A Study of History, Vol 4 : The Breakdowns of Civilizations

We saw how a civilization takes birth and how it grows to adulthood, in the previous volumes. We have also witnessed the problems of origin and growth the societies encounter in their multiplicity of paths and saw how Toynbee proposes a general law that applies to all known cases in the world. And we come now to analyse the problem of the breakdowns of civilizations and learn about the mechanisms that cause cracks in the body social from within. One aspect of the author’s thinking that shines through the text is his preference for an ecumenical world order that is not fettered by nation states divided on the principle of nationalism that spread like wildfire across the face of the globe in the last century. In fact, nothing irritates him more than the appeal to patriotism to a parochial state. He identifies papacy with the personification of a spiritual order that embraces all humanity. Some readers are justified in suspecting this to be the author’s weak point. This volume also includes a concise, yet illuminating monograph on the caste system in India which turned into hyper-religiosity that is the hallmark of Indian society even today. Even though the author has not delved deep into the unique social feature of caste in India, what is given is a nice preface for other scholars to build on. Toynbee is an admirer of science and an enthusiast in applying its findings to history too. Evolution is his favourite area of interest and imports its concepts freely to demonstrate as proof to his own arguments in a historical milieu. Though his researches go deep into five millennia of history, the failure to anticipate a world war looming on the horizon in 1938 when the book was in publication is indeed a drawback. Mussolini and Hitler are criticized regularly in the text, but the quicksand in which contemporary Europe was mired in, does not find articulation in any convincing detail.