1. The Western urge to rebel, coming out of the French Revolution, mutated quickly into several cults of death and mayhem. No matter the particular movement, there were two key conditions in all: 1. it was based on a submission to a central authority, the total state, and 2. it was based on the idea of one, instead of many.
a. However, there were also elements of Enlightenment thought that led to the radicalism of the French Revolution, and later inspired Marxism and ideas about materialism, historical determinism and utopianism. There was in some observers a tendency to view religion in exclusively negative terms, and to put all emphasis on ideas about human perfection. Gates of Vienna: Multiculturalism and the Enlightenment
2. Each of the movements adopted the same set of rites and symbols to express that ideal: crowds chanting en masse, the monumental architecture, the insistence on unquestioning belief in preposterous doctrines.
a. Each of the movements chose its own monochrome symbol, representing the oneness of authority, in red, brown or black.
b. Each donned the identical uniform, - a shirt of red, brown or black.
c. Each recounted a theory about history and mankind, explaining the movement’s goals and actions.
From chapter two of Berman's "Terror and Liberalism"[/QUOTE
It is depressing how many fail to see the danger here between the French Revolution and Hitler. The lessons are obvious, but the education is lacking.
