Hereditary Succession Quotes



Cromwell was not opposed to monarchy per se as long as it was reasonably checked. He saw Charles II as a terrible monarch. After deposing Charles, he and his associates had to come up with some form of government. As “Lord Protector” he was a de facto monarch without the trappings.


Khomeini was a politician as well as a cleric. He was not always consistent depending on his audience. This book was the publication of 17 different speeches with different audiences. Here he opposes all monarchy, but there is little doubt that his main target was the monarchy of Saudi Arabia. In {620335} he suggests that monarchy would be acceptable if the monarch followed Islamic law. Here he leaves no room for monarchies of which there were and are a number in the Muslim world. And at the height of Islam there was a Caliph who not only had absolute rule of ALL Muslim countries, but he was the absolute ruler of the religion. The Caliph and later the Islamic Sultan held more absolute power than any king or Pope ever had. Most of the Islamic fundamentalists claim that they want a return to having a Caliph with absolute power. And even in Iraq today, the “Supreme Leader” exercises more autonomous power, than any monarch or dictator does in his own country.


Referring to the totally inadequate diplomatic communications in the political confusion and crises that led up to the First World War. None of the countries really wanted a large war, but the diplomatic communications were so bad that all operated on the assumption that the others were moving against them and they had to defend themselves or their treaty allies and there were very few opportunities to discern what other countries would do and all of Europe and much else of the world slipped out of control.


West Saxons had a bad experience with a “Queen” who was not very good. This quotation illustrates that the institutions of monarchy varied from time to time and place to place, just like democracies that have many differences among them.