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Rise and fall of Civilisations

The subject-matter of Toynbees study is civilization. He rejects the study of history in
terms of nation-states, which according to him are only fragments of something large, i.e.
civilization. He says, !very civilization is carried on within the networ" of a society and it
is im#ossible to study a civilization or its society a#art from each other$. %hat is it that
brings civilization to birth& 'ccording to Toynbee, only a strong stimulus. This stimulus is
#rovided by a challenge. The challenge may be #osed by climate, aggression, militarism,
ruthless e(#loitation or any other factor. The challenge must not be overwhelming. )t must
not be so e(cessively strong as to stifle creativity. To this challenge there must be
a##ro#riate res#onse. The continuous inter#lay of challenge and res#onse gives birth to a
civilization* and, at the same time sustains its e(istence. )t must be a continuous,
uninterru#ted #rocess* otherwise civilization would be aborted or arrested.
'ccording to Toynbee, civilization grows through an +lan which carries it from challenge
through res#onse to further challenge. This growth has both outward and inward as#ects. 't
the core of the challenge and res#onse is the creative minority. )nevitably, the creative
minority is infected with the s#irit of nemesis ,imitation-, which results in the loss of self-
determination. The leaders, having lost the s#ar" of creativity, lose +lan and charisma which
em#ower them to lead the majority. This is what has ha##ened in the .//R. 0uring the
seventies, the leadershi# of C1/. ,Communist 1arty of /oviet .nion- was confronted with
the challenge of the over-centralization of a huge economy and #olitical #ower. They did not
meet this challenge by an a##ro#riate res#onse of decentralization of economy and
devolution of #ower. They lost +lan. Corru#tion eroded their legitimacy. They lost self-
determination. )n such a situation the creative minority is left with no o#tion e(ce#t recourse
to coercion to retain their leadershi#. The creative minority degenerates into domineering
minority.
The loss of harmony between the leaders and followers leads to social dise2uilibrium which
is enhanced by the introduction of new dynamic forces into the e(isting set of ossified
institutions. The social disharmony is accentuated by the com#lacency and #assivity of the
creative minority, which rests on their laurels, idolizing the #ast and adhering to the
outdating values and institutions. This accelerating social anarchy leads to the brea"down of
the civilization, which is followed by disintegration, bringing about a schism in the body
social into three warring factions3 dominant, tyrannical minority* internal su##ressed
minority and an e(ternal enemy.
'ccording to Toynbee, when a civilized society finds itself threatened by another
civilization, there are two alternatives o#en to it3 zealotism ,fundamentalism- or
herodianism. 4ealotism loo"s bac" to the #ast and ta"es cover in it. Herodianism faces the
#resent, learns the techni2ue of the living civilization. %hile the zealot faces the enemy with
old traditional methods, the herodian learns to fight the enemy with his enemys ideas,
tactics and techni2ues. The zealot is the fossil of a disintegrating civilization and the
herodian is the mimetic of a living civilization, and is finally absorbed by it.
Toynbee has been criticized for having im#osed a grand order on the world-history in terms
of civilizations. He has been accused of dabbling in mythology at the e(#ense of facts to
bolster u# false theories. His general message is determinist. 5ore, it is obscurantist. To
him, decay is lin"ed with liberalism and nationalism. 'ccording to him, the !uro#ean fall
begins with Renaissance. !uro#es great centuries of Reformation and Renaissance are to
Toynbee the dar" ages. The age of 6ach, 5ozart, 6eethoven and 7oltaire is a s#ell of low
ideological tem#erature.
Can !uro#e chec" its decline& 8es, by going bac" to the #aradise of medieval
innocence, according to Toynbee.
Toynbee has #ut all civilizations in a strait-jac"et. 'll civilizations #ass through similar
stages, all flourish and decay, according to the same general rule. 'll ultimately die. /ome
die suddenly, others linger on. He has almost drawn the horosco#e of !uro#ean civilization3
the colla#se of the west is inevitable, to be followed by the universal state and universal
religion. Toynbee forgets that nothing in history is inevitable. 9othing is irresistible. The
irresistible is very often which has not been resisted.
)t is after the %%: that Toynbee #ro#ounded his cyclic theory of history; the characteristic
ideology of a society in decline. Toynbee witnessed the 0iamond <ubilee of =ueen 7ictoria,
when the 6ritish !m#ire was at its zenith. He witnessed its decline and even its li2uidation.
This awesome s#ectacle filled him with chilling forebodings* as 5arcus 'urelius, in the
twilight of the Roman !m#ire, consoled himself by reflecting how all things that are now
ha##ening, have ha##ened in the #ast, and will ha##en in the future.$ Toynbees #enchant
for creative minority is nothing but a veiled a##eal for elitism in
an age when the masses are swee#ing every thing before them. The resurgent masses of the
Third %orld have dismantled all em#ires in less than a 2uarter of a century. They are out to
bury the theory of creative minority. )t is not civilization that has been or is disintegrating. )t
is the bourgeois weltanschauung ,world-view- which is in disarray. %ith the end of the cold
war which has obfuscated reality, the %est will now have to confront the star" issue of the
Third %orld; the unbridgeable chasm between the haves and the have-nots. 1eo#le are on
the march in serried ran"s all over the Third %orld, fighting for social emanci#ation, #eace
and #rogress. They loo" forward to the future of humanity with #romethean zeal and
o#timism. History is not linear. )t is not cyclic. )t moves along a s#iral ; two ste#s forward,
one bac"ward* ultimately to emerge on a higher #lane. Civilization is not doomed.
>zymandiases are certainly doomed. !(#loitation of man is doomed. 0es#ite ?rancis
?u"uyamas !nd of History, many a glorious cha#ter of history remains to be written. 's
)2bal #uts it3
0ont be misled that the tas" of the tavern-"ee#er is over,
There is many a wine un-tasted in the veins of the vine.
)n the ma"ing of history two factors come into #lay3 the objective factor and the subjective
factor. The objective factor consists of the conditions and circumstances, the economic,
#olitical and cultural environment in which individuals find them-selves at a #articular
moment in the history.
The subjective factor consists of human thin"ing, human organization and action. The
objective and subjective factors are dialectically lin"ed* i.e. mutual interaction, the two
factors act and react. ?or an historic event both factors are e2ually im#ortant. The conditions
must be mature for the event to come to #ass. 6ut it will not ha##en by itself. Herein comes
the role of creative minority along with great men and women. They are not begetters but
only the midwives of history. %hat the great leaders bring forth is mothered by what Hegel
calls zeitgeist.
'ccording to Toynbee,
)n order to save man"ind we have to learn to live together in concord in s#ite of traditional
differences of religion, class, race and civilization. %e must learn to recognize and
understand the different cultural configurations in which our common human nature has
e(#ressed itself.$
Toynbee once remar"ed that the entire #rocess of human history could be summed u# in two
words, namely, challenge and res#onse. Through mans long journey from the dar" ages to
modern times, the res#ective environments in different countries at different #eriods of time
created a number of challenges for man undergoing a #rocess of evolution. !very time, in
every country and in every age, either a great individual or the institutional set-u# of the
state or society as a whole comes u# with a res#onse to the given challenge. Those who
res#ond to the challenges of their environment effectively, ma"e history. Those who do not
rise to such challenges successfully, become history. Toynbee says, 0iscord is inveterate in
human life because man is most aw"ward thing in the world. There will be #er#etual
conflicts of wills and the conflicts will be carried to suicidal e(tremity, unless man achieved
only as an incidental result of acting on a belief in the .nity of @od and by seeing this
.nitary Terrestrial society as a #rovince of @ods Common %ealth$.