The Ancient Regime | Page 5

Socialists felt
hurt. Still, the first edition of Volume II of "LE RÉGIME MODERNE"
published by Hachette in 1894 indicated that "L'ANCIEN REGIME" at
that time had been printed in 18 editions, "LA RÉVOLUTION" volume
I in 17 editions, volume II in 16 editions and volume III in 13 editions.
"LE RÉGIME MODERNE" volume I had been printed in only 8
editions. Photographic reprints appeared in the US in 1932 and 1962.
Taine's description and analysis of events in France between 1750 and
1870 are, as you will see colorful, lucid, and sometimes intense. His
style might today appear dated since he writes in rather long sentences,
using parables to drive his points firmly home. His books were widely
read in academic circles and therefore influenced a great many political
students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lenin, who came to
Paris around 1906, might well have profited by Taine's analysis. Hitler
is also likely to have profited by his insights. Lenin was like so many
other socialists of his day a great admirer of Robespierre and his party
and would undoubtedly have tried to find out how Robespierre got into
power and why he lost his hold on France the way he did. Part of
Taine's art was to place himself into the place of the different people
and parties who took part in the great events. When pretends to speak
for the Jacobins, it so convincingly done, that it is hard to know
whether he speaks on 'their' behalf or whether he is, in fact, quoting one

of them.
Taine, like the Napoleon he described, believed that in order to
understand people you are aided if you try to imagine yourself in their
place. This procedure, as well as his painstaking research, make his
descriptions of the violent events of the past ring true.
Taine knew and described the evil inherent in human nature and in the
crowd. His warnings and explanations did not prevent Europe from
repeating the mistakes of the past. The 20th century saw a replay of the
French Revolution repeated in all its horror when Lenin, Mao, Hoxa,
and Pol Pot followed the its script and when Stalin and Hitler made
good use of Napoleon's example.
Taine irritated the elite of the 3rd French republic as well as everyone
who believed in the popular democracy based on one person one vote.
You can understand when you read the following preface which was
actually placed in front of "The Revolution" volume II. Since it
clarifies Taine's aims and justifications, I have moved and placed it
below.
Not long before his death Taine, sensing that his wisdom and deep
insights into human nature and events, no longer interested the élite,
remarked to a friend that "the scientific truth about the human animal is
perhaps unacceptable except for a very few".[1] Now, 100 years later,
after a century of ideological wars between ambitious men, I am afraid
that the situation remains unchanged. Mankind remains reluctant to
face the realities of our uncontrolled existence! A few men begin,
however, to share my misgivings about the future of a system which
has completely given up the respect for wisdom and experience
preferring a system of elaborate human rights and new morals. There is
reason to recall Macchiavelli's words:
"In times of difficulty men of merit are sought after, but in easy times it
is not men of merit, but such as have riches and powerful relations, that
are most in favor."
And let me to quote the Greek historian Polybius' observations[2] about
the cyclic evolution of the Greek city states:
". . . What then are the beginnings I speak of and what is the first origin
of political societies? When owing to floods, famines, failure of crops
or other such causes there occurs such a destruction of the human race
as tradition tells us has more than once happened, and as we must

believe will often happen again, all arts and crafts perishing at the same
time, when in the course of time, when springing from the survivors as
from seeds men have again increased in numbers and just like other
animals form herds - it being a matter of course that they too should
herd together with those of their kind owing to their natural weakness -
it is a necessary consequence that the man who excels in bodily
strength and in courage will lead and rule over the rest. We observe and
should regard as a most genuine work of nature this very phenomenon
in the case of the other animals which act purely by instinct and among
who the strongest are always indisputable the masters - I speak of bulls,
boars, cocks, and the like. It is probable then that at the beginning men
lived