{"id":3138,"date":"2013-07-13T01:46:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3138"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:46:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:15","slug":"11-the-possibility-of-a-world-empire-vol-the-ideal-of-human-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/the-ideal-of-human-unity\/11-the-possibility-of-a-world-empire-vol-the-ideal-of-human-unity","title":{"rendered":"-11_The Possibility of a World-empire.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nCHAPTER IX<\/b> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nTHE POSSIBILITY OF A WORLD-EMPIRE<\/b><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nT<\/font>HE<\/font> progress of the imperial idea from the artificial
\nand constructive stage to the position of a realised psychological truth
\ncontrolling the human mind with the same force and vitality which now distinguish the national idea above all other group
\nmotives, is only a possibility, not a certainty of the future. It is
\neven no more than a vaguely nascent possibility and so long as
\nit has not emerged from this inchoate condition in which it is
\nat the mercy of the much folly of statesmen, the formidable
\npassions of great human masses, the obstinate self-interest of
\nestablished egoisms, we can have no surety that it will not even
\nnow die still-born. And if so, what other possibility can there be
\nof the unification of mankind by political and administrative
\nmeans? That can only come about if either the old ideal of a
\nsingle world-empire be, by developments not now apparently
\npossible, converted into an accomplished fact or if the opposite
\nideal of a free association of free nations overcome the hundred
\nand one powerful obstacles which stand in the way of its practical realisation. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe idea of a world-empire imposed by sheer force is in direct opposition, as we have seen, to the new conditions which the progressive nature of things has introduced into the modern world. Nevertheless, let us isolate these new conditions from the
\nproblem and admit the theoretical possibility of a single great
\nnation imposing its political rule and its predominant culture on
\nthe whole earth as Rome once imposed hers on the Mediterranean <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-78<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\npeoples and on Gaul and Britain. Or let us even suppose
\nthat one of the great nations might possibly succeed in overcoming all its rivals by force and diplomacy and afterwards, respecting the
\nculture and separate internal life of its subject nations,
\nsecure its sway by the attraction of a world peace, of beneficent
\nadministration and of an unparalleled organisation of human knowledge and human resources for the amelioration of the present state of mankind. We have to see whether this theoretical
\npossibility is at all likely to encounter the conditions by which it
\ncan convert itself into a practical possibility, and if we consider,
\nwe shall find that no such conditions now exist; on the contrary,
\nall are against the realisation of such a colossal dream\u2014it could
\nonly come about by immense changes as yet hidden in the secrecy of the future. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nIt is commonly supposed that the impulse which brought
\nGermany to her recent struggle with the world was rooted in even
\nsuch a dream of empire. How far there was any such conscious
\nintention in her directing minds is a question open to some
\ndoubt; but it is certain that, if she had prevailed in the war as
\nshe had first expected, the situation created would inevitably
\nhave led her to this greater endeavour. For she would have enjoyed a dominant position such as no nation has yet possessed
\nduring the known period of the world’s history; and the ideas
\nwhich have recently governed the German intellect, the idea of
\nher mission, her race superiority, the immeasurable excellence of
\nher culture, her science, her organisation of life and her divine
\nright to lead the earth and to impose on it her will and her ideals,
\nthese with the all-grasping spirit of modern commercialism
\nwould have inevitably impelled her to undertake universal domination as a divinely given task. The fact that a modem nation
\nand indeed the nation most advanced in that efficiency, that scientific utilisation of Science, that spirit of organisation, State
\nhelp and intelligent dealing with national and social problems and ordering of economic well-being which Europe understands
\nby  the word civilisation,\u2014the fact that such a nation should be
\npossessed and driven by such ideas and impulses is certainly a <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-79<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nproof that the old gods are not dead, the old ideal of dominant
\nForce conquering, governing and perfecting the world is still a
\nvital reality and has not let go its hold on the psychology of the
\nhuman race. Nor is there any certainty that the recent War has
\nkilled these forces and this ideal; for the war was decided by
\nforce meeting force, by organisation triumphing over organisation, by the superior or at any rate the more fortunate utilisation
\nof those very weapons which constituted the real strength of the
\ngreat aggressive Teutonic Power. The defeat of Germany by her
\nown weapons could not of itself kill the spirit then incarnate in
\nGermany; it may well lead merely to a new incarnation of it,
\nperhaps in some other race or empire, and the whole battle
\nwould then have to be fought over again. So long as the old gods
\nare alive, the breaking or depression of the body which they
\nanimate is a small matter, for they know well how to transmigrate. Germany overthrew the Napoleonic spirit in France in
\n1813 and broke the remnants of her European leadership in
\n1870; the same Germany became the incarnation of that which
\nit had overthrown. The phenomenon is easily capable of renewal on a more formidable scale. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nNor was the failure of Germany any more a proof of the
\nimpossibility of this imperial dream than the previous failure of
\nNapoleon. For the Teutonic combination lacked all the necessary conditions except one for the success of so vast an aim. It
\nhad the strongest military, scientific and national organisation
\nwhich any people has yet developed, but it lacked the gigantic
\ndriving impulse which could alone bring an attempt so colossal to fruition, the impulse which France possessed in a much
\ngreater degree in the Napoleonic era. It lacked the successful
\ndiplomatic genius which creates the indispensable conditions of
\nsuccess. It lacked the companion force of sea-power which is
\neven more necessary than military superiority to the endeavour of
\nworld-domination, and by its geographical position and the encircling position of its enemies it was especially open to all the
\ndisadvantages which must accompany the mastery of the seas by its natural adversary. The combination of overwhelming sea<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-80<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\npower with overwhelming land-power* can alone bring so vast
\nan enterprise into the domain of real possibility; Rome itself
\ncould only hope for something like a world-empire when it had
\ndestroyed the superior maritime force of Carthage. Yet so entirely did German statesmanship miscalculate the problem that it
\nentered into the struggle with the predominant maritime power
\nof the world already ranked in the coalition of its enemies. Instead of concentrating its efforts against this one natural adversary, instead of utilising the old hostility of Russia and France
\nagainst England, its maladroit and brutal diplomacy had already
\nleagued these former enemies against itself; instead of isolating
\nEngland, it had succeeded only in isolating itself and the manner
\nin which it began and conducted the war still farther separated it
\nmorally and gave an added force to the physical isolation effected
\nby the British blockade. In its one-sided pursuit of a great military concentration of Central Europe and Turkey, it had even
\nwantonly alienated the one maritime Power which might have
\nbeen on its side. <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nIt is conceivable that the imperial enterprise may be renewed at some future date in the world’s history by a nation or
\nby statesmen better situated, better equipped, gifted with a subtler diplomatic genius, a nation as much favoured by circumstances, temperament and fortune as was Rome in the ancient
\nworld. What then would be the necessary conditions for its
\nsuccess? In the first place, its aim would have small chances of
\nprospering if it could not repeat that extraordinary good luck by
\nwhich Rome was enabled to meet its possible rivals and enemies
\none by one and avoid a successful coalition of hostile forces.
\nWhat possibility is there of such a fortunate progress in a world
\nso alert and instructed as the modem where everything is
\nknown, spied on, watched by jealous eyes and active minds under the conditions of modem publicity and swift world-wide
\ncommunication? The mere possession of a dominant position is
\nenough to set the whole world on its guard and concentrate its hostility against the power whose secret ambitions it instinctively <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n*But now also, in a far greater degree, overwhelming air-power. <\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-81<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nfeels. Therefore such a fortunate succession would <\/b> only seem t:.
\nbe possible if in the first place it were carried out half unconsciously without any fixed and visible ambition on the part of
\nthe advancing power to awaken the general jealousy and, secondly, by a series of favouring occurrences which would lead so
\nnear to the desired end that it would be within the grasp before
\nthose who could still prevent it had awakened to its possibility.
\nIf, for instance, there were a series of struggles between the four
\nor five great Powers now dominating the world, each of which
\nleft the aggressor broken without hope of recovery and without
\nany new power arising to take its place, it is conceivable that at
\nthe end one of them would be left in a position of such natural
\npredominance gained without any deliberate aggression, gained
\nat least apparently in resisting the aggression of others as to put
\nworld-empire naturally into its grasp. But with the present conditions of life, especially with the ruinous nature of modem war,
\nsuch a succession of struggles, quite natural and possible in former times, seems to be beyond the range of actual possibilities. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nWe must then assume that the Power moving towards
\nworld-domination would at some time find inevitable a coalition
\nformed against it by almost all the Powers capable of opposing it
\nand this with the sympathy of the world at their back. Given
\neven the happiest diplomacy such a moment seems inevitable. It
\nmust then possess such a combined and perfectly organised military and naval predominance as to succeed in this otherwise
\nunequal struggle. But where is the modern empire that can hope
\nto arrive at such a predominance? Of those that already exist
\nRussia might well arrive one day at an overwhelming military
\npower to which the present force of Germany would be a trifle; but that it should combine with this force by land a corresponding sea-power is unthinkable. England has enjoyed hitherto an
\noverwhelming naval predominance which it might so increase
\nunder certain conditions as to defy the world in arms,* but it
\ncould not even with conscription and the aid of all its colonies <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n* This is no longer true since the enormous increase of the American Navy. <\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-82<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ncompass anything like a similar force by land,\u2014unless indeed it
\ncreated conditions under which it could utilise all the military possibilities of India. Even then we have only to think of the
\nformidable masses and powerful empires that it must be prepared to meet and we shall see that the creation of this double
\npredominance is a contingency which the facts themselves show
\nto be, if not chimerical, at least highly improbable. <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nGiven even largely superior numbers on the side of its possible enemies, a nation might conceivably prevail over the coalition of its opponents by a superior science and a more skilful use
\nof its resources. Germany relied on its superior science for the
\nsuccessful issue of its enterprise; and the principle on which it
\nproceeded was sound. But in the modern world Science is a
\ncommon possession and even if one nation steals such a march
\non the others as to leave them in a position of great inferiority at
\nthe beginning, yet experience has shown that given a little time,
\n\u2014and a powerful coalition is not likely to be crushed at the
\nfirst blow,\u2014the lost ground can be rapidly made up or at least
\nmethods of defence developed which will largely neutralise the
\nadvantage gained. For success, therefore, we should have to
\nsuppose the development by the ambitious nation or empire of a
\nnew science or new discoveries not shared by the rest which
\nwould place it in something like the position of superiority over
\ngreater numbers which Cortes and Pizarro enjoyed over the
\nAztecs and Peruvians. The superiority of discipline and organisation which gave the advantage to the ancient Romans or to the
\nEuropeans in India is no longer sufficient for so vast a purpose. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nWe see, therefore, that the conditions for the successful
\npursuit of world-empire are such that we need hardly take this
\nmode of unification as within the bounds of practical possibility.  That it may again be attempted, is possible; that it will fail, may
\nalmost be prophesied. At the same time, we have to take into account the surprises of Nature, the large field we have to allow
\nto the unexpected in her dealings with us. Therefore we cannot
\npronounce this consummation an absolute impossibility. On the contrary, if that be her intention, she will suddenly or gradually <\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-83<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\ncreate the necessary means and conditions. But even if it were to
\ncome about, the empire so created would have so many forces to
\ncontend with it that its maintenance would be more difficult
\nthan its creation, and either its early collapse would bring the
\nwhole problem again into the field for a better solution or else it
\nwould have, by stripping itself of the elements of force and domination which inspired its attempt, to contradict the essential aim
\nof its great effort. That however belongs to another side of our
\nsubject which we must postpone for the moment. At present
\nwe may say that if the gradual unification of the world by the
\ngrowth of great heterogeneous empires forming true psychological unities is only a vague and nascent possibility, its unification
\nby a single forceful imperial domination has passed or is passing out of the
\nrange of possibilities and can only come about by a
\nnew development of the unexpected out of the infinite surprises of Nature. <\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-84<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHAPTER IX   THE POSSIBILITY OF A WORLD-EMPIRE   THE progress of the imperial idea from the artificial and constructive stage to the position of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-ideal-of-human-unity","wpcat-63-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}