Alliance the First Law of Nature 317 



the more rapid will be the progress.^ This con- 

 clusion neglects completely the phenomena of alli- 

 ance, but alliance is a more universal phenomena 

 than struggle. The philosophy of force thus 

 represents a deviation from the truth on account 

 of its unilateral point of view. It overlooks the 

 fact that struggle must always take place between 

 collectivities. The struggle between a man and 

 a lion is in reality the struggle between some 460 

 trillions of cellules of the association man, and the 

 440 to 450 trillions of cellules of the association 

 lion. In the same way in human relations the 

 struggle of France against Germany is the struggle 

 of two collectivities and implies the existence of 

 these collectivities. From this point of view 

 struggle is impossible if it has not been preceded 

 by an alliance. It follows that association is the 

 primordial, and consequently the most important 

 phenomenon. 



When association is recognized at all in the 

 philosophy of force, its importance is belittled. 

 Professor Lemeere, rector of the Free University 

 of Brussels, represents a modification which the 

 "social Darwinists" have been compelled to 

 make in their views since the publication of 

 Kropotkin's work: 



' If we bring this theory to the test of concrete facts, the most 

 rapid progress should be found in those nations where struggle 

 is most intense, such as Turkey, Venezuela, and Mexico. But the 

 accepted tests of social progress would hardly rank these countries 

 ahead of nations like Switzerland or Sweden, which have not had 

 a war, either foreign or civil, for more than a century. 



