II
n
upheaval of Society , which has overturned whatseemed most stable—religion, the basis of property,the ownership of land, as well as forms of govern-ment and the hierarchy of classes—may owe more tothe deep influences of expanding numbers than toLenin or to Nicholas; and the disruptive powers ofexcessive national fecundity may have played agreater part in bursting the bonds of convention thaneither the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.
II. Organisation
The delicate organisation by which these peopleslived depended partly on factors internal to thesystem.
The interference of frontiers and of tariffs wasreduced to a minimum, and not far short of threehundred millions of people lived within the threeEmpires of Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary .The various currencies, which were all maintainedon a stable basis in relation to gold and to one another,facilitated the easy flow of capital and of trade to anextent the full value of which we only realise now,when we are deprived of its advantages. Over thisgreat area there was an almost absolute security ofproperty and of person.
These factors of order, security, and uniformity,which Europe had never before enjoyed over so wideand populous a territory or for so long a period,