INTRODUCTION. THE ERA OF CROWDS. The evolution of the present age—The great changes incivilisation are the consequence of changes in Nationalthought—Modern belief in the power of crowds—It transforms thetraditional policy of the European states—How the rise of thepopular classes comes about, and the manner in which theyexercise their power—The necessary consequences of the power ofthe crowd—Crowds unable to play a part other thandestructive—The dissolution of worn-out civilisations is thework of the crowd—General ignorance of the psychology of crowds—Importance of the study of crowds for legislators and statesmen.
The great upheavals which precede changes of civilisations suchas the fall of the Roman Empire and the foundation of the ArabianEmpire, seem at first sight determined more especially bypolitical transformations, foreign invasion, or the overthrow ofdynasties. But a more attentive study of these events shows thatbehind their apparent causes the real cause is generally seen tobe a profound modification in the ideas of the peoples. The truehistorical upheavals are not those which astonish us by theirgrandeur and violence. The only important changes whence therenewal of civilisations results, affect ideas, conceptions, andbeliefs. The memorable events of history are the visible effectsof the invisible changes of human thought. The reason thesegreat events are so rare is that there is nothing so stable in arace as the inherited groundwork of its thoughts.
The present epoch is one of these critical moments in which thethought of mankind is undergoing a process of transformation.
Two fundamental factors are at the base of this transformation.The first is the destruction of those religious, political, andsocial beliefs in which all the elements of our civilisation arerooted. The second is the creation of entirely new conditions ofexistence and thought as the result of modern scientific andindustrial discoveries.
The ideas of the past, although half destroyed, being still verypowerful, and the ideas which are to replace them being still inprocess of formation, the modern age represents a period oftransition and anarchy.
It is not easy to say as yet what will one day be evolved fromthis necessarily somewhat chaotic period. What will be thefundamental ideas on which the societies that are to succeed ourown will be built up? We do not at present know. Still it isalready clear that on whatever lines the societies of the futureare organised, they will have to count with a new power, with thelast surviving sovereign force of modern times, the power ofcrowds. On the ruins of so many ideas formerly considered beyonddiscussion, and to-day decayed or decaying, of so many sources ofauthority that successive revolutions have destroyed, this power,which alone has arisen in their stead, seems soon destined toabsorb the others. While all our ancient beliefs are totteringand disappearing, while the old pillars of society are giving wayone by one, the power of the crowd is the only force that nothingmenaces, and of which the prestige is continually on theincrease. The age we are about to enter will in truth be the ERAOF CROWDS.
Scarcely a century ago the traditional policy of European statesand the rivalries of sovereigns were the principal factors thatshaped events. The opinion of the masses scarcely counted, andmost frequently indeed did not count at all. To-day it is thetraditions which used to obtain in politics, and the individualtendencies and rivalries of rulers which do not count; while, onthe contrary, the voice of the masses has become preponderant.It is this voice that dictates their conduct to kings, whoseendeavour is to take note of its utterances. The destinies ofnations are elaborated at present in the heart of the masses, andno longer in the councils of princes.
The entry of the popular classes into political life—that is tosay, in reality,