ture 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 elite,
remarked to a friend that "the scientific truth about the human animal
is perhaps unacceptable except for a very few".[0001] 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[0002]
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