Page:The Science of History and the Hope of Mankind.djvu/45

 T is also a fact that the fortunes of all those peoples who in modern times have contributed to the glory and wealth of human civilisation by winning their independence and autonomy from the grasp of foreign rulers, or by limiting the rights and powers of the sovereigns, were not made by their own efforts alone, but were mainly directed by the conjuncture of circumstances and the environment of forces and opportunities that were created by the mutual alliance and rivalry of the other nations.