The new radicalism is opposed to some things which are irrevocably linked with religious doctrine.
Without the Catholic Church all Europe would be in the throes of the Commune. The principal cause of our disintegration was that we sanctioned Protestant flirtation with modern materialism.
France is beginning to see that even a weak monarchy is better than a radical government without a God.
You may expect a return of the monarchy in more than one country. Agnostics and Protestants, moved by fear on one side, and disgust on the other, will unite for a restoration as their last hope. There will be a repetition of historic events.
Bonaparte was ushered in by the French Revolution, and his advent was followed by three kings and one emperor.
The majority treat their rulers as children treat their toys: when the novelty wears off a change is demanded.
Political psychology and religious sentiment are not the same thing. Nevertheless, they must be considered together. The Germans are now awaiting the hour when the inevitable change will be demanded. Events take crowns from some heads and place them on others. If the ex-Kaiser ever occupies the throne again a modern Nero will fiddle amidst the ruins of German imperialism, for you know he meddled with fiddle strings as well as with political wires.
You think it strange? The impossible is always happening. Never lose sight of the fact that an organized minority is more formidable than a disorganized majority. Three men brought about the coup d’etat that placed the outcast Louis Napoleon on the throne, one man started the Russian Revolution, I planned the overthrow of the Second Empire with the aid of Count von Moltke. The majority put their trust in numbers, but the bigger a thing grows the nearer it is to disintegration. An autocratic minority ruled in Germany, an automatic majority rules in France and England. Two men started the present rule in Moscow, both of them from the outside.
“God has been merciful to us,” said Cavour, in the Italian Senate, “He has made Spain one degree lower than Italy.” God has been merciful to Germany, He has made Russian communism more abhorrent than German socialism.
Nothing will be left undone by the French government to secure permanent occupation of the coal district of the Rhine.