The life of peoples and humanity is the subject of history, writes Tolstoy, and the writing of history is an attempt to make intelligible the course of human events. But, he asks rhetorically, what is the cause of these events, and what is the force that moves nations? Historians construct answers based on their special viewpoints; some discuss history in terms of the"great men" theory, some in terms of cultural issues, some according to the interplay between nations. Examining each school of historiography, Tolstoy shows how inadequate these separate theories are to explain complex events.
How can the cultural historian explain, for instance, the murder of millions of Frenchmen during the French revolution in terms of what men thought about the equality of man, Tolstoy asks? To do this, the historian must show a propelling force equal to the resultant force, just as the physical scientist explains the thrust of a steam engine in terms of input. Tolstoy argues that a mere"idea" cannot generate such a power.
The biographical historian is equally at fault. To assume that"great men" move nations is as arbitrary as assuming, as did the ancients, that the will of God ordains history. Tolstoy analyzes how these historians explain the decisions of the"great men" who move nations. They cite, for example, Talleyrand's influence upon Alexander, or describe the part Mme. de Stael played in changing the course of government. Naturally it is ridiculous to assume that millions of people submit to whatever Talleyrand or de Stael convinced Alexander.
Tolstoy goes on to discredit the historical construct of"power" as the motive force of events. If the concept of power is valid, he argues, then we must be able to explain its nature and define how it works. If people submit to the power of their government, and if the mass allows its will to be reflected and represented by its leaders, then we can examine what does constitute the will of the masses and how the lives of the people can be represented, or symbolized, by the lives of their monarchs. Tolstoy concludes that we cannot ascribe the activities of millions of men moving from place to place, butchering one another, burning housing and harvests, as a reflection of the actions of some dozen persons who do not kill men or burn property.
