>> Put another way, what’s the most powerful force on earth? In the 1800s, God. I mean... that's not merely a statement unsupported by evidence, that's a state

>> Put another way, what’s the most powerful force on earth? In the 1800s, God. I mean... that's not merely a statement unsupported by evidence, that's a statement that's demonstrably wrong. If I were to come up with a list of powerful forces in the Long 19th Century, "God" and "religion" wouldn't even come close to making it. It's a century that opens with the Enlightenment and reactions to it. The salient political features of the 19th century are the unhinging of the concept of divine right to rule, the social upheaval brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and the mighty juggernaut of nationalism that aroused passions and drove the world to several bloody conflicts, even in excess of the greatest and bloodiest wars of religion.