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III +iG\.'f'''~'' ~ \5R)~/Le\f~ ?~ 4~ ,\ ~\\\ I-~:J THE SITUATION IN ·EUROPE 51 l/ ~t....1 YoY- ~, ·tr

THE SITUATION IN EUROPE

Jacques Ellul

T HE aim of the present chapter is not to give a general , picture of the state of European civilisation but mael)' a "

'~i

t­description of the elements of disorder-the symptoms of

j;j

the malady from which Europe is suffering. Of course, most of the clements in this diagnosis are to be found also in other parts of the world, But we shall deliberately omit what applies

~'. ",specifically to the rest of the world, and ~hall emphasiie ouly

w•.:,\what applies to Europe.

THE LACK OF BALANCE

Our first task is to state this disorder as a lack of balance between the values of traditional European civilisation and economic and social conditions to-day.

It is not a question of divergent doctrines. The opposi­tion between the old and the new doctrines is either superfic;;d or of little interest. The malaise in Europe to-day is not due to conflicting doctrines, even if we bear in mind the national socialist and fascist doctrines on the one hand, and the com­munist and materialist doctrines on the other. These doctrines are re~ly only a symptOm of the deep-seated malady from which Europe is suffering; the 'chief characteristic of this malady is that tqere is really no doctrine which accounts for the concrete European situation and tries to direct hs course.

European civilisation was formed around certain values which have given it meaning and have resulted in the formation of ways of life, social and political structures, and cultural expressions. It is obvious that the two currents which run through the history of European civilisation are, on the one hand, Christiani!y, and on the other hand, reason; these two elements are not con­tradictory if" reason lJ be understood in its broadest sense, not in its rationalistic sense. These two elements form the basis of the values which have formect the background of our civilisation~, values derived from the Christlan ethic (which have become

'secularised, such as liberty, fraternity and solidarity), values ~o

derived from the Gr.eco-Latin COllceptions which have helpe.d to maintain a balance of justice. The conditions of life have b~en dependent upon these values.

From the beginning of the t\ventieth century, and after a lung preparation during the njneteenth century, the conditions of lile have changed. The social, economic, and political structures have diverged along independeut lines, each one following its own logical course. We see European civilisalion breaking up into anarchy before our eyes, because the economic, soci<!l. and political forces bave developed freely without regard for one ,mother. Th~ traditional values of civilisation are no longer moulding civilisation to-day; they are no longer taken into account. There is, therefore, a serious lack. of balance, and we have reached a definite cruis.

In Europe the efforts to discover new values of civilisation which .would polarise all the anarchical forces of our time are called national socialism and communism. The conflict betv/ee.n these doctrines is illusory, since they both contain the very same fundamental principles (dictatorship, economic supremacy of one class or one race, "the end justifies the means," creation of a mass-civilisation) and employ the same methods, The problem is to know whether these doctrines are ab.le to construct, not a powerful state (which they obviously' can 40) but a r/ew society founded on n8W lwlues, Neither national socialism nor com­munism seem able to produce a new form of civilisation. All they can do is to organise a society in an elemenlal and inchoate fonn.

Iu face of this situation (Wb.ic)l i~ felt morc or less obscurely by everyone), it is comprehensible tiUlt people should try to hold on to the old values (and it is significant that even communism appeals to the traditional European value£when it comes fonvard all a protagonist of civilisation), suqh ag liberty, patriotism, humanism, justice, etc., These ideas an~ no longer clear; they are no longer the straightforward expression of real sentiments­either of the people, or of their rulers'. 'nu::se ideas are no longer related to the material facts of our ~gej fl-nd they are only retained as a fa~de in an adulterated fonn. Finally, these ideas are confiued with social forms which ~e~ or should be, condemned (e.g., freedom is confused with capitalism, patriotism with nationa.1iBm, etc.).

53 THE CHURCH AND THE DISORDER OF SOCIETY5~

Our European civilisation is suffering, because it has lost the authentic values which would be capable of co-ordinating and guiding the forces which are evolving in anarchy and are tending towards a new civilisation, the characteristics of which are not yet determined, and may never materialise. It is nor a question of a political or economic doctrine. Great Britain has shown chat

it is quite possible to live without adhering to rigorous political doctrines. And we are not called upon to think out a new doctrine. Our task is much deeper; it is. to discover values of civilisation which-with the material elements of our world···­will enable us to build up a civilisation. Our present values are quite unsuited to our epoch, and are no longer recognised by the majority of people as being universally valid. The problern is really to discover moral and spiritual values which are in acc(Jru­ance with the material and intellectual conditions of life, which

; .~~'. are accepted by the majority of men (consciously or unCOil­sciQusly), and enable men to lead a balanced life (even in dimcult conditions), and to invent new forms of civilisation.

It is characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church that it i:;

far more concerned with doctrine and political action than with fundamental questions. This attitude is perfectly useless, in spite of its external appearance of effectiveness. The Catholic political parties are once again compromising the Church by

."'. engaging in a political conflict of the worst kind, which involve;;

.f

the spiritual mission of the Church in a political connection Of-a­\~; .'} .¥.' t

very dubious character. The social doctrine of the Church is to -'~ large extent out of date; it is really only a by-product of

<1'" ~~ ­socialism, which itself-as a doctrine-..........{;an no longer keep pace with the events of our age. ;~r

Now, it is possible that a new, authemic civilisation may not <lRlJ materialise. Anxiety on this point arises from the acknowkclged fact that the material forces of Our time which are developing to '1~i?": an unlimited extent, tend to occupy the whole picture, to crm\'d

.!!:::.':..... everything else out, and to organise themselves in such a wa y":-"A"f'<

.. I~ that no new values of civilisation can be created. This organisa­tion tends to be made in accordance with the necessities of

-,-,t· dev~lopment of material .forces, and not by subordinating these forces to a higher end. Our problem is: Wil1 it be possible to regain control of these forces ?("i~~.~: .

THE lHTUATlQN' IN EUJ!.OP£

'THE MATERIAL FORCES DOMINANT IN EUROPE

T/l4 StaJe. We do not deny tbe value of the state. The state is wjI.1ed by God, and has i1$ own part to play in God's plan of salvation. Without it, an ordered life in society is impossible. But the state may fall a prey to demons, if the power which it represents refuses to recognise the supremacy of God. At thl: present time we are faced by an extremely dangerous type of state in every country in tile world. This must not be regarded as an isolated phcoomenon {t!kJ.tisme}, which could easily be over­come. For t.he present cvolutjon of the state is due to econorrUc and technical developments, and has taken place tvith tlle consent of the larger part of mankind.

More than in the rest of the world (even in Ru.ssia) it secm~

that the dominant element in EurQpe is the sta'tc_ Even if there is no authoritarian doctrine of tt'e state, we are forced to admit that the power of the state is perpetually growing through the devdopment of its administration; that its sphere of action is continuously expanding; that in it3elf it tends to become the criterion of good and evil (the supreme crime in .Europe to-day is h.igh treason-that is, crime against dIe :;tate) ; that it tencl.s to absorb the l.ife of the nation completely, and to form a nation in which the state is the dominant f4:to~; that it is becoming im.reasingly abstract-that is to say, that it obeys its own lay.'>, and ignores regimes and persons j that everyone in Europe assumes lhat the state provides the solution for all problems. This is true even of democrats and libera,lli: what they want is a different kind .of state, but they do not want Lo change the nature of the state jn its technical fOIm (police, finance) which actually determines everything else. All the European stares have not reached the same point of deve1opmt"..n~, but they are all moving in this direction; Great Brit~n is an excellent example of th.is oveJ;'Whelming predominance of the state in a democratic anll semi-liberal form.

PtodJution. Here again, as in the ~ase of the state, we must ~ on our guard. It is not a qUelltion of rejecting production as the outcome of human labour. Nor can we put the clock back and lament over the Pallt. I am not thinking about production in itsdf, nor do I say that it is a bad trung. But we must look at the present problem in relation to our present di.~order, and to the general attitude to product~n- Now the whole of Europe

i~fi:[~r ~.!,.

54· THE CHURCH AND THE DISORDER OF SOCIETY

is haunted by the idea of production. From one point of -view this is comprehensible: the necess.ity of repairing waHlamagc, and the effol't to re-establish a possible standard of life. It is clear that if we are to achieve stability in Europe production is essential.

But this tendency, actually a sound one, is not temporary j

it is permanent, and forms the very basis of the economic systems (whatever they may be) which are developing in Europe. Liberalism and socialism agree on this principle: "production governs all." They disagree only about methods and dis.,. tribution. The underlying tendency is to subordinate e;cry:-­thing to production, including man, who becomes merely an instrument of production (and not only the workers, but the staft~ the directors, etc.), and including spiritual values, whose mission is becoming more and more simply that of providing pretexts in favour of production (e.g., the ideology of economics). It does nct occur to anyone to challenge the idea that man exists in order to produce more and more. Contrary to socialist theory, the most active f~ctor in proletarisation is not the existence of private property but the fact of this primacy of production. Hence this is one of the most burning problems of our civilisation, and for this reason: if we wish to make a serious analysis of our economic difficulties and of the breakdown of humanist civilisation, we must bear in mind that one of its

j;;::,•.; ~~ential causes is this assumption that " production must come ," "0 first.'! I do not mean that" over-production" is the cause of the ,:\\2:~ crisis. It has nothing to do with it. But if the law of produc­

..:.f tion be allowed to take preeedence of all other values-which is .. ~

~ t', ~"• clffiracteristic of our own time-it is a catastrophe) and no human • 't~

civilisation can possibly make tllls law its starting-point. I will not go into the general problem of technics in civilisation

and its moral andpoliticaJ repercussions, since I have already described this several times elsewhere. I shall not, therefore) discuss t~e question whether technics are good or bad, but only

",r th&t aspect which concerns the European crisis. Technics. Possibly this material force plays a less important

part in Europe than in the United States. Most Europeans have lost faith in progress) science, and technics, and are no longer hopeful that everything will bc solved by these means; whereas in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R:-technics still reign supreme. But

••~ ~I

~4it!~j~~? . this ·is" one of the characteristics of the problem in Europe; fresh

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~L J~' THE: SrTtJATlO!'f iN EUROPE .')5 'L-l·

technical systems are imposing themselves upon us and invading ,.I: . the whole field of human activity. In certain cases Europe i5

tending' to become an experimental laboratory for- new technics, .~~:~

,1" especially in the political sphere (propaganda, concentration ." camps, displaced persons, political and social realism, Eastern.~\

I democracy, and the one-party ga,me, ttc.). III other casc~·t~ technics of American origin are being applied to Europe, and are open to the usual contagion. But Europe as a whole no longer believes in these technics-and no longer has the strength, nor (he: spiritual elevation, nor the social orgal1isativli required, to

eqable it 1O control the technical instruments which it is being induced to employ. Thus Europe is being led to foHow a path which is no longer its own.

On the other hand, in Eur'ope the unifying po,ver of techrUG is tending more and more rapidly to standarcli:;e political, social and economic conditions, and to turn the contincnt of Europe into a solid bloc. Now this is L'lking place at the very moment when the continent of Europe is divided politically into two zones of influence, and when the last traces of" European civilisation JJ

are disappearing-that is to say, at the moment when the spiritual structure of Europe is breaking down. Thus this unifying tendency of technics is ~using a crisis, owing to the political obstacles which it encou'lten and the absence of any spiritual foundation.

A final element in the political and social world of Europe is war. During the last century war has changed its character. It is no laRger an accident, a breakdown of peace) as it has always been during the cow-se of history. War has become one of the permanent elements in OUT society. We have now reached a culminating point in lhis transformation; European society is entirely built up on a war: basis (in this direction Europe has gone farther than the rest of the worlg wb,ich is moving in the same direction). The dishannony betwe~n the old ideas and the new facts comes out very clearly at this ppint: we arc still using the methods of diplomacy which proved IJseful in the days when war was still an " accident," to try to prevent the kind of war which has now become part of our sodal structure. Nloreover, it is not only war betwcen natio~ which-··by becoming totali­tarian-has helped to change the i4,ea of war, but also class war which is a permanent element in the life of Europe alone. Th~e

k;

~~';i different tendencies force us to recpgnise a society which will be

57 56 ~?

THE CHURCH AND THE DISORDER OF SOCIETY ,. ;.;..

completely subject to them when they are fully developed, and it. in which it will be impossible to create a human civilisation. (

t~ it..

THE POSITION OF MAN ~,f; Confronted by these forces, the situation of European man is~'

desperate. First of all, from the material point of view his);; position is impossible: he is suffering from the disastrous results 'h of an inhuman use of power by the state, of the primacy of pro- ~ duction, of an extreme development of technics, without reaping '~I'~' any of the undoubted advantages connected with the latter ~ process: Europe is not wealthy_ The following facts mllst bet· borne in mind: the growth ofIarge and crowded cities, with its -p. I

evil consequences for the life of their inhabitants, from the moral, . if:\?j' psychological, and physiological point of view j the 'fact that t.r· labo~r conditions become increasingly severe, coupled with un- 'llf'~ certaInty o~ employment ~ the di:i~1tegration of family life, due '?~~~~i" to econODUC and mdustnal condmons, and to the pressure of "li~J[:i:~ state control; the disappearance of the middle classes from~;r;:~' European society, which is becoming increasingly proletarian, owing to the actual situation in the economic a?d social sph.ereo These facts mean that European man cannot rIse to the height required to set the standard for a new civilisation.

This is confirmed by the grave fact that in reality there is no further question of measuring ~nd basing the ~ew civil~sation on t~e real man, as h~ actua.llY I~. To~day man IS 5ubordm~ted to thtngs and the comm~ SOCI~ty 15 a sOCiety. made for these thIngs an~ not. for man, concel~ed ,m terms. of thmgs and no~ of man.

.This pnmacy of the. thing IS the highest note of tnumph of techmcs and production. Man must subordinate hiJTl5elf to the nec.essity of things, or be consi~ered as a thi~~ himself-a fact easIly accepted by modern SCIence and utlllSed by modern

. politics. Two significant ~cts stand ~ut ;. EuroI~ean culture is now centred on the phYSIcal and blOlogtcal SCIences and no

f.':'i longer" on the "humanities"; and European politics ar~ becoming mass-politics, based on the supposition that man is a thing (cf. propaganda, etc.).

This leads to the attempt to create a definite type of ma-l:c=..

;~'1~'"/' .~~{" ,\iIi~.. . . }~. '.j\~ Eu~ol?e, m spIte of the p.rox:ainent palt it played in national.'Jts.. ~ooahst G~nnany.!, Bu~ ,it ,~s probable that as organisation ··,t~fi.~/c:" mcre~es tlus new nobIlIty w111 emcr~e. }.~~;. .Th~ ~endenc~ has been made p?sslbJe by a p~enomenon <;1]~~~;S: wluch It lS mos~ Imp.ort~nt. to recogruse as charactcrJ:tIc of 0I~.r

t:~\t~/~ wester~. wor!d • ~soc~auon. of thoug~t and actIOn. ThlS ·fJ.Y~~" proces~ of dlSSoClatlOn IS takmg place SImultaneously on the

~jf~{ followmg ~lanes; on ,~1I~ pgyc:h,~logical. plane (man acts for <~::. reasons w~ch are no~ IllS Ol-vn, . and, mverllcly, he no longer !";'M~~~;.' expresses his tho~ght In an act ~ h~r~ ~~ ~wo examples: in the .;'11<' firs~ ~eme, the. mfluence of publiCIty, m the second sense,

¥~~tlli~i ~rtlstIc surrealism); on the ~ocial plane (for instance, the '}}ld:<: Illtellectuals have .lost contact Wlt~ the rest. of the nation, and no

"·:I~'~"· ~onger have any mfluence on SOCIety_ Increasingly, the masses :L. ;?~~_ <L- ~nflue;nce the common life, and when 'we speak of the ~, masses"

THE SITUATIO~ Pi~ lW1i:Of'E

thing with which society can do 'wh!lt it likes. The United 51-a.tes ~~~ tending to cre~te this type of man, simply through socJal rrulieu and conformIty. The U.S.S.R. is trying by every means to create a type of man in conformity with Marxist do t·· IE' . . . C nne. n. mope, O'vVll1g to the dorOlnance of politIcal life, the: tendcncy 15 for man to be; the tool of [he "t,t{C, but this is not ge~eral throu¥,hout the twentieth centU1Y nor in all countries. I t IS a IiP?radI~ tendency, but nevertheless a very vigorous one. It :vas tl115 wh~ch created the typical radical Frenchman of the Third RepublIC, and. th.e German naLional socialist This tendency to create artIfiCIally an averl1ge type of man for the service of the state is one of the deepest signs uf Europe's decad­ence, a~~ .the abandonment by man hjrnself of his dignity and responSIbIlIty. . . UndouLtedJy there 1.5 a grmving tendency to create another type ofma.n, who stands out ~~~v.e the masses.: [hat is, the man who shoulqus ~Il the res~cHl~lb,~litJej and r;;akes .all tile decis.ions. He correspond~ to BU~'im s .manager. It. IS the teChnICIan who ~Qmlnates and directs SOCIety in every sphere. But this man is not a superman) in spite of his ppwers; he himself is closely dependent on, and subject to, the technics which he has to app.ly. ,This ~pc ?f man has not ye.t been developed very far in

,. But here emphasis must be laid on the special place of Europc.~"~ j~t): •.:) m thIS sen5~ we .mean action which has not betn \.villed but is • I.

AlJ~ver-the world to-day societies are trying to create artificiaIlY~i.rfrJLt?ue t~ SOCIOlogical reactions); . ?n . the political plane (an the ideal type of man to fit into this society; i.e., to create the iKf~~~·'mcreasmgtendency to use all polItIcal doctrines as "counters"

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59

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58 THE CHUROH AND THE DISORDER 017 SOCIETY

in the political game and in the sphere of action-i:onflict between the state and the administration-the use of political myths),

The deep spiritual cause of this dissociation can be summed up in a phrase: modern man no longer has any spiritual coh6riol'l. The relation between God and man, like the relation between man and the world, has been distorted by secular influences, so that man no longer sees himself, or the wol"1d, in the true light.

THE TOTALITARIAN NATURE OF THIS SOCIETY

This kind of society, which tends to be constituted by a mere combination of material forces, and thus denudes man of sig­nificance, is totalitarian, even if no explicitly totalitarian doctrine is invoked. Socialism has tried to subordinate man, as, a whole, to

the state, and to use him for its ends; but French or English democracy wants to do exactly the same. Society will not accept the man who refuses to work, nor the man who refuses to insure himself against unemployment and illness (social security) ; man is becoming more and more part of the social mass-and it is the whole man who is involved.

This society is totalitarian in a second :sense: it tends ~

unify the whole of life. In the effort to raise the standardor­living, from the economic point of view, it has been necessary to take large-scale action (man has been forced to merge his identity in large groups and, in extreme cases like communism) to lose his

~ individual consciousness) and to " rationalise ,) the conditions of:t. : ,:.~ ~:. life. In Europe this attempt at rationalisation is carried on very

unequally: veJY actively in France and Germany; slowly but surely in England and the Nordic countries; hardly at all in Spain, Switzerland, and Holland.

At this point we must also emphasise the fact that what we have stated so far varies very much in clifferent countries and different parts of Europe,-when we look at them in their present situation. For instance, the presence of" intermediate " groups~;':if~~\ which are vigorous in certain countries (Switzerland, England,

.' . ,~~

Holland) makes the power of the state less direct, and the ..~;. -.~. totalitarian nature of society less apparent. But when one is 1·1.~ f examining an illness one must try to foresee how it will develop.

H(;!'e we are trying to diagnose this development, and we then pc. 'cave that in this respect the difference between the countries

,., .! . t~".:·:F~,~~·

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.~'6:~'>tl'

THE SITUATION' I~EUROPE

'fJ· of Europe is no longer a difference in kind but a difference of j{

It degree; they are aU moving in the same direction, but are at t different stages. And they will paSi through these stages all the ~J more quickly when the European Moe hali taken more defmiu:

I"J' , . shape." Finally, this society is totalitarian because it tlnbraccs the'!.i"~; known means of action and thought, and utilises everything, or I'i rather hlffi5 it to its own advantage. Every attempt to break 1; ;;--

the circle results only in closing it more finnly; the social ., 5ecurhy plan, the Beveridge plan, etc., make the individual still <~ more a mere cog in the larger unit} and force him to give up

R;· more of his personal life. r Leisure-time pursuits (the cinema, sport) ouly lead to a still ~' greater social conformity, and aid man to adapt himself morel willingly to non-human conditioIlIl. A remarkable exampleJilt ~ of the creation of a totalitarian society by the organi~ation of Ii " leisure" is provided by England, in the phenomenon of ~T f'~1 Butlin's holiday camps, All this seerna still stranger when \,'c' ~. reflect that the war against national socialist Germany hafi led}J

all its enemies to adopt its methods· (total war, concentration,~< camps, state interference with private life, etc.), It ~m~'~ --~-

THE FAILURE OF n~l): CHURCH

In our diagnosis of the disorder in Europe, we cannot ignore the failure of the Church. This i4 s~ cleal'ly in the following fields :

The Church has left the care and tht:, protection of man to

others. In the intellectual sphere t~e Church has lei. the protection of man to science and philosophy; in the economic and social sphere it has left his protectiop to socialism. And the Church has made serious compromises with those who controlI···

;[,f.",., fipance. This explains why the Churd~ is so conventional and ~r:'~..""...,

,,'> . why it allows man to fall into the hands of those who can onlyI ~-

lead him a1ltray.,r:=:;\:·':··I~.~$:";.':···~~" .. ,~:~ The Church has left to others the responsibility for revolution. tr",, The Church exists in order to insist em'constant change in societyJ~~:' and civilisation, in order to bring th~m more inw conformity':fti

!:~lrj~" with the order of God. This is a mission of ,: permanent ,

revolutior.." But the Church has completely lost sight of the fact that an order of God exisU, and it has accepted the

60 THE OHURCH AND THE DISORDER OF SOCIETY

established order of things. Hence instead of representing values of transformation and judgment (justice, freedom, etc.) founded on Jesus Christ, the Church has merely stood for conservative values, and has left the revolutionary function in the hands of political parties.

The Church has left to others thc responsibility for the spiritual life of the peoples. The Church has become ini~=-_ spective and has forgotten that the Gospel must be present £71 lIu mitfst ofthe people, and that this can only be achieved by constant movement, by great movem~nts of evangelisation which, even if they do not lead to the conversion of all, do draw the spiritual life of the nation towards the Gospel. The Church has restricted its work almost exclusively to individual witness and private conversion, and has left the nations of EUl'Ope to seek their spiritual food eIsewhcl'e; the state with its myths gave them vihat d- ,,:y required. In the public sphere the Church, especially the Catholic Church, took up a political position, and not a spirirual one, with the same result.

, It is evident that this threefold failure of the Church is not intentional. The Church has never willingly renounced its influence in the world. But it is au actual state of afTairs due to many causes: the Church's subservience to the State, the Church's attachment to a given economic [onn, namely capitalism (which has led the Church to conform to the pre­vailing political and social system), division and hostility between th~ Churches, misunderstanding of the Church's role which made it act as a political force (through political parties). All these

;: callses have been effective only in so far as the Church had no ,

~l ' clear view of its divine mission) and was not constantly on the ~ .!! alert to hear God's mesf>age.

As G.QQ always preserves a "remnant," the Church's faiiure has not been absolute. But it is only through loyalty to the will of God revealed in Scripture, and through repentance, that the Church can re-discover its threefold responsibility towardB the world.

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l~ r. IV' 1,2-t .-'

-·\,I',', THE SITUATION IN ASIA--It

j'l: ; Al. Searle Batts

,r·~.-""~f"!.·1!'INTRODUCING ASIA

'M THE present studies tend to be based in the Atlantic region,

..r' here to be called "the West." Suc.h centring can be'1(1.1.'-'

" justified, cven in seeking ~ world view, because the \VCSl, ~ by predominant economic and military power, by political and

cultural influence, has set the modernising" course fbr the rcst<l

of the earth. Our immediate' purpose is no!' to attempt an illdependent analysis of the problems of [he Asiatic peoples, whidl are among the universal human problems. It is rather to point out, within cruel limitations of spa~e) ~ome points in which they dilfer, at least in degree or in setting, from the problems of the West. Large common elements are taken for gr'lilted_

The greatest bodies of population ~part from the European. North American culture area; and the most strongly established patterns of markedly different social structure, lie in the mass cultures from India eastwal-d and north·e:1stward-the region onen t~rmed "the Orient," or the Far East. The population of Ohina is equal in numbers to tli.~t of all Europe save Russia, <!-l1d that of India is practically' so. The ]apane::;c or the Indo­n~i~~ are as rnzmy as the Germans. Korea, the Philippines, rndo~China, Thailand, and Burma 'are lands each with more hUlll4n beings than the whole of Scandinavia or than Canada. Indeed, the entire region contains almDSt exactly half the population of the six continents, ~l}l! $lo.baI earih.

That leaves aside the Russian lar~s to the north and west, with perhaps thirty millions on tlw~Ql:ltineQt of Asia j and also the Moslem countries stretching fi~Jll4tghaniJ;ianto the Red Sea a;ttd the Mediterranean, some slxty'mjl1ions set off from the dense bulk pf oriental farmers by their :$pa~'Se peopling of stony high­laqds and actual deserts, till one rea.ches cities at the outer gates of. Europe. Important as are these ,Moslem starcs, seven large

!p..qd others small; all of them co'QlbiJied have fewer people than ~'\;;J~Hap" '0r Indonesia. We thereforc:' attend to the Asia of con­: e ~e.ptt~~d masses on the orie~taJ pJfl4ls and adjacent islands.

:";. '- '. o. ,) I,

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