A lesson from Monarchies.

by TR Johns

Since time immemorial humanity has organised itself into workable communities and realms, establishing territories and nations through tribal or ethnic hierarchies of power. From the ancient empires of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Central or South America, through the Chinese dynasties of Confucian Emperors, to the ruling powers and republics of Europe, civilisation has developed diverse styles of government. Few have been more influential than the concept of monarchy, involving the rule of a sovereign and ofttimes hereditary Head of State.

“Give us a king!” was the plea of the Israelites to an aging Samuel, in about 1000 BC. He had led the people skilfully, as priest, prophet and judge, but as his career ended, his sons did not emulate his ways. Corrupt and ineffective, they forced the elders to request a king, like all the other nations [i]. Samuel was insulted by their request and tried to dissuade them, but God appeased him saying that it was not him whom they were rejecting as priest, but God Himself, as their King. Whilst the fallibility of the priesthood and judges had proved to be a problem, the demands of future kings about which God warned them [ii] , would lift the stakes and suffering of the people to quite another level… almost instantaneously!

Remarkably, however, the concept of a sovereign monarch stood the test of time in the world’s systems of leadership with continuity to the present.  Fast forward three millennia to 2022 and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 70th year on the throne of Britain, shortly before her death. She was the longest serving monarch in the history of the British Isles.

All had not been plain sailing. In 1649 England and Ireland had abolished the monarchy through civil war and the execution of Charles 1. Cromwell’s successors, however, realised that a constitutional monarch, answerable to Parliament, was better than other known alternatives. Within twelve years a ‘u-turn’ re-instated Charles’ exiled brother!

A century later it was the turn of America and France to supplant their monarchs through revolutions, which would change the course of world history. Since Constantine, successions of kings, queens, emperors, tsars and kaisers fill the annals of European history, bringing the consequences that such imperfect rule has sown. Civil oppression, inequality, injustice, rivalry and territorial avarice all simmered and boiled, forcing governments ultimately to throw off the monarchic pattern and forge a way for republics, democracies and totalitarian regimes to fill their shoes. The last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing Dynasty, was overthrown in 1911, and the Bolshevik Revolution saw Nicholas II abdicate, ending Russia’s Romanov dynasty in 1917.

Despite our late Elizabeth II’s remarkable reign, she was a ‘twilight’ monarch of soft power, who brought the age of kings and queens to an end. In 2024, 43 monarchs remain as Heads of State, a handful exercise absolute authority, with Saudi Arabia leading the way. It would be wistful to think that this evolution of leadership would either bring an end to suffering or be straight-forward.

Since the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the newly founded Republic of China saw presidents, generals, warlords, and chairmen steering it through its chequered history. The emerging Chinese Communist Party had an even more disastrous track record than the Dynasties and nationalist government that it overthrew. Meanwhile the mass killings attributed to the Russian revolution and Stalin’s subsequent ‘Terror’, combined with purges of other communist regimes, including China and Cambodia, raised a death toll commonly cited at 100 million. These unfortunates died through executions, forced deportations, imprisonment, starvation, forced labour, ethnic cleansing or other projects of social engineering.[i]

Add to these the victims of other genocides and the fatalities from two World Wars, including at the hands of a Fascist Nazi dictatorship, and the figures more than double. 200 million excludes dependants, the maimed and countless others who have struggled in fear and anguish in the shadows of these repressive regimes. This scale of desolation represents a collective failure of leadership and demonstrates the unspeakable crimes which can be committed by any ruling elite, not just monarchs. It is a distressing reflection on humanity’s nature and interaction with power.

The same hundred-year period since 1917 has been called the ‘Century of America’, beginning with Woodrow Wilson’s visionary intervention in World War 1. Despite his own racism, he set in motion the advent of the League of Nations [iii] and the global organisations which have come to fruition since WW2 (eg. the United Nations, UNESCO, IMF, WHO and NATO), moving the world into a new phase. For 70 years liberal democracies came to pre-eminence in the ‘free’ world, with America at their helm. These have now been called into question, because of their own fault lines and other new influences. Nevertheless, such stability and progress has required astonishing leadership and a different approach to global politics, from which much can be learned. The ability to hold leaders to account and regularly vote them into and out of office, with universal suffrage, has been an essential safeguard. 

In 2022, the Chinese Communist Party became the world’s longest serving system of government, with recent impressive social and economic achievements accomplished, under Xi Jinping. Both he and President Putin have engineered indeterminate terms of office, with a huge followership. The concentration of such power does not bode well.

Returning to Samuel’s dilemma, the subsequent Chronicles of the 42 kings and a queen of Israel and Judah contain the qualification that each, ‘did right (or evil) in the sight of the Lord’. In other words there were good monarchs and bad monarchs. Effective leadership depends both upon the individual and the framework for governance, in an imperfect and turbulent world. There remains everything to play for!

References

[i] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes

[ii] 1 Samuel 8: 11-20

[iii] Fall of Giants – K Follet pp 471, 704-5