye give earnest heed to your studies, and
recover the ground lost by your negligence, ye shall never
receive any favour at the hand of King Charles.”

As the demand for instruction increased with the growth
of peace and prosperity the cathedral and monastic schools
were found insufficient. Particularly, the merchant and
other professional classes were in need of secular education

29C> A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

which the Church schools could not be expected to impart.
These needs were met by institutions that soon developed
into the famous universities of medieval Europe. The
most ancient of these were the University of Salerno, noted
for its teachers in medicine; the University of Bologna,
distinguished for its instruction in law ; and the University
of Paris, revered for its doctors in theology. The last sup¬
plied the model of constitutions and was hence known in
the Middle Ages as “the Mother of Universities.” Oxford
and Cambridge were also founded in these early times.
The principal faculties that were cultivated were the faculty
of Theology, the faculty of Medicine, the faculty of Law,
and the faculty of Arts (or Philosophy). Grammar, rhe¬
toric, and logic were specially emphasised for their value
in scholastic disputations. Besides the Church and the or¬
dinary lay schools, there were also 4 Chivalric schools ’ where
sons of noblemen especially were trained in the exercises and
code of medieval chivalry.

Peter Abelard (1079—1142), Albertus Magnus (d. 1280),
Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), and Roger Bacon (d. 1294),
were among the outstanding figures of this age. The first
was so popular that he attracted over 5000 pupils to his
lecture rooms, but possessed a notorious moral character.
The second was so admired for his versatile genius that he
was called “ Albert the Great ” and “ the Second Aristotle.”
The third was known as “the Angelic Doctor”, and his
great work the Summa Theologia or “ Sum of Theology ” to
this day provides the foundation for the orthodox Church.
The last, called “ the Wonderful Doctor ”, though persecuted
for being in league with the devil, was wonderfully ahead of
his times in scientific knowledge. He seemed to possess mar¬
vellous understanding of mechanics, optics, and chemistry.
He knew the composition of gunpowder or some such ex-

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

297

plosive, and believed in the possibility of mechanically pro¬
pelled vehicles, as the following remarkable passage from his
writings reveals :—

‘Machines for navigating are possible without rowers, so
that great ships suited to river or ocean, guided by one man,
may be borne with greater speed than if they were full of
men. Likewise, cars may be made so that without a draught
animal they may be moved-as we deem the scythed cha¬

riots to have been from which antiquity fought. And flying
machines are possible, so that a man may sit in the middle
turning some device by which artificial wings may beat the
air in the manner of a flying bird/

Among the writers of the age we have space only for a
few observations on the greatest. The most famous among
the earliest was St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo. His
The City of God which was written when Rome fell before
Alaric the Goth in 410, served as a beacon in the encircling
gloom of the Dark Age. “The greatest city of the world
has fallen in ruin,” he wrote, “ but the? city of God abideth
for ever.” His more popular work is his Confessions “ which
have a human interest equal to that of the self-revelations
of Bunyan and Rousseau,”—and we may add, of Tolstoy
and Gandhi also.

Of unknown authorship, but of great medieval interest, is
the German epic entitled the Nibhmgm Lied which has been
popularised by the music-dramas of Wagner. It is the story
of the romantic adventures of its hero Siegfried, son of
Siegmund, king of the Netherland. Its stage is the city
of Worms which, says Carlyle, “ had we a right imagination,
ought to be as venerable to us modems as any Thebes or
Troy was to the ancients.”

By far the greatest genius of the age, however,
was Dante who was bom in Florence in 1265.
His love for Beatrice which inspired his Divine Comedy is

298

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

an epic theme. Dante suffered much owing to his partici¬
pation in the factions of his city—the Guelph's and the
Ghibellines. The former stood for the Pope and the latter
for the Emperor. We have already described the nature
of the struggle between the Empire and the Papacy. The
Guelphs having triumped, Dante was banished from
Florence in 1302, and he remained in exile until his death
in 1321. This called forth from Michael Angelo, another
great Florentine of versatile genius, the following sonnet

From heaven his spirit came, and, robed in clay,

The realms of justice and of mercy- trod.

Then rose a living man to gaze on God,

That he might make the truth as clear as day.

For that pure star, that brightened with his ray
The undeserving nest where I was bom,

The whole wide world would be a prize to scorn ;

None but his Maker can due guerdon pay.

I speak of Dante, whose high work remains
Unknown, unhonoured, by that thankless brood
Who only to just men deny their wage.

Were I but he ! Bom for like lingering pains,

Against his exile coupled with his good
I’d gladly change the world’s best heritage.

But the world has accorded to Dante the justice that
Florence denied him: he is one of its greatest immortals.
The noble epic comprising three parts— Inferno, Purgatorio,
and Parodist )--is incapable alike of paraphrase and epitome!
The poet passing through hell and purgatory into parqHjgo
meets with immortals of the classical world, but the crown¬
ing glory of reaching Beatrice is his alone. “Guided by 1
Beatrice the poet passes through nine Heavens, which are
moving spheres revolving round our globe, till he reaches
the final motionless and fixed Heaven in the Empyrean.
The seven lowest of the Heavens are named after the moon.

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

299

the sun, and the planets, and the eighth after the fixed stars.
All these are visible from earth. Above them is the ninth
or crystalline Heaven, which directs by its movements the
daily revolution of all the others. In it nature starts ; from
it proceed time and motion, together with all celestial in¬
fluences for the government of the world. It is :

The robe that with its regal folds enwraps
The world and with the nearer breath of God
Doth bum and quiver.

“ Above it, climax of the vision, is the infinite and mo¬
tionless sea of divine love where God makes blessed the
saints and angels in the vision of His Essence.” 1

Though Dante’s imagery and expression are medieval, he
belongs to all time. Next to him stands the galaxy of
writers like Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Malory.
They have all left us familiar pictures of medieval life.
We might close this' chapter with the portrayal of an ideal
knight who was indeed the ideal man of the Middle Ages.

“ Ah, Lancelot,” says Sir Ector in Malory’s Le Morte
d'Arthur, “thou wert head of all Christian knights, and now
I dare say, thou Sir Lancelot, there thou liest, that thou wert
never matched of earthly knight’s hand. And thou wert the
courteoust knight that ever bare shield. And thou wert the
truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse. And thou
wert the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman.
And thou wert the kindest man that ever struck with sword.
And thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among press
of knights. And thou wert the meekest man and the gentlest
that ever ate in hall among ladies. And thou wert the sternest
knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.”

JL. John Drinkwater, The Outline of Literature , p. 239.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
»

Everything points to the conclusion that those
centuries which were centuries of disaster and
retrogression in Europe, were comparatively an
age of progress in Middle Asia eastward into
China. —H. G. Wells

No period in Eastern history has been, perhaps, treated
with greater indifference than that of Asia during the Mid¬
dle Ages. The corresponding age in Europe has been compa¬
ratively well studied by scholars. But even in such a brief
survey as ours we should not overlook the medieval period
as a whole in our continent. Vast as the field may be, we shall
find before we close this chapter that our exploration has not
been futile On the contrary we shall have added to our
knowledge of human history some connected information
about an important, though obscure, period. Chronologi¬
cally, we shall roughly cover in this chapter the same millen¬
nium (500-1500) as we did in the last chapter. Politically,
this will include an account of the Tang (618-907), Sung
(960-1280), and Yuan (1280-1368) dynasties (to mention
only the most important) in China, the pre-Mughal Muslim
and Hindu dynasties of India, and die momentous move¬
ments of peoples like the Mongols and Turks. '

We have earlier indicated the nature of Han and T’ang
rale in the great age of Buddhism in Asia. Though Hhina

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

301

made large and valuable contributions to civilisation, her
political history, as ever, was very much disturbed. Progress
in that vast country has been so often interrupted by war and
barbarism that one really wonders how the Chinese could
at all produce their rich culture. Under the Han dynasty
(206 B.c. to 221 A.D.), in addition to China proper, Tong-
king and Annam had been reduced to being tributary states.
Besides developing excellent pottery, jade, bronze and iron¬
work, silk brocades and embroideries, etc., the Han emperors
had encouraged literature and secured its preservation by
getting Confucian classics engraved on stone. The invention
of paper in 105 a.d. and! the modification of the ancient
Chinese characters had made writing an easier art. The in¬
vention of the hair-pencil under the Ch’in had also facilita¬
ted the practice of that art on silk. Soothill describes this as
‘the period of the first great collators, commentators, and
historians, and of the fathers of the form of much subse¬
quent poetry.’ He also writes ; “ Whatever may be said of
the government, the world-enriching discovery of paper would
alone entitle the Han period to be styled glorious.”

After this China was partitioned between the three king¬
doms of Wei, Wu , and Shu. These kingdoms fought
among themselves (221—589) and paved the way for the
Tartar invasions. It was the age, as in Europe, of chaos
and chivalry. But out of this darkness one figure arises.
It is that of a Tartar who, in 397, founded the House of
Toba. He organised the civil administration and, by his
encouragement of learning, civilised his barbarous people.
Though the Tobas at first persecuted the Buddhists, they
became its great supporters later, and through them the
religion was finally established in China. Its in¬
fluence may be illustrated by the attitude of the founder
of a succeeding dynasty, viz., the Liang dynasty (502—

302 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

557). He became a devout Buddhist and is reputed to have
built 13,000 temples. He sent for monks from India, and
was so strict in following the doctrine of Akimsa that he
forbade even the cutting of figures of animals embroidered
on doth. 4 He is described as a man of distinguished cha¬
racter and noble presence, a scholar, soldier, statesman, and
monk.’ Other examples of Buddhist influence have already
been cited. Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, like Fa Hian and
Huen Tsang, came to India, and Indian Buddhist monks,
like Bodhidharma and Kumaravijaya, travelled to China.
It is reckoned that at the dose of this period the Buddhist
library in China exceeded that of' the Confucian.

The country was reunited into a single empire by the
Duke of Sui, the founder of the Sui dynasty (589—618).
The last ruler of this family was a rather remarkable figure.
He was Yang Ti (605—17).

“Studious, clever, luxurious, he squandered treasure and life
without stint. Immense palaces, huge parks, lakes and islands,
trees that must always bloom, naturally or with silken flowers
and leaves, thousands of court ladies and their attendants, every
conceivable gratification were his delight. He linked his capital
with the Yangtze by joining various rivers into a great cannal,
lining it with stone embankments, and, 30,000 ‘dragon boats’
carried him and his entourage on royal visitations. Whole dis¬
tricts were denuded of birds to supply his followers with gay
feathers. He led an army of 305,000 against Korea, of whom
only 2,7000 returned.”!

«

Such a prince was not calculated to keep either his dig¬
nity or power for long. His general Li Yuan revolted and
established a new dynasty. This was the famous Tang
dynasty about which we have already said something in an
earlier chapter. Tai Tsung (627-650): was its greatest

1. Soothill, A History of China, p. 27.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

303

ruler. During his time both Christianity and Islam first
entered China, the former in 635 and the latter in 628,
Unlike European monarchs, T’ai Tsung welcomed both and
allowed the new religions to be freely propagated in his do¬
minions. The mosque at Canton, erected by these early
visitors to the Far East, is one of the oldest surviving mos¬
ques built during the lifetime of the Prophet. The Chris¬
tians were Nestorians from Syria and Persia. Though the
dynasty of T’ai Tsung continued till 907, his successors were
decadent rulers. The Turcomans wearing black garments
(hence nicknamed “the Crows”) were called in to defend
them, but turned out to be their enemies. However, the
glory of T’ai Tsung’s days was never forgotten. The sou¬
therners to this day proudly call themselves “ Men of T’ang.”

There were five shortlived dynasties (mostly Turcoman)
ruling from 907 to 960. The Sung dynasty arose out of
their ashes and revived the glory of Han and T’ang (960—
1280). The most notable figure of this period was Wang
An-shih the “communist minister of Sken Tsung (1068—
1086). He is described as a very clever man who “wore
dirty clothes and did not even wash his face.” But as a re¬
former far in advance of his times he distinguished him¬
self even like Wang Mang before him. He created a Board
of Statistics, attempted nationalisation of commerce, issued
loans to needy farmers, introduced conscription, and levied
an income-tax. When famine was declared to be the indi¬
cation of the wrath of God, Wang said, “ Not at all; natu¬
ral phenomena are the result of natural laws and have no
relation to moral action.” The collapse of the Sung dy¬
nasty, like that of many of its predecessors, was brought
about partly by inner decadence, and outer attacks by the
barbarian Mongols. Though it endured for a long time it
was renowned less for its emperors than for .its statesmen

304 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and soldiers, less for its successes against external
foes (the Tartars) than for its scholars. Yet the legacy
of culture that they left served to enhance the value of
China’s permanent contributions to civilisation. Summing
up the Sung services to culture Soothill has observed :

“ These have left behind a legacy of literature that will
be treasured for all time. The names of historians, philo¬
sophers, commentators, essayists, poets are writ high on the
scroll of their country. Though books were first printed
immediately before the foundation of this dynasty, it was
during its existence, and notably south of the Yangtze, that
the great writers existed and their books were published.
Education was fostered and academies for students encou¬
raged. The growing artistic taste still further stimulated
the skill of workers in gold, silver, and the metals, in wood,
textiles, and other materials. The manufacture of porcelain
underwent a notable development. Pictorial art rea¬
ched its zenith as also did the art of writing,
engraving, and printing Chinese characters. The constant
demands of war produced improved weapons and armour;
the ballista for throwing stones was introduced, and fire¬
arms and cannons came into use in the twelfth century;
ship-building for river and seafaring purposes also received
an impetus, consequent chiefly on the requirements of na¬
val warfare and transport.”

It was Marco Polo, a thirteenth century Venetian tra¬
veller (1260—95), who first roused European interest in
China and the East generally. He travelled in China,
stayed at the court of Kublai Khan, visited Sumatra, South
India, and several other countries besides. Though he cir¬
culated some fantastic stories about the Orient, particularly
the countries he had not personally seen, he also conveyed
much useful information to the Europeans, which had far-

'THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES .'305

reaching effects. With him may be said to begin ttrc.im¬
pulse which culminated in the great geographical discoveries
oi the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

China w£s ruled by the famous Kublai Khan, a descen¬
dant of the still more famous Chengiz Khan, when Marco
Polo visited. The former who founded the Yuan dynasty
in China reigned over only a portion of the vast empire
created by the latter. Chengiz Khan, the leader of the
Mongol hordes, was the greatest conqueror the world has
ever seen. His dominions extended from the Western
shores of the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe, and inclu¬
ded China, Mongolia, Turkestan, Persia, Afghanistan,
North-West India, Asia-Minor, and Eastern Europe. His
army, in spite of its great size, was well organised and was
provided with fire-arms which were first invented in China.
Chengiz was bom in the steppes of Mongolia in 1155. He
was a Mongol Bagatur (Bahadur) or nobleman (literally,
‘hero’) and was elected leader of all the tribes only when
he was fifty-one years of age.

‘ And so, when all the generations living in felt tents became
united under a single authority, in the year of the Leopard,
they assembled near the sources of the Onon, and raising the
White Banner on Nine Legs, they conferred on Chengiz the
title of Kagan/

He commenced his great march in 1219 and died in 1227
at the age of seventy-two. But these nine years were not
only the most momentous in his own career, but also some
of the most memorable in the history of the world. Though,
like Attila, he is regarded as a ‘Scourge of God’—for he
moved like a tempest and demolished kingdoms and em¬
pires, massacring millions and piling up mountains of
skulls—he yet rendered a valuable service to civilisation :
The Mongols poured fresh and vigorous blood into the de-

306 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

cadent limbs of humanity, and what is more they opened
up Asia as well as Europe for mutual intercourse. They'
not only moved armies from Asia to Europe, but also esta¬
blished lines of civil contacts between the two continents.
The travels of Marco Polo were only one indication of this.

Chengiz Khan was succeeded by his 9on, Oghotai, who
was more humane than his father. “ Our Kagan Chengiz ”,
he declared, “ built up our imperial house with great labour;
now it is time to give the peoples peace and prosperity, and
to alleviate their burdens.” Yet under him the Mongol
conquests in Europe were further extended. His general
Sabutai subdued Russia, Poland, and Hungary. But after
the death of Oghotai disruption commenced. Mangu be¬
came the Great Khan in 1252. He appointed Kublai Khan
to the government of China. Mangu had his capital at
Karakorum and Kublai built for himself a new one at
Peking. The Western Mongols became Muslims and the
Eastern Buddhists; those in Russia, Poland, and Hungary
obviously adopted Christianity as their religion. Mangu’s
successor, Hulagu, destroyed Bagdad and ended the Abba-
sid Caliphate in 1258. This may be considered as also the
end of the Arab civilisation and the beginning of the more
destructive era of the Turks who were indistinguishable
from the Mongols.

Meanwhile in China Kublai Khan, as previously stated,
founded the Yuan dynasty. He also added Tongking,
Annam, and even part of Burma to his dominions. His
attempt to conquer Japan and Malaysia, however, proved
futile as the Mongols had no navy equal to the task. After
Kublai’s death, in 1292 the Empire of the Mongols split
up into independent kingdoms like (1) the Yuan dominions
of China, (2) the Golden Horde of Russia, Poland, and
Hungary, (3) the Ilkhan territory of Hulagu, including

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

307

Turkestan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, and (4) the Mongo¬
lian empire of Siberia. The Turkish empire of Timur or
Tamerlane (1369—1405) was built out of these elements.

Timur brought half of Asia under his sway. He con¬
quered all lands from the Great Wall of China to Moscow,
and, as we know, overrun the Punjab as well. By this time
the Turks and Mongols of the North-West had not only
turned Muslims, but become its fanatical protagonists. “ My
object in the invasion of Hindustan,” Timur declared, “ is
to lead a campaign against the infidels, to convert them to
the True Faith according to the command of the Prophet
(on whom be the blessing of God!), to purify the land
from the defilement of misbelief and polytheism, and over¬
throw the temples and idols, whereby we shall be Ghazis
and Mujdhids, champions and soldiers of the Faith before
God.” But this was merely a pretext, because Timur fought
and overthrew Muslims as well. He invaded India in 1398,
defeated the Sultan of Turkey in a terrible engagement at
Angora in 1402, received the submission of the Sultan of
Egypt, and suddenly died in 1405.

The Ottoman or Osmanli Turks had established them¬
selves in Asia-Minor about 1300. Under Bajazet they had
advanced into South-Eastern Europe and overthrown the
Christian armies at Nicopolis on the Danube in 1396. The
advent of Timur had temporarily checked this Turkish ad¬
vance into Europe. But under Muhammad II (the Great)
the Turkish conquests were renewed with vigour. Constan¬
tinople fell before his irresistible attacks, in 1453, and the
Muslims established themselves in the Balkan peninsula
with momentous results in European history. Under Sulei¬
man the Great (called by Turkish historians the ‘Lord of
his Age’) the Ottoman power was raised to its zenith
(1520—1566). He advanced into Central Europe and in-

308 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

vested Vienna, the capital of Austria. Though he did not
succeed in capturing it, he conquered Hungary and the
is l a nd , of Cyprus from the Christians. Suleiman’s empire
extended from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea to the
shores of the Atlantic Ocean along North Africa. It inclu¬
ded Asia-Minor, Egypt, the islands 'of the Eastern Medi¬
terranean, the Black Sea, the Balkan peninsula, and Hun¬
gary. The decline followed only after the death of Sulei¬
man the Great. “Compared with other European states
of that time, the Ottoman empire was well governed and
prosperous ; trade, learning, and literature flourished; his¬
torical writing attained high excellence.” 1

In India the period of history traced above covers the
centuries from the death of Harsha (647) to the establish¬
ment of the Mughal Empire by Babur (1526). They
were centuries of neither less interest nor of less consequen¬
ce to World History. We must therefore make here at
least a brief survey of happenings in India.

Muhammad the Prophet of Islam was a contemporary
of Sri Harsha of Kanouj. We have witnessed in the ear¬
lier chapters the remarkable rapidity with which Islam
spread over the three continents of Asia, Africa, and
Europe. The Arabs were no strangers to India, and after
their conversion to Islam they conquered Sind at the same
time (712) as they conquered Spain. The circumstances
under which this happened are familiar to readers of In¬
dian history. India was not politically united ; even so¬
cially she needed rejuvenation. Hence, in the words of
E. B. Haveil, it appeared as if “ the sword of Islam was the
Creator’s pruning knife which removed the decaying bran¬
ches and cut back the unfruitful growth of the Tree of

Renouf, Outlines of General History, p. 234.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

309

Knowledge He had planted in Aryavarta.” Obviously, it
was the period of Hindu decadence, and new vitality was
imparted by the violent impact of a new civilisation; for
Islam was nothing less than that.

‘ India up to that date, or to about the close of that cen¬
tury, was characteristically and exclusively Hindu, using
this term in its most comprehensive sense. Whatever chan¬
ges took place up to that age were changes in Hindu India,
which remained Hindu , enfolding in its broad bosom such
divergent racial elements as Aryan and Dravidian, Scythian
and Mongolian, and religious differentiations such as Brah¬
manism, Animism, Jainism, and Buddhism/ But ‘Hindu¬
ism found in Islam a strange bed-fellow, with a character
almost sturdier than its own. The capacity of Hindu so¬
ciety for assimilation of peoples and cultures unlike its own,
before the advent of the Muhammadans, seemed to be in¬
finite. But the Crescent for the first time revealed its li¬
mitations. Indeed, for well nigh a millennium, Hindu so¬
ciety threatened to go under. Islam was in the ascendant
from the advent of the Arabs in Sind (712 a.d.) to the de¬
cline and fall of the Mughal Empire at the death of
Aurangazeb (1707 a.d.). Until after the final discomfiture
of Alamgir it was not certain that India was not to be
Dar-ul-Islam. But the Medieval Age in India closed with
the certainty that this ancient land was to belong equally
to both peoples and faiths, Muslim no less than Hindu.
On what terms has not been settled yet.

‘The impact of these two cultures has created Modem
India and its problems. The aggressive European never
fully triumphed over purely Islamic countries. No one en¬
tirely succeeded in submerging India so long as she re¬
mained exclusively Hindu. It will not be unwarrantable,
therefore, to attribute the subjection of India to her loss of

310 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

homogeneity. The prime factor in our altered national
composition has been the almost unassimilable racial and
teligious element introduced by Islam. The history of this
impact is to us, therefore, of moire than mere scholastic in¬
terest. ...

'Except in India, wherever Muhammadans succeeded in
establishing themselves, they transformed society and cul¬
ture beyond recognition. Islam simply came, saw, and
conquered. Hindu India was both weak, divided anid de¬
cadent. And yet, after centuries of continuous fighting,
India could not be equally submerged. Paradoxical as it
might seem, therefore, India on the eve of the Muslim in¬
vasions was both weak and unconquerable. She was poli¬
tically most vulnerable, but culturally all but impregnable/ 1
The first Muslim conqueror of India was Imiad-ud-dln
Muhammad (ibn Kasim). He was an Arab and was act¬
ing as the agent of the governor of Irak who was himself
under the Caliph of Bagdad. He subdued Sind in 712
a.d. and the Arabs continued to hold it for a little over a
century and a half (to 871 a.d.) But impermanent as this
conquest proved, so far as the Arabs were concerned, Sind
has remained ever since a predominantly Muslim province.
The next Muhammadan invader was the Turkish Mahmud
of Ghazni who raided India seventeen times (1001—25),
despoiled the great Hindu temples of Nagarfeot, Thanesar,
Mathura, Brindavan, Kanouj, and Somnath, and earned for
himself the title of Idol-breaker :

The mighty Mahmud, the Victorious Lord,

That all the misbelieving and black Horde
Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the soul
Scatters and slays with his enchanted Sword.

1. S. R. Sharma, The Crescent xn India , pp. 1-2.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

311

Mahmud is also remembered for his association with the
great scholar Al-Biruni and the great Persian poet Firdausi.
The former was learned in * astronomy, mathematics, chro¬
nology, mathematical geography, physics, chemistry, and
mineralogy \ and his great work on India is described as
‘a magic island of quiet impartial research in the midst
of a world of clashing swords, burning towns, and plundered
temples.’ Firdausi was the author of the greatest of Per¬
sian epics, the Shah-namah.

We have not the space here to recount, except very briefly,
the rest of Muslim history in India, nor is more necessary
for our purposes. Another Muhammad followed. He de¬
feated and killed the famous Prithvi Raj Chauhan, and also
paved the way for the foundation of the Slave ‘ dynasty/
The greatest of these were Iltutmish and Balban and a
queen (rare in Muslim history), Razia. Then came the
Khaljis of whom the most notable was Allauddin (1296—
1316). Under him Muslim arms reached the farthest cor¬
ners of India. Though extremely tyrannical, he was also
a reformer. He tried to control the markets and prices as
well as the consumption of liquor. The next dynasty was
that of the Tughlaks of whom the remarkable and quixotic
Muhammad (1325—51) is well known for his currency ex¬
periments and changing his capital from Delhi to Deogiri
with disastrous consequences. “He was perfect in the hu¬
manities of his day,” writes a historian, “a master of
style, supremely eloquent in an age of rhetoric, a philoso¬
pher, trained in logic and Greek metaphysics, with whom
scholars feared to argue, a mathematician and a lover of
science.” At the same time, according to the contemporary
witness Ibn Battuta,

‘This king of all men is the one who most loves to dispense
gifts and to died blood. His gateway is never free from a beggar

312

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

whom he has relieved and a corpse which he has slain. Talcs
are spread abroad among the people of his generosity and cou¬
rage, as of his bloodshed and vindictiveness towards offenders.
With all this he is the humblest of men and the most eager to
show justice and truth. The rites of religion find full observance
with him, and he is strict in the matter of prayer and in puni¬
shing its neglect. But what is pre-eminent in him is his gene¬
rosity..when there was such famine in India that a maund
of corn cost six dinars [3 guineas], he ordered six months’ food
to be distributed to all the inhabitants of Delhi from the crown
stores. Each person, great or small, free or slave, was to have a
pound and a half Morocco weight (about 2 lbs.) a day.’

The combination of bounty and cruelty indicated here
was more or less typical of the Muslim Sultans. Except in
rare cases, as with Zain-ul-Abideen of Kashmir (1417—
67), the Hindus were invidiously treated. They had to pay
the jiziya or poll-tax and were not allowed to practise their
religion freely and openly. But the tendency on the whole
was to soften the edge of difference between the conquerors
and the conquered. Culturally, the two communities after
centuries of conflict learnt much from each other. Hindu
converts to Islam inevitably tended to modify its practice,
if not its faith also, While the appearance of reforming
saints like Nanak (1469—1539) and Kabir (1440—1518)
served to purge Hinduism of its idolatry and exclusiveness.
The spirit of compromise is well reflected in the following
lines from Kabir

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world
belong ?

If Ram be within the image, then who is there to know what
happens without?

Haxi is in the East; Allah is in the West. Look within your
own heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram.

All the men and women of the world are His living forms.

Kabir is the child of Allah and Ram; He is my guru ; He is
my pir.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

313

Vain too are the distinctions of caste.

All shades of colour are but broken arcs of light.

All varieties in human nature are but fragments of Humanity.

The right to approach God is not the monopoly of Brahmans,
but belongs to all who are sincere of heart.

Hindu India on the eve of the Muslim invasions had
been a congeries of warring states, like the Paramars of
Malwa, the Pratiharas of Kanouj, the Palas of Bengal, the
Solankis of Gujarat, the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, the
Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas of South India, etc. Though
we have necessarily to skip over these and many others,
we may note a few salient facts about them. North India
under the Pratiharas (c 700—1000 a.d.) and South India
under the Cholas (c. 900—1100 a.d.) were about the only
two Hindu powers that came very near to achieving any¬
thing like imperial unity. But even this was of an acciden¬
tal and precarious nature being dependent upon personali¬
ties like Mihira Bhoja, Nagabhata, Rajaiaja, and Rajen-
dra. However, within their limited spheres, each kingdom
maintained peace, fostered literature and industry, and prac¬
tised religious toleration of a unique character. Jains,
Buddhists, Brahmanical and other Hindus lived for the most
part amicably with one another irrespective of the faith of
the rulers. The prosperity was so great at one time that
it stimulated enterprise and carried both Hindus and Bud¬
dhists into distant lands like Burma, Indo-China, and the
Malay Archipelago. There a Greater India was created as
we have noticed before. Pagan, Pegu, Cambodia, Srivi-
jaya, Angkor, and Madjapahit proclaimed to the world the
glories of colonial India. The last named of these
kingdoms was extinguished only as late as the
close of the fifteenth century. Then it was swal¬
lowed up by the growing Muslim state of Malacca.
But in their heyday the Hindus of Greater India

314 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

had successfully resisted the incursions of the Mon¬
gols under Kublai Khan. They had also earned on great
building activities (e.g. Borobudur and Angkor Vat)
and trade with India, China, the Philippine Islands, etc.
At home also medieval Hinduism expressed itself luxuriant¬
ly in temple architecture. ‘The M&rband Sun temple of
Kashmir, the Khajuraho Vishnu temple of Central India,
the rich Jaina temples of Mt. Abu, and the famous Saiva
and Vaishnava temples of South India, particularly
those built by the Cholas of Tanjore, the Pamdyas
of Madura, and the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra
(Halebid and Bdur in Mysore), may be cited as
examples. Mahmud of Ghazni who destroyed the glorious
temple of Somnath was struck with a sense of beauty by
the shrines of Mathura and Kanouj though his zeal for
Islam did not permit his sparing them through admiration.
The Kailasa temple of Ellura, excavated under Krishna I
Rashtrakuta, still evokes the admiration of the world. Prin¬
ces and peasants had lavished their best gifts on these crea¬
tions for generations before their fatal endowments attract¬
ed the heavy hammers of the greedy iconoclasts. Little
did pious and self-complacent India of a thousand yean
ago dream that its princes and gods would alike prove im¬
potent against a race of more realistic foreigners.’ 1

1. Ibid., pp. 21-22.

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

In the fifteenth century the great inventions,
the geographical discoveries, the extension of
commerce, the growth of capital, the rise of
the middle class, the revival of learning, the
growth of great dynastic states, destroyed the
ideals of poverty, chastity and obedience.

— W. G. Sumner

The period of transition from the Medieval to the Modem
times is often referred to by historians as the Renaissance or
Renascence. But this term, which signifies “re-birth”, is
rather misleading and inadequate to convey to us a full
impression of the many-sided changes that took place in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, particularly in Western
Europe. It may be more truly described as the Age of
Expansion, geographical, commercial, social, intellectual,
artistic, and moral. It was not so much or merely a re¬
birth of learning which is usually implied, but an all-round
awakening and broadening of the human horizons, The
Europeans, who were destined to revolutionise the whole
world, fedt during these centuries a fresh impulse of life
which set their feet on new ground that bore ere long a
harvest of unexpected fruit. If the world in which we live
to-day is very different from what it was during the ages
described in the preceding chapters of this book, it is largely
because of what happened in this Age of Expansion. Here

316 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

it is well to recapitulate some of the outstanding tendencies
of the Medieval times which already indicated the trans¬
formation that was to follow.

We cannot too often emphasise the continuity of human life
and civilisation. There are no chasms in human progress.
It is one long march from the primitive to the modem cul¬
ture The past never completely dies; it grows through
the present into the future. The process may be sometimes
slow, sometimes even disturbed, but never suspended. Like¬
wise its pace is on occasions considerably quickened, as dur¬
ing the fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Hence what
appears to be a revival is not exactly a re-birth. There
was in the New Age much that was old, but not necessarily
like the reprint of an old edition of a book. Rather, it
was the promise of childhood being fulfilled in maturity.
We have witnessed how the legacies of Egypt and the Orient
supplied the foundations of Greek civilisation and the Greeks
inspired the Romans to enrich their own with the peculiar
creations of the Hellenic genius. Similarly the Medieval
civilisation rested upon the relics of the Roman Empire and
culture. The barbarians who appeared to overthrow these
in the Dark Ages did not really destroy everything. They
only cut down the tares and weeds and stimulated a fresh
growth. For instance, under the aegis of the Church and
monasteries Latin continued to be universally studied and
Roman Law survived the fall of the Empire which had
promulgated it. Medieval European society was a com¬
pound of Latin and Teutonic elements.

The birth of Mam in the seventh century and its west¬
ward movement introduced another new element into
European civilisation. Though the Moors and Saracens were
regarded as the enemies of Christendom they proved to be'
the saviours' and preservers of the Graeco-Roman culture.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

317

Aristotle, for instance, who was the most widely read ancient
writer in the medieval world, was available for long only
in Latin translations derived, not from the original Greek,
but from Arabic. The Moorish universities of Cordoba and
Toledo became the sources of inspiration to the Christian
universities of later times. When these centres of learning
and cultural influence were extinguished in the West, the
Crusades kept up the contact with the East. While the
Europeans hated the Muslims, particularly Turks, they pro¬
fited both from their culture and trade. Indeed, they
valued these so much that when their highways of commerce
with the East were blocked by the Turks, the Europeans
desperately sought other channels of communication with
the Orient. Like a pent up stream bursting over a dam
Europe, after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks
in 1453, was bubbling with an overabundance of energy that
was to find expression in a variety of forms which we shall
study in the course of this chapter. The most remarkable
outward feature of this energy was the spirit of adventure
and geographical exploration.

Before Marco Polo (1260-95) advertised the Orient among
the Europeans their knowledge of the outside world was
very limited. Indeed, that was the case with most people
in timps when the means of communication were very diffi¬
cult, both by land and sea. Moreover, the needs of all
people were so few and simple that they rarely fdt the
necessity of looking far around. Even if any desired to
travel widely such roads as existed were so beset with
dangers that few would take the risk. Wars were frequent,
robbers were rampant on land routes and pirates infested
the seas. Yet, thanks to the enterprising spirit of traders,
and the intercourse stimulated by the Mongolian invasions
and the Crusades, even in the Middle Ages there existed a

318 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

flrurishing commerce between Europe and Asia. But the
principal carriers of this trade were the Muslims and the
routes lay through Muslim countries. When the hostile
Turks prevented the Europeans from using these ancient
routes, fresh ways had to be discovered. “ The needs of
commerce,” as Professor Webster has observed, “largely
account for early exploring voyages. Eastern spices—cinna¬
mon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger—-were used more
freely in medieval times than now, when people lived on
salt meat during the winter and salt fish during lent. Even
wine, ale, and medicines had a seasoning of spices. Besides
spices, all kinds of precious stones, drugs, perfumes, gums,
dyes, and fragrant woods came from the East.”

The pioneers of enterprise in the discovery of the new
routes to the East were the Portuguese and the Spaniards.
For want of space we have to be content here with a bare
summary of the most important facts connected with them.
The Chinese had long ago discovered the use of the mag¬
netised needle to determine the directions on unchartered
seas. But for the resulting mariner's compass, geographical
exploration on a vast scale, such as that of the fifteenth and
the following centuries, would have been difficult. Another
helpful factor was the increasing acceptance of the hypothesis
about the sphericity of the earth, believed in since the days
of Ptolemy, which suggested the possibility of circumnavi¬
gation. Under the patronage of Prince Henry the Navi¬
gator (Dom Henriques) of Portugal, a beginning was made
in the exploration of the west coast of Africa southwards.
It culminated in the discovery of the Cape route to India.
Bartholomew Diaz rounded the southern extremity of Africa
in 1487 and significantly christened it the Cape of Good
Hope. Before ten years had elapsed after this, Vasco da
Gama started on his famous voyage which brought him to

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

319

Calicut in 1498. When he returned to Lisbon he carried
with him a cargo worth sixty times the cost of his expedi¬
tion, and was rewarded by the King of Portugal with the
title of 4 Lord of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce
of Ethiopia, Persia, and India 1 . Java and the Moluccas
were reached by the Portuguese in 1512.

But the most surprising discovery of the age, however,
was that of America by Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci
after whom the continent has taken its name. The former, a
Genoese adventurer, reached the West Indies in 1492, start¬
ing on a voyage intended to reach the East by the shortest
route ! The globe prepared by the German geographer,
Martin Behaim, in 1490, had shown Cipango (Japan) just
where Columbus landed, little suspecting the intruding
obstacle of America. Amerigo sailed after 1497, but was
lucky enough to have his name immortalised by a German
map-maker. Columbus made four voyages in all (1492,
1493, 1498, and 1503) to the 4 Indies’ only to die in Spain
a discredited, dishonoured, and disappointed man.

These western discoveries were made under Spanish aus¬
pices. Christopher Columbus was patronised by Queen
Isabella of Castile. Balboa beheld the Pacific Ocean across
Panama in 1513, and the Portuguese Magellan, in the ser¬
vice of Spain, passed into the Pacific (so called by Magellan
on account of its calm in contrast to the Atlantic)' through
the Strait named after him, in 1519, and reached the Philip¬
pine Islands where unfortunately he was killed. But three
years after the expedition had started, only one ( Victoria)
out of the five ships that had set out under Magellan, reach-
ed Seville harbour, returning via the Cape of Good Hope.
This is the first recorded circumnavigation of the earth.
Others followed in the wake of the Portuguese and the
Spaniards, but we have no space to describe them. The

320 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

pioneers claimed a monopoly of exploitation of the new lands
discovered by them, the reactions of which we shall describe
in a later chapter. A Papal Bull confirmed their respective
claims in 1493 : an imaginary line was drawn by Pope
Alexander VI through the Atlantic, 300 miles west of the
Azores and Cape Verde Islands, the East being the share
of the Portuguese and the West of the Spaniards. The
Demarcation Line was shifted in 1494, 800 miles farther
to the west, so that, in 1500, when Brazil was discovered by
the Portuguese it was found to lie within their purview.

Here we must digress a little to note the conditions of
civilisation in the new continent. Mexico and Peru were
conquered respectively by Cortez and Pizarro in 1519-21 and
1531-32, They were both adventurers who were prone to
practise every type of villainy, “ ignorant, fanatical, lustful
of blood and gold,” as Professor Heamshaw has described
them. Mexico and Peru were both seats of an ancient civili¬
sation “which seems to have had many affinities with the
so-called * heliolithic ’ civilisation which prevailed in the Medi¬
terranean world some thousand years b.c. ” The opportunity,
writes Professor Heamshaw, was unique to gain an insight
into ideas and institutions widely divergent from those of
Christendom, but it was forever lost; for the savage in¬
vaders thought only to plunder, slay and destroy. 1 One
incident may be cited for illustration. Through treachery
Pizarro made Atahualpa, the Inca leader, captive, and de¬
manded for his ransom a room full of gold * as high as he
could reach/ The demand was fulfilled, but not the pro¬
mise. Pizarro took both Atahualpa’s gold and life. The
Incas of Peru were far advanced in civilisation. The great
cities of their empire were filled with splendid palaces and

1. A First Book of World History, p. 149.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

321

temples, and throughout their country there were magnificent
works of public utility, such as roads, bridges, and aqueducts.
Their government was a mild paternal autocracy. Their
Spanish conquerors robbed and reduced them to abject
slavery when they were not ruthlessly exterminated to make
room for Negro slaves imported from Africa.' 1

From this tale of discovery and conquest we shall now
turn to the more interesting intellectual developments of the
age. “ The widening of the physical horizon,” as one writer
has observed, “ brought a corresponding extension of the in¬
tellectual horizon.” The initial impulse for it likewise came
from the East. The Turkish occupation of South-Eastern
Europe had driven the Greeks westwards to ‘ Magna-Graecia’
or South Italy. The fall of Constantinople brought in its
train a large band of Greek refugees to Rome and the other
Italian cities. Among these were not a few scholars who
brought with them many valuable manuscripts of the Greek
classics. This naturally evoked interest in the ancient Hel¬
lenic literature and culture among the Italians. That interest
soon developed into a wider movement known as Humanism.
It was so described because throughout the Middle Ages the
best of the intellectuals had concentrated their energies on
theological studies, whereas the new learning was centred
round subjects of “ human ” interest. From this point of
view Dante’s Divina Commedia (noticed earlier), though
it has been called the “Epic of Medievalism” was also a
forerunner of the new movement in literature. Petrarch
(1304-74) was even a greater representative of this human¬
ism. In fact he is considered the greatest of humanists.

1. Read “The Lost Treasures of Mexico and Peru” and
“ South America’s Marvels in Masonry ” in Wonders of the Past, I
pp. 411-12 and 585-99.

322 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

" To understand Petrarch is to understand the Renaissance.
He was the first scholar of the medieval time who fully
realized and appreciated the supreme excellence and beauty
of the classical literature and its value as a means of cul¬
ture. His enthusiasm for the ancient writers was a sort
of worship.” 1 His most distinguished disciple was Boccaccio
(1313-75), the inspirer of Chaucer in England. Among the
most prominent promoters of the New Learning were the
famous Medici (Cosimo and Lorenzo) of Florence, and the
Popes, Nicholos V (1447-55), Julius II (1503-13) and Leo
X (1513-21). Under the latter Rome became a brilliant
centre of Renaissance art and learning. When Constantinople
fell, they said, “ Greece has not fallen, she has migrated to
Italy.” The enthusiasm for culture and learning shown by
the scholars of the Renaissance, the wonderful experience and
achievements of the discoverers, and, finally, the intellectual
freedom gained in the reformation struggle (Professors
Keatinge and Frazer have observed), resulted in such an
outburst of genius in the sixteenth century as the history
of the world has rarely equalled. Every country of Europe
made some contribution to the glorious output. Science
and literature alike yielded master creations of the human
mind. 2

We have already mentioned some of the forerunners of
this great awakening : Albertus Magnus (1206-80), Thomas
Aquinas (1226-74), and Roger Bacon (1214-94). The
spirit and outlook of the age are well reflected in the follow¬
ing passage from the last named scholar’s Opus Menus :

There are two modes in which we acquire knowledge, argu¬
ment and experiment. Argument shuts up the question, and
makes us shut it up too, but it gives no proof, nor does it re-

1. Myers, General History, p. 477.

2. Introduction to World History, p. 227.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

323

move doubt and cause the mind to rest in the conscious posses¬
sion of truth, unless the truth is discovered by way of experience,
e.g., if any man who had seen fire were to prove by satisfactory
argument that fire bums and destroys things, the hearer’s mind
would not rest satisfied, nor would it avoid fire ; until by put¬
ting his hand or some combustible thing into it, he proved by
actual experiment what the argument laid down ; but after the
experiment had been made, his mind receives certainty, and rests
in the possession of truth which could not be given by argument,
but only by experience.

Roger Bacon, as Westaway says, stands out for all time
as the successful pioneer of experimental investigation. In
the succeeding centuries (1301-1600) there were creative
geniuses in every walk of life. The spirit of Roger Bacon
and Columbus was abroad, and the enlightenment of Dante
(1265-1321) and Petrarch (1304-74) appeared to inspire
everybody. The versatility of Michael Angelo (1475-1564)
and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is admired even to-day.
Copernicus the Pole (1473-1543), Tycho Brahe the Dane
(1546-1601), Kepler the German (1571-1630), and Galileo
the Italian (1564-1642),—all astronomers of the greatest re¬
pute, extended the vision of humanity to worlds beyond the
terrestrial. The invention or introduction of printing with
moveable types (first used by the Chinese) had even more
momentous consequences than that of the mariner’s compass.
Professor Will Durant has rightly described this as the great¬
est invention, after writing, in the history of our race. 1 The
pioneers in Europe in this direction were Guttenberg (Ger¬
many) and Caxton (England). The Chinese had discovered
the art of manufacturing paper out of silk; the Arabs and
Europeans substituted linen for this. The simultaneous con-

1. Read further details in The Story of Civilization, II, p. 727-
31; and for an account of scientific progress, Westaway, The
Endless Quest , pp. 102 ff.

324 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

trivance of the two (printing and paper) proved as useful
as the combination of the steam engine and coal two cen¬
turies later. They resulted in a wonderful dissemination
and extension of the New Learning.

In the realm of literature the Italian Ariosto (1474-1533)
and Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Frenchmen Rabelais
(1490-1553) and Montaigne (1533-1592), the Spanish
Cervantes (1547-1616), and the English Spenser (1552-99),
Shakespeare (1564-1616), and Francis Bacon (1560-1626),
may be taken as representative writers. Ariosto was a
romantic poet, and in his Orlando Furioso he says,

Of ladies and of knights, of arms and love,

Of courtesy and of brave deeds I sing.

He inspired Spenser, Shakespeare, and the other Elizabethan
poets in England. Machiavelli, the author of The Prince and
The Art of War , was a politician devoid of any moral sense.
His name has become proverbial for “ Realpolitik ” or un¬
scrupulous statecraft. Francis Bacon admiringly said : “ We
are much beholden to Machiavelli and others that wrote
what men do and not what men ought to do.” Caesar Borgia
(1476-1507), natural son of Pope Alexander VI, was the
embodiment of Machiavelli’s ideal Prince : In the words
of Mr. H. G. Wells,

“ Caesar was a youth of spirit even for the times in which
he lived; he had early caused his elder brother to be murdered,
and also the husband of his sister Lucrezia. He had, indeed,
betrayed and murdered a number of people. With his fathers
assistance he had become duke of a wide area of Central Italy
when Machiavelli visited him. He had shown little or no military
ability, but considerable dexterity and administrative power. His
magnificence was of the most temporary sort. When presently
his father died, it collapsed like a pricked bladder. Its unsound-
ness was not evident to Machiavelli. Our chief interest in Caesar

THE AGE OF EXPANSION 325

Borgia is that he realized Machiavelli’s highest ideals of a superb
and successful prince .” 1

John Drinkwater has said, in his The Outline of Literature ,
that “ The Frenchman Rabelais, the Spaniard Cervantes,
and the Englishman Shakespeare, are without question the
three giants of the Renaissance.” 2 Since the last of these
is too well-known, only the first two need a word of intro¬
duction. It is said of Rabelais that his writing “seems to
belong to the morning of the world, a time of mirth and a
time of expectation.” Montaigne was a great essayist and
humanitarian. “The greatest thing of the world,” he
declared, “ is for a man to know how to be his own.” In
one of his essays he quotes an old sailor, who said : “ O God,
Thou wilt save me, if it be Thy will, and if Thou choosest,
Thou wilt destroy me; but, however it be, I will always
hold my rudder straight.” That, says Drinkwater, is Mon¬
taigne. Both Rabelais and Montaigne represented the
Renaissance in France.

Cervantes was the author of Don Quixote, which is spoken
of as “ the most beautiful and wonderful gift of the Renais¬
sance to the literature of the world,” apart from the plays of
Shakespeare. In it the author presents to us the brilliant
pageant of Spanish society in the sixteenth century, but that
pageant is also of humanity and belongs to all time, like
the creations of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens.

Francis Bacon was the typical product of his age : ‘ the
greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind.’ Like Michael Angelo
and Leonardo da Vinci, he was versatile. He was a states¬
man, lawyer, wit, philosopher and man of letters; “ and
in each of these several capacities he won a pre-

1. The Outline of History , p. 781.

2. P. 256.

326 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

eminent place” It is said that although many others
could rival him in the mere acquisition of knowledge,
“none since Aristotle had so succeeded in impressing the
whole with his own mental stamp, and in inspiring a new
campaign against ignorance and disorder.” His Essays are
still the most popular of all his works. In one of them
Bacon says,

“ There are three means to fortify belief. The first,, is experience;
the second, reason ; the third, authority : and that of these which
is far the most potent is authority; for belief upon reason or
upon experience will stagger.”

The greatest imaginative work of the Renaissance period
was Sir Thomas More's Utopia. In that age of discovery,
romances, poetry, and new ideals the Renaissance dreamer,
‘weary of old abuses, and longing for a more rational and
more kindly society,' created this unique work, first publish¬
ed in 1516. More was far ahead of his times, for he “ not
only denounced the ordinary vices of power, but evinced
an enlightenment of sentiment which went far beyond the
most statesmanlike ideas to be found among his contem¬
poraries, pronouncing not merely for toleration, but rising
even to the philosophic conception of the indifference of
rdigious creed.” We shall make a survey of the religious
outlook of the age in the next chapter. But before that
we must briefly notice the progress in Art.

An age of such expanding horizons and boundless creative
energies was bound to express itself in enduring forms of
art. With the growth of wealth and the spread of enlighten¬
ment came also the desire for better architecture and better
aesthetic surroundings. Medieval towns and buildings
had been built more for security than for the satisfaction
of any artistic ideas. Thus the manorial house was a castle
and even the. churches and monasteries conformed to the

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

327

heavier types of Roman architecture. But now there was
a demand for grace and ventilation, and Gothic took the
place of the Romanesque. Lancet-shaped windows and
arches were constructed instead of the rounded windows and
wide round arches on massive round pillars; tail slender
spires were built in place of the massive domes and bell-
capitals. St. Peter’s at Rome, St. Paul’s in London and
St. Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace in Venice, may be cited
as the most interesting creations of this period. In the last
named, ‘ all influences built themselves in marble : the Greek
and Oriental columns, Roman and Gothic arches, Oriental
domes, Moorish ornament and colour, all combined into a
new beauty neither Gothic, Classic, nor Oriental, but Vene¬
tian, a beauty rich in detail and daring in cosmopolitan
combination/

As in architecture so in painting the Renaissance made
its own contributions. The gifted Van Eyek brothers,
Hubert and Jan (c. 1380-1440), began a new style in
Holland; their work was fresh, bright and delightful. A
kindred spirit was found in Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) of
Nuremberg and Hans Holbein (1497-1533) in Germany. But
the greatest masters of all were in Italy. They were
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) who painted his masterpiece
(Last Supper) on the wall of a convent in Milan ; Raphael
(1483-1520), 'the best beloved of artists’, whose Madon¬
nas are counted among the world’s treasures ; Michael Angelo
(1475-1564) with his wonderful frescoes (e. g. the Last
Judgment in the Sistine Chapel at Rome) ; and Titian
(1477-1576), the Venetian master, ‘celebrated for his por¬
traits which have preserved for us in the flesh and blood,
so to speak, many of the most noteworthy personages of
his time.’ The change in artistic traditions brought about
by all these Renaissance artists is well summed up by

328 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Philip Van Ness Myers in the following words :

“The earlier Italian painters drew their subjects chiefly from
Christian sources. They literally covered the walls of the
churches, palaces, and civic buildings of Italy with pictorial re¬
presentations of all the ideas and imaginings of the mediaeval
ages respecting death, the judgment, heaven and hell. The later
artists, more under the influence of the classical revival, mingled
freely Pagan and Christian subjects and motives, and thus became
truer representatives than their predecessors of the Renaissance
movement, one important issue of which was to be the blending
of Pagan and Christian culture .” 1

1. General History, p. 484.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

Paganism and Catholicism, which, in the fifteenth
century, might have shared their supremacy, have
ever since been kept apart by the solid wedge
driven by Protestantism into the spiritual and
intellectual life of Europe. —David Ogg

The Reformation in Europe was one of the most im¬
portant results of the intellectual ferment which we witnessed
in the previous chapter. The all-sided changes that were
coming over the lives and minds of people were bound to
affect their religious views as well. In particular, the new
discoveries and astronomical observations were opposed to the
Biblical ideas of the universe, and' the Renaissance stimula¬
ted people to rely more on actual experience rather than on
authority. The Church, which had served European society
so well in the past, was rooted in Faith and founded on
authority. Hence, in the wake of new ideas and outlooks,
it was faced with a formidable force which appeared to be -
stronger than even the barbarians it had converted and
tamed. It had not merely survived all persecutions at the
hands of the old pagans, but derived considerable power out
of its struggles. In the course of the Dark Ages it had
become the one rallying centre of civilisation, and the home
and nursery of arts, industry, and learning. The Crusades
had been fought under its aegis and inspiration; and even
Emperors had 1 been reduced to penitence and submission by

330 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

its omnipotence. But now a new enlightenment was spread¬
ing, which, drawing its inspiration from classical paganism,
threatened to undermine the very foundations of the Chris¬
tian Church. Out of this turmoil and conflict, between the
Old and the New, was to be bom a new Europe,—the maker
of the modem world.

The Church had grown so rich and become so unwieldy
that some of the weaknesses which had brought the great
Roman Empire into the dust also began to manifest them¬
selves in its life. Unrestrained authority, though exercised
in the name of God, inevitably led to corruption, and this
could not stand the light of the new day that was dawning
over Europe since the thirteenth century a.d. Just as the
Roman Empire had first split up into two divisions and then
into several kingdoms, the Universal Church was also to be
divided into, not only the Eastern and the Western Churches,
but into innumerable heretical sects as well. Some of the
earlier heresies were bom out of theological differences, but
during the age under review they arose out of the corrupt
practices and vices of Church dignitaries. Hence, we find
that many of the new attacks against the Church were led
by some of the most learned and well-meaning among
Churchmen themselves, who were anxious to reform the exist-,
ing Church rather than found new churches. We shall illus¬
trate this movement by reference to some of its outstanding,
leaders without entering into controversial theological dis¬
cussions.

The first of these was John Wycliffe, a teacher at Oxford.
Bom about 1320, he came into prominence after 1366. Pope
Urban V demanded that‘England should pay the tribute
promised by King John (of Magna Carta fame) during his
submission and humiliation. Wycliffe led the agitation
against this demand and tried to establish that John's agree-

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

331

ment was void and not binding upon the English people.
This soon developed into a general attack upon the Pope
and the interference of a foreign Church which had become
the butt of much criticism. One of the good things Wycliffe
did was to have the Bible translated into English. By this
he earned the name of “ father of English prose ” as no
good English prose works existed before his time. His
followers, called the “simple priests,” were denounced as
the Lollards and charged with inciting discontent which led
to disorders known as the Peasants’ Revolt. Wycliffe himself
was excommunicated by the Pope and he died in 1384. He
is remembered as the first distinguished scholar and re¬
former to repudiate the supremacy of the Pope and such
practices of the Church as called forth the more violent at¬
tacks of Luther a hundred and fifty years later in Germany.

The See of St. Peter had come into disrepute owing to
the evil life of some who filled that high office. With the
emergence of strong monarchies out of the feudal chaos the
old quarrel between Church and State, we noticed in an
earlier chapter, reappeared in a more acute form. The
Church had amassed great wealth. Who was to appoint its
officials? Were the Church lands to be taxed like ordinary
estates or not? By whom and in what courts were offenders
connected with the Church to be tried and punished? Were
they to be subject to Canon (Church) Law or the ordinary
law of the land? Had the Pope any right to interfere with
the monarchs and their subjects? These were some of the
questions about which opposite views were held by the
Church and secular authorities. A quarrel between Pope
Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair, King of France, regard¬
ing such matters led to very serious consequences.

In 1296, Boniface issued a Bull (order) known as Clericis
laicos, forbidding the clergy and monks to pay, without his

332 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

consent, any revenue out of Church property to any king
or ruler. He also threatened rulers who should presume to
exact such tribute with excommunication. The King of
France, Philip the Fair, took up the challenge by bearding
the lion in his own den. Finally, in 1305, he got a Pope of
his own choice (“Clement V”) appointed. These servile
Popes continued to be proclaimed until 1377 at Avignon on
the border of France. 1 Ultimately, this led to rival Popes
being ordained in France and Italy, both claiming to be sole
head of the Church. In 1409 a great council was called
to Pisa to settle the dispute. Both the rivals at Avignon
and Rome were declared deposed and a new Pope was pro¬
claimed. But this only increased the number of Popes to
three in place of two! The Great Schism was not “ healed ”
until the memorable Council of Constance, which met in
1414 and continued its sessions till 1427. Its two great
achievements were the burning of Huss (a Bohemian follow¬
er of Wydiffe) as a heretic and the appointment of Pope
Martin V who displaced all the others.

Another great critic of the decadent Church was the
Dutch scholar Erasmus (c. 1469—1536). He was a very
learned man and keenly desired to improve the religious
conditions in the countries of Western Europe. Though bom
in Holland he spent much of his life in France, England,
Italy, and Germany. As a boy he had been forced into a
monastery, much against his will, but he lived to be an
earnest monk, greatly interested in Greek and Latin authors,
as well as in religious reform. “ The essence of our religion,”
he said, “ is peace and harmony. These can only exist where

1. This is known as the “ Babylonian Captivity ” as it recalled
the memory of the Jewish patriarchs taken to Babylon by
Nebuchadrezzar (see p. 88 ante).

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

333

there are few dogmas and each individual is left to form
his own opinion upon many matters.” He wrote a book
entitled “ The Praise of Folly ” in which he fearlessly ridi¬
culed the corrupt practices and weaknesses of the monks
and theologians. The effect of its publication was so great
that people said that ‘the jokes of Erasmus did the Pope
more harm than even the anger of Luther/ However, his
intention was not to ridicule, but only to reform.

But by far the most consequential among the reformers
of this age was Martin Luther (1483—1546). He was an
Augustinian friar and professor at Wittenberg. When he
first entered the monastic life he was full of enthusiasm for
the Church. “ Now,” he said, “ I felt bom again, and it
seemed to me as though heaven's gates stood full open be¬
fore me, and I was joyfully entering therein.” But when
he visited Rome he was staggered with disillusionment. The
Pope had sunk to the level of* the Italian princes; and the
clergy showed no more piety or morality than the neo-pagan
humanists of the Renaissance. ‘ They struggled to recover
and enlarge the papal states; they sought to secure princi¬
palities and heiresses for their nephews, who were not in¬
frequently their sons; they entered into alliances and waged
wars, sometimes themselves donning armour and leading
their troops; they patronised the scholars and artists of the
new era, and smiled at their open assaults on the Christian
religion and their flagrant immoralities; they rebuilt and
beautified Rome, using for the purpose the contributions of
the faithful of all lands/ The earnest and devout soul of
Luther revolted against this, and especially at the abuse and
sale of “ Indulgences ”—a sordid device for exploiting the
faithful and enriching the churchmen. Consequently, he
denounced the “ pietism ” of sinners who were not “ justified
by faith.” “ If the Pope,” he cried out, “ releases souls from

334 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

purgatory for money, why not for charity’s sake?” and
“ Since the Pope is rich as Croesus, why does he not build
St. Peter’s with his cwn money, instead of taking that of
the poor man?”

In 1506 Pope Julius II had commenced the reconstruction
of the magnificent church of St. Peter, in Rome, at enor¬
mous expenditure. The work had been entrusted to the most
famous of contemporary artists and architects—Michael
Angelo, Raphael, and Bramante. Hence, the collection of
necessary funds, principally through the sale of Indulgences ,
was vigorously pushed forward. Luther openly protested
against this campaign and published his objections
in the form of ninety-five theses nailed to the door
of the church at Wittenberg (1517). When the ex¬
cited people of Germany supported this “ protestant ” monk,
the Pope excommunicated Luther (1520) and the Emperor
Charles V banned him (1521). These orders were publicly
burned by Luther and his exasperated followers. Thus was
Protestantism bom in Germany out of the embers of the
widespread discontent in Western Europe. When Luther
consigned the Papal Bull to the fire he cried out: “ Because
thou dost trouble the Holy One of the Lord, may eternal fire
consume thee!” This incantation was soon to set Europe
ablaze with the fires of religious conflict.

Luther was summoned for trial before the imperial Diet
(Council) at Worms, but he would not repent or retract:
“ Unless I am convinced of error by the testimony of Scrip¬
ture or by manifest evidence,” he firmly declared, “ I can¬
not and will not retract.” The Emperor Charles V, who
presided, then pronounced his verdict:

“ What my forefathers established at the Council of Constance
and at other councils it is my privilege to uphold. A single
monk, led astray by private judgment, has set himself against the

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

335

faith held by Christians for a thousand years and more, and
impudently concludes that all Christians up till now have erred.
I have therefore resolved to stake upon this cause all my domi¬
nions, my friends, my body and my blood, and my life and
soul. After Luther's stiff-necked reply in my presence yesterday
I now repent that I have so long delayed proceedings against
him and his false doctrines. I have now resolved never again,
under any circumstances, to hear him.”

This was virtually a declaration of war on the heretics,
though Luther never contemplated any attacks on the ‘ doc¬
trines ’ of the faith. When the peasants rose in revolt, os¬
tensibly in his support, but really on account of insupport¬
able economic burdens, he denounced the rebels, saying: “ I
think that all peasants should perish rather than the princes
and magistrates, because the peasants have taken up the
sword without divine authority. The peasants are under the
ban of God and of the Emperor and may be treated as mad
dogs.” At the Diet of Spier (Speyer), in 1526, it was laid
down that each ruler should ‘so live, reign, and conduct
himself as he would be willing to answer before God and
His Imperial Majesty.’ When another Diet at the same
place tried to reverse the decree, in 1529, on account of
growing extremism among the critics of the Church, the
princes (of Saxony, Hasse, Strassburg, etc.) protested
against interference with their religious freedom. Hence,
they were called Protestants. They put their demands in a
famous document known as the Augsburg Confession. This
divided Germany and Europe into two opposing camps, the
Protestants being mostly the followers of Luther. “ German
Protestantism,” as Professor Heamshaw has observed, “ was
the revolt of the Teuton against Latin domination; the rebel¬
lion of the lay-mind against clerical authority; the resent¬
ment of the frugal maker of wealth at unscrupulous spolia¬
tion; the rising of the free intellect against inquisitorial re-

336 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

pression; the resurgence of the individual against the restrict¬
ive community; above all the reaction of a moral people
against a practice—the sale of Indulgences—which easily
rent itself to the most scandalous abuses” 1
So far as Germany was concerned 1 a sort of religious
settlement was arrived at in the “Peace of Augsburg” in
1555. By it, ‘each German prince and each town and
knight, immediately under the Emperor, was to be at liberty
to make a choice between the beliefs of the venerable Catho¬
lic Church and those embodied in the Augsburg Confession.
If, however, an ecclesiastical prince—an archbishop, bishop,
or abbot—declared himself a Protestant, he must surrender
his possessions to the Church. Every German was either to
conform to the,religious practices of his particular state or
emigrate from it. Every one was supposed to be either a
Catholic or a Lutheran, and no provision was made for any
other belief/ Cujus regio ejus religio : the religion of the
ruler was to be the faith of the state. ,

We must rather rapidly sketch the history and influence
of Protestantism in other countries. “ For at least a century
after Luther’s death,” writes Professor Robinson, “ the great
issue between Catholics and Protestants dominates the history
of all the countries with which we have to do, except Italy
and Spain, where Protestantism never took permanent root.
In Switzerland, England, France, and Holland the revolt
against the Medieval Church produced discord, wars, and
profound changes, which must be understood in order to
follow the later development of these countries.” 2

Zwingli (1484-1531) was the leader of this movement in
Switzerland, and Calvin (1509-64) in France. The former

1. A First Book of World History , p. 152.

2. The Ordeal of Civilization , p. 305.

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE 337

was a liberal-minded humanist and scholar of Zurich. He
lived in the monastery of Einsiedeln, where pilgrims gather¬
ed from all parts on account of a 4 wonder-working image/
44 Here,” says Zwingli, 44 I began to preach the Gospel of
Christ in 1516, before any one in my locality had so much
as heardj 'the name of Luther.” He paid for this with his
life; for he fell fighting at Kappel, in 1531, in the course
of a religious war. Unlike Luther, Zwingli had not to create
public opinion but only to direct it. A willing press gave
wide publicity to his views about the Church as a “ republic
of believers,” and denouncing the doctrines of purgatory, in¬
vocation. of saints, clerical celibacy, fasts, pilgrimages, and
transubstantiation. Even the civic authorities rendered him
assistance. But the defeat of the Zwinglians at Kappel gave
the palm of leadership to Geneva instead of Zurich.

John Calvin was a Frenchman who had studied his
Classics in Paris, and Law at Bourges and Orleans. In
spirit he was the most combative and uncompromising of
all the reformers. Mr. David Ogg writes, 44 What Lenin was
to the monarchist regime in Russia, such was Calvin to
the empire of Catholicism in Western Europe: in both men
there was the same absolute consistency of purpose and the
same refusal to deviate by a hair's breadth from the path
indicated by an imperious logic: in both there was the same
indefinable and almost hypnotic power by which their fol¬
lowers were alternately fascinated and perturbed.” 1 Calvin
taught predestination and followed the stoic ideal in life.
44 Men are not all born equal,” he said, 44 for some are pre¬
ordained to eternal life, some to eternal damnation.” In
spite of this gloomy doctrine, Calvin exercised a wholesome
influence upon the semi-paganised society around him.’ He

1. The Reformation , p. 41.

338 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

subjected his followers to a stern moral discipline, and Cal¬
vinism, with its headquarters at Geneva, “ has been asso¬
ciated with the most progressive and enterprising peoples of
modern times.” Calvin entrusted the management of Church
affairs to presbyters or elders, from whom is derived the
term “ Presbyterian.” Both France and Scotland were much
influenced by this reformer.

In France the Reformation had already made inroads in
the shape of heretical sects like the Waldenses. 1 Despite
persecutions and massacres, particularly under Henry II
(1547-59), the number of Protestants had increased. By the
direction of Calvin (1555-64) a vigorous reformist church
was brought into existence in France. The inevitable result
was a dreary period of Wars of Religion which lasted from
1559-1598. Under the Guises a regime of intrigue, treason,
and terrorism was established. These were the days of the
persecutions of the Huguenots—St. Bartholomew’s Day
(1572)—and the French Protestant alliance with England.
The tide turned, as the reader might know, with the defeat
of the Spanish Armada in 1588: in the following year the
Guises were assassinated, and the Huguenots found a capable
leader in Henry of Navarre, who succeeded to the French
throne. By the famous Edict of Nantes (1598) the
Huguenots, for the time being, secured religious toleration.

In Scotland the leader of the new movement was John
Knox (1505-72), a disciple of Calvin. He was an avowed
enemy of ‘popery and idolatry,’ and the Kirk (church)
which he established held sway for over three centuries.
Migrating into Ireland, together with the English Protestants,
the Scotch Calvinists helped to create there the problem of
Ulster.

1. From Peter Waldo who sought guidance from the reformers
of Germany and Switzerland.

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

339

Of English Protestantism, which must be more familiar
to the reader, we need write very little here. The ground
had no doubt been prepared by Wycliffe, “the morning
star of fhe Reformation.” Erasmus too had lived in England
for a long time, and Tyndale had again translated the
Bible into English before he was burnt as a heretic in Flan¬
ders. But the course of the Reformation in England, it is
well-known, was determined by Henry VIII’s disgust to¬
wards his first wife Catharine, and his love for Anne Boleyn.
For this, he summoned the Reformation Parliament (1529-
36), abolished appeals to the Papal court, confirmed the
divorce, and proclaimed by statute that the King of England
‘ justly is, and ought to be, the Supreme head of the Church
of England/ The Reformation in England was more poli¬
tical than' religious to begin with. Henry had won the title
of Defender of the Faith (which is still borne by His
Majesty) by his defence of the Catholic Church against the
Lutheran attacks. He also burnt Anabaptists and Lutherans
at the stake as heretics. But, at the same time, it is not to
be forgotten that he also executed Papalists like Sir Thomas
More (author of Utopia) and Bishop Fisher, and de¬
spoiled and abolished monasteries, for the sake of their
riches. Under his successors, England staggered from the
Protestant extremism of Edward VI and Somerset to the
Catholic extremism of Mary, until she finally settled down
to the stabler compromise of the English Church under
Elizabeth. The only common feature between all these was
the burning of ‘ heretics.’ We have a glimpse of the mind
of Tudor England in the following order for the execution
of Bishop Hooper:—

Whereas John Hooper, who of late was called bishop of Roches¬
ter and Gloucester, by due order of the laws ecclesiastic, con¬
demned and judged for a most obstinate, false, detestable heretic,

340 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and committed to our secular power, to be burned according to
the wholesome and good laws of- our realm in that case provided;
for asmuch as in those cities, and the diocese thereof, he has
in times past preached and taught most pestilent heresies and
doctrine to our subjects there, we have therefore given order that
the said Hooper, who yet persisteth obstinate, and hath refused
mercy when it was graciously offered, shall be put to execution
in the said city of Gloucester, for the example and terror of such
as he has there seduced and mistaught, and because he hath
done most harm there..-. And forasmuch also as the said
Hooper is, as heretics be, a vain glorious person, and delighted
in his tongue, and, having liberty, may use his said tongue to
persuade such as he hath seduced, to persist in the miserable
opinion that he hath sown among them, our pleasure is, there¬
fore, and we require you to take order, that thei said Hooper be
neither, at the time of his execution, nor in going to the place
thereof, suffered to speak at large, but thither to be led quietly
and in silence, for eschewing of further infection and such in¬
convenience as may otherwise ensue in this part. Wherefore fail
not, as ye tender our pleasure.

To save itself from the surging tide of Protestantism the
Roman Catholic Church adopted various measures which had
very far-reaching consequences. This is often described as
the “ Counter-Reformation.” The most distinguished work¬
ers in this attempt to set the Catholic house in order were
the Jesuits, members of, a glorious Order—the Society of
Jesus—founded by the Spaniard, St. Ignatius Loyola (1493-
1556),. The Pope, Paul III, approving of “this army of
Jesus Christ,” described the society as one

“founded for the especial purpose of providing for the ad¬
vancement of souls in Christian life and doctrine and for the
propagation of the faith through public .preaching and the
ministry of the word of God, spiritual exercises and deeds of
charity, and in, particular through the training of the young and
ignorant in Christianity and through the spiritual consolation of
the faithful of Christ in hearing confessions,”

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

341

As Mr. Wells has pointed out in his Outline of History,
“ It was the Order of the Jesuits which carried Christianity
to China again after the downfall of the Ming dynasty, and
Jesuits were the chief Christian missionaries in India and
North America. To their civilizing work among the Indians
in South America we shall presently allude. But their main
achievement lay in raising the standard of Catholic educa¬
tion. Their schools became and remained for a long time
the best schools in Christendom. Says Lord Verulam (Sir
Francis Bacon): ‘As for the pedagogic part.... consult
the schools of the Jesuits, for nothing better has been put in
practice.’ They raised the level of intelligence; they quick¬
ened the conscience of all Catholic Europe, they stimulated
Protestant Europe to competitive educational effort.”

The other great agency in the uplift of the Catholic cause
was the Council of Trent which worked from 1545 to 1563.
Its efforts were directed towards (1) defining the doctrines
of the Roman Catholic Church and defending the same
against the objections raised by the Protestants; (2) suc¬
cinctly and explicitly declaring accursed the various here¬
tical beliefs; and (3) abolishing the various abuses that
had crept into the Church, and enforcing a more rigid dis¬
cipline among the clergy and monks.

The Index and the Inquisition represented two other as¬
pects of the Counter-Reformation. By the former the Poles'
sought to ban heretical literature and by the latter heretical
lives. The two proscriptions together showed how far
Europe was from religious, toleration despite the enlighten¬
ment of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

CHRONOLOGY

105

206-221

311

397

410

438

455

467

496

502-57

526

570

589-618

605-17

618—907

622

627-50

632

647

700—1000

711

712
732

737

741

768-814

800

SECTION THREE

Chinese manufactured paper.

Han Dynasty.

Emperor Galerius: official recognition of Christia¬
nity.

House of Toba founded.

Alaric the Goth : fall of Rome.

Code of Theodosius (completed).

Emperor Valentinian III proclaims the Pope’s supre¬
macy over Christendom.

Western Roman Empire extinguished.

King Clovis baptised.

Liang Dynasty.

Benedictine Order founded.

Prophet Muhammad bom.

Sur Dynasty.

Yang Ti.

Tang Dynasty.

Hijra: flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
T&i Tsung.

Death of Muhammad (Prophet).

Death of Harsha of Kanouj.

Pratiharas.

Arabs conquer Spain.

Arab conquest of Sind.

Battle of Tours: Saracen advance into France
checked.

Battle of Kadessia.

Death of Charles Martel.

Charlemagne.

Charlemagne crowned by Pope Leo III.

CHRONOLOGY

343

A.D.

809

843

865—925
870

900—1100

960—1280

962

973—1048
980—1037
1056—1106
1056—1254
1068—86
1079—1142
1095
1101

1106-25

1122

1126—98

1147

1152-90

1155—1227

1187

1198—1216

1206—80

1212

1212—50

1215

1236

1258

1260—95
1274

1280—1368

1292

1294

Death of Haroun-al-Rashcnid.

Treaty of Verdun : Partition of Charlemagne’s
Empire.

Rhazes (Arab scholar).

Treaty of Mersen : further division of Charlemagne’s
Empire.

Cholas; Golden Age of Islamic Science.

Sung Dynasty.

Otto the Great crowned by the Pope : beginning of
the Holy Roman Empire.

Al-Biruni.

Abu ’Ali-alHusayu ibn Sina (Avicenna).

Henry IV (Emperor).

Crusades.

Wang An-shih.

Abelard.

Council of Clermont.

Godfrey first King of Jerusalem died.

Henry V (Emperor).

Concordat of Worms.

Abu’l-Walid ibn Rushd.

Turks massacre Christians at Edessa.

Frederick Barbarosa (Emperor).

Chengiz Khan.

Jerusalem taken by Saladin.

Pope Innocent III.

Albertus Magnus.

Children’s Crusade.

Frederick II (Emperor).

Magna Carta .

Cordoba captured by King of Castile.

Abbasid Caliphate ended by Hulagu : Bagdad des¬
troyed by Mongols.

Marco-Polo.

Thomas Aquinas died.

Yuan Dynasty.

Kublai Khan died.

Roger Bacon died.

344

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

A.D.

1296

Clericis Laicos (Papal Bull).

1296—1316

Allaudin Khalji.

1302

Dante banished from Florence.

1304—74

Petrarch.

1305

Pope Clement V.

1313—75

Boccaccio.

1320

Wycliffe bom.

‘ 1321

Dante died.

1325—51

Muhammad Tughlak.

1369—1405

Timur.

1380—1440

Van Eyck brothers.

1398

Timur in India.

1402

Turks defeated at Angora by Timur.

1409

Great Council of Pisa.

1414

Council of Constance.

1417—67

Zain-ul-iAbideen liberal ruler of Kashmir.

1440—1518

Kabir.

1447—55

Pope Nicholas V.

1452—1519

Leonardo da Vinci.

1453

Constantinople captured by Turks.

1469—1527

Machiavelli.

1469-1536

Erasmus.

1469—1539

Nanak.

1471—1528

Albrecht Diirer.

1473—1543

Copernicus.

1474—1533

Ariosto.

1475—1564

Michael Angelo.

1476—1507

Caesar Borgia.

1477—1576

Titian.

1483—1520

Raphael.

1483—1546

Martin Luther.

1484—1531

Zwingli.

1487

Bartholomew Diaz rounded Cape of Good Hope.

1490

Martin Behaim cartographist.

1490—1553

Rabelais.

1492

Conquest of Granada; Columbus reached West
Indies.

CHRONOLOGY

345

A.D.

1493

1493—1556

1497—1533

1498

1503-13

1505—72

1509—64

1512

1513

1513—21

1517

1519

1519- 21

1520— 21
1520—66
1526

1529—36

1531

1533-92

1545— 63

1546— 1601

1547— 1616
1547—59
1552—99 .

1559— 98

1560— 1626
1564—1616
1564—1642
1572

1588

1598

Papal Bull dividing the World between Spain and
Portugal.

St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus.
Hans Halbein.

Vasco da Gama reached Calicut.

Pope Julius II.

John Knox.

Calvin.

Portuguese reached Java and Moluccas.

Balboa saw Pacific Ccean across Panama.

Pope Leo X.

Luther’s challenge (95 theses).

Magellan at Strait of Magellan.

Conquest of Mexico by Cortez.

Luther excommunicated and banned.

Zenith of Ottoman power.

First Battle of Panipat: Mughal Empire founded
by Babur.

Diet of Spier.

Reformation Parliament.

Zwingli killed in the battle of Kappel.

Conquest of Peru by Pizarro.

Montaigne.

Council of Trent.

Tycho Brahe.

Cervantes.

Henry II (France).

Edmund Spenser (poet).

Religious Wars in France.

Francis Bacon.

Shakespeare.

Galileo.

St. Bartholomew’s Day : Huguenots massacred in
France.

Spanish Armada routed by the English.

Edict of Nantes : toleration granted to Huguenots.

SECTION FOUR

In this section are described all the ' main
currents ’ of modern life. Chapter XXII
deals with the contributions of Monarchy to
the progress of the world as well as its evils.
Chapter XXIII describes how the Fall of the
Old Order was brought about by breaking
The Spell of Grand Monarchy. Chapter
XXIV contains the story of The Making
of Modern Europe, particularly in the politi¬
cal field. The culmination of the national
and economic developments in The Expan¬
sion of Europe overseas is dealt w r ith in
Chapter XXV ; while the Awakening of the
East which was the inevitable result of the
intrusion of the West is described in
Chapter XXVI. The complex resultant of
the modern trends in The World To-day is
the subject of Chapter XXVII ; and some
philosophic reflections on the entire histori¬
cal process, as described in all previous chap¬
ters, are contained in Chapter XXVIII which
deals with the Past, Present, and Future.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what
God can do; ... so it is presumption and high
contempt in a subject to dispute what a king,
can do, or say that a King cannot do this or that.

—James I Stuart

The religious struggle in Europe which we traced in the
last chapter was brought to a close by the Thirty Years’ War
which terminated with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
Though religious intolerance continued in the countries of
Europe for a long time after this, the middle of the sixteenth
century constituted a turning point in history, since the main
interest of people thereafter was centred in matters other than
religious.

The unity of Christendom had long been lost: Europe was
no longer united either in religion or in politics. Out of the
disruption of the Roman Empire, as we have seen, had emerg¬
ed a new order. At first there was the chaos of the Dark
Age. The successors of Charlemagne and Otto the Great
having failed to hold Europe together, it was left to the Pope
and the Church to provide the only bonds of union possible
in the Middle Ages. But with the Renaissance Europe came
to be once again divided, and this division was to be per¬
manent Hence we might truly begin the history of Modem
Europe, that is, Europe as we find her to-day, with the close
of the Reformation. However, to understand some of its out-

350 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

standing features we have very often to refer back; for
History is continuous.

One powerful link with the Past is found in the institution
of Monarchy. Monarchy is almost as ancient as authentic
history. We have witnessed it in Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Per¬
sia, India, China, Greece, and Rome. The Church and Monar¬
chy contended in Europe for the complete control of the masses
all through the medieval times. The Popes were ambitious to*
wield political no less than religious sovereignty, while the
monarchs too sought to command the consciences as well as.
the secular lives of their subjects. The Reformation brought
to the monarchs of Europe a considerable accession of
strength, even as the use of gun-powder had placed a power¬
ful weapon in their hands. It was ultimately through their
agency, not through the conservative channels of the Church
that Europe emerged out of the medieval into modem times.
Though monarchy came to be later discredited it played an
important part in helping forward the progress of human-
civilisation in all countries. In this chapter we shall trace
its fortunes and vicissitudes, from its early beginnings to its
grand culmination, in England, France, Austria, Spain, Ger¬
many, Russia, and India, with a view to assess the nature of
its contributions to human history.

England, on account of her insular position, developed
faster and outgrew the need of monarchical rule earlier than
most other countries. Her earliest king to whom we need
refer here was Alfred the Great (871-901 A.D.). His memory
is still cherished among the greatest of that country. He is
rightly regarded as the creator and saviour of England and
figures well in-history as well as literature. 1 An inscription

1. Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and Tennyson’s Idylls of the:
King.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 351

on his statue at Wantage beautifully sums up his great quali¬
ties and services thus :

* Alfred found learning dead, and restored it. Education neglect¬
ed, and he revived it. The laws powerless, and he gave them
force. The Church debased, and he raised it. The land ravaged
by a fearful enemy, from which he delivered it. Alfred's name
will live as long as mankind shall repeat the past.’

Next after Alfred the most memorable monarch of England
was William the Conqueror (1066-87). Though a Norman,
and ruler as much of Normandy as of England (after his
victory over Harold at Senlac or Hastings, 1066), he left a
permanent mark over English history and institutions. He
gave England a strong government, curbed the evils of feudal¬
ism by the Salisbury Oath, effected the valuable and interest¬
ing Domesday Survey, and, despite the Pope’s support to his
English invasion, emphatically refused to do homage for his
kingdom. Pope Hildebrand (Gregory VII) accepted the
refusal without much protest as he could not afford to quarrel
with all princes at once. His hands were already full with
the dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, as we
have already seen (pp. 266-68).

Further consolidation of the English monarchy took place
under William’s great-grandson Henry II (1154-89). Being
the son of Count Geoffrey of Anjou, 1 and having married
Eleanor of Aquitaine, he became ruler of vast dominions in
France as well. His chief achievements were the repression
of feudal anarchy and the organisation of order and justice.
It was unfortunate that his attempts at centralisation of royal
authority should have resulted in the murder of Thomas
Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury ; for it postponed the sub¬
ordination of the Church to secular control which was finally

1. Son-in-law of Henry I (son of William the Conqueror).

352 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

achieved only by Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy (1534),
Nevertheless, the work of Henry II culminated in making his
fifth son, John (1199-1216), so powerful that his tyranny ini¬
tiated a new trend in English history. Its first fruit was the fa¬
mous Magna Carta (1215), the first of a series of great chart¬
ers on which the edifice of English liberty rests. Before this
was wrung from John by the English barons, the English king
was an autocrat unparalleled in his authority in Christendom
for six hundred years since Charlemagne. “The Magna
Carta,” says Professor Adams, “ closes one epoch of English
constitutional history and begins another.” 1 The principal
interest of British history since the Great Charter lies in the
growth of 'Parliament. 2 But here we are more concerned
with the fortunes of the English monarchy which was to have
its fullest development under the Tudors and its decline and
fall under their successors.

Edward I (1272-1307) was the next great ruler of Englan d.
He has been called “ the English Justinian ” on account of
the great improvements he effected in the laws of England
He set himself to reduce the powers of both the barons and
the Church and considerably succeeded in doing it. He also
conquered Wales. Simon de Montfort’s Model Parliament
met (1295) during his reign. He laid the foundations of
Lombard Street by allowing Italian bankers to settle down
in London. The craft guilds too prospered under his wise
regulation and patronage. But most of his good work was
undone by a series of disastrous wars which his amhitmng
had evoked. The attempt to conquer Scotland led on to

L G. B. Adams, The Constitutional History of England,
p. 144.

2. The “expansion erf England” geographically is a parallel
interest which will be dealt with in a later context.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 353

entanglements with France which, under Edward III (1327-
77), resulted in beginning the Hundred Years’ War (1338-
1453).

We have already alluded to the French possessions of the
English kings. Even when these were reduced by the losses
suffered by John “ Lackland ”, what remained was still an
eye-sore to the French monarchs. Hence they provoked
hostilities by helping the Scots. But, even otherwise, Ed¬
ward III lacked no casus belli. He put forward a prepos¬
terous claim to the throne of France. Edward was a “Jingo ”
who, in the words of Mr. Somerwell, 1 “ determined to paint
as much of the map red as he possibly could for, to him,
England was “ more delightful and more profitable than all
other lands.” So Crecy and Poitiers were fought, and the
centres of civilisation were duly impressed : Petrach, the
Italian humanist, declared, “ In my youth, the Britons, whom
we call Angles or English, were esteemed the most timid of
the barbarians, inferior to the wretched Scots. Now they
are the most warlike of peoples. They have overturned the
ancient military glory of the French.” As all the fighting
took place on French soil, the devastation in that country was
great and widespread. Again, says Petrach : “ Nothing pre¬
sented itself to my eyes but fearful solitude and extreme
poverty, uncultivated land and houses in ruins. Even about
Paris there were everywhere signs of fire and destruction.
The streets were deserted ; the roads overgrown with weeds.”

In 1348 the Black Death appeared. It affected France,
England, Germany, and parts of Italy. This pestilence not
merely carried away nearly one half of the population of
England, but also caused great distress among the survivors.
The resulting scarcity of labour led to a bitter struggle be-

1. D. C. Somervell, A History of England , p. 31.

354

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

tween landlords and workers culminating in the Peasants'
Revolt (1381). But the war with France dragged on inter¬
mittently. Henry V (1413-22) had less reason but more en¬
thusiasm for its prosecution. He began with the siege of
Harfleur and soon won the celebrated victory of Agincourt
(1415). “No battle was ever more fatal to France/' Other
triumphs followed, but it was a short-lived glory. Henry V
was succeeded by his only son Henry VI (1422-61). With¬
out the capacity of his father this prince nevertheless pursued
his ambitions in France. The most celebrated event of this
denouement of the Hundred Years’ War was the heroic epi¬
sode of Joan of Arc, the maid who saved Orleans (1429),
and got the Dauphin crowned at Rheims, but was the next
year caught by the English and burnt by them as a witch.
“ We are lost—we have burnt a saint,” declared an English
soldier who witnessed the burning. He was really prophetic
of the fate of the English in France. They were expelled
from Normandy in 1450, and three years later from all but
Calais.

The Wars of the Roses followed in the wake of the French
wars. They were fought between two rival families, the
Houses of Lancaster and York, for the throne of England
(1455-85). This civil struggle was the “swan song” of feu¬
dalism in England. It brought that country under the Grand
Monarchy of the Tudors (1485-1603). They ruled despotic¬
ally and yet retained their popularity. For want of space
we must treat of the epoch as a whole and not the rulers
individually. It was a glorious age both for England and the
rest of Europe, though “ other men laboured, and the English
entered into their labours.”

Henry VII, founder of the family, restored order at home,
forged dynastic links with other ruling families, and nego¬
tiated commercial treaties. Henry VIII, the much married

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 355

monarch, plundered monasteries for the spiritual health of
England, made England independent of Rome without tam¬
pering with its doctrines, and tried to hold the “ balance of
power ” in Europe in his own favour. In the next two
reigns—of Edward VI and Mary—England violently swung
between Geneva and Rome and lit 4 such candles as should
never be easily put out/ until she got inebriated with the glory
of the good Queen Bess.

Now these her princes are come home again,

Come the three comers of the world in arms,

And we shall shock them. Naught shall make us rue,

If England to itself do rest but tme.

Though Calais, the last foothold of England in France, had
been lost by Mary, Elizabeth more than restored English
prestige among continental powers by winning the “ English
Salamis ”—i.e. the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). It
was 4 both a victory for Protestantism in Europe, and a sign
that the mastery of the seas was passing from the Mediter¬
ranean to the northern peoples/ “Yet/' observes Professor
Flenley, “the spirit of the Elizabethan age is to be found
not only in the daring exploits of its sea-dogs, or in the
charm of the Elizabethan manor-houses whose appearance
testified to the growth of wealth and comfort, but also in
the music of the Elizabethan madrigal composers, and, above
all, in Elizabethan poetry and prose/’ 1 It was the age of
Spenser, Shakespeare, and Bacon. We must now turn to
the Grand Monarchy on the continent of Europe. But here
we can touch only the peak-points in the dynastic histories
of the various countries. Nor should more be necessary for
■illustrating this well-known phenomenon.

French history, as distinct from that of the Western Franks,
began' only with the accession of Hugh Capet (968 a.d.)

1. World History , p.. 446.

356 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

whose dynasty continued to rule France until it was replaced
by the House of Valois in the first quarter of the fourteenth-
century. Even during that period the Capetians shared their
dominion with the English, as the Angevin Empire in
France lasted from 1154-1204. Besides, the country was rent
by feudal strife until the accession of Louis VI (1108-37), the
fifth monarch of the line, who at least partially got the situa¬
tion in hand. Henry II of England had possessed more of
French territory than the French monarch, but under John
(of England) and Philippe II (of France) the position was
completely changed. England lost all except Guienne and
the Channel Islands ; and, in 1216, Louis, the son of Philip pa
landed on English soil by invitation of the English barons,
to displace John. Philippe (1180-1223) was the main founder
of the French monarchy.

In keeping with the trend of the times, Louis IX (Saint
Louis) of France (1226-70) sounded the first signal of revolt
against the Papacy, though he himself, after a vigorous reign,
died at Carthage while on a Crusade (the 7th). He left the
French monarchy on a new and independent basis. The ten¬
dency reached its climax under Philippe IV who, in 1301,
refused to admit the Pope’s claim to temporal authority. He
went to the extent of burning the Papal Bull and even
seizing the person of the Pope himself. Then commenced
the famous “ Babylonish Captivity ” (1378-1417) already re¬
ferred to in the previous chapter.

The Hundred Years’ War with England began under the
House of Valois. Its results have already been commented
upon. France gradually recovered while England was plung¬
ed in the Wars of the Roses. “ The strong and subtle reign
of Louis XI (1461-1488) settled much of the internal diffi¬
culty with the unruly dukes, especially the proud Duke of
Burgundy, and France was presently able to look towards

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 357

the East. Under his successor, Charles VIII, began the
‘Italian Wars’ (1*±94-I559) of France with the Hapsburgs,
who had meantime succeeded to the imperial throne.” 1

We have before referred to the rise of Calvinism, the per¬
secution of the French Huguenots, and the massacre of St,
Bartholomew’s Day. These events took place during the
regime of the House of Valois-Orleans (1498-1589). The
accession of the Bourbon Henry of Navarre brought some re¬
lief to the persecuted Protestants of France by the Edict of
Nantes (1598), though his Catholic subjects obliged him to
consider that * Paris was worth a Mass.’ Henry IV ruled
wisely and well from 1589 to 1610 under the advice of his
worthy minister Sully. Sully set to work to re-establish the
kingly power, which had suffered greatly under, the last three
rulers of the Valois family. He reduced the great burden of
debt which had weighed upon the country, laid out new
roads and canals, and encouraged agriculture. He also ap¬
plied himself to the task of dismissing useless noblemen and
officers who were mere parasites. But this, combined with
religious fanaticism, brought about his assassination in 1610.

Cardinal Richelieu, one of the most famous ministers of
France, carried on the administration (1624-42) for Henry
IV’s son, Louis XIII, during the momentous years of the
Thirty Years’ War. He did more than anybody else to rouse
the national ambitions of his country and set France on the
ruinous policy of self-aggrandisement. He declared war
against Catholic Spain in 1635, after having formed a for¬
midable alliance with the chief enemies of the House of
Austria who were all heretical Protestants. But France gain¬
ed the rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine as a result of
this policy, though their acquisition meant the sowing of the

1. Russell, The Tradition of the Roman Empire , pp. 122-3-

.358 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Dragon's teeth. “ The military exploits of the French gene¬
rals, especially Turenne and CondS, during the opening years
of Louis XIV (1643-1715), showed that a new period had
begun in which the military and political supremacy of Spain
was to give way to that of France.” 1

Louis XIV was, indeed, the proto-type of Grand Mo¬
narchy. He supplied the model which was copied by all later
rulers, each according to his genius and capacity. Cardinal
.Mazarin served his early years (to 1661) even as Richelieu
did under his predecessor. Every circumstance, whether in¬
ternal or external, was made to serve the interests of the
Grand Monarchy. At home the power of the nobility was
broken down, and France came out of the Thirty Years' War
in Europe with enlarged territories and increased importance.
When Louis XIV came of age he carried forward the work
so well begun by his great minister. * By his incessant wars
he kept Europe in turmoil for over half a century. The dis¬
tinguished generals who led his newly organised troops, and
the wily diplomats who arranged his alliances and negotiated
his treaties, made France feared and respected by even the
most powerful of the other European states.' He successfully
followed the doctrine of kingship'which his Stuart contem¬
poraries pompously set forth at their peril. La etat c'est
moi (I am the State), though attributed to Louis XIV with¬
out sufficient historical basis, truly represents his actual faith
His prevailing occupation, in the words of Mr. H. G. Wells,
was splendour . He built a new palace-city for himself at
Versailles where developed all the luxurious arts.

“ Amidst the mirrors and fine furniture went a strange race of
“ gentlemen' in vast powdered wigs, silks and laces, poised upon
'high red heels, supported by amazing canes; and still more

1. Robinson, op. cit ., p. 344.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 359

wonderful ' ladies/ under towers of powdered hair and wearing
vast expansions of silk and satin sustained on wire. Through it
all postured the great Louis, the sun of his world, unaware of
the meagre and sulky and bitter faces that watched him from
those lower darknesses to which his sunshine did not penetrate.”

Louis XIV also decorated his court with poets, playwrights,
philosophers and scientific men. Boileau laid down the can¬
ons of style; Corneille gave French drama its rhetorical and
classical form ; and Racine, its final perfection and polish.
The popular Moli€re (1622-73) wrote his incomparable co¬
medies, and La Fontaine his simple and satirical fables on
the foibles of society. Voltaire called the age of Louis XIV
“ the most enlightened age the world has ever seen ” ; it
gave to French culture a stamp and prestige which were to
survive the loss of French political ascendancy, and even the
downfall of Grand Monarchy itself.

But there was also another side to this picture. Louis XIV
revived religious intolerance in France by his revocation of the
Edict of Nantes. Great numbers of his most sober and in¬
dustrious subjects were driven abroad by his religious perse¬
cutions, taking arts and industries with them. “Under his
rule,” writes Mr. Wells, “ were carried out the ‘ dragonnades/'
a peculiarly malignant and effectual form of persecution.
Rough soldiers were quartered in the houses of the Protest¬
ants, and were free to disorder the life of their hosts and
insult their woman-kind as they thought fit. Men yielded
to that sort of pressure who would not have yielded to rack
and fire.” The worst legacy of Louis XIV was, however, a
legacy of w^rs : ruinous to France and ruinous to Europe and.
the world, though immediately it looked like success.

His reign opened with the French acquisition of Alsace,
as a result of the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) .which ended
the Thirty Years* War. It tempted him to more ambitious,
endeavours. Though these raised against him formidable

360 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

combinations like the Triple and Quadruple Alliances, Louis
was not deterred. He seized Franche Comte, Strassburg, and
Luxemburg. His religious policy raised against him the
League of Augsburg, and the War for the Palatinate ended
in the Peace of Ryswick (1697) by which he was obliged to
acknowledge the Protestant succession (1688) in F.ngiar^
and to restore Spain and Austria many of his recent gains .
His last war was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-
13) in which he had to fight the Grand Alliance formed by
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Portugal, and Savoy. It
ended with the Peace of Utrecht, which though it left a
Bourbon candidate (Philip V, grandson of Louis XIV) on
the throne of Spain, marked also the humiliation of France
on every other side. “The Peace of Utrecht, like that of
Westphalia, marks a phase not merely in the imperial rivalry
of Austria and France, but in the history of Europe as a
whole.”

The histories of Spain, Austria and Germany are lining
up together on account of their rulers. As yet nations as
we know them to-day had not appeared, and the fortunes of
countries were determined by their ruling dynasties. Dynas¬
tic wars, dynastic alliances, and dynastic marriages settled
the fates of peoples before the rise of national states and de¬
mocracies. Hence the importance of the Bourbons, Haps-
burgs, Hohenzollems, etc. We must, therefore, now speak
of the Hapsburg and Hohenzollem families, having written
something already about the Bourbons.

The real founder of Hapsburg greatness was the Emperor
Maximilian I (1493-1514) of Austria. By inheritance, mar¬
riage, and conquest, he extended his dominions so much that
his grandson Charles V (1519-56) owned territories in
Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the Nether¬
lands, besides the overseas possessions of Spain. Charles V

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

361

■was the contemporary of Henry VIII of England and of
Francis I of France. From Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
he inherited Spain and their overseas dominions in 1516 ;
from Maximilian he got Austria and all the imperial domi¬
nions in 1519, though for these latter he had to vastly outbid
his rival Francis I of France. For the Imperial throne was
subject to election and the candidates had to expend millions
in order to purchase the votes. Then a contest ensued be¬
tween Francis and Charles for certain possessions in which
Henry VIII astutely tried to hold the balance. In 1544 all
the three disappointed men retired from the struggle having
squandered away the resources of their respective countries.

After the death of Charles V the Hapsburg line was divid¬
ed into two branches : the Spanish branch continued to rule
until 1700 when, as we saw, a grandson of Louis 'XIV (Bour¬
bon) succeeded to the Spanish throne; and the Austrian
branch held the Imperial sceptre until its extinction in 1806
at the hands of Napoleon. Already the so-called Holy
Roman Empire had ceased to be either Holy, Roman, or
Empire. Only a few notable events in the history of the two
Hapsburg branches may be recorded here.

It was under Philip II of Spain (Charles V’s successor)
that the Armada was defeated by the English. It was
under the same Fhilip II also that the Dutch were exasperated
with the religious persecutions of the Inquisition and com¬
pelled to break off into a republic under the leadership of
their heroic Stadtholder, William the Silent, Prince of Orange
(1533-84). Though he was assassinated before the struggle
■ended, he was the real founder of the Dutch Republic. King
William of Orange, who was called to the throne of England
in 1688, was his great-great-grandson.

In the Austrian branch of the Hapsburgs the last of the
great rulers were the famous Maria Theresa (1740-65) and

362 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

.her son Joseph II (1765-1809). Under the former the Aus¬
trian dominions included Austria, Moravia, Hungary, Bohe¬
mia, qitafo , Styria, Carinthia, the Tyrol, Belgium, and Milan.
Though Frederick of Prussia presently seized Silesia, Maria
Theresa had compensation in the acquisition of a part of
Poland. Her son, Joseph II, was ambitious to build up a
homogeneous state out of the welter of nationalities (Slav,
Magyar, German, Italian, and Flemish) on the basis of his
enlightened despotism. At the commencement of his reign
he declared, “ I have made Philosophy the legislator of my
Empire. Her logical principles shall transform Austria.’'
But in spite of his earnestness he died a disappointed mo¬
narch, proposing for his tomb in Vienna the unenviable epi¬
taph : ‘ Here lies Joseph who failed in all that he attempted.’’
He f ailed because he was an idealist far in advance of his
country. The more realistic rulers of Russia and Prussia
were more fortunate than Joseph II.

Peter the Great of Russia (1682-1725) and Frederick the
Great of Prussia (1740-86) were both Enlightened Despots
like Joseph II of Austria. All of them tried to aggrandise
their countries, as well as their dynasties, after the fashion
of Louis XIV of France. In doing so they laid the founda¬
tions of their national greatness and menace, which we shall
follow up in a later chapter. But before we close our survey
of Grand Monarchy we must have a glimpse of its Asiatic
replica, viz. the Mughal Empire in India.

This Empire, as readers know, was founded by Babur (a
descendant of Timur and Chengiz Khan) as the result of his.
great victory at Panipat (1526) over Ibrahim Lodi, ruler of
Delhi. Babur’s descendants occupied the throne of Delhi un¬
til the great Mutiny in 1857. But their rule was effective
over the greater part of India only till the death of Bahadur
Shah I (1712). Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah were con-

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

363

temporaries of Louis XIV, even as the earlier Mughal Em¬
perors were the contemporaries of the Tudor and Stuart
sovereigns of England. Akbar died two years after Queen
Elizabeth (1605). The Mughal Grand Monarchy was, how¬
ever, at its best only from Akbar to Aurangzeb 1 1557-1707),
a period of hundred and fifty years. But that was a period
which does not compare ill with the splendours of the Grand
Monarchy in Europe. In some respects it was certainly more
enlightened than its European contemporaries. We do not
find Akbar’s religious toleration paralleled anywhere in the
Europe of his days, nor his zeal for social reform until long
after. Jehangir tried to abolish drink and Akbar sati, while,
for the most part, all the Mughals tried to follow the states¬
manlike ideals laid down by Sher Shah, the great Afghan
administrator, who laid the foundations of the system which
was improved upon by his Mughal successors : 4 justice ’,
declared Sher Shah, 4 is the most excellent of religious rites,
and it is approved alike ^by the kings of infidels and of the
faithful/ He also realised that 4 the cultivators are the source
•of prosperity/ and that 4 if a ruler cannot protect the humble
peasantry from the lawless, it is tyranny to exact revenue
from them/ In the field of architecture and art the Mughals
achieved marvels which are appreciated by all even to this
day. As I have said elsewhere, 4 The Empire of the Mughals
has vanished forever, but their personality endures in a
thousand forms, visible and invisible. In our dress, speech,
etiquette, thought, literature, music, painting, and architecture
the impress of the Mughal is ever present/ 1
The Mughals, of course, shared in the autocracy and vices
of the Grand Monarchy of Europe no less than its splendours.
But as the late Mr. S. M. Edwardes wrote : 44 Yet they

1. S. R. Sharma, Mughal Empire in India, p. 866.

S64 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

were great men, despite their failings and frailties, and when
one turns from the cold catalogue of their defects to con¬
sider the unique grandeur of Fathpur-Sikri, the supreme
beauty of the Taj Mahal and the Moti Masjid, the magni¬
ficence of the Agra and Delhi palaces, and the rare wealth
of pictorial and calligraphic art, which owed its excellence
to their guidance and inspiration, one feels inclined to re-echo
the words of the lady Marechale of France concerning some
peccant members of the old noblesse of the eighteenth cen¬
tury ; * Depend upon it, Sir, God thinks twice before dam¬
ning a man of that quality ! ’ The fame which they achieved
in their own age, and which will endure, was the natural
corollary of their marked intellectuality Z’ 1

1. Edwardes and Garrett, Mughal Rule in India , p. 350.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfils Himself in many ways.

—Tennyson

The “ Divine Right ” on which the Grand Monarchy was
based had become so debased that it proved to be a right
(claim) to exploit the people for the selfish autocracy and
luxuries of the kings. But this claim could not be sustained
for long in the wake of the progress that mankind was-
making. Just as the autocracy and corruption of the Church
had given rise to the Reformation in religious matters, so
also in the political field there was soon to be a re-forma¬
tion. The divine right of kings was to give place to the
‘ Divine Right of Peoples ’: vox populi vox Dei, ‘ the voice of
the people is the voice of God’ was to' be the new slogan.
We shall give in this chapter a few outstanding examples-
of how the Old Order changed, yielding place to New, and
see how God fulfilled Himself in many ways in the Nether¬
lands, in England, in France, and in India.

The Netherlands (Holland) had formed part of the Em¬
pire of Charles V, as we have noted before. In the religious-
struggles of the Reformation period the people of that
country enacted some of the most heroic episodes in all
human history. Their resistance to Charles V and his suc¬
cessor Philips II of Spain was due both to religious and-
national feelings. “ No two peoples could have been more'

366 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

opposite in character,” observes one writer, “ Spain quite be¬
hind the age, bigoted, superstitious, violently Catholic, cruel
and aristocratic; and the Netherlands, full of life and acti¬
vity, the rival of Italy in art and learning, ready to. go ahead
and adopt all the advanced and enlightened thought of the
Reformation. In trade they had no rivals, for they were
the busiest manufacturers in the world. Their stuffs were
celebrated everywhere, and their ships visited all the ports
in the world. This happy, brave little people were to be
crushed and persecuted for their valour.” 1 It is well to
point out here that, although it was a people’s struggle for
liberty (religious and political) on the part the Dutch, it
was not the tyranny of the Spanish people so much as of
the Spanish Monarchy . The heterogeneous composition of the
Hapsburg dominions showed that their only bond of union
was the common yoke of submission to a foreign dynasty.
National, religious, and democratic liberty were all involved
in the Dutch war of independence. At the end of their
heroic struggle, despite the Inquisition, the Council of Blood,
and all other inhumanities of the Spanish Fury (all alike
■characteristic of the Old Order), the people of the Nether¬
lands achieved both their religious and political independence
(characteristics of the New Age) when, in the Treaty of
Westphalia (1648) which closed the Thirty Years’ War, the
Dutch Republic was recognised. This was the first triumph
of the new forces in human history against the ancient regime .

By a curious coincidence, at the same time, the English
people also overthrew the Stuart autocracy in which the
Tudor Grand Monarchy had culminated. This was again
an happening in human history of the utmost importance.
It was equally significant of the new trend in human civi-

1. A. and D. Ponsonby, Rebels and Reformers , p. 47.

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

367

lisation and progress. The future was to belong to peoples
rather than to princes.

Greenidge has said that the soul of Greek history is its
constitutionalism. The same may be asserted about Eng¬
land of all modem countries. As the Reformation move¬
ment culminated in the Netherlands in the political libera¬
tion of its people, so too in England it was to get merged
in its constitutional struggle. This last was England’s sup¬
reme gift to the world. “While Germany boasts her Re¬
formation and France her Revolution,” says Trevelyan,
“England can point to her dealings with the House of

Stuart-During the seventeenth century a despotic-

scheme of society and government was so firmly established
in Europe, that but for the course of events in England
it would have been the sole successor of the medieval 1
system.” 1 But the reader will do well to remember that
the movement for constitutional liberty had its beginnings
very early in English history. What the Stuart century
revealed was only the critical stage in a long process. The
end came very much later.

We have earlier referred to the Magna Carta (1215)
which may be considered as the first great landmark, though
it has always ranked as the sheet-anchor of English liberty.
Other charters which followed in succeeding centuries only
sought to secure and extend what had already been laid down
in that basic document. The barons who fought against Kong
John for their feudal rights and privileges were really the
unconscious parents of the English parliamentary system.
The committee they set up to safeguard those rights and
privileges developed into the “ Mother of Parliaments.” The
two great ages in the growth of Parliamentary power, says.

1. G. M. Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, p. 1.

368 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Professor Adams, are the fourteenth and the seventeenth
centuries. But since the work of the earlier centuries was
interrupted by the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor des¬
potism, we might as well speak here only of the constitu¬
tional achievements of the Stuart and succeeding periods.

The Grand Monarchy of the Tudors was tolerated be¬
cause it served national ends. Had the Stuarts been equally
capable and patriotic the struggle might have been post¬
poned. Or if they had been content merely to reign, and
not ambitious to rule despotically by “divine right,” they
would not have precipitated a crisis. But they had neither
tact nor patience. They interfered alike with civil and re¬
ligious liberty. Meanwhile the nation—particularly the
middle classes—had become prosperous enough .to get restive
and intolerant. As Macaulay has said, “During two
hundred years all the sovereigns who had ruled England,
with the single exception of the unfortunate Henry VI, had
been strong-minded, high-spirited, courageous, and of prince¬
ly bearing. Almost all had possessed abilities above the
ordinary level. It was no light thing that, on the very eve
of the decisive struggle between our Kings and their Parlia¬
ments, royalty should be exhibited to the world stammering,
slobbering, shedding unmanly tears, trembling at a drawn
sword, and talking in the style alternately of a buffoon and
a pedagogue.”

James I nevertheless insisted As to dispute what God
may do is blasphemy, so it is sedition in subjects to dispute
what a King may do. I will not be content that my power
be disputed on/ So he and his son Charles I levied taxes,
appointed and dismissed ministers, followed policies, and
summoned or dissolved Parliaments, as it suited their arbit¬
rary wills. When their needs compelled them to go to Par¬
liament for grants of money, the latter bargained for their

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

369 '

rights and liberties which had been trampled upon by their
reckless sovereigns. But Charles I, prophetically anticipating
what submission to Parliamentary dictation would ulti¬
mately end in, declared : ‘ These being passed, we may be
waited on bareheaded, the style of Majesty continued to us,
and the King’s authority declared by both Houses of Par¬
liament may still be the style of your command, but as to
true and real power, we should remain but the outside, but
the picture, but the sign of a King.’ Hence, to cut a long
story short, he preferred the scaffold to the fate of the House
of Windsor. Charles I was executed in 1649 as the climax
of Civil War, and England became a republic.

But this proved more a triumph of the Puritan army than
a victory for the constitutional and religious liberty of the
English people. It directly and immediately resulted in the
tyranny of Cromwell (1649-58) which, despite Carlyle’s
rhapsodies, fastened upon England and Ireland a more in¬
supportable autocracy than that of the Stuarts. His very
large standing army and excellent navy, both based on taxa¬
tion which absolute rule alone could levy, and which rival
nations lacked, gave Cromwell and the English power (as
Mr. Hilaire Belloc has pointed out) 1 an unrivalled position
in Europe. He humiliated Holland, crushed and nettled Ire¬
land and tried to convert England into a vast monastery.
The result was that, no sooner than he was dead, England
cried “ Never again! ” In the words of Mr. Somervell,
“ Cromwell was relegated with Guy Fawkes to the historical
Chamber of Horrors, only to be rescued by Carlyle and the
Victorian historians.”

After the Commonwealth experiment England reverted
again to monarchy. The futility of the restored Stuart

1. Oliver Cromwell , p. 4.

370 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

regime (of Charles II and James II), however, showed that
the English monarchy could not be its old self any longer.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 which enthroned the Dutch
William III on the Bill of Rights transferred sovereignty from
the Crown to the Whig oligarchy. “ The new monarch and
his successors, since they owed their throne to an Act of
Parliament, were clearly devoid of any Divine Right to do
what Parliament chose to consider wrong. Yet even so, it
may be doubted (says Somervell) if our extraordinary
system, whereby kings reign but do not govern, would have
established itself if the crown had not been worn in succes¬
sion by a Dutchman, a woman, two Germans, a king who
went mad, a worn-out debauchee, an eccentric, and another
woman.” 1

The later history of England belongs to another chapter.
Here we must refer only to one more landmark in the transi¬
tion from the Old to the New. George III (1760-1820) was
the Hereward the Wake of the Grand Monarchy. The last
hopes of the ancient regime were extinguished when George
III was made to realise that he could not “be a King”;
that he could only reign, but not rule. The close of the
•eighteenth century in England demonstrated not only that
the King could not carry on merely depending pn his
“friends,” but also that no country could rule another
against its will.

The climacteric of the Grand Monarchy in Europe was,
however, the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789).
In its flames was extinguished the Old Order, not merely in
France but in most countries of Europe; not merely in the
political field but in almost all departments of life. Des¬
pite Edmund Burke’s declamation against it, the French

1. D. C. Somervell, A History of England , p. 50.

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

371

Revolution proved the harbinger of a new and better order
in the world. ‘ Liberty , Equality, Fraternity still rever¬
berates among many countries and peoples because of its
flaming example. Let us see how it came about.

The fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 is usually taken
as the beginning of the French Revolution. On that day an
infuriated Parisian mob attacked the Bastille—the Central
Prison—wherein were incarcerated political offenders no less
than ordinary criminals. After a violent and dramatic scene
the prisoners were liberated as indiscriminately as they had
been arbitrarily locked in. This outburst would not have
gained.its great reputation in history, but for its being the
symptom of deeper causes. France had long been suffering
from insupportable social and political burdens under the
Grand Monarchy. The nation had been divided into two
unequal classes : the rulers and the ruled ; the former, a
microscopic minority of hereditary nobles with the King as
their patron; and the latter, the vast masses who groaned
under the weight of tyranny. All power and wealth were
concentrated in the hands of the upper few; and the sub¬
ject classes had only taxation and miserable service for their
lot. All high offices, both civil and military, were the mono¬
poly of the noblesse who were free from taxation. The poor
people, mostly peasants, manned the armies, paid taxes, and
rendered compulsory service of a feudal character. Louis
XV (1715-74), who succeeded Louis XIV, was a worse man
and a worse monarch than his great-grandfather. But all
the same, he indulged in all the reckless dreams and adven¬
tures of his more capable predecessor. His luxuries, vices,
and wars dug deeper the grave of the Grand Monarchy, while
the pampered and corrupted nobility, equally purblind,
abetted in all the doings of their wicked patron who help-*
lessly but prophetically declared, “ After me the deluge !

372 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The deluge came inevitably under the next ruler, the un¬
fortunate Louis XVI (1774-92), who had to pay for the sins
of his predecessors with his own life. In this he was most
unlike Charles I of England who under similar circumstances
had died on the scaffold. Charles Stuart was a sturdy be¬
liever in the Divine Right of Kings; Louis Capet was a
well-meaning but will-less victim of circumstances.
Charles was a martyr; Louis was a scapegoat. But both
stood athwart the current of a nation’s public interest,
and both were overwhelmed. Up till then monarchs had
victimised nations; thereafter nations were to victimise
monarchs. The fall of the Bastille was, therefore, only a
symbolic episode like Hampden’s refusal to pay ship-money
or the American gesture of throwing away packets of Bri-
tish-bome tea into Boston harbour. Once the turbulent
stream burst through its dam, it followed its own course in
a hundred different channels.

The root cause of the Revolution, according to Napoleon,
was Vanity; but this word must be understood to compre¬
hend all the sins of Grand Monarchy. Their net result was
national bankruptcy; that is to say, the ruin of public
finance. All who stood for the Old Order (King and
noblesse) desperately sought remedies in fresh schemes of
taxation of an already over-taxed people. They had been
•exploited to the limit of impossibility. “To raise more
revenue by taxation,” observes Professor Alison Phillips,
“ was impossible so long as the privileged orders remained ex¬
empt ; and successive controllers-general of the finances were
driven to the ruinous expedient of borrowing in order to
cover the ordinary expenses of the State. Those who, like
Turgot, tried to cure the evil at its source were broken by
Court intrigues; Turgot fdl in 1776, after scarce two years
in office; Necker, the Swiss banker, whose supposed finan-

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

373

dal genius it was hoped would save the State, resigned in
1781 without having been able to remedy the evils which he
recognized. When his successors, Calonne and Lomenie de
Brienne, resorted to desperate measures to raise money, they
were met by the obstruction of the Parlement, which reach¬
ed the zenith of its popularity when, in 1788, it refused to
register royal decrees imposing new stamp duties on the
ground that the right to agree to taxation belonged to the
States-Gsneral alone.” 1

That body, which corresponded to the British Parliament,
had not been summoned by the Grand Monarchy for one
hundred and seventy-five years. But now it was realised
that the general state of the country could not be improved
without the States-General or the Estates-General. So it
was re-called to Versailles in 1789 with fateful consequences.
Under the leadership of Mirabeau it declared itself to be
the National Assembly, and drew up the Constitution of
1791. It sought to establish a unicameral legislature with
wide powers over every branch of administration. Much
under the influence of the English example, since the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, it wanted to retain the hereditary
monarchy, but make it constitutional. The bourgeois consti¬
tutionalists of France, like the English Whigs of a century
earlier, distrusted the masses, and limited the franchise to
those who paid a tax which should be equal to at least three
days' wages. This excluded almost half of the citizens,—
some of them peasants but most of them artisans.

The National Assembly also drew up a “ Declaration of
the Rights of Man ” like the English Bill of Rights and the
first ten amendments of the American constitution. It was a

1. The French Revolution , p. 7.

374 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

memorable document clearly laying down the principles of
the French Revolution. According to it—

‘All persons shall be equally eligible to all dignities, public
positions, and occupations, according to their abilities. No person
shall be arrested or imprisoned except according to law. Anyone
accused of wrongdoing shall be presumed innocent until he is ad¬
judged guilty. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and print
his opinions, including his religious views, subject only to respon¬
sibility for the abuse of this freedom. No one shall be deprived
of his property, except for public purposes, and then only after
indemnification/

But, as in all countries, the Radicals were not satisfied.
The monarch also miserably blundered in dealing with awk¬
ward situa tions which were bound to arise under such cir¬
cumstances. The Queen, Marie Antoinette (imperious
daugh ter of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria), by her
feminine foibles and utter lack of imagination, alienated the
sympathies of her subjects. An appeal to the other
monarchs of Europe (Austria and Prussia) to save the Bour¬
bon monarchy only exasperated the French people by wound¬
ing t heir national susceptibilities. ■ The September
Massacres, the execution of the King and Queen (1792),
the Reign of Terror (1793-94) the Committee of Public
Safety which made everybody’s life unsafe, the Directory,
and finall y Napoleon, all followed as a matter of course.
Meanwhile, the intoxicated French people, by challenging all
established powers and princes in Europe had raised a'
hornet’s nest about their ears. In order to meet this em¬
barrassing situation they submitted to the yoke of Napoleon
Bonaparte (1797-1815) who led them to ultimate disaster
through a series of brilliant triumphs. But the Napoleonic
Wars and the Vienna Settlement belong to another phase
of human history, viz. the making of Modem Europe.
Though Napoleon rose to his Imperial throne on the votes

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

375

of the people of France, he threatened to re-establish Grand
Monarchy. He created a new nobility of service, depend¬
ent and loyal; he suppressed public opinion by secret police,
arrests and arbitrary confinements ; journals and newspapers
were censored and regulated ; even the schools and churches
were converted into pillars of the new despotism which was
no better than that of Louis XIV, though it was also no
worse.

Under Napoleon France got a strong and centralised
government, consolidated the work of the Revolution, codi¬
fied her laws (the Code Napoleon), secured social equality,
and trial by jury, a national Church, the Bank of France,
and great buildings, roads, canals, etc. But the “ successor
of Charlemagne” and the Bourbons also created a Legion
of Honour, carried the Roman eagles on his military stand¬
ards, and dreamed of universal sovereignty. “ Supreme in
France, he would also be supreme in Europe. No lasting
peace was possible with such a man, unless the European
nations submitted to his will. They would not submit, and
as a result the Continent for more than a decade was drench¬
ed with blood.” 1

However, the Revolution in France had not been in vain.
Its principles and spirit pervaded the whole of Europe and
still permeate the modem World. Immediately it affected
the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Everywhere during
the nineteenth century and after it stimulated demand for
the abolition of the established privileges of birth, wealth
and other characteristics of the ancient regime. “ The his¬
tory of the nineteenth century,” as Mr. Davies writes, “ is
one of gradual but very definite advance towards the sove¬
reignty of the people, and a great deal of the progress which

1. Webster, History of Mankind , pp. 485-6.

376 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

has been made can be traced directly or indirectly to the
influence of the French Revolution.” 1

The Grand Monarchy was represented in India, as noticed'
in the last chapter, by the Mughal Emperors. Their best
contributions to Indian civilisation were made during the
century from Akbar to Aurangzeb (1557-1657). With the
acrosaim of the latter monarch there was already a turn in
the tide. His reign of half-a-century was marked by a strong.
sw-tarian reactionarism, which was the beginning of the de¬
cline. It provoked far-reaching and equally powerful re¬
actions in the Hindu community. Particularly under the'
gifted Ipa dership of the Great Shivaji (1646-80), the Mara-
thas—a community of peaceful peasants—were organised
into an army of intrepid warriors, even as the Sikh Gum.
Govind Singh (1676-1708) converted (to use his own signi¬
ficant expression) ‘jackals into tigers and sparrows into
hawks.’ Just as the political or constitutional opposition
to the Stuart regime in England and the national revolt
of the Dutch against Spanish domination in Europe during,
the same century (1648) had been reinforced by religious-
antagonism, so in India the religious opposition roused by
Aurangzeb culminated in a national revolt against the'
Mughal dynasty. Even the Rajputs who had initially borne
the brunt of the Muslim advance into India in the earlier
centuries had been cajoled by the liberal policy of Akbar;
but they were once again provoked into hostility by Aurang¬
zeb, under the heroic leadership of Durgadas and Ajit Singh
(1679-1707). Finally, this politico-religious war of the
Hindus against the Muslim conquerors of India terminated
in the overthrow of the Mughal Grand Monarchy which had,
ainrp the death of Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah I (1712),

1. H. A. Davies, An Outline History of the World, p. 445.

FAIL OF THE OLD ORDER

377

fallen on evil days. Fratricidal wars of succession, rebellions
by insubordinate governors, enervating luxuries and vices,
and frequent attacks by external enemies like Nadir Shah,
Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Marathas, and the English, all
combined to destroy their ancient repm. On the other
hand, the English who had successfully outrivalled the
Dutch, the Portuguese, and the French, cpened a new
chapter in Indian history when they established themselves
firmly in Bengal after their victories at Plassey (1757) and
Buxar (1764). Indeed, the prophecy attributed to the
Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was being fulfilled: when he was
charged by Aurangzeb with peering, into the imperial seraglio
from his prison-cell in Delhi, the prophetic Sikh Gum is
said to have declared: “ I was not looking at thy private
apartments, or at thy queens. I was looking in the direc¬
tion of the Europeans who are coming from behind the seas
to tear down thy hangings and destroy thy empire.’
Whether this story is tme or false, the fall of the Old Order
in India was to be brought about by the Europeans.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

The French Revolution with its attendant wars
which culminated in the Treaties of Vienna,
marked the founding of a New Europe conspi¬
cuously different from that which had preceded
itF. J. C. Hearnshaw

Modem Europe is the product of several historical pro¬
cesses : religious, political, and economic. In religion we
have already described the division of Europe into Catholic
and Protestant, apart from the Eastern (Greek) and Western
(Roman) branches of the former, and the Lutheran, Cal¬
vinist and Zwinglian divisions of the latter. Broadly speak¬
ing, the religious struggle between the Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation forces—on a European scale—reached
its climax in the Thirty Years’ War (161848) of which the
main theatre was Central Europe. It began as a small
dispute over the accession of a Spanish Roman Catholic
prince to the throne of Bohemia (present Czecho-Slovakia),
but soon developed into a European war in which several
countries were involved. The political issue was eclipsed
by religious differences, in which, Catholic Spain and Austria
(united under the Bapsburgs) had to fight the Protestant
combination of North Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Holland,
and England. France, though Catholic, joined the latter
group for political reasons: she hated the Hapsburgs and
wanted to extend her national boundaries to the Rhine if

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

379

possible. The great leader of the ‘ Catholic League ’ was
the Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37), and of the ‘Protestant
Union ’ Frederick the Elector Palatine (son-in-law of James I
of England). Owing to the skilful diplomacy of the French
minister Cardinal Richelieu, Gustavus Adolphus (King of
Sweden)—the greatest general of the age—assumed com¬
mand of the Protestant forces, and won the “ crowning
mercy ” of the struggle at the battle of Liitzen (near Leipzig)
in 1632, against Wallenstein the Catholic commander. Gusta¬
vus, however, died a heroic death in the hour of victory :
being surrounded by the enemy who ultimately killed him,
he declared, “ I am King of Sweden, who do seal the religion
and liberty of the German nation with my blood.” Though
the struggle continued after this, until the Peace of West¬
phalia in 1648, and Germany was ravaged by hostile forces,
the Thirty Years’ War closed with the assurance of rdi-
gious and political liberty to the. Protestant States of North
Germany; the Catholic States of the South ranged them¬
selves under Austria; the Bourbons of France scored a
fateful akendancy over the Hapsburgs by securing Alsace,
Metz, Toul, and Verdun; and Sweden was rewarded with
certain posts on the Baltic. " Austria, crippled in property,
prestiges and power, was left faced by an implacable enemy
from without—France; and by the growing ambition of
an enemy within—Prussia.” The Holy Roman Empire-
in its Hapsburg avatar —'was both spiritually and temporally
‘cribbed, cabined, and confined’’ within the Austrian border
but for its hold oh Italy/ The future lay with France and
Prussia.

The national ascendancy of France-began under Louis XIV
and ended with the defealt'of Napoleon at Waterloo. From
the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) to'the Vienna Settlement
(1815) the menace of France 'was ever present in European

380 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

politics. It was a century marked also by the rivalry with
the English. The net result for France of Louis XIV’s
aggressive policy, as we have seen, was the acquisition of
Alsace, Metz, Toul, and Verdun in 1648 ; Franche Comte,
Strassburg, and Luxemburg in 1684 ; and the placing of his
grandson (Philip V) on the throne of Spain in 1700. This
last event led to the formation of the Grand Alliance between
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Portugal, and Savoy
against France and Spain, resulting in the Duke of Marl¬
borough’s great series of victories : Blenheim, Ramillies,
Oudenarde, and Malplaquet (reviving the glories of Agim-
court, Crecy, and Poitou of the Hundred Years’ War). It
was during this Spanish Succession War (1700-13) also that
England gained Gibraltar and Minorca, two important stra¬
tegic possessions marking her hegemony in the Mediterranean.

Though the French menace to the peace of Europe appear¬
ed to have abated a little after this, it continued to be
active elsewhere. England and France were both engaged
in a great duel already in India in the East and America
in the West. Consequently, when the next occasion arose
in the continent of Europe, on account of another Succes¬
sion War (the Austrian) and its sequel the Seven Years*
War, the issues were fought out on three continents : Europe,
Asia, and America. In the memorable words of Voltaire,
“The first cannon shot fired in our lands was to set
the match to all the batteries in America and Asia.”

The Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI died in 1740 without
a male heir to succeed him. Though he had taken care
to secure before his death the consent (by the Pragmatic
Sanction) of most of the rulers of Europe for bestowing
the Austrian throne on his daughter Maria Theresa, when
he died, Frederick II of Prussia (about whom more later)
tried to undermine the position of the young Empress by

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 381

making a wanton attack on her dominions (Silesia). France,
having already ousted the Hapsburgs from Spain, allied
herself with Frederick, hoping thereby to make further en¬
croachments on the Austrian dominions. But, for all her
national ambitions, she only earned the enmity of England
(who had joined Austria together with Holland) without be¬
ing able to win from her selfish ally, Prussia, any reward
in the shape of territory. The war ended with the Treaty
of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. “ The real gainer by the war

of the Pragmatic Sanction,” as Macaulay has said, “had
been neither France nor Austria, but the upstart of Branden¬
burg. France had .made great efforts, had added largely
to her military glory, and largely to her public burdens;
and another had purchased, with floods of the noblest blood,
the barren glory of Fontenoy.” The result of this dis¬
appointment was the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 brought
about by the astute diplomacy of the Austrian minister Count
Kaunitz : England and France exchanged sides, and began
the more decisive combat known as the Seven Years* War
(1756-63).'

Frederick, who had become “the Great” by the seizure
of Silesia, was allowed to retain his ill-gotten gains by the
iniquitous Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was forced upon
helpless Austria by the selfish hurry of England and France
to get out of their thankless alliances. But the proud daughter
of the Caesars, Maria Theresa, was far from reconciling her¬
self to her loss. Moreover, both England and France an
account of their commercial and colonial rivalries, were yet
to compose their national quarrels. Hence the eight years
of ‘restless peace* (1748-56) soon burst into the blood¬
stained years of the Seven Years* War. The original issue
about Silesia between the principals (Austria and Prussia)
was drowned in the larger issues of the allies (England

382 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and France). An unofficial struggle had continued in the
meanwhile in India and America between the two latter
powers. The official war was brought to a close by the
Treaty of Paris which declared once for all the supremacy
of the British, both in India and America, over their French
rivals. Clive had already frustrated the designs of Dupleix
at Arcot in India in 1751; in 1760 again Colonel Coote de¬
feated the French at Wandewash; and in the fateful year
of the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) the crowning glory
of the English triumph was marked by the capture of Pon¬
dicherry. In America the English won Canada on the
“Heights of-Abraham,” when the heroic Wolfe laid down
his life while capturing Quebec (1759). The Peace of Paris
which clinched the duel between England and France was
the first great triumph of the Anglo-Saxons., Its next phase
was revealed in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic struggle.

France sought to avenge the humiliation of the Seven
Years’ War by helping the American Colonies at a critical
stage of their revolt (1775-83) against the tyranny of
George Ill’s government. But this only reacted upon her¬
self in a double manner: it increased her national debt on
the one hand, and on the other, precipitated her Revolution
by the inspiration of U. S. A.’s successful example. Ir
the course of that Revolution itself she further tried tc
take revenge on both Austria and Prussia for being abettors
of the ancient regime. Though immediately successful, Francs
had to pay for it heavily after her defeat at Waterloo (1815)

The French Revolution in the beginning had evoked sym
pathy and even enthusiasm in some quarters, such as Words
worth felt when he wrote :

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive

But to be young was very heaven.

But the excesses of the extremists, culminating in the Reign

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

383

of Terror, brought about a complete revulsion of feeling.
The Emperor Leopold of Austria had issued a manifesto as
early as 1790 inviting all civilised nations to unite against
the common danger. Two years later Austria and Prussia
formed an alliance which was before long to develop into
the biggest coalition ever formed in Europe against a single
nation. Yet the revolutionary fervour was so great that the
French won striking victories (Valmy and Jemappes) which
brought the southern part of the Netherlands under their
sway. In 1793 was formed the First Coalition between
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and
the Papal States ; though by 1796 Austria and England were
left alone to carry on the war.

Napoleon made his mark at Toulon in 1795 ; he was
one of the Consuls in 1799 ; Consul for life in 1802; and
Emperor in 1804. From 1796-1807 was the period of
Napoleon’s rise, when his energies were concentrated against
Austria. During the next five years (1807-12) he was
apparently at the height of his power, when his main objec¬
tive was to fight Britain; for this were passed the Berlin
Decrees and the Continental System organised. 1 The
remaining years before he was sent to St. Helena (1812-15)
formed the period of his fall. We have no space here for
even a rapid sketch of his meteoric career. Moreover, since
his entire reordering of the map of Europe was to be wash¬
ed off. by the Vienna Settlement in 1815, we might content
ourselves with noting the reactions that followed his over¬
throw.

Napoleon, “ the child of the Revolution,” had also made
himself the father of an Imperial system wherein ‘ republics’

1. The purpose of these was to exclude Britain from all in¬
tercourse with the continent of Europe.

384 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and princedoms were subjected to the common foreign yoke
which at once ignored and evoked national consciousness
and the democratic spirit of self-determination. But before
we trace the history of these two ‘ main currents ’ of nine¬
teenth century European life, it is necessary to look at the
earlier growth of at least two other countries, viz. Prussia
and Russia.

Germany, as we know her to-day, is a product of the
ninpt-ppnth century. Even at the time of the Vienna Con¬
gress (1814-15) that country was a congeries of over three
hundred and fifty kingdoms and principalities, of which
Prussia was undoubtedly the most pre-eminent. On that
historic occasion their number was reduced to thirty-nine
e tat pg (by com bining small states together) and they were
given a formal unity under a Confederation with a com¬
mon Diet (Parliament) at Frankfort. The real consoli¬
dation of Germany was brought about by the ruling House
of Hohenzollem whose family history reached back to the
twelfth century. Frederick the Great, mentioned earlier in
this chapter, belonged to this family which particu¬
larly came into prominence - after the Thirty Years’ War,
under Frederick William, known as the Great Elector (1640-
88). He was only the Duke of Brandenburg (sub¬
ject to the Kling of Poland) to begin with; but through
war and diplomacy he considerably increased the possessions
and prestige of his House, the greatest of his acquisitions
being Prussia. By internal reforms such as improvement of
taxation, communications, irrigation, encouragement of edu¬
cation, industry and agriculture, etc. he enhanced the im¬
portance of Brandenburg-Prussia in all Germany (which
also contained other States like Bavaria and Saxony). His
successor, Frederick II (1688-1713), earned the title of
“King” from the Emperor Leopold I of Austria. His

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

385

son, Frederick William I (1713-40), was the father
of Frederick the Great (1740-86). These two Fredericks
are indeed one of the most interesting pair of rulers in all
history. No two princes were more unlike in their charac¬
ters than these, father and son; and yet, both alike emi¬
nently succeeded in making Prussia and the Hohenzollems
respected, feared, and hated, at first in Germany and then
in all Europe. Frederick William, by his parsimony and
careful administration earned for himself the reputation of
being “ the greatest internal king of Prussia.” At the samp
time he was one of the most quixotic of all mnna rchs, He
had a miserly love for soldiers, sixty thousand of whom
he recruited from all parts of the world, drilled and train¬
ed them most efficiently, but would not waste than in any
war! At home he was a tyrant and the treatment he
accorded to his son was such that, as Macaulay has put it,
“ Oliver Twist in the parish workhouse, Smike at Dotheboys
Hall, were petted childrai when compared with this wretched
heir apparent of a crown.” Frederick (the son), being the
very antithesis of his father, sought refuge in flight, but was
caught and condemned to death for his attempted deser¬
tion. He was saved from this calamity only by the timdy
intercession of all the potentates of Europe. “ Salvation be¬
longs to the Lord,” declared Frederick William, “ and every¬
thing else is my affair.”

No sooner did the young Frederick succeed to the throne
of Prussia (1740)', than he thought of making good use of
his father’s “ darling army.” His philosophy was : “ As

to dominions, take what you can; you are only wrong
when you are compelled to make restitution.” So he in¬
vaded Silesia and began the ‘Austrian Succession War’
(1740-48) which led on to the Seven Years’ War (1756-63)
with consequences already described. Internally also he fol

386 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lowed the traditional policy of his family and earned for
himself the title of Frederick the Great—the maker of Modem
Germany. With all his faults Frederick 'had a high con¬
ception of the office of monarchs. “The monarch,” he
declared, “ is only the first servant of the State, who is
obliged to act with probity and prudence, and to remain
as totally disinterested as if he were each moment liable
to render an account of his administration to his fellow-
citizens. .. The prince is to the nation he governs what
the head is to the man; it is his duty to see, think, and
act for the whole community, that he may procure it every
advantage of which it is capable” He was unsparing in
the pursuit of this ideal, though he never cared what means
he had to adopt to secure the end.

In our survey of Grand Monarchy we referred to Peter
the Great of Russia (1682-1725). Though Russia was
always under monarchical despotism until its overthrow in
1918, we must content ourselves here with only a few typical
examples. The Romanoffs came to the throne of Russia
in 1613. Even before that the Grand Dukes of Moscow,
like Ivan the Terrible, had already consolidated the absolu¬
tism of the ruling family at the expense of the boyars
(barons). But the country had grown without coming to
maturity as it were. Russia was very backward in all res¬
pects. She was more Asiatic than European. So when Peter
became the Czar in 1696 he decided that his country ought
to turn to the West rather than to the East for inspiration.
He personally travelled widely in Germany, Holland, Eng¬
land, and greatly admired their progress. Keenly desirous
of reforming his own subjects along their lines, he import¬
ed into Russia engineers, workmen, and teachers in all de¬
partments, from the countries he had visited. In his zeal
for reform Peter toiled like a common workman in field

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 387

and factory, cut off with his own hands the flowing beards,
moustaches, and robes of his nobles—as marks of the
Orientals—,compelled women to come out of their seclusion,
and built a new capital (St. Petersburgh) to counteract the
influence of conservative Moscow. Peter indeed wanted to
“ open a window ” in the West; for Russia, in spite of
her size (more than equal to all the other countries of Europe
put together), was ice-bound in the North, had no access
to the sea either in the West or South, while Sweden, Poland,
Germany, Austria, and Turkey blocked her ways of ex¬
pansion. Her history, ever since the days of Peter the Great,
has therefore been one of conflict with all these powers.

In order to establish contact with the West, Peter at first
tried to secure access to the Baltic. Here he found a for¬
midable opponent in Charles XII of Sweden who displayed
the military prowess of an Alexander the Great. Russia
formed an alliance with Poland and Denmark to overpower
Sweden, but only discovered that Charles was more than a
match for all of them together. To create a diversion for
Peter in the South, Charles also incited the Turks against
Russia. However, when Charles died (1718), Russia made
a Treaty with Sweden by which she gained Livonia, Esthonia,
and other Swedish provinces at the eastern end of the
Baltic. Her attempt to secure a foothold in the South at
the expense of Turkey created the “Eastern Question”
which will be dealt with later.

The * spiritual ’ successor of Peter the Great in the pur¬
suit of his European policy was Catherine II (1762-96).
A Germain by birth she extended and established foreign
influence within Russia. This had both good and evil re¬
sults of a far-reaching character. * Adventurous, ambitious,
despotic, corrupt, she sought by every available means to
continue the work of making Russia a supreme European

388 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

power.’ She evinced considerable interest in the great intel¬
lectual movements of Western Europe represented by men
like Diderot and Voltaire (even like her contemporary
Frederick the Great), and professed high-sounding, political
principles: ‘ the nation,’ she said, ‘ is not made for the
ruler but the ruler for the nation; ’ ‘ liberty,’ she defined,

‘ is the right to do anything that is not forbidden by law; ’
‘better that ten guilty should escape than that one innocent
should suffer unjust punishment.’ But her practice was a
negation of all these doctrines. The ; sincerest devotee of the
Enlightened Despotism of the eighteenth century in Europe
was Catherine’s Austrian contemporary Joseph II (1765-90),
but he died a disappointed man.-Catherine, while die .brought
large accession of territory and power to Russia (particu¬
larly by her share in the three Partitions of Poland, 1772,
1793, and 1795), die was one of the strongest haters of the
new forces released by the French Revolution. Her imbecile
seal Paul I (1796-1801) was assassinated by a coterie of her
own courtiers. But the next ruler of Russia, Alexander I
(1801-25), became famous as the protagonist of “Legitim¬
ism” in Europe. The triple pillars of this amti-Revolu-
tionary movement were the monarchs of Russia, Prussia,
and Austria.

We have already referred to the immediate reactions of
Austria and Prussia to the revolutionary outbreak in France.
The challenge of Leopold II (brother and successor of
Joseph II) to the revolutionaries was reinforced by alliances,
at first with Prussia, then with Russia, England, and all
the rest of Europe. The ultimate result was the defeat of
Napoleon and the humiliation of France in the Vienna
Settlement This settlement was as fateful in consequences
as that of Utrecht a century earlier (1713) and Versailles
a century later (1918). The high-priest of the Vienna

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

389

Congress was the Austrian statesman Metternich. Few men
have exercised such powerful influence over the destinies of
a continent like this Napoleon of diplomacy. The mere fact
that Metternich presided over the deliberations of this most
momentous gathering, where almost all the potentates of
Europe were personally present, is sufficient indication of
his importance. Next to him was Talleyrand the represen¬
tative of France who put forward the doctrine of “ Legiti¬
macy ” which formed the sheet-anchor of the Congress. That
assembly was as reactionary as it was pompous; it was
throughout marked by secret diplomacy and the domination
of the big powers, as by 4 an uninterrupted festival of extra¬
ordinary brilliance/ It trampled under foot the principles of
nationalism, democracy and liberalism, as dangerous inno¬
vations, and reconstructed the map of Europe heedless of
nationality. France was deprived of all her revolutionary
and Napoleonic conquests and the reactionary Bourbon
Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI who had “forgotten
nothing and could forgive nothing”) was foisted upon the
throne of his ancestors; incompatibles like Norway and
Sweden, Holland and Belgium, were bound together irres¬
pective of the aspirations of their peoples; likewise the
Machiavellian “Partitions” of Poland were confirmed to
their foreign masters ; Austria was allowed to dominate over
dismembered Italy; and the gains of Great Britain were
guaranteed to that, country. While everyone, with the excep¬
tion of France, got something, no one was satisfied.

The first outward manifestation of the spirit of the Con¬
gress was the formation of the Quadruple Alliance between
Austria, Prussia, Russia, and England. Its ostensible pur-
jjose was the defence of the Settlement; but in reality it
sought to be the bulwark of reactionary “ Legitimism.” When
England saw this sinister tendency, which was a negation

390 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

of all her liberal principles, she withdrew from the ‘ concert
of Europe’ and allowed her* allies to cling to their Holy
Alliance under the aegis of Czar Alexander I who had been
privately characterised at the Congress of Vienna as “half
fool, half Bonaparte.”

It has been well observed by Professor Morse Stephens,
that “The doctrines of the French Revolution did more
than the victories of Napoleon to destroy^e political system
Of the eighteenth century.” 1 In the so-called Holy Alliance
eighteenth century dynasticism was on its last legs. The
subsequent history of Europe during the nineteenth century
marks the triumph of Nationalism, Democracy, Liberalism,
in country after country. We have room here only to re¬
cord the results. For a fuller study of this great theme
the reader must go to larger works. When Paris hath a
cold, it is said, the whole of Europe sneezes. But we might
as well say that whenever there is to be a political earth¬
quake in Europe it is first indicated by the French seismo¬
graph.

There were national and democratic risings all over Europe
in 1830 and 1848. In the first series, Greece won her inde¬
pendence from Turkey when the English poet Byron sacri¬
ficed himself at the altar of Hellenic liberation. In France,
the restored Bourbon regime was once more overthrown in
favour of the Orleanist “ citizen king ” Louis Philippe, who
was crowned King “ by the grace of God and by the will
of the people .” At the same time, Catholic Belgium regain¬
ed her national independence from Protestant Holland, and
her integrity was guaranteed by Britain, France, Prussia,
Austria, and Russia. There were also significant repercus¬
sions in Poland, Italy, Spain, and England. During the

1. Revolutionary Europe , p. 3.

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 391

second wave of 1848, Louis Philippe was overthrown in
France and the Second Republic was established un d er the
presidency of Louis Napoleon who rapidly grew into (Napo¬
leon III) the image of his greater namesake; in Prussia,
there were riots demanding freedom of the press, trial by-
jury, religious toleration, etc.; in the Austrian dominions,
the Slavs of Bohemia, the Magyars of Hungary, and the
Latins of Italy, broke into rebellion and Mettemich was
obliged to seek safety in England (the last refuge of all
exiles) ; in Germany, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein
tried to overthrow the Danish yoke with the assistance of
Prussia. Italy (with the exception of Venetia and the
Papal States), through the inspiration of Mazzini, the diplo¬
macy of Cavour, and the martial vigour of Garribaldi,
became a united and independent Kingdom under the patrio¬
tic monarch Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia, in 1861. With¬
in ten years of this (1871) Germany under her Pr ussian King
William (Wilhelm) I realised her dream of union with the
help of her “ iron Chancellor ” Bismarck. This was achieved
at the expense of Denmark. Austria, and France, with all
of whom Prussia waged war. “The German problem,”
Bismarck had bluntly declared, “ cannot be solved by Parlia¬
mentary decrees, but only by blood and iron.” But this
policy, according to

The good old plan

That he should take who has the power,

And he should keep who can,

only resulted in a situation well described by the
German general von, Moltke in the Reichstag shortly
after the conclusion of peace: “ We have earned

in the late war respect, but hardly love. What we have
gained by arms in six months we shall have to defend by

392 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

arms for fifty years.” Europe has not yet got out of the
hoie Bismarck put her into.

Austria was defeated by Prussia in the battle of Sadowa
in 1866. This resulted in the separation of the North Ger¬
man Confederation from the Austrian ' Empire Next year,
1867, the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was form¬
ed which lasted till the Great War (1914-18). France was
defeated at Sedan in 1870, and Napoleon III abdicated.
Paris surrendered, after a siege of four months, on January
28,1871. In the peace that followed, France paid to Prussia
a heavy war indemnity, and ceded to her the Rhine provinces
of Alsace and Lorraine. These were the seeds of the Great
War of 1914-18. France formally inaugurated her Third
Republic in 1875.

In Eastern Europe also the Russian policy of expansion
had, in the meanwhile, culminated in the Crimean War of
1854-56. Turkey—" the sick man of Europe ’’—being sub¬
jected to a similar operation by Russia as that of Poland,
was doctored bade into life by England and France. But
theme was again a relapse in 1875 owing to the Balkan
States catching infection from Russia. This once more
brought the ‘ Colossus of the North ’ down to the gates of
Constantinople, and Britain ordered two war-vessels to enter
the Dardanelles ‘for the protection of life and property.’
But ultimately, through one of the most thrilling diplo¬
matic manoeuvres recorded in history, war was averted. The
Treaty of Berlin, 1878, brought relief to the Balkans, and
‘ peace with honour ’ to England; but it also transferred
the attention of Russia from the Near to the Far East.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

Vigour—physical and intellectual Trade,
or material profit of some kind. Religion.

Science. Here are the elements contributing
to the Expansion of the West.—F. S. Marvin

If in the above enumeration of the elements contributing
to the Expansion of Europe the reader discovers the signi¬
ficant omission of ‘politics’, it may at once be pointed
out that the political expansion of the West has itself been
the almost inevitable product of the elements of Mr. Mar¬
vin’s analysis. In describing the making of modem Europe
we had necessarily to concentrate, in the last chapter, on
political reconstruction—both external and internal—in that
continent. The National and Democratic movements dealt
with therein were wider and deeper than it has been possible
for us to indicate in our brief survey. The forces underlying
those upheavals and the far-reaching consequences on
humanity must be studied more carefully here. We shall
find it convenient to consider the Expansion of Europe first
in the material sense, and then in the intellectual.

The history of the World traced by us so far has revealed
to us several movements of populations from country to
country and continent to continent. These movements were
due to several causes, such as the excessive growth of popu¬
lation beyond the means of subsistence, the nomadic instinct
that drove barbarian hordes from place to place out of sheer

394

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

restlessness, and the needs of commerce with ever-expand¬
ing markets.

The earliest example of European expansion abroad is
found in the piratical adventures of the Norsemen who seem
to have reached the northern parts of North America long
before Columbus re-discovered that continent for the modem
world. During the Middle Ages, Europe was already enough
accustomed to the spices and luxuries of the East to feel
the urge to explore new routes thereto. That impulse was
further reinforced by the Turkish blockade of the ‘Near
East’ culminating in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The discoveries of da Gama and Columbus shifted the high¬
roads of commerce from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic,
while at the same time the primacy in world trade passed
from the Venetians and the Arabs to the Portuguese and
the Spaniards. And lastly, the division of the globe between
these two nations by authority of Pope Alexander VI, no
less than the religious zeal of the Portuguese and Spaniards
themselves, gave to European expansion in the Old and
New worlds the dual impetus of commerce and Christianity.

When the Reformation movement divided Europe into
Catholic and Protestant, the latter group of nations—parti¬
cularly the Dutch and the English—challenged the monopoly
of the Iberian pioneers and soon undermined their positions
in East and West alike. The Dutch broke through the
Portuguese monopoly in Asia, and the English overthrew
the Spanish in America. The defeat of the Armada in 1588
was indeed’ a great turning point: it destroyed the political
prestige of Spain and marked the naval ascendancy of
England.

With the accession of the Stuarts to the English throne
(1603) an era of peace with Spain ensued, but a new rivalry
with the Dutch in the East Indies started. Within twenty

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

395

years it culminated in the tragedy of Amboyna (1623) where
the infuriated Dutch murdered ten Englishmen and tortured
several others. Though this ‘ massacre ’ resulted in driving
the English out of the Archipelago, it proved a blessing
in disguise, for it gave them India. The quairel with the
Dutch nearer home led to the passing of the important Navi¬
gation Act of 1651, which provided that all goods imported
into England must be carried either in English bottoms or
in the ships of the country which produced them. The
Dutch tried to defy this law and presumptuously sailed up
the Thames-with brooms attached to their mast-heads to
signify their determination to sweep the English from the
seas. But they were defeated all the same, and had to accept
the Navigation Act confirmed by the Treaty of Westminster,
1654.

Another aspect of the contemporary scene which had mo¬
mentous results may also be referred to here. The Spanish
and Portuguese successes in South America had aroused the
greed of the English, the Dutch, and the French, leading
to international conflicts, organised piracy, and the foundation
of colonies in the remaining parts of that continent. Emi¬
gration from Europe was further stimulated by the religious
policies of monarchs during the Reformation period; the
victims of persecution sought refuge in exile in the New-
World. The stream thus started was fed by a variety of
causes all of which contributed to the permanent occupation
of America by the Europeans. The details of the process
must be read elsewhere. For our present purpose a record
of the result alone should suffice.

The Portuguese had occupied Brazil and the Spaniards
Mexico and Peru. Out of this nucleus grew up the Republics
of South America. The Dutch were among the earliest
in the race for North America, but their main objectives being

396 -A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the East, they were soon outstripped in the West by
the English and the French. The river Hudson had been
explored (1609) by an Englishman of that namp j n
the Dutch service. New York and New Jersey were originally
Dutch New Amsterdam, but acquired by the English nmfe r
Charles II who commissioned his brother, the Duke of York,
to occupy them (1664). Meanwhile, the English
founded by the “ Pilgrim Fathers ” who sailed in the May¬
flower (1620),—New England—had grown into a powerful
group; while the French had likewise flourished round about
Quebec. Out of their worldwide rivalries (referred to in
the previous chapter) England emerged triumphant at the
end of the Seven Years’ War which closed with the Treaty
of Paris (1763). That gave the English their Indian
Empire and Canada. Though at that time they also owned
the present United States of America, these were lost in
consequence of the American War of Independence (1776-83)
which terminated with the Treaties of Paris and Versailles.
This eventful victory of the settlers had important and varied
consequences : (1) it created the independent U. S. A.;

(2) it precipitated the Revolution in France ; (3) it brought
to an end the “ old colonial policy ” in England no less than
the last bid for personal rule made by the English mnnarrh^
Turgot’s dictum that ‘ colonies are like fruit which drop
off from the stem when they ripen’ was proved true at
least in this important case. More than anything else, the
American Revolution convinced England of what Chatham
had meant when he warned his countrymen saying : “ We
may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise
every power whatsoever, except that of taking their money
out of their pockets without their consent.” The great hero
of the American triumph was George Washington, about
whom the English historian John'Richard Green has written:

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

397

“ No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation’s

life, . ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the

hearts of his fellow countrymen \ ”

The victory of the U. S. A. had also important reper¬
cussions in South America. Napoleon Bonaparte had over¬
thrown the Bourbon ruler of Spain and seated his own
brother Joseph on that throne, but the Spanish colonists
in South America refused to acknowledge the usurper. Under
the leadership of Simon Bolivar, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, etc. asserted their independence even
when the old dynasty was restored in the mother country
(under Ferdinand VII). Mexico too became independent
in 1821, but fell a prey to continued disorder. The Portu¬
guese colonists of Brazil likewise set up an independent State
in 1822, with Don Pedro as their King. The further history
of Latin America is too complicated to be dealt with here
But two facts may be noted : (1) All the colonies set

up republican governments before the close of the century;
(2) the U. S. A. proclaimed the famous “ Monroe doctrine”
when the European Powers tried to meddle in their affairs.
It laid down :

* In the wars of the European Powers, in matters relating to
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com¬
port with 1 our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are
invaded or seriously menaced that,we resent injuries or make
preparations for our defence. With the existing colonies or de¬
pendencies of any European Power we have not interfered and
shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared
their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we
have on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged,
we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing
them or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any
European Power in any other light than as the manifestation
of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States. The
-occasion has .been judged, proper for asserting as a principle

398

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in which the rights and interests of the United States are in¬
volved, that the American continents, by the free and independ¬
ent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are hence¬
forth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by
any European Powers.’

For the next great European advance we must turn to
the continents of Africa and. Asia during the nineteenth
century. We must necessarily skip over the thrilling stories
of exploration, discovery, and adventure, and concentrate
only on the bare enumeration of results. David Livingstone
(1849-73), a Scotch missionary who crossed the entire Dark
Continent from sea to sea, is one of the best known of
Africa’s explorers. Mission work went hand in hand in
Africa with geographical discovery. While Islam made its
home in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt, in Abyssinia,
Siberia, and South Africa Christianity succeeded in establish¬
ing itself; the rest of Africa remained heathen.

Almost all the European nations participated in the
exploitation of Africa. Particularly in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century, there was a regular scramble for
its tempting profits. In the past, Africa had provided the
richest quarry for slaves; in more recent times it has been
valued for rubber, ivory, diamonds, gold, and other rich
natural products of a tropical continent. The Spaniards
now hold the northern coast of Morocco; Portugal holds
Angola and Portuguese East Africa ; Belgium holds Congo;
France owns Algeria, Tunis, most of Morocco, the valleys
of the Senegal and Upper Niger, part of the Guinea coast,
French Somaliland, and Madagascar. Germany and Italy
were late in entering the arena. Frederick the Great had
declared : “ All distant possessions are a burden to the

State. A village on the frontier is worth a principality
two hundred and fifty miles away.” Even Bismarck con-

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

399

sidered himself a ‘ no colony man \ All the same, Germany
after her unification took the coastland of South-West Africa
north of the Orange River, the Cameroons and East Africa.
All of these, however, were taken away from Germany by
the Allies in the Great War of 1914-18. Italy, though late
in entering the field, secured Eritrea, Italian Somaliland,
Libya (1912), and last of all (1936) Abyssinia.

Though France has the lion’s share of territory in Africa,
Great Britain is important in point of power. .Besides exten¬
sive possessions on the Guinea coast, she owns a solid block
of territory stretching right through the continent from the
Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean. The gold mines
of the Transvaal and the diamond mines of Kimberley have
rendered these colonies invaluable. Together with Cape
Colony, Natal, and Orange Free State, they constitute the
Union of South Africa. To these must be added Rhodesia
(acquired by Cecil Rhodes), Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (con¬
quered by Kitchner), and the German colonies (S. W. and
E. Africa) won during the Great War. Britain also con¬
trols Egypt and has a decisive share in the control of the
Suez Canal (constructed in 1869 by the French engineer,
Ferdinand de Lesseps). This, together with the Cape-to-
Cairo Railway (7000 miles)—the product of the enterprise
of Cecil Rhodes—has given Britain great commercial and
strategic advantages.

The opening up and partition of Asia must be reserved
for another chapter, as it inevitably led to the awakening
of the slumbering East, which is too large and important
a subject to be dealt with here. We might more coherently
proceed in this chapter with the further phases of the Euro¬
pean expansion in the West, such as Industrialism and its
attendant reactions : intellectual and political.

Modem industrialism which has given a new trend to

400 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

human civilisation had its birth in England in the eighteenth
century. That movement is usually referred to as the
Industrial Revolution. Though of late some writers have
criticised the use of the term “ Revolution ” as being too
misleading, no more suggestive or comprehensively adequate
expression has been found. Equally misleading is it to
suggest that the Industrial Revolution began in a parti¬
cular year or even decade. But considering that the several
important things which gave it its peculiar character occurred
all together in a crowded fifty years or so, it would not be
wrong to assign the genesis of this great movement to the
latter half of the eighteenth century. That was also the
period of other momentous happenings such as the Seven
Years’ War, the War of American Independence, and the
French Revolution.

While all wars are expensive and disastrous in their con¬
sequences, England has enjoyed certain peculiar advantages
on account of her geographical situation. The immunity
from foreign invasion which she has enjoyed through several
centuries, and her naval supremacy, have alike enabled her
to develop her political and economic life along her own
lines, undisturbed by any external power. On the other
hand, she has found it especially possible for her to strike
at all her enemies without being hurt to the same extent.
Thus she was able to destroy the power of France in the
series of wars which ended with Waterloo. Whereas these
wars disorganised) the entire economic life of the Continent,
they afforded a unique opportunity to English commerce
and industry which flourished despite the Berlin Decrees
and the Continental System! of Napoleon. It was this rare
stimulus which quickened the pace of English industry to
such an extent, towards the close of the eighteenth century,
that it almost looked’ like a revolution. In the words of

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

401

Professor Hammond, “ That revolution was marked by the
dissolution of the old village, by the transformation of the
textile industries, by changes of a different kind in the pottery
industries, and by a great concentration of capital and
power in the industries connected with iron, steel, and coal.” 1
In short, that revolution converted England from being the
“granary of the North” (as the Romans had found her)
into the Workshop of the World.

It was under these circumstances that a series of mecha¬
nical inventions appeared : Hargreave’s “spinning jenny” in
1764, Arkwright’s “water frame” in 1769, Crompton’s “mule”
in 1779, Cartwright’s “power loom” in 1785, Whitney’s “gin”
in 1792, etc. And more than anything else, the application
of steam power to all departments of industry, including
manufacture as well as transport,—rendered possible by the
genius of Watt (1769) and Stephenson (1814)—ushered in
the era of large-scale production and distribution with all
their inevitable consequences. It is impossible even to sum¬
marise the salient features of this Revolution within the
space at our disposal. It has made the Modem World what
it is. A more adequate idea of its complexities will be gain¬
ed from a later chapter. Suffice it here to observe that we
owe all our comforts, conflicts, dangers, and outlooks to
what was happening in the Western World during the past
two hundred years or so.

One important aspect of these changes, however, may be
particularly noted. English policy in India was largely
affected by the growing demand in England for raw-materials
and markets for her finished goods. “England was now
producing,” says Professor Hammond, “something that
India could buy. A British government was not likdy to

1. J. L. Hammond, The Rise of Modern Industry, p. 2.

402 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

treat a distant community that had come under its control
more unselfishly than it had treated the British Colonies
in America. Heavy duties were placed upon Indian cottons
and silks' in the Home tariff, and when the Indian market,
hitherto the monopoly of the East India Company, was
thrown open in 1813, the duties imposed on cotton goods
entering India were merely nominal. In 1831 a petition
was presented from natives of Bengal, complaining without
success of the British duty of 10 per cent, on manufactured
cottons, and 24 per cent, on manufactured silks. The effect
of political control, combined with the inventions, was seen
in the figures of our trade with India. 1 If India had been in
the hands of a rival Power anxious either to develop a new
cotton industry of its own, or to develop a native cotton
industry in India, Lancashire would not have found so rich
a market for her yam and piece-goods.”

The social and political effects of the Industrial Revolu¬
tion in England itself were profound and interesting. The
rapid advance of the “ enclosure ” movement, the improved
methods of agriculture, and the introduction of machinery,
alike contributed to immediate social disorganisation. While
on the one hand the population of England was growing
on account of her increasing prosperity, widespread un¬
employment and misery were also caused by several changes
coming in at the same time on the other. The surplus
population, including a large number of criminals, after
being swept into the army and navy (for which there was
great demand on account of the various wars) was still
available for colonisation abroad. The epoch-making dis¬
coveries of Captain Cook (1769-79) made Australia readily

1. In 1815, 800,000 yards of British cotton cloth were imported
in India; in 1830, 45,000,000 yards.— Ibid., pp. 185-6.

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

403

available for the purpose. Before the United States became
independent America had been used as the 4 Andamans ’ of
Great Britain. Australia soon received such a large popula¬
tion of criminals that crime offered no means of livelihood to
the immigrants there. Hence the deportation of undesirables
from England proved a double blessing : it blessed them
that went, and them that sent. The well-known words of
St. Bernard of Clairvaux with reference to the recruits for
the Second Crusade may very well be applied to the founders
of the Australian colony : 4 In the countless multitude you
will find few except the utterly wicked and impious, the
sacrilegious, homicides, and perjurers, whose departure is
a double gain. Europe rejoices to lose them and Palestine
to gain them ; they are useful in both ways, in their absence
from here and their presence there/

There was also a great shifting of populations within
the country. People began to crowd into the industrial
cities. The evils of the Factory System manifested them¬
selves before its benefits were appreciated by the people at
large. The New Industry like the New Agriculture seemed
to profit only the rich at the expense of the poor. The
tyranny of William Pitt’s war-regime made the transition
less bearable. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 had trans¬
ferred power from the King to an Oligarchy of landlords.
Now a new nobility arose among the industrial and com¬
mercial magnates to compete with them. The great discon¬
tent was allayed to a certain extent only in the era of
reform that followed in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat.

The nineteenth century was eminently an Age of Liberal¬
ism, though the Liberals were not always and everywhere
in power. The Conservatives withstood as much as they
dared, and the Radicals exacted as much as they could.
Though gradualism held the balance, an the whole, free-

404 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

dom was broadening from precedent to precedent. It was
the age during which the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 had
t-aifAn .place in the continent of Europe. In England it was
marirpH by a series of long needed reforms. Constitutionally
there were the Parliamentary Reform Acts of 1832, 1867,
and 1884, by which the political franchise was extended
down to the urban and rural workers. In other directions
it brought religious toleration (Catholic Emancipation Act),
Poor Laws for the relief of the distressed, education for
the masapa , criminal law reform, factory legislation, Public
Health Acts, attempts to conciliate Ireland (Home Rule
Bills), the abolition of slavery, the extinction of the East
I ndia Company with its sequel of political and social reform
in India, the development of the Press, local self-govern¬
ment, and Self-Government for the Dominions.

RngianH has been to the Modem World what Athens was
to the Ancient. Ideas, movements, and happenings in that
Island sooner or later reflected themselves in the rest of
the world. England achieved parliamentary Democracy and
all other countries have been striving ever since to emulate
her example. England started the Industrial Revolution
and the whole world is still being transformed to her pattern.
England grew Imperialist and turned to Federalism for find¬
ing liberty in union, and nations are still trying to walk
in her footsteps. Just as Rome and Christianity gave unity
to Christian Europe during the Middle Ages, so England
and Science have imparted unity to Western Civilisation in
later times. Hence the very large claim of England on our
attention in dealing with the Expansion of Europe. Fuller
and deeper implications of this theme will be brought out
in the succeeding chapters.

>vn thus nnm

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

If the nineteenth century was the opportunity
of the West, the twentieth is for the East. Con¬
centrated in its eastern and southern fringe, Asia
holds well over half the inhabitants of the globe;
and this vast population is astir— E. B. Mitford

Like Germany, France, and England in Europe, India,
C hina, and Japan hold the destiny of Asia in their hands.
Apart from their contributions to civilisation in the ancient
times, these countries have influenced human history in
every succeeding age Their importance has increased in¬
stead of diminishing in the modem world. During the
period of great activity on the part of Europe, Asia appeared
to be comparatively sluggish if not altogether dormant. But
there is always a ‘ tide in the affairs of men and Europe
took it at the flood particularly since the Renaissance.
Europe then awoke from the long slumbers of the Dark
Ages and entered upon a great creative epoch. She dis¬
covered new continents, both geographical and intellectual.
In her age of expansion she inundated the whole world.
We have watched her activities in Europe, Africa, and
America. We must now turn to Asia.

The first Asiatic country to come under European con¬
trol was India. We have already spoken of the fall of
the Mughal Empire, and alluded to the rivalries between
the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English

406 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the East. That is a familiar tale. Its importance for
us lies in the consequences. The Seven Years’ War de¬
finitely marked the ascendancy of England. Though Eng¬
land lost the American colonies (U. S. A.) after this, she
was more than compensated for that loss by her acquisi¬
tion of India. The work begun at Arcot, Plassey, and
Buxar in the days of Clive in the eighteenth century was com¬
pleted in the nineteenth by Wellesley and Dalhousie. The final
overthrow of the Marathas (1818) who had succeeded to
the sovereignty of the Mughals was not less significant
than the overthrow of Napoleon (1815) only three years
earlier : both marked a new era—one in India and the
other in Europe. The pretensions of the Peshwa and the
Mughal Emperor were simultaneously extinguished in the
Great Rising of 1857. It is also not to be forgotten that
the 1 Honourable John Company Bahadoor ’ too was extin¬
guished in that conflagration which illumined the birth of a
New India.

Here we must not lose sight of happenings in England
and Europe at the same time. It was an epoch of reforms
and revolutions, economic, political, and social. Both
Nationalism' and Democracy (the two great moulding forces
of nineteenth century Europe) derived a new impulse and
significance from the Industrial Revolution. The economic
changes in agriculture, industry, and commerce—confirmed
and extended the scope of democracy as well as nationalism.
Out of these complex dements was bom British Imperialism
whose testing crucible has been India. India fed the Indus¬
trial Revolution, supplied it raw materials, and provided
a vast market for its finished articles, including high employ¬
ment for the growing population of England. Hence India
became indispensable to England, to secure hold over whom
she has had to set her policies. Truly in the words of

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

407

_ord Curzon : “ India is the pivot of our British Empire.

[f this Empire loses any other part of its Dominions, we
-an survive. But if we lose India, the sun of our Empire
will have set.”

But, if Imperialism invaded India, neither could the wave
of Liberalism be dammed within the countries of its origin.
Steamships, railways, and telegraphs were not calculated
to keep the world divided into oases and deserts. British
Liberalism was bound to leaven the conquests of British
Conservatism. This was the significance of the simultaneous
extinction in India of Indian feudalism and the English
East India Company’s rule. The. anomaly of His Majesty’s
subjects holding sovereign rights (though it be over coloured
peoples) was an anachronism that could not be sustained
in the nineteenth century. So the Regulating Act (1763)
fulmina ted in Her Majesty’s Proclamation; the Reforms
of 1833 were to end in the demand for Swaraj. If Eng¬
land fed on India, die could not also prevent India from
fp«Hing on Burke, Bright, and Mazzini. England, while
she deliberately destroyed the Old Order in India, also in¬
evitably paved the way of the Indian Renaissance.

We can touch here only on a few phases of the Indian
Awakening in the nineteenth century. It was significant that
the year of the Great Rising also witnessed the foundation
of the three modem Universities of Bombay, Madras, and
Calcutta. But it would be a mistake to suppose that the
Indian Re naissan ce has been the product of Western educa¬
tion alone. It has been the resultant of several forces act¬
ing at the same time. The Rising of 1857 was more a social
revolt than a mere mutiny of the army or even a political
rebellion. Its suppression was necessary not only for the
security of British rule, but also for the creation of a
New India. It was an event as epoch-making for India

408 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and Asia as the fall of the Bastille was for France and
Europe. The Rousseau of the Indian Revolution was Raja
Ram Mohan Roy (1774-1833), the founder of the Brahmo
Samaj. He was followed by an army of great reformers
like Devendra Nath Tagore (Rabindranath’s father) and
Keshab Chandra Sen in Bengal, and Swami Dayananda
Saraswati (1824-83), the founder of the Arya Samaj in the
Punjab, and Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1900), the
founder of the Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra. Much use¬
ful work in the national uplift was also done by Swami
Vivekananda, the apostle of a reformed faith, who carried
the message of Awakened India to Europe and America
(1895-97). Similar work was done by Sir Saiyyad Ahmad
Khan (1817-98) to put new life into the paralysed Muslim
community. He founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental
College (1875) which later developed into the Aligarh
Muslim University.

Meariwhile the economic exploitation of the country by
our foreign rulers was bearing disastrous fruit. Under the
East India Company’s rule the ancient textile industry of
India had been ruthlessly suppressed, so much so, that an
English Governor-General reported in 1834 that “ the bones
of the cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of India.”
Towards the dose of the century, in 1878, Florence Night¬
ingale wrote : “ The saddest sight to be seen in the East—nay
probably in the world—is the peasant of our Eastern
Empire.” The terrible famines of 1876-77 and 1896-99
were symptoms of the country’s economic anaemia. The
Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was intended to suppress the
growing agitation and discontent. Though the benevolent
Lord Ripon tried to padfy the people by the repeal of
that odious Act (1881) and the grant of Local Sdf-govem-
ment (1884), he raised the squall of the Ilbert Bill agitation

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

409

on the part of the European community, when he touched the
crucial problem of ‘ justice without colour prejudice “ The
passionate claim of the European to predominance was to
be answered by the passionate claim of the Indian to equal¬
ity.” Under such auspices was bom the Indian National
Congress in 1885, the one organ that in course of time was
to be the champion of Renaissant India—the instrument of
the Indian resorgimento . Its aims were enunciated as
follows :—

“ The objects of the Indian National Congress are the attain¬
ment by the people of India of a system of government similar
to that enjoyed by the self-governing members of the British
Empire, and a participation by them in the rights and res¬
ponsibilities of the Empire on equal terms with those members.
These objects are to be achieved by constitutional means by
bringing about a steady reform of the existing system of adminis¬
tration, and by promoting national unity, fostering public spirit,
and developing and organising the intellectual, moral, economic
and industrial resources of the country.”

Further development of the situation in India will be dealt
with in the next chapter. Here we must take note of happen¬
ings in the ‘Far East\ i.e. China and Japan. The pro¬
blems raised by these two countries—no less than those
raised by India—still await solution. Indeed, in the past
it looked as if, whatever might happen in the West, the
East would remain unalterably fixed and unchanging; but
now it appears that, whatever the West may do to pre¬
vent or postpone, nothing will remain unchanged in India,
China, and Japan. Gulliver has awakened from his sleep
and Lilliput must be upset!

We last mentioned China in connexion with Kublai Khan
and Marco Polo in the thirteenth oentury. Only two more
dynasties (Ming, 1368-1644; and Ching or Manchu, 1644-
1912) followed that founded by Kublai Khan, and armies

410 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

oi European adventurers (missionary, mercantile, and mili¬
tary came in the wake of Marco Polo. It was all along
the story of the Cross followed by a pair of scales enforced
by the booming guns. The result was the outcome of the
entire historical process in China as well as of the Chinese
character. As Bertrand Russell has remarked : “ China

ma y be regarded as an artist nation, with the virtues and
vices to be expected of the artist : virtues chiefly useful
to others, and vices chiefly harmful to oneself.” 1 Culture
has been China’s greatest virtue and disunion her greatest
vice. The woes of the Chinese are the product of Western
Imperialism acting on a people with a rich inheritance,
vast resources, but lacking the security that a strong and
united government alone can give.

Under the Ming dynasty the Celestial Empire included
the major portion of Asia, excluding only India, Persia,
Afghanistan, Arabia, Asia-Minor, and Japan. The rest—in¬
cluding China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, Indo-China,
Burma and Tibet—was either directly ruled by the Ming
Emperors or subject to them as tributary states. At one time
even Nepal was compelled to pay tribute to China for inter¬
fering with Tibet across the snow-clad mountains. But such
vast territories were a source of weakness rather than strength.
The outlying parts were in a chronic state of revolt. The
Tuchuns or war-lords created a sort of feudal anarchy
which the occupants of the Dragon Throne were able to
control only occasionally. But despite the constant dis¬
turbances and the consequent misery of the people, Chinese
pre-occupations with Culture produced such works as the
Encyclopaedia compiled under the Ming Emperor Yung Lo
(Yoong Law, 1403-25), and the standard Dictionary of

1. The Problem of China, p. 10.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

411

the Chinese language prepared under the Manchu Emperoi
K’ang Hsi (Hhahng Shee, 1662-1723). The former work
comprised 11,000 volumes with a total of 917,4SG pages
and 366,000,000 words. The Dictionary contained 40,000
words accompanied in each case by appropriate quotations
from the works of every age and of every style, chronologi¬
cally arranged. K'ang Hsi also produced another encyclo¬
paedia in 1628 volumes of 200 pages each, whose biographical
section alone contained 24,000 lives of eminent women!

The greatest ruler of the Ming dynasty was Hsiao Tsung
(1488-1506). Under him peace and prosperity reigned in
the land. After him began the European race for China.
In 1517 two envoys arrived at Nanking, carrying letters
from the King of Portugal. Two more came in 1520, but they
were all driven away unceremoniously by the Chinese. Eight
hundred Portuguese were massacred at Ningpo, a little later,
while attempting to land forcibly. However, they succeeded
in securing a foothold at Macao in 1550. The first Christian
station was founded in Canton in 1579. Matteo Ricci, an
enterprising Jesuit missionary, reached Peking in 1601. By
his knowledge of Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography, and
other sciences, he ingratiated himself into the favour of
the Emperor and obtained permission for missionaries to
settle in important centres.

The English arrived in Canton in 1637, but they had to
sail away without achieving anything. Their first official
embassy, however, did not reach the Celestial Emperor until
1792, when the Earl of Macartney came with a request
from George III. He too was put off by the Chinese
Emperor who roundly declared : “ I have no use for your
country’s manufactures...! do not forget the lonely re¬
moteness of your island, cut off from the world by interven¬
ing wastes of sea, nor do I overlook your excusable ignorance

412 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

of the usages of our Celestial Empire.” The Opium Wars
(1839-42) were the English reply to this. The English had
already long secured a share in the profitable trade with
China. Since 1669 their settlement in Canton had been
the most flourishing among the European establishments
there. By 1833 the East India Company’s monopoly in
the opium trade with China had become the envy of even
their own countrymen at home. In 1839 the Imperial Com¬
missioner, Lin, failing to prevent the foreigners from import¬
ing opium into the country (against Imperial orders), forc¬
ibly seized large quantities of the drug from Canton and
destroyed the same. The English retaliated by waging war
against the Chinese who were too weak to resist successfully.
After sustaining great losses they submitted to the Treaty
of Nanking (1842). By this the English acquired Hong-
Kong, the right of residence and trade in Canton, Shanghai
and three other ports, in addition to an indemnity of
21,000,000 dollars. This was the real b egin ning of the
European scramble in China and the consequent “open¬
ing” of that helpless country, which is still a prey to the
predatory incursions of powerful and aggressive nations, in¬
cluding her own neighbour and pupil Japan.

After the Opium Wars events moved rapidly. The English
example encouraged other Europeans and America. An in¬
ternal rising, known as the T’ai-p’ing (Long-haired) Rebel¬
lion (1861-64), under the Christian leader Hung Hsiu- ch’uan
(an educated convert), afforded a golden opportunity. The
capture of a few Chinese suspects from a ship at Canton
flying the British flag, by Commissioner Yeh, was interpreted
as an infringement of the Nanking Treaty. War with Ching
was resumed, and further “ concessions ” were It

was in the course of these hostilities that the English and
French acting jointly committed one of the most atrocious

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

413

crimes in History—viz. the destruction of the Yuen-Ming-
Yuen or the Imperial Summer Palace in Peking (1866).
Its “ artistic value, on account of the treasures it contained,”
writes Bertrand Russell, “must have been about equal to
that of Saint Mark’s in Venice and much greater than that
of Rheims Cathedral. This act did much to persuade the
Chinese of the superiority of our civilization, so they opened
seven more ports and the river Yangtse, paid an indemnity
and granted us more territory at Hong-Kong.” 1 In 1870
the murder of a British diplomat by the exasperated Chinese
brought more indemnity, more ports, and a fixed tariff for
opium. Then the French occupied Annam and Tongking,
and the British took Burma, but of course not without excuse
in each case.

Japan, whose awakening we shall deal with presently, also
followed too gladly the example of the Europeans. Already
she had adopted their methods and begun her bullying and
blustering career of imperialistic expansion. Even as early
as 1592 she had overrun Korea and killed 38,700 Chinese
and Koreans in one battle. On that occasion the Japanese
general, Hideyoshi, commemorated his success by cutting
off the ears of the fallen and erecting the “Ear Mound”
in Tokyo. Now, in 1894, she again invaded Korea,
occupied the Liao-tung peninsula (Port Arthur), and com¬
pelled China to cede to her the islands of Formosa and
Pescadores. But European jealousy prevented Japan from
enjoying the full fruits of her victory. Korea was nominally
declared independent, and Japan was obliged to withdraw
from Port Arthur, though compensated with further indemn¬
ity. Russia, Germany, and France were also rewarded for
their uncalled for interference. Russia was allowed to build

1, The Problem of China , p. 52.

414 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

a railway to Vladivostok and Port Arthur, through Manchu¬
ria : France to do the same on the Tongking frontier ; and
Germany obtained railway and mining rights in Shantung.
This was the beginning of another spate of greedy scramble
on the part of all the imperialistic vultures.

The murder of two German missionaries in Shantung in
1897 provided the much looked for casus belli. The Ger¬
mans seized Kiaochow Bay and created a naval base there.
The British thereupon, to hold the balance, leased Wei-hai-
wei and established a “ defensive circuit ” around Hong-Kong;
France did the same with Kuang-chow Bay and the southern
borders of Yunnan ; and Russia in Port Arthur and Talien-
wan. This last caused Japan such great annoyance that
it led to one of the most epoch-making events in History,
viz. the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 (which will be dealt
with later). For the present she obtained Fukien.

These happenings were not without great repercussions on
China. They brought the Chinese Dragon to bay in the
famous “Boxer Revolt.” It was the Chinese replica of
the great Indian Rising of 1857. ‘ In 1899 the Boxers, or
“Fists for Justice and Peace,” arose in Shantung. Begun
as an anti-dynastic movement, it was astutely turned into
an anti-foreign attack. Spreading over the north-east, it
was taken up by the court party and the dowager; many
foreigners, mostly missionaries, were killed or officially execut¬
ed, thousands of Chinese Christians were murdered, the
foreign legations were destroyed, all save the British Lega¬
tion, which was besieged by the Chinese and relieved by the
allied forces on August 14, 1900.’ 1 The results of this will
be assessed in the next chapter.

The awakening of Japan is unique and unparalleled in

1. Soothill, A History of China , pp. 65-6.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

415

human history. Such all round transformation as we find
in modern Japan has, no doubt, been accomplished by many
another country, but only after a long process of natural
evolution as in England, or by violent revolution as in
Soviet Russia. In the ancient world, Greece displayed a
sudden and surprising gush of energy, after the overthrow
of Persia, and created a wonderful culture ; but Greece could
never be united. The feeble imperialism of Athens proved
abortive in the face of the irrepressible centrifugalism of the
Greeks. The Napoleon of Greece (Alexander) was a foreign¬
er, and his work was even less effective than that of the
Little Corsican. But we have in modem Japan, the rare com¬
bination of the creative energy of the ancient Greeks, the
revolutionary fervour of the modem Russian, and the in¬
dustrial and technical efficiency of the English. And all
these characteristics have come to the forefront within less
than a century. Indeed, the menace of Japan to-day far
from blinding us in respect of these qualities, only sets
them off in a lurid light. In the Awakening of the East,
the rise of Japan, though chronologically the last, has been
the most significant and portentous. Since the seeds of
the present are imbedded in the past, we must trace the
history of Japan from where we left it in an earlier chapter.

A recent writer has -divided Japanese history into three
periods: (i) classical Buddhist Japan (1522-1603) ‘sudden¬
ly civilized by China and Korea, refined and softened by
religion, and creating the historic masterpieces of Japanese
literature and art;’ (ii) feudal Japan of the Tokugawa

Shogunate (1603-1868), ‘peaceful -- isolated and self-

contained, seeking no alien territory and no external trade,
content with agriculture and wedded to art and philosophy ;
(iii) modem Japan (since 1853 or 1868), ‘seeking foreign
materials and markets, fighting wars of irrepressible expan-

416

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

sion, imitating the imperialistic ardour and methods of the
West, and threatening both the ascendancy of the white
race and the peace of the world.’ 1 We need refer hoe
principally to the second of these periods. The greatest
figure belonging to the earlier age was Hideyoshi (d. 1598).

Japan had long remained independent and aloof. Neither
Kublai Khan nor Marco Polo could reach her. Hideyoshi,
whose adventure in Korea in 1592 has beer alluded to be¬
fore, was the Clive of medieval Japan. Given up by his
family as an intractable child, he grew up to be the most
portentous of the samurai or swordsmen. Though his adven¬
ture in Korea proved abortive, Hideyoshi had the lore-
sight of a Sir Josiah Child (who in 1685 dreamed of ‘the
foundation of a large, well-grounded, sure English domi¬
nion in India for all time to come’) : “ With Korean troops,”
he assured his Emperor, “aided by your illustrious in¬
fluence, I intend to bring the whole of China under my
sway. When that is effected, the three countries (Korea,
China, and Japan) will be one. I shall do it as easily as
a man rolls up a piece of matting and carries it away ntvi» r
his arm.”

The next important man to influence the destiny of Japan,
after Hideyoshi, was Iyeyasu (1603-16). He was a.Shogun
or military General, and exercised more power than the
Mikado or Emperor himself. The Shoguns for a long time
were almost invariably members of the Minamoto family;
From the clan to which they belonged, their regime was
called the Tokugmoa Shogunate. According to t
Hearn, “ the Tokugawa period was the happiest in the long
life of the nation.” Professor Will Durant writes : “ Iye¬
yasu organised peace as ably and ruthlessly as he had or-
---

1. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, II, p. 829.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

417

ganized war, and administered Japan so well that it was
content to be ruled by his posterity and his principles for
eight generations.” 1 The principles of Iyeyasu were sum¬
med up by himself thus : * Take care of the people. Strive
to be virtuous. Never neglect to protect the country/

Internally Japan suffered from the evils of feudalism, but
externally she appears to have been always united in her
attitude towards foreigners. The patriotism of the Japanese
is unique and ancient; it has been almost their true national
religion. ‘The Great Yamato (i.e. Japan)/ wrote one in
1334, ‘ is a divine country. It is only our land whose founda¬
tions were first laid by the Divine Ancestor. It alone has
been transmitted! by the Sun Goddess to a long line of her
descendants. There is nothing of this kind in foreign coun¬
tries. Therefore it is called the Divine Land/ This has
been the faith of the Japanese people ever since. As a
corollary to it they have ever looked upon all foreigners
with suspicion if not hatred. Particularly has this been their
attitude towards the white races—the Europeans.

The first European of note to enter Japan was St. Francis
Xavier, the great and noble Jesuit missionary who intro¬
duced Christianity in that island in 1549. It is said that
within a generation after his coming there were not less
than seventy Jesuits and 150,000 converts to Christianity
in Japan. But soon the Japanese realised that the advent
of the foreigners was a source of great danger, especially after
a naive European trader told them : ‘ Our Kings begin by
sending, into the countries they wish to conquer, religieux
who induce the people to embrace our religion; and when
they have made considerable progress, troops are sent who
combine with the new Christians ; and then our Kings have

-- ——4 -

1, Ibid., p. 841,

418 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

not much trouble in accomplishing the rest/ The Japanese
took this confession literally and promptly adopted measures
to prevent their land passing into the hands of such dangerous
foreigners.

In 1614 the practice and preaching of Christianity were
forbidden. By determined joersecution that religion was
stamped out from Japan by 1638. Since then, until the
re-opening of that country to external intercourse after 1853,
the doors of Japan remained closed to foreigners. During
this period of over two centuries Japan continued to be
steeped in feudal parochialism. She emerged out of this
isolation in 1853-54 when the American adventurer, Com¬
modore Perry, forced his way into Japan against the prohi¬
bition. This resulted in the Treaty of Kanagawa by which
Japanese ports were once again opened to intercourse with
the hated “ barbarians.” In return the United States offer¬
ed to sell to Japan ‘such arms and battleships as she might
need, and to land officers and craftsmen for the instruction
of this absurdly pacific nation in the arts of war.’

The consequence was the great awakening of Japan in
the Meiji Era (1867-1912) under its enlightened Emperor
Meiji Tenno. During this short period Japan transformed
herself from an obscure feudal country into one of the
most modem states. Hundreds of Japanese youths went
to Europe and America and returned home with the zeal of
Peter the Great for Europeanisation. ‘Englishmen were
brought in to superintend the construction of railways, the
erection of telegraphs, and the building of a navy; French¬
men were commissioned to recast the laws and train the
army ; Germans were assigned to the organization of medicine
and public health; Americans were engaged to establish a
system of universal education; and to make matters com¬
plete, Italians were imported to instruct the Japanese in

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

419

sculpture and painting.’ To quote a Japanese writer
(Nitobe) : ‘Schools were opened for the study of foreign
languages; academies shot up, where youths could receive
instruction in military and naval tactics; raw recruits were
drilled ; foundries and smithies sprang into existence, and
belfries were molested to furnish metal for arsenals.’ As
Mr. H. G. Weills has put it: Japan “ made all European
progress seem sluggish and tentative by comparison.” The
result was soon seen in her aggression in Korea and China
referred to already (1894), her alliance with England (1902),
and her epoch-making victory over Russia (1904-5). The
last was the outcome of the Russian occupation of Port
Arthur, from which Japan had been previously ousted. The
‘ Battle of the Sea of Japan,’ observes Professor Will Durant,
“ was a turning point in modem history. Not only did it end
the expansion of Russia into Chinese territory; it ended
also the rule of Europe in the East, and began that resurrec¬
tion of Asia which promises to be the central political pro¬
cess of our century. All Asia took heart at the sight oi
the little island empire defeating the most populous power
in Europe; China plotted her revolution, and India began
to dream of freedom.” 1

1. Ibid., p. 919.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE WORLD TO-DAY

If the world cannot organise against war,
if war must go on, then the nations can protect
themselves henceforth only by using whatever
destructive agencies they can invent till the re¬
sources and inventions of science end by
destroying humanity they were meant to serve.

—Viscount Grey

This observation was made by Viscount Grey on 15 May
1916 when the World was in the grip of the Great War.
Though more than twenty-two years have passed since then,
the situation in the World to-day has hardly changed for
the better. In the present chapter we shall make an ob¬
jective survey of the facts of recent human history which
have contributed to such a state of affairs. “When war
broke out in 1914,” wrote Mr. Basil Matthews in the Review
of Reviews, May 1920, “ five empires of the despotic mili¬
tary type remained on the earth's surface. They were the
German, the Austrian, the Turkish, the Russian, and the
Japanese. To-day four out of the five are smashed in
irretrievable ruin, Japan alone remains. The old European
order has gone—the one Asiatic Power, rich now beyond
the dream of avarice, with its man-power unimpaired and
its ambitions vaster than those of Alexander, leaps upon
the stage fully equipped. On the face of it, then, the first
and dominant facts of the world situation are in favour

THE .WORLD TO-DAY

421

of the Orient.” But since the Orient to-day, as we saw in
the preceding chapter, has been the creation of the Oca-
dent, we have to trace here the entire^lfcgd of World History
in both the hemispheres. ^

Of the five Empires referred to above—Germany, Austria,
Russia, Turkey, and Japan—the most formidable were Ger¬
many in Europe, and Japan in Asia. Though Austria was
the oldest imperial power in Europe, her power had been
successively curtailed since her loss of Silesia. Russia had
steadily grown at her expense. Italy successfully revolted
against her in 1861: Austria retired from Germany*" and
formed the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy^ 1867. She
never recovered from the blow of Sadowa. Ever since then
she has always been tied to the apron-strings of Prussia.
Her Dual Alliance with that country, effected in 1879, was
to culminate in her sacrifices sustained during 1914-18, and
finally in the Nazi coup of 1938. The Russian Empire
crashed in 1917 after having sustained a series of internal
and external shocks. The “sick man of Europe,” despite
the crutches supplied to him, from time to time by England
and France, had been too frequently amputated to survive
for long. He could live only in his new republican avatar
under the Ata Turk, Kemal Pasha, in the post-war world.
More about Austria, Russia, and Turkey later; first we
must follow the progress of Prussia since 1871.

Despite Bismarck’s great triumphs over Austria and
France, Germany was far from being a “satisfied nation.”
She had been the last in the race for colonies, and such
places as she got ‘ in the sun ’ (her African colonies) were
too scorching for her surplus population. Elsewhere she
found herself anticipated by her Anglo-Saxon cousins. Tne
Industrial Revolution created for Prussia all the insistent
demands—for raw-materials and markets—that England had

422 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

felt earlier; but her scope for expansion was circumscribed.
Hence her struggle for existence became increasingly des¬
perate. Hence her philosophers like Nietzsche began to in¬
culcate the doctrine of “ real politik ” ; and the patriotic
aspirations of a united Germany turned from love of coun¬
try to the love of more country. Her new “ kultur ” tried
to find expression in diplomacy and war.

France was not likely to reconcile herself to her loss of
Alsace-Lorraine, the humiliation of Sedan, the German occu¬
pation of Paris, and the terms of the Treaty of Frankfort
(1871). Bismarck knew that France would continue to be
Prussia’s deadliest enemy. So he began to weave a sinister
web of diplomacy, every line of which was calculated to
keep France isolated and weak. ‘ To obviate a rapproche¬
ment between France and Russia—a thing which above all
others he dreaded—he encouraged France to establish a re¬
publican rather than a monarchical form of government.
To alienate France from Italy he supported the French
annexation of Tunis. To embroil France with Britain he
favoured the British occupation of Egypt. To prevent
Austria being drawn into an anti-Prussian fellowship with
France he cultivated her friendship himself, and found means
to bind the Central Empires together in the bonds of a close
alliance. Throughout the whole of the remainder of Bis¬
marck’s career as a statesman (1871-90) France was kept
solitary and impotent.’ 1

Bismarck’s mantle of leadership was soon assumed by
Kaiser Wilhelm II who came to the throne in 1888. “ Im¬
pulsive, imperious, dramatic, a militarist from his cradle,
a statesman trained in 1 the indirect, crooked ways’ of Bis-

.1. Heamshaw, Main Currents of European History (1815-
1915), p. 272.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

423

marck, governed by one passion, the passion to make his
land great and powerful, how can we cast his horoscope ? ”
asks Mr. A. G. Gardiner ; and he answers: “ Here was a new
Napoleon, filled with dreams of glory, armed with the most
gigantic military weapon in history.” His ambition was
ominously announced by him in his first address to his
army : “ I solemnly vow always,” he declared, “ to be mind¬
ful of the fact that the eyes of my ancestors are looking
down upon me from the other world, and that one day
I shall have to render to them an account both of the glory
and the honour of the army.” The Great War of 1914-18
was the fulfilment of this ‘solemn vow.’

Bismarck had already in the year of Wilhelm’s accession
(1888) increased the German army by 800,000 ‘in shining
armour.’ The new Kaiser therefore set himself to the task
of creating a great German navy; for without it his ambi¬
tion of the Teutonic domination of the world (in commerce
and colonisation) could not be achieved. So Heligoland was
purchased from England herself in 1890, to form a splendid
naval base for Germany ; the excellent Kiel Canal was con¬
structed ; and strong naval stations were also built at Bor-
kum, Cuxhaven, and Wilhelmshaven. A series of Naval
Bills were passed to carry out the Kaiser’s naval programme.
In 1900, at the Paris Exhibition, the Germans openly pro¬
claimed to the world in gold letters “ Our future lies on
the water ”

The ‘ peaceful penetration ’ of the world by German mis¬
sionaries and merchants in the meanwhile had proceeded
apace. For instance, while there were not more than 16,000
Germans in all their colonies at the accession of Wilhelm II,
in Brazil alone there were not less than 350,000 Germans
on the eve of the Great War. “ At home science was put
in commission to do its best—or worst... All their know-

424 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

ledge, their thoroughness, their powers of organisation—fox
in this also they have been unsurpassed—were turned to the
production of zeppelins, submarines, krupp guns, mines,
torpedoes, poison-gases, and other devices” 1 Railways were
constructed with broad sidings for troops and cannons; and
a bargain was struck with Turkey for the extension of the
German railway-system to Bagdad—for penetrating into the
Orient. While all other European Powers looked down upon
the Sultan as “ Abdul the damned,” the Kaiser assiduously
cultivated his friendship. Austria seized Bosnia and Her¬
zegovina in 1908, though it was against the terms of the
Treaty of Berlin (1878) ; and Germany, not merely con¬
nived at it, but prevented Russia from interfering on behalf
of the Slavs, by a timely and successful display of her
‘shining armour.’ She herself twice poked her nose (or
rather Eagle’s beak) into French Morocco, in 1905 and 1911,
to test her own strength and also that of her prospective
enemies. But these adventures only served to bring about
the dreaded coalition of the Triple Entente between England,
France, and Russia, which Bismarck had tried so much to
prevent. The train thus prepared was set ablaze in 1914
when the Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated
by the Serbians in the Bosnian capital Serajevo.

The history of the War may be very briefly told. It
lasted from August 1914 to November 1918. Starting with
Austria’s declaration of war on Serbia for the Serajevo mur¬
ders, it gradually involved all the important Powers of the
World. The tangle of alliances previously described dragged
one country after another into the cock-pit. Germany en¬
tered the lists on account of Austria, and Russia on behalf
of Serbia. The Franco-Russian alliance drew France into

1. Russell, The Tradition of the Roman Empire , p. 237.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

425

the field against the Central Powers (Germany and Austria),
and the German attempt to enter France through Belgium
(violating the treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality as a
mere * scrap of paper’) brought Great Britain and her Em¬
pire into the fray. Bulgaria and Turkey were soon en¬
tangled with Germany and Austria, while Italy, Greece, and
the Arabs joined the Allies (England and France) (me after
another. But the most decisive factor which tilted the balance
and fortunes of war against the Germans and their allies
was the entry of the United States of America in 1917. In
the Far East, Japan threw in her weight on the side of
England as a result of the Anglo-Japanese alliance formed
in 1902.

Though in the course of human history longer wars (like
the Hundred Years’ War) had been fought, this Great War
was unparalleled in its disastrous consequences. Not merely
was it the first war in which the whole World was directly
or indirectly involved, but it was also unique in its concen¬
tration of energies for the destruction of men and materials.
It was the first war in human history to be fought in three
dimensions, on account of the addition of the aerial arm
and the submarine Science revealed for the first time its
baleful potentialities. During those four years of arma-
geddon Humanity appeared to strain every nerve to see
through the struggle once and for all. The following sketch
of one of its trying moments might convey to the reader a
faint glimpse of its grim character :

“In the low-lying plain of Flanders, where the British held
Ypres salient against many German attempts to drive through
to the channel ports, the warfare was partly amphibious since
the trenches filled with water in the wet winter weather. At
times, by day, there was hardly a sign of life above the ground,
behind the barbed wire which protected the two lines of hostile
trenches, with a No Man’s Land of varying width between. Even

426

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

the many rats kept their holes. At night, however, these muddy
trenches became alive with armed figures in steel helmets, with
gas-masks and mud-coloured uniforms. Back from the front line
stretched the communication trenches, the support lines, the bat¬
teries of artillery, the miles of horse lines, the dressing stations
for the wounded, the ‘ dumps ’ of ammunition and supplies of
every kind, the aerodromes, the camps of relieving or attacking
troops. This for most men of the Western Front, was ‘the
war', which stretched on interminably for weeks, months, and
years, broken by raids and attacks from either side, but unchanged
in essence until shortly it came to an end. It was truly described
as ‘ a war of attrition .’ 1,1

The civil populations of the belligerent countries played .
as important and strenuous a part in this war as the com¬
batants themselves. Their mobilisation was as vast and in¬
tensive as that of the soldiers recruited into the army. As
Mr. H. G. Wells has said : “ The armies were millions strong,
and behind them entire populations were organised for the
supply of food and munitions to the front. There was a
cessation of nearly every sort of productive activity except
such as contributed to military operations. All the able-
bodied manhood of Europe (as also of other countries in¬
volved) was drawn into the armies or navies or into the
improvised factories that served them. There was an enor¬
mous replacement of men by women in industry. Proba¬
bly more than half the people in the belligerent countries
of Europe changed their employment altogether during this
stupendous struggle. They were socially uprooted and trans¬
planted. Education and normal scientific work was restrict¬
ed or diverted to immediate military ends, and the dis¬
tribution of news was crippled and corrupted by military
control and ‘ propaganda ’ activities.” The physical, men¬
tal, moral, and economic strain of this Great War was, in-

1. Flenley and Weech, World History , p. 689.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

427

deed, enormous beyond calculation. After twenty years now
the World has not yet fully recovered from its effects.
Germany and Russia suffered most, and in both the coun¬
tries there were revolutions—first in Russia, then in Ger¬
many. These will be dealt with later.

The War was officially brought to a dose on 11 Novem¬
ber 1918 by the proclamation of Armistice. Its technical
sequel was the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919,
in the Hall of Mirrors—just where the Germans had cele¬
brated their triumph in 1871. The innocent Mirrors of
Versailles therefore now reflected the inverted image of the
Europe of 1871. Versailles was the reverse of which Frank¬
fort was the obverse. But the French revanche was even
more terrible and exacting than the Teutonic triumph of the
previous century. France had been crippled by Bismarck
but not paralysed. The Allies in 1919 sought to lay Ger¬
many under such a heavy load of “reparations” that she
should never recover from its agonies. Besides territorial
losses, they were asked to pay the modest indemnity of
£8,000,000,000 as compensation for damage done, induding
pensions for the crippled and maintenance for the bereaved !
“The atmosphere of hate was terrible,” declared an eye¬
witness at the Peace Conference : “ A great moment , but I
fear a peace without victory , just as we had a victory with¬
out peace'' 1

Over a thousand delegates, representing more than thirty
countries, attended ‘ this greatest conference in history; only
the Germans, Austrians, Bulgars, and Turks were excluded.
The terms were 4 discussed ’ with them through circulation
of papers, and their plenipotentiaries were called in only to

1. Grant and Temperley, Europe in the XIX & XX Centuries ,
pp. 549-50.

428 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

sign the fait accompli. The deliberations were throughout
dominated by the Big Four : Clemenceau ‘ the tiger ’ of
France, Lloyd George ‘the Shylock ’ of England, Wilson ‘the
Moses’ of America, and Orlando ‘the obscure’ of Italy.
T pdia was ‘ represented ’ by H. H. the Maharaja of Bikaner
‘looking magnificent in a pale khaki turban.’ What they
a rmmplishftd was little better than the achievements of the
pe nall y historic (or equally mischievous) Congress of Vienna
(1815). They re-drew the map of the world and unsettled
its peace. “ We are beginning to realise ”, says Mr. Wells,

“ that that conflict, terrible and enormous as it was, ended
nothing, began nothing, and settled nothing. It killed
millions of people; it wasted and impoverished the world...
The Great War lifted the threat of German imperialism from
Europe, and shattered the imperialism of Russia. It clear¬
ed away a number of monarchies. But a multitude of flags
still waves in Europe, the frontiers still exasperate, great
armies accumulate fresh stores of equipment.” 1

The work of Versailles was a mixture of realism and
id ealism. The former was represented by Clemenceau and
Lloyd George, and the latter by President Wilson of America.
The redrawing of the map of the world and reparations were
due to the former, and the constitution of a League of
Nations was the achievement of the latter. To under¬
stand the World To-day it is necessary to say something
about both.

The redistribution of territories was partly determined by
the promises held out by England and France to their
allies, and partly by the principle of nationality. First came
the share of the major Powers. England and France shared
between than the German colonies in Africa though only as

1. A Short History of the World, p. 244.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

429

‘ mandatories \ France also received Alsace-Lorraine. The
Saar valley was to be administered under a 4 mandate’ of
the League of Nations; it reverted to Germany by a ple¬
biscite of its people in 1935. On the East, Poland (which
had been partitioned between Prussia, Russia, and Austria
during the eighteenth century) was reconstituted as an in¬
dependent state; and a Polish Corridor was created up to
Danzig on the Baltic, which port was handed over to the
League of Nations. Another new state was created in Bohe¬
mia, re-christened Czecko-Slovakia, under its famous leader
Mazaryk as first President. Austria and Hungary, consi¬
derably reduced in size, became two independent republics;
parts of their territories being shared by Italy in the South
and the new Balkan States in the East. Serbia and Mon¬
tenegro combined to form Jugoslavia, and Roumania was
enlarged with the addition of Transylvania. Bulgaria lost
her hold on the Aegean and became one of the smallest ot
Balkan States. By agreement between Russia and Ger¬
many, Finland, Esthonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—in the Bal¬
tic region—were also constituted independent states. Turkey
lost much of her remaining territories in Europe as well as
Asia, and the Aegean islands. Though Constantinople was
left to her, the Straits were demilitarised and interna¬
tionalised. 4 A dozen independent nations now stretched from
the eastern Baltic to the Aegean, a veritable mosaic of
states from the empires of Germany, Russia, Austria, and
Turkey.*

The Allies had pompously proclaimed during the War that
they were waging * a war to end war and war to vindi¬
cate the principle of self-determination. The League of
Nations, with its head-quarters at Geneva, was therefore
constituted to maintain these ideals. The principle of nation¬
ality was largely given effect to in the reconstitution of states

430 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in Europe; and where other minorities existed, protection
of such minorities was guaranteed to them under the aegis
of the League. All disputes were to be settled, not by bar¬
barous warfare as heretofore, but by peaceful arbitration.
An International Court had been already set up at the
Hague, as early as 1899 ; it was now rehabilitated as the
Permanent Court of International Justice. Another important
tody that was also created was the International Labour
Organisation (I. L. O.). It has done much useful work to
improve the conditions of labour all over the World. We
cannot dwell at length upon these matters here. Though the
League of Nations has suffered from the defects of its orga¬
nisation, its recent failures in the political field, its non¬
recognition from its very inception by the U. S. A., its
defiance by Germany, Japan, and Italy, in the pursuit of
their selfish national ambitions, etc., it is too premature in
the light of World History to write its epitaph.

Before we conclude this chapter we must, at least briefly,
describe the main trends and new strands in the World since
the War. In their concrete aspects these relate to Russia,
Turkey, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, and India. Other
factors and forces may be only incidentally referred to in
a brief survey like this.

Russia had grown steadily in importance ever since the
time of Peter the Great and Catherine. Alexander I had
played a very prominent r61e, in the post-Napoleonic epoch,
and with all his faults had been the inspirer of the Holy
Alliance to uphold ‘Christian principles’ in the political
relations of European states. He was thus the fore-runner
of the Concert of Europe and the League of Nations. The
Balkan policy of the Czars had created the Eastern Question
which brought Russia into direct political conflict with the
Western Powers. Balked by the Crimean War and the

THE WORLD TO-DAY

431

Treaty of Berlin they had turned to 4 fresh fields and pas¬
tures new ’, across the tundras of Siberia, in the Far East.
There too they came into conflict, as we have seen, with
‘ the England of the East/ The defeat of the Russian Armada
in the Sea of Japan in 1905 drove the Russian bear growl¬
ing into her own den. This had its own internal repercus
sions in the shape of portentous risings which were to culmi¬
nate in the Red Revolution of 1917-18.

Russia had to pay a very heavy price for her participa¬
tion in the Great War. She had, it will be remembered,
taken up the sword on behalf of Serbia in 1914. In spite
of her earlier victories against Germany and Austria, the
War entailed such sufferings and strain at home that, her
domestic malcontents created a revolution. The history of
the Bourbons now repeated itself with the Romanoffs,
Nicolas II and Alexandra playing the role of Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette. The ‘morning star’ of this Revo¬
lution was Carl Marx, as that of the French Revolution
had been Rousseau ; its Danton was Lenin, its Jacobins
the Bolsheviki. To cut a long story short, on 25 Octo¬
ber 1917 the Socialist Soviet Republic was proclaimed by
the Communists under the leadership of Nicolai Lenin. Petro-
grad has become Leningrad.

With the death of Lenin in 1924 Russian Communism
entered a new phase. A terrible duel ensued between Trotsky
the Jew and Stalin the Georgian for the Dictatorship over
the Proletariat (workers, soldiers, and peasants). After five
years* struggle the Jewish journalist was ousted by Stalin
(‘the man of steel*) in 1929. Trotsky, now an exile from
Russia, stands for a World Revolution; Stalin stands for
the preliminary consolidation of the Revolution within
Russia. While the idealist revolutionary is roaming abroad,
the practical revolutionary is transforming Russia (through

432 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

a series of Five-Year Plans), so as ‘ to catch up and surpass
the capitalist countries’ in industrial progress.

The sudden transformation of an Old World people, a
t ransf ormation even more radical and surprising than that
of the Japanese, as a result of the new forces released by
the Great War, is best illustrated by the birth of New
Turkey. Like Russia, old Turkey had collapsed during the
War. The price she had to pay for her defeat was the
Treaty of Sevr&s (1920) which threatened to virtually wipe
out ‘ the sick man’ ’ with only the ghost of the Sultan kept
alive. The challenge of this disaster was taken up by Mustafa
Kemal Pasha, leader of the Young Turk movement (which
had started before the War), who organised a National Pact
‘ to win or be wiped out ’, and, at the end of one of the
most sanguinar y yet heroic struggles recorded in human
history, created a New Turkey out of the ashes of the old.
The Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923) but gave international
validity to an established fact when it recognised the Tur¬
kish Republic with Kemal Pasha as its President.

Kemal had begun as a rebel on whose head the nominal
Sultan had placed a price; he has lived to become the
Dictator and abolished root and branch the entire old order
represented by the Sultan (who was also the Caliph). The
Caliphate was extinguished in March 1924 by the Turkish
National Assembly, and since then Turkey has completely
cut herself from her Oriental moorings. The substitution of
the hat for the fez, and the Roman script for the Arabic
are but outward marks of an inward change which the Ata
Turk has brought about under his Dictatorship. In short,
Turkey has been converted in the course of a decade, from
being an atrophied Asiatic people, into a progressive and
dynamic modem state.

The next momentous change in the post-War world has

THE WORLD TO-DAY

433

been manifested in the creation of the Fascist Dictatorship
in Italy. The Kemal of this new order has been Benito
Mussolini. It is beyond our scope to attempt anything more
than a bare summary of his work and policy. Exploiting
the acute discontent in Italy after the War, Signor Mussolini
—the son of a blacksmith, who had successively been a
school-master, journalist and socialist—led a successfui
march on Rome, in October 1922, and captured power for
his party which was called the Fascisti . II Duee, as Mus¬
solini is called in Italy, is the head of the Fascist Grand
Council which rules the country in the name of the King,
but really under the command of the Dictator. Mussolini
has revived in his country the ambitions and spirit of ancient
Rome and set the feet of his countrymen on the road to
imperial glory, though in doing so he has upset the peace
of the World. His conquest of Abyssinia (1935) and inter¬
ference in the Civil War being still waged in Spain indicate
the trend of his foreign policy. Internally he has achieved
enough unity, efficiency, and prosperity to hypnotise his
people into acquiescence with both his Dictatorship at home
and his chauvinism abroad.

Germany, the principal author and victim of the Great
War, could not also escape from its worst effects, political
as well as economic. In the welter of reactions that follow¬
ed, the Kaiser fled the country, and Deutschland became a
Republic. A democratic constitution was drawn up at Wei¬
mar in February 1919, and Ebert (a sadler) elected first
President. But the internal collapse of Germany was so
complete that under the external pressure of the ruthless re¬
parations she could not recover stability without a revolu¬
tion. The great economic depression of 1929 found her in
the nadir of her fall. Unemployment rose to fearful pro¬
portions. Out of the several competing solutions to this

434

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

crisis the National-Socialism of Herr Hitler (son of an
Austrian customs-collector) proved the most efficient. The
Nazi party in Germany, drawing its inspiration from the
Fascist party in Italy, launched another Dictatorship in Cen¬
tral Europe (1933) which with its Teutonic thoroughness has
startled the world even more violently than any other coup
in history. In the course of these five years it has wrenched
Germany out of the rut into which the victorious Allies had
cast her at Versailles; it has defiantly rescued the Germans
from the paralysis of enforced disarmament; it has created
enormous employment in industry, agriculture, and arma¬
ments ; it has reoccupied the forbidden districts of the Rhine¬
land, repudiated the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of
Versailles, absorbed Austria into the Reich by a most as¬
tounding stratagem, and threatened other neighbouring
states with German populations, like Czecko-Slovakia, with
a similar fate. Anti-French, anti-Communist, and above all
anti-Semitic, the Nazi Dictator has promulgated the new
doctrine of ‘Nordic superiority’ which threatens to engulf
Europe—and the rest of the World—in a more cataclysmic
struggle than the Kaiser had found feasible. The tentacles
of the German eagle have already bound Italy and Japan
in the ominous grip of an Anti-Comintern Pact. Berlin,
Rome, and Tokyo, seem at present to enclose within a tri¬
angle the peace of the World. The swastika adopted by the
neo-Aryans of Germany has become a truculent symbol of
war instead of * peace on earth and good-will among men.’

Turkey, Italy, and Germany have not been the only coun¬
tries to pass under Dictatorships in the post-War world.
The economic depression on the one hand, and the fear of
external aggression on the other, and the universal menace
of Communism in particular, have tended to drive country
after country into some form of authoritarian rule, either

THE WORLD TO-DAY

435

peacefully established as in Poland and Czecko-Slovakia, or
violently created as in Greece and Spain. These two last-
named countries are still in the throes of either occasional
eruptions as in Greece, or interminable civil war as in Spain.
The latter country, invaded by General Franco from Mo¬
rocco in 1936, has been the battle ground, ever since, of a
virtual struggle for ascendancy between the forces of Soci¬
alism and Fascism, on account of the patently surreptitious
support given to the two contending parties by their sym¬
pathisers all over Europe. It is only a question of time as
to when this localised conflict will burst through the camou¬
flage into a universal conflagration. The race for armaments
among the Powers is an ominous petrel of the coming storm.
Meanwhile the atmosphere is surcharged with the psycho¬
logy of ‘war and rumours of war/

The vast and rapid changes that were taking place in the
East since about the middle of the last century were also
now bearing fruit. China after the Boxer Revolt (1900),
Japan after the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and India after
the Partition of Bengal (1905), were all different from what
they had been for centuries past. They were undergoing
rapid transformation along Western and Nationalistic lines;
and each in its own way was not merely breaking with its
own past, but also becoming impatient of Western domina¬
tion. It is not surprising that the emulation of the West
has increasingly bred a dislike of European interference ; the
former is itself the cause of the latter. “ There is no more
amazing or portentous phenomenon in modem history,” says
Will Durant, “ than the way in which sleeping Japan, rough¬
ly awakened by the cannon of the West, leaped to the lesson,
bettered the instruction, accepted science, industry and war,
defeated all her competitors either in battle or in trade, and
became, within two generations, the most aggressive nation

436 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the contemporary world.” 1 Japan is but the spear-head
of Asia.

When England, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, and the
U. S. A., all combined together to crush the Boxer Revolt in
China, and imposed on her an indemnity of $330,000,000,
and later remitted most of this indemnity on condition that
it shall be spent on educating the youth of China in the
countries that made the generous gesture, they laid the
foundations of Modem China. The Revolution of 1912,
under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, the abdication of the
Celestial Manchu Emperor Pu Yi; and the establishment
of the Chinese Republic were the first fruits of the new
awakening. But the sorrows of China were far from being
ended thereby. Her Tuchuns still continued to divide and dis¬
tract the country. Russian communist propaganda, after
1922, added a fresh principle of discord. The dictatorship
of Chang Kai-shek was the ultimate solution that China in
her distress evolved in order to save herself. For now a
greater danger than that of the European Powers was
looming on her Eastern shore, viz., Japan. Sun Yat-sen
had planned to ally China and Japan in their common re¬
volt against the West; but Japan discovered in China’s
helplessness just the quarry she needed for exploitation under
the spell of her recent devdopments. During the Great War
die had allied hersdf with England and pounced upon the
German possessions in China. Then she also pressed upon
China her notorious ‘Twenty-one Demands’ which if con¬
ceded would have reduced that country to a Japanese de¬
pendency. The Chinese boycott movement and the protests
of the Western Powers saved the situation for the time being.
At the Washington Conference in 1922 the ‘open door’

1. The Story of Civilization, II, p. 913,

THE WORLD TO-DAY

437

policy was reaffirmed. But Japan, smarting under this frus¬
tration and awaiting a better opportunity, invaded Man¬
churia in 1931 in open defiance of the Washington declara¬
tion and the Nine-Power Pact. She wriggled out of the
League of Nations on account of its protest against this
violation, and set up Pu Yi (the Manchu Emperor de¬
throned by the Chinese in 1912) as her puppet * Emperor ’
on the throne of Manchuria, renamed Manchukuo. She
had already taken Korea and called it Chosen . The pre¬
sent Sino-Japanese War (1937—) is a sequel of the above
described trends in the Far East. The Japanese imperialism
of to-day was anticipated in an Imperial announcement
written in the autumn of 1916

“ China is our steed ! ” it ran. “ Far shall we ride upon
her !... So becomes our 50,000,000 race 500,000,000 strong ;
so grow our paltry hundreds of millions of gold into bil¬
lions !...

“ We are now well astride our steed, China ; but the steed
has long run wild and is run down ; it needs grooming, more
grain, more training. Further, our saddle and bridle are
as yet mere make-shifts; would steed and trappings stand
the strain of war?:....

“ But using China as our steed, should our first goal be
the land ? India ? Or the Pacific, the sea that must be our
very own, even as the Atlantic is now England’s. The land
is tempting and easy, but withal dangerous... It must there¬
fore be the sea.” 1

The awakening in India described in the previous chap¬
ter received a fresh impetus in the course of the present
century on account of several events of world importance.
The first of these was the Japanese victory which synchro-

X. H, G. Franks, The Riddle of the Orient , pp. 31-2.

438

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

msed with the 4 partition' of Bengal. “ The reverberations of
shat victory,” Lord Curzon himself said, “ have gone like a
thunderclap through the whispering galleries of the East.”
It created a new self-confidence among the politically con¬
scious people all over Asia. Under the circumstances the
partition of Bengal cut like a deep wound which aroused
national feeling from one end of the country to another,
though it directly touched only the people of Bengal. The
constructive nationalism of the Congress was driven by it
into more radical channels. Though a temporary split oc¬
curred in the ranks of the nationalists on account of this
extremism, from 1907 to 1916, not only were the two sec¬
tions brought together in the Lucknow session of the Con¬
gress, but even the Muslim League which had stood aloof
until then came in to form a new coalition. The inadequacy
of. the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 had given rise to
much discontent. It was not allayed by Their Majesties’
visit to India and the restoration of the integrity of Bengal
(1911). India made whole-hearted sacrifices during the
Great War in men, money, and materials with great expec¬
tations about the future. But the events that followed after
the British triumph deepened India’s distrust in the good
faith of her foreign masters. Even the moderates of earlier
years turned extremists in the post-War period in India.
The new trend was personified in Mahatma Gandhi who
transformed the Indian National Congress from a supplicat¬
ing body into a revolutionary organisation, though the
methods he inculcated were non-violent. The weapon of
‘ passive resistance ’ which he had forged in upholding the
self-respect of the Indian community in South Africa, was
now elaborated into the Non-co-operation movement of 1921,
and ultimately developed into the more active 'civil dis¬
obedience’ campaign of 1931. The Montague-Chelmsford

THE .WORLD TO-DAY

439

reforms of 1919 only served to whet the national appetite
for a greater advance towards responsible government. The
frustration of these hopes even drove some to agitate for
complete independence instead of mere 4 dominion status.’
' The pace being thus forced by the progressive intensification
of the national demand, India has now reached the threshold
of a Federation of autonomous provinces. This is the scope
of the Reform Act of 1935. The future of India hangs on
the future of Asia and the World. The fate of Humanity
itself is now in the keeping of its statesmen.

“ To-day,” wrote Mr. S. S. McClure in the London Times
on 15 January 1921, ‘‘the white race occupies not early
Europe, but North and South America and Australia, and
rules ninety-seven per cent, of Africa and nearly half of
Asia, and the most important fact to-day is the coming
struggle between the forces of colour and the white race.”
On 26 February of the same year, the Argus of Melbourne
wrote editorially : “ This is the huge question that is really
before the peacemakers. Can they find ait some new way
of life between West and East, some way different from the
two-thousand-year-old way of warfare? All other wars—
even the Great War just finished—become parochial squab¬
bles compared with this war. When it comes, if it comes,
it will have all the horrors of modem science in its hands,
and all the weight of the ancient forces of history at its
back. Can it then be avoided ? Can the wise men of America
and Japan, of Britain and the British Empire, of Asia and
Europe, not find some other way out ? ” The answer is yet
to be given.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Know that the science of History is noble in
its conception, abounding in instruction, and
exalted in its aim— Ibn Khaldun

The survey of Human History that we set out to mato> in
this brief volume is now at an end without being complete,
In the Approach we visualised that ‘ There is such a phe¬
nomenon as Progress; call it culture, civilisation, or by any
other name.’ We understood this to mean that ‘there
may be setbacks here and there, or retrogression now and
again, in the long course of human history. But with all
these, Man has evolved out of the brute-creation. He has
risen above the mere animal. He has ever toiled .to mate
his lot better than his inheritance in every age. And what¬
ever may be his ultimate Destiny, an eternal urge keeps
him striving .after Utopias. The Vision beckons and re¬
cedes before our faltering steps. Yet Faith keeps us stead¬
fast on the thorny upward path.’ ‘ This,’ we characterised,
‘ is one of the fundamental human traits which are univer¬
sally true.’

Beginning with the First Steps, some 50,000 years or so
ago, we have come down the millennia, to the World To-day,
Is this long procession of the human race without any mean¬
ing or significance for us? There is at least (me fact in all
this which no one can deny, namely, ‘ While it took millions

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

441

of years for Nature to bring man into existence, the dyna¬
mic intelligence of man (homo sapiens) has transformed
life on earth so tremendously in the course of a few millen¬
nia which constitute the sum of human history.’ Secondly,
we have pointed to the conclusion that ‘ Man has remained
the same through all the varying conditions of life ’; that
“Our knowledge of him in the twentieth century a.d. may
be fuller and more intimate than our knowledge of him in
the twentieth century b.c., but that makes no difference in
his fundamental character.’ For, ‘ He is still the intelligent
and inventive brute that he was 500,000 (or 50-, or 20-, or
2,000) years ago : affectionate at home, jealous of his neigh¬
bour, ferocious in war, and ruthless when his selfish instincts
are roused; but noble and progressive on the whole, with a
marvellous organising capacity, which has made 'him master
on earth over animate and inanimate creation alike’ Finally,
we said, * World History is but a recalling of this wonder¬
ful creature’s doings, his straggles, achievements and failures
in the past, that they might instruct his present, and bear
fruit in his future.’ That is why the Arab historian, Ibn
Khaldun, wrote : ‘ Know that the science of History is noble
in its conception, abounding in instruction, and exalted in
its aim.’

If by * science ’ we mean a systematised body oj knowledge,
we need not quarrel over the description of History as a
science. That History is ‘abounding in instruction’ may
not also be denied ; Carlyle found in it ‘ philosophy taught
through examples.’ Though different readers may find ma¬
terial for different philosophies in human history, the funda¬
mental ‘science of History’ (i.e. an intelligible presentation
of the Past) is ‘noble in its conception’ and ‘exalted in its
aim Occasionally we might come'across a cynic who opines
that ‘History teaches but one lesson : mm has learnt no

442 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lessons from history ’ (or even that ‘ history has no lessons
to teach’). But, despite such exceptional philosophers, ex¬
perience is a great teacher (may be sometimes an unsuccess¬
ful teacher); and History is a record of the accumulated
experience of our race. Our aim in this little volume has
been early ‘to hold the mirror up to the whole pageant of
man’s life ... in all parts of our planet, in all ages and
climes, to the extent that space will permit.’ Lest the mirror
might get choked with images, we confined our choice in
the foregoing pages to the ‘ significant.’ In this conclu ding
part of our survey we must assess the significance of our
selection,—still hoping that we may have ‘ raised the curtain
on a scene in the drama which I have found extremely
engaging.’ > ] . ; j ;

In reviewing human Progress in Antiquity we observed
that ‘ The history of man is an account of ... inventions
pertaining to his material as well as spiritual wants,’ and
also that ‘ The two are inseparable.’ We found the secret
of man’s superiority over all other creatures in his ‘inven¬
tive intelligence’ which has been the cause of all his pro¬
gress. Within the limits of his ‘powers of organisation’
man has shown himself to be ‘the master of his destiny’
and ‘ the potential lord of the earth and nature.’ His civi¬
lisation has comprised the ‘multiplication and refinement
of wants.’ These ‘ wants ’ have been in relation to his body,
mind, ‘heart’ or ‘spirit,’ all of which together constitute
his ‘personality.’ The satisfaction of the needs of human
personality has constituted the primary urge which in the
course of long ages has evolved cultures or civilisation. 1

1 We shall use the term Culture to denote a particular type
like ‘ Greek Culture ’ or ‘ Hindu Culture ’; and the term Civilisa¬
tion to denote the general progress of the Human Race as a whole

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

443

Two important elements have determined the course of
civilisation : (a) Man; (b) Environment. The variation
in the two factors accounts for the variations in cultures.
The different races of mankind (like Aryan, Semitic, Mon¬
golian, Negro, etc.) have displayed different aptitudes for
culture; consequently, each of them -has evolved a culture
of its own. Thus the Aryan has differed from the Semitic,
and both from the Mongolian; the Negro has been the
l^ fit progressive. On the other hand, geographical or phy¬
sical environment has equally influenced the course and char¬
acter of people’s progress. This includes the fertility of
soil, the nearness of rivers and the sea, climate, vegetation
and natural resources like minerals, building materials, etc.
Especially in the earlier stages of human civilisation these
were more decisive factors than they are now.

A culture once developed in a particular environment has
undergone considerable modification by contact with other
cultures; such contacts being determined by the means of
communication. The earliest means of communication were
rivers. The sea or ocean which was at first a dividing fac¬
tor late became a uniting link between distantly situate!
countries, on account of the progressive improvement of navi¬
gation. Even vast continents in modem times have been
traversed by railways. The latest contrivance for the abridg¬
ment of long distances is the airship. Telegraphs, deep-sea
cables, and the radio, have converted our world into a dose-
knit sphere. This has led to the domination of weaker
cultures by the stronger, as well as resulted in a rapid pro¬
cess of elimination of differences, producing a greater uni-
fortuity of civilisation.

Nations like individuals have their own peculiarities. They
tend to preserve their spedal features, even as individuals
seek to preserve their personalities. But in our inter-depen-

444

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

dent world these inclinations create conflicts, just as the
egoisms of individuals lead to inharmonious relations in
society. Humanity is at present striving to reconcile its
international disharmonies, in the same way as it has inte¬
grated individuals into families, communities, and nations.
In the ealier stages of civilisation individuals or at best
families or clans were left to themselves in securing justice.
This license continued almost down to the dawn of modem
times. Then they were all reduced to subjection to a
common law. Vendetta can no longer settle domestic
or municipal disputes; the days of the Guelphs and Ghibel-
lines, the Montagues and Capulets are gone. Is it similarly
possible to compel and habituate nations to the reign of inter¬
national law instead of national vendetta? Evidently the
human race has not yet been civilised to that height of
regulated conduct. Will it ever be? The answer will de¬
pend on our capacity to assimilate the lessons of universal
history.

A careful survey of human history unravels to our vision
the two vistas of achievements and failures. Deeper analysis
will indicate that man has been able to subdue his environ¬
ment more readily than his own primitive instincts. The
material comforts provided by modem civilisation are evi¬
dence of the former; the crimes of both individuals and
nations are proofs of the latter. It is this contrast between
the outer and inner aspects of our civilisation that has
induced some thinkers to question its benefits and blessings. 1
At times one really feels as if our civilisation is only -the
thin veneer of incorrigible barbarians. Beneath the polish
of even the most advanced peoples in the modem world

1. Edward Carpenter wrote a book on Civilisation : Its Cause
and Cure.

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 445

there is an demental savageness which manifests itself in
epidemic form during periods of war, but is scarcely hid¬
den even in times of peace. This description of the facts
of life need make us ndther pessimistic nor optimistic. There
is room in the perspective of World History to be more
sanguine about the future of our race than the face of con¬
temporary experience seems to warrant; but at the
time, the incorrigibility of human nature in certain matters
should put a curb on the boundless optimism of idoaliste
To appreciate to which side the balance tilts, it is necessary to
carefully gamer the grain of our grand survey.

If we do not question the scientific conclusions of anthro¬
pologists, Man, in the process of evolution, emerged from
ape ancestors. To arrive at this astounding anthropos, in the
biological laboratory of Nature, it took the Creator count¬
less ages of experiment Among His discarded relics are
the “ missing links ” who seem to have been only tentative
products before homo sapiens arrived. Then followed the
pre-historic period of man’s education up to his learning,
or rather discovering, the art of writing by some Montessori
method or a divine Dalton plan. Once language was master¬
ed (both spoken and written), this precocious child of
Nature made rapid progress. Indeed, man’s progress has
been increasingly rapid since then. Even before the Christ¬
ian era, he had achieved the marvels of Egyptology, Assyrio-
logy, and the more recently unravelled mysteries of Indology.
Towards the dose of this long epoch he worked the mirade
of Greek culture, and left to posterity the rich legades
of India, Greece, and Rome, no less than those of Egypt,
Babylonia, and Israel. Without repeating all that we have
set down in greater detail before, we might assess here the
net contributions of these cultures to human civilisation.
We need consider only a few typical or rather fateful dis-

446

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

ooveries which have influenced human destiny for good and
evil.

First among these are the products of the Nile and Tnd n a
valleys. The former created standards of comfort and de¬
cency never before known to pre-historic man; the latter
gave to the world its first lessons in rational town- plannin g
and city-life, on which indeed civilisation is based. Assyria
and Persia set our feet on the dangerous paths of war and
imperialism along lines attempted by none before th*™
though copied and improved upon by others in late:

The Chinese invented above all else, the mariner’s compass,
gun-powder, and the printing-press; the first brought the
European into their country, the second enabled manlm^
to destroy itself, and the third made a world-renaissance
possible. Finally, in the world of antiquity, India revealed
her genius for metaphysics and religions, thereby enabling
a Schopenhauer to die in peace and her own children to
remain under foreign yoke retaining for themselves the proud
privilege of having produced the first Prince of Peace for
the edification of the pugnacious Mongolian rare. Greece
and Rome, though chronologically belonging to the ancient
world, logically belong to our own. The only other people
of antiquity that we need comment upon here, are the Israe¬
lites, who,—while Egypt worshipped her multitude of quaint
gods, India rejected her Buddha in preference for her own
metaphysics and religions, China accepted the exiled ethic
of India to add to her own Confucianism* and Iran was
engrossed in the eternal duel between Ahura and Ahriman,
—replaced the confused vacancy of the Western mind with
the coherent theology of a humanised and unified god. Such
was the World into which Greece and Rome stepped.

It is not easy to summarise the Greek contributions to
human civilisation, for the ancient Greeks were the most

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

447

versatile people of antiquity. Their literature, art, and
philosophy are still alive and active. “ In spite of many
differences,” as Livingstone has said, “ no age has had closer
affinities with Ancient Greece than our own; none has based
its deeper life so largely on ideals which the Greeks brought
into the world.” We need not search for any specific facts
out of the Greek creations to illustrate this; we have rather to
appreciate Matthew Arnold’s observations about Sophocles :
The Greeks were a people who ‘ saw life steadily and saw
it wholetheir ‘ even balanced Soul, business could not make
dull nor passion wild.’ A deep earnestness leading to scien¬
tific experimentalism was their greatest gift to posterity.
As we have said before, “ They had a passion for perfection.
Truth, Beauty, Goodness were for them synonymous. They
tried to realise these in the individual, as well as in Society.
The harmonious cultivation of body, mind and soul was
t-hpir ideal. For this they held their athletic competitions;
for this they made endless experiments in political organisa¬
tion ; and for this they built up their Academy and Lyceum.’
What has been said about their art is equally true about
their outlook on life as a whole: “ The idealism of the

Greek artist consisted in getting the very best he could from
nature and putting it together in the most beautiful way.”

The Romans were differently constituted. “ While it was
the Greek genius which, in its latter days, rose to conceptions
of the unity of humanity,” writes Professor E. Barker, “ it
was the Roman genius which translated those conceptions
into an organised system of life.” The Roman had a
passion and gift for organisation. As Virgil sang:

Thou, Roman, shalt remember how to rule.

Lay down the laws of Peace, and teach her ways,

Pardon the fallen, overthrow the proud.

This was what the Roman— through Republic and Empire

448

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

—aimed at and achieved. Though his language (Latin)
occupies to this day a classical seat by the side of Greek,
and though the Romance languages (Italian, Portuguese,
Spanish, and French) bear witness to its widespread influence,
the particular legacy of Rome to the modem World was her
“unparalleled system of law and justice.” As Professor
Heamshaw has summarised: ‘ She established a world
peace; she linked her vast dominions together by a network
of splendid roads; she maintained an unparalleled system
of law and justice; die developed an extensive commerce;
she erected in all her provinces magnificent public works;
she preserved the culture of the Hellenic East; she educated
the barbarians of the Celtic West;.... fused barbarians and
Greeks into a single polity ; brought East and West together,
and impressed upon the civilised world a consciousness of
unity which even to the present day has never been wholly
lost’ Rome, in short, tried to do for the Ancient World
what Britain has attempted to do in the modem. The tradi¬
tion of the Roman Empire has been always a living force
in Europe. ‘ Alike in literature, in art, in philosophy, and
in religion,’ Asquith has observed, ‘Rome built the bridge
over which many of the best thoughts and finest models
of antiquity found their way into the Medieval and thence
into the Modem World.' The fascist idealism of Mussolinfs
Italy is the latest product of the Roman inspiration.

When the Roman Empire was deluged by the barbarian
hordes, of Attila the Hun and Alaric the Goth, Rome be¬
queathed to Europe Constantinople and Christianity. The
former proved to be the Eastern bulwark of European civi¬
lisation and the latter remained the only civilising force
in the midst of an all-devouring paganism; though ultimate¬
ly, Constantinople succumbed to the Turks and Christian
Europe was Swallowed by the new paganism of modem times

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 449

The barbarians, while they destroyed much that was unten¬
able in the older civilisation, also invigorated Europe with
fresh blood and ideas. Amidst the ‘ encircling gloom ’ of the
Dark Ages ‘ The City of God ’ not merely endured but also
tamed and humanised the savages. The Moors, Aristotle,
Latin, the See of St. Peter, and the monastic orders, pre¬
vented Europe from lapsing into utter barbarism; while
feudalism, the Knight-errantry of the Crusades, the medieval
gilds, and the widespread trade and intercourse proved the
veritable seeds of Europe’s liberation from the shackles
of the past. Both the spirit of locaTism bred by the manor
and the gild, as well as the universalism of the Church and
commerce, were to yield place to the larger parochialism
of nation-states and the greater unity of our modem inter¬
dependent world. Dynasticism was the parent of the former
and Renaissance the harbinger of the latter. Indeed, as
we remarked before, the Present is the child of die Past
and the parent of the Future.

Dynastic monarchism, the product and preserver of the
Old Order, could not preserve itself from the products of the
New Order. Both the Pope and the Potentates, the erstwhile
rivals for ascendancy in medieval Europe, found new rivals
in the Protestant movements and the rise of the democratic
spirit. There was a dual revolt: one against the autocracy
of the medieval Church, the other against the autocracy of
the equally medieval-minded monarchy. The ferment that
heralded the birth of our new world, however, has remain¬
ed with us as a permanent invigorating (or is it inebriat¬
ing?) plwrwnt. to leaven modem life. Many things have
gone into its brew, out of which we may single out only
a few of the most important ingredients. In brief, the spirit
of ggplftratinn and discovery, the spirit of experimentalism
and earnest enquiry, unfettered by tradition or authority,

450

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

outwardly released by the Renaissance, but inwardly due
to the entire complex process of History, has been the out¬
standing characteristic of our Modem Age. This has given
a death-blow to all old-world ideas and institutions, impart¬
ed a rude shock to conservative inclinations, and produced
the go-ahead reek-nothing do-and-dare mentality, which
might have appeared too adventurous even to the ancient
Grades. In this madstrom of new life much of the old has
been dislodged, if not destroyed; much also has been recon¬
structed and transformed beyond recognition. Unless we are
able to appreciate this trend as a whole, we shall not be
able to understand the significance of the mere facts and
events of modem history. Church and Monarchy have there¬
fore been but partners in sharing the reactions of this all-
sided change, even as they were partners in the reactionary
tendencies that opposed all change unless it was initiated by
themsdves.

First, the Protestant revolt not only released religious
thought from the routine ruts of the Roman Church, but
it also produced the Council of Trent and the Counter-Re¬
formation movement which became a constructive force giv¬
ing to the world the excellent disciplined army of workers
constituting the Society of Jesus. Secondly, the growing
commerce of Europe, its accidental dash with the Turks,
and the consequent diversion of trade-routes, gave the Euro¬
peans a new and vaster world in which to expand. This
in its turn created national rivalries which stimulated, not
merely destructive jealousies and wars, but also creative
and constructive activities. The Industrial Revolution in
England was the product of these forces.

The old inventive instinct or intelligence of man, sharppnori
by centuries of experience and stimulated by the urge of a
new life with its insistent needs, produced a harvest of novel

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

451

implements, tools, machinery, sufficient to upset and revolu¬
tionise the entire economy of human civilisation. Some of
these inventions we have already referred to in the course
of our survey; a little more may be said about them here.

Life in the ancient and even medieval times was simpler,
in that its organisation was less intricate than it is now. With
increased complexity has also come better organising ability
which has made man more powerful for construction no less
than destruction. The secret of this power, for good and
evil, is summed up in the magical word ‘Science/ It is
exercising over modem man the same influence that magic
did over the ancient and medieval. Having its roots deep
down in the Past, Science has come into its very own in
our times.

In studying the significance of this most vital force in the
modem world we must distinguish between Pure science
and Applied science. Reserving the former for later com¬
ment, we shall first deal with the latter; for Pure science
concerns the intellectual few, while Applied science has affect¬
ed the lives of all. Applied science is Science in relation
to practical life. It is the ‘ science of tools ’ or ‘ technology ’
which began with the inventions of the palaeolithic man and.
still continues to transform the earth and human life in a
most wonderful manner. Its first marvel was revealed in
the mechanical inventions devised by Heron, the Alexandrian
mathematician of the first century a.d., and its potentialities
disclosed by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci in the fifteenth
century a.d. The versatility of Leonardo has been referred
to before. ‘Architect, sculptor, painter and engineer/ as
Mr. Marvin has said, 1 no one exhibits more dearly in his
own person the intimate connexion between actual construct¬
ive work and the imaginative use of the mind. He devised
himself some good dozen of inventions which have since

452

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

become popular and useful—pumps, ship-logs, power-looms
and many others, and, from the flight of birds, designed a
flying machine which in his hands remained a sketch. The
same brain worked, too, in studying the anatomy of animals,
the traces and meaning of fossils, the laws of motion and

their relation to sound and light .The practical work,

on which he chiefly lived, was that needed by the rulers
and people of his day—great hydraulic and irrigation works
in Lombardy, fortifications for Duke Ludovico Sfroza of
Milan ... Besides his engineering achievements in fortifi¬
cation, he is credited with the invention of a submarine boat
and a breech-loading cannon. Such intermixture of construc¬
tive work with the planned destruction of human life has
gone on so far throughout the course of history.’

The above sketch of Leonardo da Vinci correctly depicts
the entire range and character of technology in tire Modem
World. What we witness in the world to-day is but the
logical development of the Italian’s anticipations. To know
more about these developments one has to go to special
histories on the subject, like The Endless Quest by F. W.
Westaway. In addition to the inventions of the Chinese
.(mariner’s compass, gun-powder, paper and the printing-
press), and the textile and locomotive engines, referred to
earlier, we might mention only a few more scientific achieve¬
ments here to illustrate the above remarks. The operation
of all kinds of machinery for all varieties of purposes be¬
came easy on account of the discovery, first of steam-power,
and then of electricity. The American Franklin, the Italian
Volta, and the British Faraday, by their investigations re¬
garding electrical phenomena made the telegraph possible
in 1835. The first under-sea cable was laid between England
arid France in 1851. The discovery of the ‘ Hertzian Waves,’
or electric vibrations in ether, introduced the wireless with

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

453

which we are now familiar. Now the worid is looking
forward to becoming as familiar with ‘ television.’ The dis¬
covery of the X-ray, by the German Rontgen in 1895, has
enabled surgeons to see through a living body and observe its
inner most operations, while the use of anaesthetics (e.g. chlo¬
roform) has revolutionised surgical practice. These striking
discoveries of modem science, taken almost at random, should
cuffira to focus the reader’s attention upon this phase of
recent human history which has revolutionised our lives to
an extent and in a manner never dreamed of before by man
in the long ages of his evolution.

Rather than attempt even a bare summary of the
vast and varied achievements of Science, it will be
more worthwhile to gauge their significance in human history.
Theoretically, man, in the beginning of his career was faced
with the double problem of understanding himself and his
vast and overwhelming environment; in practice, he had to
maatpr his own personality within and subdue the forces
of Nature without. The history of Philosophy is one long
record of persistent human striving to apprehend Reality or
the mining of life and existence; while the history of Science
is one long record of man’s continued effort to gain control
over the same. In the Modem Age both our knowledge
regarding ourselves (physically, mentally, spiritually), and
our knowledge regarding the Universe in which we live, is
the richest ever attained by men. Likewise, our command
of all the rich resources of our material existence is the com-
pletest ever exercised by homo sapiens on earth. The world
in which we live, with all its comforts, complexities,, and
problems, is the map or index of our accumulated heritage.
It is obvious that the future of our race will depend upon
what use we make of this inheritance. The problem of
problems to-day is to master the technological forces created

454

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

by Science, and harness them to the service, instead of the
destruction, of Humanity. “ A new gigantic material frame¬
work for human affairs,” as Mr. H. G. Wells has observed,
“has come into existence. Clearly it demands great re¬
adjustments of our social, economical, and political methods.”

In comparing Europe and Asia, with regard to their res¬
pective contributions to world civilisation, we had emphasised
that, although we are accustomed to draw a contrast bet¬
ween them, * Man, the universally progressive creature, is the
one subject of World History.” There is no East and West
here, ‘ nor border nor breed.’ ‘ Europe may be his workshop
and Asia his dormitory for the time-being; but time was
when the reverse was the case. The Sun may shine on only
one side of the globe at a time; but no part of the earth
is left in darkness for ever.’ Hence, in our rapid survey,
we have not thought in terms of continents or countries
merely, but more in terms of Humanity as a whole. In
the words of Lord Acton (quoted earlier). Universal History
is ‘ distinct from the combined history of all countries, which
is not a rope of sand, but a continuous development, and
is not a burden on the memory, but an illumination of soul.
It moves in a succession to which the nations are subsidiary.’
Their story has been, therefore, told here ‘ not for their own
sake, but in reference and subordination to a higher series,
according to the time and the degree in which they have con¬
tributed to the common fortunes of mankind.’

The bifurcation of the World into Europe and Asia is as
untenable as the old assignment of its two hemispheres bet¬
ween Spain and Portugal by Pope Alexander VI. This
Kiplingian dichotomy of

East is East and West is West

And ne’er the twain shall meet

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

455

ought to give place to the truth that

East plus West

Is much the Best.

In spite of all its apparent conflicts and divisions this is
the New Vision of Man that is striving for realisation in the
World to-day. The First Steps in civilisation taken by
Africa and Asia led on to the marvellous creative activity
of Europe. But now it appears that the Oriental ‘ Conquest
of Civilisation’ has culminated in the Occidental ‘Ordeal
of Civilisation ’—to use the phraseology of Breasted and
Robinson. However, there could be little doubt that the
World to be must be the creation of a united effort of
Humanity as a whole; for Integration—not dis-integration
—has been the dominant tendency of Universal History.
From Palaeolithic man to our times the World has become
increasingly inter-dependent: waves might break and rivers
may run dry, but the ocean cannot be split into puddles.

Wihat the ancients perhaps dimly perceived is now being
laboriously but accurately verified. Herein lies the signi¬
ficance of Pure science which is hardly to be distinguished
from Philosophy. In essence, the problem of both is identi¬
cal : it is Man’s attempt to understand Life, to master all
its complexities, and to attain the Platonic ideal of Truth,
Beauty, Goodness. The East, particularly India, sought to re¬
alise these primarily through intuition, meditation, and the
mystic ways of religion. The West, following the pragmatic
path of Science, aimed at the same ideal and came by its
materialistic civilisation. At the present moment the subjec¬
tive Idealism of Asia and the objective Realism of Europe,
meeting in apparent conflict, are engaged in producing the
synthesis of a new Universalism.

Viewed in the perspective of Man’s history from the very

456 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

beginning, this is the reality behind our contemporary strug¬
gles. Being engrossed each in his own part of the problem
we seem to have lost sight of the whole Lite individual
soldiers in a campaign we are obsessed with our own im¬
mediate and fragmentary pre-occupations. Fighting for a
ditch here or a fence thee appears to us the only purpose
of our wristenra ; and it is not wrong that it should be so.
But the campai gn is that of Humanity; our objectives are
Truth, Beauty, Goodness. In the long course of our history
we have not lost sight of air Goal, except partially and
occasionally. We are not to be contort with the mere in¬
tellectual appreciation of this tripple ideal, but we must
translate it into the facts of life for all mankind. In the
past ages Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, have been the dream
of the many, but the possession of only a few—individuals
or small groups. The aim of the Modem World is to make
them universal.

Science has established to-day the unity of our existence
—e.g., Newton by his discovery of the universality of gravi¬
tation, Darwin by his theory of evolution, Einstein by his
mntemplaHan erf a space-time continuum, other scientists
by their observation of radio-activity suggesting that matter
is electricity. This is a more definite and demonstrable
apprehension of the Truth vaguely and intuitively visualised
by the World’s earliest monists (like our own Vedantists).
The latent Beauty of our Universe was first dimly perceived
by primitive man. It aroused in him his aesthetic instinct and a
craving for artistic expression and satisfaction. The history of
art and literature on the one hand, and, on the other, the
larger attempts made in modem society to impart a touch
of beauty to everything concerning human life as a whole
—not only for the elite—are the ideals of Beauty. While
the history of “ humanity ”—at first the fruit of individual

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

457

virtue, but increasingly being collectively organised for 'the
greatest good of the greatest number ’—comprises mankind’s
realisation of Goodness. This is the meaning of the entire
process of Human History in all its phases—intellectual,
social, moral, political, aesthetic and economical For this is
the Science of History regarded 'noble in its conception,
abounding in instruction, and exalted in its aim.’

EPILOGUE

Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,

Stains the white radiance of Eternity. —Shelley

We may not conclude this Brief Survey of Human History
without pointing out its limitations. We had started on this
great task with the ambition ‘ to hold the mirror up to the
whole pageant of man’s life, and not merely to chronicle his
political career.’ We had said that ‘Political history may
form the basis, or rather supply the bony skeleton of our
treatment, but it must be clothed with the flesh and blood
of all-sided human activity, and animated by the indefati¬
gable aspirations of man.’ If the accomplishment has been
less than this aspiration, the Reader will not also forget that
Life is larger, deeper, greater, than even the most voluminous
History can envisage. Hence we had necessarily, inevitably,
to confine our attention to what appeared to be the most
‘ significant ’—though the choice of the significant must vary
with the point-of-view of each writer of History. As Macau¬
lay said: ‘ History has its foreground and its background,
and it is principally in the management of its perspective
that one artist differs from another. Some events must be
represented on a large scale, others diminished; the great
majority will be lost in the dimness of the horizon, and a
general idea of their joint effect must be given by a few light
touches.’ But this is not without advantage. For, as
Lamartine put it, ‘ Providence conceals itself in the details of
human affairs, but becomes unveiled in the generality of

EPILOGUE

459

history.’ We have proceeded on the assumption of Samuel
Butler that‘ Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions
from insufficient premises’: it cannot be otherwise. ‘The
best thing which we derive from history,’ Goethe said, ‘ is the
enthusiasm it raises in us.’ Dr. Johnson found its justifica¬
tion in the argument that: ‘ The present state of things is
the consequence of the past; and it is natural to enquire
as to the sources of the good we enjoy or the evils we suffer.
If we act only for ourselves, to neglect the study of history
is not prudent; if intrusted with the care of others, it is not
just.’ With all our omissions which, though inevitable, have
been many and large, we have written with the motto so well
formulated by Napoleon that ‘An historian ought to be
exact, sincere, and impartial; free from passion, unbiased by
interest, fear, resentment, or affection; and faithful to the
truth, which is the mother of history, the preserver of great
actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the
direction of the future.’

‘ Life,’ as Wordsworth wrote, * is divided into three terms:

i

that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us leam
from the past to profit by the present, and from the present
to live better for the future.’

CHRONOLOGY

A.D.

871-901

968

1066—87

1108-37

1154- 1204

1155- 89
1180—1223
1199-1216
1226-70
1272-1307.
1295

1301

1327-77

1338-1453

1348

1368-1644

1378-1417

1381

1413-22

1415

1429

1450

1453

1455-85

1461-88

1485-1603

1493- 1514

1494- 1559

SECTION FOUR

Alfred the Great.

Hugh Capet.

William the Conqueror.

Louis VI.

Angevins in France.

Henry II (England).

Philippe II (France).

King John of Magna Carta.

(Saint) Louis IX.

Edward I.

Model Parliament

Philippe IV (France) rejects secular authority of
the Pope.

Edward III.

Hundred Years’ War.

Black Death.

Ming Dynasty.

Babylonish Captivity.

Peasant’s Revolt
Henry V.

Battle of Agincourt.

Joan of Arc takes Orleans.

The English expelled from Normandy.
Constantinople captured by Turks.

Wars of the Roses.

Louis XI.

Tudor Dynasty.

Maximilian I (Emperor).

‘Italian Wars’ of France.

CHRONOLOGY

461

AJ>.

1498—1589

1517

1519-56

1522—1603

1526

1533—84

1534

1549

1557—1707

1579

1588

1592

1598

1598

1598—1610

1603—1616

1603

1603—1868

1605

1613

1614

1618— 48

1619- 37
1620

1622—73

1623

1624—42

House of Valois—Orleans.

Europeans enter China.

Charles V (Emperor).

Buddhist age in Japan.

First battle of Panipat: Babur establishes Mughal
Empire.

William the Silent (Orange).

Henry VIIFs Act of Supremacy.

St. Xavier in Japan.

Akbar to death of Aurangzeb.

Europeans in Canton.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Japanese invade Korea.

Hideyoshi Japanese jingo died.

Edict of Nantes.

Henry IV (France).

Iyeyasu.

Death of Queen Elizabeth.

Tokugawa Shogunate.

Death of Akbar.

Rise of Romanoffs.

Christianity proscribed in Japan.

Thirty years' war.

Emperor Ferdinand II.

May Flower “ Pilgrim Fathers."

Molifcre.

Massacre of Amboyna.

Louis XIII,

Cardinal Richelieu.

1632 Battle of Lutzen.

Gustavus Adolphus defeated Wallenstein.

1637 The English at Canton.

1638 Persecution of Christians in Japan.

1640—88 Frederick the Great Elector.

1643—1715 Louis XIV.

1643— 1661 Cardinal Mazarin.

1644— 1912 Ching or Manchu Dynasty.

1646—80 Shivaji.

1648 Treaty of Westphalia.

462

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

A.D.

1649 Charles I executed.

1649—58 Cromwell.

1654 Treaty of Westminster. (Navigation Acts).

1657—1707 Aurangzeb.

1676—1708 Guru Govind Singh.

1679—1707 Ajit Singh and Durgadas.

1682—1725 Peter the Great.

1685 Sir Josiah Child dreams of British Empire in India.

1688 Glorious Revolution.

1688—1713 Frederick II.

1696 Peter became Czar.

1697 Peace of Ryswick.

1700 Spanish branch of Hapsburg ended.

1700—13 War of Spanish Succession.

1707—12 Bahadur Shah I.

1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

1713—40 Frederick William I.

1715—74 Louis XV.

1740 Death of Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI.

1740—65 Maria Theresa.

1740—86 Frederick the Great.

1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

1751 Clive takes Arcot.

1756 Diplomatic Revolution.

1756—63 Seven years’ war.

1757 Battle of Plassey.

1759 Quebec captured by Wolfe.

1760—1820 George III.

1760 Col. Coote’s victory at Wandewash.

1761 Pondidierry taken by the English.

Third Battle of Panipat

1762—96 Catherine II.

1763 Regulating Act.

1764 Battle of Buxar.

1765—90 Joseph II.

1769—79 Captain Cook's discoveries.

1772, 1793, 1795 Partitions of Poland.

1774—1833 Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

1774—92 Louis XVI.

CHRONOLOGY

463

A.D.

1775—83

1789

1792

1793—94

1797—1815

1801—25

1806

1815

1817—98

1818

1821

1822

1824—83
1830, 1848
1832, 1867,
1833

1839—42
1842

1842—1900

1849—73

1853

1854—56

1857

1861

1861—64

1866

1867—1912

1867—1918

1869

1870

1871

1875

1878

1885

Revolt of American Colonies.

French Revolution.

English Embassy at Canton.

Reign of Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte.

Alexander I.

Austrian branch of Hapsburgs ended by Napoleon.
Waterloo. Vienna Congress.

Sir Saiyyad Ahmad.

Maratha’s finally overthrown.

Mexico independent.

Brazil independent.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati.

National and Democratic risings in Europe.

1884 Parliament Reforms.

East India Co’s opium monopoly in China cancelled.
Opium Wars.

Treaty of Nanking.

M. G. Ranade.

Livingstone in Africa.

Commodore Perry’s adventure : Japan reopened for
foreign intercourse.

Crimean War.

Mutiny in India.

United Italy. Civil War in America.

Taiping Revolt.

Peking sacked by Europeans. Austria defeated by
Germany at Sadowa.

Meiji Era in Japan.

Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

Suez Canal constructed by Lesseps.

Murder of missionaries in China: occupation of
Annam and Tongking by the French and Burma
by the British.

Paris occupied by the Germans after French defeat
at Sedan. Treaty of Frankfort
The Third Republic in France.

Treaty of Berlin.

Indian National Congress founded.

464 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

AJ). ■

188$

Accession of Kaiser Wilhelm 11.

1895-97

Swami Vivekananda in the West

1897

Germans occupy Shantung.

1899

The Hague International Court.

1899-1900

Boxer Revolt in China.

1902—22

Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

1904-5

Russo-Japanese War.

1911

George V’s visit to India.

1912

China becomes a Republic. Sun Yat-Sen.

1914-18

The Great War.

1917-18

Russian Revolution.

1919

Treaty of Versailles.

1920

Treaty of Sevres.

1922

Washington Conference. Mussolini’s march on Rome:
Fascist revolution.

1923

Lausanne Conference.

1924

Caliphate abolished by Turkey. Death of Lenin.

1933

Nazi revolution in Germany.

1935

Italian conquest of Abyssinia.

1936

Civil War in Spain.

1937

Sino-Japanese War begun.

1938

German coup in Austria.

Dismemberment of Czecko-Slovakia.

appendix a

COST OF THE GREAT WAR (1914-18)

Men Killed

in Action o\

' by Wounds

Portugal

.=

2,000

Greece

=

7,000

U. S. A.

=

49,000

Bulgaria

=

100,000

Roumania

=

100,000

Belgium

102,000

Serbia & Montenegro=

125,000

Turkey

=5

250,000

Italy

=

462,000

Austria

800,000

Br. Empire

=

900,000

France

=

1,385,000

Germany

’=

1,600,000

Russia

1,700,000

Total

7,582,000

N. B.—This does not indude men otherwise dead or missing.
It is also to be remembered that those who were killed in actum
were the flower of the manhood of the belligerent countries.

466 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY
Direct War Expenditure in Dollars

i

Japan & Greece i= 1,000,000,000

Turkey & Bulgaria = 3,000,000,000

Belgium, Roumania, Portugal & Jugo-Slavia = 5,000,000000

Italy

Rum

Austria-Hungary

U.S.A.

France
Br. Empire
Germany

Total

= 13,000,000,000
|= 18,000,000,000
= 21 , 000 , 000,000
■= 22 , 000 , 000,000
'= 26,000,000,000
'= 38,000,000,000
'= 39,000,000,000

= 186,000,000,000

N. B.—This does not include value of property destroyed;
yet it works out at 2,000 dollars for every mile of the
from the Earth to the Sun! The total cost of all the wars during
a century from 1815-1914 was only about $ 25,000,000,000.

APPENDIX B

Expenditure on Armaments in Dollars

1913 1930

Japan- •= 96,000,000,000 232,000,000,000

Italy = 179,000,000,000 259,000,000,000

France •= 349,000,000,000 455,000,000,000

Germany '= 463,000,000,000 170,000,000,000

Gr. Britain •= 375,000,000,000 535,000,000,000

, U. S. S. R. 1= 448,000,000,000 579,000,000,000

U. S. A. = 245,000,000,000 728,000,000,000

N. B.—Enormous as these figures are the expenditure in
recent years has been incredibly increased. The above expendi¬
ture works out per head of the population (1930) at $ 3 in Ger¬
many, 4 in Japan and Russia, 7 in U. S. A., 8 in Italy, 11 in
Gr. Britain, and 13 in France. The percentage of the National
Budget being 5 in Germany, 14 in Gr. Britain, 17 in U. S. A.,
22 in France and 24 in Italy.

In 1934 the total military expenditure of Russia, France,
Britain, Italy, U. S. A., Japan, Roumania, Belgium, Greece, Por¬
tugal, Germany, Austria, and Hungary was £639,030,074. The
highest was Russia, next came France, third Japan, and fourth
Germany.

APPENDIX C

The Fighting Forces of the Powers to-day

Regular

Army

Organised

Reserve

Trained

Manpower

Available
in a Week's
Mobilization

France

=

580,000

5,420,000

6,000,000

1,000,000

Germany

=

700,000

2,000,000

2,700,000

1,250,000

Austria

s=

60,000

190,000

250,000

150,000

Italy

=

450,000

1,000,000

1,450,000

950,000

Russia

=

1,000,000

14,000,000

15,000,000

1,500,000

Gr. Britain

=

100,000

350,000

450,000

200,000

Turkey

=

160,000

540,000

700,000

200,000

Belgium

as

90,000

700,000

790,000

200,000

U.S.A.

as

128,000

291,000

419,000

239,000

Japan

=

250,000

2,000,000

2,250,000

700,000

Air and Naval Forces Toted Personnel

Air

Navy

France

=

40,000

117,933

Germany

.=

100,000

54,700

Italy

=

60,000

103,163

Russia

:=

50,000

23,600

Gr. Britain

.=

70,000

185,586

U. S. A.

i=s

38,000

192,824

Japan

10,000

159,839

APPENDIX D

The League of Nations
(Select Clauses from the Covenant)

The High Contracting Parties,

In order to promote international co-operation and to
achieve international peace and security,
by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war,
by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations
between nations,

by the firm establishment of the understandings of inter¬
national law as the actual rule of conduct among
Governments,

and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous res¬
pect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of
organised peoples with one another,

Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.

Article 1.—Any fully self-governing State, Dominion or
Colony not named in the Annex may become a member
of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-
thirds of the Assembly, provided that it shall give effect¬
ive guarantees of its sincere intentions to observe its
international obligations, and shall accept such regula¬
tions as may be prescribed by the League in regard to
its military, naval and air forces and armaments.

Any Member Of the League may, after two years’ notice
of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League,...

470 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Article 2.—The action of the League under this Covenant
shall be effected through the instrumentality of an
Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secreta¬
riat.

Article 7— The Seat of the League is established at Geneva.

The Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the
League shall be established elsewhere

Article 8.—The members of the League recognise that the
maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national
armaments to the lowest point consistent with national
safety and the enforcement by common action of inter¬
national obligations.

Article 10. —The Members of the League undertake to res¬
pect and preserve as against external aggression the terri¬
torial integrity and existing political independence of
all Members of the League....

Article 11. —Any war or threat of war, whether immediatdy
affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is
hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole League,
and the League shall take any action that may be
deemed wise and effectual...

Article 16. —Should any Member of the League resort to
war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 12, 13,
or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed
an act of war against all other Members of the League,
which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the
severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibi¬
tion of all intercourse between their nationals and the
nationals of the covenant-breaking State, and the pre¬
vention of all financial, commercial or personal inter¬
course between the nationals of the covenant-breaking
State and the nationals of any other State, whether a
Member of the League or not.

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

471

Article 18—Every treaty or international engagpmont en¬
tered into hereafter by any Member of the T^gno s hall
be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall
as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty
or international engagement shall be binding until so
registered.

Article 22.—To those colonies and territories which as a
consequence of the late war have ceased to be nnH<»r the
sovereignty of the States which formerly governed thwn
and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able
to stand by themselves under the strenuous
conditions of the modem world, there should be applied
the principle that the well-being and development of
such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that
securities for the performance of this trust should be
embodied in this Covenant.

The best method of giving practical effect to this principle
is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to
advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their
experience or their geographical position can best undertake
this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that
this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories
on behalf of the League.

Article 23.—Subject to and in accordance with the provi¬
sions of international conventions existing or hereafter
to be agreed upon, the Members of the League:

(a) will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and
humane conditions of labour for men, women, and
children, both in their own countries and in all
countries to which their commercial and industrial
relations extend, and for that purpose will es¬
tablish and maintain the necessary international
organisations;

172

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

( b ) undertake to secure just treatment of the native

inhabitants of territories under their control;

(c) will entrust the League with the general super¬

vision over the execution of agreements with re¬
gard to the traffic in women and children, and the
traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs;

(d) will entrust the League with the general super¬

vision of the trade in arms and ammunition with
countries in which the control of this traffic is
necessary in the common interest;

(e) will make provision to secure and maintain free¬

dom of communications and of transit and equi¬
table treatment for the commerce of all Members
of the League. In this connexion, the special ne¬
cessities of the regions devastated during the war
of 1914—18 shall be borne in mind ;

(/) will endeavour to take steps in matters of inter¬
national concern for the prevention and control
of disease.

N. B.—The first great European to forestall this idea of a
Committee of Nations for securing the Peace of the World .was the
Dutchman Hugo Grotius (1583—1645) whose motto in life was:

‘ I shall never cease to use my utmost endeavours for establishing
peace among Christians; and if I should not succeed it will be
•honourable to die in such an endeavour.’ The great book he wrote
was called De Jure Belli ac Pacts or Concerning the Law of War
and Peace. In it he examined various methods by which interna¬
tional questions might be settled without war, and proposed the
idea of conferences and international arbitration. ‘ But especially
are Christian Kings and States’, he wrote, * bound to try this way
of avoiding war.’ An equally earnest Christian missionary more
recently declared:

The League of Nations is the one great hope of the world
The Peace we must have can come no other way. The present
opportunity is without a parallel in human history. The hour

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

473

is great, even the greatest in the long story of troubled mam.
There is nothing like it in the crowded annals of the mighty
centuries. Lose it, and all is lost. Let it go, and the flood
gates will not be long before they open and the deluge of misery
and death will overwhelm us. Lose it, and the generation that
follows will scorn us for our blindness and cowardice, or want of
zeal and enthusiasm for the welfare of the world. The opportunity
creates a sacred and solemn obligation. Before us is the chance
to save the future ! Woe to us !—unutterable woe to us if we
let it slip by unused.

INDEX

Abbasid Caliphate, 306.
Abraham, 255.

Abu Bekr, 254.

Abu Mount, 314.

Abyssinia, 398, 399, conquest
of, 433.

Adiaeans 115, ,121.

Achilles, 139.

Acre, 282.

Actium, battle of, 179.

Acton, Lord, 454.

Adams, Prof. 352, 368.

Aden, 256.

Adolphus, Gustavus, 379.
Aeneas, 195.

Aeneid, 184.

Aeschylus, 124, 142, 143, 144.
Afghanistan, 92, 212, 255, 305,
410.

Africa, 116, 162, 229, 253, 308,
318, 321, 398, 399, 405, 428,
438, 439, 455.

Africanus, Sdpio, 168.

Agade, 35.

Agamemnon, 118.

Agincourt, 354, 380.

Agra, 364.

Agricola, 197.

Agrippina, 185.

Ahmedshah Abdali, 372.
Ahriman, 94, 108.

Ahura Mazda, 94, 108.
Aitareya Brahmana, 81.
Aix-la-chapelle, Treaty of,
381.

Ajanta, 220, 241.

Ajit Singh, 376.

Akbar, 28, 101, 363, 376.
Akkad, 39, 40.

Akhnaton, 30, 31, 86, 101,
'104.

Alaric, 227, 297, 448.

Albertus Magnus, 296, 322.
Al-Biruni, 260, 311.

Alexander, 92, 95, 119, 134,
135, 139, 153, 157, 167, 181,
387, 388, 390, 415, 420, 430.

Alexander VI, Pope, 320,
324, 394, 454.

Alexandra, 431.

Alexandria, 135, 138, 157, 193.

Alfred the Great, 350.

Alexander III, Pope, 293.

Algeria, 398.

AJhazen, (Abu Ali-al-Hasan
ibn al-Haytham), 260.

Alighar Muslim University,
408.

Allauddin, 311.

Allia, battle of, 223.

Alsace, 357, 379, 380, 392. '

Alsace-Lorraine, 422, 429.

Altamira, 8.

Amaravati, 241.

Amama, 24, 28, 30, 35, 86,
92.

Amboyna, 395.

Amenhotep IV (Akhnaton)
26, 28.

Amenhotep II, 27.

Amenhotep III, 27.

America, 319, 380, 382, 394,
395, 402, 405, 408, 412, 418,
428, 439.

American Independence, war
of, 400.

America, South, 341, 395, 397.

America, (U.S.A.) 137.

Amerigo, Vespucci, 293, 319.

Ammianus Marcellinus, 227.

Anatolia, 96.

Anesaki, 220.

Angelo Michael, 323, 325, 327.
334.

Angkor Vat, 242, 314.

Angles, 229.

Angola, 398.

Angora,, 307.

476

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Animism, 309. _

Annam, 217, 243, 301, 306,
413.

Anne Boleyn, 339.

Antalcidas, Peace of, 133.
Anti-Comintern Pact, 434.
Antioch, 281.

Antiochus of Syria, 170.
Antoninus, 180.

Antoinette, Marie, 374.
Antonius, 202.

Antony, 178, 179.

Anu, 40.

Aquinas Thomas, 259, 278,

279, 296, 322.

Arabia, 28, 66, 86, 96, 192,
232, 251, 252, 253, 255, 410.
Arabs, 33, 257, 258, 262, 264,

280, 308, 309, 310, 329, 394,
425.

Arcadius, 226, 231.
Archimedes, 154, 156.

Arcot, 382, 406.

Argives, 115.

Argus, of Melbourne, 439.
Ariosto, 324.

Aristides, 128, 129.

Aristogiton, 128.

Aristophanes, 142, 145.
Aristotle, 144, 152, 153, 154,
156, 294, 317, 326, 449.
Arkwright, 401.

Armada, 137, defeat of, 394.
Armageddon, 46.

Armeans, 42.

Armenia, 92, 187.

Arnold Matthew, 144, 447.
Ataxerxes, 133, 134.

Arthur, Port, 419.

Aryabhata, 240.

Aryans, 37, 53, 74, 75, 78, 84,
86, 93, 115, 161.

Aryasamaj, 408.

Aryavarta, 309.

Ashur, 42.

Asia, 33, 66, 67, 68, 84, 99,

109, 116, 119, 192, 195, 251,
253, 300, 306, 307, 308, 318,
380, 394, 398, 399, 405, 408,

410, 421, 429, 438, 439, 454,
455.

Asia Minor, 68, 84, 121, 123.
138, 162, 255, 256, 305, 307,
410.

Asoka, 82, 92, 108, 205, 208,
209, 210, 211, 216, 234, 235.
Pillar at Allahabad, 237.

Asquith, 448.

Assurbanipal, (Sardanapalus),
42, 43.

Assyrians, 27, 28, 36, 41, 42,
46, 48, 50, 54, 86, 92, 95,
107, 108, 187, 350, 446.

Assyria, Empire of, 43.

Asvagosha, 213.

Atahualpa, 320.

Ata Turk, (Kemal Pasha),
421.

Atharva Veda, 76.

Athens, 121, 123, 127, 128, 129,
130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137,
138, 142, 145, 157, 160, 161,
163, 166, 182, 185, 292, 294.

Aton, 23.

Attica, 121.

Attila, 227, 228, 292, 448.

Augustan Printipate, 184.

Augsburg, League of, 360.

Augustine, 279.

Augustulus Romulus, 229.

Augustus, 92, 179, 180, 182, 184,
193, 197, 222, 231.

Aurangzeb, 362, 363, 376, 377,
309.

Aurelian, 226.

Aurelius, Marcus, 171, 179, 180,
187, 188, 193, 195, 198, 225.

Australia, 402, 403, 439.

Austria, 264, 308, 350, 360, 361,
362, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382
383, 384, 387, 388, 389, 390,
391, 392, 421, 424, 425, 429,
431, 434.

Archduke of, 424.

Avanti, 75.

Avars, 238, 265.

Aveiroes, (Abu’l-Wahid ibn
Rushd), 259.

INDEX

477

Avesta, 75, 99.

Avicenna, (Abu ‘Ali-al-Husayn
ibn Sina), 259.

Ayodhya, 75.

Azag Bau, 35.

Babur, 308, 362.

Babylon, 28, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40,
42, 43, 44, 46, 50, 51, 55,
56, 62, 84, 88, 91, 116, 350.
Hanging Gardens of, 44.
Babylonia, 5, 42, 54, 92, 95,
445.

Babylonian code, 47, 105.
Babylonians, 104.

Bacon, Francis, 324, 326, 355.
Bacon, Roger, 261, 278, 279,
296, 322, 323.

Bactria, 92, 212.

Badami, 241.

Badr, battle of, 253.

Bagdad, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258,
306, 424.

Caliph of, 310.

Caliphate of, 257.

Bahadur Shah I, 362, 376.
Bailey, Cyril, 196.

Balban, 311.

Balboa, 319.

Bah, 242.

Balisarius, 232.

Balkan Peninsula, 307, 308.
Balkan States, 392.

Baluchistan, 92.

Banerji, R. D. 54.

Barker, Prof. E. 447.
Bartholomew’s Day,

Massacre of, 357.

Bastille, Fall of, 371, 408.
Bathydes, 141.

Bavaria, 384.

Beckel, Thomas, 351.

Behistun, inscriptions of, 95,
311.

Bel, 40.

Bdgium, 362, 389, 390, 398,
425.

Belgola, Sravana, 208.

Belloc, Hilaire, 369.

Belur, 241, 314.

Benares, 83, 239.

Benedictines, 277, 278.

Bengal, 402, 408, 435, 438.
Bergen, 292.

Berlin, 434,

Decrees, 383, 400.

Treaty of, 392, 424.

Bernard of Clairvaux St., 403.
Berosus, 34.

Bethlehem, 184.

Bhagavad Gita, 239.

Bidastu, 221.

Bikaner, Maharaja of, 428.

Bill of Rights, 370.

Bindusara, 208.

Birkenhead, Lord, 275.
Bismarck, 391, 392, 398, 421,
422, 423, 424, 427.

Blenheim, 380.

Blomfield, Sir Reginald, 158.
Boccacdo, 293, 299, 322.
Bodhidhanna, 218, 242, 302.
Bohemia, 378, 391.

Boileau, 359.

Bolivar, Simon, 397.

Bolivia, ,397.

Bologna, University of, 296.
Bombay, 407.

Boniface, 277, Pope 331.
Borkum, 423.

Borneo, 242.

Borobudur, 242, 314.

Borsippa, 48.

Bosnia, 424.

Boxer Revolt, 414, 435.
Brahmanism, 80, 104, 236, 309.
Brahmo Samaj, 408,

Bramante, 334.

Brandenburg, Duke of, 384.
Brazil, 320, 395.

Breasted, J. H., 15, 24, 26, 30,
33, 127, 165, 170.

Brindavan, 310.

Bruniquel, 8.

Brutus, 179.

Buddha, 70, 78, 81, 82, 94, 103,
104, 108, 214, 278, 309.

478

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Buddhism, 80, 205, 211, 213,
214, 215, 218, 220, 221, 234,
236, 241.

Bulgaria, 425, 329.

Bunyan, 297.

Burges, 292.

Burgundians, 227, 232.

Burke, Edmund, 370, 407.
Burma, 82, 205, 211, 306, 313,
410, 413.

Bury, Prof. 124, 147,

Butler, Samuel, 459.

Buxar, 377, 406.

Byblos, 96.

Byron, 292, 390.

Byzantium, 180, 226, 232.

Caesar, 157, 176, 177, 178, 198,
277.

Caesar Borgia, 324.

Ceasar Julius, 169, 171, 196,

202 .

Ceasar, Octavian, 162, 179,

999 994

Cairo,’ 19,'30, 253, 258.

Calais, 355.

Calcutta, 407.

Calicut, 319.

Caligula, 185.

Caliphate, 432.

Caliphs, 253.

Callimachus, 157.

Calonne, 373.

Calvin, 337, 338.

Calvinism, 357.

Cambodia, 242, 244, 313.
Cambridge, 296.

Cambyses, 91, 92, 123,
Camillus, 223.

Canaanites, 87.

Canada, 382, 396.

Cannae, battle of, 168.

Canton, 303, 411, 412.

Cape Colony, 399.

Cape of Good Hope, 319, 399.
Cape-to-Cairo Railway, 399.

Cappadocia, 75, 92.

Caracalla, 188.

edict of, 226.

Carchemish, ruins of, 86.
Carinthia, 362.

Carlyle, 297, 369, 441.
Camorvon, Lord, 19.

Carra de Vaux, Baron, 262.
Carter Dr. 19.

Carthage, 135, 167, 168, 169,

170, 192, 292, 356.
Carthaginians, 233.

Cartwright, 401.

Cassius, 179.

Catherine, 339, 388, 430.
Catherine II, 387.

Catholic Emancipation Act, 404.
Cato, 161, 191, 194.

Catullus, 195.

Caucasus, 66, 92.

Caviglia, Captain, 16.

Varrous, 391.

Caxton, 323.

Central Asia, 256.

Central Europe, 307.

Central India, 314.

Cervantes, 324, 325.

Ceylon, 82, 193, 205, 211, 213.
Chalcolithic, 56.

Chaldeans, 44, 49, 88.
Chalukyas, 238.

Champa, conquest of, 243.
Champollion, 18.

Chanakya or Kautilya, 206.
Chandragupta Maurya, 206 r
207.

Chandragupta I, 236.

Chang Kaishek, 436.
Charlemagne, (Charles the
Great), 264, 265, 267, 268,
271, 284, 294, 295.
successors of, 349.

Charles Anjou, 272.

Charles I, of England, 368,
369, 372.

Charles II, Emperor, 334, 360,
361, 365.

Charles, Martel, 255, 264, 265,
280.

INDEX

479

Charles II, 370, 396.

Charles VI, 357, 380.

Charles XII, 387.

Chatham, 396.

Chaucer, 299, 322.

Chengiz Khan, 305, 306, 362.
Child, Sir Josiah 416.

Childe, Prof. 55.

China, 68, 69, 72, 73, 82, 83,
84, 103, 104, 106, 108, 205,
210, 214, 217, 218, 219, 220,
221, 227, 242, 300, 301, 302,
304, 305, 306, 314, 341, 350,
405, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413,
414, 415, 419, 435, 436, 437,
446.

Boxer revolt in, 436.

Great Wall of, 106, 108, 307.
Chinese, 318, 323.

Cholas, 313.

Christ, 94, 109, 274, 275.
Christendom, 268, 283.
Christianity, 227, 230, 264,

274, 303, 306, 341, 417.
Christians, 254, 265.

persecution of, 189.

Cicero, 174, 175, 176, 195, 196.
Cilicia, 92, 170.

Cinna, 177.

Cipango (Japan), 319.

Clark, W. E., 239, 240.
Claudius, 185.

Cleisthenes, 128, 129, 163.
Clemenceau, 428.

Cleon, 145.

Cleopatra, 157, 176, 179.
Clermont, Great Council of,
281.

Clive,* 382, 406, 416.

Clovis, 274.

Cnossus, 116, 117, 119, 122.
Colombia, 397.

Columbus, 319, 323, 394.
Comitia Centuriata, 164.
Comitia Tributa, 164.
Commodus, 188.

Confucius, 70, 72, 74, 83,
103, 104, 108, 220.

teachings of, 71.
Confucianism, 218.

Congo, 398.

Conrad III, 282.

Constance, 271.

Great Council of, 332.
Constantine, 180, 188, 231.
Constantinople, 171, 180, 23L
232, 251, 255, 264, 282, 293,
307, 322, 392, 429, 448.
capture of, 281, 317, 321,

OCiLl,

Continental System, 383, 400.
Cook, captain, 402.
Coomaraswamy, Dr. Ananda K.
241.

Copernicus, 323.

Corcyra, 131.

Cordoba, 253, 258, 317.
Corinth, ,13.

destruction of, 170.

Corneille, 359.

Corsica, 162, 167.

Cortez, 320.

Counter-Reformation, 340.
Crassus, 176.

Creasy, 124.

Crecy, 353, 380.

Crete, 12, 55, 62, 63, 116, 117.
Crimean War, 392, 430.
Croesus, 91, 125, 141.
Cro-Magnon, 9.

Crompton, 401.

Cromwell, 369.

Crusades, 267, 280, 281, 282,
289, 317, 449.

Curzon, Lord, 407, 438.
Cuxhaven, 423.

Cyprian, St., 275.

Cyprus, 170, 282, 308.

Cyrene, 82.

Cyrus, 91, 123, 126, 134.
Czechoslovakia, 429, 434, 435.

Dacia, 187.

Da Gama, Vasco, 318, 394.
Daigo, 221.

Dalmatia, 230.

Dalhousie; 406.

480

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Danes, 265, 286.

Dante, 138, 199, 259, 293, 297,
298, 323.

Danton, 431.

Danube, 307.

Danzig, 429.

Dardanelles, 392.

Darius, 91, 92, 93, 106, 123,
124.

Darius III, 134.

Darwin, Charles, 4, 456.
David, 87, 88, 89, 91.

Davis, 73, 375.

Da Vinci, Leonardo, 261, 322,
323, 451, 452.

Dayanand Saraswati, Swami,
408.

Deccan, 236.

Decius, 226.

Deir-el-Bahri, Great Temple of,
26.

Delhi, 203, 311, 312, 364, 377.
Delphi, 131.

Denmark, 378, 387, 391.
Deogiri, 311.

Descartes, 261.

Diaz, Bartholomew, 318.
Diderot, 388.

Diocletian, 179, 180, 182, 188,
226.

Dionysius, 159.

Diophantus, 154.

Diplomatic Revolution, 381.
Doge, 293.

Dokri, 55.

Dominic, 280.

Dominicans, 277, 279.
Domitian, 187, 197.

Dorians, 121.

Dorsey, G. A. 28, 195.

Draco, 126, 127.

Dravidian, 37.

Drinkwater, John, 325.

Dryden, 199.

Dupleix, 382.

Durant, Will, 10, 50, 93, 323,
416, 419, 435.

Durer, Albercht, 327.

Durgadas, 376.

Dur-Sharrukin, (or Sargon-
burg), 42.

Dutch, 377.

Dwara Samudra, Hoysalas of.
314.

East India Company, 402.

404, 407, 408, 412.

Ebert, 433.

Echbatana, 91.

Ecuador, 397.

Edessa, 282.

Edward I, 352.

Edward VI, 339, 355.

Edward III, 353.

Edwards, S. M. 363.

Egypt, 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 21, 33,
34, 36, 42, 46, 50, 53, 54,
55, 59, 62, 64, 67, 82, 84, 92
95, 99, 103, 104, 106, 107,
116, 135 138, 157, 170; 176,
192, 255, 256, 316, 350, 398
445, 446.

British occupation of, 422.
Golden Age, 28.

Sultan of, 307.

Egyptologist, 18.

Egyptology, Columbus of, 18.
Einstein, 456.

Elam, 35, 39, 41, 45.

Elizabeth, 355, 363.

Ellura, Kailas Temple of, 314.
Emmanuel, Victor, of Sardinia,
391.

England, 129, 137, 195, 279,
290, 322, 330, 332, 336, 339,

350, 351, 353, 355, 356, 360,

361, 363, 365, 367, 376, 377,

378, 380, 381, 383, 386, 388,

389, 390, 391, 392, 394, 396,

400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405.

406, 407, 415, 419, 421, 424,

428, 436, 450, 452.

Epictetus, 198.

Epirus, 82.

Erasmus, 278, 332, 333, 339.
Eretria, 123, 399.

INDEX

481

Esthonia, 387, 429.

Etruscans, 165, 166, 167.

Ethiopia, 319.

Eucjid, 154.

Eucleides, 156.

Eucrates, 145.

Euphrates, 27, 33, 36, 37, 53,
171.

Euripides, 124, 142, 144.

Europe, 66, 67, 68, 84, 98, 99,
101, 109, 116, 117, 227, 232,
233, 253, 255, 257, 258, 259,
263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 272,
273, 277, 281, 283, 285,
291, 294, 301, 307, 308, 323,
330, 349, 350, 354, 363, 369,
370, 374, 380, 383, 385, 388,
390, 392, 393, 394, 395, 403,
404, 405, 406, 408, 418, 419,
421, 426, 429, 430, 434, 435,
439, 448, 449, 450, 454, 455.
Concert of, 430.

Medieval, 50.

Reformation in, 329.

Evans, Sir Arthur, 116, 117.

Fabius, 168.

Fa-Hian, 214, 237, 242, 302.
Faraday, 452.

Fascism, 435.

Fascist Italy, Dictatorship in,
433.

Fathpur Sikri, 364.

Ferdinand, 361.

Ferdinand II, Emperor, 379.
Ferdinand VII, 397.

Finland, 429.

Firdausi, 311.

Fisher, Bishop, 339.

Fisher, Prof. 266..

Flenley, Prof. 355.

Florence, 292, 293, 294, 297,
298, 322.

Formosa, 413.

Fra Angelico, 278.

Fiance, 137, 168, 203, 229, 264,
332, 336, 338, 350, 353, 354,
356, 357, 365, 373, 375, 378,

379, 380, 381, 382, 388, 389,
390, 391, 392, 396, 398, 399,
400, 405, 408, 413, 414, 421,
422, 424, 425, 427, 428, 429,
436, 452.

Bank of, 375.

Franks, 264.

Franche, Comte, 360, 380.

Franciscans, 277.

Francis I, 361.

Franco, General, 435.

Frankfort, Diet at, 384,
Treaty of, 422.

Frankish Empire, 264.

Franklin, 452.

Frazer, Prof. 322.

Frederick Barbarosa, 268, 271*
282.

Frederick the Great, 272, 362',
381, 384, 385, 386, 398.

Frederick, the Elector Palatine,
379

Frederick II, 271, 272, 380.

Frederick William, 384, 385.

Freeman, 222.

French Academy, 18. ,

French Revolution, 289, 370,
371, 374, 376, 382, 388, 400,
43*1.

Fukien, 414.

Funan, 243.

Gabriel, Angel, 252.

Galerius, Emperor, 274.

Galileo, 293, 323.

Gandhi, 297.

Gardiner, A. G. 423.

Gardner, Prof. Percy, 138, 142,
158.

Garribaldi, 391.

Gaul, 162.

Geneva, 337, 355, 429, 470.
Genoa, 292, 293.

George, Lloyd, 428.

George III, 370, 382, 411.
German, confederation, North,

326 .

Germany, 123, 203, 264, 271,
331, 332, 336, 350, 360, 375,

482

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

379, 384, 385, 386, 387, 391,

398, 399, 405, 413, 414, 421,

422, 423, 425, 426, 427, 429,

430, 431, 433, 436.

Ghazni Mahmud of, 260, 310,
314.

Ghibellines, 298.

Gibbon, 192, 202, 222, 254,
255, 263, 28(1.

Gibraltar, 380.

Gilgamesh, Legend of, 47.

Gizeh, pyramids of. 24.

Goethe, 239, 459.

Good Hope, Cape of, 318.

Goths, 226, 227.

Govind Sing, Sikh Guru, 376.

Grachhi, 219.

Granada, Arab Kingdom of,
258, Alhambra in, 261.

Great War, 392, 399, 420, 423,
425, 426, 431, 432, 433, 436,
438 439

Greece, 36,‘ 38, 50, 74,' 98, 115,
125, 137, 138, 160, 162, 163,
195, 233, 240, 252, 295, 322,
390, 415, 425, 435, 445, 446,
447.

Greeks, 33, 47, 97, 101, 122,
122, 124, 138, 139, 140, 153,
161, 167, 182, 192, 240, 282,
316, 321, 415.

Greek, War of Independence,
137.

Green, John Richard, 396.

Gregory, VII, Pope, 269, 270,
276, 277, 279.

Grey, Viscount, 420.

Guelphs, 298.

Guinea Coast, 398.

Guises, 338.

Guptas, 214, 236,

Golden age of, 234, 238.

Guttenberg, 323.

Habsburgs, 360, 361, 378, 379,
381

Hadrian, 180, 187, 225.

Hague, 430.

Halebid, 314.

Hamilcar, Barca, 168.
Hammerton, J. A. 22.
Hammond, Prof. 193, 401.
Hammurabi, 39, 40, 42, 103,
104, 107, 126, Code, 40, 47,
51, 87, 104.

Hampden, 372.

Han dynasty, 218, 301.
Hannibal, 168, 170.

Hanseatic League, of North
Germany, 297.

Hans Holbein, 327.

Harappa, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58,
75, 108, 116.

Hargreave, 401.

Har-Megiddo, battle of, 27.
Harold, 351.

Haroun-al-Raschid, 255.

Harsha, 205, 211, 214, 216,
237, 308.

Hasdrubal, 168.

Hatshepsut, Queen, 16, 26, 27,
35, 87.

Havell, E. B. 236, 257, 308.
Heamshaw, Prof. 31, 44, 69,
95, J24, 320, 335, 448.
Heath, Sir Thomas, 156.
Hebrews 85, 86, 87, 90, 91,
93, 95, 109.

Heliopolis, 16.

Hellas, 93, 135.

Hellespont, 127.

Herbart, 139.

Henry VIII, 339, 352, 354,
361.

Henry V, 270, 354.

Henry I, 275.

Henry IV, 268, 269, 270, 272,
276.

Henry IV, Holy Roman Em¬
peror, 351.

Henry of Navarre, 338, 357.
Henry II, 275, 338, 351, 352.
Henry VI, 354, 368.

Heraclius, 255.

Herculaneum, 186.

Herodotus, 15, 21, 137, 146.
Heron, 157, 451.

Heroze Govina, 424.

INDEX

Hesiod, 142.

Hezekiah, 42, 43.

Hideyoshi, 413, 416.

Hinayana, 213.

Hindu India, 310, 313.
Hinduism, 213, 214, 234, 236,
309, 312.

Hindus, 60, 139, 312.
Hindustan, 234, 235, 307.
Hinks, 34.

Hipparchus, 128.

Hippias, 128.

Hippocrates, 154, 155, 156.
Hiram I, 97.

Hissarlik, Mound, 119.

History, meaning of, 3.

Hitler, Herr, 123, 434.

Hittites, 27, 42, 85, 86, 87,
145 .

Hogarth 42.

Hohenstaufens, 268, 272, 276.
Hohenzollem, 360, 385.
house of, 384.

Holland, 327, 332, 336, 360, 369,
378, 380, 383, 386, 389, 390.
Holstein, 391.

Homer, 115, 116, 118, 120, 130,
139, 142.
poems of, 76.

Hong Kong, 412, 413.
Honorius, 226, 227.

Horace, 184, 195.

Horns, 23.

Hsiao Tsung, 41,1.

Hubert Van Eyek, 327. •
Hudson river, 396.

Huen Tsang, 205, 2l3, 214, 215,
216, 217, 237, 242, 302.
Hugh Capet, 355.

Huguenots, 338.

Hulagu, 306,

Hunas, 237.

Hundred Years’ War, 425.
Hungarians, 286.

Hungary, 306, 308, 362, 391,

Huns, 226, 227.

Huss, 332.

Hyksos, 25, 26, 37.

Hyphasis or Beas, 135.

Iberian Peninsula, 255.

Ibn Battuta, 311.

Ibn Khaldun, 441.

Ilbert Bill, 408.

II Duce, 123, 433.

Iliad, 115, 120, 127.

Illyricum, 162.

Iltutmish, 311.

Imad-ud-din Muhammad, (ibn
Kasim), 3,10.

India, 55, 66, 68, 74, 75, 82, 83,
84, 89, 96, 104, 108, 122, 146,
161, 192, 205, 210, 211, 212,
213, 218, 227, 234, 235, 236,
240, 241, 253, 256, 260, 277,
291, 300, 302, 307, 308, 309,
310, 311, 312, 3.14, 318, 319,
341, 350, 362, 365, 376, 377,
380, 382, 401, 402, 404, 405,
406, 407, 409, 410, 416, 419,
428, 430, 435, 437, 439, 445,

■ 446.

Their Majesties’ visit to, 438.

Indian National Congress, 409,
438.

Indo-Aryans, 84, 115, 122, 161.

Indo-Bactriaiis, 236.

Indo-China, 69, 218, 243, 313.

Indo-Parthians, 236.

Indo-Scythians, 236.

Indus, 53, 92, 446.
civilisation of, 56.
culture, 54.

Industrial Revolution, 9, 402,
404, 406, 42i; 450.

Innocent III, 272, 279, 283.

International Justice,

Permanent Court of, 430.

International Labour Organisa¬
tion, 430.

Ionia, 92.

Iran,-84, 446.

Iranians, 93.

Ireland, 338, 369, 404,

Isabella of Castile, 319.

Isabella of Spain, 361.

Ishtar Gate, 44.

484

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Islam, 232, 252, 255, 303, 308,
309, 310, 398.

Birth of, 316.

Hindu converts to, 312.
rise of, 251.

Islamic Science,

Golden Age of, 259.

Ismael, 255.

Israel, 445.

Israelites, 82, 88, 90, 91, 104.

Italy, 123, 135, 162, 167, 1G3,
171, 195, 203, 224, 229, 230,
232, 268, 292, 322, 327, 332,
336, 360, 366, 375, 379, 390,
391, 398, 399, 422, 425, 428,

429, 430, 433, 434.

Ivan the Terrible, 386.

Iyeyasu; 416, 417.

Jains, 313.

Jainism, 2J4, 309.

James I, 368, 379.

.James II, 370.

Japan, 68, 82,137,205,214,217,
219, 220, 221, 306, 405, 409,

410, 413, 414, 415, 416, 41.7,

418, 419, 420, 421, 425, 430,

43*4, 435, 436, 437, 439.

Sea of, 431.

Java, 242.

Jayavarma, 243.

Jehangir, 368.

Jemappes, 383.

Jerusalem, 43, 87, 88, 89, 186,
187, 272, 280, 282, 283.
temple of, 229.

Jesuits, 277, 340, 341.

Jesus, 185, 255, 280.
birth of, 184.

Jews, 33, 44, 186, 187, 189, 230,
231, 254.

Jeziya, 254.

John, King, 252, 356, 367.

John, Philippe, 356.

Johnson, Dr. 459.

Joseph II, 362, 388, 397.

Judaea, 185.

Judah, 44.

Juggurtha (King of Numidia),
172.

Jugoslavia, 429.

Justinian, 203, 232.

code of, 202.

Jutes, 229.

Juvenal, 193.

Kabir, 312.

Kadesh, battle of, 86.

Kailas, Temple at Ellura, 24.
Kaiser, 433.

Kalidasa, 239.

Kanagawa, Treaty of, 418.
Kiang Hsi, 411.

Kalingas, annexation of, 208.
Kanishka, 211, 212, 214, 236.
Kanouj, 237, 310, 314.

Pratiharas of, 313.

Kaiivas, 235.

Kappel, 337.

Kara Korum, 306.

Kamak, 31, 35.

, Great Temple of, ,16.
Kashgar, 212.

Kashi, 75.

Kashmir, 314.

Kaundinya, 243.

Kaunitz, Count, 381.

Kautilya, 235.

Kassites, 41, 42.

Keatinge, Prof. 322.

Keats, 139.

Kemal, 421.

Kepler, Johann, 261, 323.
Khaljis, 311.

Khan, Kublai, 304, 305, 306,
314, 409, 416.

Khan, Sir Saiyyad Ahmad, 408.
Khafre, King, 16.

Great Sphinx of, 25.

Khotan, 212.

Khufu (Cheops), 25.

Kiaochow Bay, 414.

Kiel Canal, 423.

Kimberley, diamond mines of,
399.

Kinmei, 221.

Kish, 35, 39.

INDEX

485

Knox, John, 338.

Korea, 68, 217, 218, 219, 221,
4JL0, 413, 415, 416, 419, 437.
Kosala, 82.

Krishna I, Rashtrakuta, 314.
Kshatriyas, 81.

Kumarajiva, 242.

Kumara Vijaya, 302.

Kurdistan, 45.

Kushans, 236.

Kyoto, 221.

Lablache, Vidal, 148,

Laconia, 121.

Lagash, 38, 39.

Lamartine, 458.

Lang, Andrew, 120.

Langdon, 34.

Laotze, 70, 71, 83, 104, 108.
Larkana, 53.

Larsa, 38.

Latvia, 429.

Laussanne, Treaty of, 432.
Laussel, 8.

Layard, 34, 44.

League of Nations, 428, 429,
430, 437.
covenant of, 469.

Lebanon, 95.

Lenin, Nicolai, 337, 431.

Leo I, Pope, 227, 228.

Leo X, 322.

Leo III, Pope, 265.

Leopold, Emperor, 383.

Leopold II, 388.

Lepidus, 178,

Leplay, 148.

Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 399.
Liang, dynasty, 301.

Libya, 399.

Lidnian Law, 165.

Lincoln's Inn Fields, 17.

Lisbon, 319.

Lithuania, 429.

Livingstone, David, 142, 153,
398, 447.

Livonia, 387.

Livy, 184, 195, 197.

Lodi, Ibrahim, 362.

Lollards, 331.

Lombard League, 271.
Lombards, 229, 265.

Lombardy, 452. ■

Lomenie de Brienne, 373.
London, 203, 292, 352.

Lorenzo (Medici), 322.
Lorraine, 357, 392.

Lothaire, 267.

Louis XVIII, 389.

Louis XI, 356.

Louis XV, 371.

Louis XIV,, 356, 359, 360, 361,
362, 363, 371, 375, 379, 380.
Louis IX, 356.

Louis the Pious, 267.

Louis VII, 282.

Louis XVI, 372, 431.

Louis XIII, 357.

Louvre Museum, 107.

Loyola St Ignatius, 340.

Lu (Province of), 72.

Lucretius, 195, 200, 201.
Lucullus, 193.

Ludovico Sfroza of Milan, Duke,
452.

Luther, Martin, 331, 333, 334,
335, 337.

Lutzen, battle of, 379.
Luxemburg, 360, 380.

Luxor and Kamak,
temples of, 107.

Lycurgus, 140, 141.

Lydia, 92.

Macao-, 411.

Macartney, Earl of, 411.
Macaulay, J47, 381, 385, 458.
Macedonia, 82, 124, 133, 137,
162, 192, 226.

Machiavelli, 293, 324.

Mackail, Prof. 196, 199, 200.
Mackay, Dr. Ernest, 54, 57, 61,
62, 64.

Madagascar, 398.

Madjapahit, 313.

Madras, 407.

Madura, Pandyas of, 314.
Maecenas, 184.

486

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Maiuri, Prof. Amedio, 186.
Magadha, 82.

Magellan, 319.

Magna Cartas 330, 352, 367.
Magna Graecia, Greeks of, 166.
Mahabharata, 121, 238, 239.
Mahavir, 81.

Mahayana, 213, 236.

Mahmud, 31J.

Malacca, 313.

Malay, 66.

Malay Archipelago, 313.
Malaysia, 306.

Malory, 299.

Malplaquet, 380.

Manchukuo, 437.

Manchuria, 218, 410, 414, 437.
Mangu, 306.

Manu, 103, 133.

Marduk, 39.

Maria Theresa, 361, 362.
Marathon, 143.

Marathas, 376, 377, 406.

Marco Polo, 304, 305, 306, 317,
409, 410, 416.

Marcus Aurelius, 162, 190.
Marechale, Lady, 364.

Marie Antoinette, 431.

Marius, 173, 176, 177.
Marlborough, Duke of, 380.
Marshall, Sir John, 54, 60, 63, ’
2flL0.

Martin Behaim, 319.

Martin V, Pope, 332.

Martius, Ancus, 163.

Marvin, F. S., 124, 393, 451.
Marx, Carl, 431.

Mathura, 310, 314.

Matthews, Basil, 420.

Mauryas, 235.

Maximilian I. Emperor, 360,
361.

May Flower, 396.

Masaryk, 429.

Mazarin, Cardinal, 358.

Mazzini, 391, 407.

MicQure, S. S. 439.

Mecca, 252, 253.

Medes, 44. 46, 85. 86. 91.

Medina, 253.

Mediterranean, 28, 84, 308.
Megasthenes, 206, 207, 215.
Meiji Era, 418.

Meiji Tenno, 418.

Memphis, 24, 31, 35.
Menander, 211, 236.

Menes, 23, 24.

Marodach, 40.

Merovingian, Kings, 265.
Mesopotamia, 11, 33, 34, 37, 39,
42, 53, 55, 59, 62, 63, 67, 95,
103, 120, 187, 307.

Messiah, 25.

Mettemich, 389, 391.

Metz, 379, 380.

Mexico, 320, 395, 397.
Meyerhof, Dr. Max. 259.
Michael Angelo, 293, 298.
Mihira Bhoja, 313.

Milan, 224, 227, 327, 362.
Milton, 138, 201.

Ming dynasty, 341, 410, 411.
Minorca, 380.

Mirabeau, 373.

Mithila, 75.

Mithradates, 175.

Mitanni, 27.

Mohenjodaro, 12, 53, 66, 68,
74, 75, 108, 116.

Moliere, 354.

Moltke, Von, 39,1.

Moluccas, 319.

Mongolia, 305, 410.

Mongols, 257, 300, 303, 305,
306, 307, 314.

Montague, 394, 395.
Montanegro, 429.

Monte Cassino, 278.

Montfort, Simon de, 352.
Montgomery district, 53.
Mookerji, Prof. Radhakumud,
237.

Moors, 286, 294, 216, 449.
Moravia, 362.

More, Sir Thomas, 326, 339.
Morley-Minto Reforms, ‘ 438.
Morocco, 398, 435.

French. 424.

INDEX 487

Moscow, 307, 387.

Grand Dukes of, 386.

Moses, 40, 86, 87, 103, 104,
126.

Moti Masjid, 364.

Mughal Empire, 308, 309, 363,
405, 406.

Muhammadans, 309.
Muhammad, Prophet, 28, 252,
253, 254, 308, 311.

Teachings of, 294.

Muhammad II, 307.

Mummies, 14, 17.

Munroe Doctrine, 397.

Mundo, 232.

Murray, Prof. Gilbert, 122.
Muslims, 265.

Muslim League, 438.

Mussolini, Benito, 433, 448.
Mycale, battle of, 124.

Mycenae, 116, 118, 3JL9, 120,

121 .

Myers, 187.

Mysore, 55, 62, 208, 314.

Nadirshah, 377.

Nagabhata, 313.

Nagaoka, 221.

Nagarjuna, 213, 236.

Nagarkot, 310.

Nagasena, 211.

Nalanda, 214, 239.

Nanak, 312.

Nanking, 411.

Treaty of, 4J2.

Nantes, Edict of, 338, 357, 359.
Naples, 271.

Napoleon, Bonaparte, 18, 134,
135, 361, 372, 374, 379, 383,
388, 389, 390, 400, 406, 459.
Napoleon III, 392.

Nara, 221.

Narses, 232.

Natal, 399.

Nazi Party in Germany, 434.
Nearchus, 206.

Nebuchadrezzar, 44, 88, 125.
Necker, 372.

Nero, Claudius, 168, 185, 187,
190, 193.

Nerva, 187.

Ness Myers, Philip Van, 328.
Netherlands, 375, 360, 365, 366,
383

New York, 16, 396.

New Amsterdam, Dutch, 396.
New England, 396.

New Jersey, 396.

Newton, 456.

Nicolas II, 431.

Nicopolis, 307.

Nieburh, ,160.

Nietzsche, 422.

Nightingale, Florence, 408.

Nile, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24, 54,

446.

Nilgiri Hills, 55.

Nine Power Pact, 437.

Nineveh, 35, 36, 37, 42, 43, 45,
49, 51, 107, 108, 170, 192.
destruction of, 38.

Ningal, 38.

Ningpo, 411.

Nippur, 38.

Nirvana, 214.

Nitobe, 419.

Normandy, 351, 354.

Normans, 286, 290.

Norway, 389.

Novgorad, 292.

Numa, 162.

Nuremberg, 322.

Obelisks, 16.

Octavian, 129, 184.

Odoacer, 229, 231, 263.
Odyssey, 115, 121, 139.

Ogg, David, 337,

Oghotai, 306.

Olympiad, 131.

Olympus, Mount, 130.

Omar Khayyam, 262.

Opium wars, 412.

Oppert, 34.

Orange Free State, 399.
Orlando, 428.

Orleans, 337, 354.

488

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Osiris, 22. Peter the Great of Russia, 362

Ostrogoths, 227, 232, 279. 386, 387, 430.

Otto the Great, 271, 285. Peter the Hermit, 280, 281, 283

Otto the Saxon, 267. Peter, St. 275.

Ottoman Empire, 308. Peter, the See of St. 449.

Oudenarde, 380. Petersburgh, St. 387.

Ovid, 184, 195. Petrarch, 293, 299, 321, 322

Oxford, 296. 323, 353.

Petrie, Sir Flinders, 17, 3a
Padua, 227. Phaestus, 116.

Palas of Bengal, 313. Pharaohs, ,19, 22, 23, 106.

Palestine, 45, 61, 86, 90, 92, 95, Philip, 134.

103, 108, 109, ,192, 282.
Pallavas, 238, 313.

Pamir, 36.

Panama, 319.

Pandyas, 313.

Panini, 239.

Panipat 119,

168, 362, 382.

Paramars of Malwa, 313.
Paschal II, Pope, 270.

Paris, 337, 353, 390, 392.
German occupation of, 422.
Peace of, 382, 396.
Pataliputra, 206, 207, 215.
Patesi, 38.

Paul I, 388.

Paul, St 275.

Paul III, 340.

Paulus, 192.

Pedro, Don, 397.

Pegu, 313.

Peisistratus, 123,127.

Peking, 306, 411, 413.

Pepin, 265.

Pergamum, 170.

Pericles,. ,129, 142, 145, 149.
Periclean age, 137.

Perry, Commodore, 418.
Persepolis, 91, 95.

Persia, 36, 74, 92,. 96, 103, 108,
109, 123, 253, 255, 303, 305,
307, 319, 350, 410, 415, 446.
Persians, 44, 46, 48, 86, 90, 91,
93, 115, 233.

Peru, 320, 395, 397.

Pescadores, 413.

Peter Abelard, 296.

Philip V, 380.

Philippe IV, 356.

Philippe, Louise, 390, 391.
Philip of Macedon, 170.
Philippine Islands, 314, 319.
Philip II, 282, 356.

Philip II of Spain, 361, 365.
Philippi, battle of, 179.

Philip the Fair, 331, 332.
Philistines, 43.

Phillips, Prof. Alison, 372. **
Phoenicia, 92.

Phoenicians, 43, 85, 86, 95, 96,
97, 166, 169.

Phrygia, 92.

Pilate, Pontius, 184, 185.
Pilgrim Fathers, 396.

Pindar, 142.

Pitt William, 403.

Pius, 180.

Pizarro, 320.

Plassey, 377, *406.

Plataea, battle of, 124.

Plato, 152, 153, ,154.

Pliny, 186, 189, 202.

Plutarch, 128, 141, 197.

Poitiers, 353.

Poitou, 380.

Poland, 306, 362, 387, 390, 392,
429, 435.

partitions of, 388, 389.

Polish corridor, 429.

Polybius, 197.

Pompeii, 186.

Pompey, 175, 176.

Pondicherry, capture of, 382.
Pontus, 192.

INDEX

489

Poor Laws, 404.

Port Arthur, 413, 414.

Portugal, 360, 380, 383, 398,
454.

Portuguese, 318, 319, 320, 377,
394, 395, 397.

Porus of Taxila, 134.

Prarthana Samaj, 408.

Priestley, 231.

Priscus, Tarquinius, ,163.

Prithvi Raj Chauhan, 311.
Protestantism, 334, 335, 336,
339, 340, 355.

Prussia, 360, 379, 380, 381, 382,
383, 384, 385, 388, 389, 390,
391, 421, 422, 429.

Ptolemy, 318.

Pu Yi, 436, 437.

Punjab, 53, 55, 75, 92, 307,
408.

Puranas, Hindu, 47, 237.
Pnrushapura, 212.

Puchyamitra Sanga, 211, 234,
235.

Pyramids, 14, 15,
age of, 24.

Pyrrus of Epirus, 167, 170.
Pythagoras, 154, 155.

Quebec, 382, 396.

Quintilian, 199.

Ra, 21.

Rabelais, 324, 325.

Racine, 359.

Rajaraja 3,13.

Rajendra, 313.

Ramayaiia, 121, 239.

Rameses, 125.

Ramilles, 380.

Ram Mohan Roy, 408.
Ranade, Mahadev Govind, 408.
Raphael, 327, 334.
Rashtrakutas of Deccan, 313.
Ravenna, 230, 231.

Rawlinson, H. G. 210, 213.
Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 34.

Ray Chaudhuri, 238.

Razia, 311.

Reade, Winwood, 96, 169.

Red Revolution, 431.

Red Sea, 308.

Reform Act, 404.

Reformation, 338, 339, 349, 366,
367, 378, 394, 395.

Regulating Act 407.

Reign of Terror, 374.

Remus, 161.

Renaissance, 99, 290, 315, 322,
325, 326, 327, 329, 449, 450.
Renon, 6, 68.

Rhazes, 259.

Rheims, Cathedral, 413.

Rhodes, Cedi, 399.

Rhodesia, 399.

Ricci, Matteo, 41,1.

Richard Coeur de Lion, 282.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 357, 358,
379.

Rig Veda, 75, 76, 78, 93.

Ripon, Lord, 408.

Robinson, Prof. 264, 277, 336.
Roman Catholic Church, 340.
Roman Empire, 57.
fall of, 263.

Rome, 36, 50, 66, 92, 98, 109,.
120, 137, 160, 161-181, 192,
223, 227, 228, 233, 241, 292,
295, 297, 321, 322, 333, 334,
350, 355, 404, 433, 434, 445^
446 448
Romanoffs, 386.

Romulus, 161, 162.

Romulus Augustulus, 263.
Rontgen, 453.

Rousseau, 297, 408, 431.
Rumania, 429.

Rupar, 55.

Rushforth, 196, 203.

Russell, Bertrand, 4,10, 413.
Russia, 66, 137, 306, 350, 384 r
386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 392,
413, 414, 415, 419, 421, 422,
424, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431,
432, 436.

Russo-Japanese War, 414, 435.
Rutter, Frank, 159.

Ryswick, Peace of, 360.

490 A BRIEF SURVEY OF

,Saar Valley, 429.

Sabutai, 306.

Sadowa, 421.

Sagala, 211.

Sahara, 171.

Sahni, Rai Bahadur Dayaram,
54.

Saladin, 282.

Salamis. 124, 143, 166.

Salerno, University of, 296.
Salisbury Oath, 351.

Samudra Gupta, 237.

Sanchi, Stupa of, 2,10.

Sappho, 142, 143.

Saracens, 286, 316.

Sardinia, 162, 167.

Sargon, 39.

Sargon II, 42.

Samath, Lion Capital of, 210.
Satavahanas, 238.

Saul, 87, 88, 91. ■

Saunders, Kenneth, 205, 221.
Sautuola Senor Marcelino de, 8.
Savoy, 360, 380.

Saxons, 229, 265.

Saxony, 384.

Scandinavia, 66.

Schleswig, 39.

Schliemann, Dr. Heinrich, 116,
118, 119, 120.

Schopenhauer, 78.

Scotland, 338, 352.

Sedan, 392, 422.

Seigmund, 297.

Seleucus Nicator, 206.

Seljuk Turks, 280.

Seneca, 185, 198, 202.

Sen, Keshab Chandra, 408.
Senacherib, 42, 43, 45.

Septimius Severus, 226.
Serajevo, 424.

Serbia, 424, 429.

Seti II, 25.

Seven Years’ War, 380, 38,1,
382, 385, 396, 400, 406.
Sevres, Treaty of, 432.
Shakespeare, 324, 325, 355.
Shanghai, 412.

Shantung, 4J 4.

HUMAN HISTORY

Shen-T'sung, 303.

Sher Shah, 363.

Shi-Hwang-ti, 106.

Shivaji, 376.

Siam, 82, 205.

Siberia, 307, 398, 431.

Sicily, 116, 162, 167, 174, 192,
271, 272.

Sidon, 96.

Silesia, 362, 381, 385, 421.

Sind, 53, 255, 308, 309, 310.
Sino-Japanese War, 437.

Singer, Charles, 203.

Slave Dynasty, 311.

Slaves, 265, 286.

Smith, A. H. 117.

Smith, V. A. 210, 237.

Snell, 261.

Socialism, 435.

Socrates, 124, 151, 152.

Sogdiana, 92.

Solankis of Gujarat, 313.
Solomon, 87, 88, 89, 91, 126,
127, 163, 219.

Somaliland, French, 398.

Italian, 399.

Somerset, 339.

Somerwell, 353, 369.

Somnath, 310, 314.

Soothill, Prof. 70, 217, 304.
Sophocles, 124, 142, 144, 447.
Spain, 162, ,168, 171, 195, 203,
229, 258, 259, 294, 308, 336,
350, 357, 361, 366, 378, 380,
381, 383, 390, 394, 397, 430,
433 435 454.

Spaniards/318, 319, 320, 394,
395.

Spanish Armada, 338, 355.

Succession War, 360, 380.
Sparta, 121, 130, 131, 132,
133, 134, 141, 152, 160, 185.
Spence, Lewis, 45, 49.

Spenser, 324, 355,

Sphinx, Hu, 16.

Spier, Diet of, 335.

Srivijaya, 313.

Stalin. 431.

St. Augustine, 297.

INDEX

St Benedict, 278.

St. Boniface, 279.

St. Dominic, 279.

St. Peters at Rome, 327.

St Peter, Sre of, 265, 331.

St. Helena, 383.

Stephen, Prof. Morse, 390.
Stephenson, 40.

Stitlicho, 227.

Church of, 334.

Strassburg, 360, 380.

Stuarts, 394.

Stubbs, Bishop, 286.

Stubbs, Blaxland, 35.

Styria, 362.

Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian, 399.
Suez, Isthmus of, 22, 33, Canal,
85, 399.

Sui Dynasty, 302.

Suleiman the Great, 307, 308.
Sulla, 173, 176.

Sully, 357.

Sumatra, 242.

s T, er A? 9 ’ 40 > 46 ’ 55 - 56 -

W, o4, 84.

Sung Dynasty, 303.

Sun Yat-sen, 436.

Superbus, Tarquinius, 163
Susa, 35, 36, 91, 107.

Sweden, 378, 379, 387, 389.
Switzerland, 11, 336.

Syracuse, 131.

S3 254 3 |o3 82 ' ^ 162 ’ 17 °’ 192,

Tacitus, 186, 190, 193, 197.
Tagore, Devendra Nath, 408.
Talienwan, 414.

Taishi, Shotoku, 220.

Tai Tsung, 216, 217, 219, 303.
Taj Mahal, 364.

Talleyrand, 389.

Tang Dynasty, 219, 302.
Tanjore, Cholas of, 314.
Taoism, 218.

Tariq, 258.

Taxila, 206, 214, 239.

Thales, 154.

Thanesar, 310.

Te^i Bahadur, Sikh Guru, 377.
Tell-el-Ajjul, 61.

Teutons, 224 .

Thebes, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 35,
-LuU.

Themistocles, 129.

Theodosius, 226, 231, 232, 274.
Theodoric, 229, 230, 231
Theresa, Maria, 380, 381.
Thermopylae, 133.

Thessaly, 176.

Thirty Years’ War, 378, 379,
384.

Thucydides, 146, 147, 148.
Thuthmose III, 26, 27, 118.
Thuthmose IV, 128.

Tiberius, 172, 185.

Tibet, 73, 210, 205, 410.

Tigris, 33, 37, 42, 53.

Timur, 307, 362.

Titus, 186, 229.

Toba, House of, 301.

Tokio, 413, 434.

Toledo, 317.

Tolstoy, 297.

Tongking, 301, 306, 413.

Toulon, 383.

Tosali, 206.

Toul, 329, 380.

Transwaal, 399.

Transylvania, 429.

Trent, Council of, 341, 450
Trend, J. B. 258.

Trevelyan, G. M. 283.

Tmjan, 187, 189, 190, 193, 225,
277.

Trotsky, 431.

Troy, 12, 55, 116, 119, 120,
121, 122, 170, 186.

Troy, Helen of, 115, 159.
Tudors, 354, 368.

Tughlaks, 311.

Tukaram, 218.

Tullius, Servius, 163.

Tullus Hostilius, 162
Tunis, 398, 422.

Turgot, 396.

Turkestan, 218, ,255, 256, 305,
307.

492

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Turkey, 387, 390, 392, 421, 424,
425, 429, 430, 432, 434, Sul¬
tan of, 307.

Turks, 33, 238, 251, 254, 280,
282, 307, 317, 318, 448.
Tutankhamen, 19, 29, 31.
Tycho Brahe, 323.

Tyndale, 339.

Tyre, 96, 97.

Tyrol, 362.

Ujjain, 206.

Ulster, 338.

Upanishads, 76, 77, 78, 108.
Ur, 11, 35, 36, 38, 39, 49, 64.
Ural, 66.

Urban V, Pope, 330.

Urban II, Pope, 281.

Uruk, 338.

U. S. A., 396, 397, 403, 418,
425, 430, 436.

Utrecht, Peace of, 360, 379.

Valentinius III, Emperor, 276.
Valmiki, 139.

Valmy, 383.

Van Eyek, Jan, 327.

Vandals, 229.

Varahmihira, 240.

Vasco da Gama, 98.

Vedas, 75, 78, 108.

Venezuela, 397.

Venice, 292, 293,-327, 413.
Verdun, 379, 380.

Vernacular Ifress Act, 408.
Verona, 227, 230.

Verres, 174.

Verseilles, 373, 396, 422, 427,
*434.

Verulam, Lord, 341.

Vespasian, 186,

Vesuvius, 182.

Vienna, 308, 384, 388, 389, 428,
Settlement of, 374, 379, 383,
388.

Vinci, Leonardo da, 325.

Virgil, 138, 161, 184, 191, 195,
199, 447.

Visigoths, 226, 229, 232.

Vivekananda Swami, 408.
Vladivostok, 414.

Volta, 452.

Voltaire, 359, 380, 388.

Vyas, 115, 139.

Wales, Dr. 243.

Wallenstein, 379.

Wandiwash, 382.

Wang An Shih, 303.

Wangan, 10.

Wang Mang, 218, 219, 303.
Warde-Fowler, 191.

Washington Conference 436.
Washington, George, 396.
Waterloo, 379, 382.

Watt, 401.

Webster, Prof. 232, 318.
Wei-hai-iwei, 414.

Wellesley, 406.

Wells, H. G. 121, 183, 210, 324,.

341, 358, 419, 426, 428, 454.
Westaphalia, Treaty of, 349,
359, 336, 379.

Westaway, 47, 323, 452.

West Indies, 319.

Westminster, Treaty of, 395.
Whitney, 401.

Wilhelm II, Kaiser, 391, 422,
423.

Wilhelmshaven, 423.

William the Conqueror, 269,
290, 351.

William III, 370.

William the Silent, 361.

Wilson, President, 420.
Wittenburg, 334.

Wolfe, 382.

Woolley, Sir Leonard, 20, 34,
36,38,49,64.

Wordsworth, 459.

Worms, Concordat of, 270.
Worms, Diet at, 334.

Wu-ti, 218, 219.

Wu-wang, 70.

Wydiffe, John, 330, 331, 339.

Xavier, St Francis, 417.

ASAFIYAI STATE LIBRAEY
Hyderabid-Detcair

Author....

Title.......,.

Aoc.No.... m • i • < M11 ..

u..

Miifl ’*

WVft Wv»« m i n u m m M m m i mi m m ( i i i

LAOCOON

A fine piece of sculpture which very welksymbolises the
Ordeal of Humanity

A BRIEF SURVEY

OF

HUMAN HISTORY

l»ART II

BY

S. R. SHARMA, M. A.

Professor of History, Willingdon College, Sangli,

Author of ' Mughal Empire in India’, 1 The Crescent in India’.

KARNATAK PUBLISHING HOUSE

BOMBAY 2

Part 1 published June 1933.

Printed by M. N. KoutAwn at the Kaknatak Printing Pkess, dura Bazar,
Bombay, and published by him at the Karnatak Publishing House,
Chira Bazar, Bombay 2.

CONTENTS

Pages

Section Three (Descriptive Note) . 249

Ch. XV. The Rise of Islam : . 251—262

Commencement of the Modem Age.

Prophet Muhammad. Caliphates of
Bagdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. Conquests
of the Crescent: West and East. The
Legacy of Islam .

Ch. XVI. Towards Better Order in Europe : .. 263—272

Fall of the Roman Empire: the Dark
Age in Europe. Frankish Kingdom in the
West. Charlemagne and his successors.

Otto the Great and his successors.

Struggles between Emperors and Popes.

No Imperial way out of the chaos.

Ch. XVII. The Sway of the Cross : .. .. 273—284

Roman Catholic Church the sole cham¬
pion of order and civilisation. The
power of the Popes. Monastic Orders.

The Crusades.

Ch. XVIII, Medieval Life in Europe : .. .. 285—299

Feudalism : its characteristics. Knight-
errantry and the Age of chivalry. Monas¬
teries, Manors, and Towns. Education
and Literature. The Great Florentines.

Ch. XIX. The East in Medieval Times : .. 300—313

Tang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties of
China. Pre-Mughal Muslim and Hindu

dynasties of India. Population move¬

ments : Mongols and Turks. Marco Polo,

Al-Biruni, and Ibn Battuta,

IV

CONTENTS

Pages

314—328

Ch. XX. The Age of Expansion :

Renaissance. Continuity of civilisation.

Intercourse between East and West. Geo¬
graphical discoveries. Intellectual expan¬
sion. Art and Architecture.

Ch. XXI. The Reformation in Europe : .. 329—341

Reactions against autocracy and cor¬
ruption. John Wycliffe ‘Morning Star
of the Reformation.’ Erasmus and ‘ The
Praise of Folly.' The Lutheran protest.

Zwingli and Calvin. Counter-Reforma¬
tion.

Chronology : Section Three . 342—345

Section Four (Descriptive Note) . 347

Ch. XXII. The Spell of Grand Monarchy : . . 349—364

Monarchy: history, use and abuse.

Alfred the Great to Elizabeth Tudor in
England. French monarchy to Louis
XIV. Hapsburgs to Joseph II. The
Mughals in India.

Ch. XXIII. Fall of the Old Order : .. 365—377

The tyranny of Divine Right. Spanish
Fury in the Netherlands. The Stuart
catastrophe in England. Revolution in
France. Failure of the Mughals in India.

Ch. XXIV. The Making of Modern Europe : . . 378—392

The Thirty Years’ War. Utrecht to
Vienna. Austrian Succession and Seven
Years’ Wars. The rise of Prussia. The
Romanoffs. The menace of France and
Legitimism.

CONTENTS

Pages

393—404

Ch. XXV. The Expansion of Europe :

Norsemen, Portuguese, and Spaniards.

The Dutch, English, and French rivalries.

Expansion in America, Africa and Asia.

The Industrial Revolution and its conse¬
quences.

Ch. XXVI. Awakening of the East : .. 405—419

First awakening in India. China under
the Manchus. European scramble in the
‘ Far East/ The Meiji Era in Japan.

Ch. XXVII. The World To-day : . 420-439

The old Imperialisms. Bismarckian
Prussia to the Great War. * Victory
without peace/ The legacy of Versailles.

Russian Revolution. Post-war India and
Turkey. The new menace of Japan and
the Dictatorships.

Ch. XXVIII. Past, Present, and Future : .. 440—457

Grand resume. Progress in Antiquity.
Contributions of East and West. Mate¬
rial and Spiritual advancement. Religion,

Politics, Industry, and Science. Destruc¬
tive War or Constructive Peace ?

Epilogue : . 458—459

The meaning and significance of our Brief
Survey of Human History .

Chronology : Section Four . 460—464

Appendicies : . 465—473

A. Cost of the Great War : Men and

Money.

B. Expenditure on Armaments: Post-

War.

C. Fighting Forces of the Powers To-day.

D. The League of Nations: Covenant

475—493

Index :

ILLUSTRATIONS

Laocoon

The Empire of Islam

Medieval Europe
The Empire of Napoleon
The Empire of Britain
Modern Asia
Modem Europe

Frontispiece
Facing page 255
„ 272

„ „ 374

„ „ 404

„ 419

„ „ 429

SECTION THREE

Herein is described the transition from;
the Ancient to the Modern world :
Chapter XV deals with The Rise of Islam
which vitally affected the history of both
Asia and Europe. In Chapter XVI are
revealed the unsuccessful efforts Towards
Better Order in Europe made by the Holy
Roman Emperors, leading to the histone
rivalry between Church and State. Chapter
XVII shows The Sway of the Cross through
the power of the Popes, the Monastic
Orders, and the Crusades. Medieval Life in
Europe in all its phases is described in
Chapter XVIII, while Chapter XIX throws
a flood of light on The East in Medieval
Times, particularly China, India, and Greater
India. The great discoveries and intellectual
movements in The Age of Expansion form
the subject matter of Chapter XX, and their
culmination in The Reformation in Europe
is dealt with in Chapter XXL

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE RISE OF ISLAM

Islam prevailed because it was the best social
and political order the times could offer...It
was the broadest, freshest, and cleanest political
idea that had yet come into actual activity
in the world, and it offered better terms than any
other to the mass of mankind.—H. G. Wells

The transition from the Ancient World to the Modem is
difficult to express in definite chronological terms. But the
line, however arbitrary, must be drawn somewhere. In the
history of Europe the capture of Constantinople by the Turks
(1453) is taken as a dear turning point. In the history of
India, the commencement of Mughal rule (1526) is consider¬
ed by some as a suitable stage from which to begin our
‘modem’ period. However, both these happenings in the
history of the World had their beginnings in the Rise of
Islam, which therefore may be taken, for all practical pur¬
poses, as the ‘ watershed ’ which divides the two streams in
World History. Geographically, the home of Islam affords
a corridor between Europe and Asia; while culturally also
it shares the characteristics of more than one dvilisation.
Though Arabia played no direct part in the history of hu¬
manity so far traced by us, that peninsula was the reservoir
from which the various brandies of the Semitic race, the
Babylonians, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, etc., ‘moved exit
and vitally affected the course of human history. Arabia

252 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

had also been, though only nominally, a province of several
Empires in succession, viz., of Egypt, Persia, Macedonia,
Rome, and Constantinople. But it was now her turn to build
up an Empire of her own which would challenge comparison
with the greatest. This was due to the sudden rise of a new
religion.

For centuries before Muhammad preached Islam (622-632
a.d. » the people of Arabia had stagnated in the back-waters
of their desert peninsula. They led a wild and nomadic life
of unrelieved tribal struggles, except during a part of the
year when, as in ancient Greece during the Olympic festivities,
the ‘ truce of God ’ was proclaimed to enable all the Arabs
to meet in Mecca for worship at the shrine of Kaaba. This
comprised a cubical black stone, which was believed to have
fallen from Heaven, and supplied the only unifying factor
in an otherwise chaotic world. For the rest of the year the
Arabs worshipped their own tribal deities, indulged in their
blood-feuds, or revelled in their incontinent orgies. Music
was the only elevating influence in their lives. It was in
such a world that the Prophet Muhammad was bom (c. 570
a.d. ). He belonged to the distinguished clan of Qureishis,
who controlled the sacred shrine of Kaaba , though his family
was rather poor in worldly possessions.

Nothing eventful happened to Muhammad until he was
forty years of age, unless it be his marriage with a rich
widow named Kadijah who was by several years his senior.
Then came his great * conversion ’ when the Angel Gabriel
brought to him the message of Allah. After this revelation
Muhammad boldly proclaimed his famous gospel : There
is no god but God , and Muhammad is His prophet .” Although
this formula has become to-day the creed of about
300,000,000 people (of whom over one-fifth are in India),
the Prophet was not honoured at first in his own land. Like

THE RISE OF ISLAM

233

most reformers he was persecuted by his own people in Mec¬
ca, and had to seek shelter in another city since named Me¬
dina—Madinat-un-Nabi or the Prophet s City. His flight
or Hijrah took place in 622 a.d. and marks the first year of
the Muslim Era. After the decisive battle of Badr, Muham¬
mad returned victorious to Mecca and, before his death in
632 a.d., made himself the master over the entire peninsula.

The successors of Muhammad in leadership were called
the Caliphs. Within a century of the Prophet’s death they
carried his message to thousands of people in the three con¬
tinents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Though in course of
time, they split up into the three corresponding Calipha¬
tes of Cairo in Africa, Cordoba in Europe, and Bagdad in
Asia, for a hundred years they acted as one inspired man.
Islam meant 4 submission to God \ and those who accepted
this creed had above all to submit tc the five disciplines of
the faith: (1) Belief in the Om God and Muhammad as His
prophet; (2) the duty of praying five times daily ; (3) giv¬
ing alms to the poor; (4) fasting in the whole month of
Ramzan; and (5) making a pilgrimage to Mecca. The
teachings of Muhammad were collected in a volume called the
Koran. This and the Hadis or ‘traditions’ constitute the
scripture of the Muhammadans. The Prophet during his
lifetime was both their spiritual leader and temporal ruler.
Hence Islamic society to begin with was a Theocracy. Soon
after Muhammad’s death a dispute arose as to the succes¬
sion. Some were for the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali; others
for electing the Caliph. The former, called the Shiites , were
defeated ; and the latter, known as the Sunni, triumphed.
This rent Muslim society for all time into two hostile camps,
though there are no fundamental differences of creed between
them. Arabia represents the latter, and Persia the former.
In India there are representatives of both the sects. For the

254

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

purpose of this history however, we might regard the Mus¬
lims as one homogeneous community.

The spirit of Islam in the early days, when the ferocious
and fanatical Turks had not yet been converted, is well
represented in the following words of Abu Bekr, the first
Caliph, cited by Gibbon :

“ In the name of the most merciful God, to the rest of the true
believers. Health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing
of God be upon you. This is to acquaint you that I intend to-
send the true believers into Syria to take it out of the hands of.
the infidels. And I would have you know that the fighting for
religion is an act of obedience to God.

“ Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the-
verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of
paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression ; consult with your
brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your
troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves
like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory
be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no*
palm-trees, nor bum any fields of com. Cut down no fruit-trees,,
nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When.
you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good
as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons
who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to*
serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor'
destroy their monasteries : and you will find another sort of
people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shavem
crowns : be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter
till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute.”

With the conversion of the Turks and other savage peoples,
Islam tended to follow more and more the closing part of
this message rather than its nobler portions. The tribute ex¬
acted from the infidels was called the Jiziyc. The Jews and
the Christians were treated with con si deration as ' the people
of the Book ’ as Muhammad drew much of his own theology
from their traditions. “We believe in God”, declares the

THE EMPIRE OF ISLAM.

THE RISE OF ISLAM

255

Koran , “ and in what hath been sent down tc us and what
hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and
Jacob and the tribes, and in what was given to Moses and
to Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no
■difference between them ; and to Him we are resigned ; and
who so desireth any other religion than Islam, it shall by
no means be accepted from him, and in the next world he
will be among the lost/’ (iii., 78-79).

The conquests of Islam were very rapid. They extended,
:in about a century, over the whole of Arabia, Asia-Minor,
North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic, the Iberian penin¬
sula, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, and Sind. This was
partly due to the innate driving force of the new faith, and
partly owing to the weakness of Europe and Persia. The
Eastern Roman Empire under Heraclius and Persia under
the Sassanian Khosroes II had exhausted each other by
•incessant war. They could offer no effective resistance against
the new force. In the West, however, the Islamic thrust
■across the Pyrenees into Gaul was checked by Charles Martel
at the battle of Tours in 732 a.d. In the East, already in
717 A.D. they had failed to carry Constantinople by storm,
■but in 737 at the battle of Kadessia Persia was subjugated.

At* the dose of the first century of the Hegira ”, Gibbon
observes, “the caliphs were the most potent and absolute
monarchs of the globe.” Though we may not enter into the
•chequered history of the Caliphate we must at least describe
here its glory under the most famous of the Caliphs, viz.
Haroun -al -Raschid of the Arabian Nights , who died in 809
,a.d. In this time, according to Sir Mark Sykes,

“ The Imperial Court was polished, luxurious, and unlimitedly
^wealthy; the capital, Bagdad, was a gigantic mercantile dty
surrounding a huge administrative fortress, wherein every depart¬
ment of state had a properly regulated and well-ordered public

256 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

office ; where schools and colleges abounded ; whither philosophers,,
students, doctors, poets, and theologians came from all parts of

the civilized globe.The provincial capitals were embellished

with vast public buildings, and linked together by an effective
and rapid service of posts and caravans; the frontiers were
secure and well garrisoned, the army loyal, efficient and brave ;
the governors and ministers honest and forbearing. The empire
stretched with equal strength and unimpaired control from the
Ciiician gates to Aden, and from Egypt to Central Asia. Chris¬
tians. Pagans, Jews, as well as Moslems, were employed in the
government service.... Traffic and wealth had taken the place of
revolution and famine.... Pestilence and disease were met by
imperial hospitals and government physicians. ... In government
business the rough-and-ready methods of Arabian administration
had given place to a complicated system of Divans, initiated
partly from the Roman, but chiefly taken from the Persian system
of government. Posts, Finance, Privy Seal, Crown Lands, Justice
and Military Affairs were each administered by separate bureaux
in the hands of ministers and officials ; an army of clerks, scribes,
writers and accountants swarmed into these offices and gradually
swept the whole power of the government into their own hands
by separating the Commander of the Faithful from any direct
intercourse with his subjects.

“ The Imperial Palace and the entourage were equally based
on Roman and Persian precedents. Eunuchs, closely veiled
‘ harems' of women, guards, spies, go-betweens, jesters, poets, and
dwarfs clustered around the person of the Commander of the
Faithful, each, in his degree, endeavouring to gain the royal favour
and indirectly distracting the royal mind from affairs of business
and state.

" Meanwhile the mercantile trade of the East poured gold into
Bagdad, and supplemented the other enormous stream of money
derived from the contributions of plunder and loot despatched to
the capital by the commanders of the victorious raiding forces
which harried Asia Minor, India, and Turkestan. The seemingly
unending supply of Turkish slaves and Byzantine specie added
to the richness of the revenues of Irak and, combined with the
vast commercial traffic of which Bagdad was the centre, produced
a large and powerful moneyed class, composed of the sons, of
generals, officials, landed proprietors, royal favourites, merchants,.

THE RISE OF ISLAM

JO<

and the like who encouraged the arts, literature, philosophy, and
poetry as the mood took them, building palace^ for themselves,
vying with each other in the luxury of their entertainments, sub¬
orning poets to sound their praises, dabbling in philosophy, sup¬
porting various schools of thought, endowing charities, and, in
fact, behaving as the wealthy have always behaved in ail ages." 1

The above description indicates a great change in the Arabs
brought about by their successes. In the first place, the wild
but simple Bedouins of the desert were now pampered with
soul-destroying luxury. Secondly, the democratic spirit of
the earlier days of Islam had given place to an insupport¬
able autocracy. And thirdly, the Empire of the Crescent
having grown to unwieldy proportions split up into several
regional and dynastic kingdoms. The last blow to the totter¬
ing Caliphate of Bagdad came from the Turko-Mongolian
invasions. The glorious capital of the Commander of the
Faithful, proudly described by an Arab historian as “the
eye of Iraq, the seat of Empire, the centre of beauty, culture
and arts/’ was destroyed by the Mongols in 1258 a.d. Before
that catastrophe Bagdad had been the cultural capital of
the Middle East where flocked the great savants of all coun¬
tries from East and West alike. Not the least important
of these were from India, and in the opinion of Mr. E. B.
Havell, “ It was India, not Greece, that taught Islam in the
impressionable years of its youth, formed its philosophy and
esoteric religious ideals, and inspired its most characteristic
expression in literature, art, and architecture.” Without
being so partisan we might believe that the Arabs built up
an eclectic civilisation drawing the best from the various parts
of their far-flung dominions, and fusing everything in the fire
of their new bom zeal.

1. Cited by H. G. Wells in The Outline of History.

258 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Bagdad, however, was not the only centre of Islamic
culture. Cairo and Cordoba were of equal importance. Leav¬
ing the story of the further fortunes of Islam in the East
to another chapter, we might here say something about Spain
where the Arab civilisation outlived the misfortunes of the
Abbasids in the East. The Arabs first established themselves
in the Iberian peninsula in 711 a.d. Their leader TaricL
gave to their landing place its name of Jabal-ut-Tariq (Gib¬
raltar) or the Rock of Tariq. Though checked by the
Franks in the north, their kingdom in Spain endured for
five hundred years till the capture of its capital, Cordoba,
in 1236 a.d. by the Christian king of Castile. Even them
the Arab kingdom of Granada in the south held out for
another two hundred and fifty-six years when it was finally
extinguished in 1492 a.d. During all these seven hundred
and eighty years, the Moors] as the Muslims were called im
Spain, organised a wonderful kingdom, “which was the
marvel of the Middle Ages, and which, when all Europe was
piuhged in barbaric ignorance and strife, alone held the torch,
of learning and civilization bright and shining before the-
westem world.”

Cordoba itself in the tenth century is spoken of as “ the*
most civilised city in Europe, the wonder and admiration of'
the world.” It had seventy libraries and 900 public baths.
Whenever the Christian rulers of Leon, Navarre or Barcelona:
required a surgeon, an architect, a dress-maker, or a singing-
master, it was to Cordoba that they applied; while the
Modinatu-l-Zahar, the summer palace in the vicinity of
Cordoba struck the imagination of travellers as if it were the-
dream palace of the Arabian Nights. “ It cannot be denied,”
writes Mr. J. B. Trend, “ that while Europe lay for the most
part in misery and decay, both materially and spiritually^,
the Spanish Muslims created a splendid civilization and am

THE RISE OF ISLAM L59

organized economic life. Muslim Spain played a decisive
part in the development of art, science, philosophy, and
poetry, and its influence reached even to the highest peaks
of the Christian thought of the thirteenth century-, to Thomas
Aquinas and Dante. Then, if ever, Spain was 4 the torch
of Europe.’

In the field of philosophy alone two names are famous
throughout Europe, viz. Avicenna and Averroes. The for¬
mer whose real name was Abu 4 AlI-al-Husavn ibn Sina : 980-
1037 a.d. ) was one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic
world. Though primarily a philosopher he made valuable
contributions to medicine and science as well. His Canon
of Medicine was an encyclopaedia dealing with general medi¬
cine, simple drugs, diseases affecting all parts of the body,
special pathology and pharmacopoeia. It was greatly in
demand in its Latin translation down to the seventeenth
century. “ Probably no medical work ever written has been
so much studied,” writes Dr. Max Meyerhof, “ and it is
still in current use in the Orient.” 1 2 The name of Averroes
was Abu ’l-Walid ibn Rushd (1126-98 A.D.). “Averroism
continued to be a living factor in European thought until
-the birth of modem experimental science.” 3

The Golden Age of Islamic science and medicine was from
.about 900 a.d. to about 1100 a.d. The,jil : Iidwi or 4 Compre¬
hensive Book’ by Rhazes (c. 865-925 a.d.) may be cited
for illustration. It is considered as perhaps the most exten¬
sive work ever written by a medical man. For each disease
Rhazes first cites all the Greek, Syrian, Arabic, Persian, and
Indian authors, and at the end gives his own opinion and
^experiences, and he preserves many striking examples of his

1. The Legacy of Islam , p. 5

2. Ibid., p. 330.

.3 Ibid., p. 275.

260 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

clinical insight. The following observations by him on small¬
pox and measles are interesting :—

The outbreak of small-pox is preceded by continuous fever,
aching in the back, itching in the nose and shivering during sleep.
The main symptoms of its presence are : back-ache with fever,
stinging pain in the whole body, congestion of the face, sometimes
shrinkage, violent redness of the cheeks and eyes, a sense of
pressure in the body, creeping of the flesh, pain in the throat and
breast accompanied by difficulty of respiration and coughing, dry¬
ness of the mouth, thick salivation, hoarseness of the voice, head¬
ache and pressure in the head, excitement, anxiety, nausea and
unrest. Excitement, nausea and unrest are more pronounced in
measles than in small-pox, while the aching in the back is more
severe in small-pox than in measles. 1

The name of al-Blrunl (973-1048) is familiar to readers
of early Muslim history in India. He came to India with
Mahmud of Ghazni. But few, perhaps, realise the nature
of his contributions to various branches of knowledge. Fami¬
liarly known as ‘the master’ ( al-ustadh ) he was a physi¬
cian, astronomer, mathematician, physicist, geographer and
historian. In physics his greatest achievement is the nearly
exact determination of the specific weight of eighteen pre¬
cious stones and metals. But, by far the most important of
Muslim scientists of this age was Abu ‘ Ali al-Hasan ibn al-
Jfaytham (Alhazen) of^ Basra, (965 ad.). Though his
original work in Arabic, On Optics , is lost, it has survived
in Latin translation. In it he opposes the theory of Euclid
,and Ptolemy .that the eye sends out visual rays to the object
of vision. He discusses the propagation of light and colours,
optic illusions and reflection, with experiments for testing
the angles of incidence and reflection. In examining the re¬
fraction of light-rays through transparent mediums “he

1. The Legacy of Islam , pp. 323-24.

THE RISE OF ISLAIsI 231

comes very near to the theoretical discovert- of magnifying
lenses, which was made practically in Italy three centuries
later, while more than six centuries were to pass before the
law of sines was established by Snell and Descartes. Roger
Bacon • 13th century 7 ) and all medieval Western writers on
optics—notably the Pole Witelo or Vitellio base their optical
works on Alhazen’s Opticae Thesaurus. His work also in¬
fluenced Leonardo da Vinci and Johann Kepler. 1

As often we have done in previous chapters we must reluc¬
tantly bring this chapter also to a close, with a sense of in¬
completeness. For a fuller survey of Muslim, particularly
Arabic, civilisation we must refer the reader to The Legacy
cj Islam (Oxford University Press). In architecture they
produced a wonder of the world like the Alhambra in
Granada. In the minor arts too they made valuable contri¬
butions, too numerous to be described here. “ In manufac¬
tures,” one writer has pointed out, “ they surpassed the world
in variety and beauty of design and perfection of workman¬
ship. They worked in all the metals—gold, silver, copper,
bronze, iron, and steel. They made glass and pottery of the
finest quality. They knew the secrets of dyeing. They had
many processes of dressing leather and their work was
famous throughout Europe. They made tinctures, essences,
and syrups. They made sugar from the cane and grew many
fine kinds of wine. They practised farming in a scientific
way. They had good systems of irrigation. They knew the
value of fertilizers. They fitted their crops to the quality
of the ground. They knew how to graft and were able to
produce some new varieties of fruits and flowers. They
introduced into the West many trees and plants from the
East.” They also built hospitals with trained physicians and

1. Ibid p. 334.

262

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

nurses. They produced a number of versatile and profound
scholars. They made permanent contributions to European
science and vocabularies (e.g. words like sofa, tariff, algebra,
etc.). Omar Khayyam who is celebrated as a Persian poet
wrote in Arabic a book of the first rank on Algebra. Sum¬
ming up the scientific contributions of the Arabs, Baron
Carra de Vaux observes :

“ They taught the use of ciphers, although they did not invent
them, and thus became the founders of the arithmetic of everyday
life; they made algebra an exact science and developed it con¬
siderably and laid the foundation of analytical geometry; they
were indisputably the founders of plane and spherical trigono¬
metry which, properly speaking, did not exist among the Greeks.
In astronomy they made a number of valuable observations.
They preserved for us in their translations a number of Greek
works, the originals of which have been lost... .for which services
we cannot be too grateful to them. Another reason for our in¬
terest in Arab science is the influence it has had in the West.
The Arabs kept alive the higher intellectual life and the study
of science in a period when the Christian West was fighting des¬
perately with barbarism. The zenith of their activity may be
placed in the ninth and tenth centuries, but it was continued down
to the fifteenth. From the twelfth century every one in the West
who had any taste for science, some desire for light, turned to
the East or to the Moorish West. At this period the works of
Arabs began to be translated as those of the Greeks had previously
been by them. The Arabs thus formed a bond of union, a con¬
necting link between ancient culture and modem civilization.
When at the Renaissance the spirit of man was once again filled
wrth zeal for knowledge and stimulated by the spark of c »ni„ e
it it was able to set promptly to work, to produce and invent,
it was bemuse the Arabs had preserved and perfected various
branches of knowledge, kept the spirit of research alive and eager
and maintained it pliant and ready for future discoveries.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE

Out of the energetic movement of the
Frankish Empire Europe emerges in its medi¬
aeval shape. Over against the Greek world
ruled from Byzantium, and the Saracen world
governed from Bagdad and Cordova, is the vast
territory of Latin Christianity stretching from
the Ebro to the Carpathians acknowledging
rule of Ihe Frankish Empire and the Pope of
Rome. — H. A L. Fisher

The fall of the Roman Empire is characterised by Gibbon
as “ the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the his¬
tory of mankind.” We have described earlier how the
Dark Age followed or rather synchronised with that catas¬
trophe. Europe took long to recover from the protracted
agony of the barbarian invasions. They poured into Europe
from the North and the East and seemed to destroy the
entire order created by Rome. The division of the Roman
Empire was a sign of weakness rather than a measure of
administrative convenience. The Western Empire was vir¬
tually extinguished, as we have noticed, in 476 A.D., when
Odoacer drove away Romulus Augustulus. The Eastern
Empire survived, at least in outward appearance, for an¬
other thousand years (1453) no doubt. But in reality the
whole of Europe was sunk in chaos. It was owing to this
weakness that Islam in the course of a century, could deve¬
lop into the mightiest power in the Mediterranean. However,

264 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

all this was only a temporary relapse. The effective resis¬
tance offered to the Arabs at Tours (732) in the West and
at Constantinople (717) in the East indicated the reviving
strength of Europe. The two active agents in the recovery
of Europe were the barbarians and Christianity. We shall
see in the course of this chapter how Europe was moving
towards a better order in all .phases of her life.

The most successful of the barbarians in the West were
the Franks. They dominated the whole of Western and
Central Europe from the fifth to the ninth centuries, and
were instrumental in bequeathing to Europe traditions of
unity and orderly government originally derived from Rome.
They occupied the territories now differentiated as Germany,
Austria, and France, which at that time formed parts of
the common Frankish Empire. Then there was neither
French nor German, but only West Frank and East Frank,
The greatest of their rulers was the celebrated Charlemagne
or Charles the Great (768-814). He deserved the title, as
we shall see, more than most others in history. His ideal
was not mere conquest, but organisation and enlightenment
as well. He was a worthy friend of the great Caliph Haroun-
al-Raschid about whom we have read already.

We need go no farther back into the history of the Franks
than Charles Martel, who drove away the Arabs at the battle
of Tours (732), in order to realise the value of the services
rendered by them to European civilisation. Some have
regretted that the Arabs did not win in that famous engage¬
ment. For instance, Professor Robinson says, “had they
been permitted to settle in Southern France they might have
developed science and art far more rapidly than did the
Franks.” 1 But the verdict of subsequent history has been

1* J. H. Robinson, The Ordeal of Civilization , p. 81.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 265

■unmistakable. Had the Muslims instead of the Christians
(for the Franks had become Christians by then) been victo¬
rious at Tours, the character of European civilisation would
certainly have been different.

Charles Martel died in 741. He hadr been
virtually ruler over a vast territory, though nomi¬
nally he was only “ Mayor of the Palace ” under the effete
Merovingian kings. His son and successor Pepin was there¬
fore anointed by Pope Stephen and recognised as king “ by
the grace of God.” This inaugurated the Carolingian dy¬
nasty of which Charlemagne was the greatest ruler. In
return for the Papal recognition Pepin had been called upon
to rescue the States of North Italy from the domination of
the Lombards. Their restoration to the sovereignty of the
See of St. Peter was the beginning of the “Roman Question,”
—one of the naughtiest problems created by the Medieval
Ages. Its confirmation was secured when Charles the Great
was actually crowned, under very similar circumstances in
800, by Pope Leo III. The Pope had been accused of high
crimes, by his domestic enemies, and beaten and imprisoned.
Charles who was Leo’s most powerful supporter restored and
exonerated him. His reward was his coronation as “ Charles
Augustus, crowned of God, the great and peace-loving
Emperor of the Romans.” The legacy of this pompous
heritage to Europe was an age-long dispute between Pope
and Emperor for hegemony over the faithful. To this aspect
of that epoch-making event we shall revert later. Before
doing so we must assess the work of Charlemagne himself.

During his long reign Charles had to lead several hard
campaigns against the Danes, Saxons, Slavs, Avars, and
Lombards. In subduing or breaking them he was creating
order out of the chaos of the Dark Ages. But, however

266 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

arduous, this was not his greatest or noblest work. In the
words of Professor Fisher :

“He was bold yet deliberate, genial and yet exact, popular
and yet formidable. A vast appetite for animal enjoyment was;
combined in him with the cardinal gifts of statesmanship, a spa¬
cious vision, strong common sense, a flawless memory, and a
tenacious will. It was part of his strength that he attempted
nothing impossible, and asked no more of his people than they
were able to accomplish. To his Frankish warriors he was the
ideal chief, tall and stout, animated and commanding, with fla¬
shing blue eyes and aquiline nose, a mighty hunter before the
Lord. That he loved the old Frankish songs, used Frankish
speech, and affected the traditional costume of his race—die

high-laced boots, the cross-gartered scarlet hose, the linen tunic,
and square mantle of white or blue—that he was simple in his
needs, and sparing in food and drink, were ingratiating features
in a rich and wholesome character. Yet in the habits of

daily life he was a Frank to the marrow; in all matters pertain¬
ing to culture and religion he was prepared to obey the call
and extend the influence of his Roman priests.... It is one of'
the highest titles of Charlemagne to fame that he used his great
authority to promote the revival of intellectual life on the illite¬
rate continent of Europe... .What is important to notice is the
new place which, with the advent of Charles, learning and edu¬
cation are made to take in the life of the court and the country,
the concentration of foreign men of learning round the person
of the king, the travelling academy or school of the palace which
follows him even on his campaigns, the equal terms with which
he associates with his scholar friend, his strong insistence on
literacy as a qualification for a clerical career and for prefer¬
ment in the church, the establishment of diocesan and monas¬
tic schools, and the encouragement given to the multiplication,
^rrection, and gathering together of books... .The earliest copies
of iwelve of the great Latin classics are due to the scribe/of
the Carohngian Renaissance.” 1

1. H. A. L. Fisher, A History of Europe, pp. 156-161.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 267

According to another writer, “with Charlemagne the
building of the modem world begins.” With him the long
spell of barbarism and anarchy seemed to have come to a
dose. His capitularies or statutes revealed his masterful
administrative abilities, and his personality was powerful
■enough to regulate the conflicting interests between the reli¬
gious and secular powers ; while the cultural and intellectual
interest of Charles indicated a revival, not only of ordered
government, but also of civilisation. But his Empire could
not escape from the bane of all strong monarchies, viz. weak
•successors.

We need not study in detail the events that followed.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious, and
he by his three sons Lothaire, Charles, and Louis,—but not
without a war of succession. At the treaties of Verdun
(843) and Mersen (870) the vast dominions of Charle¬
magne were divided into three kingdoms. Charles got the
West-Frankish territories (constituting modem France), and
Louis the East-Frankish territories (comprising modern Ger¬
many). To Lothaire was left the hinterland which has
•ever since been the bone of contention between France and
‘Germany. The former was thoroughly Latinised and the
latter remained Teutonic. Meanwhile the whole of the
Frankish dominions were tending to be more and more
■disrupted, until a fresh effort was made towards union under
the leadership of Otto the Saxon (East Frank or German).

This was the beginning of the famous “Holy Roman
Empire” (962). It lasted, in anything like its original idea,
only three centuries; but centuries of continual struggle
between Pope and Emperor, during the first of which (962-
1056) the Emperor prevailed, and during the last two—the
period of the Crusades (1056-1254)—the Pope triumphed.
After this, though the imperial title was retained by Teuton

268

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

monarchs, the Empire in its original form was at an end.

From the point of view of the restoration of order in
Europe, which is the only significant viewpoint for us here,
the dynastic history of Otto’s successors may be very briefly
told. The outstanding figures are those of Henry IV (1056-
1106) and Frederick Barbarosa (Red Beard, 1152-1190),
though the latter belonged to a different family,—the
Hohenstaufen. The reigns of both were marked by the
titanic struggle with the Popes. Frederick failed where
Henry had at least partially succeeded. The two together
indicate the trend of medieval European civilisation.

Otto the Great like Charlemagne had received the imperial
crowri from the Pope (962). But unlike Charles the Great
his relations with the head of the Roman Church were fraught
with dire consequences. They reached a climax under
Henry IV and continued to trouble Europe for several gene¬
rations. Briefly put, the German monarchs considered
themselves thereafter as Roman Emperors no less (or perhaps
even more) than German kings. This made them concen¬

trate on dominating over Italy instead of maintaining orderly
government in their own country. While such a policy
resulted in postponing the day of German unification, it also
set to Europe one of its toughest problems. Feudal anar¬
chy throve in Central Europe while the Emperors distracted
themselves with futile quarrels with the Popes. The cause
of the struggle, though it might appear trivial now, was con¬
sidered most vital by both parties in those times. In effect
it was the question whether the Pope or the Emperor should
be regarded as supreme in Christendom. Both were trying
to arrogate to themselves the myth of a bygone age, viz.
the ideal of Theocracy.

of

T Sf e !? ay littIe doubt about secular sovereignty
the Emperor and the spiritual sovereignty of the.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 269

Pope. But unfortunately society, especially in me¬
dieval Europe, was incapable of such dichotomy. Each
party was desirous of exclusive authority and none prepared
to accept a compromise. Indeed, conflict was inevitable
owing to overlapping jurisdictions, and an impartial tribunal
was lacking. Under the circumstances the logic of Pope
Gregory VII seemed arrogant and presumptuous in the eyes
of Henry IV and his supporters, and irreproachable in the
eyes of the orthodox. * He explained, kindly but firmly, to
William the Conqueror, that the papal and kingly powers
are both established by God as the greatest among the
authorities of the world, just as the sun and moon are the
greatest of the heavenly bodies. But the papal power is
obviously superior to the kingly, for it is responsible for it;
at the Last Day Gregory would have, he urged, to render
an account of the king as one of the flock intrusted to his
care/ 1

The difficulty was not one of merely accepting theoretical
claims to superiority but of enforcing actual authority in the
field of administration. The Church had acquired vast
estates through gifts from the faithful, and these were
administered by the bishops and other Church dignitaries.
Though it was the practice for these officials to be elected,
as holders of property it was of utmost interest to the
king as to who was elected. There were also a number of
bishops and archbishops who were armed noblemen holding
lands on feudal terms, and hence subject to their overlord
the king. Some priests hadj become so worldly-minded that
they married and got interested in making provision for their
families. The practice of “ simony ” or selling spiritual,
offices 44 for a consideration ” had also come into vogue.

1. Robinson, op. cit., p. 126.

270

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The king therefore naturally thought that the cloak of
clericalism could not give immunity from temporal obli¬
gations. Nay, in the heat of rivalry, he even claimed appoint¬
ing authority, from the bishop to the Pope himself. Thus
the right of “ investiture ” became the crux of the quarrel.
Were the Church officials to be invested with authority
by the Pope or the Emperor ? The Pope rebutted the claims
of the Emperor by attempting to appoint the person of his
own choice to the imperial office. The dispute soon degene¬
rated into a series of unseemly attacks and counter-attacks
by both parties. Each tried to win over to itself the alle¬
giance of the adherents of the other party. Gregory declared
Henry excommunicated and deposed ; Henry got the German
clergy to deny the authority of Gregory. Rival Popes and
Emperors were sought to be set up. On one occasion Henry
in a penitent mood humiliated himself before the Pope at
Canossa and admitted himself in the wrong. But the recon¬
ciliation was only temporary. Tempers again flared up,
and finally Henry besieged Gregory in his very palace, and
the greatest of the medieval Popes died with the words “ I
have loved justice and hated' iniquity, therefore I die in
•exile” on his lips.

This was only the climax and not the end of the struggle.
However, a workable compromise was reached under Henry
V (1106-25) and Pope Paschal II. By the Concordat of
Worms (1122) the controversy over investitures in Germany
-was settled. The Emperor renounced his claim to invest
the clergy with the religious emblems of the ring and the
crosier, and promised not to interfere with Church elections
But the elections were to be held in the Emperor’s presence
and the bishop or abbot elected was to hold the fiefs and
administrative powers under the Emperor, which was sym¬
bolised by a touch of the sceptre.

TOWARDS BETTER ORDER IN EUROPE 27 L

But matters again reached a crisis when Fredrick Bar-
barosa (1152—90) came to the throne. He was the most
famous of the medieval Emperors after Charlemagne. He-
was ambitious to restore the glory and power of the Roman.
Empire, and claimed to be the successor of the Caesars as
well as of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. He declared
that his office was bestowed upon him/ by God no less than
was the Papal See. This brought him into conflict with the
Pope. The old struggle revived. But the flourishing towns
of North Italy (about which we shall learn more later)
were now on the side of the Church. They hated the Ger¬
man Emperor no less than the Pope did. They formed a
powerful union known as the Lombard League to oppose
Frederick, and refused to pay taxes to a foreign ruler from
across the Alps. At the end of a series of expeditions all
that Barbarosa succeeded in achieving was to make the
Lombard League merely acknowledge his overlordship, lea¬
ving its members free to act as they liked.

As a counterpoise to the defection of the Northern cities,
Frederick tried to secure a hold upon South Italy by marry¬
ing Constance, the heiress of Naples and Sicily, to his son.
But the Pope being the feudal lord of these cities, this in¬
troduced a fresh complication into the struggle. Finally,
worn out by some forty years of fighting in Germany and
Italy, Frederick sought to divert himself by going on a
Crusade. This proved his last venture, for he lost his life
on his way to the Holy Land.

Meanwhile, his son (who had married the heiress of South
Italy) too was carried away by fever, leaving an infant
heir to the troublesome inheritance. This was Frederick II
(1212—50). Though he developed into a contemptible
figure, he possessed marvellous ability and extraordinary-
energy. “ He drew up an elaborate code of laws for his.

272 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

southern realms and may be said to have founded the
first modem well-regulated state, in which the king was
indisputably supreme.” 1 In his earlier years he was the
contemporary of Innocent III, one of the greatest of the

Popes. Though he had been brought up under the

Muslim Culture of Sicily (the island was under the

Saracens from 827—1060) Frederick II had pro¬

mised Innocent III to go on a Crusade some¬
time. In the fulfilment of this undertaking Frederick
proved eminently successful, for he actually brought the
Holy City (Jerusalem) under Christian mle and was him¬
self declared its king. But this was a shortlived triumph.
The Popes were not to be appeased. Their rivalries once
again revived, and Frederick like Henry IV was excommuni¬
cated and deposed. After his death, in 1250, Sicily was
lost to the Hohenstaufens. The Pope bestowed the island
upon its French conquerors under Charles Anjou, the brother
of St. Louis. Thus ended the German attempt to revive
the glories of the Roman Empire. Europe, particularly
Central Europe, continued to welter in anarchy, though Ger¬
man kings pompously proclaimed themselves Emperors.
A confused group of duchies, counties, bishoprics, arch¬
bishoprics, abbacies, free towns, and all manner of feudal
estates, asserted each its practical independence of the nomi¬
nal kings. There was to be no imperial way yet out of the
chaos of the Middle Ages.

1. Robinson, op. tit., p. 136.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

The imperial government in the West was soon
overthrown by the barbarian conquerors, but the
Catholic Church converted and ruled these con¬
querors. When the officers of the Empire desert¬
ed their posts, the bishops stayed to meet the
oncoming invader. They continued to represent
the old civilization and ideas of order.

—J. H. Robinson

Throughout the Middle Ages in Europe there was only
one unifying force and that was the Roman Catholic Church.
It was the one central light which continued to shine
brightly through the medieval darkness. It triumphed over
all obstacles and became the only refuge of civilisation where
everything else seemed to succumb to the barbarians. It
survived the shock of the Hunnish invasions from the East
as well as the German and other invasions from the North.
It outlived the Roman Empire, both Western and Eastern,
and became the champion of European society, religion, and
culture when they were threatened by the rise of the Mamie
power, from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. In spite
of schisms and defections it has survived to this day as one
of the most potent forces coming down to the modem world
from the past. Such a tenacious movement in human his¬
tory deserves to be studied with dose attention, though such
a study may be beset with some difficulties.

274 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The principal difficulty is, of course, of partisan views.
It is not easy to deal with the history of Christianity with¬
out knocking against some orthodox or heretical sentiments.
However, religious controversy is no part of our scheme, and,
as we did with Islam so also here, we shall concern ourselves
rather with the positive contributions of the Church as a
whole than dabble in doctrinal polemics.

We have already referred to the birth of Christianity and
its fortunes under the Roman Empire. From being an
obscure and bitterly persecuted Jewish sect, it had come to
be a well established, universal, and civilising force in Europe
‘during the early centuries of the Christian era. The land¬
marks in its victorious career were the conversion of Con¬
stantine among the Roman Emperors, and Clovis among the
barbarian monarchs. Already, in 311 A.D., the Emperor
Galerius had issued a decree placing Christianity on a/ basis
of legal equality with the Roman faith, but Constantine’s
personal conversion gave it a new prestige. In this respect
the baptism of the West Frankish king Clovis in 496 ren¬
dered a similar service to Christianity in Western Europe.
As it had happened with many another prince the conver¬
sion of Clovfe had been preceded by that of his wife. The
pagan husband had pledged to Jesus Christ that he would
become a faithful Christian if he was victorious over his
•enemies; and the Cross had triumphed.

By the code of Theodosius, which was completed in 438,
the Christian Church had been specially protected. As a
mark of respect for the sacred character of the Christian
•clergy, they were exempted alike from some irksome public
duties and taxes to which all other citizens were liable. They
were also allowed to receive bequests, which made the
Churches rich, and the Emperors themselves provided
magnificent buildings for them. But what gave them pres-

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

275 -

tige as well as power was the privilege of trying their own
law cases in their own Church courts. In the field of religion
this proved a powerful weapon in the hands of the Church,
and later gave rise to many abuses and oppressions. In
England, for example, even rogues and charlatans sought the
protection of the Church and tried to evade the clutches of
the public law, in the days of Henry I and Henry II. On
the other hand the Church came to exercise the right of
trying and punishing “heretics”, which gave rise to the
hateful persecutions of the Inquisition. “Whoever sepa¬
rates himself from the Church,” St. Cyprian had declared
as early as the third century, 1 “ is separated from the pro¬
mises of the Church He is an alien, he is profane, he

is an enemy ; he can no longer have God for his father who
has not the Church for his mother. If anyone could es¬
cape who was outside the Ark of Noah, so also may he
escape who shall be outside the bounds of the Church.”

St. Paul and St. Peter, “ the two most glorious apostles,”'
may be considered the founders of the Catholic Church even
as Jesus Christ was the founder of the faith. In the esti¬
mation of Lord Birkenhead, “ Of all men who may claim
to have changed the course of the world’s history, St. Paul
must surely take the first place. He altered the basic ideas
of Western civilization : the whole of our history bears the
marks of that busy career of impassioned teaching which
the Jewish tent-maker undertook after his conversion to faith
in Jesus Christ.” 2 About the importance of St. Peter we
have the testimony of Christ Himself: “And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

1. He died in 258 a.d.

2. Turning Points in History , p. 21.

276 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

it. And I will give unto thee Keys of the Kingdom of
Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in Heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in. Heaven.”

Peter was the First Pope (Latin, papa=father ) or
Bishop of Rome. Both on this account and because of
the prestige that Rome enjoyed throughout Europe as the
imperial capital, the See of St. Peter became naturally the
Head of the Roman Catholic (Universal) Church. It was
for this reason that the Emperor Valentinian III, in 455,
officially confirmed the supremacy of the Pope over Chris¬
tendom. He made the decrees of the Pope binding on all
other bishops and required imperial governors to enforce
them. When, in 476, Odoacer extinguished the Western
Roman Empire, the Pope’s prestige was further pnhanraj
The Church of Rome became the sole bulwark of civilisa¬
tion against the rising tide of barbarism. ‘The Eastern
emperor was far away, and his officers, who managed to hold
a portion of central Italy around Rome and Revenna, were
glad to accept the aid and counsel of the Pope. In Rome
the Pope watched over the elections of the city officials and
directed the manner in which the public money should be
spent. He had to manage the great tracts of land in dif¬
ferent parts of Italy which from time to time had been given
to the bishopric of Rome. He negotiated with the Germans
and even gave orders to the generals sent a gains t them.’ 1

We witnessed in the previous chapter how the Popes had
grown powerful enough to crown the Emperors. One of
the greatest among them was Gregory VII, the Pope who
declared Henry IV excommunicated and deposed. Under
his successors the Hdhenstaufens were similarly treated.

1. J. H. Robinson, op. cit p. 60.

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

277

Indeed with Gregory, as Robinson has put it, we leave behind
us the Rome of Caesar and Trajan and enter upon that of
the Popes. In the centuries that followed, the Popes were
supreme, though they called themselves merely the servants
of the servants of God.

Next to the Popes, who were the head of the official hier¬
archy of the Catholic Church, there was the unofficial army
of monks who greatly influenced the shaping of Christian
life in the Middle Ages. On account of their lives being
very strictly regulated, they 1 were called the “ regulars/* and
the official clergy were distinguished from them as the
“ seculars ” or persons still connected with the world
( saeculum ). Monasticism was a philosophy which consi¬
dered the normal life in the world miserable and sinful, and
therefore to be redeemed through severe discipline. It was,
however, not peculiar to medieval Europe. It corresponds
to the Hindu idea of scmyasa and the Buddhist ideal of
asceticism which was carried to excess by the Jains in India.
It is better, some thought, to undergo voluntarily the maxi¬
mum of suffering in this world and earn merit in Heaven,
rather than sinfully enjoy here and earn the torments of
hell later as the wages of sin. Though all may not agree
in this, the monasteries, in the Middle Ages, rendered an
undoubted service to civilisation. They became the reposi¬
tories of whatever was worthy of being saved from the
wreckage of the past. “It would be difficult, ,, observes
Professor Robinson, “ to overestimate the influence that the
monks and other rdigious orders exercised for centuries in
Europe. The proud annals of the Benedictines, Francis¬
cans, Dominicans, and Jesuits contain many a distinguished
name. Eminent philosophers, scientists, historians, artists,
poets, and statesmen may be found in their ranks. Among
those_are ‘The Venerable Bede’, Boniface, Thomas

278 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Fra Angelico, Luther, Erasmus-
all these, and many others who have been leaders in various
branches of human activity, were, or had been, members
of religious orders.” 1 Only a brief account of their way
of life may be here given.

Though the movement had begun much earlier, St. Bene¬
dict was the first, about 526 a.d., to draw up a regular-
constitution for his order, which became the model for most
others that followed. He had his monastery at Monte
Cassino in South Italy :

He founded here his convent and his rule
Of prayer and work, and counted work as prayer ;

The pen became a clarion, and his school
Flamed like beacon in the midnight air.

According to the rules which he framed no-
one was allowed lightly to take the vows of the
Order. One had necessarily to pass through a rigorous
novitiate. The abbot or head of the monastery was to be
elected by the brethren who were its members. Besides read¬
ing and writing—particularly copying old manuscripts—
and! constant prayers, the monks did all that was necessary
for a self-supporting life such as growing their own com
and vegetables, cooking and washing, etc. The three vows
which every monk had to take were obedience, poverty, and
chastity. But Benedict, like Buddha, recommended mode¬
ration in all things. He asked his followers to avoid excessive
self-mortification which might destroy their health and come
in the way of a truly spiritual life. The importance of the
Benedictines may be gauged from the fact that they supplied
no less than twenty-four Popes, and forty-six hundred
bishops and archbishops. They also produced about six-

1. J. H. Robinson, op. cit. t pp. 62-3.

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

279

teen thousand writers including among them men of great
distinction. In the safe retreats of their monasteries they
unostentatiously carried on very useful work but for which
many of the most valuable treasures of the ancient world
might have been irretrievably lost to us. According to one
writer, 44 the monasteries were the schools, the libraries, the
publishing houses, the literary centres, the hospitals, and the
workshops of medieval times.” They were also the inns and
asylums to the weary travellers and the forsaken or care¬
worn people.

Not the least important work done by the monastic orders
was the spreading of the message of Jesus Christ. Gregory
the Great had himself been a monk before he became Pope.
Then he had been struck by the appearance of a few Angle
lads brought to the slave market in Rome. When he became
Pope one of the first things he did was to send a mission
to England under Augustine, which resulted in the conver¬
sion of the English to the Christian faith. Another great
example of the missionary work done by the monks is
that of St. Boniface, in 718. He was an Englishman and
he undertook at great personal risk to convert some of the
remotest German tribes. He lived- to be the Archbishop of
Mainz in 732.

Still another type of monasticism was represented by the
Franciscans and Dominicans. The former order was found¬
ed by the Italian St Francis of Assisi, and the latter by the
Spanish St. Dominic. The Franciscans laboured to serve
4 the poorest, and lowliest, and lost'; while the Dominicans
concentrated on fighting heresies. Both produced distin¬
guished scholars like Thomas Aquinas (a Dominican) and
Roger Bacon (a Franciscan), and both received official
recognition under Innocent III (1198—1216), the Pope who
excommunicated and deposed King John of England. The

280 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

spirit of the two orders may be represented in terms of the
exhortations of their respective founders: “ I, little brother
Francis,” declared the humble saint of Assisi, “desire to
follow the life and poverty of Jesus Christ, persevering there¬
in until the end; and 1 I beg you all and exhort you to per¬
severe always in this most holy life of poverty, and take
good' care never to depart from it upon the advice and tea¬
chings of any one whomsoever.” The spirited Dominic de¬
clared, “ I have exhorted you in vain, with gentleness, prea¬
ching, praying, and weeping. But according to the proverb,
of my country, ‘where blessing can accomplish nothing,
blows may avail .’ We shall rouse against you ^princes and
prelates, who, alas, will arm nations and kingdoms against
this land... .and thus blows will avail where blessings and
gentleness have been powerless.” Francis may very well
remind us of our gentle Tukaiiam, and Dominic of the
sturdy Dayanand.

Lastly, we must deal here with the Crusades. The gentle¬
ness of Jesus and Francis, indeed, could not prevail against
the ruthless enemies of the Cross,—the Turks and Saracens.
The menace of the militant Crescent demanded the spirit
of Charles Martel, Dominic, and Peter the Hermit.

The Holy Places of Christianity, particularly Jerusalem,
had long fallen into the hands of the Muslims. The tole¬
rant Arabs had been succeeded by the bigoted Turks, and
pious Christian pilgrims could no more find immunity in the
East. Jerusalem was occupied' by the Seljuk Turks in
1076, and the effect was soon visible in the disgraceful
treatment of the Patriarch of the Holy City. He was
dragged through the streets by the hair, beaten and im¬
prisoned, and rdeased only on payment of a heavy ransom.
Consequently Christian pilgrims flocked back to Europe
spreading in every country harrowing tales of their .perse-

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

281

cution and misery. Peter the Hermit was the most celebra¬
ted among them. In the glowing words of Gibbon, “ He

preached to innumerable crowds in the churches, the streets,
and the highways; the Hermit entered with equal confi¬
dence the palace and the cottage ; and the people were impe¬
tuously moved by his call to repentance and to arms. When
he painted the sufferings of the natives and the pilgrims of
Palestine, every heart was melted to compassion;

every breast glowed with indignation when he
challenged the warriors of the age to defend

their brethren and rescue their Saviour.” The Eastward
flow of arms that this fervent appeal released from all parts
of Europe is known as the Crusades. They continued with
varying fortunes until the capture of Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453.

The history of these Crusades, though interesting in it¬
self as a tale of adventures, must be summarily told here.
They started in 1095 with the meeting of the great Council
of Clermont under Pope Urban II. “ It is the will of God ”
echoed through the frenzied crowds as they were harangued
in the open air, as no building could contain them. The
First Crusade was composed almost entirely of Frenchmen.
Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless were among its
leaders. A motley crowd of armed peasants formed the bulk
of the “army of God” that relied more on the medieval
belief in miracles than in their own power
to win. Nevertheless, the miracle, though qualified,
did happen, of capturing and losing Antioch on the way and
finally reaching Jerusalem. This was due more to the weak¬
ness of the enemy than the strength of the Crusaders. Yet,
hardly a tenth of the 30,000 that had set out had the satis¬
faction of walking through the streets of the Holy City
(1099). The captured territories were formed into the king-

282 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

ciom of Jerusalem with Godfrey of Bouillon as its king.
This king died in 1101 and the kingdom relapsed into feu¬
dal anarchy. The Holy Places had to be consequently de¬
fended by bodies of volunteers such as the Orders of the
Templars, the Hospitalers, and the Teutonic Knights.

The Second Crusade was provoked by the massacre of
30,000 Christians at Edessa by the Turks in 1147. It was
led by Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France,
and yet it ended in a fiasco. Jerusalem was again captured
by the brilliant Saladin in 1187. This called forth “the most
famous of the long series of Crusades,” for it was led by the
Emperor Frederick Barbarosa, Philip II of France, and
Richard Cceur-de-Lion of England. Frederick was
drowned, Philip and Richard quarrelled on the road to
Palestine, and only the last remained till the final stage.
Though minor conquests, like the taking of Cyprus and
Acre, were effected, even Cceur-de-Lion fell far short of the
cultured and brilliant Saladin in leadership.

The Fourth Crusade started in response to the appeal of
Pope Innocent II (1202-4). Instead of directly concentrat¬
ing on their mam objective the misguided Crusaders attack¬
ed Christian places like Zara and Constantinople on their
way. For the time being the so-called Latin Empire was
established in the East. But Constantinople was again cap¬
tured by the Greeks with the assistance of the Genoese, about
sixty years later. They held it till 1453.

The remaining Crusades were even more inglorious than
those we have already described. The most memorable .
-among them was the Children's Crusade (1212). The fail¬
ure of many a Crusade was attributed to the sinfulness of
the Crusaders. So it was believed that an army of inno^
cents would be certainly invincible : “Out of the mouths,
of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength.” No less

THE SWAY OF THE CROSS

283

than 20,000 children were mobilised for this infantile move¬
ment. But most of them partook of the mercy of God
long before they could reach the Holy Land. Others
were kidnapped and sold into slavery by unscrupulous
Genoese and Venetian merchants. The remaining were
sent back to their homes under safe custody by the Pope
Innocent III who took pity on them.

The clash of the Cross and the Crescent had been attend¬
ed with great carnage on both sides. When Jerusalem
was first captured by the Crusaders it lasted for a full
week, and according to a French eye-witness, “under the
portico of the mosque the blood was knee deep and reached
the horses* bridles.” Yet the direct results of two centu¬
ries of constant fighting were not, perhaps, worth more than
a single campaign. The importance of the Crusades is,
however, to be seen in their indirect but lasting effects.
In the words of G. M. Trevelyan, “ The Crusades were the
military and religious aspect of a general urge towards the
East on the part of the reviving energies of Europe. The
prize that Europe brought back from the Crusades was not
the permanent liberation of the Holy Sepulchre or the po¬
tential unity of Christendom, of which the story of the Cru¬
sades was one long negation. She brought back instead
the finer arts and crafts, luxury, science, and intellectual
curiosity—everything that Peter the Hermit would most
have despised.”

The exact extent of the influence of the contact with
the East brought about by the Crusades will ever remain
a subject of controversy among scholars. In the following
passage the maximum claim is sought to be summarised :—

‘ In the religious sphere they diminished the prestige of the
Papacy, irretrievably affected monastidsm, and encouraged the
growth of heresy. In the social and economic sphere they led

284 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

to a greater equality of classes, the growth of a free peasantry
and of guilds of artisans, and the development of trade and
industry’. In the field of politics they were followed by the
rise of the system of Estates, by a growing centralization of
government, and by the appearance of written law and a regular
judicial administration. In the great world of culture, philo¬
sophy developed its greatest thinkers after the Crusades and the
connexion with the Arabs which they brought : even mysticism
assumed a scientific character : the study of the ancient lang¬
uages grew in extent and fertility : historiography and geogra¬
phy acquired a new vigour: a vernacular poetry arose-:
Gothic architecture succeeded: a Romanesque, and a' finer
taste appeared in sculpture and painting/ 1

1. The Legacy of Islam , p. 51.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

To-day the historian is interested in the social
life of the past and not only in the wars and
intrigues of princes. —Eileen Power

In the two preceding chapters we saw how Europe—
particularly Western Europe—was struggling to evolve
order out of the chaos brought about by the fall of the Ro¬
man Empire. The catastrophe was the outcome of the in¬
ternal weaknesses and the external attacks of the barbarians.
Then an attempt was made to restore the Roman order by
the secular agency of the Frankish Charlemagne and the
German Otto and his successors who built up the Holy
Roman Empire, and the spiritual agency of the Pope.
While the success of the former was only temporary and
local, the influence of the latter proved more lasting as
well as widespread. The struggle for supremacy that en-
«sued between the Empire and the Papacy only served to
establish the prestige of the Church in a world left still
anarchical by the failure of political authority.

The outstanding features of this period of transition
from the ancient to the modem world are summed up in
the word “ Feudalism.” There is greater agreement regar¬
ding its characteristic features than its chronological li¬
mits. But roughly we might consider the millennium from
the fifth century a.d. to the fifteenth century ad. as com¬
prising the Middle Ages, of which the earlier half consti-

286 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

tuted the Dark Age of barbarian invasions and the later
half that of medieval feudalism and chivalry. Having
described the former already in an earlier chapter, here we
must concentrate upon the latter. We may note that feu¬
dalism was strongest during the eleventh and twelfth cen¬
turies in Western Europe; then new forces and tendencies
began to manifest themselves. These culminated in the
Renaissance of the fifteenth century which ushered in the
modem times.

Feudalism was a very complex organisation of society
based upon the holding of land-tenures with specified obli¬
gations of service. In the words of Bishop Stubbs, “ It
may be described as a complete organisation of society
through the medium of land tenure, in which, from the king
down to the lowest land-owner, all are bound together by
obligation of service and defence : the lord to protect his
vassal, the vassal to do service to his lord ; the defence and
service being based on and regulated by the nature and
extent of the land held by the one of the other. In those
states which have reached the territorial stage of develop¬
ment, the rights of defence and service are supplemented by
the right of jurisdiction. The lord judges as well as defends
his vassal; the vassal does suit as well as service to his lord.
In states in which feudal government has reached its utmost'
growth, the political, financial, judicial, every branch of
public administration is regulated by the same conditions.
The central authority is a mere shadow of a name.”

When the strong arm of the central authority had been
palsied by the barbarian invasions at first, and then by the
Normans and Danes in the North, the Slavs and
Hungarians in the East, and the Saracens and
Moors in the South, the spiritual influence of the
Church alone was hot sufficient to 4 hold Euro*

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

287

pean society together. For the protection of life and property
as well as the undisturbed conduct of normal social acti¬
vity it was necessary to improvise a new system. This was
secured by the distribution and localisation of all the func¬
tions of government, which also necessitated a like distri¬
bution of authority. However, it is necessary to point out
that this reorganisation of society was spontaneous and
natural, and not the result of deliberate planning by any
great statesman. It was derived partly from Roman and
partly from Teutonic sources.

In the provinces of the Roman Empire agriculture was
carried on for centuries by free tenants known as the coloni.
But during the period of confusion these coloni tended to
depend more and more upon some strong local landowner,
and virtually sold their independence in return for security.
Likewise, the Teutonic custom of Commending oneself to
a mighty chief, served to bring about a social system of
dependence and protection. The anarchy during the ninth
and tenth centuries was so great that no price was considered
too big to pay for security. Indeed, even in insular Bri¬
tain, the daily prayer happened to be—“ from the fury of
the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us.”

Land, which was the source of all wealth and power in
those days, came to be divided and distributed for protec¬
tion as well as cultivation. In theory it was owned by one
supreme overlord, the king; in practice it was divided and
subdivided and held by a gradation of landlords and tenants.
The terms on which the estates or fiefs granted by the lord
to the tenant or by the tenant to the sub-tenants (vassals),
were of service, both military and civil. The vassal was to
fight for his lord in times of war, and to cultivate the land
for him in times of peace. The latter included
not merely working on one's own farm, but also

288 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

compulsory service in the master’s demesne and
other obligations such as aids, relief, etc. The
contributions that the vassal was called upon to make to¬
wards the expenses of the marriage of the lord’s daughter, or
the accession to knighthood of the lord’s son, constituted the
“ aids ” ; the fee that was to be paid by a tenant’s heir for
succession to the fief comprised the “ relief.” Besides these
the vassal’s holding was liable to escheat on failure of heirs
or forfeiture for disloyal conduct. If the lord was taken
captive in war by an enemy his vassals were to pay ransom
for his release. When so required the tenants with their
retainers were to render military service being fully equipped
at their own cost. In short, the tenant was to be his land¬
lord’s man : he was to live, work, and die for his master in
return for such justice, protection, and privileges as the
times and the tenure guaranteed to him.

In the absence! of any effective central government, justice
was administered by the feudal (from feud—fief) lord in
his manorial court. The manor was his estate. On it stood
his great castle or fortified residence. The surrounding lands
were held by his tenants or subtenants. The former held
from him directly; the latter through their intermediate
superiors. Below all were the serfs and slaves who, indeed,
formed the major portion of the population. The serfs
were superior to the slaves, and were attached to the soil
They could not be killed or alienated with impunity. Lands
were given to them for cultivation on very exacting terms.
They could not forsake their farms and run away ; but if
they did and were not discovered for a year and a day they
were free. They were to work on their master’s farm for
three days in the week throughout the year, except during
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. Each serf was to give
to his lord, in one typical case, ‘ one bushel of wheat, eighteen

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

289

sheaves of oats, three hens, one cock yearly, and five eggs
at Easter.’ Conditions varied, for better or for worse, in
different places, but serfdom survived in Western Europe
until the French Revolution (1789) and further east until
more recent times.

In those rough times there was no sovereign law that was
universally recognised, except the canon law of the Church.
In secular matters custom and tradition ruled. Ordeal and
battle decided disputes which could not be otherwise settled.
The accused person had very often to prove his innocence
by tests of fire or water. In the last resort the disputants
would be allowed to fight each other according to rules and
justice was declared to be on the side of the victor; for it
was considered to be the judgment of God.

Knight-errantry was a typical institution of the Middle
Ages. It was governed by the highly developed code of
chivalry. The free landlords took to it as the most
honourable profession. The Crusades afforded a very
congenial atmosphere for its development and refinement.
Where no other just cause was to be found the knights
fought each other for sheer entertainment. Individual jousts
and group tournaments were very common in medieval times.
They were the survivals of the Greek games and the Roman
circuses. But unlike the brutal gladiators the knights mostly
combated each other with blunt weapons when it was not
a real fight. The barbarians were used to fighting on foot.
But the contacts of the Saracens had established the superior¬
ity of the horse. The knight was a mounted warrior armed
cap-a-pie. The term “chivalry” is itself derived from the
French word for horse. A vivid portrayal of this medieval
atmosphere is to be found in Scott’s Ivanhoe.

The feudal system, though it was the natural outcome of
the circumstances obtaining in the Middle Ages and rendered

290

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

good service then, was not without its defects. Private
warfare was one of its most outstanding evils. This acted
as the enemy of all established order. “ The man’s man
was not the lord’s man ” was the principle which obtained in
the continent of Europe. Hence, however powerful a lord
might consider himself in theory, he could not in practice
depend upon the co-ordinated loyalties of all who shared
his lands. Very often the vassals proved stronger than their
masters, and well integrated national kingdoms could not
arise under such circumstances. To this England was the
earliest exception. On account of her geographical isolation
die could develop well along her own lines. The Normans
under William the Conqueror, profiting by continental ex¬
perience, tried to counteract the feudal anarchical tendencies
by insisting upon all classes of vassals that they could swear
allegiance to their immediate superiors only “ saving the faith
that I owe to our lord the King.” Yet the centrifugal forces
continued to assert themselves, though with diminishing effect,
until the establishment of the strong Tudor monarchy in the
fifteenth century. On the continent feudalism was liquefied
only gradually. It vanished, however, in the wake of the
invention of gun-powder, the growth of commercial towns,
and above all of the Renaissance. But it is not to be for¬
gotten that in its own time it had functioned well “ as a
military measure to organise local defence; economically, to
safeguard cultivation of the soil; and politically, to provide
machinery for local administration of justice.” 1 Its moral and
cultural influences were also considerable. It gave courage
to the barons in 1215 to extort the Magma Carta from King
John of England, and its traditions of gallantry and romance

p. 62 A ’ F ' Hattersley ’ A Short Histor y of Western Civilization,

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

291

inspired many a writer and poet to produce gems of roman¬
tic literature. It was the age of wandering minstrels and
troubadours.

The growth of towns which gave a deathblow
to feudalism was the dominating characteristic of the later
Middle Ages. While feudalism throve in the rural parts
urban centres developed a different kind of life. Here com¬
merce and industry rather than agriculture were the decisive
factors. Guilds and corporations of merchants, and manu¬
facturers not only brought prosperity to the towns, but also
imparted to them a spirit of independence. Under their
aegis too, as under the fostering industry of the monasteries,
culture was preserved and developed.

Up to the eleventh century the population of Europe, like
that of India today, was essentially a rural population. But
once the barbarians who upset the old order and prosperity
settled down and became civilised, towns began to revive.
They were a replica of the old- Roman towns which had been
centres of great activity. In medieval Europe there were
three institutions of such civilising importance : they were
the monasteries, the feudal manors, and the organised towns.
We have said something already about the first two. The
last alone will engage our attention here. The monasteries
planted often in out-of-the-way places and far off wilder¬
nesses acted as farflung outposts of civilisation. The fortified
castles and their surrounding self-contained manors served to
preserve society from the disrupting forces of anarchy. The
towns, which too were fortified in the Middle Ages, were so
many islands of peaceful industry in a sea of constant war¬
fare. They were also the arteries through which flowed the
commerce of the times. Though they were units linked up as
fiefs in the feudal system, they were too powerful to be
swallowed up by the encircling forces. They either bought

292

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

out or valiantly fought for their liberties and thereby earned
an important place among the “ estates ” of the realm. Their
citizens, the burghers or burgesses, were the creators of the
commons of modem democracies.

Internally, the towns organised professional guilds, and
externally, they formed leagues with other cities for purposes
of commerce as well as defence. The craft-guilds were unions
of workers which secured monopolies for their special indus-
g£riSyf afforded training for their apprentices, laid down condi-
r-tfons for efficiency, and protected their members
much as trade-unions do today. There were
unions of shoemakers, bakers, weavers, dyers, etc.
The most famous of the leagues of commercial towns was
the Hanseatic League of North Germany. Hansa in
old German meant a confederation or union. The Hanseatic
League included about eighty of the principal cities of
Northern Europe. It established trading colonies of its mem¬
bers in London, Bruges, Bergen, and Novgorod. It lost its
importance only with the new geographical discoveries of
the fifteenth century and the consequent shifting of the
highways of world commerce.

The greatest of the cities of Southern Europe were con¬
centrated in Italy. They were Venice, Genoa, and Florence.
Venice had her beginning in the fifth century when the
refugees from the attacks of Attila the Hun sought shelter
among her marshes. In course of time, owing to the natural
advantages of her position at the head of the Adriatic, as
well as the enterprise of her daring citizens, she became the
mistress of the Mediterranean as once Athens, Carthage, and
Rome had been. In the immortal words of Byron_

A thousand years their cloudy wings expand

Around me, and a dying Glory smiles

O'er the far times, when many a subject land

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

293

Look’d to the winged Lions marble piles,

Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles !

She looks a sea cybele, fresh from ocean,

Rising with her tiara of proud towers
At airy distance, with majestic motion,

A ruler of the waters and their powers :

And such she was;—her daughters had their dowers
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East
Pour’d in her lap all gems in sparkling showers.

In purple was she robed, and of her feast
Monarchs partook, and deem’d their dignity increased.

In 1177, in recognition of her importance as well as
services rendered to the Church, Pope Alexander III bestowed
on her Doge a ring and said : “ Take this as a token of
dominion over the sea, and wed her every year, you and
your successors forever, in order that all may know that
the sea belongs to Venice and is subject to her as a bride
is subject to her husband.” This annual “wedding of the
Adriatic” continued to be one of the most gorgeous cere¬
monies of the Middle Ages. Genoa became a rival, par¬
ticularly after 1261, when she demonstrated her power by
assisting! the Greeks in the overthrow of the Latins at Con¬
stantinople. For a long time their reckless rivalries ec¬
lipsed the ascendancy of the two Italian cities, until both
were overwhelmed by the triumphs of the Crescent in the
East.

Florence, the city of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ma-
chiavelli, Michael Angelo, Lenardo da Vinci, Galileo, Ame¬
rigo Vespucci, and the Medici, was “ the most illustrious and
fortunate of Italian republics.” Despite the handicaps of her
inland situation, Florence still became, “ through the skill, in¬
dustry, enterprise, and genius of her citizens, the great manu¬
facturing, financial, literary, and art centre of the later me¬
dieval centuries... .indeed', as respects the number of her

294

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

great men, Florence is perhaps unrivalled by any city of the
ancient or modem world save Athens/’ 1

Incomplete as this survey of medieval life in Europe must
remain (for obvious limitations of space) we cannot con¬
clude the chapter without a few lines on the education and
literature of the Middle Ages. 2 We have already observed
how the monasteries kept the torch of learning bright
through the Dark Ages, by preserving such of the ancient
knowledge as was accessible to them. Much of the Greek
wisdom, except that of Aristotle, had been temporarily lost
to Western Europe. Even the writings of Aristotle were fa¬
miliarised through Arabic translations rendered into Latin
in the Spanish universities. Thanks to the teachings of
Muhammad, the early Muslims had cultivated learning with
the same zeal as they felt for their religion. The Prophet
had declared, “ Acquire knowledge, it will enable you to dis¬
tinguish right and wrong, it will light the way to heaven,
it will be your friend in the desert, your society in solitude,
your companion in loneliness, your guide to happiness, the
sustainer of your misery, the ornament among your friends,
and the armour against your enemies.” Arab scholarship
in the universities of Cordoba and Toledo in Spain demon¬
strated that the Moors had fully imbibed the spirit of this
exhortation.

Among the Christian princes we have noted too the ser¬
vices rendered to education by Charlemagne. One writer
has justly observed, “ Herein he (Charles the Great) takes

1. Myers, General History , p. 436.

2. For a fuller treatment of various aspects of medieval
life read The Legacy of the Middle Ages (Oxford U. Press),
Medieval Contributions to Modern Civilisation (Harraps), and
Medieval People by Eileen Power (Pelican Books).

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

295

a foremost place among the benefactors of humanity, as a
man who, himself imperfectly educated, knew how to value
education, in others; as one who, amid the manifold haras¬
sing cares of government and of war, could find leisure for
that friendly intercourse with learned men which far more
than his generous material gifts cheered them on in theii
arduous and difficult work; and as the ruler to whom per-'
haps more than to any other single individual we owe the
fact that the precious literary inheritance of Greece and
Rome has not been altogether lost to the human race.
Every student of the history of the texts of the classical au¬
thors knows how many of our best manuscripts date from
the ninth century, the result unquestionably of the impulse
given by Charles and his learned courtiers to classical stu¬
dies.” The degree of personal attention bestowed upon the
education of the young, by Charlemagne, is illustrated by
the rebuke he administered to the easy-going lads of a
school started under his own patronage: “ You young
nobles”, he said, “you dainty and beautiful youths, who
have presumed upon your birth and your possessions to des¬
pise mine orders, and have taken no care for my renown;
you have neglected the study of literature, while you have
given yourselves over to luxury and idleness, or to games
and foolish athletics. By the King of Heaven, I care no¬
thing for your noble birth and your handsome faces, let
others prize them as they may. Know this for cer¬
tain, that unless ye give earnest heed to your studies, and
recover the ground lost by your negligence, ye shall never
receive any favour at the hand of King Charles.”

As the demand for instruction increased with the growth
of peace and prosperity the cathedral and monastic schools
were found insufficient. Particularly, the merchant and
other professional classes were in need of secular education

29C> A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

which the Church schools could not be expected to impart.
These needs were met by institutions that soon developed
into the famous universities of medieval Europe. The
most ancient of these were the University of Salerno, noted
for its teachers in medicine; the University of Bologna,
distinguished for its instruction in law ; and the University
of Paris, revered for its doctors in theology. The last sup¬
plied the model of constitutions and was hence known in
the Middle Ages as “the Mother of Universities.” Oxford
and Cambridge were also founded in these early times.
The principal faculties that were cultivated were the faculty
of Theology, the faculty of Medicine, the faculty of Law,
and the faculty of Arts (or Philosophy). Grammar, rhe¬
toric, and logic were specially emphasised for their value
in scholastic disputations. Besides the Church and the or¬
dinary lay schools, there were also 4 Chivalric schools ’ where
sons of noblemen especially were trained in the exercises and
code of medieval chivalry.

Peter Abelard (1079—1142), Albertus Magnus (d. 1280),
Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), and Roger Bacon (d. 1294),
were among the outstanding figures of this age. The first
was so popular that he attracted over 5000 pupils to his
lecture rooms, but possessed a notorious moral character.
The second was so admired for his versatile genius that he
was called “ Albert the Great ” and “ the Second Aristotle.”
The third was known as “the Angelic Doctor”, and his
great work the Summa Tkeologia or “ Sum of Theology ” to
this day provides the foundation for the orthodox Church.
The last, called “ the Wonderful Doctor ”, though persecuted
for being in league with the devil, was wonderfully ahead of
his times in scientific knowledge. He seemed to possess mar¬
vellous understanding of mechanics, optics, and chemistry.
He knew the composition of gunpowder or some such ex-

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

297

plosive, and believed in the possibility of mechanically pro¬
pelled vehicles, as the following remarkable passage from his
writings reveals :—

‘Machines for navigating are possible without rowers, so
that great ships suited to river or ocean, guided by one man,
may be borne with greater speed than if they were full of
men. Likewise, cars may be made so that without a draught
animal they may be moved-as we deem the scythed cha¬

riots to have been from which antiquity fought. And flying
machines are possible, so that a man may sit in the middle
turning some device by which artificial wings may beat the
air in the manner of a flying bird/

Among the writers of the age we have space only for a
few observations on the greatest. The most famous among
the earliest was St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo. His
The City of God which was written when Rome fell before
Alaric the Goth in 410, served as a beacon in the encircling
gloom of the Dark Age. “The greatest city of the world
has fallen in ruin,’ , he wrote, “ but the? city of God abideth
for ever.” His more popular work is his Confessions “ which
have a human interest equal to that of the self-revelations
of Bunyan and Rousseau,”—and we may add, of Tolstoy
and Gandhi also.

Of unknown authorship, but of great medieval interest, is
the German epic entitled the Nibhmgm Lied which has been
popularised by the music-dramas of Wagner. It is the story
of the romantic adventures of its hero Siegfried, son of
Siegmund, king of the Netherland. Its stage is the city
of Worms which, says Carlyle, “ had we a right imagination,
ought to be as venerable to us modems as any Thebes or
Troy was to the ancients.”

By far the greatest genius of the age, however,
was Dante who was bom in Florence in 1265.
His love for Beatrice which inspired his Divine Comedy is

298

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

an epic theme. Dante suffered much owing to his partici¬
pation in the factions of his city—the Guelpks and the
Ghibellines. The former stood for the Pope and the latter
for the Emperor. We have already described the nature
of the struggle between the Empire and the Papacy. The
Guelphs having triumped, Dante was banished from
Florence in 1302, and he remained in exile until his death
in 1321. This called forth from Michael Angelo, another
great Florentine of versatile genius, the following sonnet

From heaven his spirit came, and, robed in clay,

The realms of justice and of mercy- trod.

Then rose a living man to gaze on God,

That he might make the truth as clear as day.

For that pure star, that brightened with his ray
The undeserving nest where I was bom,

The whole wide world would be a prize to scorn ;

None but his Maker can due guerdon pay.

I speak of Dante, whose high work remains
Unknown, unhonoured, by that thankless brood
Who only to just men deny their wage.

Were I but he ! Bom for like lingering pains,

Against his exile coupled with his good
I’d gladly change the world’s best heritage.

But the world has accorded to Dante the justice that
Florence denied him: he is one of its greatest immortals.
The noble epic comprising three parts— Inferno, Purgatorio,
and Paradiso—h incapable alike of paraphrase and epitome!
The poet passing through hell and purgatory into paradise
meets with immortals of the classical world, but the crown¬
ing glory of reaching Beatrice is his alone. “Guided by'
Beatrice the poet passes through nine Heavens, which are
moving spheres revolving round our globe, till he reaches
the final motionless and fixed Heaven in the Empyrean.
The seven lowest of the Heavens are named after the moon*

MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE

299

the sun, and the planets, and the eighth after the fixed stars.
All these are visible from earth. Above them is the ninth
or crystalline Heaven, which directs by its movements the
daily revolution of all the others. In it nature starts ; from
it proceed time and motion, together with all celestial in¬
fluences for the government of the world. It is :

The robe that with its regal folds enwraps
The world and with the nearer breath of God
Doth bum and quiver.

“ Above it, climax of the vision, is the infinite and mo¬
tionless sea of divine love where God makes blessed the
saints and angels in the vision of His Essence.” 1

Though Dante's imagery and expression are medieval, he
belongs to all time. Next to him stands the galaxy of
writers like Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Malory.
They have all left us familiar pictures of medieval life.
We might close this' chapter with the portrayal of an ideal
knight who was indeed the ideal man of the Middle Ages.

“ Ah, Lancelot,” says Sir Ector in Malory’s Le Morte
d'Arthur, “thou wert head of all Christian knights, and now
I dare say, thou Sir Lancelot, there thou liest, that thou wert
never matched of earthly knight’s hand. And thou wert the
courteoust knight that ever bare shield. And thou wert the
truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse. And thou
wert the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman.
And thou wert the kindest man that ever struck with sword.
And thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among press
of knights. And thou wert the meekest man and the gentlest
that ever ate in hall among ladies. And thou wert the sternest
knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.”

JL. John Drinkwater, The Outline of Literature , p. 239.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
»

Everything points to the conclusion that those
centuries which were centuries of disaster and
retrogression in Europe, were comparatively an
age of progress in Middle Asia eastward into
China. —H. G. Wells

No period in Eastern history has been, perhaps, treated
with greater indifference than that of Asia during the Mid¬
dle Ages. The corresponding age in Europe has been compa¬
ratively well studied by scholars. But even in such a brief
survey as ours we should not overlook the medieval period
as a whole in our continent. Vast as the field may be, we shall
find before we close this chapter that our exploration has not
been futile On the contrary we shall have added to our
knowledge of human history some connected information
about an important, though obscure, period. Chronologi¬
cally, we shall roughly cover in this chapter the same millen¬
nium (500-1500) as we did in the last chapter. Politically,
this will include an account of the Tang (618-907), Sung
(960-1280), and Yuan (1280-1368) dynasties (to mention
only the most important) in China, the pre-Mughal Muslim
and Hindu dynasties of India, and die momentous move¬
ments of peoples like the Mongols and Turks. '

We have earlier indicated the nature of Han and T’ang
rale in the great age of Buddhism in Asia. Though rihim.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

301

made large and valuable contributions to civilisation, her
political history, as ever, was very much disturbed. Progress
in that vast country has been so often interrupted by war and
barbarism that one really wonders how the Chinese could
at all produce their rich culture. Under the Han dynasty
(206 B.c. to 221 A.D.), in addition to China proper, Tong-
king and Annam had been reduced to being tributary states.
Besides developing excellent pottery, jade, bronze and iron¬
work, silk brocades and embroideries, etc., the Han emperors
had encouraged literature and secured its preservation by
getting Confucian classics engraved on stone. The invention
of paper in 105 a.d. and! the modification of the ancient
Chinese characters had made writing an easier art. The in¬
vention of the hair-pencil under the Ch’in had also facilita¬
ted the practice of that art on silk. Soothill describes this as
‘the period of the first great collators, commentators, and
historians, and of the fathers of the form of much subse¬
quent poetry.’ He also writes ; “ Whatever may be said of
the government, the world-enriching discovery of paper would
alone entitle the Han period to be styled glorious.”

After this China was partitioned between the three king¬
doms of Wd , Wu, and Shu. These kingdoms fought
among themselves (221—589) and paved the way for the
Tartar invasions. It was the age, as in Europe, of chaos
and chivalry. But out of this darkness one figure arises.
It is that of a Tartar who, in 397, founded the House of
Toba. He organised the civil administration and, by his
encouragement of learning, civilised his barbarous people.
Though the Tobas at first persecuted the Buddhists, they
became its great supporters later, and through them the
religion was finally established in China. Its in¬
fluence may be illustrated by the attitude of the founder
of a succeeding dynasty, viz., the Liang dynasty (502—

302 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

557). He became a devout Buddhist and is reputed to have
built 13,000 temples. He sent for monks from India, and
was so strict in following the doctrine of Akimsa that he
forbade even the cutting of figures of animals embroidered
on doth. * He is described as a man of distinguished cha¬
racter and noble presence, a scholar, soldier, statesman, and
monk/ Other examples of Buddhist influence have already
been cited. Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, like Fa Hian and
Huen Tsang, came to India, and Indian Buddhist monks,
like Bodhidharma and Kumaravijaya, travelled to China.
It is reckoned that at the dose of this period the Buddhist
library in China exceeded that of' the Confucian.

The country was reunited into a single empire by the
Duke of Sui, the founder of the Sui dynasty (589—618).
The last ruler of this family was a rather remarkable figure.
He was Yang Ti (605—17).

“Studious, clever, luxurious, he squandered treasure and life
without stint. Immense palaces, huge parks, lakes and islands,
trees that must always bloom, naturally or with silken flowers
and leaves, thousands of court ladies and their attendants, every
conceivable gratification were his delight. He linked his capital
with the Yangtze by joining various rivers into a great cannal,
lining it with stone embankments, and, 30,000 ‘dragon boats’
carried him and his entourage on royal visitations. Whole dis¬
tricts were denuded of birds to supply his followers with gay
feathers. He led an army of 305,000 against Korea, of whom
only 2,7000 returned.”!

«

Such a prince was not calculated to keep either his dig¬
nity or power for long. His general Li Yuan revolted and
established a new dynasty. This was the famous T’ang
dynasty about which we have already said something in an
earlier chapter. T’ai Tsung (627-650): was its greatest

1. Soothill, A History of China, p. 27.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

303

ruler. During his time both Christianity and Islam first
entered China, the former in 635 and the latter in 628,
Unlike European monarchs, T’ai Tsung welcomed both and
allowed the new religions to be freely propagated in his do¬
minions. The mosque at Canton, erected by these early
visitors to the Far East, is one of the oldest surviving mos¬
ques built during the lifetime of the Prophet. The Chris¬
tians were Nestorians from Syria and Persia. Though the
dynasty of T’ai Tsung continued till 907, his successors were
decadent rulers. The Turcomans wearing black garments
(hence nicknamed “the Crows”) were called in to defend
them, but turned out to be their enemies. However, the
glory of T’ai Tsung’s days was never forgotten. The sou¬
therners to this day proudly call themselves “ Men of T’ang.”

There were five shortlived dynasties (mostly Turcoman)
ruling from 907 to 960. The Sung dynasty arose out of
their ashes and revived the glory of Han and T’ang (960—
1280). The most notable figure of this period was Wang
An-shih the “communist minister of Sken Tsung (1068—
1086). He is described as a very clever man who “wore
dirty clothes and did not even wash his face.” But as a re¬
former far in advance of his times he distinguished him¬
self even like Wang Mang before him. He created a Board
of Statistics, attempted nationalisation of commerce, issued
loans to needy farmers, introduced conscription, and levied
an income-tax. When famine was declared to be the indi¬
cation of the wrath of God, Wang said, “ Not at all; natu¬
ral phenomena are the result of natural laws and have no
relation to moral action.” The collapse of the Sung dy¬
nasty, like that of many of its predecessors, was brought
about partly by inner decadence, and outer attacks by the
barbarian Mongols. Though it endured for a long time it
was renowned less for its emperors than for .its statesmen

304 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and soldiers, less for its successes against external
foes (the Tartars) than for its scholars. Yet the legacy
of culture that they left served to enhance the value of
China’s permanent contributions to civilisation. Summing
up the Sung services to culture Soothill has observed :

“ These have left behind a legacy of literature that will
be treasured for all time. The names of historians, philo¬
sophers, commentators, essayists, poets are writ high on the
scroll of their country. Though books were first printed
immediately before the foundation of this dynasty, it was
during its existence, and notably south of the Yangtze, that
the great writers existed and their books were published.
Education was fostered and academies for students encou¬
raged. The growing artistic taste still further stimulated
the skill of workers in gold, silver, and the metals, in wood,
textiles, and other materials. The manufacture of porcelain
underwent a notable development. Pictorial art rea¬
ched its zenith as also did the art of writing,
engraving, and printing Chinese characters. The constant
demands of war produced improved weapons and armour;
the ballista for throwing stones was introduced, and fire¬
arms and cannons came into use in the twelfth century;
ship-building for river and seafaring purposes also received
an impetus, consequent chiefly on the requirements of na¬
val warfare and transport.”

It was Marco Polo, a thirteenth century Venetian tra¬
veller (1260—95), who first roused European interest in
China and the East generally. He travelled in China,
stayed at the court of Kublai Khan, visited Sumatra, South
India, and several other countries besides. Though he cir¬
culated some fantastic stories about the Orient, particularly
the countries he had not personally seen, he also conveyed
much useful information to the Europeans, which had far-

'THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES .'305

reaching effects. With him may be said to begin ttrc.im¬
pulse which culminated in the great geographical discoveries
oi the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

China w£s ruled by the famous Kublai Khan, a descen¬
dant of the still more famous Chengiz Khan, when Marco
Polo visited. The former who founded the Yuan dynasty
in China reigned over only a portion of the vast empire
created by the latter. Chengiz Khan, the leader of the
Mongol hordes, was the greatest conqueror the world has
ever seen. His dominions extended from the Western
shores of the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe, and inclu¬
ded China, Mongolia, Turkestan, Persia, Afghanistan,
North-West India, Asia-Minor, and Eastern Europe. His
army, in spite of its great size, was well organised and was
provided with fire-arms which were first invented in China.
Chengiz was bom in the steppes of Mongolia in 1155. He
was a Mongol Bagatur (Bahadur) or nobleman (literally,
‘hero’) and was elected leader of all the tribes only when
he was fifty-one years of age.

‘And so, when all the generations living in felt tents became
united under a single authority, in the year of the Leopard,
they assembled near the sources of the Onon, and raising the
White Banner on Nine Legs, they conferred on Chengiz the
title of Kagan/

He commenced his great march in 1219 and died in 1227
at the age of seventy-two. But these nine years were not
only the most momentous in his own career, but also some
of the most memorable in the history of the world. Though,
like Attila, he is regarded as a ‘Scourge of God'—for he
moved like a tempest and demolished kingdoms and em¬
pires, massacring millions and piling up mountains of
skulls—he yet rendered a valuable service to civilisation :
The Mongols poured fresh and vigorous blood into the de-

306 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

cadent limbs of humanity, and what is more they opened
up Asia as well as Europe for mutual intercourse. They'
not only moved armies from Asia to Europe, but also esta¬
blished lines of civil contacts between the two continents.
The travels of Marco Polo were only one indication of this.

Chengiz Khan was succeeded by his 9on, Oghotai, who
was more humane than his father. “ Our Kagan Chengiz ”,
he declared, “ built up our imperial house with great labour;
now it is time to give the peoples peace and prosperity, and
to alleviate their burdens.” Yet under him the Mongol
conquests in Europe were further extended. His general
Sabutai subdued Russia, Poland, and Hungary. But after
the death of Oghotai disruption commenced. Mangu be¬
came the Great Khan in 1252. He appointed Kublai Khan
to the government of China. Mangu had his capital at
Karakorum and Kublai built for himself a new one at
Peking. The Western Mongols became Muslims and the
Eastern Buddhists; those in Russia, Poland, and Hungary
obviously adopted Christianity as their religion. Mangu’s
successor, Hulagu, destroyed Bagdad and ended the Abba-
sid Caliphate in 1258. This may be considered as also the
end of the Arab civilisation and the beginning of the more
destructive era of the Turks who were indistinguishable
from the Mongols.

Meanwhile in China Kublai Khan, as previously stated,
founded the Yuan dynasty. He also added Tongking,
Annam, and even part of Burma to his dominions. His
attempt to conquer Japan and Malaysia, however, proved
futile as the Mongols had no navy equal to the task. After
Kublai’s death, in 1292 the Empire of the Mongols split
up into independent kingdoms like (1) the Yuan dominions
of China, (2) the Golden Horde of Russia, Poland, and
Hungary, (3) the Ilkhan territory of Hulagu, including

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

307

Turkestan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, and (4) the Mongo¬
lian empire of Siberia. The Turkish empire of Timur or
Tamerlane (1369—1405) was built out of these elements.

Timur brought half of Asia under his sway. He con¬
quered all lands from the Great Wall of China to Moscow,
and, as we know, overrun the Punjab as well. By this time
the Turks and Mongols of the North-West had not only
turned Muslims, but become its fanatical protagonists. “ My
object in the invasion of Hindustan,” Timur declared, “ is
to lead a campaign against the infidels, to convert them to
the True Faith according to the command of the Prophet
(on whom be the blessing of God!), to purify the land
from the defilement of misbelief and polytheism, and over¬
throw the temples and idols, whereby we shall be Ghazis
and Mujdhids, champions and soldiers of the Faith before
God.” But this was merely a pretext, because Timur fought
and overthrew Muslims as well. He invaded India in 1398,
defeated the Sultan of Turkey in a terrible engagement at
Angora in 1402, received the submission of the Sultan of
Egypt, and suddenly died in 1405.

The Ottoman or Osmanli Turks had established them¬
selves in Asia-Minor about 1300. Under Bajazet they had
advanced into South-Eastern Europe and overthrown the
Christian armies at Nicopolis on the Danube in 1396. The
advent of Timur had temporarily checked this Turkish ad¬
vance into Europe. But under Muhammad II (the Great)
the Turkish conquests were renewed with vigour. Constan¬
tinople fell before his irresistible attacks, in 1453, and the
Muslims established themselves in the Balkan peninsula
with momentous results in European history. Under Sulei¬
man the Great (called by Turkish historians the ‘Lord of
his Age’) the Ottoman power was raised to its zenith
(1520—1566). He advanced into Central Europe and in-

308 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

vested Vienna, the capital of Austria. Though he did not
succeed in capturing it, he conquered Hungary and the
island' of Cyprus from the Christians. Suleiman’s empire
extended from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea to the
shores of the Atlantic Ocean along North Africa. It inclu¬
ded Asia-Minor, Egypt, the islands 'of the Eastern Medi¬
terranean, the Black Sea, the Balkan peninsula, and Hun¬
gary. The decline followed only after the death of Sulei¬
man the Great. “Compared with other European states
of that time, the Ottoman empire was well governed and
prosperous ; trade, learning, and literature flourished; his¬
torical writing attained high excellence.” 1

In India the period of history traced above covers the
centuries from the death of Harsha (647) to the establish¬
ment of the Mughal Empire by Babur (1526). They
were centuries of neither less interest nor of less consequen¬
ce to World History. We must therefore make here at
least a brief survey of happenings in India.

Muhammad the Prophet of Islam was a contemporary
of Sri Harsha of Kanouj. We have witnessed in the ear¬
lier chapters the remarkable rapidity with which Islam
spread over the three continents of Asia, Africa, and
Europe. The Arabs were no strangers to India, and after
their conversion to Islam they conquered Sind at the same
time (712) as they conquered Spain. The circumstances
under which this happened are familiar to readers of In¬
dian history. India was not politically united ; even so¬
cially she needed rejuvenation. Hence, in the words of
E. B. Havell, it appeared as if “ the sword of Islam was the
Creator’s pruning knife which removed the decaying bran¬
ches and cut back the unfruitful growth of the Tree of

Renouf, Outlines of General History, p. 234 .

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

309

Knowledge He had planted in Aryavarta” Obviously, it
was the period of Hindu decadence, and new vitality was
imparted by the violent impact of a new civilisation; for
Islam was nothing less than that.

‘ India up to that date, or to about the close of that cen¬
tury, was characteristically and exclusively Hindu, using
this term in its most comprehensive sense. Whatever chan¬
ges took place up to that age were changes in Hindu India,
which remained Hindu, enfolding in its broad bosom such
divergent racial elements as Aryan and Dravidian, Scythian
and Mongolian, and religious differentiations such as Brah¬
manism, Animism, Jainism, and Buddhism/ But ‘Hindu¬
ism found in Islam a strange bed-fellow, with a character
almost sturdier than its own. The capacity of Hindu so¬
ciety for assimilation of peoples and cultures unlike its own,
before the advent of the Muhammadans, seemed to be in¬
finite. But the Crescent for the first time revealed its li¬
mitations. Indeed, for well nigh a millennium, Hindu so¬
ciety threatened to go under. Islam was in the ascendant
from the advent of the Arabs in Sind (712 a.d.) to the de¬
cline and fall of the Mughal Empire at the death of
Aurangazeb (1707 a.d.). Until after the final discomfiture
of Alamgir it was not certain that India was not to be
Dar-ul-Islam. But the Medieval Age in India closed with
the certainty that this ancient land was to belong equally
to both peoples and faiths, Muslim no less than Hindu.
On what terms has not been settled yet.

‘The impact of these two cultures has created Modem
India and its problems. The aggressive European never
fully triumphed over purely Islamic countries. No one en¬
tirely succeeded in submerging India so long as she re¬
mained exclusively Hindu. It will not be unwarrantable,
therefore, to attribute the subjection of India to her loss of

310 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

homogeneity. The prime factor in our altered national
composition has been the almost unassimilable racial and
teligious element introduced by Islam. The history of this
impact is to us, therefore, of moire than mere scholastic in¬
terest. ..

‘Except in India, wherever Muhammadans succeeded in
establishing themselves, they transformed society and cul¬
ture beyond recognition. Islam simply came, saw, and
conquered. Hindu India was both weak, divided anid de¬
cadent. And yet, after centuries of continuous fighting,
India could not be equally submerged. Paradoxical as it
might seem, therefore, India on the eve of the Muslim in¬
vasions was both weak and unconquerable. She was poli¬
tically most vulnerable, but culturally all but impregnable/ 1
The first Muslim conqueror of India was Imiad-ud-dln
Muhammad (ibn Kasim). He was an Arab and was act¬
ing as the agent of the governor of Irak who was himself
under the Caliph of Bagdad. He subdued Sind in 712
a.d. and the Arabs continued to hold it for a little over a
century and a half (to 871 a.d.) But impermanent as this
conquest proved, so far as the Arabs were concerned, Sind
has remained ever since a predominantly Muslim province.
The next Muhammadan invader was the Turkish Mahmud
of Ghazni who raided India seventeen times (1001—25),
despoiled the great Hindu temples of Nagarfeot, Thanesar,
Mathura, Brindavan, Kanouj, and Somnath, and earned for
himself the title of Idol-breaker :

The mighty Mahmud, the Victorious Lord,

That all the misbelieving and black Horde
Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the soul
Scatters and slays with his enchanted Sword.

1. S. R. Sharma, The Crescent xn India , pp. 1-2.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

311

Mahmud is also remembered for his association with the
great scholar Al-Biruni and the great Persian poet Firdausi.
The former was learned in * astronomy, mathematics, chro¬
nology, mathematical geography, physics, chemistry, and
minerology’, and his great work on India is described as
‘a magic island of quiet impartial research in the midst
of a world of clashing swords, burning towns, and plundered
temples.’ Firdausi was the author of the greatest of Per¬
sian epics, the Skah-namah.

We have not the space here to recount, except very briefly,
the rest of Muslim history in India, nor is more necessary
for ojur purposes. Another Muhammad followed. He de¬
feated and killed the famous Prithvi Raj Chauhan, and also
paved the way for the foundation of the Slave ‘ dynasty.’
The greatest of these were Iltutmish and Balban and a
queen (rare in Muslim history), Razia. Then came the
Khaljis of whom the most notable was Allauddin (1296—
1316). Under him Muslim arms reached the farthest cor¬
ners of India. Though extremely tyrannical, he was also
a reformer. He tried to control the markets and prices as
well as the consumption of liquor. The next dynasty was
that of the Tughlaks of whom the remarkable and quixotic
Muhammad (1325—51) is well known for his currency ex¬
periments and changing his capital from Delhi to Deogiri
with disastrous consequences. “He was perfect in the hu¬
manities of his day,” writes a historian, “a master of
style, supremely eloquent in an age of rhetoric, a philoso¬
pher, trained in logic and Greek metaphysics, with whom
scholars feared to argue, a mathematician and a lover of
science.” At the same time, according to the contemporary
witness Ibn Battuta,

‘This king of all men is the one who most loves to dispense
gifts and to shed blood. His gateway is never free from a beggar

312

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

whom he has relieved and a corpse which he has slain. Talcs
are spread abroad among the people of his generosity and cou¬
rage, as of his bloodshed and vindictiveness towards offenders.
With all this he is the humblest of men and the most eager to
show justice and truth. The rites of religion find full observance
with him, and he is strict in the matter of prayer and in puni¬
shing its neglect. But what is pre-eminent in him is his gene¬
rosity..when there was such famine in India that a maund
of corn cost six dinars [3 guineas], he ordered six months’ food
to be distributed to all the inhabitants of Delhi from the crown
stores. Each person, great or small, free or slave, was to have a
pound and a half Morocco weight (about 2 lbs.) a day.’

The combination of bounty and cruelty indicated here
was more or less typical of the Muslim Sultans. Except in
rare cases, as with Zain-ul-Abideen of Kashmir (1417—
67), the Hindus were invidiously treated. They had to pay
the jiziya or poll-tax and were not allowed to practise their
religion freely and openly. But the tendency on the whole
was to soften the edge of difference between the conquerors
and the conquered. Culturally, the two communities after
centuries of conflict learnt much from each other. Hindu
converts to Islam inevitably tended to modify its practice,
if not its faith also, While the appearance of reforming
saints like Nanak (1469—1539) and Kabir (1440—1518)
served to purge Hinduism of its idolatry and exclusiveness.
The spirit of compromise is well reflected in the following
lines from Kabir

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world
belong ?

If Ram be within the image, then who is there to know what
happens without?

Haxi is in the East; Allah is in the West. Look within your
own heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram.

All the men and women of the world are His living forms.

Kabir is the child of Allah and Ram; He is my guru ; He is
my pir.

THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

313

Vain too are the distinctions of caste.

All shades of colour are but broken arcs of light.

All varieties in human nature are but fragments of Humanity.

The right to approach God is not the monopoly of Brahmans,
but belongs to all who are sincere of heart.

Hindu India on the eve of the Muslim invasions had
been a congeries of warring states, like the Paramars of
Malwa, the Pratiharas of Kanouj, the Palas of Bengal, the
Solankis of Gujarat, the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, the
Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas of South India, etc. Though
we have necessarily to skip over these and many others,
we may note a few salient facts about them. North India
under the Pratiharas (c 700—1000 a.d.) and South India
under the Cholas (c. 900—1100 a.d.) were about the only
two Hindu powers that came very near to achieving any¬
thing like imperial unity. But even this was of an acciden¬
tal and precarious nature being dependent upon personali¬
ties like Mihira Bhoja, Nagabhata, Rajaiaja, and Rajen-
dra. However, within their limited spheres, each kingdom
maintained peace, fostered literature and industry, and prac¬
tised religious toleration of a unique character. Jains,
Buddhists, Brahmanical and other Hindus lived for the most
part amicably with one another irrespective of the faith of
the rulers. The prosperity was so great at one time that
it stimulated enterprise and carried both Hindus and Bud¬
dhists into distant lands like Burma, Indo-China, and the
Malay Archipelago. There a Greater India was created as
we have noticed before. Pagan, Pegu, Cambodia, Srivi-
jaya, Angkor, and Madjapahit proclaimed to the world the
glories of colonial India. The last named of these
kingdoms was extinguished only as late as the
close of the fifteenth century. Then it was swal¬
lowed up by the growing Muslim state of Malacca.
But in their heyday the Hindus of Greater India

314 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

had successfully resisted the incursions of the Mon¬
gols under Kublai Khan. They had also earned on great
building activities (e.g. Borobudur and Angkor Vat)
and trade with India, China, the Philippine Islands, etc.
At home also medieval Hinduism expressed itself luxuriant¬
ly in temple architecture. ‘The M&rband Sun temple of
Kashmir, the Khajuraho Vishnu temple of Central India,
the rich Jaina temples of Mt. Abu, and the famous Saiva
and Vaishnava temples of South India, particularly
those built by the Cholas of Tanjore, the Pandyas
of Madura, and the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra
(Halebid and Bdur in Mysore), may be cited as
examples. Mahmud of Ghazni who destroyed the glorious
temple of Somnath was struck with a sense of beauty by
the shrines of Mathura and Kanouj though his zeal for
Islam did not permit his sparing them through admiration.
The Kailasa temple of Ellura, excavated under Krishna I
Rashtrakuta, still evokes the admiration of the world. Prin¬
ces and peasants had lavished their best gifts on these crea¬
tions for generations before their fatal endowments attract¬
ed the heavy hammers of the greedy iconoclasts. Little
did pious and self-complacent India of a thousand yean
ago dream that its princes and gods would alike prove im¬
potent against a race of more realistic foreigners.’ 1

1. Ibid., pp. 21-22.

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

In the fifteenth century the great inventions,
the geographical discoveries, the extension of
commerce, the growth of capital, the rise of
the middle class, the revival of learning, the
growth of great dynastic states, destroyed the
ideals of poverty, chastity and obedience.

— W. G. Sumner

The period of transition from the Medieval to the Modem
times is often referred to by historians as the Renaissance or
Renascence. But this term, which signifies “re-birth”, is
rather misleading and inadequate to convey to us a full
impression of the many-sided changes that took place in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, particularly in Western
Europe. It may be more truly described as the Age of
Expansion, geographical, commercial, social, intellectual,
artistic, and moral. It was not so much or merely a re¬
birth of learning which is usually implied, but an all-round
awakening and broadening of the human horizons, The
Europeans, who were destined to revolutionise the whole
world, fedt during these centuries a fresh impulse of life
which set their feet on new ground that bore ere long a
harvest of unexpected fruit. If the world in which we live
to-day is very different from what it was during the ages
described in the preceding chapters of this book, it is largely
because of what happened in this Age of Expansion. Here

316 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

it is well to recapitulate some of the outstanding tendencies
of the Medieval times which already indicated the trans¬
formation that was to follow.

We cannot too often emphasise the continuity of human life
and civilisation. There are no chasms in human progress.
It is one long march from the primitive to the modem cul¬
ture The past never completely dies; it grows through
the present into the future. The process may be sometimes
slow, sometimes even disturbed, but never suspended. Like¬
wise its pace is on occasions considerably quickened, as dur¬
ing the fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Hence what
appears to be a revival is not exactly a re-birth. There
was in the New Age much that was old, but not necessarily
like the reprint of an old edition of a book. Rather, it
was the promise of childhood being fulfilled in maturity.
We have witnessed how the legacies of Egypt and the Orient
supplied the foundations of Greek civilisation and the Greeks
inspired the Romans to enrich their own with the peculiar
creations of the Hellenic genius. Similarly the Medieval
civilisation rested upon the relics of the Roman Empire and
culture. The barbarians who appeared to overthrow these
in the Dark Ages did not really destroy everything. They
only cut down the tares and weeds and stimulated a fresh
growth. For instance, under the aegis of the Church and
monasteries Latin continued to be universally studied and
Roman Law survived the fall of the Empire which had
promulgated it. Medieval European society was a com¬
pound of Latin and Teutonic elements.

The birth of Mam in the seventh century and its west¬
ward movement introduced another new element into
European civilisation. Though the Moors and Saracens were
regarded as the enemies of Christendom they proved to be'
the savioura : and preservers of the Graeco-Roman culture.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

317

Aristotle, for instance, who was the most widely read ancient
writer in the medieval world, was available for long only
in Latin translations derived, not from the original Greek,
but from Arabic. The Moorish universities of Cordoba and
Toledo became the sources of inspiration to the Christian
universities of later times. When these centres of learning
and cultural influence were extinguished in the West, the
Crusades kept up the contact with the East. While the
Europeans hated the Muslims, particularly Turks, they pro¬
fited both from their culture and trade. Indeed, they
valued these so much that when their highways of commerce
with the East were blocked by the Turks, the Europeans
desperately sought other channels of communication with
the Orient. Like a pent up stream bursting over a dam
Europe, after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks
in 1453, was bubbling with an overabundance of energy that
was to find expression in a variety of forms which we shall
study in the course of this chapter. The most remarkable
outward feature of this energy was the spirit of adventure
and geographical exploration.

Before Marco Polo (1260-95) advertised the Orient among
the Europeans their knowledge of the outside world was
very limited. Indeed, that was the case with most people
in timps when the means of communication were very diffi¬
cult, both by land and sea. Moreover, the needs of all
people were so few and simple that they rarely fdt the
necessity of looking far around. Even if any desired to
travel widely such roads as existed were so beset with
dangers that few would take the risk. Wars were frequent,
robbers were rampant on land routes and pirates infested
the seas. Yet, thanks to the enterprising spirit of traders,
and the intercourse stimulated by the Mongolian invasions
and the Crusades, even in the Middle Ages there existed a

318 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

flrurishing commerce between Europe and Asia. But the
principal carriers of this trade were the Muslims and the
routes lay through Muslim countries. When the hostile
Turks prevented the Europeans from using these ancient
routes, fresh ways had to be discovered. “ The needs of
commerce,” as Professor Webster has observed, “largely
account for early exploring voyages. Eastern spices—cinna¬
mon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger—-were used more
freely in medieval times than now, when people lived on
salt meat during the winter and salt fish during lent. Even
wine, ale, and medicines had a seasoning of spices. Besides
spices, all kinds of precious stones, drugs, perfumes, gums,
dyes, and fragrant woods came from the East.”

The pioneers of enterprise in the discovery of the new
routes to the East were the Portuguese and the Spaniards.
For want of space we have to be content here with a bare
summary of the most important facts connected with them.
The Chinese had long ago discovered the use of the mag¬
netised needle to determine the directions on unchartered
seas. But for the resulting mariner's compass, geographical
exploration on a vast scale, such as that of the fifteenth and
the following centuries, would have been difficult. Another
helpful factor was the increasing acceptance of the hypothesis
about the sphericity of the earth, believed in since the days
of Ptolemy, which suggested the possibility of circumnavi¬
gation. Under the patronage of Prince Henry the Navi¬
gator (Dom Henriques) of Portugal, a beginning was made
in the exploration of the west coast of Africa southwards.
It culminated in the discovery of the Cape route to India.
Bartholomew Diaz rounded the southern extremity of Africa
in 1487 and significantly christened it the Cape of Good
Hope. Before ten years had elapsed after this, Vasco da
Gama started on his famous voyage which brought him to

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

319

Calicut in 1498. When he returned to Lisbon he carried
with him a cargo worth sixty times the cost of his expedi¬
tion, and was rewarded by the King of Portugal with the
title of 4 Lord of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce
of Ethiopia, Persia, and India 1 . Java and the Moluccas
were reached by the Portuguese in 1512.

But the most surprising discovery of the age, however,
was that of America by Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci
after whom the continent has taken its name. The former, a
Genoese adventurer, reached the West Indies in 1492, start¬
ing on a voyage intended to reach the East by the shortest
route ! The globe prepared by the German geographer,
Martin Behaim, in 1490, had shown Cipango (Japan) just
where Columbus landed, little suspecting the intruding
obstacle of America. Amerigo sailed after 1497, but was
lucky enough to have his name immortalised by a German
map-maker. Columbus made four voyages in all (1492,
1493, 1498, and 1503) to the 4 Indies’ only to die in Spain
a discredited, dishonoured, and disappointed man.

These western discoveries were made under Spanish aus¬
pices. Christopher Columbus was patronised by Queen
Isabella of Castile. Balboa beheld the Pacific Ocean across
Panama in 1513, and the Portuguese Magellan, in the ser¬
vice of Spain, passed into the Pacific (so called by Magellan
on account of its calm in contrast to the Atlantic)' through
the Strait named after him, in 1519, and reached the Philip¬
pine Islands where unfortunately he was killed. But three
years after the expedition had started, only one ( Victoria)
out of the five ships that had set out under Magellan, reach
ed Seville harbour, returning via the Cape of Good Hope.
This is the first recorded circumnavigation of the earth.
Others followed in the wake of the Portuguese and the
Spaniards, but we have no space to describe them. The

320 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

pioneers claimed a monopoly of exploitation of the new lands
discovered by them, the reactions of which we shall describe
in a later chapter. A Papal Bull confirmed their respective
claims in 1493 : an imaginary line was drawn by Pope
Alexander VI through the Atlantic, 300 miles west of the
Azores and Cape Verde Islands, the East being the share
of the Portuguese and the West of the Spaniards. The
Demarcation Line was shifted in 1494, 800 miles farther
to the west, so that, in 1500, when Brazil was discovered by
the Portuguese it was found to lie within their purview.

Here we must digress a little to note the conditions of
civilisation in the new continent. Mexico and Peru were
conquered respectively by Cortez and Pizarro in 1519-21 and
1531-32, They were both adventurers who were prone to
practise every type of villainy, “ ignorant, fanatical, lustful
of blood and gold,” as Professor Heamshaw has described
them. Mexico and Peru were both seats of an ancient civili¬
sation “which seems to have had many affinities with the
so-called * heliolithic ’ civilisation which prevailed in the Medi¬
terranean world some thousand years b.c. ” The opportunity,
writes Professor Heamshaw, was unique to gain an insight
into ideas and institutions widely divergent from those of
Christendom, but it was forever lost; for the savage in¬
vaders thought only to plunder, slay and destroy. 1 One
incident may be cited for illustration. Through treachery
Pizarro made Atahualpa, the Inca leader, captive, and de¬
manded for his ransom a room full of gold * as high as he
could reach/ The demand was fulfilled, but not the pro¬
mise. Pizarro took both Atahualpa’s gold and life. The
Incas of Peru were far advanced in civilisation. The great
cities of their empire were filled with splendid palaces and

1. A First Book of World History, p. 149.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

321

temples, and throughout their country there were magnificent
works of public utility, such as roads, bridges, and aqueducts.
Their government was a mild paternal autocracy. Their
Spanish conquerors robbed and reduced them to abject
slavery when they were not ruthlessly exterminated to make
room for Negro slaves imported from Africa.' 1

From this tale of discovery and conquest we shall now
turn to the more interesting intellectual developments of the
age. “ The widening of the physical horizon,” as one writer
has observed, “ brought a corresponding extension of the in¬
tellectual horizon.” The initial impulse for it likewise came
from the East. The Turkish occupation of South-Eastern
Europe had driven the Greeks westwards to ‘ Magna-Graecia’
or South Italy. The fall of Constantinople brought in its
train a large band of Greek refugees to Rome and the other
Italian cities. Among these were not a few scholars who
brought with them many valuable manuscripts of the Greek
classics. This naturally evoked interest in the ancient Hel¬
lenic literature and culture among the Italians. That interest
soon developed into a wider movement known as Humanism.
It was so described because throughout the Middle Ages the
best of the intellectuals had concentrated their energies on
theological studies, whereas the new learning was centred
round subjects of “human” interest. From this point of
view Dante’s Divina Commedia (noticed earlier), though
it has been called the “Epic of Medievalism” was also a
forerunner of the new movement in literature. Petrarch
(1304-74) was even a greater representative of this human¬
ism. In fact he is considered the greatest of humanists.

1. Read “The Lost Treasures of Mexico and Peru” and
“ South America’s Marvels in Masonry ” in Wonders of the Past, I
pp. 411-12 and 585-99.

322 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

" To understand Petrarch is to understand the Renaissance.
He was the first scholar of the medieval time who fully
realized and appreciated the supreme excellence and beauty
of the classical literature and its value as a means of cul¬
ture. His enthusiasm for the ancient writers was a sort
of worship.” 1 His most distinguished disciple was Boccaccio
(1313-75), the inspirer of Chaucer in England. Among the
most prominent promoters of the New Learning were the
famous Medici (Cosimo and Lorenzo) of Florence, and the
Popes, Nicholos V (1447-55), Julius II (1503-13) and Leo
X (1513-21). Under the latter Rome became a brilliant
centre of Renaissance art and learning. When Constantinople
fell, they said, “ Greece has not fallen, she has migrated to
Italy.” The enthusiasm for culture and learning shown by
the scholars of the Renaissance, the wonderful experience and
achievements of the discoverers, and, finally, the intellectual
freedom gained in the reformation struggle (Professors
Keatinge and Frazer have observed), resulted in such an
outburst of genius in the sixteenth century as the history
of the world has rarely equalled. Every country of Europe
made some contribution to the glorious output. Science
and literature alike yielded master creations of the human
mind. 2

We have already mentioned some of the forerunners of
this great awakening : Albertus Magnus (1206-80), Thomas
Aquinas (1226-74), and Roger Bacon (1214-94). The
spirit and outlook of the age are well reflected in the follow¬
ing passage from the last named scholar’s Opus Menus :

There are two modes in which we acquire knowledge, argu¬
ment and experiment. Argument shuts up the question, and
makes us shut it up too, but it gives no proof, nor does it re-

1. Myers, General History, p. 477.

2. Introduction to World History, p. 227.

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

323

move doubt and cause the mind to rest in the conscious posses¬
sion of truth, unless the truth is discovered by way of experience,
e.g., if any man who had seen fire were to prove by satisfactory
argument that fire bums and destroys things, the hearer’s mind
would not rest satisfied, nor would it avoid fire ; until by put¬
ting his hand or some combustible thing into it, he proved by
actual experiment what the argument laid down ; but after the
experiment had been made, his mind receives certainty, and rests
in the possession of truth which could not be given by argument,
but only by experience.

Roger Bacon, as Westaway says, stands out for all time
as the successful pioneer of experimental investigation. In
the succeeding centuries (1301-1600) there were creative
geniuses in every walk of life. The spirit of Roger Bacon
and Columbus was abroad, and the enlightenment of Dante
(1265-1321) and Petrarch (1304-74) appeared to inspire
everybody. The versatility of Michael Angelo (1475-1564)
and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is admired even to-day.
Copernicus the Pole (1473-1543), Tycho Brahe the Dane
(1546-1601), Kepler the German (1571-1630), and Galileo
the Italian (1564-1642),—all astronomers of the greatest re¬
pute, extended the vision of humanity to worlds beyond the
terrestrial. The invention or introduction of printing with
moveable types (first used by the Chinese) had even more
momentous consequences than that of the mariner’s compass.
Professor Will Durant has rightly described this as the great¬
est invention, after writing, in the history of cur race. 1 The
pioneers in Europe in this direction were Guttenberg (Ger¬
many) and Caxton (England). The Chinese had discovered
the art of manufacturing paper out of silk; the Arabs and
Europeans substituted linen for this. The simultaneous con-

1. Read further details in The Story of Civilization , II, p. 727-
31; and for an account of scientific progress, Westaway, The
Endless Quest , pp. 102 ff.

324 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

trivance of the two (printing and paper) proved as useful
as the combination of the steam engine and coal two cen¬
turies later. They resulted in a wonderful dissemination
and extension of the New Learning.

In the realm of literature the Italian Ariosto (1474-1533)
and Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Frenchmen Rabelais
(1490-1553) and Montaigne (1533-1592), the Spanish
Cervantes (1547-1616), and the English Spenser (1552-99),
Shakespeare (1564-1616), and Francis Bacon (1560-1626),
may be taken as representative writers. Ariosto was a
romantic poet, and in his Orlando Furioso he says,

Of ladies and of knights, of arms and love,

Of courtesy and of brave deeds I sing.

He inspired Spenser, Shakespeare, and the other Elizabethan
poets in England. Machiavelli, the author of The Prince and
The Art of War , was a politician devoid of any moral sense.
His name has become proverbial for “ Realpolitik ” or un¬
scrupulous statecraft. Francis Bacon admiringly said : “ We
are much beholden to Machiavelli and others that wrote
what men do and not what men ought to do.” Caesar Borgia
(1476-1507), natural son of Pope Alexander VI, was the
embodiment of Machiavelli’s ideal Prince : In the words
of Mr. H. G. Wells,

“ Caesar was a youth of spirit even for the times in which
he lived; he had early caused his elder brother to be murdered,
and also the husband of his sister Lucrezia. He had, indeed,
betrayed and murdered a number of people. With his fathers
assistance he had become duke of a wide area of Central Italy
when Machiavelli visited him. He had shown little or no military
ability, but considerable dexterity and administrative power. His
magnificence was of the most temporary sort. When presently
his father died, it collapsed like a pricked bladder. Its unsound-
ness was not evident to Machiavelli. Our chief interest in Caesar

THE AGE OF EXPANSION 325

Borgia is that he realized Machiavelli's highest ideals of a superb
and successful prince.” 1

John Drinkwater has said, in his The Outline of Literature,
that “The Frenchman Rabelais, the Spaniard Cervantes,
and the Englishman Shakespeare, are without question the
three giants of the Renaissance.” 2 Since the last of these
is too well-known, only the first two need a word of intro¬
duction. It is said of Rabelais that his writing “ srerm to
belong to the morning of the world, a time of mirth and a
time of expectation.” Montaigne was a great essayist and
humanitarian. “The greatest thing of the world,” he
declared, “ is for a man to know how to be his own.” In
one of his essays he quotes an old sailor, who said : “ 0 God,
Thou unit save me, if it be Thy will, and if Thou choosest,
Thou wilt destroy me; but, however it be, I will always
hold my rudder straight.” That, says Drinkwater, is Mon¬
taigne. Both Rabelais and Montaigne represented the
Renaissance in France.

Cervantes was the author of Don Quixote, which is spoken
of as “ the most beautiful and wonderful gift of the Renais¬
sance to the literature of the world,” apart from the plays of
Shakespeare. In it the author presents to us the brilliant
pageant of Spanish society in the sixteenth century, but that
pageant is also of humanity and belongs to all time, like
the creations of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens.

Francis Bacon was the typical product of his age: ‘ the
greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind.’ Like Michael Angelo
and Leonardo da Vinci, he was versatile. He was a states¬
man, lawyer, wit, philosopher and man of letters; “ and
in each of these several capacities he won a pre-

1. The Outline of History, p. 781.

2. P. 256.

326 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

eminent place” It is said that although many others
could rival him in the mere acquisition of knowledge,
“none since Aristotle had so succeeded in impressing the
whole with his own mental stamp, and in inspiring a new
campaign against ignorance and disorder.” His Essays are
still the most popular of all his works. In one of them
Bacon says,

“ There are three means to fortify belief. The first,, is experience;
the second, reason ; the third, authority : and that of these which
is far the most potent is authority; for belief upon reason or
upon experience will stagger.”

The greatest imaginative work of the Renaissance period
was Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. In that age of discovery,
romances, poetry, and new ideals the Renaissance dreamer,
4 weary of old abuses, and longing for a more rational and
more kindly society/ created this unique work, first publish¬
ed in 1516. More was far ahead of his times, for he “ not
only denounced the ordinary vices of power, but evinced
an enlightenment of sentiment which went far beyond the
most statesmanlike ideas to be found among his contem¬
poraries, pronouncing not merely for toleration, but rising
even to the philosophic conception of the indifference of
rdigious creed.” We shall make a survey of the religious
outlook of the age in the next chapter. But before that
we must briefly notice the progress in Art.

An age of such expanding horizons and boundless creative
energies was bound to express itself in enduring forms of
art. With the growth of wealth and the spread of enlighten¬
ment came also the desire for better architecture and better
aesthetic surroundings. Medieval towns and buildings
had been built more for security than for the satisfaction
of any artistic ideas. Thus the manorial house was a castle
and even the. churches and monasteries conformed to the

THE AGE OF EXPANSION

327

heavier types of Roman architecture. But now there was
a demand for grace and ventilation, and Gothic took the
place of the Romanesque. Lancet-shaped windows and
arches were constructed instead of the rounded windows and
wide round arches on massive round pillars; tall slender
spires were built in place of the massive domes and bell-
capitals. St. Peter’s at Rome, St. Paul’s in London and
St. Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace in Venice, may be cited
as the most interesting creations of this period. In the last
named, ‘ all influences built themselves in marble : the Greek
and Oriental columns, Roman and Gothic arches, Oriental
domes, Moorish ornament and colour, all combined into a
new beauty neither Gothic, Classic, nor Oriental, but Vene¬
tian, a beauty rich in detail and daring in cosmopolitan
combination.’

As in architecture so in painting the Renaissance made
its own contributions. The gifted Van Eyek brothers,
Hubert and Jan (c. 1380-1440), began a new style in
Holland; their work was fresh, bright and delightful. A
kindred spirit was found in Albrecht Diirer (1471-1528) of
Nuremberg and Hans Holbein (1497-1533) in Germany. But
the greatest masters of all were in Italy. They were
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) who painted his masterpiece
(Last Supper) on the wall of a convent in Milan; Raphael
(1483-1520), 'the best beloved of artists’, whose Madon¬
nas are counted among the world’s treasures; Michael Angelo
(1475-1564) with his wonderful frescoes (e. g. the Last
Judgment in the Sistine Chapel at Rome) ; and Titian
(1477-1576), the Venetian master, 'celebrated for his por¬
traits which have preserved for us in the flesh and blood,
so to speak, many of the most noteworthy personages of
his time.’ The change in artistic traditions brought about
by all these Renaissance artists is well summed up by

328 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Philip Van Ness Myers in the following words :

“The earlier Italian painters drew their subjects chiefly from
Christian sources. They literally covered the walls of the
churches, palaces, and civic buildings of Italy with pictorial re¬
presentations of all the ideas and imaginings of the mediaeval
ages respecting death, the judgment, heaven and hell. The later
artists, more under the influence of the classical revival, mingled
freely Pagan and Christian subjects and motives, and thus became
truer representatives than their predecessors of the Renaissance
movement, one important issue of which was to be the blending
of Pagan and Christian culture .” 1

1. General History , p. 484.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

Paganism and Catholicism, which, in the fifteenth
century, might have shared their supremacy, have
ever since been kept apart by the solid wedge
driven by Protestantism into the spiritual and
intellectual life of Europe. —David Ogg

The Reformation in Europe was one of the most im¬
portant results of the intellectual ferment which we witnessed
in the previous chapter. The all-sided changes that were
coming over the lives and minds of people were bound to
affect their religious views as well. In particular, the new
discoveries and astronomical observations were opposed to the
Biblical ideas of the universe, and' the Renaissance stimula¬
ted people to rely more on actual experience rather than on
authority. The Church, which had served European society
so well in the past, was rooted in Faith and founded on
authority. Hence, in the wake of new ideas and outlooks,
it was faced with a formidable force which appeared to be -
stronger than even the barbarians it had converted and
tamed. It had not merely survived all persecutions at the
hands of the old pagans, but derived considerable power out
of its struggles. In the course of the Dark Ages it had
become the one rallying centre of civilisation, and the home
and nursery of arts, industry, and learning. The Crusades
had been fought under its aegis and inspiration; and even
Emperors had 1 been reduced to penitence and submission by

330 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

its omnipotence. But now a new enlightenment was spread¬
ing, which, drawing its inspiration from classical paganism,
threatened to undermine the very foundations of the Chris¬
tian Church. Out of this turmoil and conflict, between the
Old and the New, was to be bom a new Europe,—the maker
of the modem world.

The Church had grown so rich and become so unwieldy
that some of the weaknesses which had brought the great
Roman Empire into the dust also began to manifest them¬
selves in its life. Unrestrained authority, though exercised
in the name of God, inevitably led to corruption, and this
could not stand the light of the new day that was dawning
over Europe since the thirteenth century a.d. Just as the
Roman Empire had first split up into two divisions and then
into several kingdoms, the Universal Church was also to be
divided into, not only the Eastern and the Western Churches,
but into innumerable heretical sects as well. Some of the
earlier heresies were bom out of theological differences, but
during the age under review they arose out of the corrupt
practices and vices of Church dignitaries. Hence, we find
that many of the new attacks against the Church were led
by some of the most learned and well-meaning among
Churchmen themselves, who were anxious to reform the exist-,
ing Church rather than found new churches. We shall illus¬
trate this movement by reference to*some of its outstanding,
leaders without entering into controversial theological dis¬
cussions.

The first of these was John Wycliffe, a teacher at Oxford.
Bom about 1320, he came into prominence after 1366. Pope
Urban V demanded that‘England should pay the tribute
promised by King John (of Magna Carta fame) during his
submission and humiliation. Wycliffe led the agitation
against this demand and tried to establish that John's agree-

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

331

ment was void and not binding upon the English people.
This soon developed into a general attack upon the Pope
and the interference of a foreign Church which had become
the butt of much criticism. One of the good things Wycliffe
did was to have the Bible translated into English. By this
he earned the name of “ father of English prose ” as no
good English prose works existed before his time. His
followers, called the “simple priests,” were denounced as
the Lollards and charged with inciting discontent which led
to disorders known as the Peasants' Revolt. Wycliffe himself
was excommunicated by the Pope and he died in 1384. He
is remembered as the first distinguished scholar and re¬
former to repudiate the supremacy of the Pope and such
practices of the Church as called forth the more violent at¬
tacks of Luther a hundred and fifty years later in Germany.

The See of St. Peter had come into disrepute owing to
the evil life of some who filled that high office. With the
emergence of strong monarchies out of the feudal chaos the
old quarrel between Church and State, we noticed in an
earlier chapter, reappeared in a more acute form. The
Church had amassed great wealth. Who was to appoint its
officials? Were the Church lands to be taxed like ordinary
estates or not? By whom and in what courts were offenders
connected with the Church to be tried and punished? Were
they to be subject to Canon (Church) Law or the ordinary
law of the land? Had the Pope any right to interfere with
the monarchs and their subjects? These were some of the
questions about which opposite views were held by the
Church and secular authorities. A quarrel between Pope
Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair, King of France, regard¬
ing such matters led to very serious consequences.

In 1296, Boniface issued a Bull (order) known as Clericis
laicos, forbidding the clergy and monks to pay, without his

332 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

consent, any revenue out of Church property to any king
or ruler. He also threatened rulers who should presume to
exact such tribute with excommunication. The King of
France, Philip the Fair, took up the challenge by bearding
the lion in his own den. Finally, in 1305, he got a Pope of
his own choice (“Clement V”) appointed. These servile
Popes continued to be proclaimed until 1377 at Avignon on
the border of France. 1 Ultimately, this led to rival Popes
being ordained in France and Italy, both claiming to be sole
heid of the Church. In 1409 a great council was called
to Pisa to settle the dispute. Both the rivals at Avignon
and Rome were declared deposed and a new Pope was pro¬
claimed. But this only increased the number of Popes to
three in place of two! The Great Schism was not “ healed ”
until the memorable Council of Constance, which met in
1414 and continued its sessions till 1427. Its two great
achievements were the burning of Huss (a Bohemian follow¬
er of Wydiffe) as a heretic and the appointment of Pope
Martin V who displaced all the others.

Another great critic of the decadent Church was the
Dutch scholar Erasmus (c. 1469—1536). He was a very
learned man and keenly desired to improve the religious
conditions in the countries of Western Europe Though bom
in Holland he spent much of his life in France, England,
Italy, and Germany. As a boy he had been forced into a
monastery, much against his will, but he lived to be an
earnest monk, greatly interested in Greek and Latin authors,
as well as in religious reform. “ The essence of our religion,”
he said, “ is peace and harmony. These can only exist where

1. This is known as the " Babylonian Captivity ” as it recalled
the memory of the Jewish patriarchs taken to Babylon by
Nebuchadrezzar (see p. 88 ante).

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

333

there are few dogmas and each individual is left to form
his own opinion upon many matters.’ 5 He wrote a book
entitled “ The Praise of Folly” in which he fearlessly ridi¬
culed the corrupt practices and weaknesses of the monks
and theologians. The effect of its publication was so great
that people said that ‘the jokes of Erasmus did the Pope
more harm than even the anger of Luther. 5 However, his
intention was not to ridicule, but only to reform.

But by far the most consequential among the reformers
of this age was Martin Luther (1483—1546). He was an
Augustinian friar and professor at Wittenberg. When he
first entered the monastic life he was full of enthusiasm for
the Church. “ Now, 55 he said, “ I felt bom again, and it
seemed to me as though heaven's gates stood full open be¬
fore me, and I was joyfully entering therein. 55 But when
he visited Rome he was staggered with disillusionment. The
Pope had sunk to the level of* the Italian princes; and the
clergy showed no more piety or morality than the neo-pagan
humanists of the Renaissance. ‘ They struggled to recover
and enlarge the papal states; they sought to secure princi¬
palities and heiresses for their nephews, who were not in¬
frequently their sons; they entered into alliances and waged
wars, sometimes themselves donning armour and leading
their troops; they patronised the scholars and artists of the
new era, and smiled at their open assaults on the Christian
religion and their flagrant immoralities; they rebuilt and
beautified Rome, using for the purpose the contributions of
the faithful of all lands. 5 The earnest and devout soul of
Luther revolted against this, and especially at the abuse and
sale of “Indulgences 55 —a sordid device for exploiting the
faithful and enriching the churchmen. Consequently, he
denounced the “ pietism 55 of sinners who were not “ justified
by faith. 55 “ If the Pope, 55 he cried out, “ releases souls from

334 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

purgatory for money, why not for charity’s sake?” and
“ Since the Pope is rich as Croesus, why does he not build
St. Peter’s with his own money, instead of taking that of
the poor man?”

In 1506 Pope Julius II had commenced the reconstruction
of the magnificent church of St. Peter, in Pome, at enor¬
mous expenditure. The work had been entrusted to the most
famous of contemporary artists and architects—Michael
Angelo, Raphael, and Bramante. Hence, the collection of
necessary funds, principally through the sale of Indulgences,
was vigorously pushed forward. Luther openly protested
against this campaign and published his objections
in the form of ninety-five theses nailed to the door
of the church at Wittenberg (1517). When the ex¬
cited people of Germany supported this “ protestant ” monk,
the Pope excommunicated Luther (1520) and the Emperor
Charles V banned him (T521). These orders were publicly
burned by Luther and his exasperated followers. Thus was
Protestantism bom in Germany out of the embers of the
widespread discontent in Western Europe. When Luther
consigned the Papal Bull to the fire he cried out: “ Because
thou dost trouble the Holy One of the Lord, may eternal fire
consume thee!” This incantation was soon to set Europe
ablaze with the fires of religious conflict.

Luther was summoned for trial before the imperial Diet
(Council) at Worms, but he would not repent or retract:
“ Unless I am convinced of error by the testimony of Scrip¬
ture or by manifest evidence,” he firmly declared, “ I can¬
not and will not retract.” The Emperor Charles V, who
presided, then pronounced his verdict:

“ What my* forefathers established at the Council of Constance
and at other councils it is my privilege to uphold. A angle
monk, led astray by private judgment, has set himself against the

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

335

faith held by Christians for a thousand years and more, and
impudently concludes that all Christians up till now have erred.
I have therefore resolved to stake upon this cause all my domi¬
nions, my friends, my body and my blood, and my life and
soul. After Luther's stiff-necked reply in my presence yesterday
I now repent that I have so long delayed proceedings against
him and his false doctrines. I have now resolved never again,
under any circumstances, to hear him/'

This was virtually a declaration of war on the heretics,
though Luther never contemplated any attacks on the ‘ doc¬
trines ’ of the faith. When the peasants rose in revolt, os¬
tensibly in his support, but really on account of insupport¬
able economic burdens, he denounced the rebels, saying: “ I
think that all peasants should perish rather than the princes
and magistrates, because the peasants have taken up the
sword without divine authority. The peasants are under the
ban of God and of the Emperor and may be treated as mad
dogs.” At the Diet of Spier (Speyer), in 1526, it was laid
down that each ruler should ‘so live, reign, and conduct
himself as he would be willing to answer before God and
His Imperial Majesty/ When another Diet at the same
place tried to reverse the decree, in 1529, on account of
growing extremism among the critics of the Church, the
princes (of Saxony, Hasse, Strassburg, etc.) protested
against interference with their religious freedom. Hence,
they were called Protestants. They put their demands in a
famous document known as the Augsburg Confession. This
divided Germany and Europe into two opposing camps, the
Protestants being mostly the followers of Luther. “ German
Protestantism," as Professor Heamshaw has observed, “ was
the revolt of the Teuton against Latin domination; the rebel¬
lion of the lay-mind against clerical authority; the resent¬
ment of the frugal maker of wealth at unscrupulous spolia¬
tion; the rising of the free intellect against inquisitorial re-

336 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

pression; the resurgence of the individual against the restrict¬
ive community; above all the reaction of a moral people
against a practice—the sale of Indulgences—which easily
rent itself to the most scandalous abuses.” 1
So far as Germany was concerned 1 a sort of religious
settlement was arrived at in the “Peace of Augsburg” in
1555. By it, ‘each German prince and each town and
knight, immediately under the Emperor, was to be at liberty
to make a choice between the beliefs of the venerable Catho¬
lic Church and those embodied in the Augsburg Confession.
If, however, an ecclesiastical prince—an archbishop, bishop,
or abbot—declared himself a Protestant, he must surrender
his possessions to the Church. Every German was either to
conform to the,religious practices of his particular state or
emigrate from it. Every one was supposed to be either a
Catholic or a Lutheran, and no provision was made for any
other belief/ Cujus regio ejus religio : the religion of the
ruler was to be the faith of the state. ,

We must rather rapidly sketch the history and influence
of Protestantism in other countries. “ For at least a century
after Luther’s death,” writes Professor Robinson, “ the great
issue between Catholics and Protestants dominates the history
of all the countries with which we have to do, except Italy
and Spain, where Protestantism never took permanent root.
In Switzerland, England, France, and Holland the revolt
against the Medieval Church produced discord, wars, and
profound changes, which must be understood in order to
follow the later development of these countries.” 2

Zwingli (1484-1531) was the leader of this movement in
Switzerland, and Calvin (1509-64) in France. The former

1. A First Book of World History , p. 152.

2. The Ordeal of Civilization , p. 305.

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE 337

was a liberal-minded humanist and scholar of Zurich. He
lived in the monastery of Einsiedeln, where pilgrims gather¬
ed from all parts on account of a 4 wonder-working image/
44 Here/’ says Zwingli, “ I began to preach the Gospel of
Christ in 1516, before any one in my locality had so much
as heardj 'the name of Luther/’ He paid for this with his
life; for he fell fighting at Kappel, in 1531, in the course
of a religious war. Unlike Luther, Zwingli had not to create
public opinion but only to direct it. A willing press gave
wide publicity to his views about the Church as a “ republic
of believers/’ and denouncing the doctrines of purgatory, in¬
vocation. of saints, clerical celibacy, fasts, pilgrimages, and
transubstantiation. Even the civic authorities rendered him
assistance. But the defeat of the Zwinglians at Kappel gave
the palm of leadership to Geneva instead of Zurich.

John Calvin was a Frenchman who had studied his
Classics in Paris, and Law at Bourges and Orleans. In
spirit he was the most combative and uncompromising of
all the reformers. Mr. David Ogg writes, “ What Lenin was
to the monarchist regime in Russia, such was Calvin to
the empire of Catholicism in Western Europe: in both men
there was the same absolute consistency of purpose and the
same refusal to deviate by a hair’s breadth from the path
indicated by an imperious logic: in both there was the same
indefinable and almost hypnotic power by which their fol¬
lowers were alternately fascinated and perturbed.” 1 Calvin
taught predestination and followed the stoic ideal in life.
“ Men are not all born equal,” he said, “ for some are pre¬
ordained to eternal life, some to eternal damnation.” In
spite of this gloomy doctrine, Calvin exercised a wholesome
influence upon the semi-paganised society around him.’ He

1. The Reformation , p. 41.

338 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

subjected his followers to a stern moral discipline, and Cal¬
vinism, with its headquarters at Geneva, “has been asso¬
ciated with the most progressive and enterprising peoples of
modem times.” Calvin entrusted the management of Church
affairs to presbyters or elders, from whom is derived the
term “ Presbyterian.” Both France and Scotland were much
influenced by this reformer.

In France the Reformation had already made inroads in
the shape of heretical sects like the Waldenses. 1 Despite
persecutions and massacres, particularly under Henry II
(1547-59), the number- of Protestants had increased. By the
direction of Calvin (1555-64) a vigorous reformist church
was brought into existence in France. The inevitable result
was a dreary period of Wars of Religion which lasted from
1559-1598. Under the Guises a regime of intrigue, treason,
and terrorism was established. These were the days of the
persecutions of the Huguenots—St. Bartholomew’s Day
(1572)—and the French Protestant alliance with England.
The tide turned, as the reader might know, with the defeat
of the Spanish Armada in 1588: in the following year the
Guises were assassinated, and the Huguenots found a capable
leader in Henry of Navarre, who succeeded to the French
throne. By the famous Edict of Nantes (1598) the
Huguenots, for the time being, secured religious toleration.

In Scotland the leader of the new movement was John
Knox (1505-72), a disciple of Calvin. He was an avowed
enemy of ‘popery and idolatry,’ and the Kirk (church)
which he established held sway for over three centuries.
Migrating into Ireland, together with the English Protestants,
the Scotch Calvinists helped to create there the problem of
Ulster.

1. From Peter Waldo who sought guidance from the reformers
of Germany and Switzerland.

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

339

Of English Protestantism, which must be more familiar
to the reader, we need write very little here. The ground
had no doubt been prepared by Wycliffe, “the morning
star of fhe Reformation.” Erasmus too had lived in England
for a long time, and Tyndale had again translated the
Bible into English before he was burnt as a heretic in Flan¬
ders. But the course of the Reformation in England, it is
well-known, was determined by Henry VIIFs disgust to¬
wards his first wife Catharine, and his love for Anne Boleyn.
For this, he summoned the Reformation Parliament (1529-
36), abolished appeals to the Papal court, confirmed the
divorce, and proclaimed by statute that the King of England
* justly is, and ought to be, the Supreme head of the Church
of England/ The Reformation in England was more poli¬
tical than' religious to begin with. Henry had won the title
of Defender of the Faith (which is still borne by His
Majesty) by his defence of the Catholic Church against the
Lutheran attacks. He also burnt Anabaptists and Lutherans
at the stake as heretics. But, at the same time, it is not to
be forgotten that he also executed Papalists like Sir Thomas
More (author of Utopia) and Bishop Fisher, and de¬
spoiled and abolished monasteries, for the sake of their
riches. Under his successors, England staggered from the
Protestant extremism of Edward VI and Somerset to the
Catholic extremism of Mary, until she finally settled down
to the stabler compromise of the English Church under
Elizabeth. The only common feature between all these was
the burning of ‘ heretics.’ We have a glimpse of the mind
of Tudor England in the following order for the execution
of Bishop Hooper:—

Whereas John Hooper, who of late was called bishop of Roches¬
ter and Gloucester, by due order of the laws ecclesiastic, con¬
demned and judged for a most obstinate, false, detestable heretic,

340 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and committed to our secular power, to be burned according to
the wholesome and good laws of- our realm in that case provided;
for asmuch as in those cities, and the diocese thereof, he has
in times past preached and taught most pestilent heresies and
doctrine to our subjects there, we have therefore given order that
the said Hooper, who yet persisteth obstinate, and hath refused
mercy when it was graciously offered, shall be put to execution
in the said city of Gloucester, for the example and terror of such
as he has there seduced and mistaught, and because he hath
done most harm there..-. And forasmuch also as the said
Hooper is, as heretics be, a vain glorious person, and delighted
in his tongue, and, having liberty, may use his said tongue to
persuade such as he hath seduced, to persist in the miserable
opinion that he hath sown among them, our pleasure is, there¬
fore, and we require you to take order, that thei said Hooper be
neither, at the time of his execution, nor in going to the place
thereof, suffered to speak at large, but thither to be led quietly
and in silence, for eschewing of further infection and such in¬
convenience as may otherwise ensue in this part. Wherefore fail
not, as ye tender our pleasure.

To save itself from the surging tide of Protestantism the
Roman Catholic Church adopted various measures which had
very far-reaching consequences. This is often described as
the “ Counter-Reformation/’ The most distinguished work¬
ers in this attempt to set the Catholic house in order were
the Jesuits, members of, a glorious Order—the Society of
Jesus—founded by the Spaniard, St. Ignatius Loyola (1493-
1556),. The Pope, Paul III, approving of “this army of
Jesus Christ,” described the society as one

“founded for the especial purpose of providing for the ad¬
vancement of souls in Christian life and doctrine and for the
propagation of the faith through public .preaching and the
ministry of the word of God, spiritual exercises and deeds of
charity, and in, particular through the training of the young and
ignorant in Christianity and through the spiritual consolation of
the faithful of Christ in hearing confessions,”

THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE

341

As Mr. Wells has pointed out in his Outline of History,
“ It was the Order of the Jesuits which carried Christianity
to China again after the downfall of the Ming dynasty, and
Jesuits were the chief Christian missionaries in India and
North America. To their civilizing work among the Indians
in South America we shall presently allude. But their main
achievement lay in raising the standard of Catholic educa¬
tion. Their schools became and remained for a long time
the best schools in Christendom. Says Lord Verulam (Sir
Francis Bacon): ‘As for the pedagogic part.... consult
the schools of the Jesuits, for nothing better has been put in
practice.’ They raised the level of intelligence; they quick¬
ened the conscience of all Catholic Europe, they stimulated
Protestant Europe to competitive educational effort.”

The other great agency in the uplift of the Catholic cause
was the Council of Trent which worked from 1545 to 1563.
Its efforts were directed towards (1) defining the doctrines
of the Roman Catholic Church and defending the same
against the objections raised by the Protestants; (2) suc¬
cinctly and explicitly declaring accursed the various here¬
tical beliefs; and (3) abolishing the various abuses that
had crept into the Church, and enforcing a more rigid dis¬
cipline among the clergy and monks.

The Index and the Inquisition represented two other as¬
pects of the Counter-Reformation. By the former the Poles'
sought to ban heretical literature and by the latter heretical
lives. The two proscriptions together showed how far
Europe was from religious, toleration despite the enlighten¬
ment of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

CHRONOLOGY

105

206-221

311

397

410

438

455

467

496

502-57

526

570

589-618

605-17

618—907

622

627-50

632

647

700—1000

711

712
732

737

741

768-814

800

SECTION THREE

Chinese manufactured paper.

Han Dynasty.

Emperor Galerius: official recognition of Christia¬
nity.

House of Toba founded.

Alaric the Goth : fall of Rome.

Code of Theodosius (completed).

Emperor Valentinian III proclaims the Pope’s supre¬
macy over Christendom.

Western Roman Empire extinguished.

King Clovis baptised.

Liang Dynasty.

Benedictine Order founded.

Prophet Muhammad bom.

Sur Dynasty.

Yang Ti.

Tang Dynasty.

Hijra: flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
T&i Tsung.

Death of Muhammad (Prophet).

Death of Harsha of Kanouj.

Pratiharas.

Arabs conquer Spain.

Arab conquest of Sind.

Battle of Tours: Saracen advance into France
checked.

Battle of Kadessia.

Death of Charles Martel.

Charlemagne.

Charlemagne crowned by Pope Leo III.

CHRONOLOGY

343

A.D.

809

843

865—925
870

900—1100

960—1280

962

973—1048
980—1037
1056—1106
1056—1254
1068—86
1079—1142
1095
1101

1106-25

1122

1126—98

1147

1152-90

1155—1227

1187

1198—1216

1206—80

1212

1212—50

1215

1236

1258

1260—95
1274

1280—1368

1292

1294

Death of Haroun-al-Rashcnid.

Treaty of Verdun : Partition of Charlemagne’s
Empire.

Rhazes (Arab scholar).

Treaty of Mersen : further division of Charlemagne’s
Empire.

Cholas; Golden Age of Islamic Science.

Sung Dynasty.

Otto the Great crowned by the Pope : beginning of
the Holy Roman Empire.

Al-Biruni.

Abu ’Ali-alHusayu ibn Sina (Avicenna).

Henry IV (Emperor).

Crusades.

Wang An-shih.

Abelard.

Council of Clermont.

Godfrey first King of Jerusalem died.

Henry V (Emperor).

Concordat of Worms.

Abu’l-Walid ibn Rushd.

Turks massacre Christians at Edessa.

Frederick Barbarosa (Emperor).

Chengiz Khan.

Jerusalem taken by Saladin.

Pope Innocent III.

Albertus Magnus.

Children’s Crusade.

Frederick II (Emperor).

Magna Carta .

Cordoba captured by King of Castile.

Abbasid Caliphate ended by Hulagu : Bagdad des¬
troyed by Mongols.

Marco-Polo.

Thomas Aquinas died.

Yuan Dynasty.

Kublai Khan died.

Roger Bacon died.

344

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

A.D.

1296

Clericis Laicos (Papal Bull).

1296—1316

Allaudin Khalji.

1302

Dante banished from Florence.

1304—74

Petrarch.

1305

Pope Clement V.

1313—75

Boccaccio.

1320

Wycliffe bom.

‘ 1321

Dante died.

1325—51

Muhammad Tughlak.

1369—1405

Timur.

1380—1440

Van Eyck brothers.

1398

Timur in India.

1402

Turks defeated at Angora by Timur.

1409

Great Council of Pisa.

1414

Council of Constance.

1417—67

Zain-uliAbideen liberal ruler of Kashmir.

1440—1518

Kabir.

1447—55

Pope Nicholas V.

1452—1519

Leonardo da Vinci.

1453

Constantinople captured by Turks.

1469—1527

Machiavelli.

1469-1536

Erasmus.

1469—1539

Nanak.

1471—1528

Albrecht Diirer.

1473—1543

Copernicus.

1474—1533

Ariosto.

1475—1564

Michael Angelo.

1476—1507

Caesar Borgia.

1477—1576

Titian.

1483—1520

Raphael.

1483—1546

Martin Luther.

1484—1531

Zwingli.

1487

Bartholomew Diaz rounded Cape of Good Hope.

1490

Martin Behaim cartographist.

1490—1553

Rabelais.

1492

Conquest of Granada; Columbus reached West
Indies.

CHRONOLOGY

345

A.D.

1493

1493—1556

1497—1533

1498

1503-13

1505—72

1509—64

1512

1513

1513—21

1517

1519

1519- 21

1520— 21
1520—66
1526

1529—36

1531

1533-92

1545— 63

1546— 1601

1547— 1616
1547—59
1552—99 .

1559— 98

1560— 1626
1564—1616
1564—1642
1572

1588

1598

Papal Bull dividing the World between Spain and
Portugal.

St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus.
Hans Halbein.

Vasco da Gama reached Calicut.

Pope Julius II.

John Knox.

Calvin.

Portuguese reached Java and Moluccas.

Balboa saw Pacific Ccean across Panama.

Pope Leo X.

Luther’s challenge (95 theses).

Magellan at Strait of Magellan.

Conquest of Mexico by Cortez.

Luther excommunicated and banned.

Zenith of Ottoman power.

First Battle of Panipat: Mughal Empire founded
by Babur.

Diet of Spier.

Reformation Parliament.

Zwingli killed in the battle of Kappel.

Conquest of Peru by Pizarro.

Montaigne.

Council of Trent.

Tycho Brahe.

Cervantes.

Henry II (France).

Edmund Spenser (poet).

Religious Wars in France.

Francis Bacon.

Shakespeare.

Galileo.

St. Bartholomew’s Day : Huguenots massacred in
France.

Spanish Armada routed by the English.

Edict of Nantes: toleration granted to Huguenots.

SECTION FOUR

In this section are described all the ' main
currents ’ of modern life. Chapter XXII
deals with the contributions of Monarchy to
the progress of the world as well as its evils.
Chapter XXIII describes how the Fall of the
Old Order was brought about by breaking
The Spell of Grand Monarchy. Chapter
XXIV contains the story of The Making
of Modern Europe, particularly in the politi¬
cal field. The culmination of the national
and economic developments in The Expan¬
sion of Europe overseas is dealt w r ith in
Chapter XXV ; while the Awakening of the
East which was the inevitable result of the
intrusion of the West is described in
Chapter XXVI. The complex resultant of
the modern trends in The World To-day is
the subject of Chapter XXVII ; and some
philosophic reflections on the entire histori¬
cal process, as described in all previous chap¬
ters, are contained in Chapter XXVIII which
deals with the Past, Present, and Future.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what
God can do; ... so it is presumption and high
contempt in a subject to dispute what a king,
can do, or say that a King cannot do this or that.

—James I Stuart

The religious struggle in Europe which we traced in the
last chapter was brought to a close by the Thirty Years’ War
which terminated with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
Though religious intolerance continued in the countries of
Europe for a long time after this, the middle of the sixteenth
century constituted a turning point in history, since the main
interest of people thereafter was centred in matters other than
religious.

The unity of Christendom had long been lost: Europe was
no longer united either in religion or in politics. Out of the
disruption of the Roman Empire, as we have seen, had emerg¬
ed a new order. At first there was the chaos of the Dark
Age. The successors of Charlemagne and Otto the Great
having failed to hold Europe together, it was left to the Pope
and the Church to provide the only bonds of union possible
in the Middle Ages. But with the Renaissance Europe came
to be once again divided, and this division was to be per¬
manent Hence we might truly begin the history of Modem
Europe, that is, Europe as we find her to-day, with the close
of the Reformation. However, to understand some of its out-

350 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

standing features we have very often to refer back; for
History is continuous.

One powerful link with the Past is found in the institution
of Monarchy. Monarchy is almost as ancient as authentic
history. We have witnessed it in Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Per¬
sia, India, China, Greece, and Rome. The Church and Monar¬
chy contended in Europe for the complete control of the masses
all through the medieval times. The Popes were ambitious to*
wield political no less than religious sovereignty, while the
monarchs too sought to command the consciences as well as.
the secular lives of their subjects. The Reformation brought
to the monarchs of Europe a considerable accession of
strength, even as the use of gun-powder had placed a power¬
ful weapon in their hands. It was ultimately through their
agency, not through the conservative channels of the Church
that Europe emerged out of the medieval into modem times.
Though monarchy came to be later discredited it played an
important part in helping forward the progress of human-
civilisation in all countries. In this chapter we shall trace
its fortunes and vicissitudes, from its early beginnings to its
grand culmination, in England, France, Austria, Spain, Ger¬
many, Russia, and India, with a view to assess the nature of
its contributions to human history.

England, on account of her insular position, developed
faster and outgrew the need of monarchical rule earlier than
most other countries. Her earliest king to whom we need
refer here was Alfred the Great (871-901 A.D.). His memory
is still cherished among the greatest of that country. He is
rightly regarded as the creator and saviour of England and
figures well in-history as well as literature. 1 An inscription

1. Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and Tennyson’s Idylls of the:
King.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 351

on his statue at Wantage beautifully sums up his great quali¬
ties and services thus :

* Alfred found learning dead, and restored it. Education neglect¬
ed, and he revived it. The laws powerless, and he gave them
force. The Church debased, and he raised it. The land ravaged
by a fearful enemy, from which he delivered it. Alfred's name
will live as long as mankind shall repeat the past.’

Next after Alfred the most memorable monarch of England
was William the Conqueror (1066-87). Though a Norman,
and ruler as much of Normandy as of England (after his
victory over Harold at Senlac or Hastings, 1066), he left a
permanent mark over English history and institutions. He
gave England a strong government, curbed the evils of feudal¬
ism by the Salisbury Oath, effected the valuable and interest¬
ing Domesday Survey, and, despite the Pope’s support to his
English invasion, emphatically refused to do homage for his
kingdom. Pope Hildebrand (Gregory VII) accepted the
refusal without much protest as he could not afford to quarrel
with all princes at once. His hands were already full with
the dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, as we
have already seen (pp. 266-68).

Further consolidation of the English monarchy took place
under William’s great-grandson Henry II (1154-89). Being
the son of Count Geoffrey of Anjou, 1 and having married
Eleanor of Aquitaine, he became ruler of vast dominions in
France as well. His chief achievements were the repression
of feudal anarchy and the organisation of order and justice.
It was unfortunate that his attempts at centralisation of royal
authority should have resulted in the murder of Thomas
Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury ; for it postponed the sub¬
ordination of the Church to secular control which was finally

1. Son-in-law of Henry I (son of William the Conqueror).

352 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

achieved only by Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy (1534),
Nevertheless, the work of Henry II culminated in making his
fifth son, John (1199-1216), so powerful that his tyranny ini¬
tiated a new trend in English history. Its first fruit was the fa¬
mous Magna Carta (1215), the first of a series of great chart¬
ers on which the edifice of English liberty rests. Before this
was wrung from John by the English barons, the English king
was an autocrat unparalleled in his authority in Christendom
for six hundred years since Charlemagne. “The Magna
Carta,” says Professor Adams, “ closes one epoch of English
constitutional history and begins another.” 1 The principal
interest of British history since the Great Charter lies in the
growth of 'Parliament. 2 But here we are more concerned
with the fortunes of the English monarchy which was to have
its fullest development under the Tudors and its decline and
fall under their successors.

Edward I (1272-1307) was the next great ruler of Englan d.
He has been called “ the English Justinian ” on account of
the great improvements he effected in the laws of England
He set himself to reduce the powers of both the barons and
the Church and considerably succeeded in doing it. He also
conquered Wales. Simon de Montfort’s Model Parliament
met (1295) during his reign. He laid the foundations of
Lombard Street by allowing Italian bankers to settle down
in London. The craft guilds too prospered under his wise
regulation and patronage. But most of his good work was
undone by a series of disastrous wars which his amhitmng
had evoked. The attempt to conquer Scotland led on to

L G. B. Adams, The Constitutional History of England,
p. 144.

2. The “expansion erf England” geographically is a parallel
interest which will be dealt with in a later context.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 353

entanglements with France which, under Edward III (1327-
77), resulted in beginning the Hundred Years’ War (1338-
1453).

We have already alluded to the French possessions of the
English kings. Even when these were reduced by the losses
suffered by John “ Lackland ”, what remained was still an
eye-sore to the French monarchs. Hence they provoked
hostilities by helping the Scots. But, even otherwise, Ed¬
ward III lacked no casus belli. He put forward a prepos¬
terous claim to the throne of France. Edward was a “Jingo ”
who, in the words of Mr. Somerwell, 1 “ determined to paint
as much of the map red as he possibly could for, to him,
England was “ more delightful and more profitable than all
other lands.” So Crecy and Poitiers were fought, and the
centres of civilisation were duly impressed : Petrach, the
Italian humanist, declared, “ In my youth, the Britons, whom
we call Angles or English, were esteemed the most timid of
the barbarians, inferior to the wretched Scots. Now they
are the most warlike of peoples. They have overturned the
ancient military glory of the French.” As all the fighting
took place on French soil, the devastation in that country was
great and widespread. Again, says Petrach : “ Nothing pre¬
sented itself to my eyes but fearful solitude and extreme
poverty, uncultivated land and houses in ruins. Even about
Paris there were everywhere signs of fire and destruction.
The streets were deserted ; the roads overgrown with weeds.”

In 1348 the Black Death appeared. It affected France,
England, Germany, and parts of Italy. This pestilence not
merely carried away nearly one half of the population of
England, but also caused great distress among the survivors.
The resulting scarcity of labour led to a bitter struggle be-

1. D. C. Somervell, A History of England , p. 31.

354 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

tween landlords and workers culminating in the Peasants'
Revolt (1381). But the war with France dragged on inter¬
mittently. Henry V (1413-22) had less reason but more en¬
thusiasm for its prosecution. He began with the siege of
Harfieur and soon won the celebrated victory of Agincourt
(1415). “No battle was ever more fatal to France/' Other
triumphs followed, but it was a short-lived glory. Henry V
was succeeded by his only son Henry VI (1422-61). With¬
out the capacity of his father this prince nevertheless pursued
his ambitions in France. The most celebrated event of this
denouement of the Hundred Years’ War was the heroic epi¬
sode of Joan of Arc, the maid who saved Orleans (1429),
and got the Dauphin crowned at Rheims, but was the next
year caught by the English and burnt by them as a witch.
“ We are lost—we have burnt a saint,” declared an English
soldier who witnessed the burning. He was really prophetic
of the fate of the English in France. They were expelled
from Normandy in 1450, and three years later from all but
Calais.

The Wars of the Roses followed in the wake of the French
wars. They were fought between two rival families, the
Houses of Lancaster and York, for the throne of England
(1455-85). This civil struggle was the “swan song” of feu¬
dalism in England. It brought that country under the Grand
Monarchy of the Tudors (1485-1603). They ruled despotic¬
ally and yet retained their popularity. For want of space
we must treat of the epoch as a whole and not the rulers
individually. It was a glorious age both for England and the
rest of Europe, though “ other men laboured, and the English
entered into their labours.”

Henry VII, founder of the family, restored order at home,
forged dynastic links with other ruling families, and nego¬
tiated commercial treaties. Henry VIII, the much married

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 355

monarch, plundered monasteries for the spiritual health of
England, made England independent of Rome without tam¬
pering with its doctrines, and tried to hold the “ balance of
power ” in Europe in his own favour. In the next two
reigns—of Edward VI and Mary—England violently swung
between Geneva and Rome and lit 4 such candles as should
never be easily put out/ until she got inebriated with the glory
of the good Queen Bess.

Now these her princes are come home again,

Come the three comers of the world in arms,

And we shall shock them. Naught shall make us rue,

If England to itself do rest but tme.

Though Calais, the last foothold of England in France, had
been lost by Mary, Elizabeth more than restored English
prestige among continental powers by winning the “ English
Salamis ”—i.e. the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). It
was 4 both a victory for Protestantism in Europe, and a sign
that the mastery of the seas was passing from the Mediter¬
ranean to the northern peoples/ “Yet,” observes Professor
Flenley, “the spirit of the Elizabethan age is to be found
not only in the daring exploits of its sea-dogs, or in the
charm of the Elizabethan manor-houses whose appearance
testified to the growth of wealth and comfort, but also in
the music of the Elizabethan madrigal composers, and, above
all, in Elizabethan poetry and prose.” 1 It was the age of
Spenser, Shakespeare, and Bacon. We must now turn to
the Grand Monarchy on the continent of Europe. But here
we can touch only the peak-points in the dynastic histories
of the various countries. Nor should more be necessary for
■illustrating this well-known phenomenon.

French history, as distinct from that of the Western Franks,
began' only with the accession of Hugh Capet (968 a.d.)

1. World History , p.. 446.

356 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

whose dynasty continued to rule France until it was re play
by the House of Valois in the first quarter of the fourteenth-
century. Even during that period the Capetians shared their
dominion with the English, as the Angevin Empire in
France lasted from 1154-1204. Besides, the country was rent
by feudal strife until the accession of Louis VI (1108-37), the
fifth monarch of the line, who at least partially got the situa¬
tion in hand. Henry II of England had possessed more of
French territory than the French monarch, but nnHp r John
(of England) and Philippe II (of France) the position was
completely changed. England lost all except Guienne and
the Channel Islands ; and, in 1216, Louis, the son of Philip pe,
landed on English soil by invitation of the English barons,
to displace John. Philippe (1180-1223) was the main founder
of the French monarchy.

In keeping with the trend of the times, Louis IX (Saint
Louis) of France (1226-70) sounded the first signal of revolt
against the Papacy, though he himself, after a vigorous reign,
died at Carthage while on a Crusade (the 7th). He left the
French monarchy on a new and independent basis. The ten¬
dency reached its climax under Philippe IV who, in 1301,
refused to admit the Pope’s claim to temporal authority. He
went to the extent of burning the Papal Bull and even
seizing the person of the Pope himself. Then commenced
the famous “ Babylonish Captivity ” (1378-1417) already re¬
ferred to in the previous chapter.

The Hundred Years’ War with England began under the
House of Valois. Its results have already been commented
upon. France gradually recovered while England was plung¬
ed in the Wars of the Roses. “ The strong and subtle reign
of Louis XI (1461-1488) settled much of the internal diffi¬
culty with the unruly dukes, especially the proud Duke of
Burgundy, and France was presently able to look towards

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 357

the East. Under his successor, Charles VIII, began the
‘Italian Wars’ (1*±94-I559) of France with the Hapsburgs,
who had meantime succeeded to the imperial throne.” 1

We have before referred to the rise of Calvinism, the per¬
secution of the French Huguenots, and the massacre of St,
Bartholomew’s Day. These events took place during the
regime of the House of Valois-Orleans (1498-1589). The
accession of the Bourbon Henry of Navarre brought some re¬
lief to the persecuted Protestants of France by the Edict of
Nantes (1598), though his Catholic subjects obliged him to
consider that * Paris was worth a Mass.’ Henry IV ruled
wisely and well from 1589 to 1610 under the advice of his
worthy minister Sully. Sully set to work to re-establish the
kingly power, which had suffered greatly under, the last three
rulers of the Valois family. He reduced the great burden of
debt which had weighed upon the country, laid out new
roads and canals, and encouraged agriculture. He also ap¬
plied himself to the task of dismissing useless noblemen and
officers who were mere parasites. But this, combined with
religious fanaticism, brought about his assassination in 1610.

Cardinal Richelieu, one of the most famous ministers of
France, carried on the administration (1624-42) for Henry
IV’s son, Louis XIII, during the momentous years of the
Thirty Years’ War. He did more than anybody else to rouse
the national ambitions of his country and set France on the
ruinous policy of self-aggrandisement. He declared war
against Catholic Spain in 1635, after having formed a for¬
midable alliance with the chief enemies of the House of
Austria who were all heretical Protestants. But France gain¬
ed the rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine as a result of
this policy, though their acquisition meant the sowing of the

1. Russell, The Tradition of the Roman Empire , pp. 122-3-

.358 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Dragon's teeth. “ The military exploits of the French gene¬
rals, especially Turenne and CondS, during the opening years
of Louis XIV (1643-1715), showed that a new period had
begun in which the military and political supremacy of Spain
was to give way to that of France.” 1

Louis XIV was, indeed, the proto-type of Grand Mo¬
narchy. He supplied the model which was copied by all later
rulers, each according to his genius and capacity. Cardinal
.Mazarin served his early years (to 1661) even as Richelieu
did under his predecessor. Every circumstance, whether in¬
ternal or external, was made to serve the interests of the
Grand Monarchy. At home the power of the nobility was
broken down, and France came out of the Thirty Years' War
in Europe with enlarged territories and increased importance.
When Louis XIV came of age he carried forward the work
so well begun by his great minister. * By his incessant wars
he kept Europe in turmoil for over half a century. The dis¬
tinguished generals who led his newly organised troops, and
the wily diplomats who arranged his alliances and negotiated
his treaties, made France feared and respected by even the
most powerful of the other European states.' He successfully
followed the doctrine of kingship'which his Stuart contem¬
poraries pompously set forth at their peril. La etat c'est
moi (I am the State), though attributed to Louis XIV with¬
out sufficient historical basis, truly represents his actual faith
His prevailing occupation, in the words of Mr. H. G. Wells,
was splendour . He built a new palace-city for himself at
Versailles where developed all the luxurious arts.

“ Amidst the mirrors and fine furniture went a strange race of
“ gentlemen' in vast powdered wigs, silks and laces, poised upon
'high red heels, supported by amazing canes; and still more

1. Robinson, op. cit ., p. 344.

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 359

wonderful ' ladies/ under towers of powdered hair and wearing
vast expansions of silk and satin sustained on wire. Through it
all postured the great Louis, the sun of his world, unaware of
the meagre and sulky and bitter faces that watched him from
those lower darknesses to which his sunshine did not penetrate.”

Louis XIV also decorated his court with poets, playwrights,
philosophers and scientific men. Boileau laid down the can¬
ons of style; Corneille gave French drama its rhetorical and
classical form ; and Racine, its final perfection and polish.
The popular Moli€re (1622-73) wrote his incomparable co¬
medies, and La Fontaine his simple and satirical fables on
the foibles of society. Voltaire called the age of Louis XIV
“ the most enlightened age the world has ever seen ”; it
gave to French culture a stamp and prestige which were to
survive the loss of French political ascendancy, and even the
downfall of Grand Monarchy itself.

But there was also another side to this picture. Louis XIV
revived religious intolerance in France by his revocation of the
Edict of Nantes. Great numbers of his most sober and in¬
dustrious subjects were driven abroad by his religious perse¬
cutions, taking arts and industries with them. “Under his
rule,” writes Mr. Wells, “ were carried out the ‘ dragonnades/'
a peculiarly malignant and effectual form of persecution.
Rough soldiers were quartered in the houses of the Protest-
ants, and were free to disorder the life of their hosts and
insult their woman-kind as they thought fit. Men yielded
to that sort of pressure who would not have yielded to rack
and fire.” The worst legacy of Louis XIV was, however, a
legacy of w^rs : ruinous to France and ruinous to Europe and.
the world, though immediately it looked like success.

His reign opened with the French acquisition of Alsace,
as a result of the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) .which ended
the Thirty Years’ War. It tempted him to more ambitious,
endeavours. Though these raised against him formidable

360 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

combinations like the Triple and Quadruple Alliances, Louis
was not deterred. He seized Franche Comte, Strassburg, and
Luxemburg. His religious policy raised against him the
League of Augsburg, and the War for the Palatinate ended
in the Peace of Ryswick (1697) by which he was obliged to
acknowledge the Protestant succession (1688) in F.ngriar^
and to restore Spain and Austria many of his recent gains .
His last war was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-
13) in which he had to fight the Grand Alliance formed by
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Portugal, and Savoy. It
ended with the Peace of Utrecht, which though it left a
Bourbon candidate (Philip V, grandson of Louis XIV) on
the throne of Spain, marked also the humiliation of France
on every other side. “ The Peace of Utrecht, like that of
Westphalia, marks a phase not merely in the imperial rivalry
of Austria and France, but in the history of Europe as a
whole.”

The histories of Spain, Austria and Germany are liniwi
up together on account of their rulers. As yet nations as
we know them to-day had not appeared, and the fortunes of
countries were determined by their ruling dynasties. Dynas¬
tic wars, dynastic alliances, and dynastic marriages settled
the fates of peoples before the rise of national states and de¬
mocracies. Hence the importance of the Bourbons, Haps-
burgs, Hohenzollems, etc. We must, therefore, now speak
of the Hapsburg and Hohenzollem families, having written
something already about the Bourbons.

The real founder of Hapsburg greatness was the Emperor
Maximilian I (1493-1514) of Austria. By inheritance, mar¬
riage, and conquest, he extended his dominions so much that
his grandson Charles V (1519-56) owned territories in
Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the Nether¬
lands, besides the overseas possessions of Spain. Charles V

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

361

■was the contemporary of Henry VIII of England and of
Francis I of France. From Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
he inherited Spain and their overseas dominions in 1516 ;
from Maximilian he got Austria and all the imperial domi¬
nions in 1519, though for these latter he had to vastly outbid
his rival Francis I of France. For the Imperial throne was
subject to election and the candidates had to expend millions
in order to purchase the votes. Then a contest ensued be¬
tween Francis and Charles for certain possessions in which
Henry VIII astutely tried to hold the balance. In 1544 all
the three disappointed men retired from the struggle having
squandered away the resources of their respective countries.

After the death of Charles V the Hapsburg line was divid¬
ed into two branches : the Spanish branch continued to rule
until 1700 when, as we saw, a grandson of Louis 'XIV (Bour¬
bon) succeeded to the Spanish throne; and the Austrian
branch held the Imperial sceptre until its extinction in 1806
at the hands of Napoleon. Already the so-called Holy
Roman Empire had ceased to be either Holy, Roman, or
Empire. Only a few notable events in the history of the two
Hapsburg branches may be recorded here.

It was under Philip II of Spain (Charles V’s successor)
that the Armada was defeated by the English. It was
under the same Philip II also that the Dutch were exasperated
with the religious persecutions of the Inquisition and com¬
pelled to break off into a republic under the leadership of
their heroic Stadtholder, William the Silent, Prince of Orange
(1533-84). Though he was assassinated before the struggle
ended, he was the real founder of the Dutch Republic. King
William of Orange, who was called to the throne of England
in 1688, was his great-great-grandson.

In the Austrian branch of the Hapsburgs the last of the
great rulers were the famous Maria Theresa (1740-65) and

362 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

.her son Joseph II (1765-1809). Under the former the Aus¬
trian dominions included Austria, Moravia, Hungary, Bohe¬
mia, G loria, Styria, Carinthia, the Tyrol, Belgium, and Milan.
Though Frederick of Prussia presently seized Silesia, Maria
Theresa had compensation in the acquisition of a part of
Poland. Her son, Joseph II, was ambitious to build up a
homogeneous state out of the welter of nationalities (Slav,
Magyar, German, Italian, and Flemish) on the basis of his
enlighten pH despotism. At the commencement of his reign,
he HeriarpHj “ I have made Philosophy the legislator of my
Empire. Her logical principles shall transform Austria.’'
But in spite of his earnestness he died a disappointed mo¬
narch, proposing for his tomb in Vienna the unenviable epi¬
taph : ‘ Here lies Joseph who failed in all that he attempted.’’
He failed because he was an idealist far in advance of his
country. The more realistic rulers of Russia and Prussia
were more fortunate than Joseph II.

Peter the Great of Russia (1682-1725) and Frederick the
Great of Prussia (1740-86) were both Enlightened Despots
like Joseph II of Austria. All of them tried to aggrandise
their countries, as well as their dynasties, after the fashion
of Louis XIV of France. In doing so they laid the founda¬
tions of their national greatness and menace, which we shall
follow up in a later chapter. But before we dose our survey
of Grand Monarchy we must have a glimpse of its Asiatic
replica, viz. the Mughal Empire in India.

This Empire, as readers know, was founded by Babur (a
descendant of Timur and Chengjz Khan) as the result of his.
great victory at Panipat (1526) over Ibrahim Lodi, ruler of
Delhi. Babur’s descendants occupied the throne of Delhi un¬
til the great Mutiny in 1857. But their rule was effective
over the greater part of India only till the death of Bahadur
Shah I (1712). Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah were con-

THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY

363

temporaries of Louis XIV, even as the earlier Mughal Em¬
perors were the contemporaries of the Tudor and Stuart
sovereigns of England. Akbar died two years after Queen
Elizabeth (1605). The Mughal Grand Monarchy was, how¬
ever, at its best only from Akbar to Aurangzeb 1 1557-1707),
a period of hundred and fifty years. But that was a period
which does not compare ill with the splendours of the Grand
Monarchy in Europe. In some respects it was certainly more
enlightened than its European contemporaries. We do not
find Akbar’s religious toleration paralleled anywhere in the
Europe of his days, nor his zeal for social reform until long
after. Jehangir tried to abolish drink and Akbar sati, while,
for the most part, all the Mughals tried to follow the states¬
manlike ideals laid down by Sher Shah, the great Afghan
administrator, who laid the foundations of the system which
was improved upon by his Mughal successors : 4 justice ’,
declared Sher Shah, 4 is the most excellent of religious rites,
and it is approved alike ^ by the kings of infidels and of the
faithful/ He also realised that 4 the cultivators are the source
•of prosperity/ and that 4 if a ruler cannot protect the humble
peasantry from the lawless, it is tyranny to exact revenue
from them/ In the field of architecture and art the Mughals
achieved marvels which are appreciated by all even to this
day. As I have said elsewhere, 4 The Empire of the Mughals
has vanished forever, but their personality endures in a
thousand forms, visible and invisible. In our dress, speech,
etiquette, thought, literature, music, painting, and architecture
the impress of the Mughal is ever present/ 1
The Mughals, of course, shared in the autocracy and vices
of the Grand Monarchy of Europe no less than its splendours.
But as the late Mr. S. M. Edwardes wrote: 44 Yet they

1. S. R. Sharma, Mughal Empire in India , p. 866.

S64 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

were great men, despite their failings and frailties, and when
one turns from the cold catalogue of their defects to con¬
sider the unique grandeur of Fathpur-Sikri, the supreme
beauty of the Taj Mahal and the Moti Masjid, the magni¬
ficence of the Agra and Delhi palaces, and the rare wealth
of pictorial and calligraphic art, which owed its excellence
to their guidance and inspiration, one feels inclined to re-echo
the words of the lady Marechale of France concerning some
peccant members of the old noblesse of the eighteenth cen¬
tury ; * Depend upon it, Sir, God thinks twice before dam¬
ning a man of that quality ! ’ The fame which they achieved
in their own age, and which will endure, was the natural
corollary of their marked intellectuality.” 1

1. Edwardes and Garrett, Mughal Rule in India , p. 350.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfils Himself in many ways.

—Tennyson

The “ Divine Right ” on which the Grand Monarchy was
based had become so debased that it proved to be a right
(claim) to exploit the people for the selfish autocracy and
luxuries of the kings. But this claim could not be sustained
for long in the wake of the progress that mankind was-
making. Just as the autocracy and corruption of the Church
had given rise to the Reformation in religious matters, so
also in the political field there was soon to be a re-forma¬
tion. The divine right of kings was to give place to the
‘ Divine Right of Peoples ’: vox populi vox Dei, ‘ the voice of
the people is the voice of God’ was to' be the new slogan.
We shall give in this chapter a few outstanding examples-
of how the Old Order changed, yielding place to New, and
see how God fulfilled Himself in many ways in the Nether¬
lands, in England, in France, and in India.

The Netherlands (Holland) had formed part of the Em¬
pire of Charles V, as we have noted before. In the religious-
struggles of the Reformation period the people of that
country enacted some of the most heroic episodes in all
human history. Their resistance to Charles V and his suc¬
cessor Philips II of Spain was due both to religious and-
national feelings. “ No two peoples could have been more'

366 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

opposite in character,” observes one writer, “ Spain quite be¬
hind the age, bigoted, superstitious, violently Catholic, cruel
and aristocratic; and the Netherlands, full of life and acti¬
vity, the rival of Italy in art and learning, ready to. go ahead
and adopt all the advanced and enlightened thought of the
Reformation. In trade they had no rivals, for they were
the busiest manufacturers in the world. Their stuffs were
celebrated everywhere, and their ships visited all the ports
in the world. This happy, brave little people were to be
crushed and persecuted for their valour.” 1 It is well to
point out here that, although it was a people’s struggle for
liberty (religious and political) on the part the Dutch, it
was not the tyranny of the Spanish people so much as of
the Spanish Monarchy . The heterogeneous composition of the
Hapsburg dominions showed that their only bond of union
was the common yoke of submission to a foreign dynasty.
National, religious, and democratic liberty were all involved
in the Dutch war of independence. At the end of their
heroic struggle, despite the Inquisition, the Council of Blood,
and all other inhumanities of the Spanish Fury (all alike
■characteristic of the Old Order), the people of the Nether¬
lands achieved both their religious and political independence
(characteristics of the New Age) when, in the Treaty of
Westphalia (1648) which closed the Thirty Years’ War, the
Dutch Republic was recognised. This was the first triumph
of the new forces in human history against the ancient regime .

By a curious coincidence, at the same time, the English
people also overthrew the Stuart autocracy in which the
Tudor Grand Monarchy had culminated. This was again
an happening in human history of the utmost importance.
It was equally significant of the new trend in human civi-

1. A. and D. Ponsonby, Rebels and Reformers , p. 47.

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

367

lisation and progress. The future was to belong to peoples
rather than to princes.

Greenidge has said that the soul of Greek history is its
constitutionalism. The same may be asserted about Eng¬
land of all modem countries. As the Reformation move¬
ment culminated in the Netherlands in the political libera¬
tion of its people, so too in England it was to get merged
in its constitutional struggle. This last was England’s sup¬
reme gift to the world. “While Germany boasts her Re¬
formation and France her Revolution,” says Trevelyan,
“England can point to her dealings with the House of

Stuart-During the seventeenth century a despotic-

scheme of society and government was so firmly established
in Europe, that but for the course of events in England
it would have been the sole successor of the medieval 1
system.” 1 But the reader will do well to remember that
the movement for constitutional liberty had its beginnings
very early in English history. What the Stuart century
revealed was only the critical stage in a long process. The
end came very much later.

We have earlier referred to the Magna Carta (1215)
which may be considered as the first great landmark, though
it has always ranked as the sheet-anchor of English liberty.
Other charters which followed in succeeding centuries only
sought to secure and extend what had already been laid down
in that basic document. The barons who fought against Kong
John for their feudal rights and privileges were really the
unconscious parents of the English parliamentary system.
The committee they set up to safeguard those rights and
privileges developed into the “ Mother of Parliaments.” The
two great ages in the growth of Parliamentary power, says.

1. G. M. Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, p. 1.

368 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Professor Adams, are the fourteenth and the seventeenth
centuries. But since the work of the earlier centuries was
interrupted by the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor des¬
potism, we might as well speak here only of the constitu¬
tional achievements of the Stuart and succeeding periods.

The Grand Monarchy of the Tudors was tolerated be¬
cause it served national aids. Had the Stuarts been equally
capable and patriotic the struggle might have been post¬
poned. Or if they had been content merely to reign, and
not ambitious to rule despotically by “divine right,” they
would not have precipitated a crisis. But they had neither
tact nor patience. They interfered alike with civil and re¬
ligious liberty. Meanwhile the nation—particularly the
middle classes—had become prosperous enough .to get restive
and intolerant. As Macaulay has said, “During two
hundred years all the sovereigns who had ruled F.nglanH
with the single exception of the unfortunate Henry VI, had
been strong-minded, high-spirited, courageous, and of prince¬
ly bearing. Almost all had possessed abilities above the
ordinary level. It was no light thing that, on the very eve
of the decisive struggle between our Kings and their Parlia¬
ments, royalty should be exhibited to the world stammering,
slobbering, shedding unmanly tears, trembling at a drawn
sword, and talking in the style alternately of a buffoon and
a pedagogue.”

James I nevertheless insisted As to dispute what God
may do is blasphemy, so it is sedition in subjects to dispute
what a King may do. I will not be content that my power
be disputed on.’ So he and his son Charles I levied ta-ypg,
appointed and dismissed ministers, followed policies, and
summoned or dissolved Parliaments, as it suited their arbit¬
rary wills. When their needs compelled them to go to Par¬
liament for grants of money, the latter bargained for their

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

369 '

rights and liberties which had been trampled upon by their
reckless sovereigns. But Charles I, prophetically anticipating
what submission to Parliamentary dictation would ulti¬
mately end in, declared : ‘ These being passed, we may be
waited on bareheaded, the style of Majesty continued to us,
and the King’s authority declared by both Houses of Par¬
liament may still be the style of your command, but as to
true and real power, we should remain but the outside, but
the picture, but the sign of a King.’ Hence, to cut a long
story short, he preferred the scaffold to the fate of the House
of Windsor. Charles I was executed in 1649 as the climax
of Civil War, and England became a republic.

But this proved more a triumph of the Puritan army than
a victory for the constitutional and religious liberty of the
English people. It directly and immediately resulted in the
tyranny of Cromwell (1649-58) which, despite Carlyle’s
rhapsodies, fastened upon England and Ireland a more in¬
supportable autocracy than that of the Stuarts. His very
large standing army and excellent navy, both based on taxa¬
tion which absolute rule alone could levy, and which rival
nations lacked, gave Cromwell and the English power (as
Mr. Hilaire Belloc has pointed out) 1 an unrivalled position
in Europe. He humiliated Holland, crushed and nettled Ire¬
land and tried to convert England into a vast monastery.
The result was that, no sooner than he was dead, England
cried “ Never again! ” In the words of Mr. Somervell,
“ Cromwell was relegated with Guy Fawkes to the historical
Chamber of Horrors, only to be rescued by Carlyle and the
Victorian historians.”

After the Commonwealth experiment England reverted
again to monarchy. The futility of the restored Stuart

1. Oliver Cromwell , p. 4.

370 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

regime (of Charles II and James II), however, showed that
the English monarchy could not be its old self any longer.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 which enthroned the Dutch
William III on the Bill of Rights transferred sovereignty from
the Crown to the Whig oligarchy. “ The new monarch and
his successors, since they owed their throne to an Act of
Parliament, were clearly devoid of any Divine Right to do
what Parliament chose to consider wrong. Yet even so, it
may be doubted (says Somervell) if our extraordinary
system, whereby kings reign but do not govern, would have
established itself if the crown had not been worn in succes¬
sion by a Dutchman, a woman, two Germans, a king who
went mad, a worn-out debauchee, an eccentric, and another
woman.” 1

The later history of England belongs to another chapter.
Here we must refer only to one more landmark in the transi¬
tion from the Old to the New. George III (1760-1820) was
the Hereward the Wake of the Grand Monarchy. The last
hopes of the ancient regime were extinguished when George
III was made to realise that he could not “be a King”;
that he could only reign , but not rule. The close of the
•eighteenth century in England demonstrated not only that
the King could not carry on merely depending pn his
“friends,” but also that no country could rule another
against its will.

The climacteric of the Grand Monarchy in Europe was,
however, the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789).
In its flames was extinguished the Old Order, not merely in
France but in most countries of Europe; not merely in the
political field but in almost all departments of life. Des¬
pite Edmund Burke’s declamation against it, the French

1. D. C. Somervell, A History of England , p. 50.

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

371

Revolution proved the harbinger of a new and better order
in the world. ‘ Liberty, Equality, Fraternity still rever¬
berates among many countries and peoples because of its
flaming example. Let us see how it came about.

The fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 is usually taken
as the beginning of the French Revolution. On that day an
infuriated Parisian mob attacked the Bastille—the Central
Prison—wherein were incarcerated political offenders no less
than ordinary criminals. After a violent and dramatic scene
the prisoners were liberated as indiscriminately as they had
been arbitrarily locked in. This outburst would not have
gained.its great reputation in history, but for its being the
symptom of deeper causes. France had long been suffering
from insupportable social and political burdens under the
Grand Monarchy. The nation had been divided into two
unequal classes : the rulers and the ruled; the former, a
microscopic minority of hereditary nobles with the King as
their patron; and the latter, the vast masses who groaned
under the weight of tyranny. All power and wealth were
concentrated in the hands of the upper few; and the sub¬
ject classes had only taxation and miserable service for their
lot. All high offices, both civil and military, were the mono¬
poly of the noblesse who were free from taxation. The poor
people, mostly peasants, manned the armies, paid taxes, and
rendered compulsory service of a feudal character. Louis
XV (1715-74), who succeeded Louis XIV, was a worse man
and a worse monarch than his great-grandfather. But all
the same, he indulged in all the reckless dreams and adven¬
tures of his more capable predecessor. His luxuries, vices,
and wars dug deeper the grave of the Grand Monarchy, while
the pampered and corrupted nobility, equally purblind,
abetted in all the doings of their wicked patron who help-*
lessly but prophetically declared, “ After me the deluge ! **

372 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

The deluge came inevitably under the next ruler, the un¬
fortunate Louis XVI (1774-92), who had to pay for the sins
of his predecessors with his own life. In this he was most
unlike Charles I of England who under similar circumstances
had died on the scaffold. Charles Stuart was a sturdy be¬
liever in the Divine Right of Kings; Louis Capet was a
well-meaning but will-less victim of circumstances.
Charles was a martyr; Louis was a scapegoat. But both
stood athwart the current of a nation’s public interest,
and both were overwhelmed. Up till then monarchs had
victimised nations; thereafter nations were to victimise
monarchs. The fall of the Bastille was, therefore, only a
symbolic episode like Hampden’s refusal to pay ship-money
or the American gesture of throwing away packets of Bri-
tish-bome tea into Boston harbour. Once the turbulent
stream burst through its dam, it followed its own course in
a hundred different channels.

The root cause of the Revolution, according to Napoleon,
was Vanity; but this word must be understood to compre¬
hend all the sins of Grand Monarchy. Their net result was
national bankruptcy; that is to say, the ruin of public
finance. All who stood for the Old Order (King and
noblesse) desperately sought remedies in fresh schemes of
taxation of an already over-taxed people. They had been
•exploited to the limit of impossibility. “To raise more
revenue by taxation,” observes Professor Alison Phillips,
“ was impossible so long as the privileged orders remained ex¬
empt ; and successive controllers-general of the finances were
driven to the ruinous expedient of borrowing in order to
cover the ordinary expenses of the State. Those who, like
Turgot, tried to cure the evil at its source were broken by
Court intrigues; Turgot fdl in 1776, after scarce two years
in office; Necker, the Swiss banker, whose supposed finan-

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

373

dal genius it was hoped would save the State, resigned in
1781 without having been able to remedy the evils which he
recognized. When his successors, Calonne and Lomenie de
Brienne, resorted to desperate measures to raise money, they
were met by the obstruction of the Parlement, which reach¬
ed the zenith of its popularity when, in 1788, it refused to
register royal decrees imposing new stamp duties on the
ground that the right to agree to taxation belonged to the
States-Gsneral alone.” 1

That body, which corresponded to the British Parliament,
had not been summoned by the Grand Monarchy for one
hundred and seventy-five years. But now it was realised
that the general state of the country could not be improved
without the States-General or the Estates-General. So it
was re-called to Versailles in 1789 with fateful consequences.
Under the leadership of Mirabeau it declared itself to be
the National Assembly, and drew up the Constitution of
1791. It sought to establish a unicameral legislature with
wide powers over every branch of administration. Much
under the influence of the English example, since the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, it wanted to retain the hereditary
monarchy, but make it constitutional. The bourgeois consti¬
tutionalists of France, like the English Whigs of a century
earlier, distrusted the masses, and limited the franchise to
those who paid a tax which should be equal to at least three
days' wages. This excluded almost half of the citizens,—
some of them peasants but most of them artisans.

The National Assembly also drew up a “ Declaration of
the Rights of Man ” like the English Bill of Rights and the
first ten amendments of the American constitution. It was a

1. The French Revolution , p. 7.

374 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

memorable document clearly laying down the principles of
the French Revolution. According to it—

‘All persons shall be equally eligible to all dignities, public
positions, and occupations, according to their abilities. No person
shall be arrested or imprisoned except according to law. Anyone
accused of wrongdoing shall be presumed innocent until he is ad¬
judged guilty. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and print
his opinions, including his religious views, subject only to respon¬
sibility for the abuse of this freedom. No one shall be deprived
of his property, except for public purposes, and then only after
indemnification.*

But, as in all countries, the Radicals were not satisfied.
The monarch also miserably blundered in dealing with awk¬
ward situations which were bound to arise under such cir¬
cumstances. The Queen, Marie Antoinette (imperious
daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria), by her
feminine foibles and utter lack of imagination, alienated the
sympathies of her subjects. An appeal to the other
monarchs of Europe (Austria and Prussia) to save the Bour¬
bon monarchy only exasperated the French people by wound¬
ing their national susceptibilities. ■ The September
Massacres, the execution of the King and Queen (1792),
the Reign of Terror (1793-94) the Committee of Public
Safety which made everybody’s life unsafe, the Directory,
and finally Napoleon, all followed as a matter of course.
Meanwhile, the intoxicated French people, by challenging all
established powers and princes in Europe had raised a'
hornet’s nest about their ears. In order to meet this em¬
barrassing situation they submitted to the yoke of Napoleon
Bonaparte (1797-1815) who led them to ultimate disaster
through a series of brilliant triumphs. But the Napoleonic
Wars and the Vienna Settlement belong to another phase
of human history, viz. the making of Modem Europe.
Though Napoleon rose to his Imperial throne on the votes

FALL OF THE OLD ORDER

375

of the people of France, he threatened to re-establish Grand
Monarchy. He created a new nobility of service, depend¬
ent and loyal; he suppressed public opinion by secret police,
arrests and arbitrary confinements ; journals and newspapers
were censored and regulated ; even the schools and churches
were converted into pillars of the new despotism which was
no better than that of Louis XIV, though it was also no
worse.

Under Napoleon France got a strong and centralised
government, consolidated the work of the Revolution, codi¬
fied her laws (the Code Napoleon), secured social equality,
and trial by jury, a national Church, the Bank of France,
and great buildings, roads, canals, etc. But the “ successor
of Charlemagne ” and the Bourbons also created a Legion
of Honour, carried the Roman eagles on his military stand¬
ards, and dreamed of universal sovereignty. “ Supreme in
France, he would also be supreme in Europe. No lasting
peace was possible with such a man, unless the European
nations submitted to his will. They would not submit, and
as a result the Continent for more than a decade was drench¬
ed with blood.” 1

However, the Revolution in France had not been in vain.
Its principles and spirit pervaded the whole of Europe and
still permeate the modem World. Immediately it affected
the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Everywhere during
the nineteenth century and after it stimulated demand for
the abolition of the established privileges of birth, wealth
and other characteristics of the ancient regime. “ The his¬
tory of the nineteenth century,” as Mr. Davies writes, “ is
one of gradual but very definite advance towards the sove¬
reignty of the people, and a great deal of the progress which

1. Webster, History of Mankind, pp. 485-6.

376 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

has been made can be traced directly or indirectly to the
influence of the French Revolution.” 1

The Grand Monarchy was represented in India, as noticed'
in the last chapter, by the Mughal Emperors. Their best
contributions to Indian civilisation were made during the
century from Akbar to Aurangzeb (1557-1657). With the
acrpsaim of the latter monarch there was already a turn in
the tide. His reign of half-a-century was marked by a strong,
sectar ian reactionarism, which was the beginning of the de¬
cline. It provoked far-reaching and equally powerful re¬
actions in the Hindu community. Particularly under the'
gifted leadership of the Great Shivaji (1646-80), the Mara-
thas—-a community of peaceful peasants—were organised
into an army of intrepid warriors, even as the Sikh Gum.
Govind Sing h (1676-1708) converted (to use his own signi¬
ficant expression) ‘jackals into tigers and sparrows into
hawks.’ Just as the political or constitutional opposition
to the Stuart regime in England and the national revolt
of the Dutch against Spanish domination in Europe during,
the same century (1648) had been reinforced by religious-
antagonism, so in India the religious opposition roused by
Aurangzeb culminat ed in a national revolt against the'
Mughal dynasty. Even the Rajputs who had initially borne
the brunt of the Muslim advance into India in the earlier
centuries had been cajoled by the liberal policy of Akbar;
but they were once again provoked into hostility by Aurang¬
zeb, under the heroic leadership of Durgadas and Ajit Singh
(1679-1707). Finally, this politico-religious war of the
Hindus against the Muslim conquerors of India terminated
in the overthrow of the Mughal Grand Monarchy which had,
ainrp the death of Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah I (1712),

1. H. A. Davies, An Outline History of the World, p. 445.

FAIL OF THE OLD ORDER

377

fallen on evil days. Fratricidal wars of succession, rebellions
by insubordinate governors, enervating luxuries and vices,
and frequent attacks by external enemies like Nadir Shah,
Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Marathas, and the English, all
combined to destroy their ancient repm. On the other
hand, the English who had successfully outrivalled the
Dutch, the Portuguese, and the French, cpened a new
chapter in Indian history when they established themselves
firmly in Bengal after their victories at Plassey (1757) and
Buxar (1764). Indeed, the prophecy attributed to the
Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was being fulfilled: when he was
charged by Aurangzeb with peering, into the imperial seraglio
from his prison-cell in Delhi, the prophetic Sikh Gum is
said to have declared: “ I was not looking at thy private
apartments, or at thy queens. I was looking in the direc¬
tion of the Europeans who are coming from behind the seas
to tear down thy hangings and destroy thy empire.’
Whether this story is tme or false, the fall of the Old Order
in India was to be brought about by the Europeans.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

The French Revolution with its attendant wars
which culminated in the Treaties of Vienna,
marked the founding of a New Europe conspi¬
cuously different from that which had preceded
itF. J. C. Hearnshaw

Modem Europe is the product of several historical pro¬
cesses : religious, political, and economic. In religion we
have already described the division of Europe into Catholic
and Protestant, apart from the Eastern (Greek) and Western
(Roman) branches of the former, and the Lutheran, Cal¬
vinist and Zwinglian divisions of the latter. Broadly speak¬
ing, the religious struggle between the Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation forces—on a European scale—reached
its climax in the Thirty Years’ War (161848) of which the
main theatre was Central Europe. It began as a small
dispute over the accession of a Spanish Roman Catholic
prince to the throne of Bohemia (present Czecho-Slovakia),
but soon developed into a European war in which several
countries were involved. The political issue was eclipsed
by religious differences, in which, Catholic Spain and Austria
(united under the Bapsburgs) had to fight the Protestant
combination of North Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Holland,
and England. France, though Catholic, joined the latter
group for political reasons: she hated the Hapsburgs and
wanted to extend her national boundaries to the Rhine if

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

379

possible. The great leader of the ‘ Catholic League ’ was
the Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37), and of the ‘Protestant
Union * Frederick the Elector Palatine (son-in-law of James I
of England). Owing to the skilful diplomacy of the French
minister Cardinal Richelieu, Gustavus Adolphus (King of
Sweden)—the greatest general of the age—assumed com¬
mand of the Protestant forces, and won the “ crowning
mercy ” of the struggle at the battle of Liitzen (near Leipzig)
in 1632, against Wallenstein the Catholic commander. Gusta¬
vus, however, died a heroic death in the hour of victory :
being surrounded by the enemy who ultimately killed him,
he declared, “ I am King of Sweden, who do seal the religion
and liberty of the German nation with my blood.” Though
the struggle continued after this, until the Peace of West¬
phalia in 1648, and Germany was ravaged by hostile forces,
the Thirty Years’ War closed with the assurance of rdi-
gious and political liberty to the. Protestant States of North
Germany; the Catholic States of the South ranged them¬
selves under Austria; the Bourbons of France scored a
fateful akendancy over the Hapsburgs by securing Alsace,
Metz, Toul, and Verdun; and Sweden was rewarded with
certain posts on the Baltic. " Austria, crippled in property,
prestiges and power, was left faced by an implacable enemy
from without—France; and by the growing ambition of
an enemy within—Prussia.” The Holy Roman Empire-
in its Hapsburg avatar—was both spiritually and temporally
‘cribbed, cabined, and confined’’ within the Austrian border
but for its hold oh Italy/ The future lay with France and
Prussia.

The national ascendancy of France-began under Louis XIV
and ended with the defeht'of Napoleon at Waterloo. From
the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) to'the Vienna Settlement
(1815) the menace of France 'was ever present in European

380

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

politics. It was a century marked also by the rivalry with
the English. The net result for France of Louis XIV’s
aggressive policy, as we have seen, was the acquisition of
Alsace, Metz, Toul, and Verdun in 1648 ; Franche Comte,
Strassburg, and Luxemburg in 1684 ; and the placing of his
grandson (Philip V) on the throne of Spain in 1700. This
last event led to the formation of the Grand Alliance between
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Portugal, and Savoy
against France and Spain, resulting in the Duke of Marl¬
borough’s great series of victories : Blenheim, Ramillies,
Oudenarde, and Malplaquet (reviving the glories of Agkv
court, Crecy, and Poitou of the Hundred Years’ War). It
was during this Spanish Succession War (1700-13) also that
England gained Gibraltar and Minorca, two important stra¬
tegic possessions marking her hegemony in the Mediterranean.

Though the French menace to the peace of Europe appear¬
ed to have abated a little after this, it continued to be
active elsewhere. England and France were both engaged
in a great duel already in India in the East and America
in the West. Consequently, when the next occasion arose
in the continent of Europe, on account of another Succes¬
sion War (the Austrian) and its sequel the Seven Years’
War, the issues were fought out on three continents : Europe,
Asia, and America. In the memorable words of Voltaire,
“The first cannon shot fired in our lands was to set
the match to all the batteries in America and Asia.”

The Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI died in 1740 without
a male heir to succeed him. Though he had taken care
to secure before his death the consent (by the Pragmatic
Sanction) of most of the rulers of Europe for bestowing
the Austrian throne on his daughter Maria Theresa, when
he died, Frederick II of Prussia (about whom more later)
tried to undermine the position of the young Empress by

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 381

making a wanton attack on her dominions (Silesia). France,
having already ousted the Hapsburgs from Spain, allied
herself with Frederick, hoping thereby to make further en¬
croachments on the Austrian dominions. But, for all her
national ambitions, she only earned the enmity of England
(who had joined Austria together with Holland) without be¬
ing able to win from her selfish ally, Prussia, any reward
in the shape of territory. The war ended with the Treaty
of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. “The real gainer by the war
of the Pragmatic Sanction,” as Macaulay has said, “had
been neither France nor Austria, but the upstart of Branden¬
burg. France had .made great efforts, had added largely
to her military glory, and largely to her public burdens;
and another had purchased, with floods of the noblest blood,
the barren glory of Fontenoy.” The result of this dis¬
appointment was the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 brought
about by the astute diplomacy of the Austrian minister Count
Kaunitz : England and France exchanged sides, and began
the more decisive combat known as the Seven Years’ War
(1756-63).'

Frederick, who had become “the Great” by the seizure
of Silesia, was allowed to retain his ill-gotten gains by the
iniquitous Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was forced upon
helpless Austria by the selfish hurry of England and France
to get out of their thankless alliances. But the proud daughter
of the Caesars, Maria Theresa, was far from reconciling her¬
self to her loss. Moreover, both England and France an
account of their commercial and colonial rivalries, were yet
to compose their national quarrels. Hence the eight years
of ‘restless peace’ (1748-56) soon burst into the blood¬
stained years of the Seven Years’ War. The original issue
about Silesia between the principals (Austria and Prussia)
was drowned in the larger issues of the allies (England

382 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and France). An unofficial struggle had continued in the
meanwhile in India and America between the two latter
powers. The official war was brought to a close by the
Treaty of Paris which declared once for all the supremacy
of the British, both in India and America, over their French
rivals. Clive had already frustrated the designs of Dupleix
at Arcot in India in 1751; in 1760 again Colonel Coote de¬
feated the French at Wandewash; and in the fateful year
of the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) the crowning glory
of the F. nglish triumph was marked by the capture of Pon¬
dicherry. In America the English won Canada on the
“ Heights of - Abraham,” when the heroic Wolfe laid down
his life while capturing Quebec (1759). The Peace of Paris
which clinched the duel between England and France was
the first great triumph of the Anglo-Saxons., Its next phase
was revealed in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic struggle.

France sought to avenge the humiliation of the Seven
Years’ War by helping the American Colonies at a critical
stage of their revolt (1775-83) against the tyranny of
George Ill’s government. But this only reacted upon her¬
self in a double manner: it increased her national debt or
the one hand, and on the other, precipitated her Revolution
by the inspiration of U. S. A.’s successful example. Ir
the course of that Revolution itself she further tried tc
take revenge on both Austria and Prussia for being abettors
of the ancient rigime. Though immediately successful, Francs
had to pay for it heavily after her defeat at Waterloo (1815)

The French Revolution in the beginning had evoked sym
pathy and even enthusiasm in some quarters, such as Words
worth felt when he wrote :

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive

But to be young was very heaven.

But the excesses of the extremists, culminating in the Reign

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

383

of Terror, brought about a complete revulsion of feeling.
The Emperor Leopold of Austria had issued a manifesto as
early as 1790 inviting all civilised nations to unite against
the common danger. Two years later Austria and Prussia
formed an alliance which was before long to develop into
the biggest coalition ever formed in Europe against a single
nation. Yet the revolutionary fervour was so great that the
French won striking victories (Valmy and Jemappes) which
brought the southern part of the Netherlands under their
sway. In 1793 was formed the First Coalition between
Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and
the Papal States ; though by 1796 Austria and England were
left alone to carry on the war.

Napoleon made his mark at Toulon in 1795 ; he was
one of the Consuls in 1799; Consul for life in 1802; and
Emperor in 1804. From 1796-1807 was the period of
Napoleon’s rise, when his energies were concentrated against
Austria. During the next five years (1807-12) he was
apparently at the height of his power, when his main objec¬
tive was to fight Britain; for this were passed the Berlin
Decrees and the Continental System organised. 1 The
remaining years before he was sent to St. Helena (1812-15)
formed the period of his fall. We have no space here for
even a rapid sketch of his meteoric career. Moreover, since
his entire reordering of the map of Europe was to be wash¬
ed off. by the Vienna Settlement in 1815, we might content
ourselves with noting the reactions that followed his over¬
throw.

Napoleon, “ the child of the Revolution,” had also made
himself the father of an Imperial system wherein ‘ republics’

1. The purpose of these was to exclude Britain from all in¬
tercourse with the continent of Europe.

384 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and princedoms were subjected to the common foreign yoke
which at once ignored and evoked national consciousness
and the democratic spirit of self-determination. But before
we trace the history of these two ‘ main currents ’ of nine¬
teenth century European life, it is necessary to look at the
earlier growth of at least two other countries, viz. Prussia
and Russia.

Germany, as we know her to-day, is a product of the
ninpt-ppnth century. Even at the time of the Vienna Con¬
gress (1814-15) that country was a congeries of over three
hundred and fifty kingdoms and principalities, of which
Prussia was undoubtedly the most pre-eminent. On that
historic occasion their number was reduced to thirty-nine
etatpg (by combining small states together) and they were
given a formal unity under a Confederation with a com¬
mon Diet (Parliament) at Frankfort. The real consoli¬
dation of Germany was brought about by the ruling House
of Hohenzollem whose family history reached back to the
twelfth century. Frederick the Great, mentioned earlier in
this chapter, belonged to this family which particu¬
larly came into prominence - after the Thirty Years’ War,
under Frederick William, known as the Great Elector (1640-
88). He was only the Duke of Brandenburg (sub¬
ject to the Fling of Poland) to begin with; but through
war and diplomacy he considerably increased the possessions
and prestige of his House, the greatest of his acquisitions
being Prussia. By internal reforms such as improvement of
taxation, communications, irrigation, encouragement of edu¬
cation, industry and agriculture, etc. he enhanced the im¬
portance of Brandenburg-Prussia in all Germany (which
also contained other States like Bavaria and Saxony). His
successor, Frederick II (1688-1713), earned the title of
“Fling” from the Emperor Leopold I of Austria. His

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 385

son, Frederick William I (1713-40), was the father
of Frederick the Great (1740-86). These two Fredericks
are indeed one of the most interesting pair of rulers in all
history. No two princes were more unlike in their charac¬
ters than these, father and son; and yet, both alike emi¬
nently succeeded in making Prussia and the Hohenzollems
respected, feared, and hated, at first in Germany and then
in all Europe. Frederick William, by his parsimony and
careful administration earned for himself the reputation of
being “ the greatest internal king of Prussia.” At the samp
time he was one of the most quixotic of all mona rchs, He
had a miserly love for soldiers, sixty thousand of whom
he recruited from all parts of the world, drilled and train¬
ed them most efficiently, but would not waste than in any
war! At home he was a tyrant and the treatment he
accorded to his son was such that, as Macaulay has put it,
“ Oliver Twist in the parish workhouse, Smike at Dothefooys
Hall, were petted childrai when compared with this wretched
heir apparent of a crown.” Frederick (the son), being the
very antithesis of his father, sought refuge in flight, but was
caught and condemned to death for his attempted deser¬
tion. He was saved from this calamity only by the timdy
intercession of all the potentates of Europe. “ Salvation be¬
longs to the Lord,” declared Frederick William, “ and every¬
thing else is my affair.”

No sooner did the young Frederick succeed to the throne
of Prussia (1740)', than he thought of making good use of
his father’s “ darling army.” His philosophy was : “ As

to dominions, take what you can; you are oily wrong
when you are compelled to make restitution.” So he in¬
vaded Silesia and began the ‘Austrian Succession War’
(1740-48) which led on to the Seven Years’ War (1756-63)
with consequences already described. Internally also he fol

386 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lowed the traditional policy of his family and earned for
himself the title of Frederick the Great—the maker of Modem
Germany. With all his faults Frederick had a high con¬
ception of the office of monarchs. “ The monarch,” he
declared, “is only the first servant of the State, who is
obliged to act with probity and prudence, and to remain
as totally disinterested as if he were each moment liable
to render an account of his administration to his fellow-
citizens. .. The prince is to the nation he governs what
the head is to the man; it is his duty to see, think, and
act for the whole community, that he may procure it every
advantage of which it is capable.” He was unsparing in
the pursuit of this! ideal, though he never cared what means
he had to adopt to secure the end.

In our survey of Grand Monarchy we referred to Peter
the Great of Russia (1682-1725). Though Russia was
always under monarchical despotism until its overthrow in
1918, we must content ourselves here with only a few typical
examples. The Romanoffs came to the throne of Russia
in 1613. Even before that the Grand Dukes of Moscow,
like Ivan the) Terrible, had already consolidated the absolu¬
tism of the ruling family at the expense of the boyars
(barons). But the country had grown without coming to
maturity as it were. Russia was very backward in all res¬
pects. She was more Asiatic than European. So when Peter
became the Czar in 1696 he decided that his country ought
to turn to the West rather than to the East for inspiration.
He personally travelled widely in Germany, Holland, Eng¬
land, and greatly admired their progress. Keenly desirous
of reforming his own subjects along their lines, he import¬
ed into Russia engineers, workmen, and teachers in all de¬
partments, from the countries he had visited. In his zeal
for reform Peter toiled like a common workman in field

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 387

and factory, cut off with his own hands the flowing beards,
moustaches, and robes of his nobles—as marks of the
Orientals—,compelled women to come out of their seclusion,
and built a new capital (St. Petersburgh) to counteract the
influence of conservative Moscow. Peter indeed wanted to
“ open a window ” in the West; for Russia, in spite of
her size (more than equal to all the other countries of Europe
put together), was ice-bound in the North, had no access
to the sea either in the West or South, while Sweden, Poland,
Germany, Austria, and Turkey blocked her ways of ex¬
pansion. Her history, ever since the days of Peter the Great,
has therefore been one of conflict with all these powers.

In order to establish contact with the West, Peter at first
tried to secure access to the Baltic. Here he found a for¬
midable opponent in Charles XII of Sweden who displayed
the military prowess of an Alexander the Great. Russia
formed an alliance with Poland and Denmark to overpower
Sweden, but only discovered that Charles was more than a
match for all of them together. To create a diversion for
Peter in the South, Charles also incited the Turks against
Russia. However, when Charles died (1718), Russia made
a Treaty with Sweden by which she gained Livonia, Esthonia,
and other Swedish provinces at the eastern end of the
Baltic. Her attempt to secure a foothold in the South at
the expense of Turkey created the “Eastern Question”
which will be dealt with later.

The * spiritual ’ successor of Peter the Great in the pur¬
suit of his European policy was Catherine II (1762-96).
A Germain by birth she extended and established foreign
influence within Russia. This had both good and evil re¬
sults of a far-reaching character. 4 Adventurous, ambitious,
despotic, corrupt, she sought by every available means to
continue the work of making Russia a supreme European

388 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

power.’ She evinced considerable interest in the great intel¬
lectual movements of Western Europe represented by men
like Diderot and Voltaire (even like her contemporary
Frederick the Great), and professed high-sounding, political
principles : ‘ the nation,’ she said, ‘ is not made for the
ruler but the ruler for the nation; ’ ‘ liberty,’ she defined,

‘ is the right to do anything that is not forbidden by law; ’
‘better that ten guilty should escape than that one innocent
should suffer unjust punishment.’ But her practice was a
negation of all these doctrines. The ; sincerest devotee of the
Enlightened Despotism of the eighteenth century in Europe
was Catherine’s Austrian contemporary Joseph II (1765-90),
but he died a disappointed man.-Catherine, while she brought
large accession of territory and power to Russia (particu¬
larly by her share in the three Partitions of Poland, 1772,
1793, and 1795), die was one of the strongest haters of the
new forces released by the French Revolution. Her imbecile
son Paul I (1796-1801) was assassinated by a coterie of her
own courtiers. But the next ruler of Russia, Alexander I
(1801-25), became famous as the protagonist of “Legitim¬
ism” in Europe. The triple pillars of this aniti-Revolu-
tionary movement were the monarchs of Russia, Prussia,
and Austria.

We have already referred to the immediate reactions of
Austria and Prussia to the revolutionary outbreak in France.
The challenge of Leopold II (brother and successor of
Joseph II) to the revolutionaries was reinforced by alliances,
at first with Prussia, then with Russia, England, and all
the rest of Europe. The ultimate result was the defeat of
Napoleon and the humiliation of France in the Vienna
Settlement This settlement was as fateful in consequences
as that of Utrecht a century earlier (1713) and Versailles
a century later (1918). The high-priest of the Vienna

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE

389

Congress was the Austrian statesman Metternich. Few men
have exercised such powerful influence over the destinies of
a continent like this Napoleon of diplomacy. The mere fact
that Metternich presided over the deliberations of this most
momentous gathering, where almost all the potentates of
Europe were personally present, is sufficient indication of
his importance. Next to him was Talleyrand the represen¬
tative of France who put forward the doctrine of “ Legiti¬
macy ” which formed the sheet-anchor of the Congress. That
assembly was as reactionary as it was pompous; it was
throughout marked by secret diplomacy and the domination
of the big powers, as by 4 an uninterrupted festival of extra¬
ordinary brilliance/ It trampled under foot the principles of
nationalism, democracy and liberalism, as dangerous inno¬
vations, and reconstructed the map of Europe heedless of
nationality. France was deprived of all her revolutionary
and Napoleonic conquests and the reactionary Bourbon
Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI who had 44 forgotten
nothing and could forgive nothing”) was foisted upon the
throne of his ancestors; incompatibles like Norway and
Sweden, Holland and Belgium, were bound together irres¬
pective of the aspirations of their peoples; likewise the
Machiavellian “ Partitions ” of Poland were confirmed to
their foreign masters ; Austria was allowed to dominate over
dismembered Italy; and the gains of Great Britain were
guaranteed to that, country. While everyone, with the excep¬
tion of France, got something, no one was satisfied.

The first outward manifestation of the spirit of the Con¬
gress was the formation of the Quadruple Alliance between
Austria, Prussia, Russia, and England. Its ostensible pur-
jjose was the defence of the Settlement; but in reality it
sought to be the bulwark of reactionary 44 Legitimism.” When
England saw this sinister tendency, which was a negation

390 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

of all her liberal principles, she withdrew from the ‘ concert
of Europe’ and allowed her allies to cling to their Holy
Alliance under the aegis of Czar Alexander I who had been
privately characterised at the Congress of Vienna as “ half
fool, half Bonaparte.”

It has been well observed by Professor Morse Stephens,
that “The doctrines of the French Revolution did more
than the victories of Napoleon to destroy^e political system
Of the eighteenth century.” 1 In the so-called Holy Alliance
eighteenth century dynasticism was on its last legs. The
subsequent history of Europe during the nineteenth century
marks the triumph of Nationalism, Democracy, Liberalism,
in country after country. We have room here only to re¬
cord the results. For a fuller study of this great theme
the reader must go to larger works. When Paris hath a
cold, it is said, the whole of Europe sneezes. But we might
as well say that whenever there is to be a political earth¬
quake in Europe it is first indicated by the French seismo¬
graph.

There were national and democratic risings all over Europe
in 1830 and 1848. In the first series, Greece won her inde¬
pendence from Turkey when the English poet Byron sacri¬
ficed himself at the altar of Hellenic liberation. In France,
the restored Bourbon regime was once more overthrown in
favour of the Orleanist “ citizen king ” Louis Philippe, who
was crowned King “by the grace of God and by the will
of the people .” At the same time, Catholic Belgium regain¬
ed her national independence from Protestant Holland, and
her integrity was guaranteed by Britain, France, Prussia,
Austria, and Russia. There were also significant repercus¬
sions in Poland, Italy, Spain, and England. During the

1. Revolutionary Europe , p. 3.

THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE 391

second wave of 1848, Louis Philippe was overthrown in
France and the Second Republic was established un d er the
presidency of Louis Napoleon who rapidly grew into (Napo¬
leon III) the image of his greater namesake; in Prussia,
there we riots demanding freedom of the press, trial by-
jury, religious toleration, etc.; in the Austrian dominions,
the Slavs of Bohemia, the Magyars of Hungary, and the
Latins of Italy, broke into rebellion and Metternich was
obliged to seek safety in England (the last refuge of all
exiles) ; in Germany, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein
tried to overthrow the Danish yoke with the assistance of
Prussia. Italy (with the exception of Venetia and die
Papal States), through the inspiration of Mazzini, the diplo¬
macy of Cavour, and the martial vigour of Garribaldi,
became a united and independent Kingdom under the patrio¬
tic monarch Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia, in 1861. With¬
in ten years of this (1871) Germany under her Pr ussian King
William (Wilhelm) I realised her dream of union with the
help of her “ iron Chancellor ” Bismarck. This was achieved
at the expense of Denmark. Austria, and France, with all
of whom Prussia waged war. “The German problem,”
Bismarck had bluntly declared, “ cannot be solved by Parlia¬
mentary decrees, but only by blood and iron.” But this
policy, according to

The good old plan

That he should take who has the power,

And he should keep who can,

only resulted in a situation well described by the
German general von, Moltke in the Reichstag shortly
after the conclusion of peace: “ We have earned

in the late war respect, but hardly love. What we have
gained by arms in six months we shall have to defend by

392 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

arms for fifty years.” Europe has not yet got out of the
hoie Bismarck put her into.

Austria was defeated by Prussia in the battle of Sadowa
in 1866. This resulted in the separation of the North Ger¬
man Confederation from the Austrian ' Empire ’. Next year,
1867, the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was form¬
ed which lasted till the Great War (1914-18). France was
defeated at Sedan in 1870, and Napoleon III abdicated.
Paris surrendered, after a siege of four months, on January
28,1871. In the peace that followed, France paid to Prussia
a heavy war indemnity, and ceded to her the Rhine provinces
of Alsace and Lorraine. These were the seeds of the Great
War of 1914-18. France formally inaugurated her Third
Republic in 1875.

In Eastern Europe also the Russian policy of expansion
had, in the meanwhile, culminated in the Crimean War of
1854-56. Turkey—" the sick man of Europe ’’—being sub¬
jected to a similar operation by Russia as that of Poland,
was doctored bade into life by England and France. But
there was again a relapse in 1875 owing to the Balkan
States catching infection from Russia. This once more
brought the ‘ Colossus of the North ’ down to the gates of
Constantinople, and Britain ordered two war-vessels to enter
the Dardanelles ‘for the protection of life and property.’
But ultimately, through one of the most thrilling diplo¬
matic manoeuvres recorded in history, war was averted. The
Treaty of Berlin, 1878, brought relief to the Balkans, and
‘ peace with honour ’ to England; but it also transferred
the attention of Russia from the Near to the Far East.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

Vigour—physical and intellectual Trade,
or material profit of some kind. Religion.

Science. Here are the elements contributing
to the Expansion of the West.—F. S. Marvin

If in the above enumeration of the elements contributing
to the Expansion of Europe the reader discovers the signi¬
ficant omission of ‘politics’, it may at once be pointed
out that the political expansion of the West has itself been
the almost inevitable product of the elements of Mr. Mar¬
vin’s analysis. In describing the making of modem Europe
we had necessarily to concentrate, in the last chapter, on
political reconstruction—both external and internal—in that
continent. The National and Democratic movements dealt
with therein were wider and deeper than it has been possible
for us to indicate in our brief survey. The forces underlying
those upheavals and the far-reaching consequences on
humanity must be studied more carefully here. We shall
find it convenient to consider the Expansion of Europe first
in the material sense, and then in the intellectual.

The history of the World traced by us so far has revealed
to us several movements of populations from country to
country and continent to continent. These movements were
due to several causes, such as the excessive growth of popu¬
lation beyond the means of subsistence, the nomadic instinct
that drove barbarian hordes from place to place out of sheer

394

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

restlessness, and the needs of commerce with ever-expand¬
ing markets.

The earliest example of European expansion abroad is
found in the piratical adventures of the Norsemen who seem
to have reached the northern parts of North America long
before Columbus re-discovered that continent for the modem
world. During the Middle Ages, Europe was already enough
accustomed to the spices and luxuries of the East to feel
the urge to explore new routes thereto. That impulse was
further reinforced by the Turkish blockade of the ‘Near
East’ culminating in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The discoveries of da Gama and Columbus shifted the high¬
roads of commerce from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic,
while at the same time the primacy in world trade passed
from the Venetians and the Arabs to the Portuguese and
the Spaniards. And lastly, the division of the globe between
these two nations by authority of Pope Alexander VI, no
less than the religious zeal of the Portuguese and Spaniards
themselves, gave to European expansion in the Old and
New worlds the dual impetus of commerce and Christianity.

When the Reformation movement divided Europe into
Catholic and Protestant, the latter group of nations—parti¬
cularly the Dutch and the English—challenged the monopoly
of the Iberian pioneers and soon undermined their positions
in East and West alike. The Dutch broke through the
Portuguese monopoly in Asia, and the English overthrew
the Spanish in America. The defeat of the Armada in 1588
was indeed’ a great turning point: it destroyed the political
prestige of Spain and marked the naval ascendancy of
England.

With the accession of the Stuarts to the English throne
(1603) an era of peace with Spain ensued, but a new rivalry
with the Dutch in the East Indies started. Within twenty

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

395

years it culminated in the tragedy of Amboyna (1623) where
the infuriated Dutch murdered ten Englishmen and tortured
several others. Though this ‘ massacre ’ resulted in driving
the English out of the Archipelago, it proved a blessing
in disguise, for it gave them India. The quairel with the
Dutch nearer home led to the passing of the important Navi¬
gation Act of 1651, which provided that all goods imported
into England must be carried either in English bottoms or
in the ships of the country which produced them. The
Dutch tried to defy this law and presumptuously sailed up
the Thames-with brooms attached to their mast-heads to
signify their determination to sweep the English from the
seas. But they were defeated all the same, and had to accept
the Navigation Act confirmed by the Treaty of Westminster,
1654.

Another aspect of the contemporary scene which had mo¬
mentous results may also be referred to here. The Spanish
and Portuguese successes in South America had aroused the
greed of the English, the Dutch, and the French, leading
to international conflicts, organised piracy, and the foundation
of colonies in the remaining parts of that continent. Emi¬
gration from Europe was further stimulated by the religious
policies of monarchs during the Reformation period; the
victims of persecution sought refuge in exile in the New-
World. The stream thus started was fed by a variety of
causes all of which contributed to the permanent occupation
of America by the Europeans. The details of the process
must be read elsewhere. For our present purpose a record
of the result alone should suffice.

The Portuguese had occupied Brazil and the Spaniards
Mexico and Peru. Out of this nucleus grew up the Republics
of South America. The Dutch were among the earliest
in the race for North America, but their main objectives being

396 -A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the East, they were soon outstripped in the West by
the English and the French. The river Hudson had been
explored (1609) by an Englishman of that namp j n
the Dutch service. New York and New Jersey were originally
Dutch New Amsterdam, but acquired by the English under
Charles II who commissioned his brother, the Duke of York,
to occupy them (1664). Meanwhile, the English
founded by the “ Pilgrim Fathers ” who sailed in the May¬
flower (1620),—New England—had grown into a powerful
group; while the French had likewise flourished round about
Quebec. Out of their worldwide rivalries (referred to in
the previous chapter) England emerged triumphant at the
end of the Seven Years’ War which closed with the Treaty
of Paris (1763). That gave the English their Indian
Empire and Canada. Though at that time they also owned
the present United States of America, these were lost in
consequence of the American War of Independence (1776-83)
which terminated with the Treaties of Paris and Versailles.
This eventful victory of the settlers had important and varied
consequences : (1) it created the independent U. S. A.;

(2) it precipitated the Revolution in France ; (3) it brought
to an end the “ old colonial policy ” in England no less than
the last bid for personal rule made by the English mnnarrhs ,
Turgot’s dictum that ‘ colonies are like fruit which drop
off from the stem when they ripen’ was proved true at
least in this important case. More than anything else, the
American Revolution convinced England of what Chatham
had meant when he warned his countrymen saying : “ We
may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise
every power whatsoever, except that of taking their money
out of their pockets without their consent.” The great hero
of the American triumph was George Washington, about
whom the English historian John Richard Green has written:

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

397

“ No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation’s

life, . ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the

hearts of his fellow countrymen \ ”

The victory of the U. S. A. had also important reper¬
cussions in South America. Napoleon Bonaparte had over¬
thrown the Bourbon ruler of Spain and seated his own
brother Joseph on that throne, but the Spanish colonists
in South America refused to acknowledge the usurper. Under
the leadership of Simon Bolivar, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, etc. asserted their independence even
when the old dynasty was restored in the mother country
(under Ferdinand VII). Mexico too became independent
in 1821, but fell a prey to continued disorder. The Portu¬
guese colonists of Brazil likewise set up an independent State
in 1822, with Don Pedro as their King. The further history
of Latin America is too complicated to be dealt with here
But two facts may be noted : (1) All the colonies set

up republican governments before the close of the century;
(2) the U. S. A. proclaimed the famous “ Monroe doctrine”
when the European Powers tried to meddle in their affairs.
It laid down :

* In the wars of the European Powers, in matters relating to
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com¬
port with 1 our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are
invaded or seriously menaced that,we resent injuries or make
preparations for our defence. With the existing colonies or de¬
pendencies of any European Power we have not interfered and
shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared
their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we
have on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged,
we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing
them or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any
European Power in any other light than as the manifestation
of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States. The
-occasion has .been judged, proper for asserting as a principle

398

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in which the rights and interests of the United States are in¬
volved, that the American continents, by the free and independ¬
ent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are hence¬
forth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by
any European Powers.’

For the next great European advance we must turn to
the continents of Africa and. Asia during the nineteenth
century. We must necessarily skip over the thrilling stories
of exploration, discovery, and adventure, and concentrate
only on the bare enumeration of results. David Livingstone
(1849-73), a Scotch missionary who crossed the entire Dark
Continent from sea to sea, is one of the best known of
Africa’s explorers. Mission work went hand in hand in
Africa with geographical discovery. While Islam made its
home in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt, in Abyssinia,
Siberia, and South Africa Christianity succeeded in establish¬
ing itself; the rest of Africa remained heathen.

Almost all the European nations participated in the
exploitation of Africa. Particularly in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century, there was a regular scramble for
its tempting profits. In the past, Africa had provided the
richest quarry for slaves; in more recent times it has been
valued for rubber, ivory, diamonds, gold, and other rich
natural products of a tropical continent. The Spaniards
now hold the northern coast of Morocco; Portugal holds
Angola and Portuguese East Africa ; Belgium holds Congo;
France owns Algeria, Tunis, most of Morocco, the valleys
of the Senegal and Upper Niger, part of the Guinea coast,
French Somaliland, and Madagascar. Germany and Italy
were late in entering the arena. Frederick the Great had
declared : “ All distant possessions are a burden to the

State. A village on the frontier is worth a principality
two hundred and fifty miles away.” Even Bismarck con-

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

399

sidered himself a ‘ no colony man \ All the same, Germany
after her unification took the coastland of South-West Africa
north of the Orange River, the Cameroons and East Africa.
All of these, however, were taken away from Germany by
the Allies in the Great War of 1914-18. Italy, though late
in entering the field, secured Eritrea, Italian Somaliland,
Libya (1912), and last of all (1936) Abyssinia.

Though France has the lion’s share of territory in Africa,
Great Britain is important in point of power. .Besides exten¬
sive possessions on the Guinea coast, she owns a solid block
of territory stretching right through the continent from the
Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean. The gold mines
of the Transvaal and the diamond mines of Kimberley have
rendered these colonies invaluable. Together with Cape
Colony, Natal, and Orange Free State, they constitute the
Union of South Africa. To these must be added Rhodesia
(acquired by Cecil Rhodes), Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (con¬
quered by Kitchner), and the German colonies (S. W. and
E. Africa) won during the Great War. Britain also con¬
trols Egypt and has a decisive share in the control of the
Suez Canal (constructed in 1869 by the French engineer,
Ferdinand de Lesseps). This, together with the Cape-to-
Cairo Railway (7000 miles)—the product of the enterprise
of Cecil Rhodes—has given Britain great commercial and
strategic advantages.

The opening up and partition of Asia must be reserved
for another chapter, as it inevitably led to the awakening
of the slumbering East, which is too large and important
a subject to be dealt with here. We might more coherently
proceed in this chapter with the further phases of the Euro¬
pean expansion in the West, such as Industrialism and its
attendant reactions : intellectual and political.

Modem industrialism which has given a new trend to

400 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

human civilisation had its birth in England in the eighteenth
century. That movement is usually referred to as the
Industrial Revolution. Though of late some writers have
criticised the use of the term “Revolution” as being too
misleading, no more suggestive or comprehensively adequate
expression has been found. Equally misleading is it to
suggest that the Industrial Revolution began in a parti¬
cular year or even decade. But considering that the several
important things which gave it its peculiar character occurred
all together in a crowded fifty years or so, it would not be
wrong to assign the genesis of this great movement to the
latter half of the eighteenth century. That was also the
period of other momentous happenings such as the Seven
Years’ War, the War of American Independence, and the
French Revolution.

While all wars are expensive and disastrous in their con¬
sequences, England has enjoyed certain peculiar advantages
on account of her geographical situation. The immunity
from foreign invasion which she has enjoyed through several
centuries, and her naval supremacy, have alike enabled her
to develop her political and economic life along her own
lines, undisturbed by any external power. On the other
hand, she has found it especially possible for her to strike
at all her enemies without being hurt to the same extent.
Thus she was able to destroy the power of France in the
series of wars which ended with Waterloo. Whereas these
wars disorganised) the entire economic life of the Continent,
they afforded a unique opportunity to English commerce
and industry which flourished despite the Berlin Decrees
and the Continental System! of Napoleon. It was this rare
stimulus which quickened the pace of English industry to
such an extent, towards the close of the eighteenth century,
that it almost looked’ like a revolution . In the words of

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

401

Professor Hammond, “ That revolution was marked by the
dissolution of the old village, by the transformation of the
textile industries, by changes of a different kind in the pottery
industries, and by a great concentration of capital and
power in the industries connected with iron, steel, and coal.” 1
In short, that revolution converted England from being the
“granary of the North” (as the Romans had found her)
into the Workshop of the World.

It was under these circumstances that a series of mecha¬
nical inventions appeared : Hargreave’s “spinning jenny” in
1764, Arkwright’s “water frame” in 1769, Crompton’s “mule”
in 1779, Cartwright’s “power loom” in 1785, Whitney’s “gin”
in 1792, etc. And more than anything else, the application
of steam power to all departments of industry, including
manufacture as well as transport,—rendered possible by the
genius of Watt (1769) and Stephenson (1814)—ushered in
the era of large-scale production and distribution with all
their inevitable consequences. It is impossible even to sum¬
marise the salient features of this Revolution within the
space at our disposal. It has made the Modem World what
it is. A more adequate idea of its complexities will be gain¬
ed from a later chapter. Suffice it here to observe that we
owe all our comforts, conflicts, dangers, and outlooks to
what was happening in the Western World during the past
two hundred years or so.

One important aspect of these changes, however, may be
particularly noted. English policy in India was largely
affected by the growing demand in England for raw-materials
and markets for her finished goods. “England was now
producing,” says Professor Hammond, “something that
India could buy. A British government was not likdy to

1. J. L. Hammond, The Rise of Modern Industry , p. 2.

402

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

treat a distant community that had come under its control
more unselfishly than it had treated the British Colonies
in America. Heavy duties were placed upon Indian cottons
and silks' in the Home tariff, and when the Indian market,
hitherto the monopoly of the East India Company, was
thrown open in 1813, the duties imposed on cotton goods
entering India were merely nominal. In 1831 a petition
was presented from natives of Bengal, complaining without
success of the British duty of 10 per cent, on manufactured
cottons, and 24 per cent, on manufactured silks. The effect
of political control, combined with the inventions, was seen
in the figures of our trade with India. 1 If India had been in
the hands of a rival Power anxious either to develop a new
cotton industry of its own, or to develop a native cotton
industry in India, Lancashire would not have found so rich
a market for her yam and piece-goods.”

The social and political effects of the Industrial Revolu¬
tion in England itself were profound and interesting. The
rapid advance of the “ enclosure ” movement, the improved
methods of agriculture, and the introduction of machinery,
alike contributed to immediate social disorganisation. While
on the one hand the population of England was growing
on account of her increasing prosperity, widespread un¬
employment and misery were also caused by several changes
coming in at the same time on the other. The surplus
population, including a large number of criminals, after
being swept into the army and navy (for which there was
great demand on account of the various wars) was still
available for colonisation abroad. The epoch-making dis¬
coveries of Captain Cook (1769-79) made Australia readily

1. In 1815, 800,000 yards of British cotton cloth were imported
in India; in 1830, 45,000,000 yards.— Ibid., pp. 185-6.

THE EXPANSION OF EUROPE

403

available for the purpose. Before the United States became
independent America had been used as the ‘ Andamans ’ of
Great Britain. Australia soon received such a large popula¬
tion of criminals that crime offered no means of livelihood to
the immigrants there. Hence the deportation of undesirables
from England proved a double blessing : it blessed them
that went, and them that sent. The well-known words of
St. Bernard of Clairvaux with reference to the recruits for
the Second Crusade may very well be applied to the founders
of the Australian colony : 1 In the countless multitude you
will find few except the utterly wicked and impious, the
sacrilegious, homicides, and perjurers, whose departure is
a double gain. Europe rejoices to lose them and Palestine
to gain them ; they are useful in both ways, in their absence
from here and their presence there/

There was also a great shifting of populations within
the country. People began to crowd into the industrial
cities. The evils of the Factory System manifested them¬
selves before its benefits were appreciated by the people at
large. The New Industry like the New Agriculture seemed
to profit only the rich at the expense of the poor. The
tyranny of William Pitt’s war-regime made the transition
less bearable. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 had trans¬
ferred power from the King to an Oligarchy of landlords.
Now a new nobility arose among the industrial and com¬
mercial magnates to compete with them. The great discon¬
tent was allayed to a certain extent only in the era of
reform that followed in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat.

The nineteenth century was eminently an Age of Liberal¬
ism, though the Liberals were not always and everywhere
in power. The Conservatives withstood as much as they
dared, and the Radicals exacted as much as they could.
Though gradualism held the balance, an the whole, free-

404 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

dom was broadening from precedent to precedent. It was
the age during which the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 had
t-aifAn .place in the continent of Europe. In England it was
marirpH by a series of long needed reforms. Constitutionally
there were the Parliamentary Reform Acts of 1832, 1867,
and 1884, by which the political franchise was extended
down to the urban and rural workers. In other directions
it brought religious toleration (Catholic Emancipation Act),
Poor Laws for the relief of the distressed, education for
the niasRPs, criminal law reform, factory legislation, Public
Health Acts, attempts to conciliate Ireland (Home Rule
Bills), the abolition of slavery, the extinction of the East
India Company with its sequel of political and social reform
in India, the development of the Press, local self-govern¬
ment, and Self-Government for the Dominions.

Rngianri has been to the Modem World what Athens was
to the Ancient. Ideas, movements, and happenings in that
Island sooner or later reflected themselves in the rest of
the world. England achieved parliamentary Democracy and
all other countries have been striving ever since to emulate
her example. England started the Industrial Revolution
and the whole world is still being transformed to her pattern.
England grew Imperialist and turned to Federalism for find¬
ing liberty in union, and nations are still trying to walk
in her footsteps. Just as Rome and Christianity gave unity
to Christian Europe during the Middle Ages, so England
and Science have imparted unity to Western Civilisation in
later times. Hence the very large claim of England on our
attention in dealing with the Expansion of Europe. Fuller
and deeper implications of this theme will be brought out
in the succeeding chapters.

>vn thus nnm

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

If the nineteenth century was the opportunity
of the West, the twentieth is for the East. Con¬
centrated in its eastern and southern fringe, Asia
holds well over half the inhabitants of the globe;
and this vast population is astir—E. B. Mitford

Like Germany, France, and England in Europe, India,
C hina, and Japan hold the destiny of Asia in their hands.
Apart from their contributions to civilisation in the ancient
times, these countries have influenced human history in
every succeeding age Their importance has increased in¬
stead of diminishing in the modem world. During the
period of great activity on the part of Europe, Asia appeared
to be comparatively sluggish if not altogether dormant. But
there is always a ‘ tide in the affairs of men and Europe
took it at the flood particularly since the Renaissance.
Europe then awoke from the long slumbers of the Dark
Ages and entered upon a great creative epoch. She dis¬
covered new continents, both geographical and intellectual.
In her age of expansion she inundated the whole world.
We have watched her activities in Europe, Africa, and
America. We must now turn to Asia.

The first Asiatic country to come under European con¬
trol was India. We have already spoken of the fall of
the Mughal Empire, and alluded to the rivalries between
the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English

406 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the East. That is a familiar tale. Its importance for
us lies in the consequences. The Seven Years’ War de¬
finitely marked the ascendancy of England. Though Eng¬
land lost the American colonies (U. S. A.) after this, she
was more than compensated for that loss by her acquisi¬
tion of India. The work begun at Arcot, Plassey, and
Buxar in the days of Clive in the eighteenth century was com¬
pleted in the nineteenth by Wellesley and Dalhousie. The final
overthrow of the Marathas (1818) who had succeeded to
the sovereignty of the Mughals was not less significant
than the overthrow of Napoleon (1815) only three years
earlier : both marked a new era—one in India and the
other in Europe. The pretensions of the Peshwa and the
Mughal Emperor were simultaneously extinguished in the
Great Rising of 1857. It is also not to be forgotten that
the ‘Honourable John Company Bahadoor’ too was extin¬
guished in that conflagration which illumined the birth of a
New India.

Here we must not lose sight of happenings in England
and Europe at the same time. It was an epoch of reforms
and revolutions, economic, political, and social. Both
Nationalism' and Democracy (the two great moulding forces
of nineteenth century Europe) derived a new impulse and
significance from the Industrial Revolution. The economic
changes in agriculture, industry, and commerce—confirmed
and extended the scope of democracy as well as nationalism.
Out of these complex dements was bom British Imperialism
whose testing crucible has been India. India fed the Indus¬
trial Revolution, supplied it raw materials, and provided
a vast market for its finished articles, including high employ¬
ment for the growing population of England. Hence India
became indispensable to England, to secure hold over whom
she has had to set her policies. Truly in the words of

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

407

_ord Curzon : “ India is the pivot of our British Empire.

[f this Empire loses any other part of its Dominions, we
-an survive. But if we lose India, the sun of our Empire
will have set.”

But, if Imperialism invaded India, neither could the wave
3 f Liberalism be dammed within the countries of its origin.
Steamships, railways, and telegraphs were not calculated
to keep the world divided into oases and deserts. British
Liberalism was bound to leaven the conquests of British
Conservatism. This was the significance of the simultaneous
extinction in India of Indian feudalism and the English
East India Company’s rule. The. anomaly of His Majesty’s
subjects holding sovereign rights (though it be over coloured
peoples) was an anachronism that could not be sustained
in the nineteenth century. So the Regulating Act (1763)
fulmina ted in Her Majesty’s Proclamation; the Reforms
of 1833 were to end in the demand for Swaraj. If Eng¬
land fed on India, die could not also prevent India from
feeding on Burke, Bright, and Mazzini. England, while
she deliberately destroyed the Old Order in India, also in¬
evitably paved the way of the Indian Renaissance.

We can touch here only on a few phases of the Indian
Awakening in the nineteenth century. It was significant that
the year of the Great Rising also witnessed the foundation
of the three modem Universities of Bombay, Madras, and
Calcutta. But it would be a mistake to suppose that the
Indian Re naissan ce has been the product of Western educa¬
tion alone. It has been the resultant of several forces act¬
ing at the same time. The Rising of 1857 was more a social
revolt than a mere mutiny of the army or even a political
rebellion. Its suppression was necessary not only for the
security of British rule, but also for the creation of a
New I ndia It was an event as epoch-making for India

408 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

and Asia as the fall of the Bastille was for France and
Europe. The Rousseau of the Indian Revolution was Raja
Ram Mohan Roy (1774-1833), the founder of the Brahmo
Samaj. He was followed by an army of great reformers
like Devendra Nath Tagore (Rabindranath’s father) and
Keshab Chandra Sen in Bengal, and Swami Dayananda
Saraswati (1824-83), the founder of the Arya Samaj in the
Punjab, and Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1900), the
founder of the Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra. Much use¬
ful work in the national uplift was also done by Swami
Vivekananda, the apostle of a reformed faith, who carried
the message of Awakened India to Europe and America
(1895-97). Similar work was done by Sir Saiyyad Ahmad
Khan (1817-98) to put new life into the paralysed Muslim
community. He founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental
College (1875) which later developed into the Aligarh
Muslim University.

Meariwhile the economic exploitation of the country by
our foreign rulers was bearing disastrous fruit. Under the
East India Company’s rule the ancient textile industry of
India had been ruthlessly suppressed, so much so, that an
English Governor-General reported in 1834 that “ the bones
of the cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of India.”
Towards the dose of the century, in 1878, Florence Night¬
ingale wrote : “ The saddest sight to be seen in the East—nay
probably in the world—is the peasant of our Eastern
Empire.” The terrible famines of 1876-77 and 1896-99
were symptoms of the country’s economic anaemia. The
Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was intended to suppress the
growing agitation and discontent. Though the benevolent
Lord Ripon tried to padfy the people by the repeal of
that odious Act (1881) and the grant of Local Sdf-govem-
ment (1884), he raised the squall of the Ilbert Bill agitation

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

409

on the part of the European community, when he touched the
crucial problem of ‘ justice without colour prejudice “ The
passionate claim of the European to predominance was to
be answered by the passionate claim of the Indian to equal¬
ity.” Under such auspices was bom the Indian National
Congress in 1885, the one organ that in course of time was
to be the champion of Renaissant India—the instrument of
the Indian resoTgimento . Its aims were enunciated as
follows :—

“ The objects of the Indian National Congress are the attain¬
ment by the people of India of a system of government similar
to that enjoyed by the self-governing members of the British
Empire, and a participation by them in the rights and res¬
ponsibilities of the Empire on equal terms with those members.
These objects are to be achieved by constitutional means by
bringing about a steady reform of the existing system of adminis¬
tration, and by promoting national unity, fostering public spirit,
and developing and organising the intellectual, moral, economic
and industrial resources of the country.”

Further development of the situation in India will be dealt
with in the next chapter. Here we must take note of happen¬
ings in the ‘Far East’, i.e. China and Japan. The pro¬
blems raised by these two countries—no less than those
raised by India—still await solution. Indeed, in the past
it looked as if, whatever might happen in the West, the
East would remain unalterably fixed and unchanging; but
now it appears that, whatever the West may do to pre¬
vent or postpone, nothing will remain unchanged in India,
China, and Japan. Gulliver has awakened from his sleep
and Lilliput must be upset!

We last mentioned China in connexion with Kublai Khan
and Marco Polo in the thirteenth oentury. Only two more
dynasties (Ming, 1368-1644 ; and Ching or Manchu , 1644-
1912) followed that founded by Kublai Khan, and armies

410 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

oi European adventurers (missionary, mercantile, and mili¬
tary came in the wake of Marco Polo. It was all along
the story of the Cross followed by a pair of scales enforced
by the booming guns. The result was the outcome of the
entire historical process in China as well as of the Chinese
character. As Bertrand Russell has remarked : “ China

ma y be regarded as an artist nation, with the virtues and
vic es to be expected of the artist : virtues chiefly useful
to others, and vices chiefly harmful to oneself.” 1 Culture
has been China’s greatest virtue and disunion her greatest
vice. The woes of the Chinese are the product of Western
Imperialism acting on a people with a rich inheritance,
vast resources, but lacking the security that a strong and
united government alone can give.

Under the Ming dynasty the Celestial Empire included
the major portion of Asia, excluding only India, Persia,
Afghanistan, Arabia, Asia-Minor, and Japan. The rest—in¬
cluding China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, Indo-China,
Burma and Tibet—was either directly ruled by the Ming
Emperors or subject to them as tributary states. At one time
even Nepal was compdled to pay tribute to China for inter¬
fering with Tibet across the snow-clad mountains. But such
vast territories were a source of weakness rather than strength.
The outlying parts were in a chronic state of revolt. The
Tuchuns or war-lords created a sort of feudal anarchy
which the occupants of the Dragon Throne were able to
control only occasionally. But despite the constant dis¬
turbances and the consequent misery of the people, Chinese
pre-occupations with Culture produced such works as the
Encyclopaedia compiled under the Ming Emperor Yung Lo
(Yoong Law, 1403-25), and the standard Dictionary of

1. The Problem of China, p. 10.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

411

the Chinese language prepared under the Manchu Emperoi
K’ang Hsi (Hhahng Shee, 1662-1723). The former work
comprised 11,000 volumes with a total of 917,4SG pages
and 366,000,000 words. The Dictionary contained 40,000
words accompanied in each case by appropriate quotations
from the works of every age and of every style, chronologi¬
cally arranged. K'ang Hsi also produced another encyclo¬
paedia in 1628 volumes of 200 pages each, whose biographical
section alone contained 24,000 lives of eminent women!

The greatest ruler of the Ming dynasty was Hsiao Tsung
(1488-1506). Under him peace and prosperity reigned in
the land. After him began the European race for China.
In 1517 two envoys arrived at Nanking, carrying letters
from the King of Portugal. Two more came in 1520, but they
were all driven away unceremoniously by the Chinese. Eight
hundred Portuguese were massacred at Ningpo, a little later,
while attempting to land forcibly. However, they succeeded
in securing a foothold at Macao in 1550. The first Christian
station was founded in Canton in 1579. Matteo Ricci, an
enterprising Jesuit missionary, reached Peking in 1601. By
his knowledge of Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography, and
other sciences, he ingratiated himself into the favour of
the Emperor and obtained permission for missionaries to
settle in important centres.

The English arrived in Canton in 1637, but they had to
sail away without achieving anything. Their first official
embassy, however, did not reach the Celestial Emperor until
1792, when the Earl of Macartney came with a request
from George III. He too was put off by the Chinese
Emperor who roundly declared : “ I have no use for your
country’s manufactures...! do not forget the lonely re¬
moteness of your island, cut off from the world by interven¬
ing wastes of sea, nor do I overlook your excusable ignorance

412

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

of the usages of our Celestial Empire.” The Opium Wars
(1839-42) were the English reply to this. The English had
already long secured a share in the profitable trade with
China. Since 1669 their settlement in Canton had been
the most flourishing among the European establishments
there. By 1833 the East India Company’s monopoly in
the opium trade with China had become the envy of even
their own countrymen at home. In 1839 the Imperial Com¬
missioner, Lin, failing to prevent the foreigners from import¬
ing opium into the country (against Imperial orders), forc¬
ibly seized large quantities of the drug from Canton and
destroyed the same. The English retaliated by waging war
against the Chinese who were too weak to resist successfully.
After sustaining great losses they submitted to the Treaty
of Nanking (1842). By this the English acquired Hong-
Kong, the right of residence and trade in Canton, Shanghai,
and three other ports, in addition to an indemnity of
21,000,000 dollars. This was the real beginning of the
European scramble in China and the consequent “open¬
ing” of that helpless country, which is still a prey to the
predatory incursions of powerful and aggressive nations, in¬
cluding her own neighbour and pupil Japan.

After the Opium Wars events moved rapidly. The English
example encouraged other Europeans and America. An in¬
ternal rising, known as the T’ai-p’ing (Long-haired) Rebel¬
lion (1861-64), under the Christian leader Hung Hsiu- ch’uan
(an educated convert), afforded a golden opportunity. The
capture of a few Chinese suspects from a ship at Canton
flying the British flag, by Commissioner Yeh, was interpreted
as an infringement of the Nanking Treaty. War with China
was resumed, and further “concessions” were extorted. It
was in the course of these hostilities that the English and
French acting jointly committed one of the most atrocious

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

413

crimes in History—viz. the destruction of the Yuen-Ming-
Yuen or the Imperial Summer Palace in Peking (1866).
Its “ artistic value, on account of the treasures it contained/’
writes Bertrand Russell, “must have been about equal to
that of Saint Mark’s in Venice and much greater than that
of Rheims Cathedral. This act did much to persuade the
Chinese of the superiority of our civilization, so they opened
seven more ports and the river Yangtse, paid an indemnity
and granted us more territory at Hong-Kong.” 1 In 1870
the murder of a British diplomat by the exasperated Chinese
brought more indemnity, more ports, and a fixed tariff for
opium. Then the French occupied Annam and Tongking,
and the British took Burma, but of course not without excuse
in each case.

Japan, whose awakening we shall deal with presently, also
followed too gladly the example of the Europeans. Already
she had adopted their methods and begun her bullying and
blustering career of imperialistic expansion. Even as early
as 1592 she had overrun Korea and killed 38,700 Chinese
and Koreans in one battle. On that occasion the Japanese
general, Hideyoshi, commemorated his success by cutting
off the ears of the fallen and erecting the “Ear Mound”
in Tokyo. Now, in 1894, she again invaded Korea,
occupied the Liao-tung peninsula (Port Arthur), and com¬
pelled China to cede to her the islands of Formosa and
Pescadores. But European jealousy prevented Japan from
enjoying the full fruits of her victory. Korea was nominally
declared independent, and Japan was obliged to withdraw
from Port Arthur, though compensated with further indemn¬
ity. Russia, Germany, and France were also rewarded for
their uncalled for interference. Russia was allowed to build

1, The Problem of China , p. 52.

414 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

a railway to Vladivostok and Port Arthur, through Manchu¬
ria : France to do the same on the Tongking frontier ; and
Germany obtained railway and mining rights in Shantung.
This was the beginning of another spate of greedy scramble
on the part of all the imperialistic vultures.

The murder of two German missionaries in Shantung in
1897 provided the much looked for casus belli. The Ger¬
mans seized Kiaochow Bay and created a naval base there.
The British thereupon, to hold the balance, leased Wei-hai-
wei and established a “ defensive circuit ” around Hong-Kong;
France did the same with Kuang-chow Bay and the southern
borders of Yunnan ; and Russia in Port Arthur and Talien-
wan. This last caused Japan such great annoyance that
it led to one of the most epoch-making events in History,
viz. the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 (which will be dealt
with later). For the present she obtained Fukien.

These happenings were not without great repercussions on
China. They brought the Chinese Dragon to bay in the
famous “Boxer Revolt/’ It was the Chinese replica of
the great Indian Rising of 1857. ‘ In 1899 the Boxers, or
“Fists for Justice and Peace,” arose in Shantung. Begun
as an anti-dynastic movement, it was astutely turned into
an anti-foreign attack. Spreading over the north-east, it
was taken up by the court party and the dowager; many
foreigners, mostly missionaries, were killed or officially execut¬
ed, thousands of Chinese Christians were murdered, the
foreign legations were destroyed, all save the British Lega¬
tion, which was besieged by the Chinese and relieved by the
allied forces on August 14, 1900.’ 1 The results of this will
be assessed in the next chapter.

The awakening of Japan is unique and unparalleled in

1. Soothill, A History of China, pp. 65-6.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

415

human history. Such all round transformation as we find
in modern Japan has, no doubt, been accomplished by many
another country, but only after a long process of natural
evolution as in England, or by violent revolution as in
Soviet Russia. In the ancient world, Greece displayed a
sudden and surprising gush of energy, after the overthrow
of Persia, and created a wonderful culture ; but Greece could
never be united. The feeble imperialism of Athens proved
abortive in the face of the irrepressible centrifugalism of the
Greeks. The Napoleon of Greece (Alexander) was a foreign¬
er, and his work was even less effective than that of the
Little Corsican. But we have in modem Japan, the rare com¬
bination of the creative energy of the ancient Greeks, the
revolutionary fervour of the modem Russian, and the in¬
dustrial and technical efficiency of the English. And all
these characteristics have come to the forefront within less
than a century. Indeed, the menace of Japan to-day far
from blinding us in respect of these qualities, only sets
them off in a lurid light. In the Awakening of the East,
the rise of Japan, though chronologically the last, has been
the most significant and portentous. Since the seeds of
the present are imbedded in the past, we must trace the
history of Japan from where we left it in an earlier chapter.

A recent writer has -divided Japanese history into three
periods: (i) classical Buddhist Japan (1522-1603) ‘sudden¬
ly civilized by China and Korea, refined and softened by
religion, and creating the historic masterpieces of Japanese
literature and art;’ (ii) feudal Japan of the Tokugawa

Shogunate (1603-1868), ‘peaceful -- isolated and self-

contained, seeking no alien territory and no external trade,
content with agriculture and wedded to art and philosophy ;
(iii) modem Japan (since 1853 or 1868), ‘seeking foreign
materials and markets, fighting wars of irrepressible expan-

416

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

sion, imitating the imperialistic ardour and methods of the
West, and threatening both the ascendancy of the white
race and the peace of the world.’ 1 We need refer hoe
principally to the second of these periods. The greatest
figure belonging to the earlier age was Hideyoshi (d. 1598).

Japan had long remained independent and aloof. Neither
Kublai Khan nor Marco Polo could reach her. Hideyoshi,
whose adventure in Korea in 1592 has been alluded to be¬
fore, was the Clive of medieval Japan. Given up by his
family as an intractable child, he grew up to be the most
portentous of the samurai or swordsmen. Though his adven¬
ture in Korea proved abortive, Hideyoshi had the lore,
sight of a Sir Josiah Child (who in 1685 dreamed of ‘the
foundation of a large, well-grounded, sure English domi¬
nion in India for all time to come’) : “ With Korean troops,”
he assured his Emperor, “aided by your illustrious in¬
fluence, I intend to bring the whole of China under my
sway. When that is effected, the three countries (Korea,
China, and Japan) will be one. I shall do it as easily as
a man rolls up a piece of matting and carries it away ntvte r
his arm.”

The next important man to influence the destiny of Japan,
after Hideyoshi, was Iyeyasu (1603-16). He was a.Shogun
or military General, and exercised more power than the
Mikado or Emperor himself. The Shoguns for a long time
were almost invariably members of the Minamoto family;
From the clan to which they belonged, their regime was
called the Tokugmoa Shogunate. According to t a.f<-a /tin
Heam, “ the Tokugawa period was the happiest in the long
life of the nation.” Professor Will Durant writes : “ Iye¬
yasu organised peace as ably and ruthlessly as he had or-
---

1. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, II, p. 829.

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

417

ganized war, and administered Japan so well that it was
content to be ruled by his posterity and his principles for
eight generations” 1 The principles of Iyeyasu were sum¬
med up by himself thus : * Take care of the people. Strive
to be virtuous. Never neglect to protect the country/

Internally Japan suffered from the evils of feudalism, but
externally she appears to have been always united in her
attitude towards foreigners. The patriotism of the Japanese
is unique and ancient; it has been almost their true national
religion. ‘The Great Yamato (i.e. Japan)/ wrote one in
1334, ‘ is a divine country. It is only our land whose founda¬
tions were first laid by the Divine Ancestor. It alone has
been transmitted! by the Sun Goddess to a long line of her
descendants. There is nothing of this kind in foreign coun¬
tries. Therefore it is called the Divine Land/ This has
been the faith of the Japanese people ever since. As a
corollary to it they have ever looked upon all foreigners
with suspicion if not hatred. Particularly has this been their
attitude towards the white races—the Europeans.

The first European of note to enter Japan was St. Francis
Xavier, the great and noble Jesuit missionary who intro¬
duced Christianity in that island in 1549. It is said that
within a generation after his coming there were not less
than seventy Jesuits and 150,000 converts to Christianity
in Japan. But soon the Japanese realised that the advent
of the foreigners was a source of great danger, especially after
a naive European trader told them : ‘ Our Kings begin by
sending, into the countries they wish to conquer, religieux
who induce the people to embrace our religion; and when
they have made considerable progress, troops are sent who
combine with the new Christians ; and then our Kings have

-- ——4 -

1, Ibid., p. 841,

418 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

not much trouble in accomplishing the rest/ The Japanese
took this confession literally and promptly adopted measures
to prevent their land passing into the hands of such dangerous
foreigners.

In 1614 the practice and preaching of Christianity were
forbidden. By determined persecution that religion was
stamped out from Japan by 1638. Since then, until the
re-opening of that country to external intercourse after 1853,
the doors of Japan remained closed to foreigners. During
this period of over two centuries Japan continued to be
steeped in feudal parochialism. She emerged out of this
isolation in 1853-54 when the American adventurer, Com¬
modore Perry, forced his way into Japan against the prohi¬
bition. This resulted in the Treaty of Kanagawa by which
Japanese ports were once again opened to intercourse with
the hated “ barbarians/' In return the United States offer¬
ed to sell to Japan * such arms and battleships as she might
need, and to land officers and craftsmen for the instruction
of this absurdly pacific nation in the arts of war/

The consequence was the great awakening of Japan in
the Meiji Era (1867-1912) under its enlightened Emperor
Meiji Tenno. During this short period Japan transformed
herself from an obscure feudal country into one of the
most modem states. Hundreds of Japanese youths went
to Europe and America and returned home with the zeal of
Peter the Great for Europeanisation. ‘Englishmen were
brought in to superintend the construction of railways, the
erection of telegraphs, and the building of a navy; French¬
men were commissioned to recast the laws and train the
army ; Germans were assigned to the organization of medicine
and public health; Americans were engaged to establish a
system of universal education; and to make matters com¬
plete, Italians were imported to instruct the Japanese in

AWAKENING OF THE EAST

419

sculpture and painting.’ To quote a Japanese writer
(Nitobe) : ‘Schools were opened for the study of foreign
languages; academies shot up, where youths could receive
instruction in military and naval tactics; raw recruits were
drilled ; foundries and smithies sprang into existence, and
belfries were molested to furnish metal for arsenals.’ As
Mr. H. G. Wells has put it: Japan “ made all European
progress seem sluggish and tentative by comparison.” The
result was soon seen in her aggression in Korea and China
referred to already (1894), her alliance with England (1902),
and her epoch-making victory over Russia (1904-5). The
last was the outcome of the Russian occupation of Port
Arthur, from which Japan had been previously ousted. The
4 Battle of the Sea of Japan,* observes Professor Will Durant,
“ was a turning point in modem history. Not only did it end
the expansion of Russia into Chinese territory; it ended
also the rule of Europe in the East, and began that resurrec¬
tion of Asia which promises to be the central political pro¬
cess of our century. All Asia took heart at the sight oi
the little island empire defeating the most populous power
in Europe; China plotted her revolution, and India began
to dream 1 of freedom.” 1

1. Ibid., p. 919.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE WORLD TO-DAY

If the world cannot organise against war,
if war must go on, then the nations can protect
themselves henceforth only by using whatever
destructive agencies they can invent till the re¬
sources and inventions of science end by
destroying humanity they were meant to serve.

—Viscount Grey

This observation was made by Viscount Grey on 15 May
1916 when the World was in the grip of the Great War.
Though more than twenty-two years have passed since then,
the situation in the World to-day has hardly changed for
the better. In the present chapter we shall make an ob¬
jective survey of the facts of recent human history which
have contributed to such a state of affairs. “When war
broke out in 1914,” wrote Mr. Basil Matthews in the Review
of Reviews, May 1920, “ five empires of the despotic mili¬
tary type remained on the earth's surface. They were the
German, the Austrian, the Turkish, the Russian, and the
Japanese. To-day four out of the five are smashed in
irretrievable ruin, Japan alone remains. The old European
order has gone—the one Asiatic Power, rich now beyond
the dream of avarice, with its man-power unimpaired and
its ambitions vaster than those of Alexander, leaps upon
the stage fully equipped. On the face of it, then, the first
and dominant facts of the world situation are in favour

THE .WORLD TO-DAY

421

of the Orient” But since the Orient to-day, as we saw in
the preceding chapter, has been the creation of the Oca-
dent, we have to trace here the entire^lfcgd of World History
in both the hemispheres. ^

Of the five Empires referred to above—Germany, Austria,
Russia, Turkey, and Japan—the most formidable were Ger¬
many in Europe, and Japan in Asia. Though Austria was
the oldest imperial power in Europe, her power had been
successively curtailed since her loss of Silesia. Russia had
steadily grown at her expense. Italy successfully revolted
against her in 1861: Austria retired from Germany*" and
formed the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy^ 1867. She
never recovered from the blow of Sadowa. Ever since then
she has always been tied to the apron-strings of Prussia.
Her Dual Alliance with that country, effected in 1879, was
to culminate in her sacrifices sustained during 1914-18, and
finally in the Nazi coup of 1938. The Russian Empire
crashed in 1917 after having sustained a series of internal
and external shocks. The “ sick man of Europe,” despite
the crutches supplied to him, from time to time by England
and France, had been too frequently amputated to survive
for long. He could live only in his new republican avatar
under the Ata Turk, Kemal Pasha, in the post-war world.
More about Austria, Russia, and Turkey later; first we
must follow the progress of Prussia since 1871.

Despite Bismarck’s great triumphs over Austria and
France, Germany was far from being a “satisfied nation”
She had been the last in the race for colonies, and such
places as she got ‘ in the sun ’ (her African colonies) were
too scorching for her surplus population. Elsewhere she
found herself anticipated by her Anglo-Saxon cousins. Tne
Industrial Revolution created for Prussia all the insistent
demands—for raw-materials and markets—that England had

422 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

felt earlier; but her scope for expansion was circumscribed.
Hence her struggle for existence became increasingly des¬
perate. Hence her philosophers like Nietzsche began to in¬
culcate the doctrine of “ real politik ” ; and the patriotic
aspirations of a united Germany turned from love of coun¬
try to the love of more country. Her new “ kultur ” tried
to find expression in diplomacy and war.

France was not likely to reconcile herself to her loss of
Alsace-Lorraine, the humiliation of Sedan, the German occu¬
pation of Paris, and the terms of the Treaty of Frankfort
(1871). Bismarck knew that France would continue to be
Prussia’s deadliest enemy. So he began to weave a sinister
web of diplomacy, every line of which was calculated to
keep France isolated and weak. ‘ To obviate a rapproche¬
ment between France and Russia—a thing which above all
others he dreaded—he encouraged France to establish a re¬
publican rather than a monarchical form of government.
To alienate France from Italy he supported the French
annexation of Tunis. To embroil France with Britain he
favoured the British occupation of Egypt. To prevent
Austria being drawn into an anti-Prussian fellowship with
France he cultivated her friendship himself, and found means
to bind the Central Empires together in the bonds of a close
alliance. Throughout the whole of the remainder of Bis¬
marck’s career as a statesman (1871-90) France was kept
solitary and impotent.’ 1

Bismarck’s mantle of leadership was soon assumed by
Kaiser Wilhelm II who came to the throne in 1888. “ Im¬
pulsive, imperious, dramatic, a militarist from his cradle,
a statesman trained in 1 the indirect, crooked ways’ of Bis-

.1. Heamshaw, Main Currents of European History (1815-
1915), p. 272.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

423

marck, governed by one passion, the passion to make his
land great and powerful, how can we cast his horoscope ? ”
asks Mr. A. G. Gardiner ; and he answers: “ Here was a new
Napoleon, filled with dreams of glory, armed with the most
gigantic military weapon in history.” His ambition was
ominously announced by him in his first address to his
army : “ I solemnly vow always,” he declared, “ to be mind¬
ful of the fact that the eyes of my ancestors are looking
down upon me from the other world, and that one day
I shall have to render to them an account both of the glory
and the honour of the army.” The Great War of 1914-18
was the fulfilment of this ‘solemn vow/

Bismarck had already in the year of Wilhelm's accession
(1888) increased the German army by 800,000 ‘in shining
armour.' The new Kaiser therefore set himself to the task
of creating a great German navy; for without it his ambi¬
tion of the Teutonic domination of the world (in commerce
and colonisation) could not be achieved. So Heligoland was
purchased from England herself in 1890, to form a splendid
naval base for Germany ; the excellent Kiel Canal was con¬
structed ; and strong naval stations were also built at Bor-
kum, Cuxhaven, and Wilhelmshaven. A series of Naval
Bills were passed to carry out the Kaiser’s naval programme.
In 1900, at the Paris Exhibition, the Germans openly pro¬
claimed to the world in gold letters “ Our future lies on
the water ”

The ‘ peaceful penetration ’ of the world by German mis¬
sionaries and merchants in the meanwhile had proceeded
apace. For instance, while there were not more than 16,000
Germans in all their colonies at the accession of Wilhelm II,
in Brazil alone there were not less than 350,000 Germans
on the eve of the Great War. “ At home science was put
in commission to do its best—or worst... All their know-

424 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

ledge, their thoroughness, their powers of organisation—fox
in this also they have been unsurpassed—were turned to the
production of zeppelins, submarines, krupp guns, mines,
torpedoes, poison-gases, and other devices.” 1 Railways were
constructed with broad sidings for troops and cannons; and
a bargain was struck with Turkey for the extension of the
German railway-system to Bagdad—for penetrating into the
Orient. While all other European Powers looked down upon
the Sultan as “ Abdul the damned,” the Kaiser assiduously
cultivated his friendship. Austria seized Bosnia and Her¬
zegovina in 1908, though it was against the terms of the
Treaty of Berlin (1878) ; and Germany, not merely con¬
nived at it, but prevented Russia from interfering on behalf
of the Slavs, by a timely and successful display of her
‘shining armour.’ She herself twice poked her nose (or
rather Eagle’s beak) into French Morocco, in 1905 and 1911,
to test her own strength and also that of her prospective
enemies. But these adventures only served to bring about
the dreaded coalition of the Triple Entente between England,
France, and Russia, which Bismarck had tried so much to
prevent. The train thus prepared was set ablaze in 1914
when the Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated
by the Serbians in the Bosnian capital Serajevo.

The history of the War may be very briefly told. It
lasted from August 1914 to November 1918. Starting with
Austria’s declaration of war on Serbia for the Serajevo mur¬
ders, it gradually involved all the important Powers of the
World. The tangle of alliances previously described dragged
one country after another into the cock-pit. Germany en¬
tered the lists on account of Austria, and Russia on behalf
of Serbia. The Franco-Russian alliance drew France into

1. Russell, The Tradition of the Roman Empire , p. 237.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

425

the field against the Central Powers (Germany and Austria),
and the German attempt to enter France through Belgium
(violating the treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality as a
mere * scrap of paper’) brought Great Britain and her Em¬
pire into the fray. Bulgaria and Turkey were soon en¬
tangled with Germany and Austria, while Italy, Greece, and
the Arabs joined the Allies (England and France) (me after
another. But the most decisive factor which tilted the balance
and fortunes of war against the Germans and their allies
was the entry of the United States of America in 1917. In
the Far East, Japan threw in her weight on the side of
England as a result of the Anglo-Japanese alliance formed
in 1902.

Though in the course of human history longer wars (like
the Hundred Years’ War) had been fought, this Great War
was unparalleled in its disastrous consequences. Not merely
was it the first war in which the whole World was directly
or indirectly involved, but it was also unique in its concen¬
tration of energies for the destruction of men and materials.
It was the first war in human history to be fought in three
dimensions, on account of the addition of the aerial arm
and the submarine Science revealed for the first time its
baleful potentialities. During those four years of arma-
geddon Humanity appeared to strain every nerve to see
through the struggle once and for all. The following sketch
of one of its trying moments might convey to the reader a
faint glimpse of its grim character :

“In the low-lying plain of Flanders, where the British held
Ypres salient against many German attempts to drive through
to the channel ports, the warfare was partly amphibious since
the trenches filled with water in the wet winter weather. At
times, by day, there was hardly a sign of life above the ground,
behind the barbed wire which protected the two lines of hostile
trenches, with a No Man’s Land of varying width between. Even

426

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

the many rats kept their holes. At night, however, these muddy
trenches became alive with armed figures in steel helmets, with
gas-masks and mud-coloured uniforms. Back from the front line
stretched the communication trenches, the support lines, the bat¬
teries of artillery, the miles of horse lines, the dressing stations
for the wounded, the ‘ dumps ’ of ammunition and supplies of
every kind, the aerodromes, the camps of relieving or attacking
troops. This for most men of the Western Front, was ‘the
war', which stretched on interminably for weeks, months, and
years, broken by raids and attacks from either side, but unchanged
in essence until shortly it came to an end. It was truly described
as ‘ a war of attrition .’ 1,1

The civil populations of the belligerent countries played .
as important and strenuous a part in this war as the com¬
batants themselves. Their mobilisation was as vast and in¬
tensive as that of the soldiers recruited into the army. As
Mr. H. G. Wells has said : “ The armies were millions strong,
and behind them entire populations were organised for the
supply of food and munitions to the front. There was a
cessation of nearly every sort of productive activity except
such as contributed to military operations. All the able-
bodied manhood of Europe (as also of other countries in¬
volved) was drawn into the armies or navies or into the
improvised factories that served them. There was an enor¬
mous replacement of men by women in industry. Proba¬
bly more than half the people in the belligerent countries
of Europe changed their employment altogether during this
stupendous struggle. They were socially uprooted and trans¬
planted. Education and normal scientific work was restrict¬
ed or diverted to immediate military ends, and the dis¬
tribution of news was crippled and corrupted by military
control and ‘ propaganda ’ activities.” The physical, men¬
tal, moral, and economic strain of this Great War was, in-

1. Flenley and Weech, World History , p. 689.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

427

deed, enormous beyond calculation. After twenty years now
the World has not yet fully recovered from its effects.
Germany and Russia suffered most, and in both the coun¬
tries there were revolutions—first in Russia, then in Ger¬
many. These will be dealt with later.

The War was officially brought to a close on 11 Novem¬
ber 1918 by the proclamation of Armistice. Its technical
sequel was the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919,
in the Hall of Mirrors—just where the Germans had cele¬
brated their triumph in 1871. The innocent Mirrors of
Versailles therefore now reflected the inverted image of the
Europe of 1871. Versailles was the reverse of which Frank¬
fort was the obverse. But the French revanche was even
more terrible and exacting than the Teutonic triumph of the
previous century. France had been crippled by Bismarck
but not paralysed. The Allies in 1919 sought to lay Ger¬
many under such a heavy load of “reparations” that she
should never recover from its agonies. Besides territorial
losses, they were asked to pay the modest indemnity of
£8,000,000,000 as compensation for damage done, including
pensions for the crippled and maintenance for the bereaved !
“The atmosphere of hate was terrible,” declared an eye¬
witness at the Peace Conference : “ A great moment , but I
fear a peace without victory , just as we had a victory with¬
out peace” 1

Over a thousand delegates, representing more than thirty
countries, attended ‘ this greatest conference in history; only
the Germans, Austrians, Bulgars, and Turks were excluded.
The terms were 4 discussed ’ with them through circulation
of papers, and their plenipotentiaries were called in only to

1. Grant and Temperley, Europe in the XIX & XX Centuries ,
pp. 549-50.

428 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

sign the fait accompli. The deliberations were throughout
dominated by the Big Four : Clemenceau ‘the tiger’ of
France, Lloyd George ‘the Shylock ’ of England, Wilson ‘the
Moses’ of America, and Orlando ‘the obscure’ of Italy.
T Hia was ‘ represented ’ by H. H. the Maharaja of Bikaner
‘ looking magnificent in a pale khaki turban.’ What they
arr nmplishftd was little better than the achievements of the
equally historic (or equally mischievous) Congress of Vienna
(1815). They re-drew the map of the world and unsettled
its peace. “ We are beginning to realise ”, says Mr. Wells,

“ that that conflict, terrible and enormous as it was, ended
nothing, began nothing, and settled nothing. It killed
millions of people; it wasted and impoverished the world...
The Great War lifted the threat of German imperialism from
Europe, and shattered the imperialism of Russia. It clear¬
ed away a number of monarchies. But a multitude of flags
still waves in Europe, the frontiers still exasperate, great
armies accumulate fresh stores of equipment.” 1

The work of Versailles was a mixture of realism and
id eali sm . The former was represented by Clemenceau and
Lloyd George, and the latter by President Wilson of America.
The redrawing of the map of the world and reparations were
due to the former, and the constitution of a League of
Nations was the achievement of the latter. To under¬
stand the World To-day it is necessary to say something
about both.

The redistribution of territories was partly determined by
the promises held out by England and France to their
allies, and partly by the principle of nationality. First came
the share of the major Powers. England and France shared
between than the German colonies in Africa though only as

1. A Short History of the World, p. 244.

THE WORLD TO-DAY

429

‘ mandatories \ France also received Alsace-Lorraine. The
Saar valley was to be administered under a 4 mandate’ of
the League of Nations; it reverted to Germany by a ple¬
biscite of its people in 1935. On the East, Poland (which
had been partitioned between Prussia, Russia, and Austria
during the eighteenth century) was reconstituted as an in¬
dependent state; and a Polish Corridor was created up to
Danzig on the Baltic, which port was handed over to the
League of Nations. Another new state was created in Bohe¬
mia, re-christened Czecko-Slovakia, under its famous leader
Mazaryk as first President. Austria and Hungary, consi¬
derably reduced in size, became two independent republics;
parts of their territories being shared by Italy in the South
and the new Balkan States in the East. Serbia and Mon¬
tenegro combined to form Jugoslavia, and Roumania was
enlarged with the addition of Transylvania. Bulgaria lost
her hold on the Aegean and became one of the smallest ot
Balkan States. By agreement between Russia and Ger¬
many, Finland, Esthonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—in the Bal¬
tic region—were also constituted independent states. Turkey
lost much of her remaining territories in Europe as well as
Asia, and the Aegean islands. Though Constantinople was
left to her, the Straits were demilitarised and interna¬
tionalised. 4 A dozen independent nations now stretched from
the eastern Baltic to the Aegean, a veritable mosaic of
states from the empires of Germany, Russia, Austria, and
Turkey.’

The Allies had pompously proclaimed during the War that
they were waging * a war to end war and war to vindi¬
cate the principle of self-determination. The League of
Nations, with its head-quarters at Geneva, was therefore
constituted to maintain these ideals. The principle of nation¬
ality was largely given effect to in the reconstitution of states

430 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in Europe; and where other minorities existed, protection
of such minorities was guaranteed to them under the aegis
of the League. All disputes were to be settled, not by bar¬
barous warfare as heretofore, but by peaceful arbitration.
An International Court had been already set up at the
Hague, as early as 1899 ; it was now rehabilitated as the
Permanent Court of International Justice. Another important
tody that was also created was the International Labour
Organisation (I. L. O.). It has done much useful work to
improve the conditions of labour all over the World. We
cannot dwell at length upon these matters here. Though the
League of Nations has suffered from the defects of its orga¬
nisation, its recent failures in the political field, its non¬
recognition from its very inception by the U. S. A., its
defiance by Germany, Japan, and Italy, in the pursuit of
their selfish national ambitions, etc., it is too premature in
the light of World History to write its epitaph.

Before we conclude this chapter we must, at least briefly,
describe the main trends and new strands in the World since
the War. In their concrete aspects these relate to Russia,
Turkey, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, and India. Other
factors and forces may be only incidentally referred to in
a brief survey like this.

Russia had grown steadily in importance ever since the
time of Peter the Great and Catherine. Alexander I had
played a very prominent role, in the post-Napoleonic epoch,
and with all his faults had been the inspirer of the Holy
Alliance to uphold ‘Christian principles’ in the political
relations of European states. He was thus the fore-runner
of the Concert of Europe and the League of Nations. The
Balkan policy of the Czars had created the Eastern Question
which brought Russia into direct political conflict with the
Western Powers. Balked by the Crimean War and the

THE WORLD TO-DAY

431

Treaty of Berlin they had turned to 4 fresh fields and pas¬
tures new across the tundras of Siberia, in the Far East.
There too they came into conflict, as we have seen, with
‘ the England of the East/ The defeat of the Russian Armada
in the Sea of Japan in 1905 drove the Russian bear growl¬
ing into her own den. This had its own internal repercus
sions in the shape of portentous risings which were to culmi¬
nate in the Red Revolution of 1917-18.

Russia had to pay a very heavy price for her participa¬
tion in the Great War. She had, it will be remembered,
taken up the sword on behalf of Serbia in 1914. In spite
of her earlier victories against Germany and Austria, the
War entailed such sufferings and strain at home that, her
domestic malcontents created a revolution. The history of
the Bourbons now repeated itself with the Romanoffs,
Nicolas II and Alexandra playing the role of Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette. The ‘morning star’ of this Revo¬
lution was Carl Marx, as that of the French Revolution
had been Rousseau ; its Danton was Lenin, its Jacobins
the Bolsheviki. To cut a long story short, on 25 Octo¬
ber 1917 the Socialist Soviet Republic was proclaimed by
the Communists under the leadership of Nicolai Lenin. Petro-
grad has become Leningrad.

With the death of Lenin in 1924 Russian Communism
entered a new phase. A terrible duel ensued between Trotsky
the Jew and Stalin the Georgian for the Dictatorship over
the Proletariat (workers, soldiers, and peasants). After five
years* struggle the Jewish journalist was ousted by Stalin
(‘the man of steel*) in 1929. Trotsky, now an exile from
Russia, stands for a World Revolution; Stalin stands for
the preliminary consolidation of the Revolution within
Russia. While the idealist revolutionary is roaming abroad,
the practical revolutionary is transforming Russia (through

432 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

a series of Five-Year Plans), so as ‘ to catch up and surpass
the capitalist countries’ in industrial progress.

The sudden transformation of an Old World people, a
tr ansf ormation even more radical and surprising than that
of the Japanese, as a result of the new forces released by
the Great War, is best illustrated by the birth of New
Turkey. Like Russia, old Turkey had collapsed during the
War. The price she had to pay for her defeat was the
Treaty of Sevr&s (1920) which threatened to virtually wipe
out ‘ the sick man' ’ with only the ghost of the Sultan kept
alive. The challenge of this disaster was taken up by Mustafa
Kemal Pasha, leader of the Young Turk movement (which
had started before the War), who organised a National Pact
‘ to win or be wiped out ’, and, at the end of one of the
most sanguinar y yet heroic struggles recorded in human
history, created a New Turkey out of the ashes of the old.
The Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923) but gave international
validity to an established fact when it recognised the Tur¬
kish Republic with Kemal Pasha as its President.

Kemal had begun as a rebel on whose head the nominal
Sultan had placed a price; he has lived to become the
Dictator and abolished root and branch the entire old order
represented by the Sultan (who was also the Caliph). The
Caliphate was extinguished in March 1924 by the Turkish
National Assembly, and since then Turkey has completely
cut herself from her Oriental moorings. The substitution of
the hat for the fez, and the Roman script for the Arabic
are but outward marks of an inward change which the Ata
Turk has brought about under his Dictatorship. In short,
Turkey has been converted in the course of a decade, from
being an atrophied Asiatic people, into a progressive and
dynamic modem state.

The next momentous change in the post-War world has

THE WORLD TO-DAY

433

been manifested in the creation of the Fascist Dictatorship
in Italy. The Kemal of this new order has been Benito
Mussolini. It is beyond our scope to attempt anything more
than a bare summary of his work and policy. Exploiting
the acute discontent in Italy after the War, Signor Mussolini
—the son of a blacksmith, who had successively been a
school-master, journalist and socialist—led a successfui
march on Rome, in October 1922, and captured power for
his party which was called the Fascisti . II Duce, as Mus¬
solini is called in Italy, is the head of the Fascist Grand
Council which rules the country in the name of the King,
but really under the command of the Dictator. Mussolini
has revived in his country the ambitions and spirit of ancient
Rome and set the feet of his countrymen on the road to
imperial glory, though in doing so he has upset the peace
of the World. His conquest of Abyssinia (1935) and inter¬
ference in the Civil War being still waged in Spain indicate
the trend of his foreign policy. Internally he has achieved
enough unity, efficiency, and prosperity to hypnotise his
people into acquiescence with both his Dictatorship at home
and his chauvinism abroad.

Germany, the principal author and victim of the Great
War, could not also escape from its worst effects, political
as well as economic. In the welter of reactions that follow¬
ed, the Kaiser fled the country, and Deutschland became a
Republic. A democratic constitution was drawn up at Wei¬
mar in February 1919, and Ebert (a sadler) elected first
President. But the internal collapse of Germany was so
complete that under the external pressure of the ruthless re¬
parations she could not recover stability without a revolu¬
tion. The great economic depression of 1929 found her in
the nadir of her fall. Unemployment rose to fearful pro¬
portions. Out of the several competing solutions to this

434

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

crisis the National-Socialism of Herr Hitler (son of an
Austrian customs-collector) proved the most efficient. The
Nazi party in Germany, drawing its inspiration from the
Fascist party in Italy, launched another Dictatorship in Cen¬
tral Europe (1933) which with its Teutonic thoroughness has
startled the world even more violently than any other coup
in history. In the course of these five years it has wrenched
Germany out of the rut into which the victorious Allies had
cast her at Versailles; it has defiantly rescued the Germans
from the paralysis of enforced disarmament; it has created
enormous employment in industry, agriculture, and arma¬
ments ; it has reoccupied the forbidden districts of the Rhine¬
land, repudiated the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of
Versailles, absorbed Austria into the Reich by a most as¬
tounding stratagem, and threatened other neighbouring
states with German populations, like Czecko-Slovakia, with
a similar fate. Anti-French, anti-Communist, and above all
anti-Semitic, the Nazi Dictator has promulgated the new
doctrine of ‘Nordic superiority 5 which threatens to engulf
Europe—and the rest of the World—in a more cataclysmic
struggle than the Kaiser had found feasible. The tentacles
of the German eagle have already bound Italy and Japan
in the ominous grip of an Anti-Comintern Pact. Berlin,
Rome, and Tokyo, seem at present to enclose within a tri¬
angle the peace of the World. The swastika adopted by the
neo-Aryans of Germany has become a truculent symbol of
war instead of * peace on earth and good-will among men.’

Turkey, Italy, and Germany have not been the only coun¬
tries to pass under Dictatorships in the post-War world.
The economic depression on the one hand, and the fear of
external aggression on the other, and the universal menace
of Communism in particular, have tended to drive country
after country into some form of authoritarian rule, either

THE WORLD TO-DAY

435

peacefully established as in Poland and Czecko-Slovakia, or
violently created as in Greece and Spain. These two last-
named countries are still in the throes of either occasional
eruptions as in Greece, or interminable civil war as in Spain.
The latter country, invaded by General Franco from Mo¬
rocco in 1936, has been the battle ground, ever since, of a
virtual struggle for ascendancy between the forces of Soci¬
alism and Fascism, on account of the patently surreptitious
support given to the two contending parties by their sym¬
pathisers all over Europe. It is only a question of time as
to when this localised conflict will burst through the camou¬
flage into a universal conflagration. The race for armaments
among the Powers is an ominous petrel of the coming storm.
Meanwhile the atmosphere is surcharged with the psycho¬
logy of 4 war and rumours of war/

The vast and rapid changes that were taking place in the
East since about the middle of the last century were also
now bearing fruit. China after the Boxer Revolt (1900),
Japan after the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and India after
the Partition of Bengal (1905), were all different from what
they had been for centuries past. They were undergoing
rapid transformation along Western and Nationalistic lines;
and each in its own way was not merely breaking with its
own past, but also becoming impatient of Western domina¬
tion. It is not surprising that the emulation of the West
has increasingly bred a dislike of European interference ; the
former is itself the cause of the latter. “ There is no more
amazing or portentous phenomenon in modem history,” says
Will Durant, “ than the way in which sleeping Japan, rough¬
ly awakened by the cannon of the West, leaped to the lesson,
bettered the instruction, accepted science, industry and war,
defeated all her competitors either in battle or in trade, and
became, within two generations, the most aggressive nation

436 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

in the contemporary world.” 1 Japan is but the spear-head
of Asia.

When England, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, and the
U. S. A., all combined together to crush the Boxer Revolt in
China, and imposed on her an indemnity of $330,000,000,
and later remitted most of this indemnity on condition that
it shall be spent on educating the youth of China in the
countries that made the generous gesture, they laid the
foundations of Modem China. The Revolution of 1912,
under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, the abdication of the
Celestial Manchu Emperor Pu Yi; and the establishment
of the Chinese Republic were the first fruits of the new
awakening. But the sorrows of China were far from being
ended thereby. Her Tuchuns still continued to divide and dis¬
tract the country. Russian communist propaganda, after
1922, added a fresh principle of discord. The dictatorship
of Chang Kai-shek was the ultimate solution that China in
her distress evolved in order to save herself. For now a
greater danger than that of the European Powers was
looming on her Eastern shore, viz., Japan. Sun Yat-sen
had planned to ally China and Japan in their common re¬
volt against the West; but Japan discovered in China’s
helplessness just the quarry she needed for exploitation under
the spell of her recent developments. During the Great War
she had allied herself with England and pounced upon the
German possessions in China. Then she also pressed upon
China her notorious ‘ Twenty-one Demands ’ which if con¬
ceded would have reduced that country to a Japanese de¬
pendency. The Chinese boycott movement and the protests
of the Western Powers saved the situation for the tim* bang.
At the Washington Conference in 1922 the 'open door’

1. The Story of Civilization, II, p. 913,

THE WORLD TO-DAY

437

policy was reaffirmed. But Japan, smarting under this frus¬
tration and awaiting a better opportunity, invaded Man¬
churia in 1931 in open defiance of the Washington declara¬
tion and the Nine-Power Pact. She wriggled out of the
League of Nations on account of its protest against this
violation, and set up Pu Yi (the Manchu Emperor de¬
throned by the Chinese in 1912) as her puppet * Emperor ’
on the throne of Manchuria, renamed Manchukuo. She
had already taken Korea and called it Chosen . The pre¬
sent Sino-Japanese War (1937—) is a sequel of the above
described trends in the Far East. The Japanese imperialism
of to-day was anticipated in an Imperial announcement
written in the autumn of 1916

“ China is our steed ! ” it ran. “ Far shall we ride upon
her !... So becomes our 50,000,000 race 500,000,000 strong ;
so grow our paltry hundreds of millions of gold into bil¬
lions !...

“ We are now well astride our steed, China ; but the steed
has long run wild and is run down ; it needs grooming, more
grain, more training. Further, our saddle and bridle are
as yet mere make-shifts; would steed and trappings stand
the strain of war ?:....

“ But using China as our steed, should our first goal be
the land ? India ? Or the Pacific, the sea that must be our
very own, even as the Atlantic is now England’s. The land
is tempting and easy, but withal dangerous... It must there¬
fore be the sea.” 1

The awakening in India described in the previous chap¬
ter received a fresh impetus in the course of the present
century on account of several events of world importance.
The first of these was the Japanese victory which synchro-

X. H, G. Franks, The Riddle of the Orient , pp. 31-2.

438

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

msed with the 4 partition' of Bengal. “ The reverberations of
%hat victory,” Lord Curzon himself said, “ have gone like a
thunderclap through the whispering galleries of the East.”
It created a new self-confidence among the politically con¬
scious people all over Asia. Under the circumstances the
partition of Bengal cut like a deep wound which aroused
national feeling from one end of the country to another,,
though it directly touched only the people of Bengal. The
constructive nationalism of the Congress was driven by it
into more radical channels. Though a temporary split oc¬
curred in the ranks of the nationalists on account of this
extremism, from 1907 to 1916, not only were the two sec¬
tions brought together in the Lucknow session of the Con¬
gress, but even the Muslim League which had stood aloof
until then came in to form a new coalition. The inadequacy
of. the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 had given rise to
much discontent. It was not allayed by Their Majesties’
visit to India and the restoration of the integrity of Bengal
(1911). India made whole-hearted sacrifices during the
Great War in men, money, and materials with great expec¬
tations about the future. But the events that followed after
the British triumph deepened India’s distrust in the good
faith of her foreign masters. Even the moderates of earlier
years turned extremists in the post-War period in India.
The new trend was personified in Mahatma Gandhi who
transformed the Indian National Congress from a supplicat¬
ing body into a revolutionary organisation, though the
methods he inculcated were non-violent. The weapon of
‘ passive resistance ’ which he had forged in upholding the
self-respect of the Indian community in South Africa, was
now elaborated into the Non-co-operation movement of 1921,
and ultimately developed into the more active 4 civil dis¬
obedience’ campaign of 1931. The Montague-Chelmsford

THE .WORLD TO-DAY

439

reforms of 1919 only served to whet the national appetite
for a greater advance towards responsible government. The
frustration of these hopes even drove some to agitate for
complete independence instead of mere 4 dominion status.’
' The pace being thus forced by the progressive intensification
of the national demand, India has now reached the threshold
of a Federation of autonomous provinces. This is the scope
of the Reform Act of 1935. The future of India hangs on
the future of Asia and the World. The fate of Humanity
itself is now in the keeping of its statesmen.

“ To-day,” wrote Mr. S. S. McClure in the London Times
on 15 January 1921, ‘‘the white race occupies not early
Europe, but North and South America and Australia, and
rules ninety-seven per cent, of Africa and nearly half of
Asia, and the most important fact to-day is the coming
struggle between the forces of colour and the white race.”
On 26 February of the same year, the Argus of Melbourne
wrote editorially : “ This is the huge question that is really
before the peacemakers. Can they find out some new way
of life between West and East, some way different from the
two-thousand-year-old way of warfare? All other wars—
even the Great War just finished—become parochial squab¬
bles compared with this war. When it comes, if it comes,
it will have all the horrors of modem science in its hands,
and all the weight of the ancient forces of history at its
back. Can it then be avoided ? Can the wise men of America
and Japan, of Britain and the British Empire, of Asia and
Europe, not find some other way out ? ” The answer is yet
to be given.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Know that the science of History is noble in
its conception, abounding in instruction, and
exalted in its aim— Ibn Khaldun

The survey of Human History that we set out to mato> in
this brief volume is now at an end without being complete,
In the Approach we visualised that ‘ There is such a phe¬
nomenon as Progress; call it culture, civilisation, or by any
other name.’ We understood this to mean that ‘there
may be setbacks here and there, or retrogression now and
again, in the long course of human history. But with all
these, Man has evolved out of the brute-creation. He has
risen above the mere animal. He has ever toiled .to mate
his lot better than his inheritance in every age. And what¬
ever may be his ultimate Destiny, an eternal urge keeps
him striving .after Utopias. The Vision beckons and re¬
cedes before our faltering steps. Yet Faith keeps us stead¬
fast on the thorny upward path.’ ‘ This,’ we characterised,
‘ is one of the fundamental human traits which are univer¬
sally true.’

Beginning with the First Steps, some 50,000 years or so
ago, we have come down the millennia, to the World To-day,
Is this long procession of the human race without any mean¬
ing or significance for us? There is at least (me fact in all
this which no one can deny, namely, ‘ While it took millions

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

441

of years for Nature to bring man into existence, the dyna¬
mic intelligence of man (homo sapiens) has transformed
life on earth so tremendously in the course of a few millen¬
nia which constitute the sum of human history.’ Secondly,
we have pointed to the conclusion that ‘ Man has remained
the same through all the varying conditions of life ’; that
“Our knowledge of him in the twentieth century a.d. may
be fuller and more intimate than our knowledge of him in
the twentieth century b.c., but that makes no difference in
his fundamental character.’ For, ‘ He is still the intelligent
and inventive brute that he was 500,000 (or 50-, or 20-, or
2,000) years ago : affectionate at home, jealous of his neigh¬
bour, ferocious in war, and ruthless when his selfish instincts
are roused; but noble and progressive on the whole, with a
marvellous organising capacity, which has made 'him master
on earth over animate and inanimate creation alike’ Finally,
we said, * World History is but a recalling of this wonder¬
ful creature’s doings, his straggles, achievements and failures
in the past, that they might instruct his present, and bear
fruit in his future.’ That is why the Arab historian, Ibn
Khaldun, wrote : ‘ Know that the science of History is noble
in its conception, abounding in instruction, and exalted in
its aim.’

If by * science ’ we mean a systematised body oj knowledge,
we need not quarrel over the description of History as a
science. That History is ‘abounding in instruction’ may
not also be denied ; Carlyle found in it ‘ philosophy taught
through examples.’ Though different readers may find ma¬
terial for different philosophies in human history, the funda¬
mental ‘science of History’ (i.e. an intelligible presentation
of the Past) is ‘ noble in its conception’ and ‘exalted in its
aim ’. Occasionally we might come'across a cynic who opines
that ‘History teaches but one lesson : mm has learnt no

442 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lessons from history ’ (or even that ‘ history has no lessons
to teach’). But, despite such exceptional philosophers, ex¬
perience is a great teacher (may be sometimes an unsuccess¬
ful teacher); and History is a record of the accumulated
experience of our race. Our aim in this little volume has
been only ‘to hold the mirror up to the whole pageant of
man’s life ... in all parts of our planet, in all ages and
climes, to the extent that space will permit.’ Lest the mirror
might get choked with images, we confined our choice in
the foregoing pages to the * significant’ In this concluding
part of our survey we must assess the significance of our
selection,—still hoping that we may have ‘ raised the curtain
on a scene in the drama which I have found extremely
engaging.’ < ; , ; j:

In reviewing human Progress in Antiquity we observed
that ‘ The history of man is an account of ... inventions
pertaining to his material as well as spiritual wants,’ and
also that ‘ The two are inseparable.’ We found the secret
of man’s superiority over all other creatures in his ‘inven¬
tive intelligence’ which has been the cause of all his pro¬
gress. Within the limits of his ‘powers of organisation’
man has shown himself to be ‘the master of his destiny’
and ‘ the potential lord of the earth and nature.’ His civi¬
lisation has comprised the ‘multiplication and refinement
of wants.’ These * wants ’ have been in relation to his body,
mind, ‘heart’ or ‘spirit,’ all of which together constitute
his ‘personality.’ The satisfaction of the needs of human
personality has constituted the primary urge which in the
course of long ages has evolved cultures or civilisation. 1

1 We shall use the term Culture to denote a particular type
like * Greek Culture ’ or ‘ Hindu Culture ’; and the term Civilisa¬
tion to denote the general progress of the Human Race as a whole.

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

443

Two important elements have determined the course of
civilisation : (a) Man; (b) Environment. The variation
in the two factors accounts for the variations in cultures.
The different races of mankind (like Aryan, Semitic, Mon¬
golian, Negro, etc.) have displayed different aptitudes for
culture; consequently, each of them -has evolved a culture
of its own. Thus the Aryan has differed from the Semitic,
and both from the Mongolian; the Negro has been the
loagt progressive. On the other hand, geographical or phy¬
sical environment has equally influenced the course and char¬
acter of people’s progress. This includes the fertility of
soil, the nearness of rivers and the sea, climate, vegetation
and natural resources like minerals, building materials, etc.
Especially in the earlier stages of human civilisation these
were more decisive factors than they are now.

A culture once developed in a particular environment has
undergone considerable modification by contact with other
cultures; such contacts being determined by the means of
communication. The earliest means of communication were
rivers. The sea or ocean which was at first a dividing fac¬
tor l a+<»r became a uniting link between distantly situate!
countries, on account of the progressive improvement of navi¬
gation. Even vast continents in modem times have been
traversed by railways. The latest contrivance for the abridg¬
ment of long distances is the airship. Telegraphs, deep-sea
cables, and the radio, have converted our world into a dose-
knit sphere. This has led to the domination of weaker
cultures by the stronger, as well as resulted in a rapid pro¬
cess of elimination of differences, producing a greater uni¬
formity of dvilisation.

Nations like individuals have their own peculiarities. They
tend to preserve their spedal features, even as individuals
seek to preserve their personalities. But in our inter-depen-

444

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

dent world these inclinations create conflicts, just as the
egoisms of individuals lead to inharmonious relations in
society. Humanity is at present striving to reconcile its
international disharmonies, in the same way as it has inte¬
grated individuals into families, communities, and nations.
In the ealier stages of civilisation individuals or at best
families or clans were left to themselves in securing justice.
This license continued almost down to the dawn of modem
times. Then they were all reduced to subjection to a
common law. Vendetta can no longer settle domestic
or municipal disputes; the days of the Guelphs and Ghibel-
lines, the Montagues and Capulets are gone. Is it similarly
possible to compel and habituate nations to the reign of inter¬
national law instead of national vendetta? Evidently the
human race has not yet been civilised to that height of
regulated conduct. Will it ever be? The answer will de¬
pend on our capacity to assimilate the lessons of universal
history.

A careful survey of human history unravels to our vision
the two vistas of achievements and failures. Deeper analysis
will indicate that man has been able to subdue his environ¬
ment more readily than his own primitive instincts. The
material comforts provided by modem civilisation are evi¬
dence of the former; the crimes of both individuals and
nations are proofs of the latter. It is this contrast between
the outer and inner aspects of our civilisation that has
induced some thinkers to question its benefits and blessings. 1
At times one really feels as if our civilisation is only -the
thin veneer of incorrigible barbarians. Beneath the polish
of even the most advanced peoples in the modem world

1. Edward Carpenter wrote a book on Civilisation : Its Cause
and Cure.

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 445

there is an demental savageness which maniac itself in
epidemic form during periods of war, but is scarcely hid¬
den even in times of peace. This description of the facts
of life need make us neither pessimistic nor optimistic. There
is room in the perspective of World History to be more
sanguine about the future of our race than the face of con¬
temporary experience seems to warrant; but at the
time, the incorrigibility of human nature in certain matters
should put a curb on the boundless optimism of idealist s
To appreciate to which side the balance tilts, it is necessary to
carefully gamer the grain of our grand survey.

If we do not question the scientific condusions of anthro¬
pologists, Man, in the process of evolution, emerged from
ape ancestors. To arrive at this astounding anthropos, in the
biological laboratory of Nature, it took the Creator count¬
less ages of experiment Among His discarded relics are
the “ missing links ” who seem to have been only tentative
products before homo sapiens arrived. Then followed the
pie-historic period of man’s education up to his learning,
or rather discovering, the art of writing by some Montessori
method or a divine Dalton plan. Once language was master¬
ed (both spoken and written), this precocious child of
Nature made rapid progress. Indeed, man’s progress has
been increasingly rapid since then. Even before the Christ¬
ian era, he had achieved the marvels of Egyptology, Assyrio-
logy, and the more recently unravelled mysteries of Indology.
Towards the dose of this long epoch he worked the mirade
of Greek culture, and left to posterity the rich legades
of India, Greece, and Rome, no less than those of Egypt,
Babylonia, and Israel. Without repeating all that we have
set down in greater detail before, we might assess here the
net contributions of these cultures to human civilisation.
We need consider only a few typical or rather fateful dis-

446 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

ooveries which have influenced human destiny for good and
evil.

First among these are the products of the Nile and Tndi 1 <s
valleys. The former created standards of comfort and de¬
cency never before known to pre-historic man; the latter
gave to the world its first lessons in rational town- plannin g
and city-life, on which indeed civilisation is based. Assyria
and Persia set our feet on the dangerous paths of war and
imperialism along lines attempted by none before them
though copied and improved upon by others in late:

The Chinese invented above all else, the mariner’s compass,
gun-powder, and the printing-press; the first brought the
European into their country, the second enabled manlm^
to destroy itself, and the third made a world-renaissance
possible. Finally, in the world of antiquity, India revealed
her genius for metaphysics and religions, thereby enabling
a Schopenhauer to die in peace and her own children to
remain under foreign yoke retaining for themselves the proud
privilege of having produced the first Prince of Peace for
the edification of the pugnacious Mongolian race. Greece
and Rome, though chronologically belonging to the ancient
world, logically belong to our own. The only other people
of antiquity that we need comment upon here, are the Israe¬
lites, who,—while Egypt worshipped her multitude of quaint
gods, India rejected her Buddha in preference for her own
metaphysics and religions, China accepted the exiled ethic
of India to add to her own Confucianism* and Iran was
engrossed in the eternal duel between Ahura and Ahriman,
—replaced the confused vacancy of the Western mind with
the coherent theology of a humanised and unified god. Such
was the World into which Greece and Rome stepped.

It is not easy to summarise the Greek contributions to
human civilisation, for the ancient Greeks were the most

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

447

versatile people of antiquity. Their literature, art, and
philosophy are still alive and active. “ In spite of many
differences,” as Livingstone has said, “ no age has had closer
affinities with Ancient Greece than our own; none has based
its deeper life so largely on ideals which the Greeks brought
into the world.” We need not search for any specific facts
out of the Greek creations to illustrate this; we have rather to
appreciate Matthew Arnold’s observations about Sophocles :
The Greeks were a people who ‘ saw life steadily and saw
it wholetheir ‘ even balanced Soul, business could not make
dull nor passion wild.’ A deep earnestness leading to scien¬
tific experimentalism was their greatest gift to posterity.
As we have said before, “ They had a passion for perfection.
Truth, Beauty, Goodness were for them synonymous. They
tried to realise these in the individual, as well as in Society.
The harmonious cultivation of body, mind and soul was
tv»eir ideal. For this they held their athletic competitions;
for this they made endless experiments in political organisa¬
tion ; and for this they built up their Academy and Lyceum.’
What has been said about their art is equally true about
their outlook on life as a whole: “ The idealism of the

Greek artist consisted in getting the very best he could from
nature and putting it together in the most beautiful way.”

The Romans were differently constituted. “ While it was
the Greek genius which, in its latter days, rose to conceptions
of the unity of humanity,” writes Professor E. Barker, “ it
was the Roman genius which translated those conceptions
into an organised system of life.” The Roman had a
passion and gift for organisation As Virgil sang:

Thou, Roman, shalt remember how to rule,

Lay down the laws of Peace, and teach her ways.

Pardon the fallen, overthrow the proud.

This was what the Roman— through Republic and Empire

448

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

—aimed at and achieved. Though his language (Latin)
occupies to this day a classical seat by the side of Greek,
and though the Romance languages (Italian, Portuguese,
Spanish, and French) bear witness to its widespread influence,
the particular legacy of Rome to the modem World was her
“unparalleled system of law and justice.” As Professor
Heamshaw has summarised: ‘ She established a world

peace; she linked her vast dominions together by a network
of splendid roads; she maintained an unparalleled system
of law and justice; die developed an extensive commerce;
she erected in all her provinces magnificent public works;
she preserved the culture of the Hellenic East; she educated
the barbarians of the Celtic West;.... fused barbarians and
Greeks into a single polity ; brought East and West together,
and impressed upon the civilised world a consciousness of
unity which even to the present day has never been wholly
lost’ Rome, in short, tried to do for the Ancient World
what Britain has attempted to do in the modem. The tradi¬
tion of the Roman Empire has been always a living force
in Europe. ‘Alike in literature, in art, in philosophy, and
in religion,’ Asquith has observed, ‘Rome built the bridge
over which many of the best thoughts and finest models
of antiquity found their way into the Medieval and thence
into the Modem World.' The fascist idealism of Mussolinfe
Italy is the latest product of the Roman inspiration.

When the Roman Empire was dduged by the barbarian
hordes, of Attila the Hun and Alaric the Goth, Rome be¬
queathed to Europe Constantinople and Christianity. The
former proved to be the Eastern bulwark of European civi¬
lisation and the latter remained the only civilising force
in the midst of an all-devouring paganism; though ultimate¬
ly, Constantinople succumbed to the Turks and Christian
Europe was Swallowed by the new paganism of modem times,

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 449

The barbarians, while they destroyed much that was unten¬
able in the older civilisation, also invigorated Europe with
fresh blood and ideas. Amidst the ‘ encircling gloom ’ of the
Dark Ages ‘ The City of God ’ not merely endured but also
tamed and humanised the savages. The Moors, Aristotle,
Latin, the See of St. Peter, and the monastic orders, pre¬
vented Europe from lapsing into utter barbarism; while
feudalism, the Knight-errantry of the Crusades, the medieval
gilds, and the widespread trade and intercourse proved the
veritable seeds of Europe’s liberation from the shackles
of the past. Both the spirit of locaTism bred by the manor
and the gild, as well as the universalism of the Church and
commerce, were to yield place to the larger parochialism
of nation-states and the greater unity of our modem inter¬
dependent world. Dynasticism was the parent of the former
and Renaissance the harbinger of the latter. Indeed, as
we remarked before, the Present is the child of die Past
and the parent of the Future.

Dynastic monarchism, the product and preserver of the
Old Order, could not preserve itself from the products of the
New Order. Both the Pope and the Potentates, the erstwhile
rivals for ascendancy in medieval Europe, found new rivals
in the Protestant movements and the rise of the democratic
spirit. There was a dual revolt: one against the autocracy
of the medieval Church, the other against the autocracy of
the equally medieval-minded monarchy. The ferment that
heralded the birth of our new world, however, has remain¬
ed with us as a permanent invigorating (or is it inebriat¬
ing?) plprrwnt. to leaven modem life. Many things have
gone into its brew, out of which we may single out only
a few of the most important ingredients. In brief, the spirit
of ogplrwation and discovery, the spirit of experimentalism
and earnest enquiry, unfettered by tradition or authority,

450

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

outwardly released by the Renaissance, but inwardly due
to the entire complex process of History, has been the out¬
standing characteristic of our Modem Age. This has given
a death-blow to all old-world ideas and institutions, impart¬
ed a rude shock to conservative inclinations, and produced
the go-ahead reek-nothing do-and-dare mentality, which
might have appeared too adventurous even to the ancient
Grades. In this maelstrom of new life much of the old has
been dislodged, if not destroyed; much also has bear recon¬
structed and transformed beyond recognition. Unless we are
able to appreciate this trend as a whole, we shall not be
able to understand the significance of the mere facts and
events of modem history. Church and Monarchy have there¬
fore been but partners in sharing the reactions of this all-
sided change, even as they were partners in the reactionary
tendencies that opposed all change unless it was initiated by
themselves.

First, the Protestant revolt not only released religious
thought from the routine ruts of the Roman Church, but
it also produced the Council of Trent and the Counter-Re¬
formation movement which became a constructive force giv¬
ing to the world the excellent disciplined army of workers
constituting the Society of Jesus. Secondly, the growing
commerce of Europe, its accidental dash with the Turks,
and the consequent diversion of trade-routes, gave the Euro¬
peans a new and vaster world in which to expand. This
in its turn created national rivalries which stimulated, not
merely destructive jealousies and wars, but also creative
and constructive activities. The Industrial Revolution in
England was the product of these forces.

The old inventive instinct or intelligence of man, sharpened
by centuries of experience and stimulated by the urge of a
new life with its insistent needs, produced a harvest of novel

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

451

implements, tools, machinery, sufficient to upset and revolu¬
tionise the entire economy of human civilisation. Some of
these inventions we have already referred to in the course
of our survey; a little more may be said about them here.

Life in the ancient and even medieval times was simpler,
in that its organisation was less intricate than it is now. With
increased complexity has also come better organising ability
which has made man more powerful for construction no less
than destruction. The secret of this power, for good and
evil, is summed up in the magical word ‘Science.’ It is
exercising over modem man the same influence that magic
did over the ancient and medieval. Having its roots deep
down in the Past, Science has come into its very own in
our times.

In studying the significance of this most vital force in the
modem world we must distinguish between Pure science
and Applied science. Reserving the former for later com¬
ment, we shall first deal with the latter; for Pure science
concerns the intellectual few, while Applied science has affect¬
ed the lives of all. Applied science is Science in relation
to practical life. It is the ‘ science of fools ’ or ‘ technology ’
which began with the inventions of the palaeolithic man and.
still continues to transform the earth and human life in a
most wonderful manna:. Its first marvel was revealed in
the mechanic al inventions devised by Heron, the Alexandrian
mathematician of the first century A.D., and its potentialities
d isclose by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci in the fifteenth
century a.d. The versatility of Leonardo has been referred
to before. ‘Architect, sculptor, painter and engineer,’ as
Mr. Marvin has said, ‘ no one exhibits more dearly in his
own person die intimate connexion between actual construct¬
ive work and the imaginative use of the mind. He devised
Viimepif some good dozen of inventions which have since

452

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

become popular and useful—pumps, ship-logs, power-looms
and many others, and, from the flight of birds, designed a
flying machine which in his hands remained a sketch. The
same brain worked, too, in studying the anatomy of animals,
the traces and meaning of fossils, the laws of motion and

their relation to sound and light .The practical work,

on which he chiefly lived, was that needed by the rulers
and people of his day—great hydraulic and irrigation works
in Lombardy, fortifications for Duke Ludovico Sfroza of
Milan ... Besides his engineering achievements in fortifi¬
cation, he is credited with the invention of a submarine boat
and a breech-loading cannon. Such intermixture of construc¬
tive work with the planned destruction of human life has
gone on so far throughout the course of history.’

The above sketch of Leonardo da Vinci correctly depicts
the entire range and character of technology in tire Modem
World. What we witness in the world to-day is but the
logical development of the Italian’s anticipations. To know
more about these developments one has to go to special
histories on the subject, like The Endless Quest by F. W.
Westaway. In addition to the inventions of the Chinese
.(mariner’s compass, gun-powder, paper and the printing-
press), and the textile and locomotive engines, referred to
earlier, we might mention only a few more scientific achieve¬
ments here to illustrate the above remarks. The operation
of all kinds of machinery for all varieties of purposes be¬
came easy on account of the discovery, first of steam-power,
and then of electricity. The American Franklin, the Italian
Volta, and the British Faraday, by their investigations re¬
garding electrical phenomena made the telegraph possible
in 1835. The first under-sea cable was laid between England
arid France in 1851. The discovery of the ‘ Hertzian Waves,’
or electric vibrations in ether, introduced the wireless with

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

453

which we are now familiar. Now the world is looking
forward to becoming as familiar with ‘ television.’ The dis¬
covery of the X-ray, by the German Rontgen in 1895, has
o pahlpfl surgeons to see through a living body and observe its
inner most operations, while the use of anaesthetics (e.g. chlo¬
roform) has revolutionised surgical practice. These striking
discoveries of modem science, taken almost at random, should
cuffira to focus the reader’s attention upon this phase of
recent human history which has revolutionised our lives to
an extent and in a manner never dreamed of before by man
in the long ages of his evolution.

Rather than attempt even a bare summary of the
vast and varied achievements of Science, it will be
more worthwhile to gauge their significance in human history.
Theoretically, man, in the beginning of his career was faced
with the double problem of understanding himself and his
vast and overwhelming environment; in practice, he had to
maatpr his own personality within and subdue the forces
of Nature without. The history of Philosophy is one long
record of persistent human striving to apprehend Reality or
the mining of life and existence; while the history of Science
is one long record of man’s continued effort to gain control
over the same. In the Modem Age both our knowledge
regarding ourselves (physically, mentally, spiritually), and
our knowledge regarding the Universe in which we five, is
the richest ever attained by men. Likewise, our command
of all the rich resources of our material existence is the com¬
pletes! ever exercised by homo sapiens on earth. The world
in which we live, with all its comforts, complexities, and
problems, is the map or index of our accumulated heritage.
It is obvious that the future of our race will depend upon
what use we make of this inheritance. The problem of
problems to-day is to master the technological forces created

454

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

by Science, and h arness them to the service, instead of the
destruction, of Humanity. “ A new gigantic material frame¬
work for human affairs,” as Mr. H. G. Wells has observed,
“has come into existence. Clearly it demands great re¬
adjustments of our social, economical, and political methods.”

In comparing Europe and Asia, with regard to their res¬
pective contributions to world civilisation, we had emphasised
that, although we are accustomed to draw a contrast bet¬
ween them, * Man, the universally progressive creature, is the
one subject of World History .” There is no East and West
here, ‘ nor border nor breed.’ ‘ Europe may be his workshop
and Asia his dormitory for the time-being; but time was
when the reverse was the case. The Sun may shine on only
one side of the globe at a time; but no part of the earth
is left in darkness for ever.’ Hence, in our rapid survey,
we have not thought in terms of continents or countries
merely, but more in terms of Humanity as a whole. In
the words of Lord Acton (quoted earlier). Universal History
is ‘ distinct from the combined history of all countries, which
is not a rope of sand, but a continuous development, and
is not a burden on the memory, but an illumination of soul.
It moves in a succession to which the nations are subsidiary.’
Their story has been, therefore, told here ‘ not for their own
sake, but in reference and subordination to a higher series,
according to the time and the degree in which they have con¬
tributed to the common fortunes of mankind.’

The bifurcation of the World into Europe and Asia is as
untenable as the old assignment of its two hemispheres bet¬
ween Spain and Portugal by Pope Alexander VI. This
Kiplingian dichotomy of

East is East and West is West

And ne’er the twain shall meet

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

455

ought to give place to the truth that

East plus West

Is much the Best.

In spite of all its apparent conflicts and divisions this is
the New Vision of Man that is striving for realisation in the
World to-day. The First Steps in civilisation talrm by
Africa and Asia led on to the marvellous creative activity
of Europe. But now it appears that the Oriental ‘ Conquest
of Civilisation’ has culminated in the Occidental ‘Ordeal
of Civilisation '—to use the phraseology of Breasted and
Robinson. However, there could be little doubt that the
World to be must be the creation of a united effort of
Humanity as a whole; for Integration—not dis-integration
—has been the dominant tendency of Universal History.
From Palaeolithic man to our times the World has become
increasingly inter-dependent: waves might break and rivers
may run dry, but the ocean cannot be split into puddles.

What the ancients perhaps dimly perceived is now being
laboriously but accurately verified. Herein lies the signi¬
ficance of Pure science which is hardly to be distinguished
from Philosophy. In essence, the problem of both is identi¬
cal : it is Man’s attempt to understand Life, to master all
its complexities, and to attain the Platonic ideal of Truth,
Beauty, Goodness. The East, particularly India, sought to re¬
alise these primarily through intuition, meditation, and the
mystic ways of religion. The West, following the pragmatic
path of Science, aimed at the same ideal and came by its
materialistic civilisation. At the present moment the subjec¬
tive Idealism of Asia and the objective Realism of Europe,
meeting in apparent conflict, are engaged in producing the
synthesis of a new Universalism.

Viewed in the perspective of Man’s history from the very

456 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

beginning, this is the reality behind our contemporary strug¬
gles. Being engrossed each in his own part of the problem
we seem to have lost sight of the whole. Lite individual
soldiers in a campaign we are obsessed with our own im¬
mediate and fragmentary pre-occupations. Fighting for a
ditch here or a fence there appears to us the only purpose
of our existence; and it is not wrong that it should be so.
But the campai gn is that of Humanity; our objectives are
Truth, Beauty, Goodness. In the long course of our history
we have not lost sight of air Goal, except partially and
occasionally. We are not to be contort with the mere in¬
tellectual appreciation of this tripple ideal, but we must
translate it into the facts of life for all mankind. In the
past ages Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, have been the dream
of the many, but the possession of only a few—individuals
or small groups. The aim of the Modem World is to make
them universal.

Science has established to-day the unity of our existence
—e.g., Newton by his discovery of the universality of gravi¬
tation, Darwin by -his theory of evolution, Einstein by his
mntemplatian of a spare-time continuum, other scientists
by their observation of radio-activity suggesting that matter
is dectridty. This is a more definite and demonstrable
apprehension of the Truth vaguely and intuitively visualised
by the World’s earliest monists (like our own Vedantists).
The latent Beauty of our Universe was first dimly perceived
by primitive man. It aroused in him his aesthetic instinct and a
craving for artistic expression and satisfaction. The history of
art and literature on the one hand, and, on the other, the
larger attempts made in modem society to impart a touch
of beauty to everything concerning human life as a whole
—not only for the elite—are the ideals of Beauty. While
the history of “ humanity ”—at first the fruit of individual

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

457

virtue, but increasingly being collectively organised for 'the
greatest good of the greatest number ’—comprises mankind’s
realisation of Goodness. This is the meaning of the entire
process of Human History in all its phases—intellectual,
social, moral, political, aesthetic and economical For this is
the Science of History regarded 'noble in its conception,
abounding in instruction, and exalted in its aim.’

EPILOGUE

Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,

Stains the white radiance of Eternity. —Shelley

We may not conclude this Brief Survey of Human History
without pointing out its limitations. We had started on this
great task with the ambition ‘ to hold the mirror up to the
whole pageant of man’s life, and not merely to chronicle his
political career.’ We had said that ‘Political history may
form the basis, or rather supply the bony skeleton of our
treatment, but it must be clothed with the flesh and blood
of all-sided human activity, and animated by the indefati¬
gable aspirations of man.’ If the accomplishment has been
less than this aspiration, the Reader will not also forget that
Life is larger, deeper, greater, than even the most voluminous
History can envisage. Hence we had necessarily, inevitably,
to confine our attention to what appeared to be the most
‘ significant ’—though the choice of the significant must vary
with the point-of-view of each writer of History. As Macau¬
lay said: ‘ History has its foreground and its background,
and it is principally in the management of its perspective
that one artist differs from another. Some events must be
represented on a large scale, others diminished; the great
majority will be lost in the dimness of the horizon, and a
general idea of their joint effect must be given by a few light
touches.’ But this is not without advantage. For, as
Lamartine put it, ‘ Providence conceals itself in the details of
human affairs, but becomes unveiled in the generality of

EPILOGUE

459

history.’ We have proceeded on the assumption of Samuel
Butler that‘ Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions
from insufficient premises’: it cannot be otherwise. ‘The
best thing which we derive from history,’ Goethe said, ‘ is the
enthusiasm it raises in us.’ Dr. Johnson found its justifica¬
tion in the argument that: ‘ The present state of things is
the consequence of the past; and it is natural to enquire
as to the sources of the good we enjoy or the evils we suffer.
If we act only for ourselves, to neglect the study of history
is not prudent; if intrusted with the care of others, it is not
just.’ With all our omissions which, though inevitable, have
been many and large, we have written with the motto so well
formulated by Napoleon that ‘An historian ought to be
exact, sincere, and impartial; free from passion, unbiased by
interest, fear, resentment, or affection; and faithful to the
truth, which is the mother of history, the preserver of great
actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the
direction of the future.’

‘ Life,’ as Wordsworth wrote, * is divided into three terms:

i

that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us leam
from the past to profit by the present, and from the present
to live better for the future.’

CHRONOLOGY

AD.

871-901

968

1066—87

1108-37

1154 - 1204

1155 - 89
1180—1223
1199-1216
1226-70
1272 - 1307 .
1295

1301

1327-77

1338-1453

1348

1368-1644

1378-1417

1381

1413-22

1415

1429

1450

1453

1455-85

1461-88

1485-1603

1493 - 1514

1494 - 1559

SECTION FOUR

Alfred the Great.

Hugh Capet.

William the Conqueror.

Louis VI.

Angevins in France.

Henry II (England).

Philippe II (France).

King John of Magna Carta.

(Saint) Louis IX.

Edward I.

Model Parliament.

Philippe IV (France) rejects secular authority of
the Pope.

Edward III.

Hundred Years’ War.

Black Death.

Ming Dynasty.

Babylonish Captivity.

Peasant’s Revolt
Henry V.

Battle of Agincourt.

Joan of Arc takes Orleans.

The English expelled from Normandy.
Constantinople captured by Turks.

Wars of the Roses.

Louis XI.

Tudor Dynasty.

Maximilian I (Emperor).

‘Italian Wars’ of France.

CHRONOLOGY

461

AJ>.

1498—1589

1517

1519-56

1522—1603

1526

1533—84

1534

1549

1557—1707

1579

1588

1592

1598

1598

1598—1610

1603—1616

1603

1603—1868

1605

1613

1614

1618— 48

1619- 37
1620

1622—73

1623

1624—42

House of Valois—Orleans.

Europeans enter China.

Charles V (Emperor).

Buddhist age in Japan.

First battle of Panipat: Babur establishes Mughal
Empire.

William the Silent (Orange).

Henry VIIFs Act of Supremacy.

St. Xavier in Japan.

Akbar to death of Aurangzeb.

Europeans in Canton.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Japanese invade Korea.

Hideyoshi Japanese jingo died.

Edict of Nantes.

Henry IV (France).

Iyeyasu.

Death of Queen Elizabeth.

Tokugawa Shogunate.

Death of Akbar.

Rise of Romanoffs.

Christianity proscribed in Japan.

Thirty years' war.

Emperor Ferdinand II.

May Flower “ Pilgrim Fathers."

Molifcre.

Massacre of Amboyna.

Louis XIII,

Cardinal Richelieu.

1632 Battle of Lutzen.

Gustavus Adolphus defeated Wallenstein.

1637 The English at Canton.

1638 Persecution of Christians in Japan.

1640—88 Frederick the Great Elector.

1643—1715 Louis XIV.

1643— 1661 Cardinal Mazarin.

1644— 1912 Ching or Manchu Dynasty.

1646—80 Shivaji.

1648 Treaty of Westphalia.

462

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

A.D.

1649 Charles I executed.

1649—58 Cromwell.

1654 Treaty of Westminster. (Navigation Acts).

1657—1707 Aurangzeb.

1676—1708 Guru Govind Singh.

1679—1707 Ajit Singh and Durgadas.

1682—1725 Peter the Great.

1685 Sir Josiah Child dreams of British Empire in India.

1688 Glorious Revolution.

1688—1713 Frederick II.

1696 Peter became Czar.

1697 Peace of Ryswick.

1700 Spanish branch of Hapsburg ended.

1700—13 War of Spanish Succession.

1707—12 Bahadur Shah I.

1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

1713—40 Frederick William I.

1715—74 Louis XV.

1740 Death of Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI.

1740—65 Maria Theresa.

1740—86 Frederick the Great.

1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

1751 Clive takes Arcot.

1756 Diplomatic Revolution.

1756—63 Seven years' war.

1757 Battle of Plassey.

1759 Quebec captured by Wolfe.

1760—1820 George III.

1760 Col. Coote’s victory at Wandewash.

1761 Pondidierry taken by the English.

Third Battle of Panipat

1762—96 Catherine II.

1763 Regulating Act.

1764 Battle of Buxar.

1765—90 Joseph II.

1769—79 Captain Cook's discoveries.

1772, 1793, 1795 Partitions of Poland.

1774—1833 Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

1774—92 Louis XVI.

CHRONOLOGY

463

A.D.

1775—83

1789

1792

1793—94

1797—1815

1801—25

1806

1815

1817—98

1818

1821

1822

1824—83
1830, 1848
1832, 1867,
1833

1839—42
1842

1842—1900

1849—73

1853

1854—56

1857

1861

1861—64

1866

1867—1912

1867—1918

1869

1870

1871

1875

1878

1885

Revolt of American Colonies.

French Revolution.

English Embassy at Canton.

Reign of Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte.

Alexander I.

Austrian branch of Hapsburgs ended by Napoleon.
Waterloo. Vienna Congress.

Sir Saiyyad Ahmad.

Maratha’s finally overthrown.

Mexico independent.

Brazil independent.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati.

National and Democratic risings in Europe.

1884 Parliament Reforms.

East India Co’s opium monopoly in China cancelled.
Opium Wars.

Treaty of Nanking.

M. G. Ranade.

Livingstone in Africa.

Commodore Perry’s adventure : Japan reopened for
foreign intercourse.

Crimean War.

Mutiny in India.

United Italy. Civil War in America.

Taiping Revolt.

Peking sacked by Europeans. Austria defeated by
Germany at Sadowa.

Meiji Era in Japan.

Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

Suez Canal constructed by Lesseps.

Murder of missionaries in China: occupation of
Annam and Tongking by the French and Burma
by the British.

Paris occupied by the Germans after French defeat
at Sedan. Treaty of Frankfort
The Third Republic in France.

Treaty of Berlin.

Indian National Congress founded.

464 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

AJ). ■

188$

Accession of Kaiser Wilhelm 11.

1895-97

Swami Vivekananda in the West

1897

Germans occupy Shantung.

1899

The Hague International Court.

1899-1900

Boxer Revolt in China.

1902—22

Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

1904-5

Russo-Japanese War.

1911

George V’s visit to India.

1912

China becomes a Republic. Sun Yat-Sen.

1914-18

The Great War.

1917-18

Russian Revolution.

1919

Treaty of Versailles.

1920

Treaty of Sevres.

1922

Washington Conference. Mussolini’s march on Rome:
Fascist revolution.

1923

Lausanne Conference.

1924

Caliphate abolished by Turkey. Death of Lenin.

1933

Nazi revolution in Germany.

1935

Italian conquest of Abyssinia.

1936

Civil War in Spain.

1937

Sino-Japanese War begun.

1938

German coup in Austria.

Dismemberment of Czecko-Slovakia.

appendix a

COST OF THE GREAT WAR (1914-18)

Men Killed

in Action o\

' by Wounds

Portugal

.=

2,000

Greece

=

7,000

U. S. A.

=

49,000

Bulgaria

=

100,000

Roumania

=

100,000

Belgium

102,000

Serbia & Montenegro=

125,000

Turkey

=5

250,000

Italy

=

462,000

Austria

800,000

Br. Empire

=

900,000

France

=

1,385,000

Germany

’=

1,600,000

Russia

1,700,000

Total

7,582,000

N. B.—This does not indude men otherwise dead or missing.
It is also to be remembered that those who were killed in actum
were the flower of the manhood of the belligerent countries.

466 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY
Direct War Expenditure in Dollars

i

Japan & Greece i= 1,000,000,000

Turkey & Bulgaria = 3,000,000,000

Belgium, Roumania, Portugal & Jugo-Slavia = 5,000,000000

Italy

Rum

Austria-Hungary

U.S.A.

France
Br. Empire
Germany

Total

= 13,000,000,000
|= 18,000,000,000
= 21 , 000 , 000,000
■= 22 , 000 , 000,000
'= 26,000,000,000
'= 38,000,000,000
'= 39,000,000,000

= 186,000,000,000

N. B.—This does not include value of property destroyed;
yet it works out at 2,000 dollars for every mile of the
from the Earth to the Sun! The total cost of all the wars during
a century from 1815-1914 was only about $ 25,000,000,000.

APPENDIX B

Expenditure on Armaments in Dollars

1913 1930

Japan- •= 96,000,000,000 232,000,000,000

Italy = 179,000,000,000 259,000,000,000

France « 349,000,000,000 455,000,000,000

Germany '= 463,000,000,000 170,000,000,000

Gr. Britain •= 375,000,000,000 535,000,000,000

, U. S. S. R. 1= 448,000,000,000 579,000,000,000

U. S. A. = 245,000,000,000 728,000,000,000

N. B.—Enormous as these figures are the expenditure in
recent years has been incredibly increased. The above expendi¬
ture works out per head of the population (1930) at $ 3 in Ger¬
many, 4 in Japan and Russia, 7 in U. S. A., 8 in Italy, 11 in
Gr. Britain, and 13 in France. The percentage of the National
Budget being 5 in Germany, 14 in Gr. Britain, 17 in U. S. A.,
22 in France and 24 in Italy.

In 1934 the total military expenditure of Russia, France,
Britain, Italy, U. S. A., Japan, Roumania, Belgium, Greece, Por¬
tugal, Germany, Austria, and Hungary was £639,030,074. The
highest was Russia, next came France, third Japan, and fourth
Germany.

APPENDIX C

The Fighting Forces of the Powers to-day

Regular

Army

Organised

Reserve

Trained

Manpower

Available
in a Week's
Mobilization

France

=

580,000

5,420,000

6,000,000

1,000,000

Germany

=

700,000

2,000,000

2,700,000

1,250,000

Austria

s=

60,000

190,000

250,000

150,000

Italy

=

450,000

1,000,000

1,450,000

950,000

Russia

=

1,000,000

14,000,000

15,000,000

1,500,000

Gr. Britain

=

100,000

350,000

450,000

200,000

Turkey

=

160,000

540,000

700,000

200,000

Belgium

as

90,000

700,000

790,000

200,000

U.S.A.

as

128,000

291,000

419,000

239,000

Japan

=

250,000

2,000,000

2,250,000

700,000

Air and Naval Forces Toted Personnel

Air

Navy

France

=

40,000

117,933

Germany

.=

100,000

54,700

Italy

=

60,000

103,163

Russia

:=

50,000

23,600

Gr. Britain

.=

70,000

185,586

U. S. A.

i=s

38,000

192,824

Japan

10,000

159,839

APPENDIX D

The League of Nations
(Select Clauses from the Covenant)

The High Contracting Parties,

In order to promote international co-operation and to
achieve international peace and security,
by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war,
by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations
between nations,

by the firm establishment of the understandings of inter¬
national law as the actual rule of conduct among
Governments,

and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous res¬
pect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of
organised peoples with one another,

Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.

Article 1.—Any fully self-governing State, Dominion or
Colony not named in the Annex may become a member
of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-
thirds of the Assembly, provided that it shall give effect¬
ive guarantees of its sincere intentions to observe its
international obligations, and shall accept such regula¬
tions as may be prescribed by the League in regard to
its military, naval and air forces and armaments.

Any Member Of the League may, after two years’ notice
of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League,...

470 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Article 2.—The action of the League under this Covenant
shall be effected through the instrumentality of an
Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secreta¬
riat.

Article 7— The Seat of the League is established at Geneva.

The Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the
League shall be established elsewhere

Article 8.—The members of the League recognise that the
maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national
armaments to the lowest point consistent with national
safety and the enforcement by common action of inter¬
national obligations.

Article 10. —The Members of the League undertake to res¬
pect and preserve as against external aggression the terri¬
torial integrity and existing political independence of
all Members of the League....

Article 11. —Any war or threat of war, whether immediatdy
affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is
hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole League,
and the League shall take any action that may be
deemed wise and effectual...

Article 16. —Should any Member of the League resort to
war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 12, 13,
or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed
an act of war against all other Members of the League,
which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the
severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibi¬
tion of all intercourse between their nationals and the
nationals of the covenant-breaking State, and the pre¬
vention of all financial, commercial or personal inter¬
course between the nationals of the covenant-breaking
State and the nationals of any other State, whether a
Member of the League or not.

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

471

Article 18—Every treaty or international engagpmont en¬
tered into hereafter by any Member of the T^gno s hall
be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall
as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty
or international engagement shall be binding until so
registered.

Article 22.—To those colonies and territories which as a
consequence of the late war have ceased to be nnH<»r the
sovereignty of the States which formerly governed thwn
and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able
to stand by themselves under the strenuous
conditions of the modem world, there should be applied
the principle that the well-being and development of
such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that
securities for the performance of this trust should be
embodied in this Covenant.

The best method of giving practical effect to this principle
is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to
advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their
experience or their geographical position can best undertake
this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that
this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories
on behalf of the League.

Article 23.—Subject to and in accordance with the provi¬
sions of international conventions existing or hereafter
to be agreed upon, the Members of the League:

(a) will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and
humane conditions of labour for men, women, and
children, both in their own countries and in all
countries to which their commercial and industrial
relations extend, and for that purpose will es¬
tablish and maintain the necessary international
organisations;

172

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

( b ) undertake to secure just treatment of the native

inhabitants of territories under their control;

(c) will entrust the League with the general super¬

vision over the execution of agreements with re¬
gard to the traffic in women and children, and the
traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs;

(d) will entrust the League with the general super¬

vision of the trade in arms and ammunition with
countries in which the control of this traffic is
necessary in the common interest;

(e) will make provision to secure and maintain free¬

dom of communications and of transit and equi¬
table treatment for the commerce of all Members
of the League. In this connexion, the special ne¬
cessities of the regions devastated during the war
of 1914—18 shall be borne in mind ;

(/) will endeavour to take steps in matters of inter¬
national concern for the prevention and control
of disease.

N. B.—The first great European to forestall this idea of a
Committee of Nations for securing the Peace of the World .was the
Dutchman Hugo Grotius (1583—1645) whose motto in life was:

‘ I shall never cease to use my utmost endeavours for establishing
peace among Christians; and if I should not succeed it will be
•honourable to die in such an endeavour.’ The great book he wrote
was called De Jure Belli ac Pacts or Concerning the Law of War
and Peace. In it he examined various methods by which interna¬
tional questions might be settled without war, and proposed the
idea of conferences and international arbitration. ‘ But especially
are Christian Kings and States’, he wrote, ‘ bound to try this way
of avoiding war.’ An equally earnest Christian missionary more
recently declared:

The League of Nations is the one great hope of the world
The Peace we must have can come no other way. The present
opportunity is without a parallel in human history. The hour

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

473

is great, even the greatest in the long story of troubled mam.
There is nothing like it in the crowded annals of the mighty
centuries. Lose it, and all is lost. Let it go, and the flood
gates will not be long before they open and the deluge of misery
and death will overwhelm us. Lose it, and the generation that
follows will scorn us for our blindness and cowardice, or want of
zeal and enthusiasm for the welfare of the world. The opportunity
creates a sacred and solemn obligation. Before us is the chance
to save the future ! Woe to us 1—unutterable woe to us if we
let it slip by unused.

INDEX

Abbasid Caliphate, 306.
Abraham, 255.

Abu Bekr, 254.

Abu Mount, 314.

Abyssinia, 398, 399, conquest
of, 433.

Adiaeans 115, ,121.

Achilles, 139.

Acre, 282.

Actium, battle of, 179.

Acton, Lord, 454.

Adams, Prof. 352, 368.

Aden, 256.

Adolphus, Gustavus, 379.
Aeneas, 195.

Aeneid, 184.

Aeschylus, 124, 142, 143, 144.
Afghanistan, 92, 212, 255, 305,
410.

Africa, 116, 162, 229, 253, 308,
318, 321, 398, 399, 405, 428,
438, 439, 455.

Africanus, Sdpio, 168.

Agade, 35.

Agamemnon, 118.

Agincourt, 354, 380.

Agra, 364.

Agricola, 197.

Agrippina, 185.

Ahmedshah Abdali, 372.
Ahriman, 94, 108.

Ahura Mazda, 94, 108.
Aitareya Brahmana, 81.
Aix-la-chapelle, Treaty of,
381.

Ajanta, 220, 241.

Ajit Singh, 376.

Akbar, 28, 101, 363, 376.
Akkad, 39, 40.

Akhnaton, 30, 31, 86, 101,
'104.

Alaric, 227, 297, 448.

Albertus Magnus, 296, 322.
Al-Biruni, 260, 311.

Alexander, 92, 95, 119, 134,
135, 139, 153, 157, 167, 181,
387, 388, 390, 415, 420, 430.

Alexander VI, Pope, 320,
324, 394, 454.

Alexandra, 431.

Alexandria, 135, 138, 157, 193.

Alfred the Great, 350.

Alexander III, Pope, 293.

Algeria, 398.

AJhazen, (Abu Ali-al-Hasan
ibn al-Haytham), 260.

Alighar Muslim University,
408.

Allauddin, 311.

Allia, battle of, 223.

Alsace, 357, 379, 380, 392. '

Alsace-Lorraine, 422, 429.

Altamira, 8.

Amaravati, 241.

Amama, 24, 28, 30, 35, 86,
92.

Amboyna, 395.

Amenhotep IV (Akhnaton)
26, 28.

Amenhotep II, 27.

Amenhotep III, 27.

America, 319, 380, 382, 394,
395, 402, 405, 408, 412, 418,
428, 439.

American Independence, war
of, 400.

America, South, 341, 395, 397.

America, (U.S.A.) 137.

Amerigo, Vespucci, 293, 319.

Ammianus Marcellinus, 227.

Anatolia, 96.

Anesaki, 220.

Angelo Michael, 323, 325, 327.
334.

Angkor Vat, 242, 314.

Angles, 229.

Angola, 398.

Angora,, 307.

476

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Animism, 309. _

Annam, 217, 243, 301, 306,
413.

Anne Boleyn, 339.

Antalcidas, Peace of, 133.
Anti-Comintern Pact, 434.
Antioch, 281.

Antiochus of Syria, 170.
Antoninus, 180.

Antoinette, Marie, 374.
Antonius, 202.

Antony, 178, 179.

Anu, 40.

Aquinas Thomas, 259, 278,

279, 296, 322.

Arabia, 28, 66, 86, 96, 192,
232, 251, 252, 253, 255, 410.
Arabs, 33, 257, 258, 262, 264,

280, 308, 309, 310, 329, 394,
425.

Arcadius, 226, 231.
Archimedes, 154, 156.

Arcot, 382, 406.

Argives, 115.

Argus, of Melbourne, 439.
Ariosto, 324.

Aristides, 128, 129.

Aristogiton, 128.

Aristophanes, 142, 145.
Aristotle, 144, 152, 153, 154,
156, 294, 317, 326, 449.
Arkwright, 401.

Armada, 137, defeat of, 394.
Armageddon, 46.

Armeans, 42.

Armenia, 92, 187.

Arnold Matthew, 144, 447.
Ataxerxes, 133, 134.

Arthur, Port, 419.

Aryabhata, 240.

Aryans, 37, 53, 74, 75, 78, 84,
86, 93, 115, 161.

Aryasamaj, 408.

Aryavarta, 309.

Ashur, 42.

Asia, 33, 66, 67, 68, 84, 99,

109, 116, 119, 192, 195, 251,
253, 300, 306, 307, 308, 318,
380, 394, 398, 399, 405, 408,

410, 421, 429, 438, 439, 454,
455.

Asia Minor, 68, 84, 121, 123.
138, 162, 255, 256, 305, 307,
410.

Asoka, 82, 92, 108, 205, 208,
209, 210, 211, 216, 234, 235.
Pillar at Allahabad, 237.

Asquith, 448.

Assurbanipal, (Sardanapalus),
42, 43.

Assyrians, 27, 28, 36, 41, 42,
46, 48, 50, 54, 86, 92, 95,
107, 108, 187, 350, 446.

Assyria, Empire of, 43.

Asvagosha, 213.

Atahualpa, 320.

Ata Turk, (Kemal Pasha),
421.

Atharva Veda, 76.

Athens, 121, 123, 127, 128, 129,
130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137,
138, 142, 145, 157, 160, 161,
163, 166, 182, 185, 292, 294.

Aton, 23.

Attica, 121.

Attila, 227, 228, 292, 448.

Augustan Printipate, 184.

Augsburg, League of, 360.

Augustine, 279.

Augustulus Romulus, 229.

Augustus, 92, 179, 180, 182, 184,
193, 197, 222, 231.

Aurangzeb, 362, 363, 376, 377,
309.

Aurelian, 226.

Aurelius, Marcus, 171, 179, 180,
187, 188, 193, 195, 198, 225.

Australia, 402, 403, 439.

Austria, 264, 308, 350, 360, 361,
362, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382
383, 384, 387, 388, 389, 390,
391, 392, 421, 424, 425, 429,
431, 434.

Archduke of, 424.

Avanti, 75.

Avars, 238, 265.

Averroes, (Abu’l-Wahid ibn
Rushd), 259.

INDEX

477

Avesta, 75, 99.

Avicenna, (Abu ‘Ali-al-Husayn
ibn Sina), 259.

Ayodhya, 75.

Azag Bau, 35.

Babur, 308, 362.

Babylon, 28, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40,
42, 43, 44, 46, 50, 51, 55,
56, 62, 84, 88, 91, 116, 350.
Hanging Gardens of, 44.
Babylonia, 5, 42, 54, 92, 95,
445.

Babylonian code, 47, 105.
Babylonians, 104.

Bacon, Francis, 324, 326, 355.
Bacon, Roger, 261, 278, 279,
296, 322, 323.

Bactria, 92, 212.

Badami, 241.

Badr, battle of, 253.

Bagdad, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258,
306, 424.

Caliph of, 310.

Caliphate of, 257.

Bahadur Shah I, 362, 376.
Bailey, Cyril, 196.

Balban, 311.

Balboa, 319.

Bali, 242.

Balisarius, 232.

Balkan Peninsula, 307, 308.
Balkan States, 392.

Baluchistan, 92.

Banerji, R. D. 54.

Barker, Prof. E. 447.
Bartholomew’s Day,

Massacre of, 357.

Bastille, Fall of, 371, 408.
Bathydes, 141.

Bavaria, 384.

Beckel, Thomas, 351.

Behistun, inscriptions of, 95,
311.

Bel, 40.

Bdgium, 362, 389, 390, 398,
425.

Belgola, Sravana, 208.

Belloc, Hilaire, 369.

Belur, 241, 314.

Benares, 83, 239.

Benedictines, 277, 278.

Bengal, 402, 408, 435, 438.
Bergen, 292.

Berlin, 434,

Decrees, 383, 400.

Treaty of, 392, 424.

Bernard of Clairvaux St., 403.
Berosus, 34.

Bethlehem, 184.

Bhagavad Gita, 239.

Bidastu, 221.

Bikaner, Maharaja of, 428.

Bill of Rights, 370.

Bindusara, 208.

Birkenhead, Lord, 275.
Bismarck, 391, 392, 398, 421,
422, 423, 424, 427.

Blenheim, 380.

Blomfield, Sir Reginald, 158.
Boccacdo, 293, 299, 322.
Bodhidharma, 218, 242, 302.
Bohemia, 378, 391.

Boileau, 359.

Bolivar, Simon, 397.

Bolivia, ,397.

Bologna, University of, 296.
Bombay, 407.

Boniface, 277, Pope 331.
Borkum, 423.

Borneo, 242.

Borobudur, 242, 314.

Borsippa, 48.

Bosnia, 424.

Boxer Revolt, 414, 435.
Brahmanism, 80, 104, 236, 309.
Brahmo Samaj, 408,

Bramante, 334.

Brandenburg, Duke of, 384.
Brazil, 320, 395.

Breasted, J. H., 15, 24, 26, 30,
33, 127, 165, 170.

Brindavan, 310.

Bruniquel, 8.

Brutus, 179.

Buddha, 70, 78, 81, 82, 94, 103,
104, 108, 214, 278, 309.

478

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Buddhism, 80, 205, 211, 213,
214, 215, 218, 220, 221, 234,
236, 241.

Bulgaria, 425, 329.

Bunyan, 297.

Burges, 292.

Burgundians, 227, 232.

Burke, Edmund, 370, 407.
Burma, 82, 205, 211, 306, 313,
410, 413.

Bury, Prof. 124, 147,

Butler, Samuel, 459.

Buxar, 377, 406.

Byblos, 96.

Byron, 292, 390.

Byzantium, 180, 226, 232.

Caesar, 157, 176, 177, 178, 198,
277.

Caesar Borgia, 324.

Ceasar Julius, 169, 171, 196,

202 .

Ceasar, Octavian, 162, 179,

OOO OOA

Cairo,’ 19, 30, 253, 258.

Calais, 355.

Calcutta, 407.

Calicut, 319.

Caligula, 185.

Caliphate, 432.

Caliphs, 253.

Callimachus, 157.

Calonne, 373.

Calvin, 337, 338.

Calvinism, 357.

Cambodia, 242, 244, 313.
Cambridge, 296.

Cambyses, 91, 92, 123,
Camillus, 223.

Canaanites, 87.

Canada, 382, 396.

Cannae, battle of, 168.

Canton, 303, 411, 412.

Cape Colony, 399.

Cape of Good Hope, 319, 399.
Cape-to-Cairo Railway, 399.

Cappadocia, 75, 92.

Caracalla, 188.

edict of, 226.

Carchemish, ruins of, 86.
Carinthia, 362.

Carlyle, 297, 369, 441.
Camorvon, Lord, 19.

Carra de Vaux, Baron, 262.
Carter Dr. 19.

Carthage, 135, 167, 168, 169,

170, 192, 292, 356.
Carthaginians, 233.

Cartwright, 401.

Cassius, 179.

Catherine, 339, 388, 430.
Catherine II, 387.

Catholic Emancipation Act, 404.
Cato, 161, 191, 194.

Catullus, 195.

Caucasus, 66, 92.

Caviglia, Captain, 16.

Varrous, 391.

Caxton, 323.

Central Asia, 256.

Central Europe, 307.

Central India, 314.

Cervantes, 324, 325.

Ceylon, 82, 193, 205, 211, 213.
Chalcolithic, 56.

Chaldeans, 44, 49, 88.
Chalukyas, 238.

Champa, conquest of, 243.
Champollion, 18.

Chanakya or Kautilya, 206.
Chandragupta Maurya, 206,
207.

Chandragupta I, 236.

Chang Kaishek, 436.
Charlemagne, (Charles the
Great), 264, 265, 267, 268,
271, 284, 294, 295.
successors of, 349.

Charles Anjou, 272.

Charles I, of England, 368,
369, 372.

Charles II, Emperor, 334, 360,
361, 365.

Charles, Martel, 255, 264, 265,
280.

INDEX

479

Charles II, 370, 396.

Charles VI, 357, 380.

Charles XII, 387.

Chatham, 396.

Chaucer, 299, 322.

Chengiz Khan, 305, 306, 362.
Child, Sir Josiah 416.

Childe, Prof. 55.

China, 68, 69, 72, 73, 82, 83,
84, 103, 104, 106, 108, 205,
210, 214, 217, 218, 219, 220,
221, 227, 242, 300, 301, 302,
304, 305, 306, 314, 341, 350,
405, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413,
414, 415, 419, 435, 436, 437,
446.

Boxer revolt in, 436.

Great Wall of, 106, 108, 307.
Chinese, 318, 323.

Cholas, 313.

Christ, 94, 109, 274, 275.
Christendom, 268, 283.
Christianity, 227, 230, 264,

274, 303, 306, 341, 417.
Christians, 254, 265.

persecution of, 189.

Cicero, 174, 175, 176, 195, 196.
Cilicia, 92, 170.

Cinna, 177.

Cipango (Japan), 319.

Clark, W. E., 239, 240.
Claudius, 185.

Cleisthenes, 128, 129, 163.
Clemenceau, 428.

Cleon, 145.

Cleopatra, 157, 176, 179.
Clermont, Great Council of,
281.

Clive, 382, 406, 416.

Clovis, 274.

Cnossus, 116, 117, 119, 122.
Colombia, 397.

Columbus, 319, 323, 394.
Comitia Centuriata, 164.
Comitia Tributa, 164.
Commodus, 188.

Confucius, 70, 72, 74, 83,
103, 104, 108, 220.

teachings of, 71.

Confucianism, 218.

Congo, 398.

Conrad III, 282.

Constance, 271.

Great Council of, 332.

Constantine, 180, 188, 231.

Constantinople, 171, 180, 231,
232, 251, 255, 264, 282, 293,
307, 322, 392, 429, 448.
capture of, 281, 317, 321,
oZZ.

Continental System, 383, 400.
Cook, captain, 402.
Coomaraswamy, Dr. Ananda K.
241.

Copernicus, 323.

Corcyra, 131.

Cordoba, 253, 258, 317.
Corinth, ,13.

destruction of, 170.

Corneille, 359.

Corsica, 162, 167.

Cortez, 320.

Counter-Reformation, 340.
Crassus, 176.

Creasy, 124.

Crecy, 353, 380.

Crete, 12, 55, 62, 63, 116, 117.
Crimean War, 392, 430.
Croesus, 91, 125, 141.
Cro-Magnon, 9.

Crompton, 401.

Cromwell, 369.

Crusades, 267, 280, 281, 282,
289, 317, 449.

Curzon, Lord, 407, 438.
Cuxhaven, 423.

Cyprian, St., 275.

Cyprus, 170, 282, 308.

Cyrene, 82.

Cyrus, 91, 123, 126, 134.
Czechoslovakia, 429, 434, 435.

Dacia, 187.

Da Gama, Vasco, 318, 394.
Daigo, 221.

Dalmatia, 230.

Dalhousie,’ 406.

480

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Danes, 265, 286.

Dante, 138, 199, 259, 293, 297,
298, 323.

Danton, 431.

Danube, 307.

Danzig, 429.

Dardanelles, 392.

Darius, 91, 92, 93, 106, 123,
124.

Darius III, 134.

Darwin, Charles, 4, 456.
David, 87, 88, 89, 91.

Davis, 73, 375.

Da Vinci, Leonardo, 261, 322,
323, 451, 452.

Dayanand Saraswati, Swami,
408.

Deccan, 236.

Decius, 226.

Deir-el-Bahri, Great Temple of,
26.

Delhi, 203, 311, 312, 364, 377.
Delphi, 131.

Denmark, 378, 387, 391.
Deogiri, 311.

Descartes, 261.

Diaz, Bartholomew, 318.
Diderot, 388.

Diocletian, 179, 180, 182, 188,
226.

Dionysius, 159.

Diophantus, 154.

Diplomatic Revolution, 381.
Doge, 293.

Dokri, 55.

Dominic, 280.

Dominicans, 277, 279.
Domitian, 187, 197.

Dorians, 121.

Dorsey, G. A. 28, 195.

Draco, 126, 127.

Dravidian, 37.

Drinkwater, John, 325.

Dryden, 199.

Dupleix, 382.

Durant, Will, 10, 50, 93, 323,
416, 419, 435.

Durer, Albercht, 327.

Durgadas, 376.

Dur-Sharrukin, (or Sargon-
burg), 42.

Dutch, 377.

Dwara Samudra, Hoysalas of,
314.

East India Company, 402.

404, 407, 408, 412.

Ebert, 433.

Echbatana, 91.

Ecuador, 397.

Edessa, 282.

Edward I, 352.

Edward VI, 339, 355.

Edward III, 353.

Edwards, S. M. 363.

Egypt, 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 21, 33,
34, 36, 42, 46, 50, 53, 54,
55, 59, 62, 64, 67, 82, 84, 92
95, 99, 103, 104, 106, 107,
116, 135 138, 157, 170; 176,
192, 255, 256, 316, 350, 398
445, 446.

British occupation of, 422.
Golden Age, 28.

Sultan of, 307.

Egyptologist, 18.

Egyptology, Columbus of, 18.
Einstein, 456.

Elam, 35, 39, 41, 45.

Elizabeth, 355, 363.

Ellura, Kailas Temple of, 314.
Emmanuel, Victor, of Sardinia,
391.

England, 129, 137, 195, 279,
290, 322, 330, 332, 336, 339,

350, 351, 353, 355, 356, 360,

361, 363, 365, 367, 376, 377,

378, 380, 381, 383, 386, 388,

389, 390, 391, 392, 394, 395,

400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405.

406, 407, 415, 419, 421, 424,

428, 436, 450, 452.

Epictetus, 198.

Epirus, 82.

Erasmus, 278, 332, 333, 339.
Eretria, 123, 399.

INDEX

481

Esthonia, 387, 429.

Etruscans, 165, 166, 167.

Ethiopia, 319.

Eucjid, 154.

Eucleides, 156.

Eucrates, 145.

Euphrates, 27, 33, 36, 37, 53,
171.

Euripides, 124, 142, 144.

Europe, 66, 67, 68, 84, 98, 99,
101, 109, 116, 117, 227, 232,
233, 253, 255, 257, 258, 259,
263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 272,
273, 277, 281, 283, 285,
291, 294, 301, 307, 308, 323,
330, 349, 350, 354, 363, 369,
370, 374, 380, 383, 385, 388,
390, 392, 393, 394, 395, 403,
404, 405, 406, 408, 418, 419,
421, 426, 429, 430, 434, 435,
439, 448, 449, 450, 454, 455.
Concert of, 430.

Medieval, 50.

Reformation in, 329.

Evans, Sir Arthur, 116, 117.

Fabius, 168.

Fa-Hian, 214, 237, 242, 302.
Faraday, 452.

Fascism, 435.

Fascist Italy, Dictatorship in,
433.

Fathpur Sikri, 364.

Ferdinand, 361.

Ferdinand II, Emperor, 379.
Ferdinand VII, 397.

Finland, 429.

Firdausi, 311.

Fisher, Bishop, 339.

Fisher, Prof. 266..

Flenley, Prof. 355.

Florence, 292, 293, 294, 297,
298, 322.

Formosa, 413.

Fra Angelico, 278.

Fiance, 137, 168, 203, 229, 264,
332, 336, 338, 350, 353, 354,
356, 357, 365, 373, 375, 378,

379, 380, 381, 382, 388, 389,
390, 391, 392, 396, 398, 399,
400, 405, 408, 413, 414, 421,
422, 424, 425, 427, 428, 429,
436, 452.

Bank of, 375.

Franks, 264.

Franche, Comte, 360, 380.

Franciscans, 277.

Francis I, 361.

Franco, General, 435.

Frankfort, Diet at, 384,
Treaty of, 422.

Frankish Empire, 264.

Franklin, 452.

Frazer, Prof. 322.

Frederick Barbarosa, 268, 271*
282.

Frederick the Great, 272, 362'
381, 384, 385, 386, 398.

Frederick, the Elector Palatine,
379

Frederick II, 271, 272, 380.

Frederick William, 384, 385.

Freeman, 222.

French Academy, 18. ,

French Revolution, 289, 370,
371, 374, 376, 382, 388, 400,
43*1.

Fukien, 414.

Funan, 243.

Gabriel, Angel, 252.

Galerius, Emperor, 274.

Galileo, 293, 323.

Gandhi, 297.

Gardiner, A. G. 423.

Gardner, Prof. Percy, 138, 142,
158.

Garribaldi, 391.

Gaul, 162.

Geneva, 337, 355, 429, 470.
Genoa, 292, 293.

George, Lloyd, 428.

George III, 370, 382, 411.
German, confederation, North,

dt«.

Germany, 123, 203, 264, 271,
331, 332, 336, 350, 360, 375,

482

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

379, 384, 385, 386, 387, 391,

398, 399, 405, 413, 414, 421,

422, 423, 425, 426, 427, 429,

430, 431, 433, 436.

Ghazni Mahmud of, 260, 310,
314.

Ghibellines, 298.

Gibbon, 192, 202, 222, 254,
255, 263, 28(1.

Gibraltar, 380.

Gilgamesh, Legend of, 47.

Gizeh, pyramids of, 24.

Goethe, 239, 459.

Good Hope, Cape of, 318.

Goths, 226, 227.

Govind Sing, Sikh Guru, 376.

Grachhi, 219.

Granada, Arab Kingdom of,
258, Alhambra in, 261.

Great War, 392, 399, 420, 423,
425, 426, 431, 432, 433, 436,
438, 439.

Greece, 36, 38, 50, 74/ 98, 115,
125, 137, 138, 160, 162, 163,
195, 233, 240, 252, 295, 322,
390, 415, 425, 435, 445, 446,
447.

Greeks, 33, 47, 97, 101, 122,
122, 124, 138, 139, 140, 153,
161, 167, 182, 192, 240, 282,
316, 321, 415.

Greek, War of Independence,
137.

Green, John Richard, 396.

Gregory, VII, Pope, 269, 270,
276, 277, 279.

Grey, Viscount, 420.

Guelphs, 298.

Guinea Coast, 398.

Guises, 338.

Guptas, 214, 236,

Golden age of, 234, 238.

Guttenberg, 323.

Habsburgs, 360, 361, 378, 379,
381.

Hadrian, 180, 187, 225.

Hague, 430.

Halebid, 314.

Hamilcar, Barca, 168.
Hammerton, J. A. 22.
Hammond, Prof. 193, 401.
Hammurabi, 39, 40, 42, 103,
104, 107, 126, Code, 40, 47,
51, 87, 104.

Hampden, 372.

Han dynasty, 218, 301.
Hannibal, 168, 170.

Hanseatic League, of North
Germany, 297.

Hans Holbein, 327.

Harappa, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58,
75, 108, 116.

Hargreave, 401.

Har-Megiddo, battle of, 27.
Harold, 351.

Haroun-al-Raschid, 255.

Harsha, 205, 211, 214, 216,
237, 308.

Hasdrubal, 168.

Hatshepsut, Queen, 16, 26, 27,
35, 87.

Havell, E. B. 236, 257, 308.
Heamshaw, Prof. 31, 44, 69,
95, J24, 320, 335, 448.
Heath, Sir Thomas, 156.
Hebrews 85, 86, 87, 90, 91,
93, 95, 109.

Heliopolis, 16.

Hellas, 93, 135.

Hellespont, 127.

Herbart, 139.

Henry VIII, 339, 352, 354,
361.

Henry V, 270, 354.

Henry I, 275.

Henry IV, 268, 269, 270, 272,
276.

Henry IV, Holy Roman Em¬
peror, 351.

Henry of Navarre, 338, 357.
Henry II, 275, 338, 351, 352.
Henry VI, 354, 368.

Heraclius, 255.

Herculaneum, 186.

Herodotus, 15, 21, 137, 146.
Heron, 157, 451.

Heroze Govina, 424.

INDEX

Hesiod, 142.

Hezekiah, 42, 43.

Hideyoshi, 413, 416.

Hinayana, 213.

Hindu India, 310, 313.
Hinduism, 213, 214, 234, 236,
309, 312.

Hindus, 60, 139, 312.
Hindustan, 234, 235, 307.
Hinks, 34.

Hipparchus, 128.

Hippias, 128.

Hippocrates, 154, 155, 156.
Hiram I, 97.

Hissarlik, Mound, 119.

History, meaning of, 3.

Hitler, Herr, 123, 434.

Hittites, 27, 42, 85, 86, 87,

ys.

Hogarth 42.

Hohenstaufens, 268, 272, 276.
Hohenzollem, 360, 385.
house of, 384.

Holland, 327, 332, 336, 360, 369,
378, 380, 383, 386, 389, 390.
Holstein, 391.

Homer, 115, 116, 118, 120, 130,
139, 142.
poems of, 76.

Hong Kong, 412, 413.
Honorius, 226, 227.

Horace, 184, 195.

Horns, 23.

Hsiao Tsung, 41,1.

Hubert Van Eyek, 327.

Hudson river, 396.

Huen Tsang, 205, 2l3, 214, 215,
216, 217, 237, 242, 302.
Hugh Capet, 355.

Huguenots, 338.

Hulagu, 306,

Hunas, 237.

Hundred Years’ War, 425.
Hungarians, 286.

Hungary, 306, 308, 362, 391,

Huns, 226, 227.

Huss, 332.

Hyksos, 25, 26, 37.

Hyphasis or Beas, 135.

Iberian Peninsula, 255.

Ibn Battuta, 311.

Ibn Khaldun, 441.

Ilbert Bill, 408.

II Duce, 123, 433.

Iliad, 115, 120, 127.

Illyricum, 162.

Iltutmish, 311.

Imad-ud-din Muhammad, (ibn
Kasim), 3,10.

Jndia. 55. 66, 68, 74, 75, 82, 83,
84, 89, 96, 104, 108, 122, 146,
161, 192, 205, 210, 211, 212,
213, 218, 227, 234, 235, 236,
240, 241, 253, 256, 260, 277,
291, 300, 302, 307, 308, 309,
310, 311, 312, 314, 318, 319,
341, 350, 362, 365, 376, 377,
380, 382, 401, 402, 404, 405,
406, 407, 409, 410, 416, 419,
428, 430, 435, 437, 439, 445,

■ 446.

Their Majesties’ visit to, 438.

Indian National Congress, 409,
438.

Indo-Aryans, 84, 115, 122, 161.

Indo-Bactriaiis, 236.

Indo-China, 69, 218, 243, 313.

Indo-Parthians, 236.

Indo-Scythians, 236.

Indus, 53, 92, 446.
civilisation of, 56.
culture, 54.

Industrial Revolution, 9, 402,
404, 406, 42i; 450.

Innocent III, 272, 279, 283.

International Justice,

Permanent Court of, 430.

International Labour Organisa¬
tion, 430.

Ionia, 92.

Iran,-84, 446.

Iranians, 93.

Ireland, 338, 369, 404,

Isabella of Castile, 319.

Isabella of Spain, 361.

Ishtar Gate, 44.

484

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Islam, 232, 252, 255, 303, 308,
309, 310, 398.

Birth of, 316.

Hindu converts to, 312.
rise of, 251.

Islamic Science,

Golden Age of, 259.

Ismael, 255.

Israel, 445.

Israelites, 82, 88, 90, 91, 104.
Italy, 123, 135, 162, 167, 1G3,

171, 195, 203, 224, 229, 230,

232, 268, 292, 322, 327, 332,

336, 360, 366, 375, 379, 390,

391, 398, 399, 422, 425, 428,

429, 430, 433, 434.

Ivan the Terrible, 386.

Iyeyasu; 416, 417.

Jains, 313.

Jainism, 2J4, 309.

James I, 368, 379.

James II, 370.

Japan, 68, 82,137,205,214,217,
219, 220, 221, 306, 405, 409,
410, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417,
418, 419, 420, 421, 425, 430,
434, 435, 436, 437, 439.

Sea of, 431.

Java, 242.

Jayavarma, 243.

Jehangir, 368.

Jemappes, 383.

Jerusalem, 43, 87, 88, 89, 186,
187, 272, 280, 282, 283.
temple of, 229.

Jesuits, 277, 340, 341.

Jesus, 185, 255, 280.
birth of, 184.

Jews, 33, 44, 186, 187, 189, 230,
231, 254.

Jeziya, 254.

Jctm, King, 252, 356, 367.
John, Philippe, 356.

Johnson, Dr. 459.

Joseph II, 362, 388, 397.
Judaea, 185.

Judah, 44.

Juggurtha (King of Numidia),
172.

Jugoslavia, 429.

Justinian, 203, 232.

code of, 202.

Jutes, 229.

Juvenal, 193.

Kabir, 312.

Kadesh, battle of, 86.

Kailas, Temple at Ellura, 24.
Kaiser, 433.

Kalidasa, 239.

Kanagawa, Treaty of, 418.
Kiang Hsi, 411.

Kalingas, annexation of, 208.
Kanishka, 211, 212, 214, 236.
Kanouj, 237, 310, 314.

Pratiharas of, 313.

Kaiivas, 235.

Kappel, 337.

Kara Korum, 306.

Kamak, 31, 35.

, Great Temple of, ,16.
Kashgar, 212.

Kashi, 75.

Kashmir, 314.

Kaundinya, 243.

Kaunitz, Count, 381.

Kautilya, 235.

Kassites, 41, 42.

Keatinge, Prof. 322.

Keats, 139.

Kemal, 421.

Kepler, Johann, 261, 323.
Khaljis, 311.

Khan, Kublai, 304, 305, 306,
314, 409, 416.

Khan, Sir Saiyyad Ahmad, 408.
Khafre, King, 16.

Great Sphinx of, 25.

Khotan, 212.

Khufu (Cheops), 25.

Kiaochow Bay, 414.

Kiel Canal, 423.

Kimberley, diamond mines of,
399.

Kinmei, 221.

Kish, 35, 39.

INDEX

485

Knox, John, 338.

Korea, 68, 217, 218, 219, 221,
4JL0, 413, 415, 416, 419, 437.
Kosala, 82.

Krishna I, Rashtrakuta, 314.
Kshatriyas, 81.

Kumarajiva, 242.

Kumara Vijaya, 302.

Kurdistan, 45.

Kushans, 236.

Kyoto, 221.

Lablache, Vidal, 148,

Laconia, 121.

Lagash, 38, 39.

Lamartine, 458.

Lang, Andrew, 120.

Langdon, 34.

Laotze, 70, 71, 83, 104, 108.
Larkana, 53.

Larsa, 38.

Latvia, 429.

Laussanne, Treaty of, 432.
Laussel, 8.

Layard, 34, 44.

League of Nations, 428, 429,
430, 437.
covenant of, 469.

Lebanon, 95.

Lenin, Nicolai, 337, 431.

Leo I, Pope, 227, 228.

Leo X, 322.

Leo III, Pope, 265.

Leopold, Emperor, 383.

Leopold II, 388.

Lepidus, 178.

Leplay, 148.

Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 399.
Liang, dynasty, 301.

Libya, 399.

Lidnian Law, 165.

Lincoln's Inn Fields, 17.

Lisbon, 319.

Lithuania, 429.

Livingstone, David, 142, 153,
398, 447.

Livonia, 387.

Livy, 184, 195, 197.

Lodi, Ibrahim, 362.

Lollards, 331.

Lombard League, 271.
Lombards, 229, 265.

Lombardy, 452. ■

Lomenie de Brienne, 373.
London, 203, 292, 352.

Lorenzo (Medici), 322.
Lorraine, 357, 392.

Lothaire, 267.

Louis XVIII, 389.

Louis XI, 356.

Louis XV, 371.

Louis XIV,, 356, 359, 360, 361,
362, 363, 371, 375, 379, 380.
Louis IX, 356.

Louis the Pious, 267.

Louis VII, 282.

Louis XVI, 372, 431.

Louis XIII, 357.

Louvre Museum, 107.

Loyola St Ignatius, 340.

Lu (Province of), 72.

Lucretius, 195, 200, 201.
Lucullus, 193.

Ludovico Sfroza of Milan, Duke,
452.

Luther, Martin, 331, 333, 334,
335, 337.

Lutzen, battle of, 379.
Luxemburg, 360, 380.

Luxor and Kamak,
temples of, 107.

Lycurgus, 140, 141.

Lydia, 92.

Macao-, 411.

Macartney, Earl of, 411.
Macaulay, J47, 381, 385, 458.
Macedonia, 82, 124, 133, 137,
162, 192, 226.

Machiavelli, 293, 324.

Mackail, Prof. 196, 199, 200.
Mackay, Dr. Ernest, 54, 57, 61,
62, 64.

Madagascar, 398.

Madjapahit, 313.

Madras, 407.

Madura, Pandyas of, 314.
Maecenas, 184.

486

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Maiuri, Prof. Amedio, 186.
Magadha, 82.

Magellan, 319.

Magna Carta* 330, 352, 367.
Magna Graecia, Greeks of, 166.
Mahabharata, 121, 238, 239.
Mahavir, 81.

Mahayana, 213, 236.

Mahmud, 31J.

Malacca, 313.

Malay, 66.

Malay Archipelago, 313.
Malaysia, 306.

Malory, 299.

Malplaquet, 380.

Manchukuo, 437.

Manchuria, 218, 410, 414, 437.
Mangu, 306.

Manu, 103, 133.

Marduk, 39.

Maria Theresa, 361, 362.
Marathon, 143.

Marathas, 376, 377, 406.

Marco Polo, 304, 305, 306, 317,
409, 410, 416.

Marcus Aurelius, 162, 190.
Marechale, Lady, 364.

Marie Antoinette, 431.

Marius, 173, 176, 177.
Marlborough, Duke of, 380.
Marshall, Sir John, 54, 60, 63, ’
2flL0.

Martin Behaim, 319.

Martin V, Pope, 332.

Martius, Ancus, 163.

Marvin, F. S., 124, 393, 451.
Marx, Carl, 431.

Mathura, 310, 314.

Matthews, Basil, 420.

Maury as, 235.

Maximilian I. Emperor, 360,
361.

May Flower, 396.

Masaryk, 429.

Mazarin, Cardinal, 358.

Mazzini, 391, 407.

MicQure, S. S. 439.

Mecca, 252, 253.

Medes, 44. 46, 85. 86. 91.

Medina, 253.

Mediterranean, 28, 84, 308.
Megasthenes, 206, 207, 215.
Meiji Era, 418.

Meiji Tenno, 418.

Memphis, 24, 31, 35.

Menander, 211, 236.

Menes, 23, 24.

Marodach, 40.

Merovingian, Kings, 265.
Mesopotamia, 11, 33, 34, 37, 39,
42, 53, 55, 59, 62, 63, 67, 95,
103, 120, 187, 307.

Messiah, 25.

Mettemich, 389, 391.

Metz, 379, 380.

Mexico, 320, 395, 397.
Meyerhof, Dr. Max. 259.
Michael Angelo, 293, 298.
Mihira Bhoja, 313.

Milan, 224, 227, 327, 362.
Milton, 138, 201.

Ming dynasty, 341, 410, 411.
Minorca, 380.

Mirabeau, 373.

Mithila, 75.

Mithradates, 175.

Mitanni, 27.

Mohenjodaro, 12, 53, 66, 68,
74, 75, 108, 116.

Moliere, 354.

Moltke, Von, 39,1.

Moluccas, 319.

Mongolia, 305, 410.

Mongols, 257, 300, 303, 305,
306, 307, 314.

Montague, 394, 395.
Montanegro, 429.

Monte Cassino, 278.

Montfort, Simon de, 352.
Montgomery district, 53.
Mookerji, Prof. Radhakumud,
237.

Moors, 286, 294, 216, 449.
Moravia, 362.

More, Sir Thomas, 326, 339.
Morley-Minto Reforms,‘438.
Morocco, 398, 435.

French. 424.

INDEX 487

Moscow, 307, 387.

Grand Dukes of, 386.

Moses, 40, 86, 87, 103, 104,
126.

Moti Masjid, 364.

Mughal Empire, 308, 309, 363,
405, 406.

Muhammadans, 309.
Muhammad, Prophet, 28, 252,
253, 254, 308, 311.

Teachings of, 294.

Muhammad II, 307.

Mummies, 14, 17.

Munroe Doctrine, 397.

Mundo, 232.

Murray, Prof. Gilbert, 122.
Muslims, 265.

Muslim League, 438.

Mussolini, Benito, 433, 448.
Mycale, battle of, 124.

Mycenae, 116, 118, 3JL9, 120,

121 .

Myers, 187.

Mysore, 55, 62, 208, 314.

Nadirshah, 377.

Nagabhata, 313.

Nagaoka, 221.

Nagarjuna, 213, 236.

Nagarkot, 310.

Nagasena, 211.

Nalanda, 214, 239.

Nanak, 312.

Nanking, 411.

Treaty of, 4J2.

Nantes, Edict of, 338, 357, 359.
Naples, 271.

Napoleon, Bonaparte, 18, 134*
135, 361, 372, 374, 379, 383,
388, 389, 390, 400, 406, 459.
Napoleon III, 392.

Nara, 221.

Narses, 232.

Natal, 399.

Nazi Party in Germany, 434.
Nearchus, 206.

Nebuchadrezzar, 44, 88, 125.
Necker, 372.

Nero, Claudius, 168, 185, 187,
190, 193.

Nerva, 187.

Ness Myers, Philip Van, 328.
Netherlands, 375, 360, 365, 366,
383

New York, 16, 396.

New Amsterdam, Dutch, 396.
New England, 396.

New Jersey, 396.

Newton, 456.

Nicolas II, 431.

Nicopolis, 307.

Nieburh, ,160.

Nietzsche, 422.

Nightingale, Florence, 408.

Nile, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24, 54,

446.

Nilgiri Hills, 55.

Nine Power Pact, 437.

Nineveh, 35, 36, 37, 42, 43, 45,
49, 51, 107, 108, 170, 192.
destruction of, 38.

Ningal, 38.

Ningpo, 411.

Nippur, 38.

Nirvana, 214.

Nitobe, 419.

Normandy, 351, 354.

Normans, 286, 290.

Norway, 389.

Novgorad, 292.

Numa, 162.

Nuremberg, 322.

Obelisks, 16.

Octavian, 129, 184.

Odoacer, 229, 231, 263.
Odyssey, 115, 121, 139.

Ogg, David, 337,

Oghotai, 306.

Olympiad, 131.

Olympus, Mount, 130.

Omar Khayyam, 262.

Opium wars, 412.

Oppert, 34.

Orange Free State, 399.
Orlando, 428.

Orleans, 337, 354.

488

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Osiris, 22. Peter the Great of Russia, 362

Ostrogoths, 227, 232, 279. 386, 387, 430.

Otto the Great, 271, 285. Peter the Hermit, 280, 281, 283,

Otto lie Saxon, 267. Peter, St. 275.

Ottoman Empire, 308. Peter, the See of St. 449.

Oudenarde, 380. Petersburgh, St. 387.

Ovid, 184, 195. Petrarch, 293, 299, 321, 322,

Oxford, 296. 323, 353.

Petrie, Sir Flinders, 17, 3a
Padua, 227. Phaestus, 116.

Palas of Bengal, 313. Pharaohs, ,19, 22, 23, 106.

Palestine, 45, 61, 86, 90, 92, 95, Philip, 134.

103, 108, 109, ,192, 282.
Pallavas, 238, 313.

Pamir, 36.

Panama, 319.

Pandyas, 313.

Panini, 239.

Panipat 119,

168, 362, 382.

Paramars of Malwa, 313.
Paschal II, Pope, 270.

Paris, 337, 353, 390, 392.
German occupation of, 422.
Peace of, 382, 396.
Pataliputra, 206, 207, 215.
Patesi, 38.

Paul I, 388.

Paul, St 275.

Paul III, 340.

Paulus, 192.

Pedro, Don, 397.

Pegu, 313.

Peisistratus, 123,127.

Peking, 306, 411, 413.

Pepin, 265.

Pergamum, 170.

Pericles,. ,129, 142, 145, 149.
Periclean age, 137.

Perry, Commodore, 418.
Persepolis, 91, 95.

Persia, 36, 74, 92,. 96, 103, 108,
109, 123, 253, 255, 303, 305,
307, 319, 350, 410, 415, 446.
Persians, 44, 46, 48, 86, 90, 91,
93, 115, 233.

Peru, 320, 395, 397.

Pescadores, 413.

Peter Abelard, 296.

Philip V, 380.

Philippe IV, 356.

Philippe, Louise, 390, 391.
Philip of Macedon, 170.
Philippine Islands, 314, 319
Philip II, 282, 356.

Philip II of Spain, 361, 365.
Philippi, battle of, 179.

Philip the Fair, 331, 332.
Philistines, 43.

Phillips, Prof. Alison, 372. **
Phoenicia, 92.

Phoenicians, 43, 85, 86, 95, 96,
97, 166, 169. ’ ’

Phrygia, 92.

Pilate, Pontius, 184, 185.
Pilgrim Fathers, 396.

Pindar, 142.

Pitt William, 403.

Pius, 180.

Pizarro, 320.

Plassey, 377, *406.

Plataea, battle of, 124.

Plato, 152, 153, ,154.

Pliny, 186, 189, 202.

Plutarch, 128, 141, 197.

Poitiers, 353.

Poitou, 380.

Poland, JOS, 362, 387, 390, 392,

partitions of, 388, 389.

Polish corridor, 429.

Polybius, 197.

Pompeii, 186.

Pompey, 175, 176.

Pondicherry, capture of, 382.
Pontus, 192.

INDEX

489

Poor Laws, 404.

Port Arthur, 413, 414.

Portugal, 360, 380, 383, 398,
454.

Portuguese, 318, 319, 320, 377,
394, 395, 397.

Porus of Tarila, 134.

Prarthana Samaj, 408.

Priestley, 231.

Priscus, Tarquinius, ,163.

Prithvi Raj Chauhan, 311.
Protestantism, 334, 335, 336,
339, 340, 355.

Prussia, 360, 379, 380, 381, 382,
383, 384, 385, 388, 389, 390,
391, 421, 422, 429.

Ptolemy, 318.

Pu Yi, 436, 437.

Punjab, 53, 55, 75, 92, 307,
408.

Puranas, Hindu, 47, 237.
Pnrushapura, 212.

Puchyamitra Sanga, 211, 234,
235.

Pyramids, 14, 15,
age of, 24.

Pyrrus of Epirus, 167, 170.
Pythagoras, 154, 155.

Quebec, 382, 396.

Quintilian, 199.

Ra, 21.

Rabelais, 324, 325.

Racine, 359.

Rajaraja 3,13.

Rajendra, 313.

Ramayaiia, 121, 239.

Rameses, 125.

Ramilles, 380.

Ram Mohan Roy, 408.
Ranade, Mahadev Govind, 408,
Raphael, 327, 334.
Rashtrakutas of Deccan, 313.
Ravenna, 230, 231.

Rawlinson, H. G. 210, 213.
Rawlihson, Sir Henry, 34.

Ray Chaudhuri, 238.

Razia, 311.

Reade, Winwood, 96, 169.

Red Revolution, 431.

Red Sea, 308.

Reform Act, 404.

Reformation, 338, 339, 349, 366,
367, 378, 394, 395.

Regulating Act 407.

Reign of Terror, 374.

Remus, 161.

Renaissance, 99, 290, 315, 322,
325, 326, 327, 329, 449, 450.
Rehon, 6, 68.

Rhazes, 259.

Rheims, Cathedral, 413.

Rhodes, Cecil, 399.

Rhodesia, 399.

Ricci, Matteo, 41,1.

Richard Coeur de Lion, 282.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 357, 358,
379.

Rig Veda, 75, 76, 78, 93.

Ripon, Lord, 408.

Robinson, Prof. 264, 277, 336.
Roman Catholic Church, 340.
Roman Empire, 57.
fall of, 263.

Rome, 36, 50, 66, 92, 98, 109,.
120, 137, 160, 161-181, 192,
223, 227, 228, 233, 241, 292,
295, 297, 321, 322, 333, 334,
350, 355, 404, 433, 434, 445,.
446 448
Romanoffs, 386.

Romulus, 161, 162.

Romulus Augustulus, 263.
Rontgen, 453.

Rousseau, 297, 408, 431.
Rumania, 429.

Rupar, 55.

Rushforth, 196, 203.

Russell, Bertrand, 4,10, 413.
Russia, 66, 137, 306, 350, 384 r
386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 392,
413, 414, 415, 419, 421, 422,
424, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431,
432, 436.

Russo-Japanese War, 414, 435.
Rutter, Frank, 159.

Ryswick, Peace of, 360.

490

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

,Saar Valley, 429.

Sabutai, 306.

Sadowa, 421.

Sagala, 211.

Sahara, 171.

Sahni, Rai Bahadur Dayaram,
54.

Saladin, 282.

Salamis. 124, 143, 166.

Salerno, University of, 296.
Salisbury Oath, 351.

Samudra Gupta, 237.

Sanchi, Stupa of, 2,10.

Sappho, 142, 143.

Saracens, 286, 316.

Sardinia, 162, 167.

Sargon, 39.

Sargon II, 42.

Samath, Lion Capital of, 210.
Satavahanas, 238.

Saul, 87, 88, 91. ■

Saunders, Kenneth, 205, 221.
Sautuola Senor Marcelino de, 8.
Savoy, 360, 380.

Saxons, 229, 265.

Saxony, 384.

Scandinavia, 66.

Schleswig, 39.

Schliemann, Dr. Heinrich, 116,
118, 119, 120.

Schopenhauer, 78.

Scotland, 338, 352.

Sedan, 392, 422.

Seigmund, 297.

Seleucus Nicator, 206.

Seljuk Turks, 280.

Seneca, 185, 198, 202.

Sen, Keshab Chandra, 408.
Senacherib, 42, 43, 45.

Septimius Severus, 226.
Serajevo, 424.

Serbia, 424, 429.

Seti II, 25.

Seven Years’ War, 380, 38,1,
382, 385, 396, 400, 406.
Sevres, Treaty of, 432.
Shakespeare, 324, 325, 355.
Shanghai, 412.

Shantung, 4J4.

Shen-T'sung, 303.

Sher Shah, 363.

Shi-Hwang-ti, 106.

Shivaji, 376.

Siam, 82, 205.

Siberia, 307, 398, 431.

Sicily, 116, 162, 167, 174, 192,
271, 272.

Sidon, 96.

Silesia, 362, 381, 385, 421.

Sind, 53, 255, 308, 309, 310.
Sino-Japanese War, 437.

Singer, Charles, 203.

Slave Dynasty, 311.

Slaves, 265, 286.

Smith, A. H. 117.

Smith, V. A. 210, 237.

Snell, 261.

Socialism, 435.

Socrates, 124, 151, 152.

Sogdiana, 92.

Solankis of Gujarat, 313.
Solomon, 87, 88, 89, 91, 126,
127, 163, 219.

Somaliland, French, 398.

Italian, 399.

Somerset, 339.

Somerwell, 353, 369.

Somnath, 310, 314.

Soothill, Prof. 70, 217, 304.
Sophocles, 124, 142, 144, 447.
Spain, 162, ,168, 171, 195, 203,
229, 258, 259, 294, 308, 336,
350, 357, 361, 366, 378, 380,
381, 383, 390, 394, 397, 430,
433, 435, 454.

Spaniards, 318, 319, 320, 394,
395.

Spanish Armada, 338, 355.

Succession War, 360, 380.
Sparta, 121, 130, 131, 132,
133, 134, 141, 152, 160, 185.
Spence, Lewis, 45, 49.

Spenser, 324, 355.

Sphinx, Hu, 16.

Spier, Diet of, 335.

Srivijaya, 313.

Stalin, 431.

St. Augustine, 297.

INDEX

St Benedict, 278.

St. Boniface, 279.

St. Dominic, 279.

St. Peters at Rome, 327.

St Peter, See of, 265, 331.

St. Helena, 383.

Stephen, Prof. Morse, 390.
Stephenson, 40.

Stitlicho, 227.

Church of, 334.

Strassburg, 360, 380.

Stuarts, 394.

Stubbs, Bishop, 286.

Stubbs, Blaxland, 35.

Styria, 362.

Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian, 399.
Suez, Isthmus of, 22, 33, Canal,
85, 399.

Sui Dynasty, 302.

Suleiman the Great, 307, 308.
Sulla, 173, 176.

Sully, 357.

Sumatra, 242.

S ^ er > 36 , 39, 40, 46, 55, 56,
W, o4, 84.

Sung Dynasty, 303.

Sun Yat-sen, 436.

Superbus, Tarquinius, 163
Susa, 35, 36, 91, 107.

Sweden, 378, 379, 387, 389.
Switzerland, 11, 336.

Syracuse, 131.

Syria, 39, 82, 92, 162, 170, 192,
254, 303.

Tacitus, 186, 190, 193, 197.
Tagore, Devendra Nath, 408.
Talienwan, 414.

Taishi, Shotoku, 220.

Tai Tsung, 216, 217, 219, 303.
Taj Mahal, 364.

Talleyrand, 389.

Tang Dynasty, 219, 302.
Tanjore, Cholas of, 314.
Taoism, 218.

Tariq, 258.

Taxila, 206, 214, 239.

Thales, 154.

Thanesar, 310.

Tegh Bahadur, Sikh Guru, 377.
Tell-el-Ajjul, 61.

Teutons, 224 .

^ebes, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 35,

lull.

Themistocles, 129.

Theodosius, 226, 231, 232, 274.
Theodoric, 229, 230, 231
Theresa, Maria, 380, 381.
Thermopylae, 133.

Thessaly, 176.

Thirty Years’ War, 378, 379,
384.

Thucydides, 146, 147, 148.
Thuthmose III, 26, 27, 118.
Thuthmose IV, 128.

Tiberius, 172, 185.

Tibet, 73, 210, 205, 410.

Tigris, 33, 37, 42, 53.

Timur, 307, 362.

Titus, 186, 229.

Toba, House of, 301.

Tokio, 413, 434.

Toledo, 317.

Tolstoy, 297.

Tongking, 301, 306, 413.

Toulon, 383.

Tosali, 206.

Toul, 329, 380.

Transwaal, 399.

Transylvania, 429.

Trent, Council of, 341, 450
Trend, J. B. 258.

Trevelyan, G. M. 283.

Tmjan, 187, 189, 190, 193, 225,
277.

Trotsky, 431.

Troy, 12, 55, 116, 119, 120,
121, 122, 170, 186.

Troy, Helen of, 115, 159.
Tudors, 354, 368.

Tughlaks, 311.

Tukaram, 218.

Tullius, Servius, 163.

Tullus Hostilius, 162.

Tunis, 398, 422.

Turgot, 396.

Turkestan, ,218, ,255, 256, 305,
307.

492

A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

Turkey, 387, 390, 392, 421, 424,
425, 429, 430, 432, 434, Sul¬
tan of, 307.

Turks, 33, 238, 251, 254, 280,
282, 307, 317, 318, 448.
Tutankhamen, 19, 29, 31.
Tycho Brahe, 323.

Tyndale, 339.

Tyre, 96, 97.

Tyrol, 362.

Ujjain, 206.

Ulster, 338.

Upanishads, 76, 77, 78, 108.
Ur, 11, 35, 36, 38, 39, 49, 64.
Ural, 66.

Urban V, Pope, 330.

Urban II, Pope, 281.

Uruk, 338.

U. S. A., 396, 397, 403, 418,
425, 430, 436.

Utrecht, Peace of, 360, 379.

Valentinius III, Emperor, 276.
Valmiki, 139.

Valmy, 383.

Van Eyek, Jan, 327.

Vandals, 229.

Varahmihira, 240.

Vasco da Gama, 98.

Vedas, 75, 78, 108.

Venezuela, 397.

Venice, 292, 293,-327, 413.
Verdun, 379, 380.

Vernacular Ifress Act, 408
Verona, 227, 230.

Verres, 174.

Verseilles, 373, 396, 422, 427,
*434.

Verulam, Lord, 341.

Vespasian, 186,

Vesuvius, 182.

Vienna, 308, 384, 388, 389, 428,
Settlement of, 374, 379, 383,
388.

Vinci, Leonardo da, 325.

Virgil, 138, 161, 184, 191, 195,
199, 447.

Visigoths, 226, 229, 232.

Vivekananda Swami, 408.
Vladivostok, 414.

Volta, 452.

Voltaire, 359, 380, 388.
Vyas, 115, 139.

Wales, Dr. 243.

Wallenstein, 379.

Wandiwash, 382.

Wang An Shih, 303.

Wangan, 10.

Wang Mang, 218, 219, 303.
Warde-Fowler, 191.

Washington Conference 436.
Washington, George, 396.
Waterloo, 379, 382.

Watt, 401.

Webster, Prof. 232, 318.
Wei-hai-iwei, 414.

Wellesley, 406.

Wells, H. G. 121, 183, 210, 324.

341, 358, 419, 426, 428, 454.
Westaphalia, Treaty of, 349.

359, 336, 379.

Westaway, 47, 323, 452.

West Indies, 319.

Westminster, Treaty of, 395.
Whitney, 401.

Wilhelm II, Kaiser, 391, 422,
423.

Wilhelmshaven, 423.

William the Conqueror, 269,
290, 351.

William III, 370.

William the Silent, 361.

Wilson, President, 420.
Wittenburg, 334.

Wolfe, 382.

Woolley, Sir Leonard, 20, 34,
36, 38, 49, 64.

Wordsworth, 459.

Worms, Concordat of, 270.
Worms, Diet at, 334.

Wu-ti, 218, 219.

Wu-wang, 70.

Wydiffe, John, 330, 331, 339.
Xavier, St Francis, 417.