ABSTRACT
The dawn of universal history is about to break and universal history will have a number of original features to offer, as compared with the provincial histories of nations or with the civilizations of the past six thousand years. The United Nations offers a symbolic forum to the spokesmen of states in the universal era. Europe has two reasons for refusing to regard itself as decadent. It was Europe's achievements, and later its military follies, that brought humanity to the threshold of the universal age. Within the space of a few decades, the triumphant bourgeoisie had overturned the conditions and methods of collective labor to a greater extent than the ruling class of any feudal or military society during the previous thousand years. There is agreement between the high priest of socialism and the high priest of positivism regarding the fundamental difference between modern and traditional societies.
