1705037925
Thus in Russia the dictatorship of Lenin and Stalin was founded on the collapse of czarism. Japan, of course, has never had more than a faint imitation of popular government. The dictatorships of Central Europe and of the Balkan peoples had never known even one generation of political liberty and political responsibility. Hitler has overthrown a republic which was half strangled from the hour of its birth. But the old democracies of Scandinavia, of Switzerland, and of France, of Britain and of the Dominions, and of the United States, are still in being: the peoples which knew democracy in the nineteenth century, the peoples who have lived under the heritage of liberalism, have not fallen into disorder and have not surrendered to dictators.
1705037926
1705037927
A wise man once remarked that revolutions do not overthrow governments; governments collapse and revolutions ensue. The history of the last fifteen years offers impressive proof of this generalization. Kerensky did not overthrow the Czar. Kerensky attempted to organize a government on the ruins of the czarist regime. He failed and Lenin organized a government.
1705037928
1705037929
The German republicans did not overthrow the Hohenzollerns. The Kaiser had fled and his government was demoralized. The Weimar system failed to provide a government. In a half-dozen inconclusive elections the German people proved to themselves that they had not yet learned to make representative government effective. Only then did Hitler come into power.
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1705037931
The crises of the last few years have revealed the essential differences between the democracies which have a capacity to endure and the democracies which have not had it. The ineffective democracies disintegrate in a storm. Solid democracies are capable of uniting their forces, of concentrating power in an emergency, and then of relaxing when the crisis has been surmounted. The first great democracy to demonstrate this capacity was France in 1926. Confronted with what appeared to be an uncontrollable inflation, political power was concentrated in the hands of Poincaré, and order was restored. The second democracy to prove its strength was the British. In 1931, confronted with what might easily have become a catastrophe, the British people concentrated authority and mastered the danger. The third democracy to vindicate itself is our own during the last few weeks.
1705037932
1705037933
It is entirely misleading to look upon the concentration of national authority which took place in France in 1926, in Great Britain in 1931, and in the United States in 1933, as part of the tide of autocracy which has been sweeping over Asia and over Europe. What has happened in these three nations is the exact opposite of what has happened where there has been a collapse in dictatorship. The French, the British, and ourselves have been able to fortify democracy because popular government was inherently strong. Fascism has been overthrowing democracy where it is inherently weak.
1705037934
1705037935
Thus we are entitled to believe that democracy, once it is solidly founded in the traditions of a people, may be the toughest and most enduring of all forms of government. The generation through which we have lived seems to have given substantial proof that while popular government is difficult to establish, and must be learned by living with it, once established it will stand through very foul weather indeed.
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1705037937
Notes
1705037938
1705037939
Hitler, Adolf, head of the Nazi party and dictator of Germany.
1705037940
1705037941
domain, realm; sphere of influence; dominion; territory.
1705037942
1705037943
autocracy, absolute government.
1705037944
1705037945
an optical illusion, produced by too implicit confidence in the evidence of sight. Such illusions, such false beliefs, are not to be trusted.
1705037946
1705037947
Fascist, principles and organization of the patriotic and anti-Communistic movement in Italy started during the Great War, culminating in the virtual dictatorship of Signor Mussolini, and imitated by Fascist or blackshirt organizations in other countries. The word comes from the Italian fascio , bundle, group.
1705037948
1705037949
Communistic, the vesting of property in the community, each member working according to his capacity and receiving according to his wants. Russia has been trying out the Communistic form of government for the past two decades.
1705037950
1705037951
dictatorship, absolute, rulership, especially where the ruler suppresses or succeeds a republican government. Such rule is usually temporary or irregular.
1705037952
1705037953
Lenin, Nikolay. Real name Vladimir Ilich Ulanov, Russian Bolshevist leader （1870-1924）. After the collapse of the Czarist régime in Russia, Lenin took control of Russia.
1705037954
1705037955
Stalin （1879-1953）, real name Yosif Visarionovitch Dzhugashvili; The name Stalin, Russian for “steel” as attribute to his iron durability, was an “underground” name. Dictator of Russia.
1705037956
1705037957
czarism, government headed by the Czar, the emperor of Russia.
1705037958
1705037959
the Dominions, the title given to Canada, New Zealand and other British colonies.
1705037960
1705037961
liberalism, form of government favorably disposed to democratic reforms and abolition of privilege.
1705037962
1705037963
ensue, happen afterwards; result; follow.
1705037964
1705037965
Kerensky, Aleksandr Foodorovich （1881-1970）, Russian revolutionary leader, premier 1917.
1705037966
1705037967
régime, method of government.
1705037968
1705037969
Hohenzollerns, the Prussian family that ruled Germany before its collapse after the Great War. The Kaiser or emperor of Germany, Kaiser William II （1859-1941）, was king of Prussia and emperor of Germany from 1888 to 1918, when he abdicated his throne.
1705037970
1705037971
the Weimar system . After the abdication of William II, the National Assembly at Weimar was held to draft a Constitution and to build up a German Republic. This Republic was doomed to failure from the very start, because it was weak and it was open to intrigues.
1705037972
1705037973
inconclusive, not decisive or conclusive.
1705037974
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